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. 

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.

The Legend of Dark Witch 2

Dark Witch 2 is an excellent action platformer in the vein of Megaman. It's a ton of fun to play. It is a very competent sidescroller made by an indie team with clearly a passion for game design and art work.

You play as Zizou and upgrade your speed and shots with a Gradius style install bar. There is a shop with a lot of upgrades you can buy with the games' currency, Tres. Such as life, more attack power and magic abilities that can be used once per stage.

There are four difficulty settings, which vary from easy to very hard. Upon beating the game, you unlock several things, such as a new character, mini games such as poker and a rhythm game. There is also a museum you can use, playing levels which are achievements, and bonuses for your next new game.

All of these things make it an excellent game and my new favourite series. The first game was pretty good as well. It can be very addicting, so beware! I am really happy with this one!

Bust-a-move Universe

I highly recommend Bust-a-move Universe for 3DS (I personally played it on my 2DS). It's a really fun puzzle game where you shoot bubbles to match the same color and get them to disappear. An Amazon reviewer recommended Space Bust-a-move as well, but I didn't like that as much. In that one, if you got a game over on a puzzle you had to start the whole world you were on over again, which means you could have to replay puzzles you already beat. Plus Bust-a-move Universe has a guideline that is always on so you can see where your bubble will land.

New 3DS and games

I got the 3DS on Black Friday with the Luigi bundle. It's the cobalt blue color, and I'm finally really glad I finally got one.

I got some new games too, most of them on sale:

I've got plenty of games to play though I always want more. I like the original system best out of the three that I have.

I got this games case when I bought SMT4 and FE:A. I don't really like it very much. It seems a bit hard on the cartridges when you put them in. The games are plastic, so I want something that's a little more gentle on them. 

It does look cool though. 

(Edit: I'm using this case for now, and will see how it goes. It's a bit hard on the games, but they fit well.)

I made it to the third stratum in EO Untold. I handled the stratum FOE just fine...

TP and random battles are the most problematic issues I'm seeing with making fast progress in this game. I don't mind because it is pretty fun to look at on my new 2DS although I do wish I were more efficient sometimes. So I should see about making some small improvements.

I beat Metal Torrent again, and I'm happy about that... It is kind of the game you want to pick up and play with the intention of winning, although it is fun to play no matter what.

More to come.

Please help support my game habit

Hey all, I just created a new PayPal account using the email address I have been using to apply for jobs with: david_503job@yahoo.com

Please send me money on Paypal to this email address, and I will use it to buy more games, and maybe an original 3DS on sale.

I bought a 2DS, and I like the system. The original resolution looks crisp and sharp compared to the slightly stretched effect on the 3DS XL. The form factor is great, the triggers (R and L) are very nice buttons, and the mono sound is actually neat in my opinion. However, the downsides are that there are no 3D, and it doesn't have a clamshell design, which makes it less portable than its predecessors.

I want to buy an original 3DS someday. I'm thinking of holding out to see if we get the white 3DS in the USA. The only colors available here are black, purple, and pink.

I finished SteamWorld Dig; this is a great eShop game and I highly recommend giving it a shot! It's very good.

I've been playing Etrian Odyssey: Untold...and it is just like the other EO games...but something feels a bit off; maybe that's because I'm playing in "Story Mode," which means your characters have been created for you, and they are fixed. I'm used to switching around a bit until I find something that works well for me. Later, I will be able to change my story characters' classes, and I might do that if something makes sense to change.

I also bought Rune Factory 4, which I'm glad I got to try out. It's a neat little game. Honestly it has made me interested in the Harvest Moon games...it's a spin-off series from Harvest Moon, which is like a farming simulation. In Rune Factory 4, you are a prince or princess who has their own garden to work on, lives in a castle, and hunts monsters.

Just a small update, and I hope I can find some benefactors to support my gaming habit! ;)

You can also send money directly to my account via my iPhone cell number: 5038801696.

Last day for the Atlus 3DS contest

I know I want more 3DS games. That's why I've been entering this contest like a nut. So, here goes the last entry.

What can I say? Etrian Odyssey is my favorite 3DS series. The art is so cool and the dungeon crawling was very exciting. I admit I've gotten jaded over time after 4 games, so I'm looking for new quirks to keep my attention. I'm actually thinking of playing Untold on the highest difficulty possible. Then I'll have to really flesh out and develop my characters. The only thing is that I like to move quickly through the labyrinth, so if the encounters are more difficult, it might impede my progress and make me frustrated.

