Games I've Been Playing Recently (aka: Buy Ghost Trick!)

Hello everybody, it’s your friendly neighborhood ScottyG here! Been playing quite a few games so far in 2011 (instead of getting a job, lol having little money) and I thought I’d tell you what I thought about them. It’s going to be mostly positive, as the joy of having limited funds is you make sure the limited games you buy are good, and you sure as heck make sure you get as much out of them as possible. They’re listed in the order I beat them in, but this in no way represents the order I’d recommend them as Ghost Trick would top the list by far. Read on to see what I thought.


Professor Layton and the Unwound Future



I’ve always had a love for the Layton Games. That classic Adventure/Puzzle charm, with excellent characters and story. I’ve bought all three day one, but I took a long break with this one. Finally finishing it in January I was as usual blown away by the twist and conclusion, as well as the puzzles which were as entertaining and... puzzling as ever, but with this one there were some things that bugged me. Most of them would involve spoilers, but the most immediate and bothersome for me is how the game treats Flora, basically as an air-headed burden on the Doctor and Luke. Definitely not the naive sheltered girl I always thought of her as.

If you are okay with spoilers however, PekoponTAS has written up some very good thoughts on how the story and twist was handled in this installment. It’s a real shame some of these points exist too, as I thought the insights into Layton’s past and the advancement of his and Luke’s relationship was brilliantly handled.


The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks



Seems to be an unpopular opinion, but the only portable Zelda I’ve really enjoyed was Link’s Awakening. Seemingly one of the last Zeldas to not rely on any sort of gimmick to drive it. Just a well built world with brilliant dungeons and monsters, and stellar music. Unlike many people I - aside from the Temple of the Ocean King of course - really liked Phantom Hourglass so when Naia was looking to get rid of her copy of Spirit Tracks for cheap I picked it up.

While I liked the on-foot sections a lot, travelling around by train was a huge pain and frankly boring. You were very limited in the paths you could take, and there were way too many obstacles that were just not fun to deal with. This might not have been a problem, but it seemed like the vast majority of the game was spent in your train. Bit late to the game with this one, but if you’re hankering for a Zelda there’s far better ones to spend your money on.


Bayonetta



The first time I played Bayonetta I wasn’t impressed. I mean, of course I was impressed by the visual style and just how bat-shit crazy everything was. Who wouldn’t be. But when I played the demo and then again at PAX all I thought of was Devil May Cry, which is a style of game I’ve never liked. Just seemed to rely too much on combo memorization for my liking.

Then I started reading/listening to game of the year deliberations, and Bayonetta was mentioned a lot. Darksiders as well, which was another game I missed out on. This got me wanting to play both of them, and the amazing Lelio was gracious enough to loan me both games. Haven’t gotten around to Darksiders yet, but I’m very happy that I gave Bayonetta another shot. The game is absolutely brilliant, and even more bat-shit crazy than my limited playtime let on! The fighting system is very simple to pick up and get good with, but still deep enough to allow for a plethora of options to help you slaughter the servants of heaven.


Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective



I’ve always been a sucker for a good adventure game, having grew up with so many classic Sierra and Lucasarts titles. This goes doubly so for anything really well animated. Both of these are things Ghost Trick excels at. The graphics, animation and music make for an incredible style that completely draws you in.

If haven’t heard much about this game (which is likely, given how little Capcom seemed to promote it), you start the game off dead and have a scant three abilities. You can “Ghost” to various items in your immediate vicinity (or through phone lines), “Trick” to manipulate them in some way, and (if you come across a recently deceased person) go back in time to four minutes before their death. The game’s story takes place over one night, and you must use these three powers to solve the mystery behind your own death before dawn.

I’ve always been facinated with the idea of what seemingly random people are doing at a particular moment, and how it can all connect together even in the slightest of ways. I’ve actually tried to come up with scenario/story designs to fit that. The story in this game is the closest I’ve ever seen for that, constantly whisking you back and forth around town, meeting all sorts of interesting characters and learning of the ties that bring them all together. Everything comes together in an ending that will just blow you away.

I implore you, if you are at all considering this game pick it up now. It’s getting pretty hard to find in retail stores, and Capcom needs to know that this game didn’t sell too well because they didn’t promote it enough, not because it’s a bad game! There is also news of an iOS version coming soon, which would be amazing. As you can see from the trailer above, the graphics would look great on an iPad. :)