A few thoughts on the Project Octopath Traveler Switch demo now that I've finally played through it

There's something hilarious--to me, at least--about the fact that I went against my original plan of waiting until 2018 to buy a Switch and instead picked up one in late September mainly so I could check out the just-released Project Octopath Traveler demo.

What's so funny about that, you ask? Well, although the first thing I did after turning on and updating my Switch was download the aforementioned demo, all it's done since then is sit on my home screen and look pretty.

I finally booted it up a couple of days ago, and now I can't put it down. Honestly, I'm completely mesmerized by this bite-sized preview of Square Enix's upcoming "HD-2D" role-playing game for Switch at the moment. Here's why:



I really appreciate how its story at least attempts to be more "adult"--Most of the RPGs Square Enix has made for Nintendo systems (handhelds, in particular) in recent years have featured stories that are more childish than mature. Based on this demo, it seems Project Octopath Traveler may buck that trend. To be sure, I don't know that I'd even describe the text encountered here as being R-rated, but it's certainly closer to that than the PG-leaning narratives usually found in the company's Nintendo releases, and for that I'm grateful.



Its visuals are the perfect blend of old and new--On the one hand, Project Octopath Traveler doesn't look too different from the kinds of games Square put out during the 16-bit era (see: Final Fantasy VI, Romancing SaGa 3, and Seiken Densetsu 3). On the other, it also looks surprisingly modern, thanks to its three-dimensional--yet still pixelated--backdrops and heavy use of bloom and other special effects. Put those two together and you've got a game that makes me want to cry due to its gorgeousness. Yes, the vignetting can be a bit much at times, but even then I love Octopath's aesthetic and hope producer Tomoya Asano and his team don't touch it between now and whenever the full game is released.



Yasunori Nishiki's soundtrack is a revelation--OK, so obviously I'm only talking about the music that's featured in the demo or that's been teased on line. Still, that small handful of tunes is more than enough for me to feel confident the full Project Octopath Traveler soundtrack will be a stunner. Which is a bit of a surprise, as composer Yasunori Nishiki is far from a household name at this point. I'm not at all sure he's going to give Project Octopath Traveler players something that approaches the ear-popping brilliance of Bravely Default's "Baby Bird" with the work he does here, but maybe that's for the best.



No joke, I think I prefer Project Octopath Traveler's battle system to Bravely Default's--And this is coming from someone who loved Bravely Default's battle system to death. Why? Project Octopath Traveler's is a lot snappier, for starters. Also, it's also more visceral, if that makes any sense. I feel a real jolt whenever one of my party members unleashes four strikes in a row against a foe while playing this demo. The battles in Project Octopath Traveler seem to be more dynamic than those in Bravely Default, too, due to subtle camera movements and some of the aforementioned graphical effects. Again, fingers and toes crossed that Asano and his crew don't mess with this aspect of the game before the final product sees the light of day.



I'm kind of surprised enemies remain static while fighting, but I also can't say it bothers me--I've seen a number of people complain about this on line, and although I can't fault their critiques, I also can't agree with it. Or at least I can't say the lack of enemy animations is keeping me from enjoying Project Octopath Traveler's battle scenes. Who knows, though, maybe the full game will surprise in this regard by adding a hint of movement to boss encounters or something like that.

So, that's how I feel about the Project Octopath Traveler demo after putting more than three hours into it. If you've played through it, too, share your thoughts, opinions, and impressions in the comments section of this post.

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'

I tried the Hey! Pikmin demo and I think I liked it

When Nintendo first revealed this handheld Pikmin spinoff last September, I immediately added it to my ever-growing (or maybe I should say never-shrinking) "buy these 3DS games as soon as is humanly possible" list.

Later, when it slipped out that Hey! Pikmin's developer wasn't an internal Nintendo team but the forever-maligned Arzest--makers of Yoshi's New Island, among other titles of debatable quality--my interest flagged a bit. It diminished even more after early hands-on impressions of the game made their way onto the Internet.

None of the above caused me to give up on Hey! Pikmin entirely, mind you. Even when my (uninformed) opinion of it was at its lowest, I still expected I'd pick up a copy once my bank account allowed.

Fast forward to this weekend, when I played through the Hey! Pikmin demo Nintendo recently--finally!--dropped onto the 3DS eShop. The gist of my reaction to that bite-sized version of the game: I'm definitely buying it, and sooner rather than later.

As for what tossed me back onto the Hey! Pikmin hype train, here are the first four reasons that came to mind:

The game looks great when splashed across a pair of 3DS screens--OK, so "splashed across" probably is the wrong phrase to use here, especially if your 3DS is of the LL or XL variety. If you use one of the original 3DS models, or one of the smaller New 3DS systems, though, Hey! Pikmin looks superb on its screens. Which shouldn't be a surprise, really. 3DS screenshots often disappoint visually when viewed on a computer or phone, but the games they represent almost always appear many times more impressive when experienced in motion and on the "real deal." At any rate, the hand-painted art style Arzest employed while producing this platformer is beyond pleasant. It reminds of the aforementioned Yoshi's New Island, but improves upon that title's aesthetic in pretty much every regard.

