April's Game of the Month: Child of Light

Yeah, yeah, it's NOT April for another five or so hours, but Ubisoft's upcoming RPG, Child of Light is so gorgeous and innovative on the artistic front that it's an automatic BUY for me as well and April's Game of the Month. Thankfully, it's coming to PC, Mac and a a few consoles on April 30th, so you can play it as well. Just look at those trailers above and below and you'll be on board. Or at the very least you'll be bugging someone you know who plays games to grab this and let you watch them play... 

Review: TANK! TANK! TANK!

Platform: Wii U

Developer: Namco

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

# of Players: 1 - 4

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

As a launch title for the Wii U, Namco Bandai's TANK! TANK! TANK! may not look like a system seller, but look past its colorful arcade visuals and initially simple gameplay and you'll find a fast-paced (and 100% tank focused) party game shooter that owes more than a little credit to Sandlot's always fun Earth Defense Force series of games. In fact, the game manages to play almost exactly like an arcade version of EDF would, streamlining the experience down to timed stages, random weapon pickups that you can use instantly and a mix of assorted enemies from giant robotic spiders and wasps to some pretty wild bosses that need to be taken down as quickly as possible. Granted, blowing monsters into scrap metal over and over is all you do here in the main game whether playing in solo or co-op, so those seeking something deeper should look elsewhere. On the other hand, given that this is a rather enhanced port of an arcade game that offers much more than the original version, you SHOULD expect and respect the repetitive nature of the game to the fullest by diving in and shooting up the scenery as much as possible.

"Retro" Review: The Dark Spire

Platform: Nintendo DS

Developer: Success

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players: 1

Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: A

(Note: while I'm cooling my heels and planning a new site relaunch soon, here's an old review to peruse. this previously lost review was written LONG before the PSN Wizardry games from XSEED and Wizardry Online were announced, but I decided not to alter anything mostly because I'm surprised this turned up in a folder packed with stuff I thought was gone for good - enjoy!)

Since no US publisher seems to even be thinking about reviving the classic Wizardry franchise anytime soon, Atlus has pretty much taken up the mantle of "publisher of Wizardry-like gameplay experiences" on the Nintendo DS. Some of you might be asking "Hey! what about that excellent 2001 PlayStation 2 game, Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land, huh?" However, that game (great as it was) wasn't at all related to the eight Sir-Tech PC games. Other than a few console remakes of the first seven games scattered over an assortment of Japanese consoles and a few handheld version the numerous Japanese-developed Wizardry games are their own bird (and yes, it would have been grand to see them localized in English), but that's another subject for another time. Anyway, thanks to titles such as the two Etrian Odyssey games (which can be seen as spiritual successors to Sir-Tech's original games) and now The Dark Spire, developed by Success, Atlus will absolutely make you do a happy dance if you love your RPGs old-school tough yet completely user-friendly.

Three More Wii U Quick Takes (Before I Go Back To Playing)...

I'm in a Sergio Leone sort of mood, what with all this chaos happening in my tiny corner of the blogosphere, so here you go: a tiny bit of humor to lighten the mood...

THE GOOD! TANK! TANK TANK! Is basically a riff on Sandlot's Earth Defense Force series of games, but with all tanks, all the time, a lot of them to unlock and some pretty fast-paced levels. Playing on the Gamepad is pretty awesome and you can even play multiplayer with bots in case you can't get online (or don't want to). Nice.

THE BAD! For some crazy reason, Nintendo seems to think EVERY potential Wii U owner has a HDTV (thankfully, the console supports standard definition TV's, but you need to set the system up correctly) AND a solid broadband connection. You absolutely CANNOT register the console unless you connect online, which is quite stupid. The company should have thought ahead and included a "low-fi" option (old-school reply card, toll-free phone number, online registration for dial-up users, whatever) for people who want to get those 160 Club Nintendo points for filling out the registration survey. FIX THIS!

& THE UGLY! The otherwise superb enhanced port of Tekken Tag Tournament: Wii Edition is GREAT and quite spectacular to play (long load times aside), but some of the Wii U exclusive features are silly to the point of distraction. In particular, the Mario, Luigi and Peach costumes for some of the characters just look really dumb (at least I thought so). It wouldn't be so bad if there were ONE character stuck in those ridiculous get-ups, but, noooooo - here you see too many of the same goofy costume. Granted, there are a bunch more Nintendo-themed outfits to see (and yep, anyone looks good as Link), but it would have been nice to have a choice from the beginning. Fear not, Namco Bandai - I'm not going to dock the game any points for having to look at Paul Phoenix and a few too many others in the game with those red overalls, bag, fake nose and familiar mustache.

