PixlBit

It was all Switch this week. I feel like i'm cramming in playing the systems I largely ignored during the year in this last month. Better late than never. 

Golf Story:

I got this on a black friday sale. I've wanted it for so long and now I've finally played it, or some of it. I got stuck on the frisbee golf mission. The controls for that are tricky and I just couldn't get a handle on them so stopped. I loved everything else about it though. The golfing controls are excellent and detailed. I think the dialog is funny. You can also throw stuff, making me think of River City Ransom because not only that but you can roam about and do wacky things like shoot golf balls at jumping fish, help a child get back to shore on one of the ponds, or bounce a shot off a helpful turtle. There are also hidden buttons you can hit, some of which you can't even see unless you scope around while equiped with your driver. The first course's secrets unlock the minigolf building. I desperately need to figure out the frisbee golf controls though to advance. You throw the discs like a golf ball but you can only control it's curve by holding the stick in a direction as you throw. It's tricky to hit things this way. I'll get it though. The game is sooo worth it. 

Etrian Odyssey:

 

I got the first three games for just over $20 on a cyber monday sale, and I couldn't be happier. I was wondering how they would translate the map making mechanic and now I know. It is good. A little clumsy but good. The map takes up half the screen by default but you can hide it to a tiny mini map size if you want. I make it small until I need to draw in lines or add objects. It looks great. It's designed for the DS and so text is a little big and blocky looking on the big screen, but the overall design is so good, I don't really mind. Just as a reminder, this is a Wizardry-like game, first-person dungeon crawl, turn-based encounters, move on a grid a step at a time. EO adds so much more to the Wizardry formula to make it even more interesting: m,ore classes, special roaming mini-boss monsters called FOEs, Boost special attacks, crafting of a sort (collect items that when sold to the store produce new equipment to buy), and probably some more features I'm not thinking about right now. It's great. I love it. 

Earth Defense Force: World Brothers:

 

This is the pixelated, Minecraft/Lego-looking, EDF that I got on a sale a few months back and which I thought would be a great choice for EDF on my Switch. It's a little different from the main series in terms of gameplay as well. You roll with a four player team, either AI, online, or local players. You mission is to bring the square earth back together after being blown apart into chunks by six alien motherships. This means you battle on small environments until you get to the boss, at which time they come together into a side of the dice-like Earth. You play in real locations too like Paris and Tokyo and characters are in their respective national stereotypes (in a possitive way). I switched to my classic controller on Switch to get a little better, more familiar feel, with the controls. In single player, you can switch at will from any of your four players to utilize their special abilities or weapons. You also rescue new characters as you go and add them to your list from which you can choose before missions. The way characters level is a little confusing, but I think it's by rescuing a copy of one of your characters, which combine to level up. It's kind of different from the main series that way, but I like it. It's a ton of fun. 

Endless Ocean: Luminous:

I got this day one physically back in the spring and am just now getting to it. It's an exploration game. You're a diver. You scan fish and learn about them and collect artifacts from the bottom. You can have a fish type swim with you and there is a tagging system which i don't fully understand but maybe it helps in mulitplayer or when you return to a certain environment in story mode. The story is basically one of archeology. Your looking for artifacts that tell the story of a lost civilization. There's an online, challenge, free diving, and story modes. I tried them all. It's fairly straightforward. I love the series and have played the previous two Wii games. It satisfies my inner frustrated naturalist. 

I may break out the 3DS next week or start up Paper Mario Thousand Year Door remake. Maybe both by the time this month ends.