For the week of October 14- 20
Check out what I played last week
This week’s edition is going to be a bit shorter than most. I was in Japan this week. While I managed to keep up with my goal of trying a different game every day, I didn’t play as much as I usually do. At the same time, some of these games didn’t grab me as I would have thought/hoped.
October 14 – Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars
Zone of the Enders was a series I enjoyed on the PlayStation 2. It’s disappointing that we may never get another game in that series. The only game in the series I never tried was the Game Boy Advance release, The Fist of Mars. I went in expecting a tactical game and that is what I got.
So far, I played two missions and both were easy to complete. This feels right at home as someone who has played and loved Front Mission 3. You move units around a grid battlefield and can do different attacks based on your location. Closer attacks are sword-based. Meanwhile, you use ranged weapons, such as guns and grenades, from further back.
From what I have seen, this is a standard “mysterious circumstances” situation. You have a girl with amnesia that seems to play a much larger role in the story. Your character is a suspect in a crime, and some unknown characters may or may not be allies. I can see myself playing a bit more of this since it fits the portability that I often crave. At the same time, I now want to try the Front Mission remakes that came out over the last few years. I never played their original game, so this could get me to try them.
October 15 – Catherine: Full Body
I’ve wanted to try Catherine for the longest time. This was a game that I remember being well-regarded for its storytelling. Catherine is the game that helped push Atlus into the mainstream. Yes, Persona 3 and 4 were well-regarded, but they still didn’t have players talking. Catherine and Persona 4 Golden in 2012 changed that. Now, Atlus-developed games always have a lot of hype around them.
Unfortunately, I do not like Catherine, the game. Let me be more specific. I hate the “climbing” part of Catherine. It’s not fun! Vincent, the main character, has these weird dreams where he has to climb up these blocks to escape. The problem is that the game starts you off with no real explanation of the mechanics of how to progress. I was failing because I would get stuck in a spot and not have any reasonable way of progressing.
You only have a limited number of rewinds and there is also a timer involved. So, you can try to move around seeing what you can do, only to fall to your death. I was almost ready to completely give up on the game without reaching any actual story content. I did progress but I wasn’t happy. Then, when I once again started having trouble with the second climbing stage, I gave up.
From what I remember, there is a “story-focused” difficulty for the game. If I can change the difficulty, so I limit the climbing sections, then I could give this a second chance. I wanted to see how the story progresses. Otherwise, this was such a disappointment for me.
October 16 – Zero Zero Perfect Stop!
While in Japan, I am finally experiencing their famous high-speed train, the Shinkansen. I thought it would be fitting to play a train-related game and I chose to try Zero Zero Perfect Stop! This is a PlayDate exclusive. While I like its concept, it’s too frustrating for me to enjoy.
This is a train simulator that is very specific with what it allows you to do. I’ve been trying to complete the game’s first stage but failing every time. Everything has to follow a specific structure. You have to be at the exact speed. Go below the speed limit and you won’t hit the required times. If you’re 1 km/h over the limit you’re penalized. Stay too long over the limit and the game fails you.
If this had a little bit more freedom, I’d have more fun. Again, the concept is great. It’s fun to use the PlayDate’s crank to control your acceleration and braking. But the lack of freedom, even in its tutorial, I wanted to stop playing.
October 17 – Disney Twisted Wonderland
My wife and I are visiting Tokyo Disneyland and the Tokyo Disney Sea. When you take the train from Tokyo station, you see ads for Disney Twisted Wonderland. I thought this was a Japan-only mobile game but to my surprise, it’s been around for a few years in English. So, because it made sense, I gave it a try. For a mobile game, it’s a very slow game.
I’ve been playing this for a few days now and I’m still in the game’s “Prologue”. This is a Disney version of Harry Potter. Here, you’re attending a school around Disney villain characters. My character is a new student at the academy but it appears I don’t have any actual skills. The story is moving at such a slow pace, that I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve gone through 13 chapters in the Prologue and I’m still not sure if this is an RPG or a rhythm-based game.
The gameplay so far has been few and far between. There appear to be two types of gameplay. The first is your standard turn-based RPG. You have a squad of students, and you fight against foes. Nothing unique here. The other is a rhythm-based mode. Here, you are tapping the screen in time to markers. Depending on our timing, the story in these sections could change. Neither has been difficult, but I do enjoy the rhythm sections more.
For a game that’s been around for a few years, I’m glad that there is a steady flow of content. But, the onboarding is weak, especially in comparison to other mobile games. I don’t know if this is something I’d recommend to people. Hardcore Disney people have already tried this. Meanwhile, non-Disney people won’t stick around to finish the Prologue.
October 18 – Deadly Premonition Origins
My only “horror” game for this week is the cult classic, Deadly Premonition. This is another game that I’ve wanted to try for a long time but have waited until now to do so. I went into this knowing full well that this is a rough game. The graphics were super dated 10 years ago and look even rougher in 2024. But, for the first part of the game, I do enjoy its gameplay.
After the cold opening and mysterious montage, you start the game by escaping from a car crash. This section does a decent job of getting you used to the combat. I found shooting foes to be manageable. The only parts that caused some trouble were the quick-time event sections. Once I improved my reflexes, I had no trouble and proceeded to escape the area. I’m now on what appears to be a highway heading towards the game’s main town.
Because of timing, I don’t know if I’ll progress much more in the game. Again, I like the combat and I’d love to see more of the campiness. But with my schedule and needing to try a different game every day, there is not enough time to do so. In the future, I’d go back and try this again and put in a better effort in playing more.
October 19 – The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
As part of my looking forward to the rest of the year list, I finally picked up The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. It was cheaper to buy the Japanese version while visiting the country, which is why I am only playing this now. From what I’ve played thus far, I’m enjoying the game’s main mechanic and can’t wait to see more of what it has to offer.
I have a few odd gripes with the game though. For starters, I have no idea why Zelda is a mute. She’s been talkative in past games, so treating her like Link is an odd move. I get that she’s pretending to not be the princess. But I doubt that villagers around Hyrule would be able to recognize her voice if she spoke. The other odd move is the lack of a favorites option for the echoes you use.
This has been the biggest point of contention for the game from what I’ve gathered over the last few weeks. The idea of using echoes to complete puzzles and fight foes is great. But scrolling through a long list to find what you need is annoying. They do try to put the most used ones near the front so it’s easy to manage. But why they didn’t allow for a quick select option, is baffling.
I’ve only reached what I assume is the game’s first “dungeon” area, so I don’t have much more to say about the game. Again, I’m having fun so far and can’t wait to put in some more time with the game when I can.
October 20 – Ys X: Nordics
My first experience with the Ys series began back on the PlayStation Portable. Ys Seven was such a fun game. With NIS and Xseed Games re-releasing a few of the other older games for Western audiences, I had fun with them. Unfortunately, I skipped both Ys VIII and Ys IX, so I’ve been out of the loop with the series. But the English version of Ys X: Nordics launching this week, I tried the game out and I’m enjoying it so far.
I am still very early, only putting in an hour into it. The game starts with a lot of exposition for our lead Adol. They only give you a few opportunities to try the combat. It’s easy to grasp and a large part of why I enjoyed the series back on the PSP. I hope there is a bit more to the combat. I did reach the point where they did introduce one new element, but I need to spend more time with it.
That’s all I have to say about the game. I don’t know if it’s won me over to play the full release. Again, the combat is solid but I wanted more. The story is fine but hasn’t grabbed me. This feels like the kind of game that I will pick up when it’s on sale and regret not playing sooner.