I already love its rather deliberate, exploration-focused gameplay--Early on, Hey! Pikmin's gameplay stumped me. It looked like a side-scrolling platformer, but that didn't really gel with strategic nature of the series' other entries. Thankfully, everything becomes abundantly clear once you start plodding your way through this portable Pikmin offshoot. Basically, it is a side-scroller, but it doesn't require players to hop from platform to platform, à la Super Mario Bros. Instead, you move Captain Olimar to the left or right with the 3DS' circle pad--or its directional pad or even A and Y buttons--while a tap of the systems' touch pad launches the Pikmin that follow in his wake to and fro. (You do the latter to collect or break objects, or to damage enemies.) I know it sounds clumsy, but I found it to be both competent and comfortable while completing the demo.

No 3D? Doesn't bother me a bit--I know some folks gets riled up when a 3DS game doesn't support the system's stereoscopic 3D feature, but I'm not one of them. Although I understand where they're coming from, and I wish every release made for Nintendo's second dual-screened handheld allowed people to customize their experience in such a way, I never turn on 3D while playing 3DS titles. Plus, adding stereoscopic 3D effects to Hey! Pikmin wouldn't have made much sense, as most of its action takes place on the portable console's lower screen.

I also can't say I mind being forced to use the 3DS' circle pad and touch screen--A lot of people prefer to use traditional input methods--directional pads and buttons--while playing games. I get that. In the case of Hey! Pikmin, though, ignoring the 3DS' touch screen would only make corralling the titular creatures more awkward than it needs to be. I guess the developers at Arzest could've included a mode that aped the control scheme of Yoshi's Island (where pressing a button brings up a target reticule, and another press launches a Pikmin). Even if they'd gone that route, though, I'd personally stick to the one highlighted in this demo, as I found it plenty precise.

Don't take all of the above to mean I had no issues whatsoever with the Hey! Pikmin demo. One negative that popped up during my 30-minute playthrough: the frame rate chugged or skipped now and then. It didn't bother me much, but I could see it being a problem if it happens frequently or if the action ever slows down substantially in the retail release.

Also, the soundtrack in the Hey! Pikmin demo is a bit too subtle for my liking. That doesn't mean the same will be true of the full game, of course, but I won't be shocked--or dismayed--if that's how things play out.

Have any of you tried the Hey! Pikmin demo? If so, what did you think about it? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section of this post.

Shall We Do It? (Ever Oasis demo, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, Metroid II and Miitopia demo)

Sorry it's been so long (over a week!) since I last published a post. I can't even give you an explanation--or at least I can't give you a good one.

Of course, I was on the road for three days early in the week (my husband, cat and I made our way from Austin, Texas, to Madison, Wisconsin), but I've hardly run myself ragged in the last four or five.

Something I've managed to fit into my currently far-from-busy schedule: a bit of quality time with my trusty 3DS. Specifically, I've put a good number of minutes, if not hours, into the following demos and games:

Ever Oasis demo (3DS)--Of the four 3DS demos and games I'll discuss here, this is the one I've enjoyed the least. Which is a shame, as every aspect of the Ever Oasis demo is at least "nice."

I especially like the art style, although the character-switching gameplay is pretty appealing, too. The thing is, I didn't find the latter to be as appealing as I expected it to be before I started my way through the (disappointingly short) demo.

If I were forced to describe Ever Oasis' gameplay with a single word or phrase, I'd probably go with "by the numbers" as far as Secret of Mana-ish titles are concerned. Which is too bad, as I thought that component of the game would help set it apart from other action RPGs that've been released for the 3DS.

On a more positive note, I've read that after a slow start, Ever Oasis eventually hits its stride in impressive fashion, so my current plan is to find a way to pick up a copy of it by the end of the year.

Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (GameBoy)--Although I've been a fan of the original Kid Icarus since it was first released in North America back in 1987 (I even included it in my "10 Most Influential Games" series of blog posts), I've long avoided this 1991 sequel.

Why? The main reason is that it never looked very appealing to me. Playing a Kid Icarus game in black and white just seemed wrong to me after basking in the beautifully colorful--and weird--landscapes of the NES title. Plus, Pit's sprite here has always looked a little off to me.

After a Twitter friend recently heaped praise on Of Myths and Monsters, though, I decided to finally give it a go. And you know what? I've had a blast with it so far. I can't say I prefer this GameBoy game's sprawling stages to the comparably straightforward ones found in the NES offering, but I'm enjoying them all the same. A similar comment could be made about Of Myths and Monsters' soundtrack, which is acceptable but never approaches the brilliance of the Hirokazu Tanaka tracks that fill the original.

Still, I'm loving this handheld Kid Icarus overall--to the point where I'm now hitting myself for giving it the cold shoulder for so long.

Metroid II (GameBoy)--Here's another portable sequel to a console classic I'm only now playing for the first time. Again, that fact boggles my mind as much as it probably does yours. After all, I was obsessed with both the original Metroid and Super Metroid for the SNES as a youngster (beating both multiple times, I should add).

Unlike Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, I can't say I've avoided Metroid II because of what I considered to be below-par graphics. In fact, I've always thought Metroid II looked pretty awesome. Regardless, I dragged my feet on playing it until late last week.

