Shin Megami Tensei - Played through SMT1, SMT2, and even played around with 'Shin Megami Tensei if...' for a little bit. God bless fan translators. Aeon Genesis did a really nice localization, actually. I especially like their dialogue for Law characters - they do a really good job capturing the feel of the King James version of the Bible. Also, apart from the fact that these games -require- emulation-assisted fast-forwarding, they're pretty fun to play. Especially the demon recruiting. As for plot... while not the first time the issue has been tackled, the SMT series does a good job of using mythology and religion to make a pretty entertaining story. And I like the fact that there's a choice besides 'Mother Teresa' and 'Adolf Hitler'... of course, in SMT, Chaos-aligned 'Adolf Hitler' looks WAAAY nicer than Law-aligned 'Mother Teresa'... Which is a nice, if predictable, subversion.
Jack Frost is adorable and I can never bring myself to not keep one around even into the endgame. I don't use him for anything, I just keep him around in the computer and bring him out when I need to remind myself that I'm playing Pokemon (long before Pokemon ever existed).
Also, all 3 SMT mains for High Godlike hype. They have unique summoning a la Yuna... Broken and awesome. Really looking forward to SMT Nocturne, but I must wait for my care package from America to arrive before I can start...
DDS1+2 were a great way to start the SMT series - it was really easy to get into and I LOVED all the Hindu mythological references. It's clear that these games were made by people who are 'mythology otaku' and aren't ashamed of it. I salute them. They were quite a few demons/gods/creatures that I'd never heard of before, but thankfully wikipedia exists and now I've learned WAAAY more about Celtic and Hindu folklore than I ever expected I'd care about. Between DDS1/2 and SMT1/2, it's been really easy to remember relationships between pantheons of gods (particularly confusing ones like Japanese/Shinto folklore). Ah - video games: Educational, Fun, and Anti-Christian. No wonder they never made it to America...
During the wait:
Tales of Vesperia: Hey! I'm still playing this! Character interaction is amazing! Recently got Judith and I love her. I hope she eclipses Estelle as the 'love interest', even if Estelle retains her role as Lead Female/Heroine.
Yuri/Judy is probably the best romantic interplay I've seen in an RPG (not saying much), and it would be a shame to see it wasted. Still, even if it's just playful flirting and nothing comes of it - it's fun to watch. Romantic subplots in RPGs generally are pretty painful, so it's a nice change.
The story is still pretty good right now, though I can see the trainwrecks coming. There are a LOT of opposing factions in this game... I can see it's going to be very. very. long.
In normal anime, there's the protagonist and his rival. If ToV were normal anime, Yuri would be the Rival while Flynn is obviously the Protagonist. ToV decided they were tired of that scenario and made the Rival -likeable- for a change. ...and then made him the main character. This is why Yuri is fun to watch, and Flynn benefits from the usual likeable tropes normally associated with the Protagonist.
Nice job, ToV.
Repede's disinterest in Estelle makes for the most hilarious skits.
*Judith and Repede getting along*
Estelle: What? Why does he like -you-? *seems to be on the verge of tears*
Raven: Maybe this dog only likes pretty girls?
Estelle: *still sounding pitiable* But -I'M- a pretty girl!
*Everyone just kind of sweatdrops at her outburst*
