Final Fantasy as a franchise is forever branching out and taking entirely different paths. From the adorable minigame collections (Chocobo Tales) to the fighters (Dissidia), Square Enix is never afraid to create games other than RPGs utilizing characters or concepts within the universe. Upon playing My Life as a Dark Lord, a tower defense title obtainable as a WiiWare title, I am convinced that they can make any genre work, so long as they approach it with the right attitude and color palette. Having never previously played My Life as a King, I can’t quite compare it to anything I’ve played before, but rest assured, even through its sometimes intractable difficulty, it’s a whole lot of fun.
Archive for August, 2009
Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
On August 5, 2009
In Review, Xbox 360
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Harry Potter has always intrigued me, though I have never had the self-discipline to sit down and read through all of the novels. I’ve opted to see the movies instead, even when they bored me to tears. It’s fascinating to think that they have gotten progressively better over the years, and the video game tie-ins have certainly followed suit. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is an entertaining (albeit very predictable) journey into Potter’s world, but it got me to sit down and pay attention a lot longer than the books did.
Impressions: Go Play: Circus Star
On August 5, 2009
In Impressions, Wii
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At the circus you always expect a good time to be had by one and all. Subsequently with a circus title released for the Wii in Majesco’s family-friendly series with Go Play Circus Star, you’d expect some fun and interesting circus antics or perhaps a bit of a career mode in which you vie to become one of the most popular circus stars around. Instead, you get a lackluster collection of mini-games that, just like Go Play Lumberjacks, is held together by shoddy production values and hastily thrown together for some quick ‘n simple casual gameplay. While that’s a respectable goal in itself, the genre has seen better and I sincerely hope that future Go Play titles do not end up as lazily created as this one.
Impressions: Go Play Lumberjacks
On August 5, 2009
In Impressions, Wii
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Designed with families (and budgets) in mind, Majesco’s Go Play series is the publisher’s new brand of themed mini-game fun for the Wii console, aimed at those looking for a casual gaming experience and others who may have picked up Wii Fit and are looking for some further fun utilizing the Balance Board. I do not own a Balance Board, but ownership is not required to play the games in this series. I dived in headfirst with Go Play: Lumberjacks. What did I discover? Yes, the Wii really is piling up with mini-game compilations, and no, this game is not a lumberjack simulator.
Impressions: Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
On August 5, 2009
In Impressions, Nintendo DS
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RPGs are tricky subject matter. If you can’t get together an intriguing cast of characters, solid gameplay that rewards your grinding, and a great storyline that should keep you playing, then they become throwaways that are little more than copies of games that came before them (and usually did better jobs). In the case of Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled, the game seems to fail at all it accomplishes. What looks as if it should be a venerable attempt at reviving the traditional RPG in the style of Chrono Trigger is really a dull, lifeless exercise in drudgery that belongs in the bargain bin. Don’t let the artwork or the price tag fool you – this game does nothing of what it seems to promise!