PixlBit

I’ve got a buffet of game reviews I’ve written recently at GamerDad.com for you to feast on today!  Please click on links and read as many as you can, and maybe even post a comment or two.  I’d appreciate it, thanks.  There’s so much here that your bellies will be nice and big by the end of the blog!

World of Final Fantasy (Vita)

When I was a kid in the 16-bit era, I was really big into RPGs.  Games like FF4, FF6, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, etc. took up most of my gaming time.  But when the 32-bit era came along, I kind of gradually got out of the RPG loop.  College and other commitments took up more of my gaming time, and while the newer RPGs kind of grew up, my tastes in games didn’t.  Sure I would dive back into RPGs every once in a while, like with FF9, Tales of Legendia, and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.  But today’s RPGs certainly don’t interest me like how they used to.  That’s why I like World of Final Fantasy so much.  It feels like Square-Enix made a FF game just for me.  Sure it’s basically Final Fantasy Pokémon, but like other FF spinoff game such as the Dissidia fighter or the Theatrhythm music game, they made this game their own. It might be a bit too cutesy for some, but I don’t mind it. This game has a good chance of winning a big award when I do my Game of the Year blog.  I just have to play Shantae: Half-Genie Hero to see which one I like more!

World of Final Fantasy Strategy Guide

I got to review the World of Final Fantasy strategy guide, so I posted it close to the game review since they go together.  It’s a nice balance of artwork and content.

20 Years of Tomb Raider (Book)

This is a huge and nice hardcover book about everything you’d ever want to know about Lara Croft and Tomb Raider.  It has so much info it’s almost obsessive.  If Prima Games wanted to do a book on the history of Pac-Man, the author of this book should do it.  Although I think they’d need my help, too, don’t you think?  In my review, I put in a few tidbits of my own that I know about Tomb Raider that I didn’t see in the book, so you’ll have to read the review to find out what it is!  If you are a big fan of Tomb Raider, you should definitely get this book.  I’m not a big fan of Tomb Raider, but even I enjoyed reading it.  The only game in the series I got into was Lara Croft GO, a mobile puzzle game.  I like the idea of a female Indiana Jones type character, but the games were just too serious for me.  If Lara Croft had a sidekick that was a pink dinosaur that threw cupcakes at bad guys, then I’d play Tomb Raider games.

Dragon Quest Builders Strategy Guide

I also got to review this guide.  When I get a PS4, I’ll probably try and get the game, too.  It’s a decent guide, but the ratio of artwork to text isn’t as good as the World of Final Fantasy guide, which is a shame since I do like Akira Toriyama’s art.  But this is a strategy guide, not an art book, so I guess that’s OK.  I didn’t really want to review all the guides at once, but the press releases that went with the guides told me the due date was November 11.  I usually don’t get due dates when reviewing stuff, but since Prima Games has been supportive of me since the Dallas Morning News days, I’ll try to do what they ask of me within reason.

Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure (3DS)

Have you ever played a game that you really liked, and then ten years later, you played it again and enjoyed it just as much?  That’s how I feel about this game.  Gurumin was one of my top five favorite PSP games.  It’s cute little hack and slash platformer and it was also made by the same folks who did the Ys games: Falcom.  They’ve re-released it on the 3DS, and I really liked it.  You should check it out!

LEGO Dimensions The A-Team Fun Pack

When I was little, The A-Team was a really popular TV show, but I never got into it as a kid.  I was more interested in shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider for some reason.  Also, I feel a little silly admitting this, but as a kid I was a little scared of Mr. T., one of the stars of the show.  Mr. T. was really popular, though, even getting his own cartoon and cereal (yes, really).  So I wasn’t too terribly interested in reviewing this one, but they sent it to me anyway.  I guess it’s all right if you’re a big fan of the show.  I can’t imagine too many kids knowing what The A-Team is, though.  They did make a remake movie a few years back.  I rented it, but I fell asleep about an hour into it.  I think that movie even had an actress in it that I think is cool, but oh well.

LEGO Dimensions Mission Impossible Level Pack

I never really got into the Mission Impossible movies.  I saw the first one and only remember one part, the famous scene where he hangs by a cord.  And even though it’s a little before my time, wasn’t the original TV show about the characters using teamwork, whereas this movie was just “Tom Cruise Does Everything?”  I don’t think I saw any of the sequels, and if I did I don’t remember anything about them.  I have to say that this LEGO Dimensions pack is probably one of the weakest ones I’ve played.  The level isn’t interesting and there was a bug that kept me from beating it anyway.  I really wanted to review the LEGO Dimensions Adventure Time Level Pack, but they didn’t send me that one.

Pirate Pop Plus (Wii U)

Thanks to neo-retro titles like Shovel Knight, 8-bit style games are popular again.  But you don’t see too many retro revivals of black and white (or green) Game Boy games.  That’s where Pirate Pop Plus comes in.  It has the green and white monochrome graphics, and the border of the screen looks like some sort of handheld.  You can even choose the color of the handheld border and customize it.  Gameplay is very similar to arcade classic Buster Bros., with a few new tweaks to keep it interesting.  Only problem is it takes too long to unlock the good stuff.  But if you really enjoy Buster Bros., you should check this one out.  It’s a cross-buy, too, so if you get it on the Wii U you can also download it on the 3DS as well, and vice versa.

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Daybreak: Special Gigs (PS3)

We all have guilty pleasures, and one of mine is watching those dumb paranormal investigator ghost shows on TV (don’t judge me).  So I was interested in reviewing this game about a group of ghost investigators.  It’s a weird mix of a visual novel and a strategy game.  I couldn’t get into the gameplay because it wasn’t very immersive (you view the battles just on a grid with shapes), and it was hard for me to get into the story either.  The investigators are a group of Japanese high school students, and I don’t know about you but I’d never let a group of teenagers investigate a ghost in my house. Teenagers just lack the maturity and professionalism to do that sort of thing, unless they have a talking dog and a really cool van.  Also, I don’t know what’s the big deal about having so many high school heroes in games.  I did pretty well in high school, but I don’t remember liking it very much, so I usually don’t like playing games that relive that time in my life.  Although maybe I would’ve liked high school better if I investigated ghosts and had a boss who was a really hot anime businesswoman.

Are you stuffed yet?

And that’s all for now!  Hope you enjoyed this game review feast.  You should all be nice and plump now.  Thanks for reading and commenting.  It may end up being until after Thanksgiving before I post another blog.  I can’t think of any good ideas of things to write about, and also I work retail now and I’m not looking forward to Black Friday, so I’ll be pretty busy.  So keep me in your thoughts and prayers about that.  But if you can think of an idea for a blog and I have time to do it, feel free to make any suggestions in the comments section.  Later!  --Cary