Heavenly Sword Impressions

So I just finished playing Heavenly Sword for around 2.5 hours and so far, i'm extremely impressed. I already like the battle system a lot more than God of War because it is simple yet complex enough to keep you entertained for hours. Nariko fights by pushing combinations of triangle and square but can switch in between 3 different fighting stances; Power Stance, Speed Stance, and Range Stance. All it takes to change stances is to hold either L1 for range style and R1 for power style while not holding either button will default to speed stance. As you can imagine, all three stances are exactly what they sound like. Speed stance sacrifices a little bit of power for speed and agility. When Range stance is activated, the heavenly sword seperates into two blades that Nariko can swing around and hit attackers in all different directions. Power Stance on the other hand is harder to use simply because it is slow but powerful. You eventually learn all sorts of awesome combos and finishing attacks that really make me cringe everytime I see them. The "hero sequences" are simply amazing and present you with time sensitive button combos that you are expected to push. When done correctly, they are some of the best action sequences in a game i've ever seen. Some of the most addicting gameplay so far has been when you play as Nariko's sister Kai. Using the sixaxis controller allows you to maneuver her arrows into particular body parts of you enemy which makes for a strangly addicting mini game. As for the story and presentation, so far it is some of the best i've ever seen. The graphics are amazing and the voice acting is second to none. Being this far in though, I can't help but feel like i'm almost to the half way point. For seasoned gamers, it is supposed to take about 6 hours to complete but i'm sure those 6 hours are going to be a lot of fun. You can expect my full review very soon.