Five reasons I hate myself for waiting 29 years to finish Capcom's Sweet Home

Like Super Mario Land 2, which I discussed in my last post, Capcom's Sweet Home is an old game I've been meaning to play for many decades now. Nearly three decades, in fact.

Unlike that 1992 GameBoy title, however, I'd at least booted up this scary Famicom RPG from 1989 on a few occasions over the years.

I'd never gotten more than an hour or so into it, though--or at least I hadn't until I started my way through it about a week ago.

Well, that's all in the past. This time around, I played Sweet Home for just over 12 hours. And not only that, but I finished it.

So why do I hate myself for waiting 29 years to thoroughly explore this game's hair-raising halls and grounds? Here are the five reasons that first popped into my head:

Sweet Home absolutely nails the feeling of being locked in a haunted mansion--Seems impossible, doesn't it? After all, not only is the dwelling in question crafted using 8-bit sprites, but it's depicted using a top-down perspective, too. Despite that, Sweet Home is as nail-bitingly claustrophobic as any survival-horror game that takes place in such an eerie (and similarly cramped) locale. You really feel like you're stalking the spooky hallways of an evil manor while playing Sweet Home, and that's a real accomplishment as far as I'm concerned.

Its soundtrack only adds to the tension--Sweet Home's music isn't always easy on the ears. Hell, sometimes it's downright annoying. It's pretty much always fitting, though. As in, even when the game's backing tunes are discordantly irritating, they complement what's happening on your TV screen. Don't take this to mean there are no standouts on Sweet Home's soundtrack. In fact, quite a few of its songs could be heralded as stellar. I'm especially fond of the "eastern garden" tune, with its lightning-like percussion flourishes, and the sweetly melancholy "fresco theme."

I love how its story is revealed in bits and pieces--In most RPGs, you learn about its story through banter between party members or conversations with non-player characters. Here, you're mostly made aware of it via notes and even paintings you discover while exploring the titular "home." That gives the game an air of mystery I'm not sure it would have if it'd stuck more closely to the traditions of the genre. It also enhances the sense of loneliness and unease that permeates this Japan-only release.

The turn-based battles in this game are surprisingly unique--Yes, you read that correctly: Sweet Home features turn-based battles. And they're not unlike those you encounter in Dragon Quest or Mother or numerous other 8-bit RPGs with first-person fights. So what's unique about the ones on offer here? A good example is the "pray" option, which increases your power if you time things right. Another example is the "call" option, which lets you bring straggling party members into an on-going battle. (Although five characters are at your disposal while playing Sweet Home, you're forced to split them into groups of two or three. When you select this command, the game cuts away from the fight at hand so you can move one or more other party members to its location.)

It's nearly the perfect length for an RPG--As I mentioned earlier, my just-completed playthrough of Sweet Home took just over 12 hours. That's a breath of fresh air for someone (such as myself) who rarely has the time, energy, or attention span to deal with 100-plus-hour behemoths like Octopath Traveler. Which isn't to suggest Sweet Home's pacing is perfect. I actually thought it overstayed its welcome by an hour or two. Still, I'll take that over the aforementioned alternative any day.

There's only one other aspect of Sweet Home that turned me off, by the way. What is it? The way it severely limits how many items you and your intrepid companions can hold. I understand why the game's developers decided against giving players unlimited space for these objects (which include candles, fire extinguishers, and pieces of rope), but I wish they'd been a bit more lenient. Thankfully, you can drop seemingly pointless tools and wares on the ground and return for them later if the need arises.

That pair of slight missteps notwithstanding, I found my latest (and most successful) foray through Sweet Home's halls and grounds both fascinating and exhilarating. So much so, in fact, that I can't wait to enter its creepy confines again this time next year.

A few thoughts on the Monster Hunter Stories 3DS demo after putting about five hours into it

Just over a month ago, Nintendo plopped a demo for Monster Hunter Stories onto the North American 3DS eShop.

I promptly downloaded it, of course. And I say "of course" here because I've been curious about this Pokémon-esque Monster Hunter spinoff since it was released in Japan last fall.

That's not to say I promptly played through its demo. Although I put maybe 30 minutes or an hour into it shortly after my download finished, I didn't really dig into it until a week or two later (mainly because I was obsessed with Mother at the time).



