2. Sam & Max Save the World - The whole season - PC, GOG versions
3. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - The whole season - PC, GOG versions
4. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 1 - PC, GOG version
5. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 2 - PC, GOG version
6. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 3 - PC, GOG version
7. The Walking Dead Series - PC
8. Sly Thieves in Time - PS3
9. Guacamelee - PS3
10. Castlevania: Mirror of Fate - 3DS
11. Resident Evil Revelation - 3DS
12. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask - 3DS
13. Samurai Warriors Chronicles -3DS
14. Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - Vita
15. Shinovi Versus - Vita
16. Fire Emblem Awakening - 3DS
Dokuro - Vita
Dokuro is a 2D platform game that seems to take a lot of cues from Ico. It's a PSN digital download game in the states, but you can import a physical copy of the game as well. Much of the game revolves around puzzle solving and escorting this princess from the beginning of the stage to the end of it, creating pathways for her to use and protecting her from enemies along the way. However, some parts of the game throw away the puzzles and escort gameplay and just become all about getting to the end of the level in one piece while overcoming a myriad of platforming challenges and enemy combat. I felt like the game was at its weakest in these levels, as they are very sadistically designed and frustrating. It's like the game goes from being Ico to suddenly being a rock hard NES era platformer like Mega Man, Castlevania, or Ninja Gaiden. Chapters 12 and 13 in particular are filled with obnoxiously designed levels like this that made me want to meet the designer of this game in person so I could punch him in the face...repeatedly.
What hurts these parts of the game too are how cheap some of the enemies are and the fact that they keep respawning. There's this one irritating boomerang tossing enemy in the game. You can knock his boomerang back at him with your sword, but the animation for his attack is so poorly animated that it becomes impossible to properly telegraph his attack leading to tons of cheap hits throughout the game. It reminds me of those cheap bomb tossing enemies in Castle Crashers who had no animation at all for throwing bombs at players, so you never would see those bombs coming until after they hit you for cheap damage. The controls also feel a bit stiff and sluggish, because the main character is so ridiculously slow moving. There are no checkpoints either. If you die, or mess up a puzzle so badly you can't fix it, you have to restart the level. The stages aren't very long though (being a portable game after all), but it's still annoying.
Overall though, it's an enjoyable game. It's well designed for the most part, with all the puzzles being very logical. There's a variety of puzzle types in fact and also a variety of platforming challenges. I was impressed by the ways the game periodically changes things up with new abilities, environmental challenges, and enemies. The boss fights are great too, at least the first time around anyway (more on that later).
The art style is interesting. I've heart it described as chalk art and I guess that's a fitting description. It's very minimalist. There's also a Tim Burtonesque sort of Nightmare Before Christmas quality to it, with the game taking place in a supernatural world that reminds me of something like Maximo or Ghoul n Ghosts. Some of the bosses are pretty cool looking. The audio side of things is okay. There's nothing really impressive in terms of sounds, and not much in the way of voice work other than grunts, death screams, and laughs (think of a typical Zelda game). The music is fairly good though, but nothing I feel the need to buy an OST of.
Story plays a small role in this game, but the brief story segments are humorous and entertaining as you see all the trials and tribulations this little skeleton man goes through over the course of the game to try and save this princess. You certainly feel like the universe is conspiring to make his life hell and it's played for comedic effect. Overall, the game has a lot of charm, which it really needs to offset how sadistically and annoyingly designed it can be at times.
The game wears out its welcome though as it's about 4 chapters too long. I reached a point where I saw an ending and thought, "Okay, That was fun, but I'm definitely ready to play something else now." Turns out that ending was a swerve and there's like another thirty more levels after that, which really felt like quite a slog to get through. It doesn't help that some of the final stages are so full of cheap enemies and aggravating level design that you just want the game to be over already. The game also makes you have to fight the bosses a second time as you near the end of the game Mega Man style, except they've been tweaked in order to make the fights longer and more annoying. I thought this was pointless and annoying. It's like they just kept trying to cram more and more shit into the game to keep it from ending. I felt like I was most definitely DONE with this game when I saw the end credits. It felt like a relief to not have to endure another annoying stage or aggravating boss fight.
The game doesn't really go out on a peak, it just exhausts you to the point that you're like, "Are we done yet? Can I go play something else now?" I went from completely loving Dokuro 6 chapters into it to just wishing it would end already by the time I finally saw the game's ending. That's the sign of a game that is either too long, or one that simply doesn't do a good enough job of maintaining a consistent level of "fun" throughout its entire play time.
Less is more, perfect games like Portal are proof positive of that. It left you wanting more. Had they trimmed this game down a couple levels, removed the stupid boss gauntlet near the end, and toned down the difficulty of some parts, this would most certainly have been one of my favorite games of all time as it's quite charming for the first ten or so chapters. Then it just goes on and on and on and keeps getting harder and harder and harder. The game went from a 9 out of 10 for me about half way through it to a 7 out of 10 game when I finally saw the end credits. That's not a terrible score though. It's still a good game in my opinion and another title to counter the whole, "Vita has no games" argument.