So far, I think it's a better game than Of Myths and Monsters. Although Metroid II is a black-and-white affair, it still feels like a visual upgrade to its NES-based predecessor--something that can't be said of Kid Icarus' GameBoy follow-up. Also, I love the way Metroid II twists the gameplay of the first Metroid and Super Metroid just enough to make it feel unique. (I'm talking about this game's "track down and kill X number of Metroids" focus, of course.)

Despite the above, I'm not entirely convinced I'll stick with Metroid II until its end credits, but I'll certainly do my best to finish it.

Miitopia demo (3DS)--After reading a few impressions of the Japanese version of Miitopia, I fully expected to dislike this Tomodachi Life-esque RPG--to the point that I canceled my pre-order for the North American release. After putting nearly three hours into the demo that just hit my region's eShop, though, I'm back aboard the Miitopia hype train.

Chiefly responsible for that change of heart: the aspects I thought I'd hate--no real overworld to explore, battles that are mostly hands-off--don't bother me at all. Hell, I actually find these tweaks refreshing after playing a number of overly traditional RPGs in the last year or so. On top of that, Miitopia sports a surprisingly bold art style, a soundtrack that's more charming than it has any right to be and a gloriously subtle sense of humor. I've heard the full game isn't overly long, but that's OK with me--especially if it ends up being a short-but-sweet experience.

Have you played any of these games or demos? If so, share your thoughts on them in the comments section below.

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

Shall We Do It? (Boxlife and The Starship Damrey plus Kirby: Planet Robobot and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World demos)

Although I've spent more time with Dragon Quest VII in the last couple of weeks than I've spent with the games discussed here, I'm going to save my comments about the former for my inevitable review of it. (Yes, this means I'm that close to finishing Dragon Quest VII's main campaign--thanks to putting more than 25 hours into it since 2017 started.)

Plus, I think I've said more than enough about my Dragon Quest VII playthrough up to this point. And then there's the fact that I've had so much fun with all of the games named in this post's headline that I'd rather write about them instead.

Boxlife--Who could've thought that a game about putting together boxes would wind up being fun? Besides the folks at skip Ltd., the makers of Boxlife (Hacolife in Japan), I mean.

Actually, let me step back a bit and revise my comment about this DSiWare (don't worry, you can still buy it from every region's 3DS eShop) title being fun. A more accurate way to describe it would be "enjoyably frantic," or maybe, "challenging--sometimes in a way that makes you chuckle, and sometimes in a way that makes you want to crush your DSi or 3DS system beneath the heel of a heavy boot."

OK, so, yes, Boxlife occasionally will cause you to lose your cool, but the good news here is you'll usually walk away from those occasions feeling like whatever mistakes you made during your last round were your fault, not the fault of "cheap" artificial intelligence.

At any rate, my advice to anyone who buys Boxlife after reading this write-up: stick with it. The game's "factory mode," especially, may drive you batty at first, but spend some time with its "R&D mode" and things eventually will click. That's when Boxlife's brilliance really hits you and makes you happy you dropped $4.99 (or whatever it costs in your neck of the woods) on it.

Kirby: Planet Robobot demo--It's been a while since I played a Kirby game. In fact, I think the last one I properly put through its paces was Kirby's Return to Dream Land for the Wii. I intended to follow up that experience by buying the pink puff's first 3DS offering (Triple Deluxe), but for whatever reason I never got around to it. When a demo was made available for that title's sequel, though, I decided I had to try it.

Now that I have, I'm itching to give the full game a go. Why? For starters, Planet Robobot focuses on what every Kirby game since the first (that would be 1992's Dream Land for GameBoy) has focused on: having fun. And by that, of course, I mean having a blast inhaling enemies and then taking on and using their special abilities against other foes. Planet Robobot also is a real looker, with candy-coated visuals that are as likely as the title's gameplay to bring a smile to your face.

Most importantly, though, this effort positively differentiates itself from past entries in the series by tossing something decidedly new at players: colorful mech suits that Kirby can pilot. Without fail, they're overpowered, but that's surely the point. Regardless, it's a blast climbing into one and then basically having your way with the rest of that part of the stage, and I look forward to finding out how they impact the overall adventure this time around.

The Starship Damrey--Although I've thoroughly enjoyed all of the Guild series games I've played so far (and that includes Aero Porter, Attack of the Friday Monsters!, Crimson Shroud and Weapon Shop de Omasse), I spent a long time dragging my feet in regard to The Starship Damrey.

I ignored it for a few reasons, of course, with one being that I've never been a big fan of games that have to be played from a first-person perspective and another being that a few folks told me The Starship Damrey was short and not worth my while. I'm glad I pushed aside both roadblocks late last year and bought this digital title while it was on sale, because the two hours I've devoted to it in the last week or so have been beyond intriguing.

If you don't know much about The Starship Damrey, the gist is that basically plops you into a seemingly abandoned spaceship and then tasks you with figuring out why you're there and what's happened to your crewmates. Oh, and you do this using a handful of robots that are placed around said ship, as you're unable to get out of the bed you wake up in at the start of the game.

Anyway, I have no idea how close I am to figuring out the mystery at the heart of The Starship Damrey (I just passed the two-hour mark last night), but even if I accomplish that feat in the next hour, I know I'll walk away from the game feeling I got more than my money's worth with it.

Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World demo--I've been of two minds about this 3DS port of Good-Feel's undeniably adorable Wii U platformer since it was first revealed last fall.

