Here’s another batch of games I’ve been reviewing lately. As always, please click on and read as many as you can, and maybe even post a comment or two if you’d like. I’d appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. OK, on to the reviews!
But first, an announcement. By the time some of you read this, it may already be too late, but if you are in the North Dallas/Plano, TX area this weekend, we’re having another one of those StreetPass meetups on Saturday, March 22. Same time, same place. If you’d like more info, just click on the link.
A lot of people say that Tales of Symphonia is their favorite in the Tales series. While I will admit there are some good things about it and the game has held up pretty well and I certainly played it a lot on the GameCube, I don’t think it’s the best Tales game ever. I just think a lot of people have good memories about it because it was one of the only RPGs the GameCube had! In fact, I don’t know if this is 100 percent true, but I heard that Namco originally had no plans to bring Tales of Symphonia to the US. It was Nintendo who paid Namco to translate it and hire voice actors so that the GameCube would have an RPG to compete with the PS2’s vast library of titles. Probably a smart idea; and I’ve always said that Nintendo has always done a good job of promoting certain RPGs in their own ‘special’ way.
Symphonia was the first Tales game to have 3-D battles, and they’ve improved a lot since that game, so going back to that may feel a bit clunky for some. Plus, the storyline is garbage. It’s all over the place and I couldn’t tell you what the plot is. The game is just too long and meandering, which is a problem I have with most modern RPGs anyway. I don’t even really have a favorite character. But there are some that are neat. Genis was cool because he was a kid, Raine was a teacher and teachers are always cool, even in video games. Sheena had purple hair and was a ninja, and Presea had pink hair and was a tank in battle. Who were your favorite characters in Symphonia? Let me know in the comments section.
But despite all my griping, this game is still a decent collection as two RPGs on one disc is a good value. It was kind of bittersweet playing Symphonia again, though, because when I played it on the GameCube many years ago, my brother Jeff was just a kid and he played it with me. In most Tales games, another player (or more) can join you in battle as long as you have another controller and another character in your party. We played through the whole game that way. Now that Jeff is all grown up and (mostly) out of the house, I do miss playing games with him sometimes. The lesson here is that you should always enjoy playing with your kids or siblings as much as you can, when you can, because it won’t last forever!
Now for a different take on RPGs. Have you ever thought about the other characters in RPGs, like the shop owner who sells you weapons? Those kinds of characters are mostly forgotten in games, but not here. In Weapon Shop de Omasse, you’re in charge of a blacksmith and weapon shop for a bunch of stereotypical RPG characters! You make weapons and polish them by playing Cooking Mama style mini-games, and then rent them out to RPG characters in hopes they’ll do well on their quest. I actually really enjoyed this one even though some other people I know did not. But then, I like weird and quirky Cooking Mama style games. If you’re interested, check out my review for more.
Speaking of unusual RPGs, this one is a soccer RPG! It’s very popular in Japan and Europe, and has spawned many sequels and even a cartoon show! You play as a bunch of middle school kids (kind of reminded me of the Mega Man Battle Network games in that aspect), and you all love to play soccer. Soccer battles have crazy special moves where you can turn the ball into a fireball, or the goalie can project a giant hand to stop the ball! Unfortunately, I didn’t really like the battles. It was hard to tell what was going on, and the learning curve is pretty steep at first. But the game is popular for a reason, so you may want to read my review and try it out anyway.
And speaking of soccer, Zen Pinball’s newest table for the Pro Pinball and Zen Pinball games is a soccer themed one. You can pick a table based on your favorite Euro football team and play pinball with a soccer ball. Table rules were a little confusing to me, but I imagine anyone who likes soccer would enjoy it anyway.
Monkey Paw has been releasing a few import PSOne Japanese titles to PSN lately, and Wolf Fang was an arcade shooter similar to Metal Slug. You piloted a mech and could jump and shoot. You could ‘build’ your mech like how you select weapons in Gradius. It’s a two-player game, too. Only problem is that as an arcade game, it’s a bit short, but there are branching pathways for replay value. And it’s very import friendly, too. My brother Jeff called it “Armored Core Arcade.” Not sure if others would agree to that, but we liked it. Wolf Fang was also made by the now-defunct Data East.
