With the release of a couple high-profile demos, I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve checked out the latest 360 demos and XBLA trials. So, as a quick roundup:

Elements Of Destruction: Fun at first, but it quickly gets a bit old. It feels more like a Flash game than something I’d buy and play regularly.

Happy Tree Friends: Reminiscent of Lemmings, but not nearly as much fun.

Schizoid: It’s definitely a unique game, with its coop-dependent play and interesting presentation, but it’s more of a temporary diversion than something I’d really pay for.

Sealife Safari: More of a toy than a game.

And then for the big ones:
Too Human: It has some silly dialogue, and bad camera control, but the combat is really fun and it has the addictive Diablo-style loot. I didn’t get far enough to see the more advanced combos and skills, but I think I’ve seen enough to convince me to get it.

Tales of Vesperia: It has a mix of the Eternal Sonata art style and Star Ocean combat, and otherwise looks like ye olde generic JRPG. There was no tutorial, so maybe I’m missing something, but the combat was a bit too light on tactics and heavy on the button mashing. I don’t really dislike it, but it would go on my “eh, maybe eventually” list, which with my current RPG backlog essentially means…never.