At first, I was thrilled I'd finally be able to give it a go (as I don't own a Wii U and I loved the developer's similarly crafty Kirby's Epic Yarn) while on the go. Later, my enthusiasm faltered when I decided Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World's visuals were far less impressive than I initially imagined them to be.

Well, things took a turn back toward "OK, I'm buying this sucker ASAP" after I played the game's demo--a few times over, at that--over the weekend. When seen on an actual 3DS screen, Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World looks almost shockingly good. More importantly, it feels shockingly good, too, and that's true whether you experience it on an original 3DS or a New 3DS. (I played through the demo twice using both systems. )

If you're a frame-rate snob, you'll want to make sure you own a New 3DS, but rest assured you'll still have a blast with it if you only have access to an OG system.

See also: 'Are we f$%kin' there yet? (or, more thoughts on Dragon Quest VII after spending 40-plus hours with the 3DS remake)'

Drop whatever you're doing and download the Pocket Card Jockey 3DS demo now

When a little game called Solitiba hit the Japanese 3DS eShop back in July of 2013, I snapped it up as soon as I could.

I did that for a few reasons. One, I knew the title had been made by the folks at Game Freak—best known, of course, for the world-conquering Pokémon series. Two, it had previously made headlines for attempting to combine two disparate genres: horse racing and puzzlers (solitaire, specifically).

Add to that Solitiba’s undeniably adorable art style and, well, you’ve basically got a game that’s “right up my alley,” as that stale old saying goes.

How far up my alley is it? Well, I’ve since put more than 60 hours into it so far, if that tells you anything.

On a related note, I've already put about three hours into the demo of Solitiba's North American localization--which is known as Pocket Card Jockey in this neck of the woods. (Actually, I believe that's the name it goes by in every region outside of Japan.)

Which means, of course, that I'm enjoying the English version of the game quite a bit. OK, I'm enjoying it a lot.

It's not perfect, mind you. A case in point: the text seems a bit stilted at times, as if the people who worked on that aspect of the game hewed more closely to the original script than maybe they should have done.

Granted, the powers that be at Nintendo probably didn't want to devote tons of time, money or energy to this project, and its localization team was tasked with translating a ton of text, so I won't be too tough on anyone for that slight miscue.

At any rate, I highly recommend downloading the Pocket Card Jockey 3DS demo as soon as you're able. And after you've played it for a while, come back here and tell me what you think of it. (Also, if you need advice, just ask. I'm more than happy to help.)

See also: 'Five reasons it's a shame Game Freak hasn't yet released its quirky 3DS eShop title, Solitiba, outside of Japan'

A few more thoughts on The Legend of Legacy demo now that I've put almost nine hours into it

Actually, I've put "just" eight hours and 40 minutes into the Legend of Legacy demo thus far, but it's easier to say "almost nine" in a blog headline so that's what I went with here.

With that out of the way, some of you probably are wondering how on earth I could spend nearly nine hours playing this upcoming 3DS game's downloadable teaser. That's surprisingly easy to explain, actually. In fact, here are six reasons that just popped into my head:

It allows you to play as a frog--OK, so anyone who's at all paid attention to The Legend of Legacy's development or release probably knows that one of the game's potential party members is a frog. Unsurprisingly, he's been my "main" for the entire eight-plus hours I've spent with this demo since I nabbed it from the 3DS eShop a couple of weeks ago. (If you're wondering who my second-favorite character is at the moment, that would be the saucy Eloise.)

It features some deliciously "old school" RPG fights--I know a lot of gamers have moved on from turn-based battles, but I still love them. Not only that, but I still prefer them to the kind of MMO-esque battles that are at the heart of so many modern RPGs (like Fantasy Life and Xenoblade Chronicles). Anyway, if you, too, are a fan of turn-based battles, you should get a kick out of that particular component of The Legend of Legacy.

Its battle scenes also call to mind SaGa Frontier--Kind of. Like the ones that serve as the centerpiece of that PlayStation classic, this current 3DS offering's fight scenes are far more thrilling that your run-of-the-mill ones thanks to the random bursts of light that signify one of your party members has learned a new move. Sadly, The Legend of Legacy's battles aren't as kaleidoscopically complex as those in SaGa Frontier. Specifically, the former don't allow you to produce the eye-popping combos that help make the latter such a joy to experience.

Its soundtrack is the definition of sublime--Considering how many game soundtracks he's worked on over the years, it's a crying shame that this is the first time I've heard any of Masashi Hamauzu's music. The stuff he created for The Legend of Legacy is so lovely, though, that there's no doubt in my mind I'll keep an ear out for additional examples of his work in the following months and years. Thankfully, I can turn to a few games already in my collection if I want to accomplish that quickly and easily, as it appears he had a hand in Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon (PlayStation), SaGa Frontier 2 (PlayStation), Unlimited SaGa (PS2) and Sigma Harmonics (DS)--all of which I've owned for some time now.

It's shockingly light on story--In fact, I'm not even sure I'd say The Legend of Legacy's demo includes a story. Sure, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cut scene kicks things off, but after that the focus is squarely on making maps and battling baddies. Which is fine with me, as I happen to be one of those crotchety "old" gamers who believe today's RPGs are far too wordy. Granted, I won't mind at all if a smidgen more of a story pops up in the full retail release of this Atlus-published title, but I also won't mind if that aspect stays as lean and mean as it is in this bite-sized version.