As of now, I've played it for nearly five hours. Based on what I've read on line, there's still a few hours of content left for me to explore. Rather than wait until I hit that wall to write up my thoughts on this Monster Hunter Stories teaser--which is what I'd normally do--I decided to jot down and share them now.

Why the rush? Well, for starters, I'm really enjoying the demo--even more than I expected to, if I'm to be honest. Plus, I'm pretty sure nothing's going to pop up in the next hour or two that will change my opinion of Monster Hunter Stories.

With that out of the way, here are some of my thoughts on this surprisingly generous demo:

It looks absolutely lovely--I've liked Monster Hunter Stories' art style since I first laid eyes on it way back when. OK, so I wasn't initially all that keen on the design of Navirou, your odd-looking Felyne sidekick, but I eventually came around to it. I've always found the game's human designs appealing, though. They're cute without being generic or anime-esque, if that makes sense. I also really dig how the designers at developer Marvelous used a lot of bold, saturated colors while crafting Monster Hunter Stories' vast environments.



Its battles are more enjoyable than I thought they'd be--No one is going to accuse Monster Hunter Stories' fights of being confusing or complicated. In fact, they're little more than rock-paper-scissors bouts. That's fine with me, though, as it keeps them moving along at a good clip--which can't be said of all modern RPGs, that's for sure. My only worry is they might become boring while playing the full game. Considering that's rarely been an issue for me before, though, I don't see it impacting my decision to pick up a physical copy or not.

It chugs a bit on an original 3DS system--I don't know how the Monster Hunter Stories demo runs on other 3DS hardware, but it slows down and stutters now and then on an original unit. It doesn't do so all the time, and it's hardly that annoying, but I thought I should bring it up anyway. The question is: does the full game chug a bit on early 3DS systems, too, or does it perform better than this demo? Thankfully, I can play the former on my New 3DS if need be, but I'd prefer to play it on my "flame red" unit.



It's convinced me to buy the full game--Don't take this to mean me picking up a boxed copy of Monster Hunter Stories is a sure thing. I'd certainly like to do that, and soon, but the fact is my recent Switch acquisition is going to force me to be pretty picky with my game purchases for the foreseeable future. I still want quite a few 3DS titles--many of which I wrote about in this post from April, although I highlighted two others here and here--after all, and then there are Switch and retro games to consider, too.

Oh, well, even if I don't buy the retail version of this Pokémon wannabe, it won't be because I disliked its demo. How about you? Have you played either the Monster Hunter Stories demo or full game? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it in the comments section that follows.

See also: 'I tried the Hey! Pikmin demo and I think I liked it'

Manual Stimulation: Son Son II (PC Engine)

Considering how wonderfully colorful Son Son II the PC Engine game is, you could be forgiven for assuming Son Son II the PC Engine instruction manual follows suit.

Unfortunately, it doesn't. Or at least it doesn't do so fully. Instead, it does so in fits and spurts.



Its first few pages are a perfect reflection of that. Although the spread seen below features three really nice illustrations, the rest of the acreage on hand is mostly white space and black text.



That's less true when it comes to the spreads that follow, but even then it'd be hard to argue that there's a whole lot more black and white on those pages than there are colorful pieces of art.



At least the pieces of art that are there are easy on the eyes. Granted, I've rarely come across a drawing of a collectable in-game item I didn't like, so maybe I'm alone in finding them appealing.

(Speaking of game items, my friend, Jess, recently published a great blog post about Capcom's long history of silly, strange and intriguing power-ups. I'd definitely recommend reading it if you find such things interesting.)



I also really like the enemy depictions that are showcased in the scan above. The only thing I don't like about them is there are only 11 of them.

Oh, well, at we got those 11, right?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts about Don Doko Don, Parasol Stars and Parodius Da!

Nice Package! (Son Son II, PC Engine)

As is true of a surprising number of PC Engine games, I turned up my nose at Son Son II for a good long time before coming around to it.

Which is strange, as in many respects it's the kind of game I usually fall in love with at first sight. After all, it's a platformer, its protagonist is cute as can be and it's slathered in bright, beautiful colors.

So why wasn't I a fan of this 1989 release until recently? One odd reason is that I used to really dislike games with HUDs or status bars that cover large swaths of the screen, which is very much the case for Son Son II. (To see what I mean, check out a few of screenshots over at pcengine.co.uk.)



