Casual games, also what I'm playing

So, earlier this year I looked up the Wikipedia article for casual games, and found myself trying to find more casual games to play on my 2DS XL. I guess I have done a decent job at finding games to play, but I also found I really need to have time and energy to play, and I prefer to play in my own room, often at night before going to bed.
Someone in real life called me a casual gamer, and I guess it is true since I had been thinking about casual games on 3DS, but I do play games that are probably not strictly casual games, so I am probably a casual-core gamer of some sort...who plays an exclusively handheld device.
According to Wikipedia there are several genres of casual games, but in my experience, on 3DS there are certain types of games that are casual, and also games that can be played casually, which is only a small difference.
So for example, Etrian Odyssey games have an easier difficulty setting, called Basic, Standard, or Casual that can make the gamer easier, and I can skip the post game, to play them casually. Or, Fire Emblem games, I can play them on Casual mode... they are putting it right out there, and Fire Emblem Heroes (the mobile game) is especially casual. It's also easy, so I'm assuming FE is actually supposed to be easy. I have a Hard save file going in Fire Emblem Echoes, but I'm not sure I will follow through with that. Speaking of FE, Fates: Conquest has a discount going, and I'm thinking, maybe I want to try it, but I might need to reload my account.
Also, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker came out and I liked the demo, and I have heard good things, so it's on my "list" of games to hopefully buy at some point. I could play a level or two each day.
I played New Super Mario Bros 2 a lot when it came out, and even completed the game 100%, so I went beyond casual at that point, but now when I pick it up to play, I play casually. I wish I had it digitally so I could load it up at any point and play a few levels, but I am stuck with my cartridge. If there is another Nintendo handheld that comes out after 3DS, I would like to go more digital from the start. Super Mario Run on mobile is also a great version of a Mario sidescroller. It would be cool if they could make a game as streamlined and casual as that for 3DS.
Mario and Luigi games, I don't really consider these casual. They are more complex and lengthy. But I really like them.
I'm interested in the match 3 genre, and I am very satisfied with my gaming sessions of Jewel Match 3. The name of the game is generic, but it does what it does really well. I enjoy playing one level and try to play it daily. Each level is really like 3 or 4 levels in one, since you can tap an arrow to move to the next "board" of jewels to match.
There are a few more match 3 games that I haven't tried yet, which are Jewel Quest IV and VI, Atlantic Quest, and 4 Elements. I think that is what they are called. They didn't all get great reviews, but neither did Jewel Match 3, and I like it a lot. Also, a game called Luxor looks interesting, so I might try that one as well.
I was going to post on Gamefaqs, but I decided my blog was a better place to write anything lengthy, and I have plenty to play without asking for anymore suggestions. I feel like I have a generally good idea of what is on the eShop, although there are plenty of games I have not played.
I wrote a post on solitaire, and that also fits in with my casual games on 3DS. I like playing Arc Style casually before bed.
Something nice about some "casual games" is, it really doesn't matter if I don't beat them or make a lot of progress. The point is the journey, not the end result.
However, there are some games that I am playing that I do want to eventually finish, but I don't know when I will, or particularly have any definite plans or prioritize which ones I will review next.
To play, I've got: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Paper Jam, Fire Emblem: Echoes, Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold, Puzzle & Dragons Z, Ever Oasis, Persona Q (not sure about this one), Rhythm Heaven Megamix, The Alliance Alive, Etrian Mystery Dungeon. I'm curious if 7th Dragon III would be fun to replay because I enjoyed it the first time.
Anyway, some of the others besides those retail games, are Witch and Hero III, Samurai Defender, Conveni Dream, Wakedas, Box Box Boy. I never finished that one, although I enjoyed the original Box Boy a lot. Also got Splat the Difference, could download Minis on the Move with a discount via MyNintendo... Lots to play, definitely.
I tried out Runbow and Noitu Love, the current free Nindie games. Runbow is kind of hard, and it doesn't feel like it was made for 3DS. Noitu Love is actually kind of fun, and reminds me that I never bought Hey Pikmin, which controls also using a stylus and some buttons to move at the same time. I played like 2 levels.
Although I could list out all the games I have, or more casual games, I think this post has gone on long enough. Thanks for reading!

Solitaire for 3DS

I’ve been playing solitaire for a few months now, and it has become my favorite pastime other than 3DS. I play with Bicycle mini cards, and it’s even more portable than my 2DS XL. I play for fun, just like I write this blog for fun.

I got The Complete Book of Solitaire & Patience Games by Albert Morehead & Geoffrey Mott-Smith, and this book reads like an official rule book. I use it to learn new games and memorize the rules, so I can play them by heart. I also read a few ebooks on solitaire to get started. However, I got Classic Games Overload: Card & Puzzle edition in January 2014 and that’s how I learned to play Klondike and other games.

Anyway, playing on 3DS is different than with real cards. With my mini cards I shuffle by putting the cards in several piles to randomize them and doing the Hindu shuffle, which I learned from a video. They are too small to do the riffle shuffle. On an electronic solitaire game, I imagine the deck is shuffled randomly using some type of permutation. It must pick one card from the 52 card deck to be the first card, then pick a card from the remainder of the deck to be the next card, and so on until the whole deck is randomly dealt. The computer shuffles instantly, which makes it easy to jump into a game at any time and keep playing if I want to start a new game. Playing electronic solitaire also naturally enforces the rules.

For the rest of this blog post I will be mostly talking about solitaire in the context of the 2DS/3DS. There are a handful of games available, but the most comprehensive of them is Classic Games Overload. It features 202 variations of solitaire, and that was quite overwhelming at first. There is also a budget game available called Best of Solitaire which appears to use the same engine and has 101 types of solitaire.

