I finished El Shaddai on Monday. An enjoyable game, to be sure, but very strange. The ending is weird. I'm looking forward to hearing what the chaps on Backloggers have to say about it.
Blackgate sounds pretty good. I do love that Metroidvania style though. I'd have to play it on the 3DS but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. There are just so many good 3DS games now.
Sounds like that guy just wants to get his kid whatever will make him shut up so dad can have some peace. That's speculation but getting your kid GTAV is bad parenting no matter how you slice it. My son is only 15 months old, so he's not playing games yet (though he does know how to turn on all the systems lol) but once he does in a couple years, there will be a lot of games we already own that he won't be allowed to play for a long time. The ESRB does what it can but it all comes down to parents knowing their kids. Maybe my son will be ready for CoD at 10, maybe not. We'll decide as we go. But he certainly won't be lacking games to play, whatever his age at the time 
And good choice on Chrono Trigger. Awesome game. And unlike so many RPGs, CT doesn't have pointless content to pad out the experience, so you should be able to finish without too much trouble.
That sounds like a good idea, picking out just your favorites to keep. How many 360 games total do you think you have right now? I don't think I could do it though. Too much of a collector mindset even if I don't have a wallet to match lol
I used the same IGN guide! I blew through Lucifer's Palace in hopes of finishing the game and then he thwomped me again and again and again, so I went back and spent some time grinding and fusing better demons. The Palace was a good place for that at least.
The demons were great in SMT IV. I loved reading the little descriptions of them and finding out where they came from and what people believed about them. I thought the story was interesting but some of the endgame stuff was really cool, like the other Tokyos and the White. I wish that stuff would have happened sooner and gotten more story time.
As a counterpoint, I spent 71 hours on it (which is still long, I know, but not unusual for an RPG). I don't know if James is more patient than I am or just more stubborn lol but when I didn't know where to go next (or if I did but didn't know where that was on the terrible map) I just looked up the next location. Saved me hours of aimless wandering.
I'd suggest checking out The Red Star for the PS2. It's a shooter/brawler hybrid that's very reminiscent of Treasure (high praise if you ask me). It's a great co-op game.
I didn't get a 360 till Christmas of 2010 and a PS3 till a year later, so for me this gen has lots of life left in it.
From what I've heard from others, sounds like the story is better in the first one and the combat mechanics are better in the second. Guess I'll find out
