What I (Dis)Liked Last Week

The desire to establish regular content is powerful, because without some sliver of a schedule to adhere to the possibility of stagnation becomes more likely. So I think I'll try to put up one of these every Monday, a sort of general impressions section of the media I have consumed over the past week. I didn't see any movies, watch any TV shows, listen to any new music or read any books, so this will pretty much just be more video games.

I'll go ahead and kick it off with what I didn't like: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I haven't really been much of a fan of the series, I want to be, but it has some problems, and with this newest installment I confirmed they have not addressed them at all. There's a fun game in there, and I guess I can see the appeal, but it's just too random and confusing. I've got nothing against throwing all these radically different characters together (Except Mr. Game-and-Watch, that's just stupid) and watching them beat the snot out of each other, but it has the same problems several other Nintendo multiplayer games have. I know it's nice to have an element of chance and luck, to have a game where anyone can, and will, win, but that usually just cheapens the experience. This happens in Mario Kart and Mario Party, where when it comes to the end someone can get a blue shell and win from last place or, in the case of Mario Party, the person in last should just win anyway. I'm told this style of four-player fighting is popular over in the land of Pocky and Pokemon, and I remember really enjoying it in Power Stone for the Dreamcast, but it just doesn't quite work for me in this case. What I'm trying to say is that if you enjoy Super Smash Bros. you are a bad person.

A few years after its release I finally got a chance to try Pikmin 2 multiplayer, which I was always told was a very fun experience, and I did enjoy it when I wasn't playing against a certain member of a certain person's family. It inspired to load up the original game and start playing through it again, since I never did finish it. For being a sort of hybrid of action/platformer/puzzle/RTS game, it is simple to pick up and understand, and has that addicting quality that will make you ignore eating or going to the bathroom until absolutely necessary. Which is why I ended up playing it almost from beginning to end in one sitting, until I reached the final boss; a creature forged with flesh of demons and the bones of monsters, created in the deepest, darkest depths of the infernal regions, born to be the sole heir of Lucifer's throne. Needless to say, he can fuck right off. Pikmin has a general difficulty ramp that starts at a fairly casual level and then scales slowly upwards to only slightly challenging, but at the end of the game they pressed the "we hate gamers" button and cranked the difficulty up to Murderous. After an hour of attempting to slay this creature I gave up, quietly retiring to my bed, visions of this shelled beast cackling and mocking me as I slumbered.

That said, the Pikmin series is a great one and if Nintendo were announce a third title in the series for the Wii I would purchase one immediately.

I've been playing through Condemned 2 a second time in the unlocked "FPS Mode," which is the same game but you are handed firearms with unlimited ammunition. It's a strange thing to include, because melee combat is sort of what the game is about and what sets it apart. I guess they just wanted to add some contrast to show people what it would've been like if it was just another generic FPS. I'll get a review done sooner or later and fully voice my grievances with the title.

I don't know if it's the lack of "real" blockbuster titles for the PC and consoles, a failing on my part or the system really is that good, but the majority of my gaming for a while now has been done on the DS.

I've been playing a lot of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, which is a port of a Genesis game that never made it over here. After doing some research, apparently it is a series that has appeared on several systems over the years, it has not been until now we have been deemed worthy of receiving it. It is Rogue (or Nethack, if you prefer), not "like Rogue," it is the same game, except with a feudal Japan theme. This means that it is brutally difficult, you will die a lot, and plenty of it comes down to luck, though your constant retreads of previous areas is eased by side quests and sections that will not open or change until you've played through several times. There is also an online element that I think is quite clever, where if you fall in battle instead of restarting you can send a call for help in a "rescue request" you send over the Nintendo Wi-Fi network which other adventurers can accept and revive you so you start where you left off. For the rescuer, it adds replayability and a way to start gathering loot and powering up your weapons and armor for tackling the main adventure.

I've also been splitting time between Power Pro Baseball 10 and Space Invaders Extreme, both imports, and fairly simple games. Power Pro Baseball is a series of arcade-y baseball games that are easy to pick up and play, and the only major challenge I've had from it is trying to navigate the menus filled with that moon language they speak over there. Space Invaders Extreme, as you would expect, is Space Invaders, except it boasts improved visuals, new weapons, new enemy types, boss battles and waves that come in rapid succession. It's Space Invaders, it's fun.

Video games!

-K.