Thankfully, I was able to put those negative feelings aside when I gave the game a second chance a year or two ago. And during that particular playthrough I came to the conclusion that Son Son II's actually pretty great.

Why? Although I described it as a platformer earlier, it is not a straightforward one. The focus here is on exploring each stage's long, winding and secret-filled maps. That makes the experience a lot more interesting than your typical side-scroller.

In the case of Son Son II, it also makes the experience quite a bit tougher than it would be otherwise, as the game is the opposite of a cakewalk.

Still, it's very much worth playing and owning. The latter's especially true when you consider Son Son II's packaging--i.e., its cover art and HuCard label.

Speaking of the former, which can be seen in this post's first photo, it's easily one of my favorite examples of PC Engine cover art.

It gives potential buyers and players a great idea as to what they're going to see and deal with when they boot it up on their trusty PC Engines.



I've got to admit I'm a bit disappointed the artists and designers at NEC Interchannel (the game's publisher; Capcom developed it) simply copied and pasted Son Son II's main illustrated onto its HuCard label.

At least they decided to change things up while producing its instruction manual--a sample page of which is showcased in the snapshot above.

Don't worry, I'll show off the rest of it in an upcoming "Manual Stimulation" post. I'll warn you now, though, that Son Son II's manual, while lovely, is distressingly short. Oh, well, anything is better than what we get these days, wouldn't you agree?

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts about Hana Taaka Daka!?, KiKi KaiKai and Parodius Da!

Manual Stimulation (SonSon, Famicom)

As much as I've always enjoyed playing the Famicom port of Capcom's SonSon, I've never felt compelled to actually own it.

Until recently, of course. Even then, I only bought the complete-in-box copy that provided me with the manual seen here because I came across a fairly cheap one during a regular sweep of eBay.



Now that it's finally in my possession, I've got to say I would've gladly paid twice that auction's ending price thanks to this gorgeous instruction booklet.





After all, aside from its first few pages (above), it's chock-full of top-notch illustrations. (Click on the scans found throughout this post if you want to take a much better, and closer, look at them.)





Hell, exactly half of the SonSon manual's how-to information is conveyed via a shockingly adroit comic strip.





Sadly, I don't understand the bulk of the text that's offered up throughout the comic strip in question, but I get the gist of it--and that's more than enough for me.





Topping off all of the above with a big, juicy cherry is the sheet music of the SonSon theme song that brings everything to a close.



What do all of you think of the focus of this installment of "Manual Stimulation"?

Also, to those of you who've played any iteration of SonSon: what did you, or do you, think of it?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

Nice Package! (Hitsuji no Kimochi, GameBoy Advance)

Would you believe I bought this game, known as Sheep outside of Japan, without knowing a thing about it (other than it was made and published by Capcom and sported a precious cover illustration) a couple of years ago?

Actually, if you've been following me here--or on Facebook or Flickr or Twitter--for any length of time, you probably would believe it.



You'd also probably understand why I purchased it. I mean, just look at its packaging:



Very likely the most adorable thing you've seen all day, right? Perhaps even the most adorable thing you've seen all week or month or year.

Hitsuji no Kimochi's cartridge label (below) is pretty cute, too, if you ask me.



Does the interior of this Japanese GameBoy Advance title's instruction manual follow in the charming footsteps of its cart label and outer box? Yes, in a way--as this next photo shows:

Like most GBA manuals, though, it's a bit too wordy for its own good--or at least that's my opinion of the matter.

Or maybe I should say it doesn't have enough illustrations to compensate for all of the text it throws at readers.  

Oh, well. Every other aspect of Hitsuji no Kimochi's packaging is so swoon-worthy is easy enough to overlook the fact that its instruction manual is a bit disappointing.

Hell, the sheep-branded box flaps (see above) alone would be enough for me to get over that so-called disappointment.



If only I could assure you that Hitsuji no Kimochi's in-game graphics or gameplay are as delightful as the rest of it. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly (am I right?), I've yet to play the damn thing, so I can't do that.

Have any of you played it--or any other version of the game? (Apparently it was released for the original PlayStation, PC and Mac as well as the GameBoy Advance.) If so, what do you think of it?

