The stuff I played this week.

Ni No Kuni - I managed to get past boss Moltaan this time around, which is pretty early in the game. I'm still not happy with the battle system but I worked harder at it. Then I got stuck on a battle with boss Shadar on the way to Autumnia by ship. That guy wrecked my team with his near constant magic spells. Turns out, I later found by reading a walkthrough, that you only have to take half his health to move on. Would I had known that, I might have persisted. I almost did persist by going back and finishing two side quests I missed before taking him on again; only, I had done so much already to prepare. I did every last bounty and all but two side missions leading up to that battle. I captured, swapped and fed familiars to get a nice strong crew. By the time I got to Shadar, I had three characters and nine familiars. That's twelve variables to keep track of and improve. I had done a lot and was frustrated that it wasn't enough.

(this very area - only reachable by boat - had random enemies which wrecked me more than the nearby bounty battles!)

On top of all that is the battle system which is really chaotic. You can only stop time by changing characters or familiars. All your spell, supply, tactics, and defense choices are in real time. I often found myself running around the battle field to get some distance so I could choose a spell or item without being hit while choosing one. At the same time, though, you have to watch the enemy for their special move and defend against it. It's all a lot to keep track of and I often missed a good defense move because I was stuck in a spell's timed execution just before the boss started his special attack. It was driving me kind of nuts and I wanted to lean on the automated tactics of my other characters to avoid all the dashing about and hurried selection of options. That didn't often work very well though.

Anyway, I was really pleased to get farther than the first time I played it, and now that I know I only have to take half of Shadar's health, I'll be happy to return to it sometime and get even farther. As it is, I moved on to my next game.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - I got a new copy that works. I'm not finished yet, but am very far into it already. I'm really enjoying it. Even the platforming segments with Clank are enjoyable for me. I think what I enjoy most is traveling from world to world and getting some space shooter segments on the way. The only thing I dislike a bit is use of six-axis motion controls for flying, aerial drops and the electricity lock puzzle, which, in hindsight, I think aren't bad at all. I really only had some trouble with the aerial drop segments. It's so hard to tell depth and avoid incoming missiles, 3D on a 2D screen.

(those fish in armor pop out when you beat them. Then you can stomp them. Poor things, but that's all you can do with them).

Oh, and a Lomax isn't a real animal. I was hoping it was.

And that's all because I'm spending a good amount of time on both of these. Almost two weekends with Ni No Kuni and a whole day on R&CF so far. I probably have one or two sessions left with R&C before I move on. I like leaving more to do (trophies and all) so I have something to do next time. There's nothing more disappointing than returning to a game you've 100% completed.