Welcome back to another installment of Week: End Game: On! What games are the staff playing this weekend? Read on to find out!
Robert Palacios
With the impending awesomeness that is Super Smash Bros. for Wii U coming in hot and fast, I will be getting my last few beatings of Brawl this weekend.
As much as people like to dismiss Brawl, I enjoyed the huge roster and varied levels. Many a weekend was spent unlocking all stages and characters with the lad. On to newer and hopefully better!
I’ll also be working on getting put to level 25 in Destiny. The game has been given a ho-hum reception by the gaming press, but actually playing the game, rather than picking apart the feature set, is really engaging. I don’t find the grind to be boring since the mechanics and environments are so amazing. I’m hoping the candy stash will last long enough for all this gaming!
Nicolas Vestre
Last week I completed Wario Land 4, something I haven’t done since I rented it for Game Boy Advance some thirteen years ago. Actually, this is the first time I saw the best ending and collected every CD, making this playthrough particularly memorable. As in most games with collectibles, one of the CDs took me hours to find. It turns out the location was a lot more obvious than I thought, meaning I did some pretty ridiculous things in hopes of finding that disc, but hey– that happens to me in almost every platformer I play.
The game itself measured up very well to previous entries in the series, meaning it was nothing short of spectacular. Each level was its own little world with its own hidden nuances and excellent musical score, and I couldn’t ask for anything more than that. The mechanic of rushing from the end of each level back to the beginning worked flawlessly, and the sense of urgency made the game that much more epic. Every boss was a delight to fight, just like any other Wario Land game, and man, were they bizarre– vermin-infested floating teddy bears, anyone? And, as with every Wario Land game, there was a ton of loot to uncover for those adventurous enough to explore every nook and cranny. Well-hidden purple pipes always led to little puzzle rooms, with a giant gem as the prize for figuring out what you’re supposed to do. I look forward to playing the Hard and Super Hard modes in the future.
Fantasy Life released last week in North America, so I decided to take the plunge, walk to Walmart, pick up a copy, and start my life as an angler. That’s right– I catch fish for the big bucks (or Dosh). I’m still quite early in the game, taking on a lot of requests and exploring everywhere I can before moving on in the story. I’ve leveled up quite a bit as an Angler, and I don’t know what life I’ll choose next, but I’m leaning toward Hunter. There’s a boatload of text in this game, and I understand that there’s much more waiting for me (at least it’s easy to skip). The pacing is also quite slow, so this game will take approximately forever for me to beat.
I finally reached 20 million Bells in Animal Crossing: New Leaf! I’ve been steadily playing the game since it released in June, and now I’m pretty much just going through the motions. Something in me just can’t give up the regular trips to Duckburg.
Anthony Vigna
You know what’s amazing? I’ve downloaded so many eShop titles in the past few years, yet there’s always something new that catches my interest when I browse for new games. There are also tons of sales being offered every week, showing that Nintendo has come a long way since the Wii Shop Channel. Last week, I found out that an awesome indie strategy game, Squids Odyssey, was being offered for 60 percent less than its original price! Because of my interest in the genre, I knew I had to pick it up and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. If you’ve never heard of it, picture a mash-up between the RPG elements of Fire Emblem and the physics-based gameplay of Angry Birds. On paper, these games don’t sound like they’d go together, but Squids Odyssey somehow makes it work very well. As a result, I’ve been obsessively playing whenever I get some spare time.
But of course, there are still more eShop games for me to download in the future! I know I said this in our last roundtable, but I really can’t wait to get my hands on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy this December because it was my favorite series on DS. I know all of the characters, story, and music by heart, yet I never get sick of re-experiencing these games after multiple playthroughs. Even now, I’m playing Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth for the fourth time and still having a blast! There’s something about the series that completely captivates me, so I’m really excited to play everything all over again with updated visuals.
Oh, and Nicolas’ brilliant description of Wario Land 4 reminded me of how much fun that game was. The bosses, hidden collectables, music, and the mechanic of rushing to the level’s exit were all incredible and brilliant. Maybe I should play that game again too!
Marc Deschamps
I’m still working away at Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 3DS. I’ve been slowly trying to beat the main game with every character and using that as a way of unlocking all of the hidden characters. I’ve probably beaten the game with half of the available characters, but I still have a few left to unlock. Off the top of my head, I know that I’m still missing ROB and Bowser Jr. I’m really excited to give the latter a shot. Pikachu and Pac-Man have been my go-to guys since the game first came out, but since Morton Koopa was my favorite racer in Mario Kart 8, I’m hoping he’ll be as fun to smash with!
Hyrule Warriors is still in regular rotation at the Deschamps’ domicile, as well. While a lot of people are quick to pass off Dynasty Warriors titles as mindless brawlers, I’ve found that some of the levels require a bit of strategy. When multiple bases come under attack, you really have to balance the amount of time you spend attacking and defending. It might not be the Zelda experience that some fans are looking for, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Last weekend, a friend and I played a couple of original NES games. We popped in Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers and Super Mario Bros. 3 for some old-school nostalgia. It was fun, but it really serves as a reminder how much the level of challenge has evolved since those days. Despite owning both titles back in the day, I found myself really struggling to keep up. Super Mario Bros. 3 was a bit easier to jump into with its shorter levels, but I gave up on Rescue Rangers much quicker than I’d like to admit. Still hope it gets an HD remake someday like DuckTales, though!
Robert Marrujo
So, it’s utterly BIZARRE, but I have a metric ton of work to do this weekend, yet I’m actually planning on squeezing in a seemingly endless array of games. First up is Stealth, Inc. 2 by Curve, which is just stunning so far. Anyone who played the original should love this one plus a hundred, as far as I’m concerned. Wii U owners are so lucky to have the chance to play it. I’ve also been delving into Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, which is equally wonderful. All of the Shantae games sport beautiful graphics, but WayForward went nuts this time around. I think it’s one of the best looking games in the 3DS eShop, to be honest.
Perusing through my email, I discovered that Nintendo had actually sent me a code for the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire demo– nine days ago. So annoying, but I downloaded it and am planning to play it as soon as I’m done typing this. I’ll give some thoughts on it soon! As if that all isn’t enough, I’m also peeking into Demon’s Crest and Gargoyle’s Quest II on Virtual Console. Demon’s is an SNES forgotten gem, while Gargoyle’s is an equally forgotten oldie from the NES era. Think I’m done, though? NOT EVEN, SON. I’m slowly hacking away at Fantasy Life, to boot! STILL NOT DONE. The weekend is being rounded off with Pixel Paint and Cosmophony on Wii U!
SO MUCH GAMING! Will I survive? Find out next week!
What games will you be playing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
I finished up my most recent third play through of Eternal Darkness, and finally completed Tropico 5 (for the PC). I also purchased far too many steam and gog games, and ignored them all in favor of Freelancer. That said, I planned a vacation day for Monday and will finally be finishing up FF3 (err FF6) for my trusty SNES.
I’ve been rotating Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta, and SSB 3DS intermittently, and trying to balance them. All that fighting’s a good way to get combat fatigue, so I picked up Tetrobot & Co. A nice puzzler should offer some respite.
I’ve been playing LoZ ALTRP and Super Mario Kart on the Wii U Virtual Console.
I also bought Pokemon X on an impulse purchase after watching season ten of the silly cartoon show. I have to say that if the other games in the series are anything like this one, I have been missing out.
Note: I played Pokemon Red when it came out, and followed that with the Japanese version of Yellow. I felt a little bit old when I played Red (being 13 at the time), and Pokemon’s extreme popularity with 7 year olds kind of turned me off from it. Now I’m older and don’t care.