Alright. I lost. I went and bought 'Rogue Galaxy' yesterday. I decided to hold off on Guitar Hero II (360 version) for a bit to see if there's some wireless action coming out for it in the near future. Because damnit, I'm just a wireless kind of guy. Moving on:

Forgoing my desire to first rid myself of my back log. Something I feel really guilty about for some reason... I went to Gamespot and it was there, I was there, my wallet was there. I had had a few shots of Crown after work... Everything I need to make trouble.

So; onto first impressions:

I havn't gotten too far into the game yet, but so far I'm really enjoying it. I like that it's taking it's time building up to the main story instead of just throwing me into it. I like games that give me a bit more history on the characters instead of the 'rag-tag underdog group of unlikely heroes save the earth..........NOW' scheme. Some characters have hinted at whats going on, but nothing definite. The fighting system is the first of it's kind I've personally seen in a decidedly JRPG, and I have to say I love it. It's a great changeup from the turn based systems normally found, and the battle menus are quite intuitive. Also there is a total lack of loading times, which is, in a word: beautiful. One thing I've noticed though - This game reminds me of Star Wars. It's uncanny. Lone orphan raised on a desert planet finds his way onto a ship and begins adventures on a galactic level. All we need are some lightsabers. To those who both are fellow nerds, and have played the game. When the 'opening movie' (after leaving the first town) plays, the first thing I thought was: "This is no cave." George Lucas is gonna sue somebody. o_o As I said, I'm not far, and I havn't even touched the main story, the graphics are exceptionally well done, and shows the PS2s full capabilities quite well. The voice acting is actually pretty good as well, aside from some lines that made me wince at their cornyness. "I'm going into SPACE!" Ugh.  The active conversation or whatever it is can get pretty repetitive, but I'm dealing with it for now - eventually I'll turn it off in the options menu though.

I *may* go for an all out review eventually. I've never actually written one. In fact; this is the first 'first impression' I've ever done as well. No promises. ;-)