Six 'seasonally appropriate' games I'm planning to play in the lead-up to Halloween

I've already completed a pair of Halloween-ish games in recent weeks: Creeping Terror for 3DS and Undertale for Switch.

They'll soon be joined by the following sextet of spooktacular titles, all of which I hope to play between now and All Hallows' Eve.

I can't promise I'll finish all of the games discussed below, mind you. I will start them, though, and then put as much time into them as I can before the calendar flips over to November.

Avenging Spirit (GameBoy)--If you're a bit of a Japanophile like I am, you may know this game as Phantasm rather than Avenging Spirit. You also probably know it's fairly well regarded by people who've played either version. That makes a lot of sense once you're clued in to its premise. A group of mobsters kidnap your girlfriend and then kill you. Now you're a ghost. A ghost that can possess other people. Make use of that unfortunately acquired skill to track down your lover and take revenge on the thugs who took your life. It's all quite thrilling--or at least that's how I'd describe the few minutes I've put into Avenging Spirit here and there--if not entirely "seasonally appropriate."

Avenging Spirit for GameBoy

Death Mark (Switch)--I first became aware of this horror-themed visual novel when it was released (in Japan) for the Vita last summer. At the time, I didn't even know what kind of game it was--all I cared about was its stunning box art. So when the news broke a few months ago that a localized version of Death Mark would hit Western store shelves in time for Halloween, I almost fainted. Sadly, publisher Aksys Games switched out the Japanese release's cover illustration for one that's a bit more "by the numbers." Oh, well, I'm still excited to see how it compares to the other VNs I've played so far.

Dark Souls Remastered (Switch)--I thought I knew what I was getting myself into when I fired up this game's network test a couple of weekends ago. Boy, was I wrong. Not that I'm complaining; I actually enjoyed it--even if I did die innumerable times, and even if I did find it sort of suffocating. I will admit that this bite-sized portion of Dark Souls Remastered stumped me now and then, but I figured things out eventually thanks to a bit of internet sleuthing. Something else I'll admit: I'm still not sure this is my kind of game. I'm going to give it a go anyway, though, because I'd rather try it and hate it than ignore it and wonder "what if?"

Luigi's Mansion (3DS)--The original Luigi's Mansion is another one of those games that I've "always meant to play." Or maybe I should say I've always meant to play it for more than 30 minutes or so--because that's about the longest I've spent with it to date. I blame that appalling lack of attention on my nearly decade-long disinterest in playing games while tethered to a TV. This 3DS port of the game should solve at least part of that problem. Hopefully it'll solve the other part, too; in other words, hopefully I'll actually finish it this time around.

Magical Chase for PC Engine

Magical Chase (PC Engine)--What I'm about to say may shock some of you: I've never been the biggest fan of this Quest-made shoot 'em up from 1991. Admittedly, it's likely my feelings on the game have been colored by the astronomical prices that tend to be attached to copies these days. That's not all of it, though. I'm also not too keen on what I see as Magical Chase's discordant theme. I mean, your "ship" is a broom-riding witch--why do you fly it through bright and colorful environments that look nothing like the creepy locales typically associated with such beings? Still, as much as I wish it were a little more like Cotton, I can appreciate its designers' attempts at creating something different. I'll try to remember that during this latest playthrough.

Super Mario Land 2 (GameBoy)--OK, so Super Mario Land 2 isn't exactly a Halloween-esque game through and through. It does feature a "zone" that fits the season at hand, though--or so I've been told. I can't say so myself, because I'm a Super Mario Land 2 virgin. (Gasp!) Of course, this isn't the first time I've suggested I was going to start my way through this title, though it will be my last. Why? Because I've already bought it (via the 3DS eShop). Here's hoping it's only a matter of time before I reach the "Pumpkin Zone" alluded to earlier.

Are you planning--or hoping--to play any spooky or scary games in the lead-up to October 31? If so, which ones?

So, who else has plopped down 60 big ones for the North American version of Yomawari: Night Alone?

What kind of idiot agrees to spend $60 to buy a second copy of a game he already owns--especially when that money could be put toward the purchase of one or more of the titles currently taking up space on his or her miles-long wish list?

This kind of idiot, that's who.

I say this because over the weekend I decided to pre-order one of the Yomawari: Night Alone limited editions currently being offered up on the NIS America online store.

