Kingdom’s Item Shop

This is a Circle Ent game, which means it’s pretty cheap and usually rather casual. In Kingdom’s Item Shop, the player chooses to play as either a boy or girl shopkeeper and starts playing right away. From humble beginnings selling only one item at a time, the shop is upgraded and well stocked enough to become Kingdom’s Item Shop, the highest level and the end of the game.

There are three main things to do: questing, making recipes, and stocking the shop. When questing, you hire adventurers to fight monsters for you, and you run around picking up the items they drop. There are 3 classes of adventurers, and you set them to attack, defend, or activate skills with the X button. There are about 7 different quest locations.

Then you stock the shop with items that you have gotten, which range from commons to rares that might only drop from quest bosses. These items also have a popularity from low to high and a price which they sell at. Selling is a big part of the game, but in order to make progress, I also had to figure out recipes for more items to sell.

The recipes use two or three ingredients to make a special item, such as bread made from wheat and spring water or casual clothes made from cotton and an orange flower.  The game gives clues about what goes into an item, and I am glad I was able to figure out most everything myself. I made it to 60-70% completion at the crafting shops. You can make food, equips, clothes, and spells.

There’s also some special orders which can be completed to earn reputation needed to rank up. And the shop can be upgraded and so can your character in various ways... Such as bonuses from selling a certain amount of an item or badges to make quests cheaper.

I really liked it. It lasted about 10 hours and kept me coming back to it to sell some stuff. You see, the game is active even when it is in sleep mode or the system is off. I like how relaxed it was and I’m satisfied but a little sad it’s over. I guess I can keep playing. It’s an entertaining game that is overall competent, not dull.

When I got it on sale, I also got Adventure Bar Story and Conveni Dream, which are similar in some ways (haven’t started the latter yet), but Adventure Bar Story is a bit more difficult and obtuse. I’m also thinking of buying Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, which looks good and got great reviews, and Ever Oasis is another simulation game that I’d like to finish, but I don’t think anything will be as ultra casual or fun as Kingdom’s Item Shop.

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team

This game is an action RPG starring the Super Mario Bros, and as a Mario game it is one of the crown jewels of the first-party 3DS library, and one of the best games. It was the first Mario and Luigi game I played seriously. The exploring and platform jumping takes place in both 3D areas and 2D dream sequences. The adventure is on Pi’illo Island in which “pi’illos” are cute creatures which look like a pillow have been turned to stone and trapped in the dreamworld. It is the heroes’ job to rescue them.

There are many customization options throughout the game, from gear to which stats to level up and which badges to use in battle. Items are found often enough when exploring that I didn’t need to buy them too much, but they all have their uses.

Special attacks, which Mario and Luigi find, are exciting to use and figure out when to use the right one. The Dreams are dreamy and good side quests. Music is good: mostly upbeat, sometimes ambient and mysterious, and occasionally a classic theme played.

I didn’t really look forward to the giant battles using the stylus with the system on its side, but content is content and they were not bad. The QTEs (quick time events) are a welcome change from all the button pressing.

There is a feeling of overcoming adversity and completing challenges while playing Dream Team. It’s almost hard to believe all the inputs were my own, that I was actually playing the game. That is to say, it made me feel like I had skills.

The level and encounter design was genius, and it does ramp up towards the end. The last castle is epic and feels like something out of Zelda. It was fun to play and put a smile on my face.

I wasn’t sure I liked the graphics when I played the demo, but I grew fonder of Mario and Luigi than ever while playing this game and the art is pretty good. Mario has starred in games other than 2D platformers since the 90s, even board games for computers and stuff like that, but this is a Mario game that fits well on the system.

The amount of tutorials and dialogue does not negatively affect the game, nor were they excessive. One review said the boss fights at the end went on too long, so I decided to equip an accessory that made Mario eat a mushroom automatically when he needed it. This was a good idea and the end would have been challenging without the automatic heals.

It took me 46 hours to beat the game and I rated it 5 out of 5 on the eShop, for gamers who enjoy intense play. I’ve also got Paper Jam to play next since I enjoyed this one so much. Dream Team is a gem among 3DS games and I’m glad I played it.

