Out of all the demos I downloaded off Xbox Live the other day, I was most excited to try out two RPGs: Eternal Sonata and Blue Dragon. I had heard a lot about both and they were part of what motivated me to finally buy a 360.

I had already pre-ordered Eternal Sonata so I decided to play it first. I was immediately impressed by the vibrant colors and the richly detailed landscape. This world felt so alive, from the variation in the foliage to the distinct personalities of the NPCs. It had a great soundtrack based on Chopin’s music, which appealed to the classical musician in me. While it certainly has a few flaws, I realized that this just might be the immersive experience that I have been craving.

Eternal Sonata has a fast-paced battle system that feels like a cross between Kingdom Hearts and the traditional turn-based Final Fantasies. Characters’ movements can be controlled during a limited attack time. The position of a character can greatly change their attack and defense. For example, enemies have a harder time defending against attacks when the attacker is behind them. There are also two special attacks that become available depending on if a character is standing in the light or in shadows. I appreciated all this attention to detail. While the battle system did seem to have a high learning curve, at least for a demo, its original approach pulled me into the game immediately.

Like any other game, Eternal Sonata does have some flaws. The characters speak audible lines sometimes, such as when a battle begins. Some of these lines sound really stupid, including a little boy exclaiming, “C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!” I’m hoping that these lines sounded better in Japanese. Also, my QA tester training helped me to find two bugs in the half-hour demo. I was slightly disappointed, considering the obviously high production value of the game, but most commercial games do have bugs. Sometimes these bugs are reported and closed simply because there is no time to change them anymore.

I really enjoyed the Eternal Sonata demo. It had a nice pace and the demo limits felt natural, not confining. From the user-friendly menu to the inviting fantasy world, it seemed like a polished game that will be a lot of fun for me. Eternal Sonata combines two of my favorite genres: music/rhythm games and RPGs. I’m looking forward to buying it.

However, the Blue Dragon demo hardly sold me on the much-hyped RPG. First, I was disgusted by the childish art style and the ridiculous voices. When the opening cutscene began, I felt like I was watching cheap anime in 3D. I understand that Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball Z was responsible for the character designs, but I am of the belief that some designs just don’t translate as well into HD. I had no problem with Dragon Ball Z designs in 2D, but in 3D they look wrong. It’s simply too perfect and, frankly, a bit frightening to see things like bloated heads, vacant eyes, and giant portly puppies in three realistic dimensions.

I hate to dismiss a game entirely on its artistic style. I have boycotted a couple, like Psychonauts, for this reason, but I wanted to give Blue Dragon a chance. After all, Hironobu Sakaguchi, who directed the first five Final Fantasy games, and famed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu were involved. This game must have some redeeming qualities.

I continued past the first cutscene and found myself plagued by laborious tutorial dialogue from frightening giant animals such as the previously mentioned portly puppy. While illustrative screenshots attempted to break up the monotony, there was way too much information to absorb at once. I much prefer in-battle tutorials or other more interactive forms of instruction. I was practically asleep by the time I began the game.

I ran around and fought some enemies, but my entire party attacked with these gigantic genie-like creatures. It was never explained how or why these creatures attacked for us – they could have been anything from alien parasites to manifestations of the warriors’ souls. While it did seem cool, I was left scratching my head and it took my focus away from combat. When my allies needed healing, I explored the magic menus. I was immediately overwhelmed by almost 30 different spells, all at my disposal. Also, I had a large party and it appeared as if only one or two members could actually heal other people and yet they wouldn’t even get a turn in several fights. Desperate to heal my allies, I opened the menu to see if I could heal out of battles.

The menu appeared very industrial and was immediately overwhelming. Compared to the simpler, more friendly menu in Eternal Sonata, this was quite a shock. In a demo, there is no need for hundreds of spells and items. Since the game timer allows one hour to play the game, it is nearly impossible to even cast every spell in the time allotted. While I did find my healing spells within a few minutes, I was deeply disappointed in the overwhelming amount of items and the lack of direction after the hasty, dull tutorial.

I am definitely not pre-ordering Blue Dragon. If the gameplay or story could capture my attention, I would be willing to overlook the ridiculous visuals and childish voices. Unfortunately, my high expectations were met with disappointment in what felt like a hastily assembled demo. I am just glad that I have the Eternal Sonata demo to play, as I would be happy to check it out again.