I’m an old hand at the Etrian Odyssey series, having been on board since the first entry. So the purist in me rebelled at the idea of Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, with it’s preset party and a more detailed story. A large part of my enjoyment of the series came from choosing my own party and building their skills. It was the same kind of enjoyment that people get out of games like Diablo, but with a party of five instead of just one character. It is easy to build one powerful character, it takes a more measured approach to build an effective party. Despite these misgivings, and the confirmation of Classic mode, I was on board for the game. Unfortunately, I had just finished EOIV when Untold came out, so I let it sit on my shelf for a few months while I wound down from the previous game.

The set party was a new challenge for the series. I didn’t like it. There is no flexibility to the party. While you can only take out five in a group, I usually fill my guild with more like eight. Some are there strictly for gathering. The rest are there to give my team some adaptability. If the enemies are weak to elemental attacks, then I can be sure to include an Alchemist. If they are not, his back row spot can go to a Survivalist. I normally favor an offensive set up, with three fast but lightly armored attackers in the front row. The Story team does not give the player that option. You have a Protector and a Medic, there are no options about this. Instead of being able to adjust your team to fit the challenges, in Story Mode you must figure out how to use your team to surpass them. It can be frustrating, but it is not a bad challenge. It is just different from how I usually approach the series.

They do have a system for adjusting your team set up, Grimoire stones. They give the character who equips them a few points in skills that their class normally couldn’t learn or even enemy skills. It replaces the sublclassing system, where each character could pick a secondary class and gain access to several of another class’s skills. In theory, the Grimoires are fine, but the system just doesn’t work. Gaining the stones is random. Fusing them is confusing and even when understood not that useful. You combine three stones, transferring skills from the second one on to the first, while gaining the weapon proficiency of the third. While I am sure with enough time and effort a player could craft some ridiculously good stones, the process is tedious. Plus, since gaining the stones is random, there is not guarantee that you’ll actually get any worth fusing.

As for the story, I liked it. It does spoil the big reveal in the first few minutes, but once you accept that it is not going to be a big reveal in this game it is okay. While they don’t quite escape the generic quality that often hampers JRPGs, that feeling that they are less characters than conglomerations of traits, they never cross that line into annoying. I don’t get the decision to make the Highlander a silent protagonist, but Frederica is good character. Her earnestness is appealing, as is her struggle with adapting to a world 1000 years different from the one she knew. The big winners are the townsfolk, who instead of just faces to provide services get characters of their own. Having a party around to react to events in the game and the like really helps to flesh out the world. Honestly, what is here is not much further along than the story stuff that was already present in EOIV. The strengthened central narrative does break the no nonsense mode that the original game had, but never egregiously. Plus, there is still classic mode, which plays just like the rest of the series. It is there for players, like me, who prefer that experience.

This game almost feels like a dry run for the upcoming Persona Q: Shadows of the Labyrinth. If that game is anything like Persona 3 or 4, then the story will be significant. Here is a test game with a greater focus on story than the previous games in this series. I have come around from my initial misgivings, though. While I wasn’t a huge fan of some the system changes or the set party, I did end up enjoying the story. As long as it is merely an option alongside a Classic Mode, I don’t mind if this mode is included in a possible Etrian Odyssey V or even an Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold.

I’ve really been knocking it out with the handheld games recently. Mostly that is because my new job has me sitting in a room all by myself for hours on end with little to do. No one cares if I bring in my 3DS and play games. This has also freed me up to play more console games, since playing my 3DS at work makes me less eager to do so at home.

Beaten

Batman Arkham City: I got this for cheap for the WiiU, having only barely played the first game in the series. I really only had one problem with this game: the look. Not the graphics, which are largely excellent, but the design. This is possibly the ugliest take on the Batman characters I’ve ever seen. They range from grotesque to simply off putting. Otherwise, the game is aces. I’m not generally a big fan of open world games, they tend to turn fun things into chores, but Arkham City largely bypasses this. Mostly because it is just so much fun to be Batman. I am a big fan of skipping side stuff. I barely touched it when I played Bully or GTA, but here I loved it. This game might even be better if you removed the storyline and just let the player run around as Batman rounding up villains. Even crappy characters like Zsasz are made somewhat interesting here. Tracking him down, using bullet trajectories to track down Deadshot, solving Riddler’s riddles and teaming up with Bane are all fun Batman things to do. More fun, actually, than fighting tons and tons of Joker’s thugs. I guess I’m being a little too hard on the story. It is still a fun Batman tale, forcing Brue to push himself mentally and physically to combat a horde of villains. It did hit one of my griping points about Batman, bewar spoilers for the ending coming. The fact that Batman doesn’t kill is great, it is an essential part of his character just like it is part of Superman’s. But that does not mean he should be going out of his way to make sure the Joker lives. Making a personal choice to not end someone else’s life is one thing, making a concerted effort to save the life of a mass murdered is another. It comes up in the comics sometimes and it is just as stupid as it is here. That doesn’t detract from how enjoyable this game is though.

