Gaming Addict

Finally got around to finishing my two WiiWare launch games this week, My Life as a King and LostWinds. I really enjoyed them both and had (almost) no regrets in the end. Here’s some quick impressions of both games.

LostWinds is a puzzle platformer that has you in control of a young boy named Toku while you guide him with the wind spirit Enril. There’s a bit more behind the story and all that other stuff but I really have no intention of going into it all right now. Look it up yourself if you’re really interested. The game isn’t one of the longest you’ll ever play but I did still manage to squeeze almost three and a half hours out of it. So some of you might already be sizing up the game’s price against its length. Let me save you the trouble. At $10 and we’ll say three hours, you’re paying $3.33 per hour. Think of this compared to a few full priced games put there which may be longer but will obviously cost you more money. So at an average of say 8 hours per game (ignoring those kinds of huge multiplayer games which can get played for months on end) you’re paying $6.25 for each hour of gameplay, and that’s based on Wii pricing ($50). So looking at it that way, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth.

The gameplay itself was fantastic and the pointer based 2-D platforming could open up possibilities to a wide range of new Wii games to come. The puzzles are right at that point where they’re fun and challenging while never becoming almost impossible. The art, environments, and characters look great and this game as a whole looks better than many of the lazy retail Wii efforts. While I did wish the game was a little bit longer the only other issue I had was the complete lack of closure at the end. While there is a boss fight and the evil is chased away etc., the developers don’t attempt to close off the story even the slightest bit as they leave themselves open for a sequel. At least a little something to close things off would have been nice before opening things up but in the end it’s not all that important.

Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles: My Life as a King goes in the complete opposite direction in terms of length. Essentially the game can be as long as you want to make it and the downloadable content that’s actually worth getting only adds to it. Depending on how well you want to complete the game and just how strong you want to make your kingdom you could possibly see yourself putting at least 10 hours in the game. I found myself hooked as My Life as a King is one of those games that is a virtual form of crack. The short in-game days will have you constantly muttering “just one more day” to yourself until you look at the clock and realize that an entire day has actually gone by. While again people may be put off by it’s hefty price (1500 pts) when compared to other WiiWare and VC offerings it is certainly worth it.

Visually the game looks good but it could have used some polish as characters never show any kind of emotion aside from a tiny smile which is constantly plastered onto their face. Sure it’s a nice kingdom but you can’t all constantly be happy. That’s just a bit… creepy. You’ll also run into some frame rate issues later on the game as your kingdom starts to grow. The effects generated when constructing new buildings look really nice when they haven’t been chopped up because the game is trying to do too much. There is never any sort of pop-in effect on buildings and residents as the game is constantly displaying and moving them about the castle grounds. So the larger your kingdom the more there is for the game to keep track of which leads to unavoidable slight frame rate issues later on.

The music while nice becomes despairingly repetitive but if you’re going to be constantly listening to the same thing it may as well sound good. The game is more complex then I’d expected and after doing a quick look on the web there’s quite a lot of micromanagement to be done here if you’re truly a hardcore strategy buff but I just went with my gut on placing buildings, homes, and shops and things seemed to work out. While I still enjoyed the game I would have preferred if Square had spent a little more time on a few things which in the end all come down to polish. They’ve certainly laid out the foundation for what could become an interesting spin-off series and I could see a My Life as a King style game as full retail release.

So in the end I enjoyed both games and if you were to ask me to pick one over another I’d have a hard time choosing and really can’t pick just one. They both have their good and their bad points but in the end it all depends on the kind of game you’re looking for.

The future for WiiWare is also looking pretty bright with Gyrostarr, a game I plan to get soon, releasing yesterday and others like Animales de la Muerte, World of Goo, Eternity’s Child, and LostWinds 2 all coming some time soon. And with the announcement of Guitar Hero World Tour using the SD slot for downloadable content let’s just hope Nintendo works something out with the SD slot and WiiWare.

Speaking of Guitar Hero, World Tour is looking like it’s going to be the definite choice for Wii owners in the Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero battle. Kudos to Activision for not making the Wii version an afterthought and actually working hard to bring to the Wii version all the features that we’re going to see on the 360 and PS3. For shame Harmonix, Rock Band on Wii isn’t even worth mentioning. Just save your money for Guitar Hero or maybe even Rock Band 2, assuming that Harmonix puts a little effort into the Wii version the next time around.

…and I could see myself buying an Xbox 360 Arcade pack. Up until now I’ve been holding out for the Premium. … And now that I’ve given it some more thought, I’m jumping back onto the Premium bandwagon. Having a hard drive, headset, and better games bundled inside I think are worth the extra cash and I see the hard drive and headset as almost necessary.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I really don’t know what to write about. I’m really just doing this for the sake of posting something before I forget that this place even exists. So I guess I’ll do the usual and mention what I’ve been up to and then rant and rave in an angry rage about something I don’t particularly like. On that note, let’s get rolling.

