Ben’s Week In Review: August 2

It's my birthday today. I turn 31. And I do not want to talk about it. 😉

Which RPG should I be most excited about?

It happens every generation: as the role-playing genre is always the last genre to really get rolling in any given era, I find myself turning to other titles to satisfy my gaming desires. And I don't mind doing this; I just want to play the best of the best, and the only genres I really don't play are RTS and flight sims. Anything beyond that is fair game, and it kinda has to be early on in any generation because the RPGs are few and far between. But they're a-comin' now and I'm preparing for a shift back to RPG mode…the only question is, which RPG should I be most excited for? FFXIII tops the list 'cuz it always will but there are many other promising RPGs that will release well before the newest FF, and I'm currently leaning towards Demon's Souls . I mean, has anyone really looked at the immense praise that game has received? It's pretty amazing. But then again, I'm really liking the look and style of Resonance of Fate ; while tri-Ace didn't get me with Star Ocean: The Last Hope , I'm fully confident in their development capabilities. Then you've got Dragon Age: Origins , White Knight Chronicles and Alpha Protocol so I'm rapidly becoming inundated with future possibilities.

What think you? Should I still have Demon's Souls as my most anticipated RPG (next to FFXIII)? Or is Bioware's Origins really looking good to you right about now? I have my reservations for Obsidian's Alpha Protocol , but I have a feeling I'll really like Level 5's White Knight Chronicles …ah, what to do, what to do…

Two must-haves on the PSN, peeps

The first is Shatter and the second is Fat Princess (review coming Monday). I won't reveal too much about the latter as I'm still playing it (and I can't yet jump onto the servers to have a go at multiplayer), but I can tell you it's every bit as good as I expected. Well, almost . I have a few small issues with it, but I imagine those will get overshadowed when I finally get into some online matches; this game is clearly designed to be played with a group. It was great to learn that so many people rewarded Sidhe Interactive in the first week of Shatter 's availability, and for only $7.99, I urge you to pick it up if you haven't already. You won't be disappointed. Also, feel free to download the Madden NFL 10 demo that's now on the Store; you can only play 1-minute quarters (which is uber-lame), but at least you get a chance to play it. I'll be reviewing that one in a few weeks time, so I wanted to get an early look…it's okay. I can't tell much without any control description and extremely brief gameplay segments. But I'll play a little more.

Oh, and I can't wait to hear what thatgamecompany's third PSN project is. I know I'll buy it; Jenova Chen and the rest of that team has earned my respect. You know, when I first heard about the concept of downloadable titles, I said, "yeah…doesn't sound like anything I'd want to play much." Man, was I wrong .

Personal gaming update

Well, I beat Shatter – totally bad-ass game – and as I just said, I've been playing Fat Princess . I've also been working my way through FFX as some of you know, and I assume I'll get a game for my birthday (probably RE5). The only title I really want to play this month is Batman: Arkham Asylum , but that's okay; I'll need to be ready for October. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , Demon's Souls , Dragon Age: Origins , etc. Then November has some huge releases as it always does, and I'll probably be too busy with reviews to ever play anything I actually want to play. Such is the way every year. But anyway, I'm kinda hoping that GT5 doesn't hit that rumored December 29 launch date because I really won't have the time to deal with it. That's like the exact day we start working on the Game of the Year Awards.

On the other hand, it's not a terrible time. It's away from the Oct/Nov rush and there shouldn't be much in January and February I desperately want; not until March and God of War III . Well, whatever. I'm tired and I've got stuff to do tomorrow, so I'll check y'all later.