This is, unfortunately, impossible to understand unless you have played Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns. Basically, you give the animals those treats to increase their productivity. This idea was spawned from the fact that I used to eat my rabbit’s treats on a regular basis.
Sakura Samurai may sound like a rather clichéd title, but this 3DS e-shop fighter’s gameplay is not clichéd in the least. Most battling games involve a lot of button mashing and mindless hack ‘n slashing, and while you are indeed going to be doing a lot of slashing, it’s anything but a button masher. For Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, it’s all about precision and good timing.
The story for Sakura Samurai is quite basic. It takes place in feudal Japan. The princess has been stolen by the big baddie, casting darkness upon the land and it’s up to an unassuming youth to save the day. Sound kinda Zelda-ish? Kinda is. We begin our adventure with a young samurai having his sword blessed by the mystical Kappa with the power of the Sakura (cherry blossom) and sent forth on his journey to free the princess from the evil Castle Lord. Our hero, (who remains nameless, referred to by others as merely ‘The Sakura Samurai’) must slash his way across the land, dispatching thug after thug to reach the castles.
While the graphics are decent (remeniscent of the 64 bit era, though beautifully stylised in a way that reminds me of Okami) and the adventure is short (only 2-5 hours), the gameplay is simple yet amazingly fun and incredibly challenging. From the world map you can enter an area where you will face various enemies wielding different weapons, each of which has his own move set. Enemies will give clues as to how they are about to swing their weapon, then you must dodge them at just the right moment with the B button and counter with your own attack using A. Sound easy? It’s not. Enemies will often have multiple chain attacks and you must dodge them all in quick succession before you can counter. While you can block enemy attacks, it’s not recommended as this will dull your sword. Sure, you can purchase whetstones to sharpen it again, but you’ll lose your precision points and earn less gold. Precision points are awarded every time you properly dodge and counter without getting struck or blocked by the enemy, or have to block them yourself. Rack up enough points and they can be traded in the shop for gold. Areas are cleared once all enemies have been defeated, and for every two areas cleared, another petal is added to your life meter (at least you don’t have to hunt down all those pieces of heart, hmm?).
Each of the three lands that make up the world map have a set of levels ending with a castle you must storm in order to face the boss, as well as three towns where you can rest, save, buy needed items, and play fun and challenging mini-games for either gold or stamps. Rack up enough stamps and you’ll get prizes like extra items or a stronger special attack. While there is no exploring (a shame!) the towns give this game a strong RPG vibe, which is always a plus in my book.
The game is entirely button-controlled. The action takes place on the upper 3D screen, while the bottom screen shows your inventory. The controls feel fluid and very responsive. They’re misleadingly simple and oh-so hard to master. Especially once you finish the adventure because defeating the third and final boss unlocks ‘expert mode’ where you have no restorative items and must beat the game with only your initial 3 petals of health. If you though ‘normal mode’ was hard, then ‘expert’ is nothing less than brutal, as there is less room for error than ever. Get far enough into it and soon every single enemy hit is an instant KO.
And if that wasn’t enough challenge, you can also take on 30, 50, or 100 thug challenges, each unlocked by defeating a boss. And to take a break from the adrenaline pumping action, there’s your rock garden. Once a day you can dedicate pedometer steps which will bloom the garden’s sakura trees. There’s nothing more to it than that- it doesn’t unlock anything in the adventure or anything, it’s merely a zen experience.
I have only few gripes about this game other than the short adventure mode. While there are the thug-challenge modes, expert mode, and the rock garden, it still feels light on content. It seems to be missing something. It feels like there is some untapped potential in the game that leaves you feeling like- was that all? The game felt reminiscent of Zelda or Okami to me, yet all there really is to it is fighting and the occasional mini-game. It feels like Nintendo could have done so much more with the concept and added more distractions and depth to it. Don’t get me wrong- I loved this game. It’s one of the most challenging and unique games I’ve played, but still, it’s missing something.
Overall, for the asking price of $6.99, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword is an excellent deal. While it may seem light on content with a short adventure and few game modes, it is both incredibly fun and very hard at the same time. It may not last you long, but you’ll have a blast during what time you spend with it. With it’s focus of precision and timing instead of brute force and furious button mashing, Sakura Samurai is a unique fighter that will give you immense satisfaction once you finally beat that really difficult boss.
Nintendogs for the DS was a revolutionary game; it was one of the first games to show off the full capabilities of the DS system. But how does Nintendogs + Cats for the 3DS measure up to its predecessor? To be quite frank, if you played the old Nintendogs and were not thrilled with it, you won’t enjoy this upgraded version, as it’s pretty much the same game with just a few new additions- the most obvious being of course, the cats. But while it does little to break out of the mould formed by the old Nintendogs, it’s still a great game that pet sim enthusiasts will find simply charming.
The game starts out at the kennel where you can choose from eight dogs breeds (which ones will vary depending on the version) to find your perfect pup. Once you pick out your dog, you can do a variety of activities with it. You can walk it, play with it, wash it, or train it for three different competitions- disk throwing, lure coursing, or obedience trials. Once you place first in a competition, you can move up a level until you reach the highest tier- the Nintendogs Cup. Competitions are the only way to earn money for supplies, home décor, or new pets. There are also some new features that take advantage of some of the 3DS’s functions. You can meet other trainers and dogs and even receive gifts through both spotpass and streetpass. You can photograph your dogs, making your own screenshots. You can also use your AR card to see your dog in real-life (don’t lose it because you need it for the obedience trials). These new features are nice, but if you’re not entirely convinced you want to buy the game, they probably won’t tip the balance.