I played EO4 on casual the first time through, then on normal with a few level 1 characters. Speaking of which, I also need to figure out if I want to play through story first or go with classic. Kind of torn between it. But I usually only use one main party without switching characters too much, and the story party seems very balanced with the default classes, and there seems to be an option to reclass them later too.

Decisions, decisions. Just glad I finally got my hands on this game, and I hope it compels me to play like these games usually do.

More EOU skill lists and descriptions

Medic

Hp up

Tp up

Atk up

Heal mastery

Scavenge

Focus

Cure

Heal

Salve

Regenerate

Delayed heal

Unbind

Refresh

Revive

Diagnosis

Immunize

CPR

Caduceus

Clear strike

Anaesthetic

Toxin injection

Curare

Safe passage

Chop

Hp up

Tp up

Atk up

Heal mastery: enables healing skills and increases HP recovered through healing

Scavenge: Raises drop rate  

Focus: recovers TP if user's HP is maximum

Cure: heal 1 ally

Heal: bigger heal to 1 ally

Salve: party heal

Regenerate: HoT 3 turns

Delayed heal: party heal next turn

Unbind: removes binds from 1 ally

Refresh: " ailments

Revive: resurrect 1 ally

Diagnosis: raises crit rate for 1 line (buff)

Immunize: raises party's ele def 3 turns

CPR: gives the party a chance to survive mortal blows with 1 HP for 3 turns

Caduceus: melee bash attack to 1 enemy; may stun (staff)

Clear strike: bash to 1 enemy (higher tech, more damage)

Anaesthetic: sleep 1 enemy

Toxin injection: poison 1 enemy

Curare: paralyze 1 enemy

Safe passage: lowers damage from hazard floors

Chop:  find more resources at chop spots

Alchemist

Tp up

Formula mastery

Firelight

Scavenge

Focus

Alchemy

Fire formula

Flame formula

Inferno formula

Ice formula

Freeze formula

Cocytus Formula

Volt Formula

Spark Formula

Thor Formula

Paoin Formula

Light Formula

Light Tincture

Analysis

Dilution

Flee

Sight Formula

Return Formula

Chop

Tp up

Formula mastery: enables alchemical formulas and raises damage from ele atks

Firelight: ranged fire atk at turn's end to enemies hit by light or pain formulas

Scavenge: raises drop rate of items from monsters 

Focus: recovers TP at a turn's end if the user's HP is at max

Alchemy: discarding converts items into ent

Fire formula: ranged fire atk to 1 enemy

Flame formula: fire atk with splash effect 

Inferno formula: ranged fire atk to all enemies 

Ice formula: ice formula to 1 enemy

Freeze formula: ranged ice that pierces enemy lines

Cocytus Formula: ranged ice attack to all enemies

Volt Formula: ranged volt atk to 1 enemy

Spark Formula: ranged volt atk to 1 enemy line

Thor Formula: ranged volt atk to all enemies

Paoin Formula: melee bash atk to 1 enemy; front line only 

Light Formula: nullifies pays atks to user this turn

Light Tincture: " ele atttacks

Analysis: hitting enemy's weakness lowers def for 3 turns (buff)

Dilution: lowers all enemies' ele def for 3 turns (debuff)

Flee: consumers party's HP to escape

Sight Formula: displays all FOEs on map

Return Formula: Ariadne Thread skill

Chop:  allows the user to find more resources at chop spots

Gunner

HP up 

Atk up

Gun mastery

Double strike

High caliber

Penetrator

Recharge

Cover fire

Medic bullet

Head snipe

Arm snipe

Leg snipes

Fire rounds

Charged fire

Ice rounds

Charged ice

Volt rounds

Charged volt

Charged shot

Ricochet

Shell shock

Vulcan stance

Action boost

Take

HP up 

Atk up

Gun mastery: enables gun skills and increases damage with guns

Double strike: normal atks may hit twice (passive)

High caliber: raises dmg of crits

Penetrator: normal atks may pierce enemy lines (pas.)

Recharge: may recover the TP used for a skill (pas.)