That wouldn't seem light such a stupid--or at least strange--move if I didn't already own a copy of the Japanese release of this cute-yet-unsettling Vita game. (Check out some photos of Yomawari's Japanese case, cartridge and instruction sheet in this recent "Nice Package!" post.)

Worse yet: I've yet to even stick my Japanese Yomawari cart into my pink-and-white Vita.

So, why did I willingly agree to hand over $60 for the game's North American limited edition when it hits the streets here on Oct. 25? To be completely honest, I was suckered in by this LE's contents.

I mean, who wouldn't want a heat-changing tumbler that features an image of this adventure's protagonist? Nearly as appealing for yours truly: a pair of full-color, soft-cover art books (one for Yomawari: Night Alone and one for the also-included htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary) and a jewel-cased soundtrack.

NIS America's also selling a mousepad that's branded with imagery invoking both hotL#NiQ and Yomawari, but that's a separate, $15 purchase, and although I love it, I don't love it enough to blow $75 on the whole she-bang.

Will any of you also plop down some hard-earned cash on some version of Yomawari: Night Alone after it's made available this fall? If so, which one do you have your eye on at the moment?

See also: previous Yomawari-focused posts

A trio of spooky games I'm hoping to play between now and All Hallows' Eve

For those of us in North America--and any other locale where folks celebrate the holiday--it's that time of year again. And when I say "that time of year," I of course mean Halloween.

While my compatriots spend the next couple of weeks prepping costumes, planning parties and popping orange and black candies into their mouths, I'm going to spend them playing spooky games. Specifically, I'm going to play--or maybe I should say I'm going to do my best to play--the following trio of Halloween-appropriate titles.

Undertale (Mac)--The good news here is that I've already started playing this just-released, EarthBound-esque RPG. The bad news: I've only played about an hour and a half of it so far. I have no doubt that will change appreciably by the end of this coming weekend thanks to all of the grins and chuckles it's already produced.

My favorite aspects of Undertale at the moment, by the way, are its colorfully creepy "overworld" graphics, its wonderfully witty text and its unexpectedly unique gameplay. A highlight of that last component: if you want, you can dance, flirt or simply chat with baddies rather than beat them up during this title's battle scenes.

Corpse Party (PSP)--I put a small handful of hours into this game a couple of years ago while traveling for one reason or another. That playthrough came to a screeching halt, though, when I got stuck and couldn't figure out what to do next. Why didn't I turn to GameFAQs or some other online resource? I have no idea, I'm sorry to say.

Thankfully, I'm feeling decidedly less stubborn these days--especially after listening to my podcast pal, Mollie, rave about this original entry in the oddly titled Corpse Party series while we recorded the 17th installment of The Nichiest Podcast Ever a few nights ago. So, look for me to give the game a second chance (and write about it in one or more future blog posts) between now and the end of this month.

Clock Tower (Super Famicom or WonderSwan)--Can you believe I've never played any of the many versions of Clock Tower that have been released over the years? I can't. OK, so that's not completely true. I spent about 30 minutes with the Super Famicom release earlier this year, but I quickly gave up on that campaign when the game's scissor-wielding antagonist popped up and scared the living daylights out of me.

I can't guarantee the same thing won't happen again when and if I return to this pixelated horror title, but I can guarantee I'll do my best avoid it. Who knows, maybe playing it in black and white will help?

Any you playing any spooky, scary or otherwise Halloween-esque games this month? If so, which ones--and what do you think of them thus far?

Three scary games I'm playing as part of #HorrorMonth

Although I had a lot of fun playing the shoot 'em ups that I chatted about in these recent posts and that were inspired by my blogging and podcasting pal Anne Lee's #Shmuptember game-along extravaganza, I'm about ready to move on to another genre now.

Thankfully, Lee is one step ahead of me and already has announced another such event for October, with the theme this time around being scary games.

The thing is, I've never been one to play overly scary games--games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill and Siren and Resident Evil. Oh, I love reading about them and watching videos of them and stuff like that, but playing them? Not really--which is kind of funny when you consider how much I love scary movies.

Still, I really want to participate in #HorrorMonth (that's the official name of Lee's latest game-along, by the way), so I'm doing my best to put my fears behind me and play through the following trio of terror-ific titles between now and Halloween.

Sweet Home (Famicom)--Those of you who have visited this blog for a few years now may remember me mentioning Sweet Home in previous posts that were published around this time of year. That's because this isn't the first time I've attempted to play through this spooky, Resident Evil-esque (due to its setting more than anything) RPG. I've never made it more than a couple of hours into it, though, so this year my goal is do do a bit better than that (if not make it all the way to the cart's credit roll).

