I just bought this game on Saturday. I wasn't really looking for it - I was interested in the game - but when the guy at the counter showed me what came with it... Wow. I really have to buy more stuff from Atlus.



On the top row, you can see the cardboard box that holds the DS game case (sitting right next to it) and the sleeve that has the game's soundtrack in it. The soundtrack, by the way, is great by DS standards.
Under these is the guide book, the Tome of Lost Souls, which has tons of artwork, details on people, places, character bios, bosses and extra info on the classes. On top of that, every here and there, there are comments from the game designers. These comments range from decisions taken for the art direction to ideas they had and implemented during development.
The game itself is fun, but I'm just grasping the finer points of it. I'd like to write a review once I'm done with my first playthrough.

Anyway, the point of this post is to appreciate stuff we all get when we buy a game or product. I remember that ten mere years ago, a good number PC games still came with lots of extra things. When I opened the box to Ultima IX, it had a map of Britannia, tarot cards, a bestiary and a spellbook. It seems like recently, we're lucky to even have an installation process that isn't the generic Install Shield process. Remember these?



 

"Welcome back, Commander." That was awesome. It really felt like every part of the game, even those that weren't the game itself, immersed the player into its universe, its mythos.

It is sadly not so true anymore, and I really hope that these kinds of little details or extras that come with a game come back, if only to make us happier about what we just purchased. What do you think?