dsheinem wrote:I feel like my moment of having at least a little interest in this story and its characters will be a fleeting one...
I can understand this in the first episode, but if you give a bit, it produces one of the strongest throughlines of any modern, narrative-focused game.
Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended...so the world might be mended.
dsheinem wrote:I feel like my moment of having at least a little interest in this story and its characters will be a fleeting one...
I can understand this in the first episode, but if you give a bit, it produces one of the strongest throughlines of any modern, narrative-focused game.
right. Pretty much if you don't like the story, then you just don't like stories.
BoneSnapDeez wrote:Would I like those games if I'm not familiar with the TV shows or whatever?
I've seen one episode ever. I don't even think that characters in the show are in the game at all.
There are a couple characters from the show that are briefly in Season 1 of the game. This isn't based on the show though, it's based on the comic book. You would like this game if you like games that are about narrative choice and human drama.
Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended...so the world might be mended.
1. Kirby's Epic Yarn Wii
2. To The Moon Christmas Special PC
3. Super Mario 3D World Wii U
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Wii U
5. Chiki Chiki Boys Mega Drive
6. World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Mega Drive
7. Metal Gear PSVita
8. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake PSVita
9. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy 3DS
10. Akai Katana 360
11. Metal Gear Solid GBC
12. Atelier Totori Plus: The Adventurer of Arland PSN
13. Tearaway PSN
14. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA ƒ PSN
15. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA 2nd PSP
16. Final Fantasy VII PS1
17. Dead or Alive 5 Plus PSVita
18. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 3DS
19. NES Remix 2 Wii U eShop
20. Starfox Assault GC
21. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 3DS
22. Cybernator SNES
23. Gravity Rush PSVita
24. Perfect Dark N64
25. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood PSP
26. Wave Race 64 N64
27. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Extend PSP
28. Mischief Makers N64
29. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night PSP
30. Snowboard Kids N64
31. Mario Kart 8 Wii U
32. Double Dragon NES
33. Shantae 3DS VC
34. Maestro: Jump in Music DS
35. Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure DS
36. Bangai-O DC
37. Ristar Wii VC
38. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty PSVita
39. Muramasa Rebirth PSN
40. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom Wii U eShop
41. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara Wii U eShop
42. Mega Man Wii U VC
43. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together PSP
44. Mega Man 3 Wii U VC
45. Mega Man 4 Wii U VC
46. Scooby Doo: Classic Creep Capers GBC
47. Kirby's Dream Land 2 3DS VC
48. Mega Man 5 Wii U VC
49. Mega Man 6 Wii U VC
50. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Wii U
51. Sayonara Umihara Kawase 3DS eShop
52. Konami Krazy Racers GBA
53. Final Fantasy X HD Remaster PSVita
54. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 3DS eShop
55. Kirby: Triple Deluxe 3DS eShop
56. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call 3DS
57. Hyrule Warriors Wii U
58. Final Fantasy PSP
59. The Mysterious Murasame Castle 3DS VC
60. Last Window: The Secret of Cape West DS
61. Metroid Prime Hunters DS *NEW*
62. Nintendo Land Wii U *NEW*
Two more for the list - my longest standing unbeaten game on each of these consoles at that
Metroid Prime Hunters
A lot of people do not like Prime Hunters, and I get why. It's a game with quite a few issues.
First of all, the story is a weak excuse to put the new hunters in. They were clearly designed for the multiplayer, and they're uninteresting and incredibly easy to beat in the single player campaign. The environments too feel more like they were cobbled together out of multiplayer arenas rather than feeling fully fleshed out like other games in the series - environments are deceptively linear, and even though there is token backtracking, even then it's generally just one different path that you need another weapon to open.
Speaking of weapons, again these feel hamfisted into the single player campaign from the multiplayer - Samus doesn't get any of her usual upgrades that allow her to traverse the enviornment in different ways - no spider ball, grapple beam, hi jump boots etc here. The only upgrades are the 6 multiplayer weapons, and they never really expand to more than 'a different way to shoot things, and they open doors which are different colours.
Speaking of shooting things, there's an awful lot more of that here than your usual metroid, and puzzle solving and exploration are much less prominent. This isn't necessarily a bad change as a one off imo, but it could've have used a lot more enemy variety - the same few enemies appear in basically every enviornment, and when you encounter a new enemy it's generally a palette swap of an earlier enemy with a new weapon (which is inevitably one of the 6 multiplayer weapons again). Even the bosses are generally the same two monsters reused over and over.
So with a weaker plot, progression, enemy variety, a short play time and a deviation from the usual Metroid structure, I can see why people don't like Prime Hunters.
...So it's a shame I don't really agree with them. Objectively, I can see that Prime Hunters is a weaker game than the console Prime games in a lot of ways. Subjectively, I didn't really enjoy it any less than the home console games. I've always been someone who can definitely appreciate the Prime series, but never really got really into it, and I didn't feel any different here.
The shooting gameplay is fun enough, and I enjoyed fighting the Hunters. The multiplayer is fantastic imo, a ton of fun (my favourite character to use is Weavel). The linear environments made the game move at a relatively brisk pace as opposed to the main games which I found often had very slow sections. There was also no crappy padding gaining all the macguffins at the end of the game which all 3 other games did, thank god.
The graphics are still pretty stunning for a DS game and it controls well too. I found my hand getting a little uncomfortable sometimes with my DSi, which I don't remember being an issue on my original DS when I first got the game. Either way, it's not a must own or a defining game for the system by any means, but I had some fun with Metroid Prime Hunters.
