deKay

Things I’ve Played Recently

Posted on 09/01/2014 Written by deKay

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)

Glorious.

Oh, you want more? Erm, really glorious? It’s the best Zelda game since Minish Cap. Mainly because it’s the only Zelda games since Minish Cap, sure, but still.

Yes, yes, I know there was Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass and those Wii ones and stuff, but they’re not proper Zelda games. Don’t argue.

Nintendo have taken the essence of a proper Zelda game, reused the game world from A Link To The Past, and streamlined a new alternative story. By streamlined, I mean you’re essentially handed all Link’s weapons and very quickly obtain most of his abilities and just left to do the job of winning and exploring. Which might sound awful, but it really works. It’s a lot of fun as a result.

I’ve just finished the first dungeon (which didn’t even feel like a dungeon, and it’s only the first in that it’s the first I attempted – you can do them in any order) in Lorule, so there’s a fair way to go yet.

Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)

With the game complete (as in, Bowser beaten) it’s mop-up time. I’ve been back to earlier levels and nabbed more stars, stamps and, er, sflags, and played through the post-game unlocked Star World, and some of the post-Star-World Mushroom World. I’m still yet to find any actually really difficult levels though.

Sure, some of the stars have been hard, and there have been a few moderately difficult levels, but there’s been NOTHING as hard as the hard stuff in New Super Mario Bros U yet. Still, there’s more to come so it might happen eventually…

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

Still playing. Still not missed a day. Still finding things to do. Still getting the same damn statue from Crazy Redd EVERY SINGLE TIME. Seriously – I’ve had the guy with the disc one six times running.

It was New Year in the game too, and there were fireworks and a big countdown clock and stuff. Which was nice.

3D Streets of Rage (3DS): COMPLETED!

Posted on 04/01/2014 Written by deKay

This is not what I expected one of my first completed games of 2014 to be, what with having got A Link Between Worlds and Duck Tales recently. Something made me want to buy and start playing this yesterday (perhaps because I’d just finished Steamworld Dig), and I finished it today.

It’s the same game as it ever was, although you’ll notice I opted for the Japanese version (mainly because I’ve never played it). It made little difference bar the title screen and the small amount of text though.

The 3D effect, however, is impressive. Like 3D Sonic the Hedgehog, it’s entirely superfluous, but the sprites just look gorgeous in the 3D playfield.

There were no surprises – I’ve completed Streets of Rage $hlmun times before after all – but I enjoyed it a great deal. I also found a tactic to deal with the “Blaze Twins” that I don’t think I’d ever realised before: Blaze’s reverse kick. Excellent.

SteamWorld Dig (3DS): COMPLETED!

Posted on 03/01/2014 Written by deKay

First game of 2014 to be completed! Woo!

I was a big fan of the 360 indie game Miner Dig Deep, and many years ago loved Diggers on the Acorn and Amiga, and it was my enjoyment of those two games that made me want SteamWorld Dig. The stars aligned and I was given some eShop credit just as this was on offer, and so I snapped it up.

I’m glad I did. It’s very much in the same vein as those two games I’ve already mentioned, with more combat and much more impressive graphics. Being able to wall jump gets rid of the concern you might dig your way into an inescapable pit, and the ability to carry a teleporter (which takes you back to the surface) means you never need to be too far from home, and the upgrades shop.

It’s a short title (I clocked it at just over five hours), but it’s well worth the journey. The only real downside to the length is it’s difficult to stop playing so the end comes all too quickly.

Attack of the Friday Monsters (3DS): COMPLETED!

Posted on 31/12/2013 Written by deKay

This is another one of those “Guild” games – short, experimental titles that were originally in a compilation in Japan, but were released in the UK as separate digital only games. I’d been interested in getting it for a while as people had said it was a fun little story in a slightly bizarre setting, and I’m a fan of strange and obscure Japanese games. However, when it came out I had lots of other games to play and no eShop credit.

It’s currently on offer, so a couple of days ago I bought it. And, within three hours play, it was complete – not that the shortness matters, as I went into the game knowing it was short.

The plot is a bit confusing, consisting of a quiet 1970s Tokyo suburb, its residents, and giant 70′s style monsters that appear each Friday night, which somehow doesn’t really concern any of the locals. Coincidentally, or not – you decide – the local TV station films their show about giant 70′s style monsters on Fridays. But then there’s some other plot about aliens, and how they may or may not be controlling, responsible for, or fighting the monsters.

You play as a young boy who has recently moved to the area, and much of the game is his interactions with other children from his school, his parents who run the local laundry, and other local residents – some of whom are a little… odd. You help solve minor incidents, riddles and relationship issues, all the time collecting “glims”, which you exchange for playing cards. You use these cards to “battle” the other kids in a variant of scissors, paper, stone. If you win, you get to be their “boss”, and they open up more information for you.

Anyway, the story is sort of gentle and sweet in a Ghibli sort of way, and certainly kept me hooked. Once completed, the game lets you continue to tie up a few loose ends and finish your card collection, but there’s no obvious way to solve all of the remaining side stories and a search of the internet shows pretty everyone else is also stuck, so I’m not sure I can proceed. Still, at least the main story is done.

Super Mario 3D World (Wii U): COMPLETED!

Posted on 30/12/2013 Written by deKay

By completed, I of course mean I have beaten Bowser. Like New Super Mario Bros U, from around this time last year, that’s only the first half of the game. The post-game mop-up of stars, flags and stamps will continue for a long time, I’m sure.

Apparently, it took me just under 5 hours to get this far. That’s shorter than NSMBU by some way. It certainly felt shorter, and was certainly easier. Yes, I found a warp (by accident) which skipped most of World 4 (this is why there’s a fairy missing in that screenshot), and no, I’ve not done every single level, but then I didn’t do all of NSMBU before Bowser either.

Being easier was a surprise. NSMBU had some tricky levels, and a few really hard ones, but the vast majority of those were in the special post-game worlds. NSMBU was a very easy game, but getting to Bowser in 3D World was a complete walkover. There is just one slightly hard level en-route – Grumblump Inferno, near the end of the game – and that was much easier once I realised you’re supposed to walk on the blocks as they rotate (as the mice do) rather than jump.

I know that 100%ing the game will be much harder, but I’m still amazed as how easy this has been so far. It’s the easiest Mario game I’ve ever played, by a considerable margin.

But that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because the game is fantastic. It oozes charm, quality and variety. Every level has something new, or a twist on something that came before. The graphics and the music are some of the best in any game ever, and the gameplay is nigh-on platforming perfection. But only nigh-on. Somewhere in the transition to 3D, the platforming precision of NSMBU has slightly veered away from perfect. The controls are not as tight. The into and out of screen jumping is a little vague in places (and some of the swimming levels are a little broken with this extra plane to deal with). These are very minor complaints, however, and it’s only because NSMBU was so recent that the comparison has to be made. 3D World is still a masterpiece, it’s just there’s another Wii U Mario game that stands a little taller.