Splatterhouse (PC Engine)--Here's a game I've been curious about since it first caught my attention back when the PC Engine was still in its infancy and its North American counterpart, the TurboGrafx-16, had yet to be released. I've barely played it in the ensuing years, although I couldn't tell you why that is--other than this genre generally isn't my cup of tea. Thankfully, the few minutes I spent with Splatterhouse the other day were a blast, so I have a feeling it won't be all that difficult for me to complete at least a handful of its stages before I call it a night, so to speak.

Clock Tower (Super Famicom)--Unlike the pair of titles discussed above, I've purposefully avoided this Super Famicom spooker over the years because I knew its scissor-wielding antagonist would be too much for my rather delicate constitution. Although that mostly was proven true when I played a fan-translated version of this unique point-and-click title over the weekend, I'm not going to give up on it--mainly because I want to learn more about the aforementioned villain, the titular mansion and protagonist Jennifer Simpson.

Are any of you participating--or planning to participate--in #HorrorMonth? If so, which titles have you short-listed for this particular game-along?

Three games I'm attempting to play in the run-up to Halloween

Every year (or nearly every year) I say I'm going to play through a handful of seasonally appropriate games in the run-up to Halloween, and every year I fail to make much of a dent in said wish list.

This year, I decided to make things easier on myself by scaling things back a tad. In fact, all I've committed to playing this month--other than Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Hometown Story (which releases tomorrow, by the way) and Pokémon X, of course--are the following trio of spook-tacular titles:



1. Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (Famicom)--I've been meaning to give this cute Castlevania spin-off for ages, but for all sorts of dumb reasons I've never gotten around to it. So, I'm going to do my best to do so in the coming weeks. And who knows, maybe if I can get through it quickly enough I'll be able to try its GameBoy-based remake-slash-sequel, which was called Kid Dracula outside Japan, as well.



2. Costume Quest (Xbox 360)--I actually played through a bit of this charming, Double Fine-developed RPG this time last year--and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Sadly, I don't believe I got anywhere near its end credits. So, this year I've decided to try again. Although I doubt I'll stick with it long enough to tackle the extra "Grubbins on Ice" chapter, maybe I'll come back around to it after winter hits the real world, too.



3. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)--Despite the fact that I pre-ordered Dark Moon far in advance of its release, I didn't even unwrap it until a week or so ago. I've since played it for a few hours, and already I'm satisfied with my purchase. My only issue with this 3DS game so far: it seems to be less of an open-ended affair than its GameCube-based predecessor. Of course, that's also likely to make it a better portable experience in the end, so maybe I shouldn't complain just yet.

Are any of you also playing any Halloween-ish games this month? If so, which ones?

LTTHTGP: Costume Quest (XBLA)

LTTHTGP means "Late To The Halloween-Themed Game Party," by the way. Just in case any of you were wondering.

What does that mean, you ask? It means that I finally picked up (the XBLA version of) Double Fine Production's trick-or-treat-centric RPG, Costume Quest, earlier this week.

I've been meaning to do so since the game was released nearly two years ago but, well, you know how it goes sometimes (especially when you have a backlog as extensive as mine).

Anyway, none of that matters now. What matters is that I'm playing Costume Quest. Finally. And not only that, but I'm enjoying it. It's so completely cute and charming that it's all I can do to keep myself from puking (you know, because everything's so damn adorable) while working my way through Tasha Harris' wonderfully creative and nostalgic tale.

The only aspect of Costume Quest that I'm not absolutely in love with at the moment: The QTE-heavy battle scenes. I wouldn't say I dislike them, but I also wouldn't say I like them as much as I would if they were, say, more traditionally turn-based. Oh, well, you can't have everything, right?

Have any of you played through the PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 version of this game? If so, what did you think of it?

It's that time of year again

And when I say "that time of year," I'm talking about the time of year when I spend way too much time searching for games that will put me in a Halloween mood.

Speaking of which, here are four "spooktacular" games--two of which I've played before and two of which I haven't--that I'm hoping will scratch that itch in the lead up to this year's All Hallows' Eve:

Cotton 100% (Super Famicom)--This Super Famicom-based shmup, developed by Datam Polystar and published by Success (or is it the other way around?) in 1994, stars a broom-riding witch who is obsessed with candy and who has to fly through all sorts of dark and dreary environs in order to collect a bunch of missing gems. Could there be a more perfect game to play during this spooky-and-sweet season?