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts

Shall We Do It? (Alien Syndrome, City Connection, Mickey Mousecapade, Parodius Da! and Super Mario Bros. 2)

Some of you may be wondering why all of the games mentioned in this post's headline are decidedly retro" Well, that would be because the only current game I've played in the last few weeks is Pokémon Picross.

OK, so I've also put some time--and money--into Nintendo Badge Arcade during that same period, although I don't know if I'd call the latter a "game." (It's more of an app, if you ask me.)

What about The Legend of Legacy and Undertale? I haven't played either of them in about a month, sadly. And I haven't even started Yo-Kai Watch, despite the fact that a copy of that 3DS title has been in my hands since I got it as a birthday present right after Thanksgiving.

Given all of the above, it may seem strange that I decided to spend a good part of this past weekend playing the following bunch of golden oldies. The only response I can come up with to that charge is "I needed it." And don't we all sometimes?

Alien Syndrome (Game Gear)--Considering my nearly lifelong love of the first two Alien films, you’d think I would have at least tried this similarly themed game ages ago. Actually, I have plunked a bit of time into various versions of this Sega-made title (which originated in the arcades) over the years, but for whatever reason the aesthetics and gameplay never sat well with me. Something changed in that regard this weekend, though, as I raced through three of the Game Gear port’s stages on Saturday morning and only gave up after seeing a satisfactory portion of its fourth.

If this is the first you’ve heard of Alien Syndrome, by the way, the gist of it is it’s a run-and-gun action game that’s clearly inspired by the original Alien flick. You run around each level--most or all of which take place on some sort of spaceship--and rescue stranded crewmates while avoiding (or blowing away) a whole host of nightmarish baddies. Oh, and a clock is ticking away all the while, which adds a certain sense of urgency to both of those tasks.

As is the case with most of the games I booted up over the last few days, some (maybe many) modern gamers are sure to find the Game Gear version of Alien Syndrome painfully dated, especially in the graphics department. Still, if you’re a fan of tense gaming experiences and extraterrestrial settings, you’d do well to overlook this title’s superficial stumbling points and give it a bit of love.

City Connection (Famicom)--Looking back on it now, it seems strange that as a kid I had access to an arcade containing a City Connection cabinet. After all, I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin—not exactly a hotbed of obscure Japanese games of any sort.

At any rate, I'm glad my local arcade (bowling alley, really) was home to this Axes Art Amuse-made and Jaleco-published oddity--for a while, at least. I played it every chance I got. Who could blame me? It's a platformer--of sorts--that shoves players behind the wheel of an adorable red sports car and then forces them to race and leap around a handful of stages, all of which are set in real-life cities. The point: why, to cover their roadways in paint, of course. (You do this do you can prove you've fully experienced each locale.)

I wish I could tell you how accurate the Famicom port of City Connection is to the arcade original, but I can't. I can say the former is a lot of fun, though. It's colorful, it controls well enough, it's challenging (but not overly cheap, as is the case for too many games from this era) and it has a soundtrack that's better than it has any right to be.

Mickey Mousecapade (NES)--Here's another game from my childhood. For some weird reason, this is one of the 20 or so NES games I owned as a kid. I say it's weird because I've never really been a big Disney fan. As such, I'm not sure what prompted me to buy (or, more likely, ask for it as a birthday or Christmas gift) Mickey Mousecapade.

Regardless, I remember liking this classic platformer--which curiously puts players in control of both Mickey and Minnie at the same time--well enough. I also remember finding it more than a smidge frustrating beyond its first stage. Which is kind of hilarious, as I got all the way to the game's third stage on my second try this past weekend, and without a whole lot of fuss. Sadly, that's as far as I was able to get.

Oh, well, I'm glad I finally revisited Mickey Mousecapade after all these years. It's far from a great game, and it's downright ugly in spots (I'm looking at you, annoying forest level), but the background music is nice and the overall experience is enjoyable enough that I'll probably return to it again ... in a couple of years or so.

Parodius Da! (PC Engine)--Would you believe this was one of the first Japanese games I ever imported? Detana!! TwinBee was another, along with Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI and Tengai Makyou II. Oh, and Pop'n TwinBee, too.

