wat i do
After my internet connection got too bad to be attributed to the roadworks I finally called out for someone to take a look at it. I had a 'bad signal' in the box, as it turns out. Whether this was a result of the roadworks or just my luck I don't know. In the absence of the internet I started to get back into gaming.
My much-delayed replaying of the Castlevania Double Pack is done. It's only going back to the old games it becomes apparent how much of a leap the DS games are over them. Harmony of Dissonance was pretty limp to see with it's garnish colour choices, awful instrument quality and pathetic bosses. The game had tons of bosses but most of them had about three frames of animation and one attack. They're quite sad to watch. On the other hand I like Juste Belmont a lot more now because he's distinct from the rest of his family. While the other Belmonts relied on grit and musculature Juste's focus on agility and magic set him apart. Harmony of Dissonance also sets itself apart with a few unique distinctions - it's the only 2D Metroidvania to star a Belmont and the only Castlevania where you can play as two different Belmonts. Playing as Simon in the boss rush is a lot more fun than the original Castlevania because he's so crazy strong, if awkward to use.
There's less to say about Aria of Sorrow because it's aged less badly than Harmony. Still not as good as it's sequels but no glaring shortcomings to highlight. I now feel sorry for people who are told they should complete Aria before Dawn since they have to slog through the more archaic game to get to the better one. It also makes me sad to see the new Konami logo on startup and the vastly better old one after the first menu. Still, Aria had more instances of Castlevania's twisted sense of humour to keep me amused, like it's version of the Excalibur (I won't spoil it here). The translation errors are glaringly obvious now and the rerelease should have been used to resolve them. Claimh Solais is still the most broken weapon ever. The Julius fight wasn't nearly as epic this time because I was so overleveled. In the end, both games just felt lacking where Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin were larger-scale and offered more variety.
Meteos: Disney Magic turned out to be a letdown. I was a huge fan of the original Meteos and I couldn't believe they could misfire so badly. Don't be fooled by the Disney trappings, this one is actually much harder than original Meteos. In Disney Meteos the way to unlock new content has been reversed from the first game. In Meteos you free-played the stages to build up materials to build new stages. It was sort of like grinding but playing the new stages led to accumulating more materials to build even more new stages so it was always worthwhile. In Disney Meteos you replay the 'story' mode (I use that term loosely since the 'story' is identical every time) to unlock stages for free play but there's no reason to free play the stages because there's no material collection and no world building, so no sense of personal accomplishment. And there's actually less worlds than Meteos. There is no thematic consistency as as the game jumps from Lilo and Stitch to Pirates of the Caribbean to Cinderella in the space of minutes Also, it never fails to disturb me to see Toy Story characters drawn with 2D art. It's just wrong. But the biggest offense must be the story mode missions with the objective of 'launch x number of blocks in this impossibly strict time limit' that taunt you with their unwinnable-ness. The new screen alignment and horizontal block movement don't change the game nearly as much as I though and aren't enough to justify the rest of the game's failings.
But after the disappointment of Disney Meteos you could say my most recent game is a real 'turnabout' in quality. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is something that's interested me for a while. I went into the game knowing little besides how it has a very devoted fanbase, and by the end I can see where that devotion comes from. It's very much unlike anything else I've ever played but that might just be because it's the only instance of the uniquely Japanese genre of Visual Novel to be successful in the West. The games are text-heavy logic puzzle game which would have been considered unsalable in the West before the DS opened up the market with it's reputation for more experimental, less traditional releases. The reason these games are so thrilling is cheap, but effective: it always feels like immediate, crushing defeat is just around the corner, keeping the player on the edge of their seat. It kept a grip on me for one game but whether this gimmick will hold me for the next two has yet to be seen. The first chapter is like a warmup for the rest of the game but the next three were absolutely gripping and I couldn't put it down. Appealing characters, genuinely suspenseful mystery stories and excellent music had me hooked. The fifth chapter, however, squandered a bit of that goodwill: too complicated, too many red herrings and just far far far far far too long, and ending with a twist that tries to be too clever and ends up just being stupid with the hero resorting to the kind of legalese shenanigans he had spent the last four chapters avoiding. I thought I would start the second game straight away but chapter five really took the wind out of my sails. I think I'll take the second game at a slower pace since extended sessions with the first made my wrist hurt from pressing the A button so much. This is the most RSI-tastic game since Gun Grave. But probably the worst thing about it is this game is a MASSIVE timesink. I can play for three hours and have it feel like one. I'm enjoying myself most of the time but it does make me feel like I'm trapped in a disconcerting timewarp. Getting stuck in Phoenix Wright is also massively frustrating because the game does have a few points where the puzzles are hugely oblique so it's off to GameFAQs or it's time to save and start randomly submitting evidence (but the sticking points didn't start for me until chapter four so it was perfect until then). The trials were at their best when they were self-contained and only moderately long so I hope the sequels work on this balance and don't give us any more like the original's chapter five.
Consider this an essential recommendation for any DS owner. Buy it, try it, love it and do the Blue Badger dance.