It's obtuse as all get-out--OK, so I'm not sure I should point to this as a positive. That said, there's something kind of cool about playing an RPG that treats you like you have a brain, don't you think? Or maybe I should say it treats you like you're smart enough to track down an online FAQ or to ask your Twitter followers for helpful advice. I also like that there's an air of the first Dragon Quest to this demo. It plops you into The Legend of Legacy's diminutive world and says "figure it out" before hightailing it out of there like it's late for a dinner date.

Have any of you played The Legend of Legacy demo? If so, what did you think of it? Did it leave you feeling desperate for the game's full retail release (due out next week in North America), or did it leave you feeling kind of cold? However you may feel about this 3DS teaser, let me know about it in the comments section below.

See also: 'While we wait for me to get off my lazy butt and begin to play The Legend of Legacy, let's drool over its lovely packaging'

Shall We Do It? (Fantasy Life, Final Fantasy Explorers Light and Solitiba)

There's a reason I haven't published one of these posts in some time. (Not since Oct. 14, in fact.) Actually, there are two reasons, with one being the North American 3DS title, Fantasy Life, and the other being the Japanese 3DS eShop title, Solitiba.

Although I've put far more time into the former than the latter in the last month and a half, I've gotten such a kick out of playing both of them that no other game has been able to steal my attention away from them.

Well, that's not completely true. I forced myself to download the Japanese demo of Square Enix's Final Fantasy Explorers (called Final Fantasy Explorers Light) a weekend or so ago, after all, and even gave it a few plays before stuffing it into a folder somewhere and moving back to Fantasy Life and Solitiba.

Anyway, keep reading if you'd like to read a few more of my thoughts on this trio of 3DS games.



Fantasy Life--You want to know how completely this recent Level-5 release has me wrapped around its finger? I've put 76 hours into it so far, that's how completely.

Actually, I probably should've said "had" rather than "has" in the sentence above, as I haven't booted up Fantasy Life since I played it for about four hours while flying from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Seattle last Friday. Don't worry, I'll get back to it shortly. After all, I've loved pretty much every minute of it so far--and I've spent a lot of minutes with it.

I've accomplished a lot during all those minutes (and hours) of play, of course, although I've yet to finish the game's main story. I believe I'm nearly there, though, so expect me to wrap it up between now and the next time I publish one of these posts.

The fact is, though, that most of what Fantasy Life has to offer people happens outside the confines of its main story--or, rather, happens while the main story is "on pause," so to speak. In my case, for instance, the majority of my experience with the game has been spent leveling up various "lives"--to the point that I've now spent a good amount of time with eight of the 12 jobs included here. (All of them have been brought up to "Hero" level except blacksmith, which is only up to "Master.") My favorites at the moment: archer and angler, I think, although I honestly get a kick out of all of them.

I still find Fantasy Life's verbose nature to be a bit annoying, by the way, but it's easy enough to skip through all of the blather, so don't worry about it too much if you're on the fence about buying the game.



Final Fantasy Explorers Light--Although I downloaded this demo of Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy spin-off (for the 3DS) as soon as it was uploaded to the Japanese eShop, I put off playing it until a couple of days ago due to the fact that I've been luke warm (at best) on its art style ever since I first laid eyes on it a few months back.

Which is a shame, as now that I've spent some time with the game and seen its graphics in motion, it really doesn't look all that bad. It also doesn't look stellar, mind you, but it looks better than I thought it would based on my first impressions.

As for the gameplay, all I've gathered so far is that it's quest-heavy--it's similar to the Bravely Default demo, in that regard--and vaguely Monster Hunter-esque, although I hesitate to say the latter as Final Fantasy Explorers seems a lot less strategic than Capcom's money-maker.

I'm going to play Light for a little longer before making a decision about the full game, but I've got to admit that at the moment I'm leaning toward not picking it up--assuming Square Enix even bothers to release it in North America. (Because there's no way I'm importing and playing through the Japanese release.)

In a way, I kind of hope the remainder of my time with Light prompts a change of heart, because for some weird reason I really want to like it--even with its questionable art style. Why couldn't the artist responsible for, say, the original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles have worked on this sucker?



Solitiba--I actually stepped away from this (sadly) Japan-only offering after putting about 35 hours into it. Not because I was tired of it, mind you, but because my copy of Fantasy Life arrived and I was just a bit more desperate to play it than I was to continue playing Solitba.

Now that I'm taking a bit of a breather from Fantasy Life, though, I have plenty of "brain bandwidth" to devote to Solitiba again.

In case you haven't gathered already, this is one of those games that latches onto you and refuses to let go without a proper fight. I guess that could be due to the fact solitaire is such a prominent part of it--and solitaire's right up there with games like Tetris when it comes to sucking you in and wasting more of your time than you thought it would, although of course it could be argued that one is a bit less exciting than the other--but I don't think that's entirely what's going on here.

No, I think the real reason Solitiba is so easy to pick up, and so hard to put down, is that all of its elements--the solitaire portions, the horse-racing segments, the magnificent art style, Game Freak's "golden touch"--combine and conspire to produce a whole that's far more enticing than the sum of these aforementioned parts.

