I haven't posted a c-blog in a long time, and it feels bad. The c-blgs have a special place in my heart, and I generally try to contribute something here at least once a week. That said, I don't think I've done a c-blog since E3, as things have been so crazy that I've barely been able to keep up with my front page duties. Part of that crazyness comes from all the games I have to play.
I've got a particularly interesting batch on my hands right now, so I figured I'd tell you about them
Little King's Story
Just got my review copy from Samit last night (thanks Samit!0 and I'm only aboout an hour in, but I'm loving it so far. There has already been a fair amount of quality comedy in the game, and I know that it's quality because the people I've talk to about the game (mostly non-gamers) have genuinely laughed at its second hand jokes.
For instance, I just got to the part where religion enters your little microcosm. The whole premise of the game is that you, the little King, instinctually inspire respect and loyalty from everyone you meet. The exception to that seems to be the town priest, a man in "the Sect of Soup". He demand that you build him a church, or he will punish you, or God will punish you (he can't seem to decide which). He also ends every sentence with the word "Ramen), as opposed to "Amen".
Ah, maybe you had to be there.
Another Code: R
The European (only?) release of Trace Memory 2 is a lot of fun so far. I got it about five days ago from Wardrox (thanks Wardrox1) and the only thing keeping me from playing it more is Little King's Story. By far the highlight of the game is the excellent character animation, which rivals Punch-Out!! as the best on the Wii. Just watching Ashley, the game's protagonist, can be endlessly entertaining. She's incredibly charming, and although the game can be a little to slow paced for it's own good sometimes, watching Ashley run around and talk to strangers has thus far kept me thoroughly entertained.
Little League World Series 2009
Another game from Samit for review. I've barely played it (too busy with Another Code and Little King) , but it seems alright. Sports games that don't involve Cyberbots or mutant leagues generally don't appeal to me, and there is little in this Wii exclusive, cel shaded baseball title to change my thoughts on that so far, but I plan to keep an open mind.
Disaster: Day of Crisis
Another game from Wardrox. Man, I really wish I was playing more of this game. It's really corny and over-the-top, which is right up my alley. Sadly, I can't justify playing it with three games on my docket to be finished for review. Once I'm done with Little King, Little League, and Another Code, I'll be all over this sucker.
And that;s it for now. I have Retro Game Challenge 2 and Fatal Frame 4 on their way from Japan, but I wont likely get into playing either of them until August. Also got the Mother 3 handbook from FanGamer, and I can' t recommend it enough to Earthbound fans. It's incredibly well made, and deserves a retail release (just like Mother 3).
Any questions about any of these games? I'd be happy to try and answer them.
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How does Little King compare to FFCC:MLAAK?
Is there any way that Disaster: Day of Crisis will come out in the US? It looks pretty cool from the videos I've watched.
Shhhhhhiiiiiit I REALLY want to play Trace Memory R, it's the first point-n-click adventure game I have seen taken in such an amazing dimension. The prequel was very short but truely unique. I think it's valid to mention it as a new genre of JPNCA or something like that. Is it feeling longer than the DS game at least? That one took around 3 hours to beat.
Little King's Story is fortunately coming to America and the reviews I've seen make it look as a must-have. Not to mention it was also co-developed by Cing as welland published by Marvelous, so we gotta know it IS good!
And for Disaster Day of Crisis, it looks interesting. i simply don't understand the excuse of not putting it on America, it is based in America sa well. The fucking White House is involved in the story, isn't it?
Fatal Frame IV is actually really good, I think you'll like it. A lot slower than the others, but it's awesome to be able to play it, and the atmosphere is just as amazing as the rest of the series.
LKS sounds amazing! You have a heap of good games in there all around.
You know what? I actually do have a question...
Are you actually in Europe to be playing these games, or are you in North America? I know that you can import games and play them through the Homebrew Channel (which I'm doing), but since the Wii only goes up to 480p, wouldn't the Euro versions of games only go up to 576p? Would it work to play those games on either an SD or HDTV at all? I know the 360 and PS3 won't have problems, since 720p and 1080i/p is universal, but the lower resolutions aren't exactly cross-compatible.
I really want to Play LKS
it comes out next week right?
@ Tubactic- I haven't played a lot of FF:MLAAK, but Little King's Story is a completely different game. It's like a combination of the "command a cure little army" premise of Pikmin, one "humorous microcosm" world of Animal Crossing, and the "hunt and gather together" gameplay of Rune Factory Frontier. I'd recommend fans of any of those games, as well as Polulous/Sim City fans, but the game the day it comes out.
