I'm on the final level of Halo Wars (playing on normal). The game was a decent romp through the Halo universe, though I'm not sure just yet how *much* I enjoyed the game mechanics and the style vs. my general inclinitation toward liking anything having to do with Halo. It reminds me of my first play through of Halo: Combat Evolved - the first FPS that I can say that I really finsihed on a console. At that time, I liked the game, but having never played a game in FPS mode I really struggled with the mechanics and getting used to the style of game play. I eventually played through the game again and discovered that I liked it a lot more on the second play through rather than on the first. I suspect that this will be the case for Halo Wars - I like the game, I just don't know what the hell I'm doing just yet. If I have time to go through the game again I'm going to give it a shot. Maybe I'll play through the campaign on co-op online at some point.

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume is just kicking my butt on the other hand. It's a strategy RPG for the DS that is frankly pretty difficult in its learning curve with little to no guidance on how to approach the game and the missions. I really haven't mastered the controls of that game either just yet, but I like the story and the setting. I'm going to give it another go maybe later tonight before deciding on whether to finish it or to take a pass. I have Legend of Ys and Dark Spire coming from Amazon in the next day or so, and VP's time is running short if it doesn't grab me in the next day or so.