At any rate, this was my favorite of the bunch. (OK, so I was pretty fond of the two Final Fantasy games as well.) Which makes sense, as it's hard to play this wackadoodle shmup, which parodies Konami's genre-defining Gradius series (hence the name), without a huge grin plastered across your face all the while.

I spend most of my time with the PC Engine port of Parodius Da! playing its "Special" mode, by the way. It's a single-level, high-score romp that's perfect for short bursts of play--which means it's perfect for my ever-diminishing attention span.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)--Do you have a favorite Famicom or NES cart? Well, this is one of mine. To me, this bastard child of Nintendo's decades-old Mario series is the gaming equivalent of chicken noodle soup. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy in a way that not too many titles from any era can match.

Anyway, I was prompted to return to this pastel-shellacked platformer by the recently released Nintendo Badge Arcade. For the last few days, that 3DS app has offered up a slew of Super Mario Bros. 2 pins--every single one of which caused my mouth to froth in nostalgia-flavored glee. (OK, so maybe that's overstating things a tad.)

Although I somehow stopped myself from dropping $5 more into the Nintendo Badge Arcade, I wasn't able to keep myself from spending a similar amount to buy Super Mario Bros. 2 via the eShop. Which is just as well, because every 3DS needs to have a copy of this game stuck to its main menu and at the ready at all times, don't you think?

Have you played any retro games in recent days or weeks? If so, which ones--and what pushed you to spend some quality time with them?

Convince me not to buy this awesome limited edition Rockman Classics Collection for 3DS

OK, so I'm not as on edge about this upcoming Japanese release as I make it seem in the headline above, but I am really interested in it.

Of course, how could I not be interested in a package that includes such wonderful things as a boxed copy of the 3DS iteration of Rockman Classics Collection (that's the Japanese name for what's known elsewhere as Mega Man Legacy Collection), a 2016 planner with a Rockman--er, Mega Man--cover, a set of five bookmarks and more?

Thankfully, I've already missed the boat on this e-Capcom limited edition, which will the streets of Japan in late February, as far as Play-Asia is concerned. It's still available via nin-nin-game.com (for 11,690 yen, which comes to about $95), though, so my bank account and I aren't out of the woods yet.

Even if it remains available for a while, I have a feeling the most likely course of action for me will be to pre-order a boxed copy of Rockman Classics Collection before the year is up. If any of you are interested in doing the same, by the way, you can do so now at both AmiAmi (where it's being offered for 3,780 yen, or $30) and Play-Asia, where it has a slightly higher price tag of $34.99.

The funny thing about all of this: I'm not exactly the biggest Rockman or Mega Man fan out there. In fact, I'm not sure I've played a game in the series since the 16-bit era. I enjoyed a good number of the 8-bit games back in the day, though, so I've got a hunch that I'll at least get my money's worth out of whichever product I wind up buying.

How about all of you? Are any of you interested enough in Mega Man or Rockman to pick up the e-Capcom LE package or even a loose copy of this Classics Collection?

And yet five more games I'm looking forward to playing between now and the end of 2015

Just over a month ago, I published a pair of posts--here's the first one, and here's the second one--that detailed a handful of games I'm looking forward to playing between now and the end of 2015.

My original intention was to wrap up this series (if it can even be called such a thing) within a couple of days of the second post's introduction to this thing we used to call the World Wide Web, but, well, if you've been visiting this blog for any amount of time, you know that's how things go sometimes.

With all of that out of the way, let's get to the final five games that I'm looking forward to playing before this year comes to a close.



The Legend of Legacy (3DS)--Is it weird that I'm going to buy the North American version of this open-ended, SaGa-esque RPG even though I've owned the Japanese release for some time now? (You can read about it, and peruse some photos of its beautiful packaging, in this previously published post, if you're at all curious.) I don't think so, especially since I'm basically stumbling through my current copy of the game at the moment. I was OK with that when it was my only option, but once an English localization joins it as a possibility I won't hesitate in swapping out the former in favor of the latter.



Monhun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura DX (3DS)--Here's another entry that may shock a couple of people, as back in February I devoted an entire post to small handful of photos I'd taken of the first Animal Crossing-ish Monhun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura game that was made for the PSP, which I had acquired a few weeks earlier. Considering I've yet to even pop the aforementioned UMD into either of my PSP systems so far, why would I want to hand over my hard-earned cash to buy this updated 3DS iteration? Because I have a feeling I'll be more likely to play such a game on my go-to portable of the moment (Nintendo's latest dual-screened handheld, naturally), that's why. Here's hoping that's what actually comes to pass once this import cart is in my grubby paws.

