The big blue world was bigger than it seemed
As islands rose from under the sea
Collecting shards to see the past
Our brave young heroes were having a blast
They traveled far and gave hope to the living
Only to discover, this was just the beginning…
Continue reading “Dragon Quest VII – A Week Later (30 Hour Impressions)”
Once a year there is a tradition among gamers to sit in their house alone until midnight. No contact with the outside world is allowed, and you must deprive yourself of nutrients for the whole day before exploring a magical world at night and finding your true purpose.
Wait no, that’s just a normal week. One of these Thursday night journeys led me to Year Walk on my Wii U, as I walked all the way to the end of the eShop.
Normally I will get pretty far into a game before doing a write-up, but I thought I’d share some of my excitement for Dragon Quest right now while it’s in the air. It’s better than holding it in for weeks, right? I’m a few hours into Dragon Quest VII on 3DS and absolutely loving it. The world has already captivated me with charming presentation and an interesting story. Coming from Dragon Quest VI, it feels like a full generation leap with a massive upgrade to the environments. I’m getting so excited by the smallest things because it feels new. Even before the title screen I was amazed by the intro, as seagulls flew across an island in full 3D over the triumphant roar of the Dragon Quest theme song.
Continue reading “Dragon Quest VII – The Journey Begins (Early Impressions)”
*tch* This is Leon. I’ve arrived on the Wii U through the Virtual Console, some kind of digital download service. They took a sample of my blood and uploaded it. I’ve also been injected with a virus, it seems to have changed my reflexes. I can see a green cursor wherever I aim my gun. It seems to be beneficial so far, but I’ll keep you posted on any adverse affects. Leon out. *tch*
Aahhh, that was a great nap. Where was I? After a long journey on my Nintendo DS I have reached the end of Dragon Quest VI. With VII arriving on 3DS, I hadn’t played a DQ game in a while and wanted to see if I still liked the series. The answer is an Oomph! powered Yes, with Dragon Quest VI on DS proving to be a fantastic game. I haven’t beaten the game yet, but I’m currently preparing my team for the end boss fight. Roaming the land, finding the last pieces of equipment, it’s a great time for reflection.
It was a lonely Sunday night as the Brazilian GP faced a rain delay. Harsh weather had flooded the track, and the already late 3am start would be pushed back even further to an undisclosed time. From the other side of the world, I faced an existential crisis as I turned off the coverage and stared at my Wii U. My headphones still on, I started browsing the eShop. It was meant to be playing Mario Kart 8 music, but for some reason it was generic eShop music from 2012. What kind of night was this? Could anything go right? I browsed the new releases and saw Grand Prix Rock ‘N Racing. It was a top-down racer, boasting real F1 tracks with a colourful presentation. I like all those things. Wow, a sunny Brazil. After watching the trailer I was sold. To quote the commentator’s thick vocabulary “LET’S GO!“.
Continue reading “Grand Prix Rock ‘N Racing – THIS RACE IS ON FIRE!”
After 1000 hours of intense Splatoon play, my left analog stick was getting old and losing its freshness. It would start to do its own thing in the middle of games, randomly not responding, going down, right, wherever it wanted. This is not a common console problem related to calibration, but a problem with the actual piece of tech inside. Wii U’s analog stick is a bit different to what you’d expect, with a circuit board “sensor” reading inputs instead of the joystick itself.
Continue reading “Wii U GamePad analog stick surgery – SUCCESS!”
The Game Boy Advance had an impressive lineup of games in its relatively short life. Released in 2001, then shoved out the door by the Nintendo DS in 2004, it was home to 2 brand new Metroids, 3 new F-Zero games and 3 Castlevanias among others. This little writeup will be about Castlevania as I’ve just played through all 3 of them on the Wii U Virtual Console. I had an amazing time exploring each game, and I’m absolutely blown away that these 3 games were made within 3 years. Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow are all interesting in their own ways.
To be Frank, I completely lost track of Halloween this year and don’t care much for holidays or parties. It’s a bit of fun that can lead to great eShop sales, but I don’t need a reason to be spooky. It all seems a bit forced to me when people dress up and post selfies. Not my thing.
Continue reading “Super Castlevania IV – Hardcore Halloween”
BOOM! There goes the lab. As you stand up and gather your wits, the last thing you remember is something being knocked over. You don’t know what was happening in the lab, and memories of your identity are just as vague. It must have been a big explosion. You’ve suddenly appeared in this well-constructed series of rooms with 2D platforms, throbbing enemies, bizarre surfaces and kickass music. What could the experiment have been? To create a Metroid game?
It’s been 7 years since we have been graced with a CING-style game on a Nintendo system. They went bankrupt and disappeared after Hotel Dusk and Another Code R didn’t sell huge numbers, and their final game Again: Eye of Providence got unfair reviews and slander from press who didn’t understand visual adventure games. Sound familiar? Yeah, shit journalism can actually damage companies. CING is still dead but some key members of the team are back, including the Director of Hotel Dusk. They’ve joined Arc System Works who are credited as the developers of this game, with Aksys Games stepping in to publish. Chase: Cold Case Investigations has hit the 3DS eShop as a budget episodic visual novel, in an attempt to bring their highly atmospheric stories back into the mainstream.
Continue reading “Chase: Cold Case Investigations – Distant Memories of CING”
VRog is a first-person frog simulator on the Wii U, and this just might be a world exclusive review. When looking for information on this game I could not find a single writeup, and it has no eShop ratings. There’s only a single Miiverse post of someone saying “RIBBIT!”. After a bit of digging, I found out this was originally made as a VR game for the Oculus Rift, but I guess they needed some extra money because it’s arrived on the Wii U with normal 3D graphics. It’s not the kind of game you’d buy a headset for, but the concept itself was interesting enough for me to take the risk while it was $3.25 AU. I just wanted to be a frog for a night.
I’m not Samus Aran. I can’t wall jump, roll into a ball or somersault over waves of enemies. Armed with a human-sized mech, Federation equipment and a positive attitude, I’m just an ordinary soldier doing my best. I joined the Federation Force three years ago and I’ve been working my way up, taking care of a few Space Pirates here and there and helping other soldiers where I can. Today I’ve been assigned my toughest, most dangerous mission yet.
Continue reading “Metroid Prime – Federation Soldier Log #09”
It’s been a pretty good year. Not a great one, but pretty good. We’ve seen some heavy hitters on 3DS with Fire Emblem Fates and Kirby Planet Robobot, and intense console action with Star Fox Zero and some memorable Splatfests. Dragon Quest 7, Federation Force and Color Splash are brand new games that just released with tons of content. Pokemon Sun & Moon is right around the corner, and set to be the biggest Pokemon adventure yet. Despite a handful of 3DS games though, next year looks a bit empty. It’s even worse on the Wii U front, with nothing Nintendo-related besides Zelda. Yooka-Laylee is gonna be great too, but there’s an ominous dark void after March. Nintendo has been tight-lipped about NX on a level without precedent. Fans are getting frustrated, confused, and feeling a bit left out.
Was feeling a bit adventurous tonight and I thought I’d try a new game. I also had a surplus of My Nintendo coins to get rid of. After redeeming a 3DS theme I noticed Xtype Plus was 50% off! The game was now $2, and basically free, right? May as well, right? I like arcade games and it might prove to be an addictive score-chaser. Just a bit of fun to compliment my night.
Pietriots 