Sony Japan

Have you ever seen a game on a shelf that you looked at over and over without ever buying? Have you ever left the store and then picked the game right back up on your next visit? You may feel drawn to repeatedly scrutinize the same package, but its hard to tell the difference between a sleeper hit and a piece of garbage from a box cover.

There are games, and there is art. Are the two fated to be mutually exclusive? Personally, I'd say the answer is no.

I completely agree with Brad's assessment of ICO as art—the game really is that beautiful. You'll have countless moments where you just have to stop and soak all of the scenery in. This sleeper hit of the year is simply too good to be missed.

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I genuinely liked the game and believe it could have earned a higher rating had Sony created a more original set of characters, stronger storyline and lost many of the clearly Final Fantasy VII inspired themes.

When I first started playing The Legend of Dragoon, I told myself, "OK, when I write up my review, I won't focus on its similarity to Final Fantasy VII (FF7) like everyone else has." Well, here I am writing my review, and all I can think about is its similarity to FF7, and how stale and unoriginal the whole experience is.

Game Description: A four-disc RPG epic, The Legend of Dragoon is set in a time of swords, magic, and dragons. Ten thousand years prior, the Dragon War pitted Dragoons—humans with the power to control dragons—against Enslavers, magicians who sought to enslave the humans. Now Dart, a young warrior, is on a quest to find the demon that killed his parents.

So here we are with an analog controller with TWO joysticks and a built-in rumble (they call it "vibration") support and a new 3D platformer called Ape Escape. The game was supposed to be launched with the new controller but instead got delayed, so Sony bundled it with the new PlayStation systems and hoped for the best. So here we are half a year later with Ape Escape in hand.