Sunday, December 23, 2007

Portal: completed!

Before you start trying to find where I played this before, well, I didn't. I've played it from start to finish today. It's a short game, but every minute of it has been great. The idea of using gaps in space to not only get around but also defeat enemies is great, and the puzzles are so varied across the 19 test chambers - and afterwards.

The whole story and way it's played out works so well, moving from test subject to rebellion and eventual escape. Some of the dialogue in the game is hilarious, both from the controlling computer and the gun turrets. The way the controller coaxes you on with the promise of cake, the discovery of backstage rooms with "the cake is a lie" scrawled on the wall, the line "I figured out what that thing you just incinerated did. It was a morality core they installed after I flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin to make me stop flooding the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin" ... I could quote more, but it's best experienced within the game.

The game took me around four hours to play through the first time, and I'm going to play it through again with the commentary turned on very soon.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Animal Crossing: Wild World: weeeeeeeeeed

I bought my sister a copy of this, after setting up her wireless network. Since a lot of the game's charm comes out when you visit others, I've gone back to Bangaio - to find the town covered in weeds, with all my flowers long gone. The residents seemed surprised to see me, but my house was fine (if full of cockroaches) and I had 99,000 bells interest in my postbox from the bank.

I've done quite a lot of weeding now, and moved flowers back into grouped beds. And I've dug up around 20 gyroids and sold them to Nook. Ah, Nook, how I've missed your "thanks much".

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: completed!

OK, so it's a standard Zelda idea. Collect three things in dungeons, then collect three more things in other dungeons. Fight a big boss each time. It's just that this was all done so well.

I finally managed to collect the three pure metals (or should that be pure metals?), and after a
last visit to the spirit island I went to fight Bellum. A great boss fight, using the DS superbly, with its vertical aspect and accurate aiming. The new instrument was great as well, being able to stop time in order to get hits in without dying.

I don't want to spoil it, so let's just say that the rest of the game after that boss fight was also great. As was the whole game. Great.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: rolling out of the way

I found an actual hard bit of the game last night. So far it's been quite easy, though some of the puzzles in the temples have been quite clever, especially in the way they reuse rooms with different switches. One nice touch was the dual control of Link and a Goron, where you had to move them separately to trigger switches and assist the other. It reminded me of Mario and Luigi on the Game Boy Advance.

At the end of the Goron's temple was a monster, a big dinosaur thing, which was on the other side of a quicksand pit to Link. However, the Goron appeared on the same side as the dinosaur. To kill him, I had to roll around the pit as the Goron, avoiding the dinosaur's fire, until he charged me. I had to roll out of the way and then hit his side several times until he fell over. Then I had to switch to Link and send a bombchu across to hit the dinosaur in his mouth. Three times. It would have been easier if there weren't snakes attacking Link and the Goron all the time so you had to keep an eye on them too.

I'm actually very impressed with the thought that's gone into this. The general set of Zelda items has been nicely adapted, with things like the boomerang and bombchu using the touchscreen excellently to trace out their path. I've now got the grappling hook which'll let me access some other areas that I was barred from on previous islands, and I'm torn between completing the ice temple or just going exploring.

Oh, but before I went into the ice temple I had to solve a lovely little puzzle. It was a twist on the standard "find the liar" conundrum, with six people, two of which gave details of two others and the remaining four talking about one other each. I had to scrawl details down onto the map in order to solve it. Being able to make notes is very useful indeed.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: running out of sand

Super Mario Galaxy has a contender for game of 2007.

Everything about this game shines. The graphical style, borrowing heavily from The Wind Waker, is clean and joyous. The story's really hooked me in, with its tasks broken down nicely so they're easily achievable while travelling places. It's a great example of a traditional videogame being slightly adapted for portable play - helped of course by the DS's sleep mode, which means the usual Zelda quirk of being put to the start of a dungeon whenever you save and quit doesn't matter.

I've rescued the three spirits, and have just been to the Temple of the Ocean King for the fourth time, in order to retrieve the south-eastern map. This was the first difficulty I had with the game - descending nine floors in fifteen minutes (before the sands in the hourglass ran out) was a bit of a rush, even with the ability to stand in safe zones where the timer didn't move.

I always loved the sailing in The Wind Waker, and the steamboat in this game is nearly as good - the only issue is that it's a bit of a faff to change course on the fly, since you have to switch to the map and redraw your course. Tapping to fire the cannon is great though.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Super Mario Galaxy: thirty stars in

I've collected stars from the terrace, from the fountain, and now I'm collecting stars in the kitchen. It may be just a sign of obsession, but I'm not moving onto the next area until I've collected all the stars I can from the existing one. I've even been travelling between the older areas just to see if I can make a comet appear.

There's so much imagination in the game. You're shown a new skill, and use it to get the star. In most games you'd have to then use that same skill for the next couple of levels. Here you're given something else new straight away. There's so much to discover, and the urge to collect just one more star has been the cause of a few late nights now ...