There is one thing odd about the WiiU version, though I don’t know that it is exclusive to this version. There is slowdown. Not during gameplay, which one would expect, but during the cutscenes. It is baffling. Why is there cutscene slowdown?

Bravely Default: wrote about it here.

SteamWorld Dig: What a delightful little game. It is a kind of free roaming metroidvania that is all about digging deeper. There is no set path or road, just a tunnel going down and other little caves shooting off of it. It can be a little tedious, especially if your digging outpaces the strength of your tools, but it is mostly just fun. A few years ago I would have been disappointed with a game that only lasts about three hours, as SteamWorld Dig does, but now I am glad for it. I’d rather a game only last a few hours rather than only have a few hours’ worth of ideas stretched across ten. While I would download a sequel in a heartbeat, this charming game pushed the limits of its simple mechanics about as far as it could.

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons: wrote about it here.

Layton Brothers Mystery Room: This game has only the most tenuous connection to Professor Layton and as far as I can tell features no brothers, but it is still an intriguing little title. It actually plays more like the Ace Attorney series than the Layton series. The two detectives are presented with a murder and must look over the crime scene and notes to solve the case. It isn’t perfect, with some of the clues being too obtuse and the rundown at the end of each case always seeming to drag on, but it is still a nice addition for people who like things like Ace Attorney. I just wish they had given the characters more to do. Still, it is well worth trying, both the first few free case and dropping the $5 for the whole shebang.

Ongoing

Denpa Men They Came by Wave: I picked this up a long time ago, but I could find very few little dudes around my place and it seemed really grindy, so I shelved it. I tried it out again recently. I have managed to find more Denpa Men, which eases things considerably. As the title suggests, you find these Denpa Men by finding different radio waves in your real life surroundings and capturing the little weirdos that live in them. It is an interesting concept, hampered my by living in the back end of nowhere. The game is also quite simple, like only a few steps up from Dragon Quest 1. It is actually quite like Pokemon, but grindier and weird instead of cute. I actually do enjoy it, but with all the other games on my plate at the moment, it will likely be some time before I make much more progress on this.

Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask: Yes, this game is great. No, I didn’t manage to finish it in April. Yes, I guarantee I will have it done by the end of May. I will say that while the time limit is not at all onerous, it makes the game a more stressful experience than it needs to be. Also, there are some downright freak people in this game.

NES Remix 2: Just like the first one, this is a handful of classic NES games broken up into bite-sized challenges, with a helping of romhack combinations to make everything feel new. It is a fun mix. This time the component games are of a significantly higher quality. Sure there is the baffling Wario Woods, but the rest is Mario 2 & 3 and Kirby. Much deeper, more polished games than the first one had. This is also part of the problem, because they don’t break down into tiny challenges as easily. While I haven’t yet really touched the actualy Remixes, concentrating first on the individual game challenges, it is still well worth the price of admission. Bring on SNES Remix or Gameboy Remix.

Inazuma Eleven: I don’t get this game. I like it, I love reimaging the JRPG as a sports movie. That part works perfectly. It’s just the finer points of the battles, the soccer matches themselves, elude me. It feels as though I am not really affecting the game in any meaningful way, except when I choose to use supermoves. Maybe if I keep playing it will eventually click, maybe the game is just sloppy and awkward. At least the storyline is the kind of goofiness that I can get behind. So this has been enjoyable, but flawed.

Etrian Odyssey Untold: I am an old hand at this series. I picked the first game up based on nothing but the Atlus logo in the corner, played it for a few hours, sold in a cash crunch and then bought it back a few months later. I have been hammering my way through the series ever since. So when I got about halfway through the story mode, the big innovation of this entry which gives players a set party and characters, I was baffled. The game was stonewalling me, requiring copious grinding and plenty of good, old fashioned luck. Partly I was chafing against the restrictive party, with no chances for alternate builds or dedicated harvesting teams, party the game was just meaner than anything else in the series. I finally was willing to admit defeat and switch the difficulty down, only to discover that I had been playing on Hard the whole time. Once I switched it back to normal, the game was smooth sailing, maybe even too easy. I’m just about done now and will have a full blog post soon.

