This was a game I saw recommended on a few Playstation importing threads I looked at, so I got it on sale off of Play Asia thinking that it'd be a silly party game, and it didn't disappoint. Especially because, like Okami on PS3, it's completely in English if you have your system language set to English.
It's a collection of about 20 mini-games, some are single player and some are multiplayer, although I haven't tried it on multiplayer. They're all fun at least passably, and they're good fun for a quick laugh, mostly the ones that use the 6-axis motion controls and make you do really drastic actions in a coordinated but frantic fashion. They're not for everyone, but I enjoyed them. My favorite was the one where you've gotta use both arms to "cock your arm back" to pound Mochi for a moon-cat. My favorite part of the game by far was just the sillyness and lighthearted (mostly) nature of the story itself. If you know stuff about Japan and tropes in its media, I think you'll have a similar enjoyment, but I was just constantly giggling to myself with all of the stupid situations that Kuro and Toro get themselves into, not to mention all of the ridiculous costumes that Toro wears X3. The story if also further enhanced by all of the great Engrish, because the last-half of the story chapters' translation AIN'T great XD If you're just looking for a fun silly romp, it's good fun. I'll have to give some sort of update on the multiplayer component sometime (hopefully I can test it out this weekend). Perhaps you too, can "BECOME A BOWLING!"
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I loved the original game to death, so I had no qualms forking out the $80 for this fairly rare Japanese-exclusive sequel to one of my favorite portable games ever, and MAN did it deliver. On the mechanics side, a lot of the really overpowered cards got nerfed (though not all. Akuma is still hella OP), and the AI was made much much better and given interesting decks, so there's actually variety in the harder opponents other than just the randomness of their big decks with good cards. The new card type Reactions also add a much needed level of depth, and especially against the harder computers it's really hard to get into a swing that they just can't knock you out of like it used to be.
On the aesthetic side, to their credit, ALL of the original 200+ character cards were given new art, but DAMN is the new art ugly. Maybe it's just me, but there were maybe only a couple dozen cards at most where I said "wow, that's actually quite an improvement on the old art style." On the plus side though, there's only one version of this game, so you dont' need to faff around with trading/giving or anything to get all of the cards like you did in the first game(s). The original games' Pokemon-style top-down area map-system with overworld has been completely scrapped in favor of just an overworld with rigid roads you walk around to an area where you just meet the 'dualist,' although that's just story mode. No longer do you have to run around all over the place to fight a specific opponent, as you can just battle anyone you've already beaten from the Free Battle mode in the main menu, which is nice, although it takes some getting used to considering how much I liked the old area-maps. THEN, on top of that, after you beat story mode, ALL of the AI opponents you unlocked to play in free-battle mode get new decks. Much MUCH better decks, so that's another 20 decks to fight against/muck around against trying to get the rest of the cards. I have a very hard time recommending this game to someone who knows both nothing about the first game or any Japanese, because it IS a card game and is therefore a very text-heavy game. If you've played the first game, the card-battling UI is more or less exactly the same, so you can just let your muscle memory guide you, and even though some cards have new abilities, most of them aren't that difficult to just guess/trial and error your way into seeing how they work. But anyway, if you love TCG's and don't mind playing against the AI, I'd certainly give the first game a look while Neo Geo Pockets are still cheap. Never know when they'll skyrocket like the Turbografx did a few years back O.o EDIT: After some more faffing, I've discovered something. Everyone in Free Battle mode does have new decks, but what I thought were their deck themes are actually the rewards you get for beating them, so say if you know you're missing a Street Fighter or Samurai Showdown character card you're missing, you can fight a specific character for a much higher chance of getting that guy the next time you beat them. Very nice. I knew I'd probably like this game, but I had no idea of how much I'd like it. I utterly adored this game. The combat system was great fun, and never felt stale, for all of the 72 or so hours I spent on the game. Especially once you get the 'Combo Plus' skills for Yuri, his combos are just so damn satisfying to pull off.
The characters were also really well written and well voice acted to boot. To a certain level they were tropey, but they actually had some really great subtleties to them that made them very endearing to me, but maybe it's because I just don't watch much anime Xp End verdict: I super enjoyed this game, and it turned me into a super-Tales fan. Currently having a lot of fun going through Tales of Symphonia :D |
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AuthorI'm an avid gamer who likes to detail their thoughts about what they play in the hopes it might aid someone else's search for a game to play. Archives
April 2024
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