Time for another month’s worth of miscellaneous gaming thoughts. I played a lot of games in October and made some progress in clearing out my backlog. About the only thing I didn’t get to where the Halloween games I wanted to play, like RE: Revelations. To be fair, though, of the six games I beat, three only took a couple of hours and two of the others I was well into when the month began. October was a month for draining my gaming budget. Pokemon X/Y, Etrian Odyssey Untold and Ace Attorney all came out, and Zelda hit just before the end of September. Those three 3DS games are about the end of my gaming purchases for the year. I want the new Mario game and will likely buy it, but the new Zelda can wait. Maybe for Christmas, maybe until I start running out of 3DS games I’ve already purchased to play.

 

Ongoing

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages – I made very little progress on this last month, what with all the Pokemon and Ace Attorney I was playing. I hope to finish it in November

Ace Attorney 5 – I jumped on this as soon as it was available and through the first two cases I couldn’t be more pleased. It is great to have Phoenix Wright back.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 – I’ve barely gotten started with this, but it will be the console game getting the most of my time until Super Mario 3D World hits. Its … something.

Pokemon HeartGold – One Pokemon game wasn’t enough for me, I decided that I needed to finally beat the one set in the series I’ve never beaten.

Finished

Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble – Om paper this looks like it should have worked great, transplanting Viewtiful Joe’s stylish 2.5D brawler action to the DS. However, while everything seems to have made it pretty much intact, the whole thing feels lifeless. The level/encounter design is lacking and the touch controls require too precise motions to use effectively. Still, it’s not a bad game, just one that is no comparison to Viewtiful Joe 1 or 2.

Punch Out!! Wii – another game I’d started years ago and just now got around to finishing. It is amazing just how engrossing this game is, when it is essentially the NES game with a fresh coat of paint. It is different enough that a player can’t simply coast through on old knowledge, but it still familiar. I love the new look and the old gameplay. It is more Punch Out!!, which I’ve wanted for years. Thank you Nintendo for giving it to me.

Final Fight 3 – The Final Fight series is one that I’d missed out on back in the day. I played a lot of brawlers, Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, River City Ransom, etc., but I never encountered Final Fight. I filled that hole in my gaming knowledge with what was recommended to me as the best game in the series. I didn’t much care for it. It may have a deep combat system, but its pokey and cramped and relies too heavily on inflated lifebars for difficulty. Not for me.

Pokemon Y – For more indepth thoughts see my full post on this. I might get into competitive play. Someone kill me.

Lunar Silver Star Harmony – I love Lunar. The PS1 Lunar and its sequel are some of my favorite games. At is core, this PSP remake is the same game. I simply don’t like it as much. Every individual part of the game seems improved, but the whole is not better. It is as though the game were disassembled, each part fixed up and then put together again. However, one reassembled it doesn’t quite fit together right. It is improved, but not as good as it used to be. While this version may be less than the sum of its parts, it’s still Lunar. It’s just not the version I’ll put in when I want to replay the series.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker – I have a Second Quest on this coming soon, but that’s not really about the improvements. The swift sail changes the game significantly. Sailing is so much faster. I liked the game before and I like it even more now.

Upcoming

Super Mario 3D World – This hits near the end of the month and I am super excited about it.

Earthbound – I am determined to get to this soon.

The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask – I’ve got this on the VC and I need to get it beat for Second Quest.