I had my friend review this one, since he has a Vita. It’s like an interactive digital novel, and my friend really liked it, apparently. The cool thing is that after playing this game, he said he may want to try more of the Phoenix Wright games (he only played the first one), so that made me happy.
This is a free-to-play game from Natsume featuring their Gabrielle characters from other iPad and 3DS games. Sweet Defense is kind of like a reverse Plants vs. Zombies game, but it’s one of the better titles in Natsume’s series. I think the silly spooky characters are cute, way better than the awful Monster High stuff anyway.
In this game you help Grandpa, who has a broken leg and is in a wheelchair, and you roll him around mazes in a hospital and other areas and try to reach the exit while avoiding zombies. It’s a puzzle game, and reminds me of ice block pushing puzzles found in Zelda dungeons and other games. It’s all right, but gets hard pretty quickly.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about the games in Pac-Man Museum, but this is my official review of it. So I won’t go into it any more.
Conclusions
And that’s all for now! I probably won’t have a blog to post next week, unless there is something that you all are dying for me to write about (and if that’s the case, please let me know in the comments section). However, the week after, at the beginning of the month, I’ll have a new blog up with a HUGE announcement, so be on the lookout for that then! Later! --Cary
I'm pretty fond of Lloyd after he matures a little bit, but I think Sheena may be my favorite. I think her hair's actually black, though.
Yeah I guess the characters do develop over time. Genis becomes less snooty, for instance.
I always thought Sheena's hair was very dark purple. Either way, it reminds me of the top part of a pineapple.
Thanks for reading and commenting on my reviews!
Whoever Foxy is really likes you. They followed you like six times. lol I think I'm following Greenman twice and Squadleader three times, though.
At first I was like, "what the heck is he talking about?" I think the multiple follows is a PixlBit glitch. Thanks for reading and commenting on my reviews.
I didn't realize how gorgeous the Tales games looked until I saw a trailer while at Gamestop for Symphonia recently. That put it right on my list.
Yeah even though it's not my favorite, Symphonia still holds up pretty well today, I'd have to admit.
I mostly feel the same way you do about Symphonia.
Yeah, but I bet you don't feel the same way I do about Legenida. Seems nobody but me likes that one. Thanks for reading and commenting on my reviews!
I like Legendia! I'm somebody!
Legendia fans are few and far between. One time at E3 I told a Namco employee that Legendia was my favorite Tales game and he looked at me like I had three heads.
But Grune and Moses! I don't know if it's that I thought the game was good, or just the timing of when I played it. You know the story, right?
Yes I know the story. Sometimes timing means a lot. Grune and Moses and Norma were awesome.
Yoshi Island review mister! There is something to write,lol!
Awesome reviews Cary, I really wish they would make another Gabriella game on either the Wii U or 3DS. I loved the 3DS game, I had some much fun with it!
Yeah Natsume should do more with the Gabrielle characters, seeing as how popular Monster High is and all.
A review of Yoshi's New Island would be a good idea. But sometimes I just like to play a game and enjoy it without having to worry about writing a review about it, and Yoshi's New Island is going to be one of those games. I hope you can understand.
However, since you asked, here's some thoughts I have about the game:
Nintendo isn't doing a very good job of fighting back the argument that their games are the same. Yoshi's new game is so similar to his SNES adventure that whole levels and worlds feel VERY familar. However, the game is still incredibly fun. It's just a testament to how beautifully amazing the original game was if an imitation of it is still fantastic.
I also really like the music in the new game. Well, OK, a couple of the songs, like the title screen music, sound like the Drunken Kazoo Brigade, but otherwise the tunes are really growing on me. I just love video game music with great instrumentation and catchy tunes.
I also just really like Baby Mario & Luigi. I'd adopt them if I could. But then they'd need a mommy and now I'm just being silly.
OK I hope that'll hold you for a while.
I can still remember most of the plot of Symphonia, though that's because I played through the game so many times. As far as my favorite character, I'm going with Kratos because I liked his moveset so much.