Etrian Odyssey Untold

EOU is a remake that features the 9 original classes from EO and a story mode too. After playing both modes, I preferred classic by far since I could make my own party. I started the replay in February and just finished last night. It wasn’t the only game I played though.

The next choice besides story vs classic is the game’s difficulty. I tried to play expert, but it wasn’t for me. Once I realized that, I stuck to standard for the rest of the play through. 

EOU has an intricate labyrinth, which is genuinely interesting to explore. It made me feel a little nostalgic and it recalls the original EO because of the classes and mazes and monsters.

Part of the game is the puzzle of party building. I started with a Protector, Landsknecht, Survivalist, Medic, and Troubadour. However, after asking for advice on Gamefaqs, I dropped my S and M for a Dark Hunter and Alchemist. It was a good decision. 

I realized as I was playing that I was basically role playing as hunter-gatherers. I would explore, fight and gather in a gameplay loop that flows pretty well. I got 3 ultimate equips for my characters, which helped me do more damage. Gathering requires 30 skill points so it’s best to do it on a separate character.

I beat the game with level 60s. My total playtime for EOU is almost 100 hours! I liked it a lot, but I’m not going to play the post game because I have other games to play such as EO2U, which is supposed to be even better.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

 Fire Emblem is a strategy role-playing game (SRPG) series that is developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. My first was the Sacred Stones for Game Boy Advance. I started this game 4 years ago and just finished it today. Awakening is the first FE game for 3DS. It was easy to come back to after long breaks, which is why I was able to complete the campaign.

FE plays on a grid like a chess or checkers game, but it’s more free flowing than that because every move has many possibilities. I played on Normal/Casual difficulty. The game seems designed for casual because it’s virtually impossible to play without losing any units. I can imagine someone playing on a harder difficulty very strategically. In fact, someone on Gamefaqs said they played one of the 3DS FEs for 500 hours. It took me about 20 to beat it.

The gameplay system is solid. The graphics are simple pixel art, so it’s a bit hard to tell who’s who. It did play well on my New 2DS XL while resting on a tabletop and pressing the buttons with my fingers like a keyboard. I paired up my foot soldiers with mounted units and Chrom and Robin for defense. Some units such as Kellam before promotion seemed weaker than they should be, since he wears a suit of armor.

One other thing: although the game does contain some instructions, it does not recommend how to build a team, so I mostly used the first half of my roster only. I didn’t really use the Pegasus knights or the Dancer or the other Shapeshifter. So I felt a bit like a newbie. Set-up is fairly important.

FE Awakening is a good fantasy war epic. I have Echoes to play next. Overall I would give this game a high score of 8 out of 10. It’s better than the other SRPGs I have played, but I can’t say it was absolutely perfect or else I probably would have played through it faster. However, I am now considering myself a fan of the Fire Emblem series.

Etrian Odyssey V

I’m writing my review of Etrian Odyssey V from my iPhone. The community laptop was having trouble with Blogger.

The official website is at www.atlus.com/etrian5

Anyway this game was awesome and it seems like it was a labor of love by the developers. The labyrinth is quite amazing this time around. The character classes are a good lineup and the user interface is polished and improved.

I like the food system in game. Party characters can cook and eat roasted meat and fish, grilled apples, eggs in a basket, honey, milk, wheat, potato stew, and pancakes. Some restore HP while others restore TP. Ultimately it is often best to return to town and rest at the inn, unless you want to fight just one more encounter.

The equipment system returns as usual, but you can also forge more stats onto a weapon if you have the right materials. Then later they can be recycled for shards and ingots. I’m in the post game and at this point, I need to look up the conditional drops to get the best gear in the game.

One complaint I have is that random battles don’t give that much character experience. There is a downloadable quest that I paid for, which is easy to complete and gives loads of experience, but I shouldn’t really have to pay to level up. It is what it is, I guess.

Party building kept me busy for several months as I explored the lower levels of Yggdrasil. Overall it was a streamlined, personal journey from start to finish. I give the game a good score though, basically a 10 out of 10.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I’m going to celebrate by getting some new games: Persona Q, which is like an Etrian Odyssey game with Persona 3 & 4 characters; and Etrian Mystery Dungeon, a mystery dungeon with an Etrian spin on it.

