Okay, as promised, here are my microreviews of said games that I picked up for this month, folks.

Storyline: You come into the realization that you are a unique Big Daddy in terms of design. During 1958, you are escorting a Little Sister who gets surprised by a bunch of Splicers. After dispatching them, a mysterious woman known as Lamb appears, and forces you to commit suicide. Ten years later, you awake into Rapture so many years after the fall of Andrew Ryan. Things have become more hectic. While you proceed to hunt for this one particular Little Sister you have been drawn to (codenamed Eleanor), you are still killing many Splicers and other Big Daddies, as well as the presence of two new antagonists: Lamb, who has become the equivalent of Andrew Ryan now, with virtually total control of Rapture, and the Big Sister, a Little Sister who has grown up and become mechanized (yes, even the Big Daddies were human once too).

Gameplay: Unlike the original game, you can now have Plasmids and weapons out at the same time! Left trigger and shoulder controls Plasmids, while the other set handles your weapons. They've mapped a couple of the core functions to different buttons (like using First Aid has its own button, as does Eve Hypos). Otherwise, being able to use both types in your arsenal at the same time are a very thrilling experience.

Sound: Let's face it. The soundtrack is genuine to the environment. The voice acting's amazing. Everything just sounds so...nifty.

Graphics: Hardly an upgrade from the original, but everything is still sharp and beautiful, even on the PS3 version.

Worth it?: Abso-bleeping-lutely. I think the game's story is a little confusing for most of the game. But everything else is just...rapture. Haha. Even the multiplayer's got its edge to it. I swear I haven't laughed so hard in using a Plasmid on someone. But what is unfortunate is they do not react as effectively as the AI in the Single Player do. If you shock someone, they will briefly become stunned. But if you set them on fire, they do not become temporarily disoriented and seeking out a water source to put out the flames with. But I figure that since they're willing to focus on killing you before they meet their end...it doesn't matter.

Summary: 9/10

Storyline: You are on the throes of travelling to space aboard the Calnus, shortly after mankind experiences World War III. As a result, mankind takes to the stairs. Playing as Edge Maverick, and occupied by his partner Reimi Saionji, the two of them set forth to the stars to explore new worlds. Little do they know that their travels engage them with a rather diverse crew of aliens as they band together in order to challenge a major alien threat that threatens the known galaxy.

Gameplay: Real Time Battle System. 3D movement on a 3D enclosure. No ATBs to be found here. Killer Moves are mapped to the trigger buttons for attackers. And magic users have a charging time for their spells. Damage and speed with such increase the more you use them and upgrade them.

Sound: Its all spacey and futuristic. The PS3 version has the presence of Japanese voice acting, along with multilingual subtitles. So for those who can't stomach the typical trouble that the US has with finding voice actors, enjoy a more pleasing experience, even if you spend it reading the dialogue more.

Graphics: Hardly a step up from the 360 version, but since the graphics look the same compared to lesser with the time it took to clean it up and make it playable on the PS3, it's acceptable.

Worth It?: I played this for many, many hours on the 360. I thought the game was decent overall for a Star Ocean game. They will never be on the level of Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, or Shin Megami Tensei, but they are in a good spot for those who have a broader appeal when it comes to JRPGs. The PS3 version is the same thing, save for the option to experience it in a new light. It's like watching anime. You find yourself watching the original cut when its japanese audio with english subtitles. And it just feels so good. Then you switch to American. And someone who is meant to sound quite mature sounds like a wuss. Since Final Fantasy XIII is due out in a month, everyone's going to ignore this. But not me. I just don't want everyone to bash this title for being mediocre compared to Final Fantasy XIII, which has already had some premature reviews released.

Summary: 8.5/10 was given to the 360 version. I give this one at most 8.75/10. But since GS doesn't like quarters, 8.5/10. Especially since this is an RPG that will find its fans and anti-fans.

Storyline: The Kingdom of Balandor is set to host a special ceremony for their princess, Cisna. The party occurs, and is interrupted by the Magi, assailants looking to secure a rare treasure that lies beneath the castle. The storyline focuses around the main character, Leonard, who happens to cater to this party, is invited inside, and ends up taking the princess deep under the castle. In the treasure hold, he comes into contact with a mythical suit of armor that bonds to him, sensing his worthiness to its power. After beating back the Magi, he discovers that the princess has been kidnapped. So, he sets out on a journey with others in order to rescue her from the Magi.