Upcoming

Kirby Triple Deluxe: I was really on the fence with Kirby 3D, despite my great love of the series. But early reviews and Nintendo Direct videos eventually won me over. Knowing the series, I should have this beaten by next week. It looks like excellent Kirby instead of mediocre Kirby, which is good to see.

Mario Golf Toadstool Tour: I like me some Mario Golf. While I don’t know how much I will play this right away, this is the kind of game I will pop in for a few play sessions now and then for years.

Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward: At the rate I am burning through 3DS games, this one is coming up sooner rather than later. It sits behind me finishing Etrian Odyssey and Kirby, waiting to compete for playing time against Mario Golf until something new comes along. Since there is little new on the immediate horizon (Theatrhythm 2 sometime?), I should be working through this before long.

Child of Light: Downloaded it and tried it out. As soon as I’ve had my fill of Majora’s Mask and NES Remix, this is what I’m going to put my time into. The first hour was damn excellent.

Pikmin 3: I’m trying, I really am.

Bravely Default has been widely praised. You can check reviews everywhere. People love this game, with good reason. It combines some old school sensibilities with some very progressive features. At first, I was would have counted myself among the lovers of this game. The Final Fantasy (I know it doesn’t say Final Fantasy on the box, but it might as well be) Job system is always fun and this is an excellent rendition of it. The default system adds some nice strategic depth. But the further the game went on, the less found myself enjoying it. Bravely Default may have many strengths, but balance and pacing are not among them.

It starts out fine. You go through dungeons, you fight bosses, you get new jobs. Things keep moving. None of the dungeons take too long and you learn abilities a fairly rapid pace. After the first couple of chapters, the repetitive nature of the starts to sink in. Each one follows the same pattern. You go to a new area and can’t get into the temple, so you go to the town and solve some problems until you figure it out. It isn’t a problem, but it becomes predictable. Then you get to Chapter 5, which has you doing the first four chapters over again. Then chapter six … is the same thing again. The only difference after the first pass is that you can skip all the dungeons. And you have all the jobs. So all it is all boss battles. It is frustrating. There is still some story momentum, but fighting nothing bosses and bosses over and over becomes wearing. It gives the game an odd shape, where after about the halfway point most of the game just falls away. Many skills that would be useful against hordes of lesser enemies become useless unless you are intentionally grinding to gain experience or job levels. And that is assuming you don’t use the options to eliminate random battles entirely.

The balance isn’t much better. That is the problem with creating a game with a job system as wide open as Bravely Default’s system. Depending on what jobs you choose and what abilities you’ve unlocked, the game is either ridiculously easy or ridiculously hard. Eventually the balance tips in the player’s favor, once the party has accumulated enough skills, but before that it is all hills and valleys. I some parts you can just set it one auto-battle and barely look at the screen. At other parts any random battle could quickly and easily result in a game over. It’s not a fun roller coaster ride, it’s car crash whiplash. I’ve played plenty of jobs system games before. I’ve played Final Fantasy V and Tactics, I’ve played a handful of Dragon Quest games with a similar system. I have never played a game with balance that was further off. It makes for a lot of fights with repetitive tactics, where a lot of battles end up needing the same strategy. There is a sidequest in Chapter 4 where you have to fight 6 dragons. They are some tough enemies, especially for that point in the game. However, the can all be beaten with the same strategy involving just one skill. It isn’t fun, but it is effective.

These are some pretty big flaws in an otherwise great game. Ultimately, it was more fun than frustrating, but there was simply too much frustration. The look and sound helped, as did a story that while not especially good, did have some interesting twists. I think I had more of a problem with the balance and pacing than most people. The thing that grated on me the most was seeing this game praised at the expense of its spiritual predecessor, Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light. That game is also flawed, but I had more fun playing it that I did with its more polished follow-up. Still, I’m glad to get even a flawed game like this nowadays. I’ll definitely be right there when we get the sequel.

When I finished Valkyria Chronicles the other day, I leaned back in my brown faux-leather recliner and opined that “they don’t make them like that anymore.”  Which is strictly true.  No one makes games like Valkyria Chronicles anymore.  Of course, it ignores that no one has ever made games like Valkyria Chronicles, at least not in any great quantity.