As a result, I really hope the folks at Game Freak--or Nintendo, or some other publisher--are toiling away on English and other language versions of Solitiba, because I honestly consider it to be a gem that people all around the world, and not just those in Japan (or those, like me, who own Japanese 3DS systems), should be given an chance to experience.

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

Shall We Do It? (A Link Between Worlds, Hometown Story and Puyo Puyo Tetris demo)

Hey, I'm actually publishing another of these "Shall We Do It?" posts. Who would've thunk it, eh? Especially given my propensity to introduce columns with tongue-in-cheek titles that I return to only sporadically.

Well, screw history. For the time being, at least, I'm really enjoying writing these posts. Plus, they're seemingly giving me that extra push that's sometimes needed for me to sit down and actually play the games I buy.

With all of that out of the way, why don't I get to some of my experiences with those aforementioned games?

I may as well begin with the game that captured the bulk of my attention over the last week and a half or so--The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the 3DS.

I'm about 15 or so hours into A Link Between Worlds now and, boy, does it have me by the balls. I love nearly every aspect of it--from the crisp controls, to the "it's amazing how pretty they are in motion" graphics, to the triumphant soundtrack, to the satisfyingly unique feature that allows Link to turn into a piece of graffiti so he can scamper along walls and shimmy through cracks.



I even love the title's open-endedness--despite the fact that it's prompted me to turn to GameFAQs more times than I'd like to admit (because I'm completely stumped as to where I should go or what I should do next).

My absolute favorite aspect of this portable adventure so far: traipsing through Hyrule's fabulously malignant flip side, Lorule. It's both beautiful and a bit creepy, plus its denizens really mean business (especially in comparison to most of the pushovers that populate the sunnier side of Link's habitat).

Thankfully, I have a feeling I'll be exploring Lorule (and Hyrule) for a few more hours yet, as I've only completed what I believe to be just over half of the latter area's dungeons.

Anyway, as much as I'm loving A Link Between Worlds, it isn't the only game I'm playing at the moment. One of the others: Hometown Story.

Last time I mentioned this title, made by Harvest Moon's Yasuhiro Wada, I confessed to being a bit torn about it. On the one hand, I rather like how it looks--although some are sure to find it just a bit too twee--and I really like its 1990s-esque soundtrack, but the gameplay ... well, let's just say I'm still on the fence about it (and that I'm currently leaning toward the "it's not quite my bag" side of things).



Although Hometown Story's main gameplay "hook," which revolves around running a shop in a quaint if somewhat creepily empty town, grew on me a bit during the hour and a half I spent with the title over the weekend (I've now played it for just over two hours), it still seems more tedious than fun.

Don't get me wrong, I like that I'll be able to change the decor of my shop over time as well as expand its size, which will allow me to sell an increasingly diverse selection of goods to the town's citizenry, but I really can't see either of those things doing much to enhance the appeal of the title's core gameplay.

In the end, the gist of Hometown Story seems to be: stock shelves, sell items, buy more inventory, stock shelves, sell items, buy more inventory--lather, rinse, repeat. If that sounds fun to you, you may just get a kick out of this Natsume-published release, but I'd be hard pressed to say I'm "enjoying" it at the moment.

Still, I'm not quite ready to give up on it, so expect me to keep plugging away at it for a little while longer--and look for me to give it at least a passing mention in the next one or two "Shall We Do It?" posts, too.

Last, but not least, I downloaded the Puyo Puyo Tetris demo from the Japanese 3DS eShop late last week and gave it a whirl.



I've felt a roller coaster of emotions about this upcoming 3DS release--first feeling excited about the possibility of playing a game that includes two of my favorite puzzlers, Puyo Puyo and Tetris, then feeling disheartened after the first screenshots were released and revealed it would use the same boring art style the series has utilized since 2004's Puyo Puyo Fever.

How do I feel after playing a few rounds of the just-released (in Japan, sorry) demo? Somewhere in the middle of the two above-mentioned extremes, I guess. On the positive side, Puyo Puyo Tetris feels really good. Also, I found it surprisingly fun to be able to choose to play either Puyo Puyo or Tetris against my AI-controlled opponent (who also could choose either Puyo Puyo or Tetris). Finally, I have to admit that, in action, this title's art style is more appealing than I originally considered it to be, although I still vastly prefer the old Puyo Puyo style to it.

As for the demo's negative attributes: actually, I don't have any to share, other than all of the positives mentioned above failed to sway me to purchase the retail release that'll hit store shelves in Japan in early February.

That said, I think it's possible I'll break down and buy it at some point in the future--although not until I've gotten my money's worth out of a few other 3DS puzzlers I've picked up (or pre-ordered) in recent months, including Kumamon ★ Bomber Puzzle de Kumamon Taisou and Touch Detective: Funghi's Big Breed.

See also: 'Shall We Do It? (Attack of the Friday Monsters, Bravely Default demo, Hometown Story and more)'

A few thoughts on the Bravely Default demo

Note: my original plan was for the header above to read something along the lines of, "A few thoughts on the surprisingly polished, gorgeous and fun Bravely Default demo," but in the end I deemed it a smidge too wordy.