Gameplay: It's set up just like FF12's battle system. You can assign a series of commands to a slot list for each character, and they will follow it based on the situation. Assign them Heal, and they will cast it on chars whose HP gets too low. They will also save their magic for certain enemies who have weaknesses to it. By leveling up, you earn skill points that can be spent toward different skill lists to teach new commands, improve stats, and learn new techniques. You can then create special combos with these skills and use them with their respective characters.

Sound: It's a medieval fantasy. Weapons make their respective sounds. The voice acting is still a bit iffy. Unlike SO4, no japanese voice acting available, unfortunately.

Graphics: It's all quite pretty. Coming from the studio that did both Dark Clouds and Rogue Galaxy with their cel-shaded graphics, the step into full 3D is a nice one.

Worth It?: It isn't so much the storyline that sells this game. It's the gameplay. Expect to find yourself playing this short of an MMORPG. You have 50 side quests that can be tackled with one player or multiplayer. On that note, the game allows you to craft an avatar. This avatar can have its own look. It will be a part of the storyline and adventure with the other characters. But since the character doesn't have a real 'say' in the story (literally), he/she is there as the strong and silent type. This avatar can then be used to do these side quests SOLO or with the aid of other avatars over the PSN from others playing the game.

Worth It?, Part 2: The game also takes JRPGs in a new direction with the presence of online: Georama. Level 5 has integrated the village creation system from Dark Cloud 1 and 2 into this game. With it, you can harvest items and materials in the single player and spend them either in that game to synthesize items, or save them for the Georama to build buildings and decor to expand your village with. In the single player, you will be expected to find residents, which are discernable once Georama becomes available. These residents contribute to the prosperity of the village. The better the village does, the better the residents get that you can recruit (and you may need to kick some of the lesser ones to the curb). As a result, these residents run the buildings you set up and can sell you items. Depending on how well your village does, it will reflect the items you have available to purchase.

Summary: 8/10. The storyline could have used work. Georama will apply to anyone who loves building their own villages. But everything else? They will have those that can tolerate it. And those who can't.

I think I had a decent run with my spending money. All that is left is to enjoy these new purchases, along with what I got right now, and then wait on Final Fantasy XIII and the new Dragon Age expansion to distract me, haha. Hope you guys enjoy the reviews!

What attracted me to this sci-fi series originally was the fact that I was hardly into that at first: science fiction. The closest I had come to it was watching the original Star Wars films. And of course, a few episodes of both original Star Trek and Star Trek: TNG slipped through. Babylon 5, although another cult sci fi (doing battle with Star Trek: Deep Space 9) slipped under my radar and we had yet to receive Battlestar Galactica and Stargate with its many incarnations. Allow me to provide a general understanding of this cult series.

In 1999, Rockne S. O'Bannon wrote the story and paired up with the Jim Henson Production company (Muppets, people! Remember Kermit the Frog? Miss Piggy?) and Hallmark Entertainment to film this series in Australia. At the time, there were hardly any known actors or actresses on contract to star in the series (with the exception of Miss Claudia Black, who had a small role in Pitch Black with Vin Diesel and various other semi-famous actors/actresses). However, the degree that the series emulated itself into with its dark adventures, zany humor, generous sensuality, and great storytelling escalated it into a great following. So what is the story about, you might ask?

An Earth astronaut named John Crichton (Ben Browder) is testing a revolutionary theory on using Earth's gravity as a slingshot, combined with thrust from a space module, to generate speeds that are far beyond what humanity is capable of. Out of nowhere, an electromagnetic field discharged into space (undoubtedly from the Sun) comes into contact with his module, and the ensuing collision of energy breaks time and space and thrusts John into a wormhole (basically, it is an unstable spatial anomaly that can join two random points in space and allow for swift travel at great risk, the way I see it). When he emerges, he finds himself in an unknown part of space. Nearby, he witnesses a series of attack ships assaulting a single giant vessel which draws him in. Onboard, he comes into contact with alien lifeforms. But they are far beyond your typical aliens. They happen to be escaped prisoners that had commandeered the ship, a living bio-mechanical vessel known as a Leviathan named Moya.

The three prisoners are reprehensive of him. Ka D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) is a Luxan warrior who was imprisoned for murder and generally a vicious, temperamental alien. Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan (Virginia Hey) is a Delvian priestess of sorts, also detained for murder, but she represents a degree of passiveness and intellectuality that mirrors her talents with medicine. And there is former Dominar Rygel the 16th (one of Jim Henson Production's key creations...yes, a Muppet), a Hynerian member of royalty that was removed by his cousin's betrayal and given away to custody. John also discovers the presence of a fourth alien on board that was captured by the prisoners. A Sebacean militant known as Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) who is a former Peacekeeper. The Peacekeepers are the premiere military force in that part of space, operated mostly by Sebaceans with a few crucial contracts with other alien species. The series primarily focuses on their survival in space as they avoid the Peacekeepers and any alien threats that conceive to disrupt their journey.

