Welcome, good reader, to a new thing that I want to be doing each month. I’m calling it Monthend Video Game Wrap-up, and it’s basically just going to be a snapshot of what I’ve been up to in the world of video games over the course of each month. Why? I dunno. Same reason that I put anything on this blog, I guess: to keep a cheap record of stuff I do and think.
Okay fine, I’ll admit it. This is all just a big excuse for me to make a banner. It’s one of those odd little things that I really love doing, and I can’t really be bothered to make them for common blog posts. Also I guess since it’s going to be a big thing I’ll make a section for it on the Features page.
~ Now Playing ~
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U) – I played through WW only twice on Gamecube, but it’s still one of my favourite Zeldas. People seem to be pretty split on the graphical changes, and I am firmly in the “I love them” camp. The swift sail changes the pace of the game from “pretty slow” to “not as slow” which is nice, but what really I appreciate is the improved Picto Box. It’s making completing the Nintendo Gallery seem less like the most horrible, tedious task ever and more like something that’s actually pretty fun! I’m about halfway through the game, just entering the Earth Temple.
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (iOS) – To promote the Kickstarter campaign for the new Shantae game, Wayforward made the iOS version of Risky’s Revenge free for a limited time. Despite that fact that platformers play terribly on touch screens, I downloaded it because it’s a really great game, and free is a really great price. I’ll admit that when I played through the original version on DS, I wasn’t overly wowed, but I’m finding that I’m enjoying it a lot more the second time through. Currently trapped in Hypno Tower.
Wario Land 3 (3DS) – A bunch of the guys at Talking Time were super excited when WL3 came out on the 3DS Virtual Console. I was not, because I remembered it being really tedious. For a while it seemed like maybe I was wrong, but once I started nearing the end of the game, my fears were confirmed. slogging through each level for the fourth or fifth time is no fun at all. I’ve finished the game, but I still have a few treasures to find. I think I’ll skip collecting the Music Coins.
Mario’s Picross/Picross 2 (3DS/GB) – It’s a safe bet that at any given time I’ll be working my way through one Picross game or another. Right now it happens to be both Game Boy entries. The first came out on 3DS VC a year or so ago, but the second was never released outside of Japan and probably won’t end up on VC, so I just imported a cartridge. Picross 2 is my favourite Picross game, after all. I’ve beaten both of them multiple time already.
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS) – The Mario & Luigi series has always been good to me, and this one is no different. Although most of my time with the game has been spent wishing it would stop telling me what to do and just let me play, those rare gameplay moments have been very fun and engaging. I’ve just been sent on a world-spanning fetch quest, which I assume must be near the end of the game.
Eternal Sonata (360) – This game might mark the very first time I’ve chosen to skip a game’s cutscenes on my first playthrough. They’re just so long and boring, and I really don’t give two craps about almost any of the characters. The visuals and music and battles are really great though! It’s a pretty fun game if you completely ignore the story. I’m on Chapter 5 of 7.
Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1) – The old-school Playstation version. Ignoring most of the story, and just enjoying the game. Loving how broken a Knight with the Two Swords ability can be, and how Monks are even more awesome than I remember them being. Just started Chapter 3.
~ Game Over ~
TMNT: Out of the Shadows (360) – A half-baked game, for sure, but I liked it. My bro and I played through the story mode together, but pretty much ignored everything else the game offers (arcade and challenge modes). Will I go back to it? Maybe.
Super Princess Peach (DS) – Certain times of the year will cause nostalgia for certain games, and my birthday makes me think of Super Princess Peach. So I played that to 100% completion during my vacation week. It was time well spent. SPP is a much better Wario Land game than Wario Land 3.
Resident Evil 4 (Wii) – I was reading The Dark Id’s RE4 let’s play, and decided that it would be even more fun to actually play through the game myself. It was a lot longer and more difficult than I remember. Still a pretty good time, but I don’t think I could ever hack it on Professional mode.