8/7 - Xbox Live Update - Dash Update + 2 new demos

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
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Link

Moments ago, the team released a system update (aka Dash update) to Xbox Live. Over the next few hours, when you sign in to Xbox LIVE, you?ll receive a prompt to accept this mandatory update. What?s in this update? The only thing this minor release will do is prepare your Xbox 360 for the wireless guitars that are being released in a few months.
No new features beyond this wireless support are included in this update. As usual, we?ve got some new features planned for later this year as part of our biannual release cycle.

Link
Content: Vampire Rain Demo
Price: Free
Availability: Not available in Germany, Korea, Taiwan or the United States
Dash Text: [ESRB: M (MATURE) Blood and Gore, Intense Violence] Vampire Rain combines stealth, survival horror and shooter aspects of your favorite games as you lead a black ops unit to secretly eliminate the deadliest supernatural enemies you?ve ever faced. Nightwalkers are intensely fast with super agility and they are converting humans to their kind at an alarming rate. Traverse all areas of an eerie and rain soaked city by moving across rooftops and through back alleys to avoid detection and enable the best strategic use of your weapons. It?s up to you to protect the innocent and find the evil source of this invasion before it?s too late. Demo includes 2 full missions and 2 experience trials along with an Xbox Live multiplayer experience unlike any other where you can experience the power of a Nightwalker first hand.
Size: 844.71 MB

Link
Content: Eternal Sonata Playable Demo
Price: Free
Availability: Canada & United States
Dash Text: [ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)] Now is your chance to play this year?s highly-anticipated RPG, Eternal Sonata, with a free demo available on Xbox Live® Marketplace.Developed for the Xbox 360TM video game and entertainment system by Tri-Crescendo and featuring the music of Chopin, Eternal Sonata delivers amazingly detailed 3D graphics, a captivating storyline with over 30 hours of gameplay and an innovative action battle system. Download the demo today and explore the Path to Tenuto, Tenuto Village and Heaven?s Mirror Forest with Polka, Allegretto and Beat. Get a glimpse of the world that is Eternal Sonata.
Size: 584.12 MB

I soooo don't have the time to play Eternal Sonata right now. :(
 

nycxandy

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
3,731
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The update went through fine and I'm currently downloading Eternal Sonata!
 

tatteredpotato

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2006
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I played it a couple weeks ago (Japanese XBL account FTW) and it's pretty interesting. I liked it better than the Blue Dragon demo personally, but the battle system is quite different. It's turn based, but when it's your turn you actually maneuver your character over to the enemies and perform attacks in real time.
 

bucwylde23

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
4,180
0
71
This update worried me...

After it download/installed the update and the system restarted, it hung for an unusually long time before it finally loaded up. I was waiting for the RROD haha
 

Thraxen

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2001
4,683
1
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Originally posted by: thawolfman
Anyone else enjoy Eternal Sonata? I really like the combat :)

I did. I thought it was a lot better than Blue Dragon (based on just the demos). And I love the combat system. A very nice mix of traditional turn based RPG combat and real time combat. I also love the fact that other players can apparently take control of the other characters. Now I just need to get a friend or two over to see how well it works. I also really liked the graphical style.
 

thawolfman

Lifer
Dec 9, 2001
11,107
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Originally posted by: Thraxen
Originally posted by: thawolfman
Anyone else enjoy Eternal Sonata? I really like the combat :)

I did. I thought it was a lot better than Blue Dragon (based on just the demos). And I love the combat system. A very nice mix of traditional turn based RPG combat and real time combat. I also love the fact that other players can apparently take control of the other characters. Now I just need to get a friend or two over to see how well it works. I also really liked the graphical style.

Totally agreed with the graphical style.

I downloaded Blue Dragon, watched my friend run through it for about half an hour, and just wasn't that impressed. It's most definitely flashy as all hell, but something about Eternal Sonata just does it for me...Reminds me of FFX and X-2 which I enjoyed despite what some may say ;)

Edit: From what I read over on IGN it sounds like the co-op is strictly in combat. Player 1 still controls moving around in the environment, but for combat the other player can take control of their character and attack/block/counter/etc.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Originally posted by: Queasy
Availability: Not available in Germany, Korea, Taiwan or the United States

:confused:

I hated Eternal Sonata's combat system. The game is highly focused on planning everything before you start and then executing it during your timer... but the game has you in some asinine camera angle when the battle starts. You practically waste your first turn as you may want to switch targets if you see someone that you should be attack before someone else. Sorry, but as nice as this game is... I cannot stand this glaring oversight.

Oh and when it comes to Blue Dragon, I think the game is better than Eternal Sonata, but I can't stand the J-Rock boss music in it... it's just not boss music material.
 

thawolfman

Lifer
Dec 9, 2001
11,107
0
76
Originally posted by: Aikouka
Originally posted by: Queasy
Availability: Not available in Germany, Korea, Taiwan or the United States

:confused:

I hated Eternal Sonata's combat system. The game is highly focused on planning everything before you start and then executing it during your timer... but the game has you in some asinine camera angle when the battle starts. You practically waste your first turn as you may want to switch targets if you see someone that you should be attack before someone else. Sorry, but as nice as this game is... I cannot stand this glaring oversight.

Oh and when it comes to Blue Dragon, I think the game is better than Eternal Sonata, but I can't stand the J-Rock boss music in it... it's just not boss music material.

I most definitely agree with the camera angle in combat - I got used to it after the first couple of fights, but I can definitely see where it could pose a problem past the demo combat.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Originally posted by: thawolfman
I most definitely agree with the camera angle in combat - I got used to it after the first couple of fights, but I can definitely see where it could pose a problem past the demo combat.

Well, that's because most of the demo combat was a joke in difficulty. If the fights were any harder, you'd probably want that amount of time to plan who you need to attack first. I also talked about a couple annoyances in the game when I first got the demo and posted about it on here. I hate how weak the heals are and how you cannot choose who you want to heal, it's automatic. When fighting the last boar boss, the heals were way too weak and practically worthless.
 

Thraxen

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2001
4,683
1
81
Originally posted by: Aikouka
Well, that's because most of the demo combat was a joke in difficulty. If the fights were any harder, you'd probably want that amount of time to plan who you need to attack first. I also talked about a couple annoyances in the game when I first got the demo and posted about it on here. I hate how weak the heals are and how you cannot choose who you want to heal, it's automatic. When fighting the last boar boss, the heals were way too weak and practically worthless.

Well, that applies to that one healing spell the girl has. The actual game may have more powerful healign spell, I don't know. But those heal items (peach something) were very powerful, at least in relation the character's current levels. Since they were fairly plentiful I didn't even bother with using the heal spell anymore, I just used the heal item.

I do agree with the camera angle comments. You pretty much had to use your first attack just to run out into the field to see where everyone was. After that it was pretty easy to keep track of where everyone was located. But it would be nice if you could rotate the camera around before initiating an attack.

Even with the camera grip though, I still found the combat system in Eternal Sonata to be a refreshing change from the way combat is handled in most RPGs. I thought it was a nice twist on turn based combat.
 

Abel007

Platinum Member
Jun 12, 2001
2,169
0
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Sorry for bringing back this dead thread, but I finally got around to playing Eternal Sonata last night. I am hooked. I loved the game and plan to pick it up.

I thought the combat system was fun. The camera angles while running along the paths got interesting at times but eventually found the correct view. As for the combat view, if you hit the left trigger it will change to 3 different views so you can see the whole field or zoom in for close quarters combat.

Anyone else have opinions on this game?