Which I guess kind of gives away how I generally feel about this just-released 3DS demo, although I'll let you in on a little secret right now--as much as I love the North American Bravely Default demo, I do, in fact, have at least one issue with it.

Before I get to that "problem area," though, let's focus on what I consider to be the demo's more positive aspects:

It looks stunning--Of course, I could've written that before the demo came out (and before I spent more than six hours with it), couldn't I? Still, seeing this game's graphics on an actual 3DS system has been quite the breathtaking experience for me. I'm especially impressed with some of the enemy designs, like the cheetah-esque baddie who bounces back and forth before bounding forward in attack. I'm also smitten with some of the clothing worn by party members while testing out various jobs--with the ninja, red mage and valkyrie wardrobes being my favorites at the moment.

The soundtrack's pretty ace, too--I've pretty much always loved the soundtracks to Square-Enix games, so I went into the Bravely Default demo expecting to be blown away by its music, too. And guess what? It's knocked my socks off so far. I particularly enjoy the demo's pan-flute-heavy overworld theme.

How ever did we survive previous RPGs that lacked the Bravely and Default battle system?--Seriously, this game's battle system is the proverbial feather in its cap, if you ask me. Which is funny, because when I first saw video of it in action I assumed it would make Bravely Default's battle scenes interminably long. Thankfully, that's not the case--or at least it isn't in the demo. Sure, some battles--boss ones, especially--can drag on a bit, but most non-boss fights can be finished in a satisfactory snap if you spam "Bravely" at the outset and wipe out the enemy before they know what's hit them.

A bit more character would've been nice--Specifically, it would be nice if the demo provided players with a more in-depth look at Bravely Default's four party members. As it is, though, they're basically hollow palette swaps--which is a shame, as it seems they're given pretty distinct personalities in the full release. Now, I realize it likely would've been tough for the folks who produced this demo to inject it with the additional story elements my request would require, but I also think some people currently unsure about the full game could've been swayed in favor of picking it up if the demo had a bit more, er, character.

So, those are my thoughts thus far on the Bravely Default demo. What do all of you think of it?

The first thing I did when I turned on my gold Pokémon Center 3DS LL was ...

You might think that the first thing I'd do after getting my new gold Pokémon Center 3DS LL up and running would be to boot up Pokémon X.

In reality, my first move was to head to the Japanese eShop and download the following:

First up was Darumeshi Sports Store, a Japan-only (just for now, I hope) eShop game that reportedly was developed by the same folks who brought the world the Rhythm Tengoku and WarioWare series. Although Darumeshi Sports Store follows in the footsteps of those titles in some ways--at its heart, it's a wacky mini-game collection--in other ways it stands on its own, such as by basing all of its mini-games on the sport of baseball.



Next was Balloon Fight GB, above, a game I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here on at least a few occasions. If not, it's the colorized version of Balloon Fight's sort-of sequel, Balloon Kid, which didn't hit Japan until a decade after everyone else in the world got it (and even then it only received a digital release).

Finally, there's the Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2 demo--which, sadly, has yet to be played. I've been looking forward to experiencing this adorable rhythm game for ages, though, so I can guarantee it won't sit unused on my LL's menu screen for long.

Don't worry, I've also put in some time with Pokémon X and even Sayonara Umihara Kawase--a game I bought a while ago but couldn't get to until now.

Although they'll be undeniably "late to the party," look for impressions of both games to be shared here in the coming days.

In which I blather on about a trio of Japanese 3DS game demos ...

Although I've owned a Japanese 3DS (read about it here) for about two months now, I've yet to buy a game for it. (Not even a digital one.) I have, however, downloaded a healthy number of demos from that region's eShop. As such, I thought it might be nice to write up a few mini-reviews of three of the demos I've played so far.



1. Neratte! Tobashite! Rilakkuma Guragura Sweets Tower--You didn't expect me to pass up this demo, did you--especially after I slobbered over its cover art in this previous blog post? Anyway, this one's a pretty straightforward demo: it can be played just three times and it offers up three levels of varying complexity. As I believe I shared in the aforementioned blog post, Neratte! Tobashite! Rilakkuma Guragura Sweets Tower is little more than an Angry Birds clone--which isn't a bad thing, in my opinion. It helps, of course, that it attempts to bring a few new things to the Angry Birds table, such as awarding bonus points for hitting characters from the Rilakkuma universe that are strewn about some of the levels. It also helps that the graphics (and the soundtrack, too, I guess) in this one are the gaming equivalent of a sugary waffle covered with ice cream, caramel and a cherry on top. Given all of the above, I'd actually pick up a copy of this disgustingly adorable game--if doing so wouldn't set me back as much as it currently would.



2. Shippuu no Usagi-Maru: Megumi no Tama to Fuuma no Shirushi--I've been trying to come up with an existing game that is most like this eShop-only puzzler-platformer since I first played this demo, but I can't quite do it. The closest one I can think of is Konami's Moai-kun for the Famicom, although even that isn't the best point of comparison. Regardless, both games task players with doing a bit of platforming while avoiding traps, pushing and pulling blocks, saving kidnapped maidens--that sort of thing. Anyway, Shippuu no Usagi-Maru's demo is pretty beefy as far as demos go, what with its seven included stages. Granted, five of them are little more than tutorials, but believe me when I say such introductions are needed if the second of the "real" levels is representative of the level of challenge that awaits folks who buy the full game. (It took me five tries to get through said stage.) That's a big plus in my book, as are the pixel-based graphics and Asian-influenced soundtrack found in this Arc System Works-published title. 



3. Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigina Orb--I've had my eye on this latest entry in Namco-Bandai's Taiko no Tatsujin series ever since I bought my "misty pink" Japanese 3DS, so it should come as little surprise to hear that it was one of the first Japanese eShop demos that I downloaded and tried. Unfortunately, Chibi Dragon to Fushigina Orb's demo is pretty thin in terms of content, featuring just two battles. Still, that was enough to convince me to add this title to my so-far-non-existant Japanese 3DS game collection sooner rather than later--thanks in large part to the gloriously over-the-top version of "O Sole Mio" that serves as the backdrop to the first battle. Here's hoping that by the time I finally do that (buy a copy of the game) I'll have a better understanding of what I'm supposed to do while playing it. (I don't know what I'm supposed to do with the bombs that appear every so often, for instance.)

The trio of demos discussed above are just a small sample of the ones I've nabbed from the Japanese eShop, so expect a similar post (or two) to this one to be published soon.

The 'Denpa' Men have arrived

Er, kind of.

What I should have said in the headline above is, "The demo of THE 'DENPA' MEN: They Came By Wave has arrived," as the full version of the game won't hit the North American 3DS eShop until next week (on Sept. 27, to be exact).



Sorry, Australian and European 3DS owners: This digital RPG, made by the able folks at Genius Sonority, has yet to receive a release date for your regions, as far as I'm aware.

Anyway, I just downloaded the demo and gave it the ol' college try. My impressions so far: I (surprisingly) like how you catch your 'Denpa men' (who then serve as your party members) using the 3DS' AR functionality, for starters. Also, I find the game's art style completely adorable. Oh, and Dragon Quest-esque battles are fun, too. (Although I wish I had more control over them--unless I'm missing something?)



Have any of you spent a bit of time with THE 'DENPA' MEN demo? If so, what do you think of it? Also, does it make you want to pick up the full game when it's released next week (with a $9.99 price tag attached to it, unfortunately)?

See also: 'I'm totally buying this 3DS eShop game on Sept. 27 despite its rather terrible name'

Deep thoughts (or not) on a quintet of recent 3DS demos

The brass at Nintendo may have been a bit slow to add demos to the 3DS eShop, but they've done their best to pick up the pace over the last few weeks.

Being the sucker that I am for free stuff (even when that free stuff constitutes just a small portion of a game and can only be played a limited number of times), I downloaded a number of said demos recently and gave them the old college try. My thoughts on each of these bite-sized experiences are below.

Heroes of Ruin--I'm sure this admission will cause some of you to get the vapors, but it can't be helped: I knew next to nothing about this Square Enix-published title before acquiring this demo. As such, you could say my expectations were about as low as you can get. Did that help me enjoy this bit o' Heroes of Ruin more than I may have otherwise? I'm can't say, unfortunately. What I can say is that the game looks nice enough--or at least nicer than I thought it would. Also, I like that you can customize your characters to a fairly high degree. That said, I didn't find the gameplay all that captivating and I doubt I'll be adding this title to my overly long 3DS wish list.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance--Full disclosure: Before I played through this demo, I'd never before played a Kingdom Hearts game. I've always thought this series looked nice, but the seeimingly one-dimensional gameplay just didn't appeal to me. Still, I thought I should try this demo, as it would give me a chance to see if these games are more or less superficial (for lack of a better word) than I've long imagined them to be. The verdict, after spending a good bit of time with its demo: Dream Drop Distance actually seems to be a deeper experience than I expected it be. Running around Traverse Town was a thrill, as was battling the title's rather whimsically designed baddies. I'd be lying if I said I was now planning on buying this entry in the Kingdom Hearts series, but I may pick up the original release sometime soon and progress from there should I dig it.

I really hope this means a Rhythm Heaven game is in the works for Wii U

The folks at Nintendo of America have been using a handful of demos to show off the capabilities and possibilities of their company's just-announced Wii U system to E3 2011 attendees.

One of these demos is called "Shield Pose" and, surprisingly enough, it seems quite Rhythm Heaven/Tengoku-esque to these eyes and ears.



I know Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime has said that these demos are not necessarily of in-the-works Wii U games, but I sure hope he's fibbing in the case of "Shield Pose."

By the way, videos of Nintendo's other Wii U demos can be viewed here.

(Via gonintendo.com)

No longer a Valkyria virgin

Mark my words: The day I finally get my hands on a PS3 also will be the day I finally get my hands on a copy of Sega's tactical RPG, Valkyria Chronicles.

In the meantime, I'll make do with that game's PSP sequel (titled, amazingly enough, Valkyria Chronicles II)--or, rather, the demo of that game's PSP sequel, which hit the PlayStation Store earlier this week.

I've only played it for a few minutes, but I definitely like what I've seen so far. Will it prompt me to plop down $40 (the game's MSRP) for the full thing when it hits store shelves on Aug. 31? Let me get back to you on that, OK?

Pre-order: Valkyria Chronicles II