Let’s see… what was big? Galaxy? Yeah, I’d say Super Mario Galaxy was a big purchase. I was early for work one day and decided to kill time at the Future Shop that wasn’t even a minute away. After playing the Guitar Hero II (you read that right. Guitar Hero II. I guess they’re aware that a new Guitar Hero is out but just don’t want to put it on the demo consoles?) for a good 20 minutes, I grabbed the game on my way out and that was all there was to it. No standing there thinking “Should I, or shouldn’t I?”. Just grab, pay, leave. In what little time I’ve had to play it in the past week I’ve had lots of fun and hit 75 stars. I’m thinking that I’ll probably make it to 90 stars before it starts getting really challenging to find all the hidden and special ones.

I also got quite a bit of time with Call of Duty 4 and the game didn’t make me feel any better for not owning a 360. But as much as I really want one of those now I know it isn’t going to happen. For money, and personal reasons. My grade 12 year is moving faster than I’d like and university is just around the corner, and my parents paid for my Wii so asking for the 360 as a Christmas present is out of the question since they’ll just laugh at me. Of course, you could always give me a hand. And just so that we’re clear, I’m not expecting anything out of that and I just made that when I was really bored one day. But enough 360 talk. I want to get my mind off of that.

So then, PS3? What’s there to say? Assassin’s Creed? Not as great as I thought and on 360 either way. Army of Two? Multiplatform as well. Devil May Cry 4? 360. F.E.A.R.? On the Xbox too. Final Fantasy? I could care less. God of War III? Semi-interested. Grand Theft Auto? Don’t care at all, but it’s still a little more than for Final Fantasy. Haze? The one and only PS3 exclusive I’m really looking forward to. Let’s just hope the game doesn’t pull a Lair and flop because I really hopeful for Lair (but I was also hopeful for Red Steel [see last post]). So before this becomes yet another long winded list like my last post I’m going to stop right there and say, there are nearly no PS3 exclusives that appeal to me in the least. Come on Sony, get a few more exclusives in there so that I start to at least second guess my 360 purchase. “But what about Ratchet and Clank and Resistance?” you say? I’ve never been a fan of Ratchet and Clank, while Resistance was nothing more than a great launch title but average shooter. There are far better games out there.

I don’t want to talk 360, nothing to say about the PS3, and I’m always blabbing about Wii too much. DS then? I got my DS repaired (or rather, Nintendo just sent me a new one) and my touchscreen is no longer bulgy and there’s no dead pixel. Hooray! So maybe now I’ll finish Dementium and Call of Duty 4 at some point on it. That would be easy to do if I wasn’t distracted by Puzzle Quest and Super Mario Galaxy. Damn, I’m talking Wii again. I guess it was inevitable. It’s the only console I own and there isn’t much to talk about in the DS vein.

Funny thing happened to me as I went downstairs to get in some Galaxy time today. I didn’t play it (right away). Instead I put in Wii Sports to get used to boxing again for the Wii Sports tournament I entered in at my school which is tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes. And the strangest part of it all was that in my one match of boxing and tennis I was having fun. A game that had bored me so easily after reaching Pro in every sport was actually entertaining me once again. And I made the smart decision to quit while I was ahead and move onto Galaxy before I got bored again.

After Galaxy I really felt like getting some Metroid in and thought I’d start my Hypermode file since I just got the game back from a friend. The problem? I never saved after I’d beaten Dark Samus last time so I had to go through it all again. By the time I was done it was getting kind of late and I didn’t want to start a new game and now find myself in bed writing this just so I have something to do.

Speaking of bed, I’m getting kind of tired. So I guess that means no angry rant this time. I owe you one angry rant. Feel free to quote me on that.

I’m gonna let you know right away, blogger is bugging out on me so some stuff is gonna look weird. Like lines going too long, or cutting off too soon.

This whole thing I’ve got going with completing Metroid Prime got me thinking about other games I’ve started and just never finished. I’m the kind of guy who can really enjoy a game and
then part way though it, get sidetracked by something else and completely forget about it. So here and now, I’m going to challenge myself to at one point complete all these games.

Metroid Prime: I had the whole detailed story about it in the other post. In case you’re wondering, I just beat Ridley but got my ass handed to me by Metroid Prime. So I’m almost there.

Will I finish it? I’m already 99% there

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes: I remember less of where I was in this game compared to the original. Long story short, I never finished and barely scratched the surface.

Will I finish it? Of course. After beating the original, and before even touching the sequel.

Final Fantasy VII: Going back to my days of when I used to own a PlayStation. I was really into these types of games back then and was enjoying FFVII. The problem was that somewhere around half way though the game, it kept freezing. And I never was able to get passed that point. It sucked to say the least. Since then I returned the game to my friend and sold my PlayStation a few years back. So I don’t know if I’ll be finishing this one any time soon. Especially since I no longer like the turn based RPG crap.

Will I finish it? I stopped likeing turn based RPG, so no.

Paper Mario: A rented game which was played on a borrowed console. I don’t remember exactly how far I got but
I think it was around that Shy Guy Toy Box. Which, after taking a quick look at a walkthrough wasn’t far from the boss fight. Now that it’s on the Wii Virtual Console there’s always the chance I could finish it.

