So, only a couple of days until the European release, and reviews are slowly trickling in.
It's getting scores between 90 and 100 all across the board (currently at 94% on gamerankings and 92 on metacritic), so it's obvious Western reviewers are digging the game too.

I wouldn't be surprised if NoA would pick it up eventually anyway, but they'll probably watch the sales first. They'd be idiots to ignore a game this well-received though.

I have no doubt it will be the best RPG this gen for me (heck, I'd name it that even if I never got to play it ), and it looks and sounds to be a contender in the all-time category. I guess I'll find out personally here pretty soon. I've never invested this much in a game before; I'm sure it will satisfy more than my recent dealings with the stock market. NoA can hardly ignore its widespread appeal.

I ordered it myself and I'm *really* looking forward to it. Been ages since I've been a good JRPG.

Apparently NoA's official stance is that they'll be watching the EU sales 'very closely,' though I don't know whether an abundance of import sales would temper their interest or not.

I kind of forgot this was hitting this week, but my bank reminded me because they thought the preorder I made on a UK site was an instance of fraud. I'm on vacation next week, and I hope it makes its way to my side of the pond before the week is over. Now to figure out how to properly install the region-unlocker on my auxiliary Wii.

"been ages since I've been a good JRPG"? what? is that like that kid in ffx who wanted to be a blitzball?

I have mine copy, and it plays beautifully. Farewell.

Funny.

About six hours into the game. It's absolutely amazing. Graphics are a weak point but the ambition of the art design makes up for the low resolution. Thanks to the imagination of the artists, the vistas look more amazing than anything I can remember from an HD game like FFXIII.

Everything else is top-notch.

I'm still without my copy, which is annoying because it shipped before my vacation started, and even after a three-day extension (thanks, Irene!) I wasn't able to invest any of my time off to it. Curse you, Royal Mail Service, and the sick seagull you sent across the ocean with my package.

Who did you order it from? Certain retailers are taking far longer than others. I ordered from 365games and it took just six days (which greatly surprised me).

I've been hearing rumors some retailers sold out of their initial batch and that even people who preordered it have to wait for a second batch to arrive.

Don't know if it's true, but it might explain why some people are getting it late...

I have my LE copy already, but dammit, I just don't have the time for it

I've been having horrid time with mail from the UK in the past year or so. Just recently at least the second time something just never showed up, and a other times it's taken an inordinately long time. Plus the outside of things seem to get beaten up.

everyone importing this from the EU?

Yeah, you pretty much have to (and homebrew the Wii, which is easy).

Ordered it from Game.co.uk, who were very quick in getting Last Window to me in time for making my sister's Christmas gift, and I chose them because they had a bundle with a red Classic Pro and some signed lithographs. At this point I'm getting more concerned than annoyed, and TerraEpon's horror stories aren't boosting my confidence.

Let me make you feel even more miserable then by telling you that the litographs are ONLY for people who buy the game at Game's retail stores. They're not for people who buy the game online

And just like that, Xenoblade seems to be getting a US release finally.

Great news.  Looks like Skyward Sword won't be the Wii's swan song afterall.

AWESOME!

And for those of us who refuse to set foot in GameStop, we have this lovely alternative thanks to Nintendo:
http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/st … reId=10001

I think it's especially funny that this is a GameStop exclusive given that the Operation Rainfall people used Amazon pre-orders to try to convince Nintendo to release it here.

It's my GotY. If you love JRPGs (and even if you don't because it breaks a lot of their conventions), you have to get this game.

Excellent news, although I'm not too happy about how they're already condemning it to obscurity.

I don't know, my friend was playing this and he was telling me this wasn't the 10 out of 10 everyone was billing it as. He more or less thought if the J-RPG wasn't so played out and there was more to go up against and contrast it against it wouldn't be getting such high scores.

I don't say that to rain on anyone's parade or to say that I agree but I think it's a valid point to a certain degree. Still, I'm very RPG-ed out from the late 90's/early 00's. Also, I need another game console like I need a hole in the head. Barely touch the PS3 outside its backwards compatibility.

Do you really think it would sell well at Wal-Mart?

Just picked up my copy. Will dive in when studying and working aren't demolishing my free time.

I'm working through it now.  I've played about 42 hours or so at this point.  I find that it's solid, but in almost no way spectacular at this point.  I could not agree more with the thoughts of your friend.  It's a good game without question, but I don't really understand the insane praise it's getting.