Atrocious GBA Game Gets Slammed + A Wii Recap Months In The Making
As promised comes the second batch of throwback reviews in hopes of one day catching up to the games I have been completing. I certainly didn't think a time would come when I was behind on my reviews but then again, I never put as much thought or time into them before causing them to take longer. I say that as part of review recaps instead of full reviews which is ironic but hopefully these reviews are insightful enough to help prospective buyers make a decision and remind others of the what the loved or hated about a title. With that I jump to one of the worst games I have played in awhile, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team.
I have been a big Pokemon fan since the craze started and amazingly I wasn't even an early adopter like I usually am. Instead I was introduced to the series by a pair of kids I was babysitting at the time. By the end of the night the kids were asleep (I think) and I had a party of level 20+ Pokemon including Charizard, Graveler and Allakhazam. So with that fact in mind, when I tell you that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team for GBA is THE worst game I have played in recent memory you should really listen.
In my opinion the only good thing about the title is that it has Pokemon in it. The story is terrible, even when expecting it to be awfully kiddie; the gameplay is barely there and even the dungeon crawling, an aspect that the development team Chunsoft should have down, is atrocious. Honestly I don't want to review it much past that. Simply put unless you are an absolute die-hard Pokemon fan and can play through the trash I would avoid this game with every fiber of your being. It saddens me that I actually beat this, and bought the DS version for my girlfriend as well but I should have known better since most of the Pokemon spin-offs are pretty terrible. Worse still is that there is a sequel in the works, though there may be some hope for it. Early reports and gameplay videos show that dungeon crawling is taking over the rescuing aspect as the main gameplay feature. Here's to hoping Chunsoft can make a Dragon Warrior-esque title out of the heap of crap that they delivered to Nintendo.
I finished up Legendary Difficulty in Titan Quest awhile back and never bothered posting an update but its safe to say that the hook is over. I didn't feel a need to update everyone cause my feelings hadn't really changed as I didn't review the game originally until I was already on the Legendary difficulty, which meant I had played through it twice already. My character stayed squishy but dominated as long as he wasn't be attacked directly. I traded around some gear to get more HP and armor at the cost of some DPS but it didn't help much. In the end I was doing over 2200+ DPS with a Core Dweller as my personal tank or a friend in Co-op games. Again, Legendary is HARD and gets more difficult as more people join your game. Anyone up for a challenging RPG/Dungeon crawler should give it a whirl, especially since its so cheap now. The state of Immortal Throne hasn't changed since my last review in April (check that out for a more in-depth look complete with screens) so I won't be picking up the expansion until a patch addresses the issues or I see it on sale, certainly have enough to play until then.
Last but certainly not least I figured I should do a little re-cap of Nintendo Wii. I owe it to myself and my friends since I was one of the freaks who stood in line the night of the launch. Lucky for me I live 1/8 mile from a Target that had a confirmed 26 units shipping on launch and was able to see the line from my house. This allowed me to wait in the warmth of my home until about 2am when the line was getting a bit long so I queued up at 22 with two other friends at 23 and 24. Knowing that the controllers would sell out as soon as people showed the system off to friends and family I bought 3 controllers and 3 nunchucks right away, bringing the total up around $700 spent in a single evening (includes The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz). I am pretty sure I have only topped that lump sum with the purchase of a house. Yes, all the cars I have owned have been less than that.
Upon its release my friends and I played for 14 consecutive hours, with at least two of them spent by my girlfriend making perfect Miis for everyone present. We largely played Wii Sports, the packed in game, but also broke out Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz for some mini-game fun. For those that don't know Wii Sports was originally just a bunch of tech-demos that Nintendo created to show off the console's and more specifically the controller's abilities. With that in mind the game is pretty polished with each sport being entertaining although not that deep. I have focused most of my efforts on Tennis and Bowling, reaching pro status in both and to a lesser extent Boxing.
Coincidently since the game is free with the system there's really no point to tell you to pick it up, but I have enjoyed it throughly and found that its a good introduction for non-gamers to the system its capabilities. I have also found it to be a good distraction for the slow months in gaming that is the Spring to Summer timeframe (for all platforms, not just Wii). Although that means I am losing time to Wii Sports instead of completing other games. Now for God's sake will someone please announce a full-fledged tennis game for Wii? SEGA what where you thinking not bringing Virtua Tennis to the Wii already?! At least there is a full-fledged bowling title already in the work, which is only interesting due to the Wii's control scheme.
If you enjoying gaming, and you can find one, get a Wii, there really shouldn't be anything stopping you except their availability. Its also a perfect way for kids and parents to game together as I found out over the holidays. My brother and I managed to get our extended family, perhaps 20 or so people crowded around the Wii. It got to the point where my uncles began betting on who was going to win the next boxing match, oh the Irish, but I digress. To me the Xbox360 vs. PS3 debate (PS3 price cut was good news) is a well founded argument, their appeal overlaps significantly but the Wii stands alone, and no I don't think its just going to be a fad.