Mysterious Chronicle (Vita)--Some of you may know this upcoming PS4 and Vita game by its Japanese name, which is Fushigi no Chronicle: Furikaerimasen Katsu Made wa. It's a remake, of sorts, of a mobile game called One Way Heroics. Both titles are roguelikes that, as far as I can tell, take place aboveground--or at least outdoors--as opposed to indoors or below ground, which is typical of the genre. Honestly, that last bit alone would be enough to make me want to track down a copy of the erstwhile Mysterious Chronicle as soon as possible, so when you add in its stellar spritework, well, you should be able to see why I'm smacking myself around for not having it on pre-order. 

Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (3DS)--True story: I've wanted to play a PoPoLoCrois (this is how the title is written in Japan, by the way) game for ages. Specifically, I've wanted to play one or more of the three beautiful, sprite-based PoPoLoCrois games--two of which are RPGs and one of which is a roguelike--that were made for the original PlayStation since I first become aware of them a number of years ago. This 3DS-based release isn't as gorgeous as any of those 32-bit efforts, I've got to say, but it still looks pretty good. Plus, I'm intrigued by the fact that this one includes content that calls to mind the Harvest Moon (now Story of Seasons, I guess) series.  

Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)--How am I going to play this precious-looking platformer when I don't yet own a Wii U console? I have no idea, but I'm going to do my best to make it happen. After all, I'm going to need a Wii U if I'm finally going to experience Splatoon, Super Mario Maker and Illusory Revelations ♯FE, right? As for what's pushing me to do whatever needs to be done to experience this game, that would be that it gives off serious Kirby's Epic Yarn vibes. That game was one of my favorite Wii titles, regardless of genre, so if Woolly World is even half as entertaining, it will be more than worth the price of admission.

How about you guys and gals? Are you looking forward to playing any of these games between now and the end of 2015? Or maybe you're looking forward to playing some other games that were recently made available or will be made available soon? If so, please let me know about them in the comments section below.

See also: 'Five games I'm really looking forward to playing between now and the end of 2015' and 'Five additional games I'm looking forward to playing between now and the end of 2015'

Capcom, Nintendo and Square are doing their darndest to suck me (and my bank account) dry

And here I thought this morning's Japanese Nintendo Direct was going to be a dud.

Instead, it ended with me adding a bunch of items--not just games, but systems and even accessories, too--to my ever-growing 3DS wish list.

Admittedly, a couple of the aforementioned titles that are going to be picked up as soon as is possible--which means the minute they're released--were announced prior to today's broadcast, but I wasn't sure about either of them until I saw them in action or saw their box art.

The 3DS port (of sorts) of Dragon Quest VIII is the game that I had to see in action before deciding to purchase it, by the way.

Speaking of which, its first trailer can be seen at the beginning of the Nintendo Direct. I don't know about you, but I think it looks pretty wonderful. Even if it didn't, though, I'd probably buy a copy of it just so I could experience the "pudding slime" spotted at the 2:07 mark firsthand.

Dragon Quest VIII will hit store shelves in Japan on Aug. 27. Here's hoping it somehow makes its way westward, too.



As for the 3DS game that I want to own now that I've seen its box art, that would be Doubutsu no Mori: Happy Home Designer.

Seriously, look at the packaging above and try to tell me it isn't fabulous beyond belief.



Actually, scratch that. This Animal Crossing spin-off's cover art is just fabulous when compared to the special New 3DS LL system (above) that's set to be released alongside it.

Even more fabulous, in my humble opinion, is the Happy Home Designer-branded kisekae plate that also will hit the streets of Japan on July 30.



You can rest assured I'll pre-order the latter as soon as someone allows me to do so--despite the fact that I've yet to pick up a New 3DS system.

This latest Nintendo Direct didn't focus only on already announced 3DS games, thankfully. A handful of surprises found their way into the broadcast, too, with the side-scrolling Guru Guru! Chibi Robo! and Monster Hunter X being two of them.

