Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Tome of Lost Souls, obtained.

It's good to note that whenever you pre-order a game from GameStop for the extra pre-order goodies, it's best to pick it up ASAP. The whole "while supplies last" gets overlooked too often, causing unnecessary surprise when you realize too late that you're...well, late in picking up the goods. Such was the case when I picked up my copy of Knights in the Nightmare for DS, only to realize I never got my free artbook 2 days later.

In hopes that the artbook was innocently forgotten, I make my GameStop call, only to be reminded that it was "while supplies lasted." Well THAT sucks. (I found out later from an inside source that if the game's paid in full, employees are required to hold pre-order bonuses to your copy - which, unfortunately, wasn't the case for me) It's obvious to note that I picked up this game late (picked it up June 13th, when the game was released June 2nd), but I had my reasons; a family emergency, E3, being 400 miles away from the GameStop I reserved it at.

Turns out, I wasn't the only person boned at getting the free artbook. Seems that Atlus short-supplied artbooks throughout most GameStops, with some even getting too many. In any case, I figured that there may possibly be an untapped store in which the artbook was still available, left behind by another neglectful gamer. Ready to make my round of calls, fortune smiled on me quick when the first store I called up had one more left! After explaining my situation, the GS employee was happy to fulfill my pre-order just from showing my receipt. I still brought my game in for good measure, but soon I was finally bestowed my free artbook.

Mind you, it's free - that doesn't mean that it's in perfect condition. Never before did I remind myself so many times that something was free; the edges were tattered and torn (clearly from constant flipping-through), the spine bent (probably sat on), and the back cover is crinkled (holding the book limply with one hand). In the end, however, all 96 pages of illustrations are intact. Good, at least no one tried to wipe their ass with it.

So, here it is. The Tome of Lost Souls artbook. (Cue lone trumpet's struggling victory fanfare)

2 comments:

Xeneth said...

I just picked this up, actually, after I heard Tycho talking about it. I would imagine this is going to turn out much like TWEWY, where I'm attracted by the hybrid combinations of gameplay systems, but in the end, it has tons of complexity being mistaken for depth. (A really common Japanese design pitfall)

Unknown said...

Tis true, the game exhibits a fair amount of complexity. Then again, I think they over-scrutinize their tutorials.

That being said, I won't pass final judgement until I get a few rounds of battles in to get a feel.