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Things I’ve been playing recently

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FUZZY_PICKLESEarthbound (Wii U)

Progressing well through this now. Well, at least I was until I entered Moonside where everythings is… wrong. The map is like Fourside only upside down, and all in neon. And there are invisible walls. And some people you talk to warp you all over the place but not to anywhere useful. And “yes” and “no” are reversed, except when saving your game. It’s very odd.

Oh yeah, and Paula got kidnapped by a green squidalienghost in the department store, which means some of the fights now are pretty hard as I had been relying on her Freeze “magic” (although it isn’t called magic – what is it? PP? What?) a lot.

They_see_me_rollin_._They_hatin_.__cos_cubes_don_t_roll.Edge (Wii U)

I still have some eShop credit and this was reduced last week to just £1.79 or something, so I picked it up. It’s a nice puzzle game where you roll a cube around picking up smaller cubes and hitting switches which make the platforms appear, move, or transform. Seems good so far, but I’m only about 20 (short) levels in. The controls are a bit of a pain though – it’s too easy to allow the cube to keep rolling even after you stop pressing the direction pad, which is odd as it’s a cube, not a ball.

tumblr_n3krwn7ttt1svmpf2o1_400Animal Crossing (3DS)

Still playing this every day! Big news this week though – I finally managed to get a lighthouse! That space I’ve been saving on the clifftop for almost EIGHT MONTHS has now been filled with a lovely shiny lighthouse. Awesome!

I’ve also been trying to get more special tree stumps. I’d visited someone else’s village and they had at least two special stump designs that I didn’t, so I chopped down half my trees in the hope I’d find them in my own village. I didn’t. So a lot of time has been spent planting new trees.

Skylanders Giants (360)

Late to the party with this, as Skylanders Swapforce has been out about six months now, but someone was selling Giants (and ten Skylanders we didn’t have) for a bargain price, so I snapped them up. I’ve been playing it with my daughter, and although we’re only about four levels in, and it does seems like more of the same (only without the right-stick “waggle” events to open chests and locks and things), it’s just as fun as the original. Having a pile of new Skylanders to try is nice too. We’ve 27 overall now.

tumblr_n3ebuzyrew1svmpf2o1_1280Steel Diver (3DS)

This was one of the “three for a tenner” games I bought a while back, along with Tetris 3DS and Heroes of Ruin. I can see why people complained at the price when it was £30, but for what I paid it’s a perfectly good title. You control a submarine and have to navigate through areas by moving depth and velocity sliders on the touch screen, rather than with the d-pad. Torpedo firing controls are all “buttons” on the touch screen too, as is the attitude “wheel”.

There are three different subs to choose, from a nimble but weak tiny one, to a strong but difficult to manoeuvre underwater tank. You actually have to play all of the levels with all three subs to unlock the later levels, and I’m currently struggling to pass Level 5, where there’s a massive ship you have to destroy, only I can’t. Boo!

Playing_dress_up._Or__since_I_have_no_other_clothes__dress_down.Megami Paradise (PC Engine)

I have no idea what is happening. I intended to play this for Game Over, Yeah!! but couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do, so didn’t get to any areas where it was possible to die, so had to abort it. It appears to be an RPG where you control a girl at a convent school (it’s full of nuns). I managed to find some other girls who were stuck in chests or surrounded by frogs, and then found a dressing room where I could strip to my bra and knickers (but it wouldn’t let me leave the room until I’d put my clothes back on). Pretty standard Japanese fare, then. See:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

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tumblr_n0xozrnbex1svmpf2o1_1280This week I hit the 350 hours played mark. That’s a lot of hours. I’m pretty sure that’s more hours than I’ve spent on any previous game in the series, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one of my most played games ever. And yet… I’m still playing every day, and I still feel I’m nowhere near done.

tumblr_n0zfb0tggl1svmpf2o1_400Sure, there’s a load of furniture I’m missing (much of which I’ll probably never get – like the Ice stuff, and some of the other missed seasonal special things), but I’m also well off completing my museum, with still only about 6 pictures and statues on display, and around a third of the fish and insects still unaccounted for. Not only that but many of the town works I crave so much are just not forthcoming. Cheese must remain Flower Clockless and Devoid of Lighthouse for a bit longer, it seems. And badges? I’ve not even half of them. So much to do, yet I spend most of my time sending letters full of fertiliser to Agent S. She loves it.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

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fertiliser

And still the game goes on. I found out that the reason I didn’t have a Gold Shovel yet is because I simply haven’t bought enough fertiliser. So I’ve been buying fertiliser.

But what to do with all my fertiliser? Send it to Agent S, of course! That girl (yes, it surprised me too) loves fertiliser. Probably.

Then my transvestitism was unkindly brought up when the less tolerant than expected Lopez questioned why I was wearing a lady’s hat. Because I like it and it makes me feel pretty, Lopez.

Fight intolerance, yo.

Things I’ve Played Recently

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

lbw2Glorious.

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)

tumblr_myu6u3HPvt1svmpf2o1_1280With 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)

Hippo_new_year__Or_would_be_if_the_stupid_hippo_had_turned_up.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.