The game is played entirely with the stylus. The controls feel natural and smooth. The only wonky controls come from the disk-throwing. It is very difficult to throw your frisbee a consistent distance. Fortunately, if you flunk a competition horribly, you can turn off the power without saving and try again.
In general, there aren’t any huge differences in the old and new versions, but the many small changes are all for the better. Walks with your dogs feel less tedious and more realistic. Instead of just watching your dog walk and pick up the occasional present, you now interact more with your environment. You can meet trainers you downloaded via spotpass/ streetpass as you walk, and teach your dog where they should and shouldn’t pee. There are several routes you can choose from, each wielding different items that you can trade at Mr. Recycle for special items (including the super elusive robopup). There are a variety of stores, parks, and even a gym where you can stop. Other improvements are mostly in making the experience feel more real, or lessening the frustration factor. Dogs seem more trainable and less forgetful. The lure coursing which has replaced the obstacle course is much easier, though still requires a good deal of practise.
Visually, the game is beautiful. Dogs and cats look more realistic, as do the environments. As for the music and sound, there’s nothing to complain about, though this series has some kind of fascination with snazzy French music.
The only real gripes I have for this game mostly centre around the cats. They don’t really do anything. You can wash them and play with them, and that’s about it. There’s no cat shows to enter them in to earn money. In all, they feel tacked on, like they were an afterthought. Maybe a lot of people feel that real cats don’t do anything either, but as a cat-owner I can say that this is not true, and they could have thought of more cat-activities other than waving about a feather now and then.
In all, Nintendogs + Cats is an excellent pet simulation. It may not venture far into new territory, but is an enjoyable journey to embark upon. The graphics and gameplay feel greatly improved on its predecessor, however, it won’t convert anyone who didn’t care for the first. But it is a great way for those who cannot own pets to get their dose of cute, and is fun for all ages.
Cut the Rope- it is what it says. It’s a game all about strategically cutting ropes at just the right moment. The idea sounds kinda simple and dull, but it is actually a very challenging and well put together physics puzzler. Wildly popular on other handheld devices, Cut the Rope has finally made its way to DSiWare, though at a much higher price with fewer levels than in other versions. However, if you don’t have any of these other devices, your 500 points ($5) is pretty well spent here.
The game starts with a package being delivered to your door. Inside is a little alien named Om Nom, who has an insatiable appetite for candy. It’s your job to ensure the candy dangling at the end of a rope safely reaches Om Nom’s mouth. Easier said then done, because not only do you have to feed Om Nom, but you must collect three stars scattered about the box, and you need a certain number of stars in order to unlock the next set of levels (125 in all, split into sets of 25). Not only do you need to cut ropes, but pop bubbles, blow whoopie cushions, and avoid the myriad of obstacles that conspire to keep you from collecting stars and feeding Om Nom. A lot of the game requires more precision, good timing, and a certain helping of luck than it does actual puzzle solving, though there is a fair amount of the latter as well.
As for controls, it is purely touch based using your stylus. You slide the stylus across a rope to cut it, tap bubbles to pop them, etc. On other devices the game allowed for a multi-touch function. I can see where that may have come in useful on some levels, though it is still entirely possible to collect all the stars on every level without it (I did). Even though the stylus makes for better precision than your finger like on the iPad or iPhone, I still felt that the controls could be imprecise and somewhat touchy. More than once I cut multiple ropes when I only wanted to cut one, or popped a bubble when I was trying to cut a rope and so on, making for many and sometimes frustrating do-overs. Fortunately each level is pretty short so even if you get stuck for a long time, it’s easy to start over (and over and over).
The graphics are simple and cute, as it the minimal music. Both fit the game quite well and add cartoony charm to the silly premise.
While Cut the Rope is a bit on the short side- considering how quickly the levels go- and can be found cheaper elsewhere, I have little trouble recommending it for DSi users. Full of charm and impressively realistic physics, it’s a great addition to any puzzler fan’s download library. Though some levels are downright diabolical, they are still doable and the game is generally designed to minimalise frustration by having short levels, the ability to skip levels, and as many do-overs as you need. While I found the controls somewhat imprecise at times, it was still a cute and fun game and I feel that my 500 points was not wasted.
Since Epic Fail is my video game themed site, I wanted to gather together these paintings I did. They were all done from scratch on a software download for the DSi called Inchworm Animation. Most are completely from memory- I just started painting. The only one I used a ref for is the beta fish. They have all been displayed on the mainpage at some point, but most were deleted. So here they are again!
Sorry folks, but there’s no new Epic Fail today. I’ve decided that I’m really not ready to update regularly again, so this comic’s update schedule is going back to ‘sporadic.’ I’ve got the next comic inked, but my health is still shaky. I’m getting better, but things still go up and down a lot. This past week was a ‘down’ week so I wasn’t able to finish the comic. Hopefully I’ll get a new funny up for you all within a reasonable time-frame.
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This comic is rated E10+. Contains fantasy violence, blood, and mild language.