PixlBit

Very nice!  Even though I have never really watched Adventure Time, I like your take on the characters that I have seen all over the damn place.  

Guys!  Guys!  Look at this...

I don't even know what this is talking about... but it is HAWT.

The demo is a good representation of the actual game.  They moved things around so that you get a feel for everything you'll be doing.  Personally, it feels a lot different to Bit.Trip.Runner (I have only played the first one) where I feel like what you're doing isn't as tied into the music as it is in HarmoKnight.  I think that's just the way I approach Runner, though. You might be more focused on the beat in that game than I am.  Bottom line is, if you like the demo, you will like the game.

I bought both NieR and Split Second for said peanuts.  And both are still wrapped up and begging.  

Oh, how about Ufouria on the Wii VC?

I am always gun shy about rhythm games too, but it just takes that first step.  Some levels are tough and take lots of tries but you'll get it.  Try the demo - you'll see!

I can hear Nier and Split Second begging for their turn from my cabinet.  Also, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers tries to chime in from time to time.

Don't feel too bad.  It was a crapshoot to my little brain.  I bet there was some sort of system that makes sense and is probably all laid out in some document online now.  At the time, it was just punching in random letters and seeing what happened.  Normally it just broke the games in interesting ways... sometimes it just broke them.

And there is now of course a thorough wikia page detailing the differences.  I haven't dug into it much, but it looks really damn thorough:  http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_IV/Version_Differences

I really liked XIII.  I'm no FF super-fan like yourself, but I pretty much agree with everything you nicked the game for.  Everyone lauds when it finally "opens up" and lets you explore, but to me that was the most boring part of all.  I was charging through a  perfectly balanced "story," enjoying the battle system with enough challenges along the way and then I had to stop and grind for hours and hours.  Exploring a large open field is not interesting to me.  Since I liked the battle system so much, grinding wasn't awful, but I definitely didn't find that "open" portion of the game to be "when it finally got good."  

Very curious to see if you can make it all the way through again.  There's no way I'd replay this game, even though I really enjoyed it.

I am so glad you went prepared.  It KILLS me to be at jury duty with my books, DS, phone, and magazine while 50% of the adults are sitting there empty-handed and staring at the wall.  They brought nothing for a day when you will be sitting in waiting areas and hallways for up to eight hours.  Aghghg!

I played through this game for my first time probably five years ago.  At the time, I was looking something up online and found an awesome GeoCities site all about the game.  It did a fantastic job of showing how our version wasn't the "Easy Type" that we all think it is, but something in between... Alas, GeoCities is now gone with it's mountains of trash and occassional gems.  

Anyway, I enjoyed reading this entry too.  I had the Game Genie on the NES and never got as into it as I thought I would.  Eventually, I just tried to make up my own codes and write them down.  They were pretty amazing things like "make Mario red."  Whoopee!  Man, there was quite a fracas about that thing before it came out.  It was going to ruin the industry.  We'd all just rent games, beat them, and never buy anything ever again!