Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Shall We Do It? (BOXBOY! plus more Danganronpa and My World, My Way)

I may have only added one new game to my "now playing" roster in the last couple of weeks, but that title--Nintendo's BOXBOY!--has proven to be quite a thrill, so at least my precious time hasn't been at all wasted.

Along with the above-mentioned 3DS effort, I've also put some additional time into two games I slobbered over in my last installment of "Shall We Do It?"--the cult-ish, Vita-based visual novel, Danganronpa, and the oddly endearing DS RPG known in this neck of the woods as My World, My Way. (Elsewhere, which in this case means Japan, it's known as Sekai wa Atashi de Mawatteru, a phrase that apparently translates to something like The World Revolves Around Me.)

Here are a smattering of my thoughts on each of these captivating titles:

BOXBOY! (3DS)--In the hours and days since I bought and downloaded HAL Laboratory's BOXBOY!, a just-released 3DS eShop title, I've spent a good bit of time with it. 

Actually, I've only sunk about two-and-a-half hours into this intriguing puzzler-platformer thus far, but that's been enough for me to get to its eighth world (each world is stuffed with five or more stages), so I'm not about to punish myself for not giving it an acceptable amount of attention.



In conquering those 35 or 40 bite-sized stages, by the way, I've experienced a surprisingly broad array of gameplay elements, although all of them are showcased within similar set pieces--monochromatic, minimalistic affairs that wouldn't have looked out of place during the GameBoy "era."

Anyway, the aforementioned variety definitely is the main thing that's keeping me glued to my digital copy of BOXBOY! at the moment. There's simply a depth to what you can do with this game's protagonist, or to what you can make the protagonist do, that makes the overall experience a grin-inducing blast.

All the said, one slight piece of criticism I'd lay at the otherwise gorgeous feet of BOXBOY! is that I'm not sure I'll ever return to it after I complete it. Of course, the same could be said of the majority of the games I've played over the years, and this one cost me just a couple of bucks (as opposed to many times that), so maybe that won't seem like such a big deal when all is said and done.

Danganronpa (Vita)--Considering how much I loved my first hour or two with this dark Vita adventure, I assumed it would basically take over my life for the next couple of weeks. That didn't happen, surprisingly enough, although I think the addition of BOXBOY! to my ever-growing list of "now playing" titles had a little something to do with it.

Still, I've continued to kind of methodically plug away at it, and over the last few nights I've devoted two or three more hours to its nail-biting story.



I have a feeling I'll devote even more time to it in the coming week, as Danganronpa really turned up the drama dial during my last 60-minute-or-so stint with it, and now I'm chomping at the bit, so to speak, to get back to it and see how things pan out for the colorful cast that sits at the center of this title.

I've still yet to experience any of Danganronpa's trial segments, by the way--though I know one is going to be forced on me shortly--so it'll be interesting to discover how they manage to change things up.

Hopefully I'll be able to chat about that in my next installment of this series.

My World, My Way (DS)--Despite the love I expressed for this quirky, Atlus-published RPG in my last few posts about it, I basically gave it the cold shoulder after I started BOXBOY! and Danganronpa.

Thankfully, that only lasted for about a week, and a few days ago I started playing it again in earnest. Well, maybe I shouldn't say "in earnest," as I've only put about two more hours into it in the last couple of days, but considering this time last week I was worried I'd never play it again, I'd say a two additional hours is worth at least a mini-celebration.



As for how far I was able to progress during those two hours, the CliffsNotes version is that I made it through two more of the game's rather miniscule maps--which, as I believe I've mentioned in earlier posts about My World, My Way, usually contain a town, an exit gate (which allows you to access the next map location) and somewhere between 20 and 30 or so "overworld tiles" that can be traversed, step by step (almost like you would in a board game), and which offer up enemy encounters, items and the like.

My World, My Way's still pretty darn repetitive, by the way, but I can't say I'm all that bothered by it. In large part, I think that's because the game does an excellent job of throwing new environments, baddies and abilities at you right around the time you begin to feel bored with the existing ones.

A case in point: shortly after I gained access to My World, My Way's desolate desert zone, I was introduced to a new pout ability that allowed me to produce unique areas called "southern islands." These map-altering creations feature sandy beaches, crystal-blue waters and even breaching whales--as well as a couple of curious-looking enemy types that only can be encountered while within their borders.

For whatever reason, all of the above have re-ignited my interest in this weird role-playing game--which is a very good thing indeed, as I have a feeling I'm still a considerable distance from its credit roll.

See also: previous 'Shall We Do It?' posts

20 comments:

SpeLinnea said...

I am really in love with Box Boy. I can't handle the cuteness and the puzzles are really clever. My other most favourite puzzle game on the system is Pullblox (Pushmo) and that game includes endless of community made materials. The level editor in Pushmo is great, but I can only dream for something similar to that in Box boy.

Other than that, it is a really lovely game, and I have to stop myself from playing it from time to time. I drain the battery in one sitting, haha.

thegaygamer.com said...

