Last night and this morning I took a little bit of time to watch the openings or play through the first few minutes of a handful of games that have yet to be put into any of my machines. Ten games, most of them PS2 titles, were played in order to make sure I wasn't putting off something really compelling in favor of Twilight Princess, and the verdict is... below. (Ha! Figured I was going to let the only other September LJ post be a shortcut, did you? I've had these words building up for a long time and they are coming out now whether you like it or not. Well, okay, so I hope you like it, but if not that ain't gonna stop me.) Lots of cuts for this entry, so be warned.

So, each one in no particular order:

Steambot Chronicles: Well, the first thing that struck me was that Spike Freaking Spencer voiced the main character. He also has the potential to be far snarkier than Shinji or Akito ever were, so I might just have to play Vanilla as a douchebag just to hear him say what I imagine he's been dying to say. The controls for the Trotmobiles (bipedal cars) are a little weird-- probably closer to, say, Armored Core or almost Katamari Damacy-- but they feel natural after a little while. I'm a bit more excited for this one now.
GrimGrimoire: NIS America distributed this, but the Vanillaware style is very much in play in the beyond gorgeous visuals. The voices are a little on the squeaky side, but that's to be expected given that it's basically "Loli Potter". I stopped before the game became playable but it looks to be a far more interesting tale than Odin Sphere struck me.
Grandia II: It's been damn near seven years since I last put this game in, and it looks about as well as it did on the Dreamcast (I'm playing the PS2 version). Obviously this leads into a remark that the graphics look dated, but 'dated' in this case doesn't necessarily mean 'bad'. The story is still appropriately angsty as was the style at the time, but I'm not sure if I'm in the mood to go through it just yet. It's lower on the list than I figured it would be.
La Pucelle Tactics: Holy freaking crap, I forgot just how funny this game was. It came before Disgaea in the whole 'order of development' thing, but its sense of humor is fairly universal. I imagine that after I finish Disgaea, this is the next NIS epic on the list; probably because it will be far shorter than the knock-down, drag-out fights from Hell that series is known for. Of course, I could be wrong.
Radiata Stories: I had to get a sense of this game again for two reasons: the first was that I was about ten hours in when my memory card decided to self-destruct back in Cleveland, and as a result I never felt like restarting it. The second was that it was a kind of a downer beginning (spoiler: Jack flunks the Knight exams, and nothing you do can change that) during Cleveland, where I was seriously depressed, so it had a couple irrational strikes against it. I'm starting to see the humor in it a bit more, but it's still going to be a while before I start it up for real.
Tales of Legendia: First things first, thank you very much for starting up with an action sequence! Seriously, after watching for the majority of the preceding 90 minutes or so, having some actual combat was a well-needed thrill. This being a somewhat earlier Tales title on the PS2, it still has the chibi field figures, but it also has animated cutscenes and some very attractive artwork. I stopped when the Cam Clarke timer went off (about fifteen minutes in-- seriously, it's like his voice is to Tales games as barrels and crates are to first-person shooters).
Tales of The Abyss: Hero named Luke, secluded in a boring environment, eager for adventure, prophecied to change the world. Why didn't they just call it "Tales of Star Wars As Drawn By Kosuke Fujishima"? Not saying that I'm not going to play it, because if there's one serious weakness I have it's Fujishima's artwork, but it's not getting off to too great of a start.
ICO: Yeah, I suppose I should admit right now that I was infuriated by Myst, and that ICO looks to be just the same. Though I did manage to get Yorda out of the cage and led her to the first Love Seat Of Make-Out And Also Saving, it might be a while before I start this one up again just because I kinda resent being thrown to the wolves like this. The manual was of almost no help, and way to not offer advice that might actually be helpful to the player.
Shadow of the Colossus: Okay, pretty. Really, really pretty. But remember what I said about being thrown to the wolves? Except in this case there's only one wolf, and he's several dozen stories tall and squished me like a goddamn grape. Oh, and why does Wander have scrawny arms? It was a horrible effort to cling onto the first one's ankle hairs long enough to stab ineffectually at the too well-hidden magical weak point. I'm playing to fight giant stone monsters, not the crappy controls.
Bioshock: I really got into this; every little sound made me jumpy, and I have to admit that the Little Sisters are going to give me nightmares for months-- particularly the one in the theater, jabbing that big-ass needle thingy into that guy's head. Compared to that, the Big Daddies are nothing. So why is it that right when I was going to get to Neptune's Bounty I got ambushed by, like, fifty splicers? At once? I'm probably going to play through this after I finish Half-Life 2, assuming I ever get back to playing through that all the way through.

So that's the list. The Game Completed report is coming tomorrow-- I probably ought to put it up today, but there's no real rush. Just a heads-up, the Anime report is going to be really short this month, too, as I spent the majority of my time gaming, but I'll have some remarks on a couple of new manga being read. Ciao, folks.