@ Def JM- I don't think Disaster is ever coming out in the states. It's pretty cheap in England though, only 25 pounds, so if you know someone in the UK and have Gecko OS, I recommend you have them send it over.
@ Mondi- For serious, you should get Gecko OS if you don't have it already and import Another Code R. Length is definitely not a problem with this game. I'm four hours in, and have just now gotten through the second chapter. I'm pretty sure they are 8 chapters in all, and assuming they get harder as you go (so far, they have) then I'm guessing the game will end up being 18-20 hours total.
It's not perfect by any means. There have been a few typos, and the translation overall isn't as spirited as that found in Trace Memory. I'm still loving it though. The games setting has that perfect combination of tranquility and underlying sinister-ness that makes a serious point-and-click adventure compelling.
@ Pedrovay- I was sold on the game as soon as I saw the Luigi suit. Just waiting for that translation patch to hit.
@ Magnalon- Yeah, it's been hard to keep up with all the good Wii games lately. It's times like this that make it tough to be Dtoid's "Wii guy" and get all your work done.
Oop, didn't see you two there.
@ Pedrovay- Gecko OS has an option to "force NTSC" so PAL games play on the USA Wii. I didn't know that at first, and played the first twenty minutes of the game on the wrong frame rate, which put everything in slow motion. It was actually sort of cool and would have been great for a bullet-hell shooter, but for an already slow game like Another Code, it was sort of awful.
@ Covah- Yep, I think the game hits on the 23rd. Dale and I plan to have the review done by then. Another Code R and Little League Reviews will be posted shortly thereafter.
@Holmes
Holy crap, I had absolutely no idea GeckoOS did that. I think I had seen the option, but I didn't put it together that it could actually convert the resolution!
I bet you can't say meow 20 times in a future event video! ;)
@ Pedrovay- Yeah, I didn't know either. In fact, I didn't even know there was a whole new Gecko OS out there. Another Code wont play on the original. You need to DL the latest build, which has a little Gecko on it.
@ Pew- Just for that, you're getting a mustache ride.
That sounds amazing. I am glad that the sequel has the potential of being probably better than the original title, that said I am worried about the translation as you stated. Either way I am glad the new generation of Nintendo fans is getting a brand new franchise like Trace Memory, point-n-click adventure games are a lost art and deserve a renaissance.
That said I can't wait for Sin & Punishment 2. It was definitely one of the best announcements in the 2008 Fall Conference aside Punch-Out!!, Another Code: R, Bowser's Inside Story and the DSi. Hopefully it could also become another resurrected IP that didn't got a chance to make a better debut before. Maybe it could have worked in the GameCube, but at least we got Ikaruga.
I had no idea you could use Gecko OS to play PAL disks on a North American Wii.
I keep getting tempted to mod my Wii but I don't want to risk screwing with the online play. I really am having a blast with the Conduit and Smash Bros online and don't know if modding it into a DVD player and being able to play Trace 2 is worth that.
Had LKS pre-ordered for a while now and mostly everything I read about it has been positive. Can't wait!
I've modded my Wii (but I never go online so...) but I haven't heard anything about console bans or the like. I suppose they can try if they detect piracy, but apart from that, no clue.
@Cad: At least you can softmod it now and not have to open it up. I mean, Gecko OS sorta implies that, but I know fuck-all about solder and stuff, so I was happy to hear that something I could do finally came out. I think it's worth it, but I don't go online so I really have nothing to lose so to speak.
Being able to play all of my old SNES games in some form nearly-fullscreen on my new TV is a definite plus. And there are a few interesting potential homebrew games.
I'm rambling, sorry. XD I haven't imported a game yet, but I like knowing that there's that possibility if I want to go that route.
Another Code: R is awesome.
I wonder if I could put the homebrew, DVD channel, Gecko OS stuff on a SD card and remove it from the Wii whenever I want to go online....actually it would be more like put the SD card in whenever I wanted to use modded stuff. I pretty much play either Smash online or Conduit every night. Anyone know if that'd work?
@ Cad- All that stuff about the Homebrew channel screwing with online Wii play turned out to be a rumor. I asked High Voltage myself, and they said that they are working on blocking cheaters, but not by blocking people with the homebrew channel. I play Smash, Mario Kart, and the Conduit fairly regularly myself, and have had no issues.
And for the record, the Homebrew channel has to run off your Wii hard drive. It can't be run off the SD card. On the other hand, all of it's applications have to run off the SD card, which is actually good, as it leads to much less tampering with your Wii in general.
I got Another Code:R. I can't get used to the perspective, but I do like how answers to questions are expressed in body language.