There really aren’t any games that play like Valkyria Chronicles, other than the pale shadows that are its sequels. (to be fair, I’ve only played the first sequel) It is unique. However, it is also quite polished.  This game plays exactly how it was intended to play.  The combination of originality, quality and polish is difficult to find.  I would be hard pressed to name more than a handful like it.  Last years The Wonderful 101 springs to mind, a strange and excellent game that got summarily ignored by the gaming populace.  Also Actraiser, a platformer/sim game for the SNES.  It is a game I’ve heard described as “depressingly unique.”  There are maybe a few others that fit the mold of unique classics.  Not that there is anything wrong with being merely a great game in an established genre, no one is likely to forget Super Mario World or Final Fantasy VII or Halo 2.  But there is just something all the more special about game “like” Valkyria Chronicles.

What I loved most about Valkyria Chronicles was that despite being a largely new experience, it greatly reminded me of playing games as a kid.  Back then, all games were new experiences for me.  I would play for five or six hour stretches, completely absorbed in the game world.  I can’t do that nowadays.  For one thing, as an adult I simply do not have the time to sit and play video games for hours on end.  I sneak my gaming in in spare minutes between work and other responsibilities.  Also, I rarely feel the inclination to play for that long of a stretch.  While I undeniably get plenty of enjoyment out of video games, there isn’t the wonder and newness that I used to experience.  It is understandable, I am both older and have played many, many games now.  With Valkyria Chronicles, I did want to binge, to glue myself to my comfy chair and just play.  I felt like a kid on summer vacation, bunkered down in my friends game room as we played Final Fantasy 3.  The game that can inspire that sort of wonder in me has become increasingly rare.

Valkyria Chronicles has a couple of things going for it that helped inspire that feeling.  The first is its varied strategic combat.  While there are suggested and obviously optimal strategies, the game allows the players to choose their strategy for themselves. The player can customize their roster of units, choosing exactly how to balance the games six classes among the twenty or so slots in their squad. Then, the player gets to choose which ones to actually send out into battle.  Do you go heavy on the highly mobile scouts?  Leave an empty slot for mid-battle reinforcements.  My strategy usually had me dropping out a couple of snipers who would empty their clips and clear a path for the rest of my units before being replaced by the highly dangerous shocktroopers.

Another thing it has going for it is the look.  The graphics are solid, if unspectacular for the PS3, but everything is covered in a scratchy, watercolor filter that, along with some comic book sound effects, gives the game an appealing and unique look.  It also has one of the most mature stories in any game.  Mature in the sense of it actual definition, not in the sense that it has tits and blood in it.  There are moments of sophomoric anime hijinks, but by and large Valkyria Chronicles deals well with themes like racism and the horrors of war.  The main characters are nuanced and flawed.  Rosie is fiercely loyal and brave, but she also has a lot of misplaced hatred.  Even the wart starting villain is shown to be in many ways honorable and unprejudiced.  Unlike many in both the Gallian and Imperial Armies, he is more willing to look at a person’s skill than their birth.  That doesn’t make him not a bad guy, only a human bad guy with both faults and strengths.

Really, Valkyria Chronicles is just a great game. Its combination of uniqueness and quality make it one of the games that is long going to be one that cements the reputation of its system. When people look back on the PS3 and wonder what it had that made people love it, Valkyria Chronicles will be near the top of the list. An all-time classic.

The best thing about my new job is that is doesn’t really cut down on my video game playing time.  Also, that I don’t have to deal with moronic customers.  So even though I am again employed, I still have the time to power through a ton of handheld games.  This month, I put most of my time into Valkyria Chronicles.  Because it is about my favorite thing just now.  I’ll save the gushing for another day, like tomorrow or next Monday.

Beaten

Valkyria Chronicles: I’ve got a full post about this game coming soon. Here I’ll just say that this easily the best game I’ve played in the PS3. It is just stupendous.

Final Fantasy VI: Another game that I’m putting together a post for, as well as a game I’ve already written about. I hope to replay the whole series this year, and this game is my favorite of the bunch.