Cover fire: when user guards from the back, front may recover HP

Medic bullet: removes an ally's ailments and recovers HP

Head snipe: accurate stab to 1 enemy; head bind

Arm snipe: snipe at enemy arms

Leg snipes: leg snipe gun skill

Fire rounds: ranged fire

Charged fire: charged fire shot

Ice rounds: ranged pierce and ice atk

Charged ice: ranged ice atk to 1 enemy; lowers def until activation

Volt rounds: ranged stab and volt atk to 1 enemy

Charged volt: charged volt shot

Charged shot: charged stab attack

Ricochet: multiple atks to all enms

Shell shock: lowers atk, def, hit rate, and evade of rear enemy line; may stun

Vulcan stance: user's normal atks do more dmg and hit all enemies for 3 turns (buff)

Action boost: the user has a chance of acting multiple times on the next turn

Take: allows the user to find more resources at certain taking spots.

Ronin

HP Up

TP Up

ATK Up

Katana Mastery

Severing Slash

Crit Up

Slantwise Cut

Upper Stance

Horse Slash

Swallow Strike

Flame Grater

Clear Stance

Razor Dodge

Arm Strike

Lightning Stab

Drawing Stance

Beheading Cut

Charging Slash

Frigid Slash

Perfect Chaser

Peerless Stance

Breath

Indomitable Cry

Mine

HP Up

TP Up

ATK Up

Katana Mastery: enables Katana skills and increases damage dealt with katanas

Severing Slash: Occasionally kills all enemies instantly at the start of a battle

Crit Up: Raises critical rate

Slantwise Cut: Melee cut attack to 1 enemy. Enables skills requiring a stance afterward

Upper Stance: An overhead stance that raises physical attack and defense for 3 turns.

Horse Slash: Upper stance only: Melee cut attack to 1 enemy

Swallow Strike: Upper stance only: Multiple melee cut attacks to 1 enemy / Uses the initial strike’s momentum to strike multiple times afterward

Flame Grater: Upper stance only: Melee cut and fire attack to a line of enemies

Clear Stance: A stances that raises phys atk and def for 3 turns

Razor Dodge: Clear Stance only: Evade enemy attacks / Reads the enemy’s movements to dodge their attacks. Activation rate lowers with each time it activates.

Arm Strike: Clear Stance only: Melee cut attack to 1 enemy. May bind the enemy’s arms. 

Lightning Stab: Clear Stance: Melee stab and volt that pierces through enemy lines.

Drawing Stance: A stance that raises speed, hit rate, and evade rate for 4 turns. 

Beheading Cut: Drawing Stance only: melee cut 1 enemy; instant kill

Charging Slash: Drawing Stance only: Melee stab attack to 1 enemy

Frigid Slash: Drawing Stance only: Ranged cut and ice attack to all enemies. / A slash with a blade coated in frost.

Perfect Chaser: Stance only: Follow all allies’ normal attacks this turn with another attack.

Peerless Stance: Stance only: Enables all stance skills for 3 turns

Breath: Restores Hp to the user and adjacent allies

Indomitable Cry: fear to all enemies

Mine: find more resources at mine spots

Hexer

Hp up

TP up

Curse mastery

Staggering Word

Sapping Curse

Frailty Curse

Leaden Curse

Deceit Curse

Blinding Curse

Madness Curse

Torpor Curse

Corrupt Curse

Stoning Curse

Cranial Curse

Abdomen Curse

Immobile Curse

Evil Eye

Muting Word

Conflict word

Suicide word

Relapse Curse

Revenge Curse

Luring whisper

Chop

Hp up

TP up

Curse mastery: Enables Curse skills and increases success of ailments

Staggering Word: stun (passive)

Sapping Curse: lower enemy phys/ele atk 3 turns

Frailty Curse: lower enemy phys/ele def 3 turns

Leaden Curse: lowers enemy speed 4 turns

Deceit Curse: lowers enemy hit rate 4 turns

Blinding Curse: blind enemy line

Madness Curse: panic enemy line

Torpor Curse: sleep enemy line

Corrupt Curse: curse 1 enemy

Stoning Curse: petry 1 enemy

Cranial Curse: head bind

Abdomen Curse: arm bind

Immobile Curse: leg bind

Evil Eye: fear enemy line

Muting Word: feared enemy line unable to move & lowered def

Conflict word: feared enemy line attack each other

Suicide word: feared enemy line attack self

Relapse Curse: lowers all enemies' recovery rate from ailments 3 turns

Revenge Curse: untyped atk that is stronger the lower the user's HP

Luring whisper: raise encounter rate

Chop: find more resources at chop spots

Protector skills list

HP up
TP up
Def up
Shield Mastery
Aegis
En Garde
Prayer
Provoke

Parry
Fortify
Defender
Front guard
Rear guard
Fire wall
Volt wall
Ice wall

Bravery's gift
Shield smite
Shield rush
Cure
Party cure
Flee
Safe passage
Mine

HP up

TP up

Def up

Shield Mastery: skills & inc. def.