The English voice actor for Kratos also did the voice for He-Man, I hear.
I really enjoyed Symphonia. Xillia has finally managed to put out a better Tales game, but Symphonia is still a great experience, and no, that's not because it was virtually uncontested on the Gamecube. Most of us Gamecube owners also had a PS2, ya know. :) I liked the whole cast. I'd have to say my favorite is either Sheena, Lloyd, or Presea. Lloyd because he was the best character to actually control in battle, Sheena because of the summons, and Presea because of her delightfully twisted backstory.
I'm thinking about trying out Inazuma Eleven, more because I'm a fan of Level-5 than because of any feelings I have about soccer. I just like to support them because their games range from fun stuff like The Guild games to fantastic experiences like Dragon Quest VIII and Ni no Kuni, and I want to see more from them.
Yeah, Presea's backstory was pretty weird, if I remember correctly.
Well if you're going to get Inazuma Eleven to support Level 5, which is a good thing to do, don't forget to also get Weapon Shop de Omasse. They did that, too.
Weapon Shop de Omasse reminds me of a similar game called Recettear, where you are the manager of an items and weapons shop.
Danganronpa might be the first game I get on the Vita, even if I already know the story.
My friend really liked that game, so it must be good.
Funny you mentioned Wolf Fang. I need to review that game for PixlBit, as it turns out. It's quite an unique shooter though. And I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.
I guess PixlBit's on MonkeyPaw's press list, too. Are you reviewing Tomba 2? I just slammed them in my review for releasing the Japanese version of the game instead of the English version.
As a matter of fact, I do a have Tomba 2 for review! And yeah, I was bummed when Nick told me that it was also in Japanese. But I noticed on their website that they mentioned that there were too many problems with emulating the US version, so they chose to go with the import instead. Kinda still sucks though.
Yeah I read they had emulation problems. But like I said in my review, you either solve those problems or just don't release it. By the way, I'd like to encourage you to read my review. I found my old Dallas Morning News article of the original Tomba 2 and posted a link to that just for fun.
Hey Cary, I read your review a couple of days ago. I didn't realize you had mentioned to the things about the emulation issues. But I agree...I would have rather that they'd not released it at all.
Also, I checked out your original review in the Dallas newspaper. Very cool stuff!
Yeah I hate writing a bad review, but sometimes I just have to do it.
Sadly I bought it on PSN when the box art they had up was the NA version and there was no mention that it was the Japanese version.
Even though Monkeypaw has a translation doc on their site I don't want to play a game and have to read what everyone is saying from a doc.
The European version apparently has English translation.
Are you serious? PSN in Europe got it in English? Then what was all that crap about it being too difficult to emulate the english version? I gotta look into this before starting my review of this game.
As far as I've read the EU version is in English
Here's a excerpt
"According to MonkeyPaw Games, Tomba! 2 was their most requested title and it will see release on February 18th, for $9.99. It’s important to note however that although Tomba! 2 was released in English on the original PlayStation, MonkeyPaw Games will be releasing the game in Japanese with an FAQ available on their website. This may prove vexing to many fans as the European version, in English, has been available on the European PSN since this past December. MonkeyPaw Game’s PR Manager Ryan Olsen has said the following concerning this."
That makes no sense that they'd release the game in English in Europe, but not here. I felt kinda bad for bashing them about that, but not now.
I miss that about rpg plots. As in there was a time stories were more coherent and easy to understand. I noticed with FF7 I started to get a little bit lost. At that time I thought Parasite Eve made everything within its' world easier to comprehend. FF7 by comparison left a lot of things up in the air and that's probably why we got spin off games like Crisis Core and Dirge Of Cerebus to fill in the gaps.
I think certain Jrpgs "try too hard" too be esoteric and everywhere at once! Often instances a smaller world and more tight knit cast of characters is a benefit instead of a detriment. Simplicity has merits!
YES! That's exactly what I'm saying! Even some of my favorite RPG series, like the newest Mario & Luigi: Dream Team game, got a little too long. Just because you can make a longer RPG nowadays, doesn't mean you should.
