Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box – Level 5 (2009)

September 10, 2009

I’ve strung words together before about my issue with brain-teasers. I’m sad to say that things have not improved at all. I still get hung up on them, I still lose sleep over them, and I still allow them to consume me far too much. It’s a character flaw on my part, and I’ve learned [...]

My World, My Way – Atlus (2009)

June 25, 2009

Every once in a while, you are told about a game that sounds just a little too ridiculous to be true. Just something that’s a little too far off the beaten path that you simply have to play it, if only to know that it exists. Atlus published a game called My World, My Way, and it easily fit the mark.

When it was originally described to me first one eyebrow was raised, and then the other. Then my face had no where to go, and so my eyebrows fluctuated back and forth. I eventually got my hands on it, and was actually surprised.

Turns out it didn’t suck!

Super Princess Peach – Nintendo (2006)

June 4, 2009

It’s been a while since I’ve played an honest to God platform game. It’s not my usual bag, as it requires a skill set that is lacking in me. These games generally consist of accurate timing, good aim, and good reflexes. These are all things I lack, and so platformers tend to annoy me to the point of non-playing.

I used to stay as far away from platformers as I could, given that my ability in them scored somewhere in the negatives. Every time I would try one, I’d get about 4 levels in, and then start to hate myself. It’s really not a pretty sight. Give me turn-based games and experiences points, that’s what I say!

Of course to every rule there is an exception, and Super Princess Peach is, shockingly, one of those exceptions.

Front Mission – Square Enix (2007)

April 20, 2009

Oh Front Mission. I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with your series. How can one franchise give so much joy, while sapping someones will to live so readily at the same time? I played my first Front Mission game back on the original PlayStation. It was actually the third in the series, but that mattered little to me. Within that game was a breadth of customization and unit control that up to that point I couldn’t have dared dream of.

Don’t even get me started on the side-quest goldmine that it was. It had it’s own “Internet” that came with spam, conspiracy theories, and hackable government systems. It had a solid story line, an excellent battle system, and some decent (for the time) graphics.

Front Mission DS (which apparently is a re-release of the original) has none of these things. Well okay, not none per say, but far less than my first experience. It did manage to be just as frustrating though, so that’s something.

Castle Crashers – The Behemoth (2008)

February 5, 2009

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve played any real arcade-style games. Last time I picked up a controller to play any sort of side-scrolling, button-bashing, streets-of-fury style game I was a much younger person. With SNES controller in hand, my friend and I playing the likes of TNMT: Turtles in Time, Contra III or Battletoads & Double Dragon.

See the problems with my playing these sorts of games are:

  • I’m no good at them.
  • I lack the toned fore-arm muscle of the veteran gamer.
  • I lacked a console.

Well I now have a console, so I have no excuse as to whether I could try to play them or not. Turns out I still suck at them, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. The forearm muscle is a slow process, and I’ve already given myself muscle strain resulting in a fantastic carpel tunnel attack. You just don’t feel like a man until you’ve got to ice your forearm because of extreme button mashing.

Or is it “You just can’t feel like a man when you have to ice your forearm because of extreme button mashing”?

Either way, it hasn’t stopped me from playing Castle Crashers with extreme vigor.

LEGO Indiana Jones – LucasArts (2008)

January 29, 2009

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve done a game review. Could be because It’s been a while since I’ve played a game through to completion. Sadly I am finding it hard to make time to dedicate to playing games when things like school and work are in the way. Pesky thing, responsibility.

Having said that, with my school giving me far too much time off over the Christmas break, I managed to get my hands on a shiny new XBox 360. Granted that was a bit of a fiasco, in the end I landed me a couple of games. One of those games (obviously, I think, at this point) was LEGO Indiana Jones.

I recall my brother getting LEGO Star Wars, back when it came out. He was obsessed with it, and at the time I couldn’t really figure out why. Sure it was LEGO, which we were clinically addicted to growing up, but at the time I couldn’t see what the big deal was. Of course once I started playing LEGO Indiana Jones, my opinion has quite simply 180-ed. I’m just going to go ahead and assume that 180-ed is a term I can use.

Anyways.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village – Level-5 (2008)

April 21, 2008

I have a problem.

It’s silly, I know, but I have a problem with brain teasers. I can’t put them down without getting really angry at myself for giving up. I will constantly think about the problem until I’ve answered it. It’s really quite unhealthy. So what do you think happens when I come across a game like Professor Layton and the Curious Village?

I lose sleep.

Phoenix Wright: Justice For All – Capcom (2007)

January 14, 2008

Phoenix Wright: Justice For All is very much like the original, but with a few added tricks. Released in North America January of 2007, Current fans salivated over the new game. Featuring slightly improved graphics, – maybe I’m nuts but I don’t recall moving mouths in the first game – slightly better music, an expanded cast, and a new feature to aggravate the player, Justice For All provides hours of entertaining Lawyer-y fun.

Sam & Max Episode 201 : Ice Station Santa – Telltale Games (2007)

November 17, 2007

Ice Station Santa is the first installment for the second “season” of Telltales expansion of the Sam & Max universe. I grew up with the original Sam & Max, and so when I heard tell of a new company taking over the title – since LucasArts is run by morons and discontinued the title – I was a little worried. Hell I remember the short-lived cartoon, which though enjoyable had screwed with my young sensibilities. The voices weren’t the same and it really bugged me.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Capcom (2005)

November 5, 2007

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is for the most part, a rather enjoyable game. Released in October of 2005 (if you live in North America as I do) this game became an instant hit and flew off the shelves. Now granted I waited two years before playing it (since then a second game has come out, and there are a third and fourth in existence somewhere) but only because I have only recently bought a DS. I have to make sure to buy my friend Dane a decorative cake for lending me his copy.