Thanks! You'll get there. I focused on the game pretty intensely the last few weeks so I have a lot of hours (more than most people!) but the reason is I've been just taking it pretty easy and exploring everything the world has to offer. I think JRPG's like this are best enjoyed at your own pace, so no rush! I'm pretty amazed by the amount of content.

I'm absolutely loving it. I had extremely high expectations to begin with, but they have been exceeded in every way. I honestly feel that this game is the best game of this entire gen. I haven't experienced a game truly this great in a very long time. The battle system, world/atmosphere, music, character designs is flawless! I grew up with Studio Ghibli, so being able to explore and live in a world similar to Howl's Moving Castle is a dream come true! I take it your enjoying it as well? If you like RPG's, I'm sure anyone that tries it out will be able to see it's beauty.

no updates?

I really like Nier so far! There are a few aspects of it that are non-critical that can be a nuisance (like fishing) but nothing that I feel truly deters from the game. It has a simplistic battle style, but a very complex battle design, if that makes any sense. There's a lot that goes into battling, such as the immense customization of weapons and magic, but everything is very much 'one button battling.' And of course, the soundtrack is as gorgeous as everyone says.

Overall, I'm really enjoying it, although to be perfectly honest, I haven't played it in quite some time. My 3DS has been getting a ton of love as of late.

Good luck with your backloggery progress! Marathons are a good way to get motivated as long as you don't overwhelm yourself. I like to take it nice and easy and just have fun, knocking out as I go along.

It's going good, been busy with my Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Marathon. Getting ready for KH3D in just a few weeks! How's your gaming been?

I see similarities in (mind you, stupid looking Nomura designs) and just the placement of them for plot advancement. Noel, from the "future" comes to a time less familiar and foreign, he plays a role not only in development, but also as the player's suppliant for information and customs specific to the world (something FFXIII lacked -- being placed in media res with not much of an idea of wtf is happening).

I forgot that Tidus wasn't from the "future" when I wrote that.

They're minor similarities, but I see it, strangely enough. They're starkly different at the core, though. I'm sure my opinion will change. It's only been like, an hour. lol.

and his stance in battle made him feel similar to Tidus, but I guess it resembles Sora more. oh well.

Pretty decent. SW3 is slow as hell (slower than the first), but it's pretty good in terms of gameplay and character stories. You also get somewhat of a variation in movesets as opposed to DW7. There's a nice building up of character development (level system) and a skill system (even in the first) to make your characters awesome. I'm just playing through SW1 right now, and I like it. I find it difficult at times, though, and there are some stupid castle maps that are annoying as hell to crawl through (think G.U x P3).

Well I have them both already because I'm an evil pirate.

So many things! I want to crack on the Warriors games (SW1,2,&3) so I can purchase Warriors Orochi 3. I'm not going to bother with the first two installments of WO. I'm in a Warriors mood and that doesn't happen too often, so it's nice to dedicate myself to it.

I recently started playing Pandora's Tower also, it's a pretty decent RPG for the Wii (for Eurobeans only). I've bought/dled quite a few games recently, but I'm trying to resist playing them all at one time.

I also want to dedicate much of this summer to my literary studies (plus I'm taking classes), and when I'm in such a gaming mood, it's rather hard to alternate.

'grats on the for Xenoblade. Can't wait to get to it.