[11/06/2005]   So I started coding this update as usual, gathering a mix of staff reviews and reader reviews, but then I noticed something. At the rate Otterland has been going, he's managed to be in pretty much every update, but the backlog of his reviews is actually growing. This Xenosaga Episode II review has been in there for almost two months. Anyway, as should be obvious from today's update, I decided to give him a bit of a spotlight and cut his backlog in half. Enjoy.

   As fate would have it, I've been playing Magna Carta: Tears of Blood this week. The first thing I noticed was that the battle system is pretty complicated. Well, actually, the first thing I noticed was the awesome artwork, but I digress. A few people asked me about the battle system, but it's kind of hard to explain. Each attack you do depletes its respective element from the environment. Using the same attack repeatedly will cause it to become weaker and eventually fail. Thus, it's sometimes important to switch fighting styles or characters in the middle of battle to take advantage of other elements as well. It's also important to make friends with your allies and defeat weaker enemies quickly. The more leadership you have and the more you outnumber the enemy, the faster your turns will come and the slower theirs will.

   Not much is really going on contest-wise this week. We're nearing the deadline, but two prizes are still open. There should still be enough time for last minute entries, but it might be a little tight.

   Until next week...