PixlBit

I think I might be done with Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. I'm stuck trying to get to Bowser's Castle. You can't go across the rope bridge 'cause some monsters throw you off it, and I've searched every part of the map for alternate routes or some clue as to how to get past them. I suppose I would persist if I felt more positive about the game, but I'm kinda bored with it. It's a very light RPG with all the stats applied for you. You can wear equipment, but I haven't come across anything new in a while. The battles are pretty easy. I mean, I like the new special attacks and all, but I'm pretty much mopping the floor with everything I meet. The other thing is that the world seems a bit empty. There are a few wandering monsters, some platforming, and some obstacles, but very quickly the maps are empty of things to do and you just run through them. I don't know. I guess the game just isn't grabbing me. I think I might return to my backlog. I got so much stuff I'd like to play and trade to reduce my collection to manageable size. 

There was a Retronauts podcast I listened to today all about the PSP. I clearly remember getting one to play Untold Legends, a kind of Diablo-like action RPG. I wanted to play it co-op with my friend Mark over wifi and we did that, playing the first game in the series to completion. It worked really well, but I kept bumping the slider on the right side and disconnecting myself from the wireless. Battery life wasn't great, so I think we both had our PSPs plugged in. 

I played a little more of this game today both at home and at the barber shop. I'm almost at Bowser's Castle. I got several more Bro. attacks like the rocket one and the drill one. I also just learned the Hammer Trio move you can use in the world to get past obstacles. I'm enjoying this game, but I'm already thinking about Fire Emblem Fates coming in just over a week. I'm also thinking about my backlog and how I'd like to get back to that stuff and generate some more trade bait. I had a lot of fun last time doing that. But it's all about time and wanting to play new stuff too. I think I can resist the console titles day-one (except for Ratchet & Clank), especially since my regular gaming buddy doesn't have the new systems yet, but the handheld titles are too juicy to miss, like the new Odin Sphere. I think that's not until June. I think I'll have a break in March though. April's gonna be tough. Lots of good stuff coming then.

I got in some good time with Destiny on Monday. I finished the main story line, did a quest for the magic dealer, and got in on some raids. This game is pretty darn fantastic. I'm level 22 with a light level of 120, playing an Exo character.

I've played about ten hours of Destiny so far with my friend Mark. I'm just working through the story missions and bounties with Mark. He's level 24 now to my 14. He's able to mop up on the missions I'm doing. I try to get my kills in before he blasts through them. I kinda wish we were the same level, but that's how it goes. 

I downloaded and played the Yo-Kai Watch Demo on 3DS the other day. I liked it. It's totally an RPG with exploration and item gathering and battles with Yo-Kai, who sometimes become your friend. The battle system is kind of neat. You have six Yo-Kai that you use to battle set in a wheel with the top three being the ones battling and the other three in reserve. You can rotate the wheel at any time to bring a different set of Yo-Kai tot he battle line. Then the Yo-Kai battle automatically, but you can build up their special moves by playing simple mini games during battle like tapping targets with the stylus, or tracing a pattern, or drawing circles very fast. These come up randomly it seems. Then you can Purify a Yo-Kai if they get a status effect that immobilizes them by rotating the wheel and putting them in the back line where the Purify button becomes active. My only issue with the battle system is that I can't see what's going on while I'm doing mini games to build up a special move. I could be getting my butt kicked during that time, but it's not very long, so it could only be an issue against a tough opponent, I guess.

Last night I felt a bit bored with Pokemon Shuffle, and too tired from work to consider M&L: Paper Jam, so I downloaded Pokemon Picross. Usually I don't like these number puzzle games because they get boring to me pretty quickly, but I tried it anyway, it's free.

In poking around the internet for more games set in the 17th century, I came across this winning submission to the British Library's annual "Off the Map" videogame design competition (http://www.bl.uk/projects/off-the-map) by six students calling themselves Puddling Lane Productions (http://puddinglanedmuga.blogspot.com/). It's a 3D render of 17th century London before The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed it all. Here's the video:

In looking at games set in the 17th century, my theme for February, I came across this 2001 PS2 game Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse. It's full of dark gothic fantasy visuals and supposedly set in 1670. Gothic fantasy was created in the 18th century in literature and it looks back to medieval times for its feelings of horror. So is this game really set in 17th century? No, only in its own world's timeline. Whatevs, It takes as it's influence Diablo and Fallout, enough said. I got my retro store to mail it to me from New York for $8. Here's a pic:

Since 11am this morning I've been waiting for Destiny to install on my Xbox 360. It's been just over 2 hours so far. Mark tells me it took him 2.5 hours, so it should be done soon, but WHAT A WAIT! This is by far the longest install I've ever experienced for a game. I hope it's worth it.