So as I mentioned I was going to do on Wednesday, I went out and grabbed Dragonquest 8. And I’m loving it.

I’ll let you in on a dirty little secret- I have never really played a Japanese RPG before.

It’s true. I’ve stated countless times that I’ve never played any of the Final Fantasy games for more than ten minutes, but that holds true for any turn-based japanese RPG. I just never got into them. The whole menu fighting thing had never interested be much. It’s part of the reason I didn’t stick with FFXI very long, despite Madsen’s insistence.

(Side Note: I love RPG’s like Morrowind and Fable, and I loved KOTOR, which technically is turn-based, but I never considered it to be cut from the same cloth as these Japanese RPG’s. Perhaps because it masked the “menu” well enough.)

I’ve always been genuinely curious about the attraction of such games, but every time I played one, I couldn’t get into it. I don’t know why, but I saw DragonQuest 8 and I something inside of me decided it was time to give these types of games another try.

So I bought the game, fired it up, and started playing. And within fifteen minutes I was totally hooked. I think I ended up playing for three to four hours. And it’s really challenging, too, which I like. If I had any complaint, it would be that you seem to run into a fight every five steps, which can become a nuisance. But on the flip side, it’s almost necessary due to the difficulty of enemies you face in relation to your party’s strength. You need every little bit of experience you can get, and just as damned soon as you can get it too.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to play for the 100+ hours that DragonQuest offers, but I don’t doubt that I’ll be with it well through the Winter-een-mas season.

Also, I finally gave up on the idea of going down to the store and buying DOA4, and just ordered it from EBGames. And they have informed me that my copy has shipped and should be arriving shortly.

The last bit of news for now is to remind you that you only until Saturday the 31st to pick up CAD Premium for the discounted price. On January 1st, the subscription rate goes up. Have a question about CAD Premium? Perhaps this mini-FAQ will have your answer!

My big projects for January are getting some goodies into the CAD Premium area a month in advance for people who signed up already, and going all-out on Winter-een-mas. You can find the Winter-een-mas website here.

I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!