13th May 2012, 5:55 PM
(This post was last modified: 13th May 2012, 6:10 PM by A Black Falcon.)
I assume that the overworld part has to be a much smaller element of the game, though, than it is in Ogre Battle 64... I mean, with each battle taking that long, you can't be spending as much time in the overworld map(s) as you do in a game like OB64 where most of your time is strategizing in the main map, unless of course it's an exponentially longer game than OB64 is. OB64's already pretty solidly long, though, so I'd kind of doubt that.
But really, what I meant is that while I enjoy that Tactics Ogre/FFT/Disgaea style of isometric combat usually made up of squares, I like Ogre Battle 64's style more -- it's more like a traditional TBS game or something, except in realtime. Pretty cool. As for FFT... I don't know, it's alright I guess, but I don't love it, and the same goes for FFTA. The Fire Emblem games (which of course are topdown, not isometric, and with quite different gameplay) are a lot better, in my opinion.
Also, because of the release of an official English-language version of Monster World IV, for the first time ever, I put some money into the Wii shop, and got some stuff.
Wii VC
--
Monster World IV (900 points) - As I said above, this is the first ever English-language release of this very good Genesis action-RPG. The first three Monster World games had released in the West, in the US most prominently in the third one, Wonder Boy in Monster World, but the fourth stayed in Japan, for some stupid reason. It's a pretty good game, with a female lead character (it's the only one of the four Monster World games with that), and plenty of classic action-RPG gameplay. For the quality of the game, and the fact that it's actually a new game outside of Japan (unless you played the fan translation, of course), this is very highly recommended!
WiiWare
--
Stonekeep: Bones of the Ancestors (500 points) - This is a 2012 WiiWare release from Interplay, and it got horrible reviews. It's a first-person dungeon crawler with decent graphics and very motion-heavy controls -- almost everything needs to be done with only somewhat functional motion elements, from casting spells to attacking. I actually had hopes of liking this game, which is part of why I got it (the other reason being that I was interested to see what Interplay'd done,being an old fan of the studio from back when they weren't dead)... and my first impression is that it's alright. The graphics are nice for the Wii; there's minimal graphical variety within each stage, but it looks nice enough. As for the motion, the various swipes to do attacks work, and remind me of TES Arena and Daggerfall, in that you swipe, and then your character attacks. Different angles of swing use different weapons, depending on which ones you have. Throwing's a little trickier (again, different motions determine what you throw, make sure to do the right one), but it does work. The spells are a bit harder to get off right, though... the motions are more complex, and only somewhat work. At least most of your fighting is done with weapons.
The game clearly is low budget, and doesn't have stuff the original Stonekeep had like much of an intro (the original had lots of live action video stuff, of course), but no, I don't hate this game. It's repetitive for sure, but okay.
In addition, I got $3 worth of Mega Man 10 DLC (got the three special stages), and $5 worth for My Live As A Darklord (the second set of DLC levels).
WiiWare: Also, I redeemed the codes for two games I got with points from my Club Nintendo account; I had a bunch of expiring points, so I thought why not get some games I had an interest in anyway with them. That resulted in my downloading the two below WiiWare titles.
--
Dr. Mario Online Rx - Okay Dr. Mario game. Featurewise this is VERY barebones, and has no real main single player game -- this is just endless, vs. one CPU (single match), or online, pretty much. It's also two player only on single console, disappointingly. There is a somewhat interesting mode with pointer controls, but apart from that, there's not much here... play Dr. Mario 64 instead, unless you want to play online -- that this does have, and it's a nice option to have. Overall this plays great, but a don't expect much in the way of options.
Eco Shooter: Plant 530 - Rail shooter that supports the Zapper. This, along with Link's Crossbow Training, is one of only two rail shooters Nintendo made for the Wii. It's a pretty simple game, and is entirely on-rails unlike Link's Crossbow Training, so you only use the pointer, but it plays fine and is fun. It's not a great game, and seems a bit thin on content, but lightgun games often are... I wanted to try Nintendo's other Wii lightgun game, but not enough to spend $10 or so for it, so I got it here. Probably the right decision.
But really, what I meant is that while I enjoy that Tactics Ogre/FFT/Disgaea style of isometric combat usually made up of squares, I like Ogre Battle 64's style more -- it's more like a traditional TBS game or something, except in realtime. Pretty cool. As for FFT... I don't know, it's alright I guess, but I don't love it, and the same goes for FFTA. The Fire Emblem games (which of course are topdown, not isometric, and with quite different gameplay) are a lot better, in my opinion.
Also, because of the release of an official English-language version of Monster World IV, for the first time ever, I put some money into the Wii shop, and got some stuff.
Wii VC
--
Monster World IV (900 points) - As I said above, this is the first ever English-language release of this very good Genesis action-RPG. The first three Monster World games had released in the West, in the US most prominently in the third one, Wonder Boy in Monster World, but the fourth stayed in Japan, for some stupid reason. It's a pretty good game, with a female lead character (it's the only one of the four Monster World games with that), and plenty of classic action-RPG gameplay. For the quality of the game, and the fact that it's actually a new game outside of Japan (unless you played the fan translation, of course), this is very highly recommended!
WiiWare
--
Stonekeep: Bones of the Ancestors (500 points) - This is a 2012 WiiWare release from Interplay, and it got horrible reviews. It's a first-person dungeon crawler with decent graphics and very motion-heavy controls -- almost everything needs to be done with only somewhat functional motion elements, from casting spells to attacking. I actually had hopes of liking this game, which is part of why I got it (the other reason being that I was interested to see what Interplay'd done,being an old fan of the studio from back when they weren't dead)... and my first impression is that it's alright. The graphics are nice for the Wii; there's minimal graphical variety within each stage, but it looks nice enough. As for the motion, the various swipes to do attacks work, and remind me of TES Arena and Daggerfall, in that you swipe, and then your character attacks. Different angles of swing use different weapons, depending on which ones you have. Throwing's a little trickier (again, different motions determine what you throw, make sure to do the right one), but it does work. The spells are a bit harder to get off right, though... the motions are more complex, and only somewhat work. At least most of your fighting is done with weapons.
The game clearly is low budget, and doesn't have stuff the original Stonekeep had like much of an intro (the original had lots of live action video stuff, of course), but no, I don't hate this game. It's repetitive for sure, but okay.
In addition, I got $3 worth of Mega Man 10 DLC (got the three special stages), and $5 worth for My Live As A Darklord (the second set of DLC levels).
WiiWare: Also, I redeemed the codes for two games I got with points from my Club Nintendo account; I had a bunch of expiring points, so I thought why not get some games I had an interest in anyway with them. That resulted in my downloading the two below WiiWare titles.
--
Dr. Mario Online Rx - Okay Dr. Mario game. Featurewise this is VERY barebones, and has no real main single player game -- this is just endless, vs. one CPU (single match), or online, pretty much. It's also two player only on single console, disappointingly. There is a somewhat interesting mode with pointer controls, but apart from that, there's not much here... play Dr. Mario 64 instead, unless you want to play online -- that this does have, and it's a nice option to have. Overall this plays great, but a don't expect much in the way of options.
Eco Shooter: Plant 530 - Rail shooter that supports the Zapper. This, along with Link's Crossbow Training, is one of only two rail shooters Nintendo made for the Wii. It's a pretty simple game, and is entirely on-rails unlike Link's Crossbow Training, so you only use the pointer, but it plays fine and is fun. It's not a great game, and seems a bit thin on content, but lightgun games often are... I wanted to try Nintendo's other Wii lightgun game, but not enough to spend $10 or so for it, so I got it here. Probably the right decision.