After waiting months to play it again after E3, I finally got a chance to see what's changed. And quite frankly, it's not a lot. The game still hasn't been optimized or anti-aliased, so it's not as pretty as the DC version, but the gameplay is definitely there.

The whole demo was based on the normal forest 1, with basic enemies. An Al Rappy or two was present each time, for that added rare monster flavor. There were item drops like normal, but none were usable, even if the character could normally do so (daggers picked up by a Hunter couldn't be used). The menu system was non-functional, so the stats of the characters are unavailable, but I could tell from the damage done by the spells and the graphical weapons what they were equipped with. The boss of the demo was alternating turns between the Sil Dragon (Ultimate Version 2 Boss) and the regular Dragon. The Dragon was unbeatable though, with the demo timing out before any group I played with even getting him to roar.

The gameplay mechanics themselves were pretty flawless. The controls were right on, but with the same amount of buttons, that's pretty expected. It was kind of difficult at first to press L and R with the Gamecube's clicky L and R buttons, but this was pretty quickly overcome. The combo timing also needs a little bit more correction, as with the Double Lavis, I missed the third attack about a third of the time, even though I constantly use some sort of Double Saber weapon, and have the timing down completely on the DC.

The 4 player mode was impressive, both the split screen and the multi-screen modes. The characters were way overpowered, with Version 2 weapons in normal mode, but it was designed for non gamers to pick up and play, so it's understandable. The 4 player split screen was pretty hard to see, and there was no radar to alert each of you to enemies, but it's definitely still playable. The 4 player multiscreen mode was much better though, playing like the online version on the DC.

Quick rundown on the whole details, for those fans out there:

1 Player

Standard Level 1 HUmar (SONIC) armed with a Double Lavis. Can use Foie level 1.

4 Player

Level 1 HUnewearl (AMY) armed with Heart of Ponewm (Cat Claw weapons). Foie level 1.

Level 1 FOmar (TAILS) armed with a Summit Moon. Foie level 1.

Level 1 RAmar (KNUCKLES) armed with a Yasminkov 3000 rifle. Foie Level 1

Level 1 HUcaseal (SONIC) armed with a Double Lavis. Has MP, but no spells available. Maybe she's a Wren-type modification? The level up system's also in there, as she levels up to level 2 pretty quickly.

Overall, it's a great conversion so far, with the game being 30% completed. The characters are a bit overpowerful with V2 weapons at level 1, but that's what you get with a demo. The graphics, besides anti-aliasing and optimization, are now pretty much DC spot on. The gameplay mechanics are where the most work is needed, but that comes with time and polish.