Aegis: may survive with 1 HP

En Garde: passive guard

Prayer: party recovers HP and TP after battle (pas.)

Provoke: raises chance of being targeted 3 turns (buff)

Parry: repels all physical attacks to the user's line for this turn

Fortify: raises the user's def for 3 turns (buff)

Defender: raises the party's def for 3 turns (buff)

Front guard: lowers phys dmg to front line 

Rear guard: " rear line

Fire wall: protects against fire for all allies

Volt wall: " volt

Ice wall: " ice

Bravery's gift: raises max HP while taking party's damage

Shield smite: bash to 1 enemy; may bind

Shield rush: bash to all enemies; lowers physical attack power

Cure: restores an ally's HP

Party cure: " party

Flee: escape from battle to floor entrance

Safe passage: lowers damage from hazard floors  

Mine: allows the user to find more resources at mining spots

Highlander skills list

Here's a list of the highlander's skills:

Highlander

HP Up: raises max HP
ATK Up: raises phys attack
Def up: raises phys defense
Spear Mastery: enables spear skills and increases damage
Blood lust: may perform a normal atk when health is lost (passive)
Turning tide: recover HP for all allies when user slays an enemy (pas.)
Battle instinct: may make all allies immune to ailments for 5 turns after battle starts (pas.)
Allied bonds: When skills use HP, allies recover HP at turn's end

Long thrust - ranged stab to 1 enemy
Head pierce: stab to 1 enemy, may bind head or kill instant
Spear assist: melee stab 1 enemy, gains element of skill that activates it
Draining thrust - conumes HP to attack front enemy line
Draining burst: consumes HP for a melee stab atk to all enemies
Legion thrust: consumes the party's HP for a melee stab atk to the front enemy line
Legion burst: consumes party's HP for a melee atk to all enemies
Delayed charge: consumes the user's HP for a ranged stab atk to 1 enemy 2 turns later

Cross charge: consumes the user's HP for a melee stab attack. Stronger with Delayed Charge.
Bloody offense: consumes user's HP to raise a line's phys/ele atk for 3 turns (buff)
Spirit shield: consumes HP to raise one line's ele def for 3 turns (buff)
Blood fortune: consumes party's HP to raise their ailment success rate.
Stigmata: may bind an enemy and the user.
Black sabbath: drains all enemies' HP/recovers party's HP. Transfers ailments/binds to allies
Limitless: charges up for increased damage on next action, which ignores equipment limits
Mine: allows the user to find more resources at mining spots

EO:U Gameplay impressions

The core EO gameplay returns here in the form of an EO 1 remake. The gameplay is actually closer to EO IV though because the new interface, battle system, and skill trees seem most like that. This is good because EO IV was an improvement. I find it kind of hard to go back to the older games now that we are in the current generation.

It is quite cool you get one point in skills in the Mastery tree just by putting points into the Mastery skill itself. For instance, on the Highlander, putting 5/10 into Spear Mastery unlocks all the skills down to Spear Assist, which is useful in doing Elemental damage. It is kind of like the Landsknecht's links in EO IV, although I think it only does one attack.

Otherwise, Alchemist, story character Arthur, was my party's most consistent highest damage dealer. Maybe that's because I was using the 4/10 Fire spell bolstered by the Highlander's elemental buff. I was playing on Standard  difficulty by the way, and I will likely stick with that for my first playthrough.

I'm excited to see the full game in October. Thanks, Atlus.

Etrian Odyssey Untold first look

Demo impressions:

I'm excited to have a new game to play so soon after the last one...

Story mode is cool right off the bat and looks to be very compelling. It's nice not to have to try to come up with your own party for once, and the starting party seems well balanced. Highlander is a nice addition to play with.

Otherwise, all of the classes from the original Etrian Odyssey game return, although classic mode is not available in the demo.

Since it's on the 3DS, it doesn't even feel like a remake; it feels new and fresh like EO IV did.

Atlus has done it once again! For me, this is a must-buy.