ROLE PLAYING GAME

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
When this title was announced fans everywhere rejoiced. Final Fantasy XII's world of Ivalice is one of the best loved in the famed series, but most were unsure how the title would play out on the DS. Square Enix took a chance and brought the universe to the handheld as a mission based real time strategy game. The story picks of where Final Fantasy XII left off with Vaan, Penelo, Balthier, and Fran embarking on a new somewhat stand alone adventure, somewhat new as they refer to previous events and travel to much of the same locations as the main game. This game features stunning graphics, amazing sound and of course a great story, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is available right now.

Why Buy it? Well it is Final Fantasy and it is set in Ivalice, those two points alone make it worth the price in my mind. Luckily there is a really great game engine powering events in this game, with the battles playing out in a very engaging manner thanks to the stylus driven controls. The story is a sweeping one with the standard twists and turns you expect from the series and Square Enix made sure the graphics and audio have that authentic Final Fantasy feel to them, particularly during the amazing cut scenes that take full advantage of the dual screen setup. This may not be a true Final Fantasy experience (play the PS2 original for that), but this is a great game that manages to take all we love from the original and puts it into a great RTS format.

Orcs and Elves
This game, developed by Id Software originally for the mobile platform, is now on the DS and while it is not the epic experience other RPG's will give you, it is a fun and challenging game with a lot of depth. You play a generic hero with a talking wand who is dispatched to avenge the kidnapping of your king as you make your way through a dungeon built into a mountain. It is a turn based game based on a grid movement table presented in the first person, as you move a square at a time all the others in your vicinity move as well, all actions take a turn from movement to attacking. While this may sound awkward and slow in theory, in practice it is surprisingly fast paced with no waits between turns and it gives you the ability to plan your actions carefully. This could have been shoddy port from the mobile platform, instead it is a great full featured game that is a nice fit on the DS, Orcs and Elves is available right now.