Ah, that's great, Linnea! I love it, too. Oh, and I'd loooooooove it if BOXBOY! had a level editor and allowed people to share levels a la Pushmo XD

Justin Difazzio said...

I've heard so much good stuff about Box Boy. It's definitely on my to-buy list. I just haven't gotten around to getting it yet. This week I got Mario Tennis Open for my 3DS from my sister for my birthday. I bought 3 PS3 games with a gift card an a coupon from GameStop (The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, and Final Fantasy XIII). And I bought Chariot and Advance Wars (well, that was my Club Nintendo reward for the year) for the WiiU. Seriously...I have a ton of gaming ahead of me. It's daunting, considering I'm MAYBE halfway through Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny...

Adam Lee said...

BoxBoy has been an absolute treat to play. Hoping Hal Laboratory don't stop here regarding eshop releases. :)

Justin Difazzio said...

And REALLY all I want to be doing recently when I'm not at work is playing board games.

michaelstearns said...

Lovin' the BoxBoy! :D I agree that it's got that Puzzle Platformer downside where it doesn't feel like a game I'd be likely to come back to for a long time (if ever), but I've been pleasantly surprised by how long it is. For some reason I expected it to be less than half the length that it is, and when I completed all the stages it reported that I'd been playing for over 8 hours, not bad! (Some of the later stages really had me stumped for a bit.) Then it turns out it's (spoiler) been secretly assigning ranks to my previous play, and now I can't resist going back to S-Rank everything (much the same with Mighty Switch Force--another game I loved but probably won't revisit). And there's the unlockable challenge stages in the shop, too... Anyway, not that you even remotely implied it was a poor value, just that it's a really good time in the present, for sure!

michaelstearns said...

Hahah! Part of why I'm determined to S-Rank it all is because when it showed me my ranks (I think this is why they don't show them at first!) they were almost all about as low as they could be! I can't accept that! (Sneaky move, Nintendo...)

thegaygamer.com said...

Yes, I can see that spurring me onward, too, Michael. Damn you, Nintendo--and/or HAL Laboratory!

thegaygamer.com said...

That's interesting, Justin. Is this board-game obsession of yours a recent thing for you, or have you always had an interest in them?

I only have a passing interest (if that) in board games myself, unfortunately. It's not that I find them boring or lame or anything like that, mind you; they just don't attract/entice me like, say, video games or other forms of entertainment do. Maybe that'll change in the future, though?

thegaygamer.com said...

I agree wholeheartedly, Adam. In fact, I hope the folks at HAL produce a follow-up/sequel to BOXBOY! that takes all of the actions that are introduced in this game and either combine them in additional stages or expand on them in some way. And of course I'd also love it if they produced other original games for the eShop!

thegaygamer.com said...

Well, the good news RE: BOXBOY!, Justin, is that it isn't going anywhere. In other words, it'll still be on the eShop for you to buy whenever you have time for it--assuming that doesn't happen in three or four years when Nintendo pulls the plug on the 3DS eShop, of course. In the meantime, though, it sounds like you have plenty of other games with which you can busy yourself! (As do I, I guess ... groan!)

Justin Difazzio said...

Oh, it's been fairly recent, like...within the last 2 years. But we're kind of gung-ho about it. If I can find someone to play a game with me, I'm there. The only reason I don't spend ALL my free time playing board games is...other people's schedules. But yeah, almost every weekend, and sometimes during the week, we get together with friends for board games. I'm starting to feel like maybe I want to join the local gaming group, because they're fairly reliable.


Oh.


I forgot. I also got Watch Dogs on the WiiU. Jeeze...there's so much.

Justin Difazzio said...

Amen.

thegaygamer.com said...

I wish you lived around here, Justin, so you could introduce me to the wonderful world of board games! Plus, there are supposed to be some really cool board-game-focused shops and cafes here that I'm sure you'd like.

Oh, and Watch Dogs WiiU, eh? Have you played it yet? If so, what do you think about it?

Justin Difazzio said...

Oh, Bryan, you don't know how often I wished we lived closer. I think we'd be good friends. I've never been to Seattle, but if I ever do, I'll absolutely look you up.


I havent played Watch Dogs yet on the WiiU, but a friend of mine and I screwed around with it for a few hours on the PS4 one day. It was pretty fun. I like an open world game that's got a neat hook.

thegaygamer.com said...

Yep, it's a crying shame that we don't live close enough to each other to be able to play some Mario Kart together or join forces to, um, tackle FF: Crystal Chronicles for a few hours, Justin. Maybe some day!

As for Watch Dogs: I hope you fully enjoy it when you finally get around to playing the Wii U version. I know next to nothing about it myself, but I know a lot of Wii U owners looked forward to the port--at least when it was first announced...

Charlie Finch said...

I skimmed over the screenshots on the eShop late one night and was not impressed enough to read further. Had I noticed "HAL Laboratory" was responsible, I would have downloaded it immediately! Thanks for posting this!

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thegaygamer.com said...

You're welcome, Charlie! Now, come back and tell how much you like the game after you've played it for a while, OK? ;)

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