Xenoblade Chronicles

Also known as that game Nintendo are fucking retards for not releasing in North America, just cause. Seriously, so much loving praise is heaped onto this jrpg. Is it the forbidden fruit effect that makes me want to check this out? Then there's that game blog that wrote out a full fledged guide to hack your Wii so you can import it from Europe. Nintendo's official stance is to see how sales are for the European release before deciding anything. Which is just idiotic. The hardcore gamer set will have imported the game by then and have hacked their Wii's, which has a side effect of opening the doors to software piracy, the people who would have bought it had to jump through some hoops to get their hands on it. They have no problems releasing garbageware filling landfills here and there, but decide not to publish one of the most anticipated titles (and currently highly reviewed) on their ailing platform...dumb.

Some sample snippets of reviews out there on the internets:

What, people committed suicide because of Final Fantasy 13, lol.

...

European chewers, have any of your checked this out yet? Any worthwhile impressions? Fuck it, I just placed an order to import the bugger.

Took two weeks but it was finally delivered to my door via Game UK. Only devoted a couple of hours to it tonight, but this will consume my long weekend. The music is great; calming folksy sound gives off Bastion vibes. Graphically this isn't going to wow people due to the wii's limited hardware, but the scope and scale of freely wandering around is nice. Haven't bothered with the storyline just yet. I got sucked into doing all the side quests I keep stumbling upon. I'm grateful they don't require you to trudge back to the quest giver when you've completed some of the fetch quests; especially with the day/night cycle where certain npc's are only available at any given time. I also dig the trade system in place...and also love the fact that if you're trading an item too high a value compared to what you're asking for, they'll feel guilty and throw in an extra item. The whole game is streamlined for ease of use, with adequate tutorial systems in place explaining things. The interface lets you get to what you want to do. Having a save anywhere option is also a nice touch.

Combat is easy enough to figure out as you maneuver about in real time for some of the special moves. And hey, no god damned random battles - fuck yeah to that. Walked up this weird ramp thing and see a giant bird; transport, something I can talk to...nope instant death. You and me bird have an appointment down the road.

So far the game hasn't done one thing to turn me off. Aside from Lost Odyssey I haven't really gotten sucked into a jrpg to want to keep playing it. Whether it's annoying characters or meh storylines. So far it's been a pleasant experience that reminds me of playing Skies of Arcadia on the dreamcast way back when...look forward to whatever's out there beyond the first town area.