Besides that, I’m playing EO Untold and never finished 2 Untold, so that will keep me busy gaming for a while. For what it’s worth, I played EOV on Advanced difficulty up until the post game, but I’m playing Untold on the middle difficulty.

And in case somebody is reading this looking for role playing game recommendations, last year I played through Legend of Legacy about 9 times and 7th Dragon III: Code VFD once. 

I've been playing a lot of the Legend of Zelda.

In some ways I grew up with Zelda because I had Link's Awakening on Gameboy and Ocarina of Time on Nintendo 64.  I only played them about once through and didn't remember too much about them, so replaying them has been really fun.

I played through the original Legend of Zelda on 3DS virtual console. For an NES game, it is really quite amazing! I did use a map to help get through the game, and I've been replaying it for my second time. It really is a classic, and it introduces a standard of gameplay that sets the bar for the rest of the series.

After beating the original, I went on to replay A Link Between Worlds and Phantom Hourglass. Hourglass has great control with the stylus. After all I get tired of pressing buttons with my thumb all day sometimes. The dungeon maps are very good in this game too.

A Link Between Worlds focuses on action, combat, and exploration. It also has a mechanic of wall walking where you merge and become a painting to traverse areas you couldn't otherwise. It shares the same world from A Link to the Past, and that's a game I want to play again sometime as well. Buying and renting items from a new character is how this game gives you equipment. I like it, and you do buy items in other Zelda games, but this takes it too a new level. However, you also find useful items in the dungeons as well. I like it a lot and like the original LoZ, I think it's very replayable.

Now that Ocarina of Time 3D has become a Nintendo Selects game I got it for a good price on the eShop. I've been enjoying re-visiting this game, but I haven't played for a few days. It's fun. Last time I played, I had just finished the Fire Temple. I'll get back to it soon.

On my replay of Link's Awakening, I am pretty far in the game. I'm playing with my original Gameboy cartridge on my GBA SP. I found it fun at the beginning, and I like how it shares some characteristics with the original NES Zelda game, such as the grid-based world and dungeon maps, and the inventory system. It's actually the hardest one I've played so far, and the areas are maze-like. I just beat the 5th dungeon today, and bought the bow and arrows, which was very expensive at 980 rupees. I found a good place to grind for money where the enemies respawn quickly and usually drop rupees.

Since I enjoyed my time with the games in April, I ordered two new to me games in May: The Minish Cap (GBA) and Spirit Tracks (DS).  The Minish Cap is a lot of fun so far, but I can't say much more about it than that yet since I have only beat two dungeons. The Spirit Tracks is like Phantom Hourglass, but instead of a boat, you ride a train. It's cool. The only thing I don't like is that you have to blow into the DS system's microphone a lot, to use a whirlwind item and to play your flute. It's very gimmicky in my opinion. But the pace of the game is pretty good so far.

I'm planning on playing through the ones I haven't finished in the next few months. I'm really enjoying going back to the Legend of Zelda games and playing both old and new ones.

Puzzler World and Word Games

I got Puzzler World 2013 on sale on 3DS eShop, and really have been enjoying it. It has wordsearches, crosswords, sudoku, and other logic, word, and number puzzles. Every time you complete a challenge puzzle, you play a bonus puzzle, and upon completing that, you get to spin the fruit machine. This gives you a chance to win tokens that can be used for hints while you play the game. It's very useful, and you can use tokens to keep spinning the wheel.

I enjoyed the puzzles and the presentation so much, that I found the older game called Puzzler World XL and downloaded that one too. The only difference is that was released to DSiWare, and instead of regular, you hold the system sideways. It has a few different puzzles, and some of them, like Fitwords and Silhouette, are very easy. The Link-a-pix are quite simpler in the earlier version of the game as well. Crosswords are the hardest generally, but you can always use hint tokens to get by if you need it.

Another game called Word Games by Powgi got released recently. It isn't as full-featured as Puzzler World, but it has six word games including word maze, circles, flowers, mix ups, one words, and one other that I'm forgetting. I just got it yesterday. It is fun, but its hints aren't as good as Puzzler World, so it is possible to get completely stuck on a puzzle if you just don't know a word. It's still pretty fun, and I'll keep playing all of these games in my free time.