I hate when people bash Japanese RPGs because they're not more like Western RPGs. Hello! They're supposed to be different! I would say that JRPGs are their own subgenre now and it irks me when people complain that they don't feature branching dialogue trees and massive open worlds. I'll play a WRPG if I want that. What's wrong with some variety?
I think these look awesome! I just wish either my younger brother was here to play it with me or he had a system this is available on. He'd love this.
Cool songs. I'd forgotten how ominous that Paper Mario song is. It's been a long time since Bowser was scary! As for Grandia 2, I'd be willing to bet that the guitars and drums are real but the other instruments are synthesized. The brass certainly is, though it is pretty good. Definitely an awesome song though.
As for a favorite of my own, I'm gonna share a normal boss theme because I missed last week's post you did lol. This is "The Edge of Green" from Radiant Historia, a superb RPG on DS. Composed by Yoko Shimomura.
It's coming out this August? Wow, that's a fast turn around.
Stopped reading at the spoiler warning lol. I do hope to see this sometime. There's a discount theatre where I live that gets movies after their theatrical run is over but before the disc release. Only $2! If it gets Pacific Rim, I'd love to go see it.
I think anime tropes and cliches are part of charm, part of what makes it a "JRPG." Now, granted, I haven't played a lot of the famous games in the genre--Xenogears, FFVIII and onwards, Lunar, any numbered Dragon Quest--so maybe I just haven't been oversaturated yet, but I like them the way they are. And it probably helps that those things remind me of the SNES RPGs I played as a kid.
I've always been amazed how quickly Square squashes the tribute projects by its most ardent fans. THOSE ARE YOUR BIGGEST SUPPORTERS, SQUARE! Also, more Chrono games, please.
I'm much more familiar with these character than the Namco ones. I'd probably go with X and Zero given the choice.
Wow, that is a lot of stuff going on! No wonder you don't have time to blog lol. But that sucks about your PS woes. My PS3 came with a big HDD but I have two dinky ones for the 360 that are always full, and it's so expensive to get a big one 
At least they're easy to switch out, I guess.
I'll keep looking too. I don't know why Sony won't take better care of it. It's a first-party program, right? Seems like it would be a great selling point for owning a PSP and a PS3. Reminds me that despite all the good will Sony has engendered lately for the next generation, their current online otherings are still subpar