Kirby Squeak Squad:

I’m glad I tracked this game down, even if it did turn out to be one of the lesser Kirby games. On the surface it seems no different than most of the series, but everything seems kind of loose and sloppy. Not really bad, but definitely not on the same level as games like Kirby’s Adventure or Super Star Saga. It does feature some good new powers. Like the magic power; it gives Kirby a top hat from which he releases doves to attack. It is hilarious and fun. I hope that it escapes this lackluster title and becomes a standard power up. It feels like I’m being a little too rough on this game. It’s is not really bad. It is just lacking the polish that better games in the series have. Also, the collectathon treasure system, where each stage has a handful of treasure of which Kirby must find a certain number to progress, is not really a welcome addition. The series got by without that for a long time, it was not really a positive addition. Still, a decent little game that is worth at least a look.

Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams:

I wanted to like this game. I like platformers, I like the look, and I liked the world switching mechanic. But this game feels like a rough draft. I had tons of problems with this game, some minor, some major. There were small problems, like levels and boss battles that go on a little too long or the kind of terrible music. Those are problems, but ones that can be worked around or ignored on their own. Then there are bigger problems, like the general floatiness of the controls and the annoying level design. Those problems are harder to ignore when added to the smaller problems. The controls are the worst part. There were tons of times that I seemed to bounce off of platforms I was supposed to be landing on. Then there is fireball boost ability, an ability that sends the player shooting across the screen, which never seems to send you the direction you want to go. It get frustrating quickly when you have to shoot off at a diagonal because the game is terrible at recognizing them. With the level design, the player is rated on how many of the crystals strewn throughout the stage they find. No a big deal, but there are numerous points of no return, where the player can cut themselves off from a large number of crystals without realizing it until it is too late. And the levels seem to go one forever. It just adds up to an experience that is more stressful than fun. Not because of the difficulty, but because the game is sort of janky. The thing is, it does plenty of other things well. A lot of the exploring puzzles are great and it removes lives from the equation, letting the player attempt hard parts as often as they like without any real penalty.

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy: I’ve already written about this game here.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons:

This is about the perfect download title. About, it is not quite on the level of Journey, but there nothing to complain about. It is an adventure game where two brothers go on a quest to save their father. The player controls each brother with one of the sticks on the controller, with a shoulder button each used to interact with things. It is simple in theory, but the solutions to the environmental puzzles can get complex. Sometimes you have to use the big brother to boost the smaller brother up on a ledge, sometimes they have to work in tandem to clear obstacles. The game also looks great. The best part is likely the length. Many of these games have a tendency to run long. They explore and exploit the mechanics that they set up, then keep going, either breaking things down or just repeating the challenges the player had already faced. Brothers is about 3 to 4 hours long, and each challenge is something new and different. It is great, refreshing.

Ongoing

Devil Survivor 2: I played through most of the third day of this game, but got stuck on the boss. I should be able to get by it with a little work, but honestly it wasn’t grabbing me. I really like the first Devil Survivor and so far this one has been good, improved in some ways if lacking the newness of the original.

Bravely Default: I am souring on this game after greatly enjoying the first half. I’m having trouble making myself play the second half. There are a lot of good things about this game, but it has some balance and pacing issues.

Batman: Arkham City: I can’t imagine a worse looking take on the Batman universe. This is a grossly ugly version of most of those characters. Still, it’s a lot of fun. If the game looked like the animated series or the 60’s TV show it would be my favorite Batman thing ever. I am having a lot of fun just zipping around Gotham and doing sidequests with lesser villains. I should have it finished up before too long, since I think I am coming up on the end of the game pretty soon.

Upcoming

Pikmin 3: I’ve had this sitting around since it came out last year. I just haven’t made time to play it. As soon as I finish up with Batman I plan to change that. I had held off because I wanted to play the first two first, but I’ve only been able to track down Pikmin 2 and my brother borrowed that one.

Inazuma Eleven: I downloaded this a couple of weeks ago, but I haven’t managed to finish off Bravely Default and make time to play it. But BD should be finished up soon and I should be able to move on to this.

Advance Wars: This, as well as a bunch of other GBA games, are coming to the WiiU Virtual Console. Most of the others I’ve played, but Advance Wars is one I missed that I always wanted to play.

NES Remix 2: NES Remix was a delight, and this one looks to be more of the same but with more actually good games this time. I am pumped. I hope Nintendo keeps it up with these. I want Gameboy Remix and SNES Remix. As long as this comes out when it is supposed to , April 25, then I will spend the last week of the month playing this extensively.

The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask: Honestly, I’ll get to it this time. I swear.