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[daydream]

I'm one world into Spy Chameleon. I'll come back with a longer set of impressions once I've put more time in with it.

The initial review, though? Buy it. This game has way more polish than I expected at this price point and is a lot of fun. This is the sort of game people will be lauding as a sleeper hit. If you like stealth or puzzle games at all, $5 is an amazing price for what you're getting.

Thanks j, I was definitely going to buy it after seeing gameplay footage. Good on you for taking the plunge, though, and confirming that the coast is clear, so to speak.

 

[MissileTrick]

Glad to see some thoughts ( well thought) on Spy Chameleon. It peeked my interested a few months ago and I been fighting with myself to see if would make my end of DDP eshop buy list . So many options and only 6 days left. :X

 

[Draconian]

So is it necessary to play the GBA Castlevanias in order? Can someone give me a quick rundown on each of them so I can make a decision on which one to buy?

 

[kwheaties]

Moon Chronicles sale is tempting... Wonder if I should wait for all the episodes to come out next month or a cheaper sale.

 

[Team Top Hat]

So is it necessary to play the GBA Castlevanias in order? Can someone give me a quick rundown on each of them so I can make a decision on which one to buy?

Aria of Sorrow is the best, but I personally all 3 are great. Doesn't matter the order, although going in order is better since you can see how they improved each time.

 

[@MUWANdo]

So is it necessary to play the GBA Castlevanias in order? Can someone give me a quick rundown on each of them so I can make a decision on which one to buy?

Nope, it's not necessary to play them in order.

Here's a quick rundown:

Circle of the Moon: GBA launch title by the team that made the N64 CV games. Non-linear game in the vein of Symphony of the Night but with far few RPG elements, more restrictive controls, simpler animations, etc. The music is mostly remixes of older tunes but the sound quality is okay and they picked nice tunes to reuse. It's not nearly as polished as the others but it's fun in its own unique ways and a lot of people really like it.

Harmony of Dissonance: the first IGA game since Symphony of the Night, and heavily reminiscent of that title. The controls are much more fluid and the visuals are a lot closer to SOTN's level of detail but the palettes were specifically chosen to look good on the OG GBA's non-backlit screen, so they look quite garish on VC or any other platform with a backlight. The quality of the music also took a hit in order to lessen the load on the CPU, so the music sounds like something from a Game Boy.This one seems to be the least popular of the GBA games but it's not bad by any means, just obviously compromised by the limitations of the hardware. (The map design isn't great, either.)

Aria of Sorrow: the second handheld game by IGA's team and widely considered the best post-SOTN Castlevania game. It looks great on any screen, the sound quality is much better than Harmony's, there's a cool new levelling system that lets you gain new abilities by collecting the souls of enemies, even Soma Cruz is kinda cool in a dorky anime sort of way. If you can only get one GBA CV game, make it this one.

 

[jholmes]

Thanks j, I was definitely going to buy it after seeing gameplay footage. Good on you for taking the plunge, though, and confirming that the coast is clear, so to speak.

The coast is more than clear. I'd recommend this game at $10, $5 is just absurd.

If anything I should be thanking you. If it weren't for this thread I don't think I'd have tried the game at all.

 

[Chrom]

Still haven't gotten anything from Cypronia's Christmas giveaway, starting to feel a little disappointed.

 

[Draconian]

Aria of Sorrow is the best, but I personally all 3 are great. Doesn't matter the order, although going in order is better since you can see how they improved each time.

Nope, it's not necessary to play them in order.

Here's a quick rundown:

Circle of the Moon: GBA launch title by the team that made the N64 CV games. Non-linear game in the vein of Symphony of the Night but with far few RPG elements, more restrictive controls, simpler animations, etc. The music is mostly remixes of older tunes but the sound quality is okay and they picked nice tunes to reuse. It's not nearly as polished as the others but it's fun in its own unique ways and a lot of people really like it.

Harmony of Dissonance: the first IGA game since Symphony of the Night, and heavily reminiscent of that title. The controls are much more fluid and the visuals are a lot closer to SOTN's level of detail but the palettes were specifically chosen to look good on the OG GBA's non-backlit screen, so they look quite garish on VC or any other platform with a backlight. The quality of the music also took a hit in order to lessen the load on the CPU, so the music sounds like something from a Game Boy.This one seems to be the least popular of the GBA games but it's not bad by any means, just obviously compromised by the limitations of the hardware. (The map design isn't great, either.)

Aria of Sorrow: the second handheld game by IGA's team and widely considered the best post-SOTN Castlevania game. It looks great on any screen, the sound quality is much better than Harmony's, there's a cool new levelling system that lets you gain new abilities by collecting the souls of enemies, even Soma Cruz is kinda cool in a dorky anime sort of way. If you can only get one GBA CV game, make it this one.

Thanks guys. I'm either going to get Circle of the Moon or Aria of Sorrow. I'd like to get them all at some point, but I think I'm going to get just one for now with Advance Wars or A Link to the Past for my last DDP credit.

