PixlBit

     I set up my 360 next to my PS3 at my friend Mark's place. I had both on and signed in at once to check the sales. Didn't find anything I wanted; although, I thought I should download the free Muramasa Rebirth just to have on my PS3. My Plus membership might expire soon though. I can't seem to find where on the system it might tell me how much time I have left.

    Then I played some of The Witch and Hundred Knight on my PS3 while my Xbox 360 downloaded the demos for Magic 2015 and Abyss Odyssey.

   Then I took a break to play an in-game day of Weapon Shop de Omasse on 3DS. It's still fun despite not getting great scores on creating weapons even though I felt I aced the rhythm game several times.

     Then I played the demos for Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 and Abyss Odyssey on XBLA. Magic is so darn complicated these days. So many rules. I managed to make it through the tutorial and into the first battle of the campaign but then kept getting beat. I would keep forgetting about some detail of some card and make a fatal error. So many rules to remember. Argh! Abyss Odyssey is very pretty to look at and plays fine. You fight rapier style and do some mild 2D platforming along the way. I was very impatient with the jumping around and ultimately quit. I just want to brawl with a really masterful combat system and explore a world. Don't ask me to jump over lava pits or avoid swinging blades please.

     Then back to The Witch. Slowly getting a handle on the battle system. Tips are posted in the loading screens. That was the only way I found out how to chain weapons together or even know about this Trotskey thing (I'm spelling it wrong). I think it's a spell system, but I can't make it work yet.

     In the battles, there's a defensive move of hitting "x" just after getting hit. If you do it in time, you get a counter attack, but in the flurry of blows, I always miss it. I'm trying not to mash the buttons, but it's hard to slow down.

     I figured out how to use the AP meter for a special attack, which works wonders, but it starts eating up your Gigameter (or whatever it's called, I forget now) and I don't know how to stop its effect once I've used it on a foe. I end up having to go back to town too quickly (because that's what you have to do when your Gigameter gets to 0), so I've been trying to figure out better solutions. 

     The main issue I'm having with battles are these little creatures which come at you by the dozens and surround you in chapter 2. If you let them get a big hit in, they do a lot of damage. I had more trouble with them than the boss of Act I chapter 2, a centipede that I made short work of.

    Overall, I am starting to get better at the game after finding out a few things from the hints. I just wish they'd tell you everything about this complex battle system right from the start.