Jigoku Meguri (PC Engine)--The point of this pixelated platformer, developed and published by the folks at Taito in 1990: To help a portly monk complete a perilous trek through hell. It all sounds suitably horrific, I know, but in reality said trek is more cuddly than creepy. Still, the game is more than spooky enough to earn a spot on this list.

Splatterhouse Part 3 (Mega Drive)--Originally, I planned to include Namcot's Spatterhouse 2 in this spine-chilling playathon. After reading some negative reviews of that title, though, I decided to include the series' third installment, released in 1993, instead--mainly due to the fact that "Part 3" is less linear than its predecessors and, as such, allows the game's Jason Voorhees-like protagonist to explore each stage.

Sweet Home (Famicom)--I played through a bit of this survival-horror RPG, released by Capcom in 1989, last Halloween, but regrettably put it away after the holiday vanished into the ether like a vampire at sunrise. I say "regrettably" because Sweet Home is one of the most terrifically tense Famicom titles I've ever played. Anyway, hopefully this year I'll stick with it long enough to see an ending screen.

See also: 'Halloween-ish HuCards (and CDs)'

Halloween-ish HuCards

OK, so the post I'm pointing you to--published earlier this morning on my other blog--doesn't solely focus on the PC Engine HuCards that I'm hoping will put me in a Halloween mood in the next weeks; it also includes a few of that system's CD-based games.

Surprisingly, NEC Avenue's Horror Story is unlikely to be among 

the PC Engine games I'll play in the run-up to Halloween.

I'd copy and paste that post's content here, but I'm planning to conjure up and publish a similar post--which will focus on spooktacular games from a number of systems, not just the PC Engine--later this week or early next.

Seems I'll be dressing as Mario this Halloween

I saw the following photo--taken during Anime Expo 2010, according to the lovely ladies over at gamergrrlz.net--last Friday afternoon and decided then and there that I, too, would dress as gay Mario this Halloween. Assuming, of course, I dress up at all.



The question is: Where am I going to get a Mario cap? After all, I've already got the fishnet top, denim cut-offs and furry boots...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I don't know about you, but I'm going to honor this holiday by playing a few horrific (or at least slightly spooky) video games.

Specifically, I'm going to spend some time playing a couple of old Famicom games--Namco's Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti and Capcom's Sweet Home (below).

If I had them, I'd probably play a bit of the first Fatal Frame, Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Siren titles, too.

Which games do you like to pull out this time of year?

'Battle horrible monsters and their menacing minions'

When I first watched the following trailer--the latest for Double Fine's Costume Quest, which is now available on PSN and XBLA--I thought the narrator said "mincing," rather than "menacing," minions.

As such, I was a bit disappointed when the game's baddies appeared neither dainty nor delicate.



Oh, well, I'm still interested in this Halloween-focused RPG--despite the fact that I don't (yet) own a PS3 or an Xbox 360.

See also: 'After this, I hope the folks at Double Fine develop a game about Christmas'

Costume Quest unwrapped

Gamasutra's Christian Nutt recently chatted up Tim Schafer, creative director at Double Fine, and thankfully the bulk of their little tête-à-tête focused on the developer's soon-to-be-released trick-or-treat RPG, Costume Quest.

Unfortunately, neither Nutt nor Schafer reveal in the interview (read it here) the general length of this Halloween-inspired game. Will it take two hours to "beat" or will it take 20? That's the only question I'd like to have answered at this point. (Well, that and what's the girl in the pink (below) supposed to be dressed as?)



Anyway, Costume Quest will hit PSN and XBLA next week carrying a price tag of $15 (or 1200 Microsoft Points). I'd pick it up in a heartbeat if I owned a PS3 or an Xbox 360, but since I don't I'll do what I usually do in such circumstances and obsess over screenshots and videos of the game until something else catches my attention.

See also: 'After this, I hope the folks at Double Fine develop a game about Christmas'

After this, I hope the folks at Double Fine develop a game about Christmas

"This," by the way, is Costume Quest, the trick-or-treat-themed RPG that will hit the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on Oct. 20. If this is the first you've heard of this Halloween-inspired game, check out the following "Quick Look" from giantbomb.com:



By the way, I'm seriously considering picking up a PS3 after the holidays (more on that in a later post) and if I do Costume Quest surely will be one of the first games--along with Pac-Man Championship Edition DX and Valkyria Chronicles--I buy for it.