OK, back to working on some games and plotting out some more reviews... Back in a bit.

To those who celebrate it - Happy Thanksgiving, by the way!

Video Game Appreciation 101 - Gallery: Wii U Stuff

 

Well, my crappy site destruction issues aside, things aren't a total freak-out here. My Wii U arrived as well as some games, so I've been buried in setting up and diving into everything so I can get reviews posted here while also figuring out my next move in terms of getting a new site up and running. In the meantime, here's some...

Fun Wii U info:

1. Low-Fi Gamers, Beware. It doesn't come with standard AV cables and the default screen setting is for 16:9 HD sets (you get a nice HDMI cable), so don't sell that Wii off if you've got an old analog TV or else you'll need to shell out for a new first-party cable when you buy the system. That sales clerk at Gamestop or wherever won't even bother to ask what sort of TV you have, I'd bet.

2. You don't need to download that update UNLESS you want to use the online features. Granted, Nintendo WANTS you to be social an all, but if you can't get online for whatever reason, you can still play single player or couch-co-op games out of the box. The system will play those games without setting up an account. It took me about 10 minutes to set up my system from opening the box to glancing over the quick start sheet and piecing everything together. Par for the course, Nintendo has made it pretty easy to get up and running. You get a bunch of stuff like a pair of "feet" for the Wii U that give it a nice profile) a charger cradle and GamePad stand (one's a dedicated charger, one's just a stand), but don't you dare toss anything you think you aren't going to use. You'll be buying a second GamePad at some point so yeah, you'll need somewhere to set it, right?

3. Nintendo Land is pretty cool (but EVERY game should have had a solo play component). I wasn't expecting much (and a few of the games could have been a bit better), but leave it to Nintendo to make mini-games that are basically extended tutorials VERY fun and even more rewarding. Pikmin Adventure is my favorite, and it needs to be expanded upon with bigger maps and turned into a full-fledged game. Heck, it's good enough as it is to get put on the 3DS, but what's here is addictive and has a nice old school meets new school thing going for it. More on the other games in my review...

4. You can play Batman: Arkham City completely on the Gamepad (and it's quite impessive). Yeah, yeah - everyone is talking about the new Mario game, but for me WB Montreal's super-duper port of Rocksteady's already amazing game will make Vita owners REALLY pissed. Granted, there IS some annoying slowdown in spots, but the incredible amount of content here (ALL the DLC packs, new costumes and added GamePad functionality) makes this the best version of the game to date.


There's a lot more to cover, but I'll get to some of that when I start putting reviews together...

OK, back in a bit - Tekken Tag Tournament is calling me and there's still a big chunk of Arkham City to explore.

Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Flipnote + How To Draw Link Videos

Between the cool 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword coming to the Wii soon, the live symphonic concert and a few other treats for fans new and old, Nintendo even has some nice and arty Zelda-themed surprises in these two videos. I like that green DSi XL in the How To Draw Link clip, but we'll see if it's actually released outside of Japan. Seeing that Link sketch reminded me that I have a long-unfinished pencil piece here that I need to finally get done one of these days...

Nintendo Irks Me Again (And Few Other Folks As Well)...

Yes, yes, we know you want Wii U to succeed and you're slowly but surely winding down the number of key first-party Wii releases so gamers can make a smooth, quick transition whenever the new console is launched. However, seemingly PASSING on a US localization of Xenoblade when it's getting a PAL release (with multiple language options as Xenoblade Chronicles) is too much for me to ignore. Here's another game that shows the Wii can indeed to high-quality graphics and sound while also scoring quite high in Famitsu (36/40) AND garnering a nicely sized fan base here in the states and you decide to skip over it? For what? Sure, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be a mega-hit and sell like hotcakes, but the Wii NEEDS more than ONE high quality (and long in development) Adventure/RPG worth lining up for. Remember, you even showed this one at E3 2009 (as Monado: Beginning of the World), so even thinking of depriving North America of yet another promised title will win you no love even amongst certain loyal fans who've stood by you through thick and thin...