I made an extravagant purchase on Friday which I'd like to show off here but I don't have anything to take a picture with. I promise I'll show it eventually.
My much-delayed replaying of the Castlevania Double Pack is done. It's only going back to the old games it becomes apparent how much of a leap the DS games are over them. Harmony of Dissonance was pretty limp to see with it's garnish colour choices, awful instrument quality and pathetic bosses. The game had tons of bosses but most of them had about three frames of animation and one attack. They're quite sad to watch. On the other hand I like Juste Belmont a lot more now because he's distinct from the rest of his family. While the other Belmonts relied on grit and musculature Juste's focus on agility and magic set him apart. Harmony of Dissonance also sets itself apart with a few unique distinctions - it's the only 2D Metroidvania to star a Belmont and the only Castlevania where you can play as two different Belmonts. Playing as Simon in the boss rush is a lot more fun than the original Castlevania because he's so crazy strong, if awkward to use.
There's less to say about Aria of Sorrow because it's aged less badly than Harmony. Still not as good as it's sequels but no glaring shortcomings to highlight. I now feel sorry for people who are told they should complete Aria before Dawn since they have to slog through the more archaic game to get to the better one. It also makes me sad to see the new Konami logo on startup and the vastly better old one after the first menu. Still, Aria had more instances of Castlevania's twisted sense of humour to keep me amused, like it's version of the Excalibur (I won't spoil it here). The translation errors are glaringly obvious now and the rerelease should have been used to resolve them. Claimh Solais is still the most broken weapon ever. The Julius fight wasn't nearly as epic this time because I was so overleveled. In the end, both games just felt lacking where Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin were larger-scale and offered more variety.
Meteos: Disney Magic turned out to be a letdown. I was a huge fan of the original Meteos and I couldn't believe they could misfire so badly. Don't be fooled by the Disney trappings, this one is actually much harder than original Meteos. In Disney Meteos the way to unlock new content has been reversed from the first game. In Meteos you free-played the stages to build up materials to build new stages. It was sort of like grinding but playing the new stages led to accumulating more materials to build even more new stages so it was always worthwhile. In Disney Meteos you replay the 'story' mode (I use that term loosely since the 'story' is identical every time) to unlock stages for free play but there's no reason to free play the stages because there's no material collection and no world building, so no sense of personal accomplishment. And there's actually less worlds than Meteos. There is no thematic consistency as as the game jumps from Lilo and Stitch to Pirates of the Caribbean to Cinderella in the space of minutes Also, it never fails to disturb me to see Toy Story characters drawn with 2D art. It's just wrong. But the biggest offense must be the story mode missions with the objective of 'launch x number of blocks in this impossibly strict time limit' that taunt you with their unwinnable-ness. The new screen alignment and horizontal block movement don't change the game nearly as much as I though and aren't enough to justify the rest of the game's failings.
But after the disappointment of Disney Meteos you could say my most recent game is a real 'turnabout' in quality. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is something that's interested me for a while. I went into the game knowing little besides how it has a very devoted fanbase, and by the end I can see where that devotion comes from. It's very much unlike anything else I've ever played but that might just be because it's the only instance of the uniquely Japanese genre of Visual Novel to be successful in the West. The games are text-heavy logic puzzle game which would have been considered unsalable in the West before the DS opened up the market with it's reputation for more experimental, less traditional releases. The reason these games are so thrilling is cheap, but effective: it always feels like immediate, crushing defeat is just around the corner, keeping the player on the edge of their seat. It kept a grip on me for one game but whether this gimmick will hold me for the next two has yet to be seen. The first chapter is like a warmup for the rest of the game but the next three were absolutely gripping and I couldn't put it down. Appealing characters, genuinely suspenseful mystery stories and excellent music had me hooked. The fifth chapter, however, squandered a bit of that goodwill: too complicated, too many red herrings and just far far far far far too long, and ending with a twist that tries to be too clever and ends up just being stupid with the hero resorting to the kind of legalese shenanigans he had spent the last four chapters avoiding. I thought I would start the second game straight away but chapter five really took the wind out of my sails. I think I'll take the second game at a slower pace since extended sessions with the first made my wrist hurt from pressing the A button so much. This is the most RSI-tastic game since Gun Grave. But probably the worst thing about it is this game is a MASSIVE timesink. I can play for three hours and have it feel like one. I'm enjoying myself most of the time but it does make me feel like I'm trapped in a disconcerting timewarp. Getting stuck in Phoenix Wright is also massively frustrating because the game does have a few points where the puzzles are hugely oblique so it's off to GameFAQs or it's time to save and start randomly submitting evidence (but the sticking points didn't start for me until chapter four so it was perfect until then). The trials were at their best when they were self-contained and only moderately long so I hope the sequels work on this balance and don't give us any more like the original's chapter five.
Consider this an essential recommendation for any DS owner. Buy it, try it, love it and do the Blue Badger dance.
I made an extravagant purchase on Friday which I'd like to show off here but I don't have anything to take a picture with. I promise I'll show it eventually.