Will I finish it? Perhaps. One of these days I can see myself downloading it.

Viewtiful Joe: A fairly decent game and I had fun playing it. That is, until I came to the final boss. I must’ve tried dozens of times but I just couldn’t beat it/them. You were just made to fight all the old bosses over again one after the other. So eventually I got tired of it. I tried picking up again later on but it was hopeless. It’s still sitting with the rest of my collection so one of these days I could finish it…

Will I finish it? I’d like to. I think I’ll give the boss another shot after Prime.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages: I remember renting this a LONG time ago. If I’d really wanted to, I bet I could’ve beat it back then, or more recently. But the thing is, I just wasn’t drawn into this game and wasn’t compelled to finish it.

Will I finish it? No

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Yes, you heard right. But I guess I should also but a * next to it. Me and a friend played through an account together when it first came out and I have beaten Ganon/Ganondorf. But now I’m going through it on my own on my Wii. It’s taken a back seat to Metroid recently, but I’ll finish it one of these days.

Will I finish it? Probably once Metroid is out of my system.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask: I barely scratched the surface with this one. I only got limited time with the Zelda Collector’s Edition for GameCube and didn’t really get a chance to play much. At the same time, I just couldn’t get into it like I did with OoT. When it comes to the VC I suppose I’ll finish it, but I won’t be in any hurry to spend my Wii points.

Will I finish it? Signs point to, yes.

Super Mario World: I’ve played this game so many times, yet never finished it entirely. I’ve borrowed it from or played it at a friend’s house. And I even had it emulated on my PC once. It is on the Virtual Console, but I feel like I’m being ripped off, essentially paying $8 for it. I might just borrow my friend’s SNES or emulate it again if I really feel like it.

Will I finish it? Not likely, but there’s the slim chance I could.

Chrono Trigger: 5. The number of times I’ve tried playing this game. Each time I’ve never gotten much farther from going into the time machine thing. Like I said with FFVII, RPGs just don’t appeal to me anymore.

Will I finish it? I’m leaning towards no.

FIFA Street 2: This game was fun for a bit but it got boring before I was able to finish it. It actually seems like it’s a fairly long game but the lack of depth is it’s downfall. NFL Street was smart in that it didn’t
overstay it’s welcome and was finished just before I lost interest.

Will I finish it? If I’m really bored, I might play a couple matches. At that rate, I’d never finish however.

Splinter Cell: Yes, the original. I actually enjoy Splinter Cell games, and finished Double Agent. But I bought the original a year ago and just couldn’t beat the last level. It was insanely difficult IMO. After trying for an entire weekend, I gave up and havn’t touched it since.

Will I finish it? I’m just gonna come out and say no. I just don’t feel compelled to.

Super Mario 64: I don’t remember exactly where I am, but eventually I got tired of the game and moved onto something else. I really want to finish this one but then I downloaded Zelda. And then came Metroid…

Will I finish it? Eventually.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: A great game. I liked it alot. But after progressing a lot, forgetting to save, and then dieing, I got a bad taste in my mouth and didn’t want to go and redo everything over again. So many levels lost… I guess I’ll go back eventually. It was a good enough game.

Will I finish it? Probably once I’m done with everything else.

Starfox Command: I havn’t really let this one sit for too long, but it’s getting up there. The single player started to bore me eventually, but I still play the odd Wifi match here and there.

Will I finish it? I think I will, one of these days.

New Super Mario Bros.: Another great game that just got pushed out of the spotlight by something else. I think it was once I got Ouendan. Either way I’m hoping to finish this some time soon.

Will I finish it? I think I already answered that.

Mega Man ZX: Like Star Fox, this one hasn’t been sitting for long, but it’s been a while since I’ve touched it. The new suits and abilites that you can get add to the depth and it isn’t a bad game. But I guess I just overplayed it at first and then couldn’t really take much more of it.

Will I finish it? I think so. Just not any time soon.

Hotel Dusk: I don’t know what it is that I like about this game, but it doesn’t matter. It was pretty good. But I eventually moved onto another mainly text based game in Phoenix Wright which pushed this away. And until recently, I would’ve put Phoenix Wright on this list. I started with the sequel but am finding it very hard in the early stages. Perhaps this could signal a comeback for Hotel Dusk?

Will I finish it? I honestly don’t know right now. Your guess is as good as mine.

Honorable mentions: These games are either getting close to that point of being forgotten or I started and just decided not to played them again. I havn’t touched the Phoenix Wright sequel in a while as it’s getting lost to Metroid. I borrowed Fire Emblem for GameCube from a friend. If you want to know why I didn’t finish it, see my reasoning for FFVII and Chrono Trigger. Mario Kart DS doesn’t entirely belong here. I still play for the Wifi but find the single player against the computer to be very boring.

I’m sure I’m forgetting a few, but this is as well as my memory is going to work right now. I’m going to try to finish as many of these as I can, and will keep the rest you posted. And I’d like to know if there are more people out there like me. Anyone else have a mountain of unfinished games?