I think I am going to hold off on the current gen and keep on my PS2 for a while. I sold a bunch of games I am slowly re-purchasing (said I'd never do that... famous last words I tells ya'), and there are a ton out there that I still would like to play, not to mention the ones I own that I haven't finished. Don't get me wrong - I would love to play Demon Souls, for example, but given my goals in life, I don't know where more than one console fits in right now.

I have to admit from the get go that I have a tendency to be drawn toward niche games. No, it's not out of some 'look at me be different' complex (I like FF and MGS, for example; Halo 1 is one of my favorite games; etc..), but rather a loosing up of my expectations when approaching something new. And I think that is exactly what RPG-ers need to do if they are considering purchasing Baroque. At first, it comes across as a hack-and-slash dungeon-crawl with technically bland -- yet artistically atmospheric, and sometimes creepy --environments and great monster and NPC design. You go through floor after floor of randomly generated dungeon (or 'Nero Tower', as per the in game location) killing anything with your fists and various, found objects dropped behind by dispatched foes, or discovered along the way. These objects range from swords, coats (armor), health-ups, and other various implements to inflict damage (usually magical or elemental) unto the 'meta-beings' in the Nero Tower. Basically it plays like a just-above-average dungeon crawl/hack and slash action RPG... until your character gets killed and you go back to the over world at level one... with NONE of the items that you collected along the way. Hmmm.... You see, the first (maybe even second) time that happened I was like, 'okay, I've read many reviews; I knew what I was getting into.' But somewhere after the 3rd or 4th time I was like: 'okay... this sucks.' And you see fellow gamer, that's where you have to decide if you want to go through the game over and over and over again, depositing your precious items into the 'consciousness orbs' -- spherical things that start appearing in the Nero Tower around the 9th floor, and then every 2 or 3 floors after -- so that you can have that item in the over world when the player/character eventually dies/starts over. For me the joy of RPG's is mostly derived from the effort put into all those random (or not random) battles, and how the 'work' you have done is reflected in gained EXP, new special abilities, loot, rare items, etc.. Baroque essentially asks you to do away with that thinking and play by its rules. If you do stick with it, you'll find yourself getting better at managing your items in the Tower, and getting farther toward the bottom (hint -- DO NOT use Angelic until you reach the bottom), and somehow getting strangely addicted to finding all the items, monsters, and story pieces that reveal themselves with each subsequent play through. I've just touched that point where I understand the way the game is supposed to be played, and am mostly content that I made the purchase (mind you I found it mint for $17.99), and I am leaning toward giving this game around a 7.5 (also keep in mind that hack-and-slash RPGing through randomly generated dungeons is right up my alley). So before you purchase Baroque, ask yourself if the game play style is something you feel you could adapt to. PS sorry about the wall of text; I hit enter to start a new paragraph, but when I hit 'submit' the formatting doesn't transfer

(Et Tu, Brutes?... for those of you who didn't get the reference)

Well, I am sick of the passive-aggrsiveness on GS -- including that type of behavior from people on my "friends" list. I don't know, it's like if your going to be a piss-ant, then face up to it. I'm think I'm going to stay away from the forums for a while, as it is degrading to a "how to piss off what ever poster I have a probem with, and have pissing matches over our favorite games war. I guess wome people like hostility.... And ya know I'm just not enjoying it anymore. On a more positive note, I like P3. And I have it. I guess what's really bothering me is that other areas of my life are a little... less than perfect (so to speak), and when I come to GS, I usually am happy to interact with other participants so when one or two posters are jerks -- considering other not-so-stable-feeling areas of my life -- I think about that type of negativity (from GS) more than anything... more than the people on here who are decent and keep the forums enjoyable. This blog isn't directed at anyone on here or in my freinds list that will probably read it (I removed the 'friend' who pissed me off), I'm just sayin' what I feel. That's partially what a bolg is for, right?