I didn’t play a lot of games in August.  I played a few games for quite a long time a piece, but I didn’t really play that many different games.  Lots and lots of hours disappeared into Twilight Princess and Harvest Moon.

Beaten

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars – This is a strategy game along the same lines as Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics.  It plays somewhere in between those two games.  You control a squad of soldiers, each with different skills.  While the characters do level up, there isn’t much character building going on.  All of the characters skills are strictly linear.  The big problem with the game is that for most of it one of the characters can practically beat each map by herself.  The cloaked stealth unit Banshee has a knife that can one-shot most enemies and a special skill that lets her take an extra turn.  It is just unfair unless you are dealing with mechanical enemies.  Otherwise, it is a pretty solid game.

Ittle Dew – I kind of want to complain because it is just a real short Zelda clone, but it is also a real good Zelda clone.  Once I got used to the sword swing, the game was just smooth.  It is really funny and has some great animation.  The only problem with game is that it is very short.  There are three mini-dungeons, one big dungeon and the barest scrap of an overworld.  I finished it pretty quickly and it really left me wanting more. I guess that is a good thing.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night – wrote about it here

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – wrote about it here

Pikmin 3 – wrote about it here

Harvest Moon Grand Bazaar – wrote about it here.  I didn’t actually beat it, but I played a year and a half and feel pretty done with it.  I’ve grown a lot of crops and romanced my gal of choice.  I’m done for now, maybe forever.

Ongoing

Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks – After I beat Twilight Princess I started in on this.  It is pretty much the same as the previous DS Zelda game, with some improvements and a few inexplicable steps backwards.  I won’t make a lot of progress until after I beat Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, but it is next on the list.  I still intend to finish my 2^nd Quest before the end of the year.  I’ve only got three games left, including this one.

Yoshi’s Island – I am slowly going through this game.  I really respect this game and how just well-made it is, but I don’t really like playing all that much.  It is just a little too slow and pokey.  I appreciate this game more than I like it.

Persona 2 Innocent Sin – This game is great.  The battle system is more complex than difficult, but the plot manages to be both really well written and absolutely insane.  I love it.  I’ll have more to say once I beat it.

Resident Evil 5 – I should have this finished before too long.  Wrote about it here.

Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails – I think I hate this game.  Not because it’s not a good game, but because I am terrible at it.  It is a kind of on rails shooter/platform game.  I’m just having a lot of trouble grasping the controls.  I understand what I am supposed to do, but I am simply unable to do it.  I think I will keep trying for at least the next week, before I give it up for Teslagrad.  Maybe I’ll get back to it at some point.

Pushmo World – I pushed some more mo’s, but there are plenty of mo’s to push in this game.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey – I played this last month, but I didn’t make much progress.  Unlike Persona 1, which I just kind of hate, I refuse to give up on this game.  I will not let it beat me.

Upcoming

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright – I am so excited for this game.  It is two of my favorite series, both with hazy futures, combined into one last hurrah.  I have been excited for this game since it was announced almost four years ago.  I’m so happy.

Persona 2 Eternal Punishment – I’ll finish Innocent Sin soon and this one is next on the list.  I am determined to beat down my backlog of this series, but it is slow going.

Ys 7 – I’ve little experience with the Ys series, but I’ve heard good things about this game.  It is going into my PSP one I finish Innocent Sin.

Yakuza 4 – Last month didn’t work out, but this game it still high on my to play list.

Metal Slug Series – It has been too long.  I am going to set aside one weekend to play through my Anthology disc.