Atlus

Persona 3's mechanics are ingenious and fresh, the characters are well-written and engaging, the voice work and music are top-quality, the art is beautifully stylish, and by couching it all in a real-world setting far from any of the standard fantasy clichés, it establishes an identity and qualities uniquely its own.

Volunteering for a third tour of duty with the unusual Trauma Center series, I found New Blood to be an extremely unbalanced experience. Though it's undoubtedly one of the most effective uses of the Wii's control system and presents content that virtually no other console developer has attempted, the designers have turned something that should have been a sure thing into a difficult recommend due to an unacceptable level of difficulty.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Violence, Blood, Drug Reference, and Mild Language

Game Description: Keep your hands steady and your mind focused for Trauma Center: New Blood, sequel to Trauma Center: Second Opinion. This time around there's a lot more on the line. Every cut of the scalpel, every pinch of the forceps, each and every second that ticks by is of the absolute greatest importance. If you think it's too much to handle alone, invite a friend to assist with the operation and work together to save patients from flat lining. The adrenaline is pumping, lives are at stake, and only you can save the day. Have you got what it takes?

Game Description: In Odin Sphere, players enact the story of their world's end. A great kingdom named Valentine was brought apart by natural disaster and internal strife. As war broke out, the once-great nation became a wasteland. As a demon lord named Odin schemes to conquer it, a far-off sorceror plans to use ancient magic that will bring an apocalypse. As the nations struggle for control, the world steadily slips unknowingly toward its demise, ancient prophecies are ready to be fulfilled—unless a young princess named Gwendolyn can stop the bloody feud between nations and fight for unity.

The artwork is simply gorgeous, and this is one of the best looking pieces of 2D gaming goodness that I have seen on the PlayStation 2. But looks aren't everything.

It's too early to pick the RPG of the year for 2007, but if I had to vote today Persona 3 would be my choice...hands down. It's a wild and unique gaming experience that melds disparate subgenres into a whole that transcends the sum of the parts. It's not without a few flaws, but the good so definitively outweighs the negatives that it's hard to imagine anyone who's a hardcore RPG fan passing this game up.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Violence

It saddens me that Odin Sphere didn't turn out to be a better experience. I want to see more games that go against the 3D grain by using high-quality 2D artwork. I want to see more games with unconventional narrative structures. But with its subpar gameplay and technical flaws dragging it down, I fear that Odin Sphere will do a poor job of furthering the cause.