This series ran for 4 seasons from 1999 to 2003. Originally scheduled to have 5 seasons overall, the Sci-Fi channel (that had picked it up and produced it beyond season 1) decided to discontinue funding for the series for its fifth season since the ratings (not the fanbase) declined during season 4. People got PO'd over this turn of events. Already, the series had garnered many nominations for awards at the Saturn Awards. So as a result, Sci-Fi went through and decided to push for finishing the series up. That is where Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars comes in.

In 2004, the series was concluded with a four hour miniseries that focused on the main plot of Season 5. The Peacekeeper Wars got an Emmy Nomination in 2005 for Outstanding Visual Effects. And in 2007, TV Guide named Farscape as #4 in "The Top 30 Cult Shows Ever" spread they published.

In 2009, A&E nabbed the rights to Farscape and had re-released it into this nifty set pictured below.

This boxset encompasses all 4 seasons, at 88 episodes each, an hour long each. Although, the Peacekeeper Wars is not a part of this set since it's listed separately when it comes to owning rights. This series is currently on sale for 60 bucks on Amazon, which is a great deal since most places are selling it for 100-150 bucks, with the individual seasons going for 40-50 bucks apiece. The Peacekeeper Wars can be found for 10-15 bucks brand new by itself from most places.

As a result of its popularity rising, the creator of the series O'Bannon currently has webisodes in production that will become a continuation of where the series left off. To sate the appetite of the willing fans, comics chronicling the continuation of the series beyond Season 5 were released and join the webisodes with the TV series. Right now, the future is always changing. The creator has aspirations to revive the series and to go so far as to bring it to the big screen. Given the series' track record for storytelling, engaging characters, and huge fanbase, it's got potential.

This series was the first series I watched through to its entirety. I got hooked on it when I was a teenager. As a result, I got drawn into watching Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and even other Star Wars incarnates/spinoffs. As of right now, I'm pushing my way through Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 online with watching them. It is a great sci-fi series and deserves to be watched by those who appreciate a good sci-fi series. Just know one thing: Be patient with the first season. It's establishing the story, it was produced before Sci-Fi got ahold of it. But it's like A New Hope for the series. Introduces a great idea with some action. And leaves it to the sequels (e.g., Season 2 and 3 being the Empire Strikes Back) to get into darker elements and more actiony bits. And Season 4 with Peacekeeper Wars are Return of the Jedi. But I won't ruin too much for you. You can go online and try to stream it from wherever you can find it.

Alright, I've said a lot about this series already . Now, go and watch it people! I want to hear reviews from those bold enough to give it a shot! Until next time, when I post my reviews for White Knight Chronicles, Star Ocean: TLHI, and Bioshock 2! Toodles!

Here's what I managed in the past month:

-Death Note (the whole series)

-Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood (the first 40 eps)

-Trigun (whole series)

-Afro Samurai (whole series plus Resurrection)

-Blue Gender (whole series)

-Code Geass (whole series)

-Black Lagoon (whole series)

The fact I ported all this to my Ipod was a big help. I pretty much spend 4-5 hours between customers watching anime. Or did. Seasonal job is done now.

Curious as to the sci-fi series I saw? It was a cult classic series on Sci-Fi (why is it Sy Fy now?) that aired from 1999 to 2003. Still lost?...

Farscape. Amazon.com had the whole series on sale for 59.99. 4 seasons, 88 episodes at about an hour or so apiece. It got axed when the last season, Season 5 was promised. So they had to compress Season 5 into a 3 part miniseries known as the Peacekeeper Wars. Overall, the series is one of the best science fiction tv shows I've ever seen. It has MUPPETS! Of course, they're alien muppets. The Jim Henson company contributed heavily to the show. It was because of this series that I begun watching other series like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Firefly. Babylon 5 is next on my list. But any sci-fi fanatics on GS that I know? Go online and stream this series. Just give the first season a chance to learn the chars. Season 2 is where it really kicks in.

I'm off to bed, guys. Next time I post, I'll work in micro-reviews for White Knight Chronicles, Bioshock 2, and Star Ocean: TLHI.