Blue Dragon is a lengthy Japanese RPG that will last you about 50 hours, but you'll have to wait until the third and final disc before you get to the really good stuff. Blue Dragon's design team include such legends as Hironobu Sakaguchi, director of Final Fantasy I-V; Akira Toriyama, character and monster designer for Dragon Quest; and Nobuo Uematsu, composer for many Final Fantasy game soundtracks. With such an illustrious pedigree we would expect Blue Dragon to be something really special. Blue Dragon attempts to blend high tech science fiction and traditional Dragon Quest-style fantasy. Sometimes this mix comes off as inspired, but most of the time it just feels like a ripoff of every Japanese RPG that came before it, like the design team ran out of fresh ideas of their own. There are a few moments of brilliance on the first two discs, but there is so much filler material between them that you may wonder if it's worthwhile. Those who decide to stick with Blue Dragon will be glad they did by the time they get to Disc 3.

In 1999, Sonic Team brought Sonic Adventure to Sega’s console, the Dreamcast. In 2001, they delivered once again with Sonic Adventure 2, which brought even more acclaim to the series. In 2004, the team released Sonic Heroes for the newer consoles, which improved upon the Sonic Adventure games in almost every way. These games brought forth new, mostly colorful characters and even more speed-based gameplay to the Sonic universe.

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is a stealth game in which the player takes the role of a ninja. During the 10 stages of the game you will have to compete missions or your master, varying from assassination to message delivery. Plot: Set in Feudal Japan, you take on the role of one of Lord Gohda’s Ninja assassins, Rikimaru or Ayame. You are sworn to serve Lord Gohda, and you must take out all who oppose him, be they human, canine, undead or Demon. Slight story details vary depending on whom you choose, but not enough for them to qualify as differing stories.

*May or may not apply to Gears of War on the PC and on the Mac. *This review is based on a play through with the content filter ON. With the filter on, it gets rid of a lot of blood in the game, and removes some of the more vulgar curse words. So, unless otherwise noted, all the content in this review is based with the content filter ON. *Thanks to Phazon for editing this review. Story: The planet Sera is under attack from a race of horrible aliens once thought to be mythical creatures. They are called The Locuste, and one day they assembled under every major city on Sera. They emerged from under the ground with devastating consequences. We play as Marcus Fenix, former soldier who, after disobeying orders so he could go back to save his dad from The Locust, was imprisoned for Dereliction of Duty for forty years. Now Sera faces complete annihilation at the hands of The Locuste, and Colonel Victor Hoffman, Fenix's former commander, has pardoned all prisoners on the basis that they need all the help they can get. So, under unlikely circumstances, Fenix sees himself out of his cell and straight back in the firing line as the fate of the world lies in his hands.

In 20 years of video gaming I can't remember a single game that invokes the name of the pagan god Ba-al as a means of achieving victory. Culdcept Saga proves that there's a first time for everything. According to Culdcept Saga lore, when the goddess of creation made the world, she shared her abilities with the Cepters, enabling these chosen few to alter the world around them. The Cepters carry decks of magic cards that can summon monsters and cast powerful spells. The story takes a back seat to the gameplay, which is totally addicting because you, the player, are a Cepter.

In 1986, Nintendo introduced the world to one of gaming’s most beloved franchises: Metroid. It was acclaimed for being fresh and innovative with its non-linear adventure gameplay. Two other popular sequels followed in the next few years, those being Metroid II and Super Metroid. Sadly, fans devoted to the series would wait almost a whole decade before the next game. In 2000, Retro Studios, a new second-party studio, had been working on Raven Blade when Nintendo asked them to produce the next Metroid game. Early in its development, Metroid Prime came under criticism by certain people for being made into a first-person shooter, rather than a two-dimensional game like its predecessors. Doubters were quickly silenced after Prime’s release in 2002. This installment was created for the Nintendo Gamecube, and it gave the Metroid series a re-birthing and started a new generation of Metroid games.

Graphic adventure fans rejoiced when Touch Detective was announced for 2006, but that charming collection of bizarre mysteries was soured by illogical puzzles and frustrating pacing issues. Basically, the puzzles made little to no sense, and until you were lucky enough to figure out the solution you were stuck. This sequel, Touch Detective 2 1/2 somewhat improves on the formula by more handily pointing us in the right direction, but it's still not enough to make the game accessible to anybody but the most patient and determined gamers.

Napoleon Dynamite: The Game is not the worst game ever, but very few of his "30 wacky minigames" are even close to what he'd call "flippin' sweet". This is basically a collection of Flash-style games, like what you'd play for free on a promo site. Most of the games are amusing for about 30 seconds and then you are forced to play for another 10 minutes before you can save your progress. The Napoleon Dynamite movie is pretty much the greatest movie ever made and I've watched it like five times. The game does a terrific job capturing the spirit of that off-beat comedy and it made me chuckle a few times. But broken controls, unnecessary repetition, and game-crashing glitches make this game about as enjoyable as Uncle Rico's time machine.

"The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh." Silent Hill is Konami's first entry in the horror genre, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the creepiest games of all time. Plot: Ah, where to begin. How can one possibly summarize a plot as complex and deep as Silent Hill's? Well, I'll just keep it simple then: Seven years ago, Harry Mason and his wife found a baby by the road. The couple adopted her as their own, naming her Cheryl. Following his wife's illness and death, Harry has continued to look after Cheryl. At the start of the game, Harry is driving Cheryl to the resort town Silent Hill for a vacation. A cop on a motorbike drives past his jeep. Moments later, Harry spots the same motorbike lying unattended by the side of the road. Not long after that, the jeep crashes when Harry swerves to avoid hitting the ghostly apparition of a little girl. When he regains consciousness, Harry discovers that Cheryl is missing and the streets are engulfed in fog. There is also snow falling from the sky, which is strange considering the time of year.

Insects and robots and saucers, oh my! From the box: "Planet Earth is under attack from alien invaders, and the EDF is our only chance for survival. Grab your gun, join your squad, and repel the attacking forces. You are Earth's last line of defense." The part about joining "your squad" is actually pretty funny to me because most of the game involves your soldier, codenamed Storm 1, taking on the entire alien army almost singlehandedly (or with the help of a friend if you take advantage of the split-screen co-op option). It's an experience that borrows heavily from cheesy 1950's alien and rubber monster movies, and like its cinematic inspiration, EDF 2017 isn't good enough to be taken seriously. But blowing things up in EDF is fun enough to enjoy for hours and hours, and clean enough that Christian teenagers and adults can enjoy it with a clean conscience.