To be honest, as happy as I am that Nintendo's giving Chibi Robo another chance, I'm not sure I'll be purchasing this latest effort. (I'd far prefer an adventure that apes the series' original offering.)

Also, as nice as Monster Hunter X looks, I can say with quite a bit of certainty that I won't be adding it to my collection of 3DS games.



I can say with just as much certainty, though, that I'll be buying one of the other out-of-left-field titles that were announced earlier today--with the title in question being MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura DX (aka Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village DX).

After all, I've wanted to play one of the MonHun Nikki games for ages, and I can't think of anything more appropriate than finally doing so on my Japanese 3DS.

(This kind of puts the copy of the first MonHun Nikki for PSP I acquired a short while ago in a precarious position, I guess, but what can you do?)

What did all of you think about this morning's Nintendo Direct? Did any accessories, games or systems stick out at you as "must buys"?

I hope you're up for a little more MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura (PSP) love

Early last week, I published a post in which I blathered on and on and on about the stupendously sparkly--and purple--PSP that my pal, Jess (he of the Kiblitzing blog), recently bought and sent to me.

A small handful of photos were included in the above-mentioned post, and two of them featured peeks at the complete-in-box copy of MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura that I recently picked up.

This Monster Hunter spin-off--which is supposed to have a sort of Animal Crossing feel to it, not that I would know--is worth more than just a passing glance, so today I'm giving it a bit more attention.

Specifically, I'm giving its box art, UMD label and instruction manual a bit more attention.



Fun fact: I could've bought the follow-up of this game, called MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura G, for pretty much the same amount of money I spent on the copy highlighted throughout this post, but I went with Capcom's original effort because I prefer its cover art.

The game's UMD features art that's nearly as adorable, if you ask me. You may not be able to tell in the fairly crappy photo above, but the Poogie that sits just to the left of the MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura logo is wearing a watermelon-themed outfit.

The backside of MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura's instruction manual is beyond cute, too--or at least I think it is.

Sadly, that's about all I can say about this Japan-only release at the moment, as I've yet to even pop it into my beautifully purple PSP. I'm going to do my best to rectify that soon, though, as once I do, I'll share my thoughts on it here (probably in a future installment of my "Shall We Do It?" series).

#ADecadeofDS: Okamiden

Amount of time devoted to this DS game in the last week--Seven hours, 23 minutes.

Most recent boss toppled, location reached or milestone achieved--Defeated Bullhead in Agata Forest.

Overall comments on the experience--Although I've been keen on the Okami series (if such a thing can be said to exist) since it debuted in 2006, I'd only ever spent a handful of hours with the original PS2 title before I booted up Okamiden for the first time last weekend. That rather anemic playthrough took place a number of years ago, though, and I can only barely remember it today, so it may as well be said that I came into this DS follow-up with fresh eyes.

A week later, I'm flogging myself for failing to tackle the game earlier. Admittedly, it features a decent number of flaws--a dodgy frame rate, some oft-awkward controls and disappointingly constricted play fields among them--but on the whole, Okamiden offers up a rousing and beautiful adventure that's more than the sum of its parts.

It would be easy (and kind of lazy, too) for me to say that my favorite of Okamiden's many "parts" at the moment is its art style--which is, without a doubt, pretty darn stunning. In reality, though, the game's aesthetics are at least matched in my mind by its story and boss battles. The former can seem a bit trite at times, actually, but for whatever reason I've more often than not found it sweet and even touching. As for the latter, they almost always overstay their welcome, but they're also inventive and interesting--or at least the one's I've experienced so far have fit that bill.

Another highlight: getting to know and use the "Celestial Brush" that serves as the centerpiece of this portable, Zelda-like offering. Sure, the game's often a bit too willing to spell out for players when and where to utilize these stylus-enabled symbols, but thankfully that rarely seems to dent the unique appeal this gameplay element brings to the proceedings (especially the battle scenes, which otherwise would feel simplistic and repetitive).

Will I continue to play this game in the coming days, weeks and maybe even months?--Definitely, and hopefully all the way through to the end credits.

Do I recommend it to others?--Yes. Some may find the art style to be disorienting or even off-putting, but they're the only folks I'd even think of dissuading from playing this game.

Next up--Catch! Touch! Yoshi! (aka Yoshi Touch & Go)

See also: Introducing #ADecadeofDS