Classic Games Overload groups the games by families. Most of them are building games that are synonymous with solitaire, such as Klondike and FreeCell, which are at the top of the list of solitaires by popularity. In the Klondike family there are 28 varieties, and some of these I have tried include Agnes, Gargantua, Easthaven, Gold Rush, and West Cliff, which has a 90% chance of winning and is pretty fun. I win often enough, and I feel a solitaire player plays games they can sometimes or often win, much like any player of single player games.

In some cases, the games have actually nice rules that enable the player to win more often. In Pyramid there is a 7 card reserve and 2 redeals (cycling through the stockpile). A game that could have a 1 in 50 chance of winning becomes as high as 80%. In Eagle Wing, it allows the player to stack up to 3 cards on the wings, raising the chance of winning from 1 in 20 up to 50%.

However, in La Belle Lucie and Trefoil, according to my rule book the player is allowed an extra draw towards the end, which sometimes allows the player to win a blocked game. This extra move has not been programmed in Classic Games Overload, making the games a little harder. These games require me to think and look at the cards to find the ones I can safely play on each other. These games are in the Fan family, and the whole deck is laid out in the initial deal in fans of 3. 

I like games that are built down in suit, as opposed to alternating in suit color, because they play elegantly and with less clutter. Another such game is Storehouse, which is a variation of Canfield that has a reserve of 13 cards and is built down in suit on a 4 column tableau. It’s simple and fun, and sometimes comes down to luck, but also relies on paying attention to the cards, which is why another name for solitaire is patience; also probably because some games may take many tries to win.

I had better luck playing Baker’s Dozen with real cards than I did on my 3DS. However, Spanish Patience is a variation of Baker’s Dozen that builds regardless of suit on the foundation, which does make it a little easier. In other words, a 2 of Hearts could go on the Ace of Spades. It doesn’t matter. Bristol is another game that is built regardless of suit and can be won most of the time, which was invented by Morehead and Mott-Smith and is quite nice.

Some of the non-building games include Aces Up, where you discard lower cards of the same suit; Aces Square, where you discard pairs of the same suit; and Elevens, where you discard pairs that equal 11, and discard J, Q, K together as one. Some games like Nestor and Monte Carlo have you discarding pairs of the same rank, quite simply. These non-building games are all laid out differently, and all depend on a lot of luck.

The most well known 2 deck games are probably Spider and Forty Thieves, aka Napoleon at St Helena. There are many variations on each of these, and playing on the 3DS is convenient since I haven’t actually tried playing with 2 decks of physical cards yet. I prefer Spider one suit; I’ve completed it 5 times.

Classic Games Overload also features family games, casino games, and puzzle, tangram, and mahjong games, but for myself, the main draw is the solitaire games. There are many variations, and it can be played with either the stylus or the buttons. 

Now on to the other solitaire games for 3DS.

Pocket Card Jockey is a solitaire game with the story of horse racing. The solitaire is a variation called Golf, which is where the cards must be discarded up or down, one after another, until as many of them are gone as possible. The amount of cards can be affected by where you move your horse, and there are some special abilities too. It’s clever and casual, but I wish there was a bit more variety.

ARC Style Solitaire is a game that features two variations, Klondike and Monte Carlo. I really like the look, sound, and feel of this game. The cards and the table are customizable. The song that plays sounds like a medieval waltz. Klondike can be played in 3 different ways, with 1 card draw, 3, or 3 with a limit. I play with the buttons. It also offers you an SOS move to help you win. This game is where I first heard of Monte Carlo, and I like it because it’s a basic matching game that is very dynamic since the cards move when you can’t make anymore matches. Arc style solitaire is a good game, but it only has two types of solitaire, and there isn’t much more to do once both games are complete.

Touch Solitaire is a DSiware game and honestly, there is almost never a reason to buy DSiware when 3DS games are available. However, this caught my attention because it is published by Nintendo. It is playable and has Klondike and Spider. The easy version of Klondike allows the player to move any card into an empty space, while normal is just a standard 3 card draw. Easy Spider is a one deck version where you try to make a sequence of one suit from King to Ace. So it’s kind of like Will o’ the Wisp, which comes from Spiderette, which is a variation of Spider. I beat normal and unlocked hard, which is a two suit version of Spider with 2 decks.

5 in 1 Solitaire is another DSiware title that features Gaps, which is why I bought it. The game of Gaps lays out the whole deck in 4 rows and then removes the aces. The gameplay involves filling up the gaps left by the aces. The other games included are Klondike, FreeCell, Spider, and Golf. Again this is DSiware so there’s almost no reason to buy it.

Finally there are two other games that include solitaire, but it would not be the reason most would buy them. Brain Age: Concentration Training includes Klondike, Spider, and Golf, as well as Peg “solitaire,” which is a different game entirely as it doesn’t use a deck of cards. The Brain Training solitaire games are kind of the same as Touch Solitaire, the DSiWare I mentioned earlier, and relatively easy. Lastly, 3D Game Collection includes FreeCell among its many board games. I think I prefer Eight Off, which is the build-in-suit game that FreeCell is based off.

I’ve been excited to play solitaire during the day with real cards. Most games take less than 10 or 15 minutes. Playing on 3DS is also a great way to stay entertained and busy and learn new games. It is a do-it-yourself hobby that is almost like a mental exercise, and every time is different. My favorite on the 3DS is Classic Games Overload for the amount of content, but the other ones on 3DS are also good, and I’m going to keep playing whenever I can....

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.