Well here’s another blog with links to game reviews I’ve written recently over at GamerDad.com. Please click on and read as many as you can, and post comments, too! I’d really appreciate it. And if you’re wondering what the HECK kind of weirdo nonsense does my blog title mean, well, you’ll just have to keep on reading.
This one is pretty much like the others in the series. You farm like in Harvest Moon but can also venture into dungeons and fight (and befriend) monsters. The new twist in this one is that the townsfolk have mistaken you as the prince or princess when you first arrive, so you can use your power to help the town grow. Kind of reminds me of the mayor duties from Animal Crossing: New Leaf. And just like in the other Rune Factory and Harvest Moon games, you can make friends with the townsfolk and eventually date and marry one of the eligible bachelors or bachelorettes. Farmer Prince Cary is leaning toward either the narcoleptic pink-haired butler lady, or the tough and strong female knight. What do you think? (See, now you know where my blog title came from.) At any rate, it’s a pretty good game and one of the best action RPGs on the 3DS.
I love playing games on my iPad, but rarely do I say afterward, “Wow, that was a GREAT game!” But Type:Rider was an exception. In the game, you play as a colon (you know, the punctuation mark), as you roll along like two wheels of a car through 2-D obstacles. Kind of reminds me of Loco Roco, my favorite PSP game (maybe that’s why I like this one so much). The obstacles you’ll roll around include giant letters of the alphabet as well as items and objects from the time period you’re in. You see, the game is also a visual history of typography and fonts. You can even unlock pages in a book to read up on this stuff. You could almost use this game as a source if you had to write a research paper on this topic! In college I had to take classes about this stuff for my Magazine Journalism major, so maybe I’m the only one who found this stuff kind of interesting. At any rate, if you like artsy fartsy games like Journey, you should check this one out, too. It’s definitely one of the best iPad games I’ve played this year!
Giana Sisters has an interesting history behind it. It was originally a PC game in Europe back in the mid to late 80’s. But it played and looked SO much like the original Super Mario Bros. that it’s rumored that Nintendo requested they cease production of it (which is why it’s not as well-known in the US). But Nintendo didn’t have a problem with them making a Giana Sisters DS game a few years ago (it’s actually a pretty rare game, but I have it). But this new one is a game all its own. The gimmick is that you can seamlessly twist the world from a bright and green dream world to a dark and creepy nightmare world to bypass obstacles and defeat tough bosses. The graphics are really awesome and it makes me wish Namco would make another Klonoa game, as that’s what this 2-D platformer reminds me of. I hear it was a kickstarter success, so if you can, check it out!
This game based on the new movie is basically Fruit Ninja. Not a bad game, but not very original either. The original movie is kind of a cult favorite around our household, though. I don’t know why, but my brother Jeff just LOVED the first movie when it came out. I think it has to do with the fact that it’s all about food, and Jeff loves food. So I knew we’d have to see the sequel. But I was worried that Jeff would get ravenous with hunger while in the theater, but Jeff had a good idea. We’d go see the movie at one of those places where you can eat in the theater (there’s a chain of them here in Dallas called Studio Movie Grill, but we went to the AMC version which is better). That way Jeff can eat during the movie, and he could order food just by pointing at the screen and saying “I want that.” (Jeff made up that joke) Anyway, that’s what we did and it was a lot of fun. The Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs movies aren’t the best in the world, but they do have little tidbits of humor that you’ll only get if you pay attention, and I like that kind of stuff.
Kids love butterflies, and kids love to paint, so this seems like a natural. I don’t know if it’ll hold their interest for long, but the graphics are nice and it’s a cute concept.
This successful PC Steam game is now on 360 with added enhancements. It’s a run and gun 2-D platformer that reminds me of games like Contra and Mega Man X. So if you like those you may want to check this one out. The pink-haired girl in it is cool at least.
You can tell this review was kind of phoned in (hey, they can’t all be masterpieces). I didn’t really want to review it, but NIS America just kind of dumped it on me. But they’ve been supportive of me since, well, their existence, so I felt compelled to do it anyway. Most of their games aren’t my cup of tea, but the folks who work there are super nice. If you like games like Final Fantasy Tactics, you may want to check this one out.
The last three game reviews listed here were actually written by one of my good friends who has been writing Steam PC game reviews for me lately. But this one’s really more of a preview, as it’s not out yet. It has a strange name, but it’s a fun little twin stick shooter like Robotron or Smash TV. You play as cute little female androids who look like Cabbage Patch Kids. The game looks really promising so far, though. I helped my friend play the co-op mode.
This one is like a mix of a music game and bullet hell shooter, apparently. And that’s all I know!
And the last one is a retro-styled random dungeon crawler. I helped my friend play the two-player co-op mode. It was kind of clunky, so I wasn’t very impressed.
Conclusions
And that’s all for now! Thanks for reading my reviews and posting comments. I really do appreciate it. Next time on my blog, I MIGHT write about my top five favorite Phoenix Wright characters, since the new game comes out next week. Can you guess who they are? Later! --Cary
damn Cary, that's a lot of reviews!!! I've heard of Type:Rider and read about it, but I didn't think you would be so impressed with it. I'm going to check it out.
Did you finish D2?
Yeah it's the holiday release season so I'll be reviewing a lot between now and December.
Yeah Type:Rider really surprised me. If you have the means, you should check it out.
Finish Disgaea D2? Ha ha, yeah right. :)
Firstly: I'd marry the butler lady because you are a farmer and stay at home a lot and that knight will just be out on quests all the time and never come home.
Secondly: Rune Factory sounds cool. I didn't know there were dungeons in the game and that you can befriend monsters. Some of my best friends are monsters.
Thirdly: I really liked Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. It was like a foody, punny Jurassic Park.
Fourthly: I'm going to read your Disgaea review now because I love SRPGs and always wanted to try Disgaea.
Yeah but the cool thing about the female knight is you can take her along with you into the dungeons and she'll fight alongside you and is actually helpful.
Rune Factory is an awesome game series. I ilke it even better than Harvest Moon.
Yeah, Cloudy 2 was definitely 'punny.'
Don't expect much from my Disgaea D2 review. Not one of my best works.
Who's gonna tend the farm while you're in the dungeon?
That's the cool thing about befriending monsters. If they like you enough, they'll work your fields for you!
What?! That's like the coolest thing I've heard lately! Rune Factory just got bumped up a notch in my play list.
Oh yeah, the Rune Factory games are awesome. I like 'em better than Harvest Moon. I hate it that I haven't played them all. Like the PS3 Rune Factory game I have my eye on.
Assault Android Cactus sound right up my alley, I'll give that one a try
Well it's not out yet, so I think the only way you can play it is via an Early Access code. And it's not finished yet, either.
Giana Sisters and ARES look like very interesting games. I'll see if the latter is on Steam, since it was originally from PC.
Yeah both games are available on Steam.
That A.R.E.S. game sounds pretty cool. It's been way too long since I've played a good Contra-ish game.
It's definitely a mix of all sorts of run-and-gun type games.