So I checked out the first 15 action-packed minutes of the nearly hour long Lost Odyssey TGS demo yesterday and I was completely blindsided by how awesome this game looks and feels (in the emotion stirring sense).

I don' t know if this game is going to " steal TGS" or sell a million Xbox 360s in Japan, but damn it is an impressive piece of work that will turn a lot of heads. Takehiko Inoue' s art direction has taken on a maturity that goes even beyond his work in Vagabond, and seeing it in motion in both the CG and real-time graphics makes me think that his future isn' t in manga but rather in 3D and games.

But what really got to me beyond the FF-style combat vs. like 1000 enemies and seamless integration of real-time and CG graphics is the way Lost Odyssey conveys a sense a mystery around its main character (who apparently is immortal). I walked away from the demo immediately wanting to know more about the game' s scenario -- hero, villains, f' ed up world, everything.

I haven' t played a J-RPG and haven' t wanted to play one since... , I can' t even remember, and now I suddenly can' t wait for Mistwalker to finish the damn game. :P

Jesus, I' m trying to work and eat lunch here.

Blue Dragon is good. Graphics are simplistic and clean, but it suits Toriyama' s style perfectly and the quality of the models combined with the post-effects happening onscreen really make this game look almost CG in real-time. Gameplay-wise, there are some pretty major twists and I certainly don' t want to give anything away, but if you love Dragon' s Quest style JRPGs, this is going to be a real beast. The game also feels very lengthy. That' s all I can say without getting Tenchu' ed.

Totally different styles, both games look very next-gen.

In-game graphics in LO look shockingly close to CG. when the movie transitioned into gameplay, the seamlessness with which it happened literally shot chills down my spine. I was like, WTF....