Nintendo Land
This is an odd one to explain my thoughts on, as although I beat it last night, I finished most of the game a couple years back when I first got it. For anyone wondering how I beat this btw, once you get a star for every attraction you unlock the credits. What I'll do for this game is explain my thoughts on each of the games 12 attractions.
Zelda Battle Quest is a fun game in co-op, with a small army of links with swords leading the charge and a bow user covering them from behind. I like how players have to co-operate to defend each other, and I found the controls very responsive. I wish you could have a bit more control over the speed and direction you walk along the path though. In single player, this game is boring. Good overall.
The Pikmin game is probably the best of the co-op games. It's the one that is the most fun with a full set of 5 players and it's the one with the most interesting level design. It's essentially a simple beat'em-up, but it does it with a ton of charm and a brisk pace that makes it a highlight of the game overall. This one is still fun in single player in shorter bursts. Great overall.
The Metroid game is definitely the trickiest to control, whether you're on foot or in the ship, and due to this I found it hard finding willing volunteers to play with me. I love the ship controls, but even more than the Pikmin game, the pilot of the ship feels massively overpowered compared to those on foot. The missions are also a bit dull with lots of 'shoot everything' missions, but some of the boss fights are fun. It's reasonably fun in single player still. Good overall.
Octopus Dance is a really basic call and response rhythm game with an odd game and watch theme for some reason. It's fun enough, and I like how it mixes things up by turning you around. It's one of the most basic games in the package though, and doesn't have much replay value. OK overall.
F-Zero Race is one of the weakest games in the package. It's fun enough I guess, but offers absolutely no sense of speed. It might have been better as a Wave Race or 1080 themed game for the sake of making more sense at the slower speed. It's a simple enough game of dodging obstacles, but it's a little finnicky sometimes and kinda unforgiving. OK I guess.
Yoshi's Cart (I don't remember these names, I'm just guessing) is actually kinda interesting and more compelling than it should be. Drawing the route on the touch screen to eat the fruit on the top is quite challenging, and it's immensely satisfying when you get it all on your first go. It's not a game I'd keep coming back to, but when I do I'm sure I'll get sucked in again. Good.
Takamaru's Ninja Castle is based on the Mysterious Murasame Castle which I also played a few weeks back. It's fairly faithful to the original game mechanics (shoot tons of Ninja with lots of throwing stars) and it's a fun little high score game to play through otherwise. An odd choice of IP considering how popular the others are, but I liked it. Good overall.
Balloon Trip Breeze is basically a fun multi-levelled version of Balloon Trip mode from Balloon Fight. The controls with the stylus are at one and the same time very responsive and less accurate - moving fast around an oncoming obstacle is easier here, but accurately moving between tight gaps is much trickier. It's OK, but not one of my favourites. Decent.
Donkey Kong Crash Course is one of the more addictive games on the package, and also easily one of the hardest. Using the sticks, tilt controls and shoulder buttons to manoeuvre your cart feels good and the challenge is cruel but compelling. A highlight of the package. Great.
The 3 multiplayer only games are probably the best part of the package. I wouldn't play them with less than 4 players either, although 5 is recommended. Mario chase has 4 toads trying to chase down mario, and this one is really satisfying despite its simplicity. Mario can see the whole screen and has more intricate movement capabilities, whilst the toads can only see in front of themselves and have a distance meter from mario. Working together to take Mario down is really fun.
Luigi's Ghost Mansion turns the concept around - this time the gamepad player has to catch the other players. As a ghost he is invisible unless caught in a lightning flash, but players can detect him getting nearer using the rumble on their wii remotes. It's actually surprisingly tense for both teams. Downed teammates can be revived by shining your torch on them for a while, but this leaves you vulnerable and wastes your batteries leaving you defenceless until you replace them. The ghost can also dash which makes him move faster but becomes visible and create a spell which blacks out torches - both of these add some mind games to procedures. Definitely a highlight of the package.
Animal Crossing Sweet Day requires more co-ordination than the other Tag games - the gamepad players must control two guards at once with each control stick, whilst wii remote players have to co-operate in order to make sweets fall from trees. The goal for gamepad players is to get 40 sweets between them before they get caught 3 times by the guards. Getting caught makes you drop all your sweets. You move slower the more sweets you have making you an easy target, but you can drop some to speed up and run away. Lots to consider here, making it my favourite of the multiplayer games.
Nintendo Land overall is a solid party game experience - it's not perfect, like most party games it's still lacking in depth, but overall it's fun and worth a pick up for cheap.
(This is a review of the single player campaign.) As a sequel, MechAssault 2 both improves and devolves upon its predecessor's groundwork. Graphics have greatly improved, this is one impressive looking title for Xbox. The mechs look wonderful, the scenery convincing, the particle effects and explosions grandiose, and the real time cutscenes are rendered amazingly well. Game complexity has also improved, due to the ability to exit a mech and run around on foot and get into another mech during a mission. There are also tanks to drive and planes to fly. Unfortunately mission design has not improved. While there's more variety to the proceedings, sometimes said variety is ill suited to this sort of game. No one is playing a mech simulator because they want to run around on foot doing a stealth infiltration. Who wants to play a pattern based Simon simulator pushing colored button sequences to unlock doors? Not only that, but you are never allowed to choose the mech you want to take into battle, let alone customize it. Ignorant design decisions such as these do not adhere properly to the mech simulation genre. That said, there are moments in the campaign that are truly impressive with sweeping vistas and frantic multi mech battles. But then you have a final boss battle where you are forced to fight in the weakest mech available against an opponent that is insanely overpowered in comparison. All while listening to a ridiculous Korn nu-metal track ad nauseum until it's finally beaten. MechAssault 2 has its moments, but its clear the developers did not understand the important intricacies of the genre of game they designed.