 

[BooJoh]

I'll throw my hat in the ring for Aria of Sorrow as well. Dawn of Sorrow on DS is sort of a remake/sequel of it but suffers from one almost-deal-breaking mechanic of having to use the stylus to trace symbols to deal the deathblow to bosses. Aria is definitely worth playing though and Circle of the Moon, while a perfectly good game is sort of the outlier in the GBA games, as the different team used some different monster designs that aren't as reminiscent of the series standards and even IGA himself declared the game non-canon, though that's mostly just his ego showing through.

 

[jholmes]

Sounds like a lot of you are convinced but I said I'd come back with more, and here I am. I spent over an hour and a half with the game and according to the title screen got 48 per cent of the way through. The levels are short but halfway through the game they get very tough, especially if you're looking to get all three bonuses per stage: flies, time and ladybugs. Like any good puzzle game it intoduces new concepts well and adds upon them in neat ways.

What surprised me was the level of polish. The controls are perfectly tight and the levels are smartly designed. Things get tough but they're always very fair. There are extras like achievements and two leaderboards for times: friends and worldwide. The game also tracks some in-game statistics. There's some nice attention to detail, such as the chameleon's colour changes corresponding to the face button colours on the old Super Famicom controllers. The graphics are clear and colourful, and while the characters aren't anything special in-game, the environments and lighting are often nice. The level concepts themselves are fun. Beyond things like robots and security cameras, you have to keep out of sight from fish whose fishbowls you can tip over to get by them, or mice who you can bulk up to keep them in place. The game supports the GamePad, pro controller and classic controller, and has off-TV play.

As for negatives? The music is pretty forgettable, and other than some swanky jazz usually subpar. The game seems a bit on the short side if you're pretty good at games like these. There's a hard mode to add replayability but the few stages I replayed weren't all that different from the first run. The in-game text on stuff like menus (which is sparse) could use another proofread. The post-level results screen takes a split second to load sometimes, showing the last stage's stats for a moment before refreshing (this may be related to loading the leaderboards).

All in all this carries a huge recommend from me at $5. I'm very impressed.

 

[Crimsonclaw111]

I still can't connect my brother's 2DS to Club Nintendo. Ugh.

 

[BooJoh]

I still can't connect my brother's 2DS to Club Nintendo. Ugh.

Error Code: 011-7403
The Nintendo eShop is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

I can connect fine though, so I'm not sure. Can the system connect to the internet through anything else, like the web browser? Do you have another 3DS available that can connect through the same access point?

 

[Refreshment.01]

Need to make a 20 or so investment. The games that look interesting are hovering around the 15 - 20 mark. So potentially i could need and extra 5 game. What's the concensus among these:

- The Swapper.
- Spy Inc. 2 (leaning towards this if it's of high quality Mark of Ninja set the bar really high for 2D stealth)
- The Fall
- Teslagrad (sp?)

For some of those i would need a companion 5 game.

How those Nano Assault compare to previous Shin'en shooters? Didn't like Iridion at all.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I still haven't played Mark of the Ninja but I can definitely recommend Stealth Inc. 2. It's better than the original in pretty much every way, it makes intelligent use of all the Wii U's features and you can't get it anywhere else right now.

Nano Assault is a lot better than all those other Shin'en shooters, I thought, but it's not a must-have or anything.

Also, just remember, $19.99 =/= $20.

 

[frankie_baby]

Well got 20 quid in free premium promotion money to spend today, splinter cell blacklist and child of light are definites for me, not sure what else to get, hmmmm

 

[gerudoman]

Still haven't gotten anything from Cypronia's Christmas giveaway, starting to feel a little disappointed.

Me neither. I guess it's because I entered the giveaway fairly late (at around 350 contestants) and asked for what I believe it's their most popular game in the most popular platform: Color Zen for 3DS.

 

[frankie_baby]

Me neither. I guess it's because I entered the giveaway fairly late (at around 350 contestants) and asked for what I believe it's their most popular game in the most popular platform: Color Zen for 3DS.

I was person 302 and asked for angry bunnies on the Wii U, not heard anything either but it's Xmas so I will assume the devs are all busy drinking

 

[zigg]

Still haven't gotten anything from Cypronia's Christmas giveaway, starting to feel a little disappointed.

You got that warm feeling in your soul that comes from giving an organization social credibility in exchange for trinkets. 😉

 

[TheMoon]

Need to make a 20 or so investment. The games that look interesting are hovering around the 15 - 20 mark. So potentially i could need and extra 5 game. What's the concensus among these:

- The Swapper.
- Spy Inc. 2 (leaning towards this if it's of high quality Mark of Ninja set the bar really high for 2D stealth)
- The Fall
- Teslagrad (sp?)

For some of those i would need a companion 5 game.

How those Nano Assault compare to previous Shin'en shooters? Didn't like Iridion at all.

Get The Swapper + Stealth Inc 2
great combo. two great atmospheric puzzle exploration games.

Meme Run? >.>

Most, not all.

Especially not that trash

 

[Deleted member 125677]

Oh hey, more themes are up, and one of them is the puppet Cat Mario & Peach theme that EU got for free!

...............and it costs $1.99 in the US.......okay.....

teamtophat tax

 

[Refreshment.01]

I still haven't played Mark of the Ninja but I can definitely recommend Stealth Inc. 2. It's better than the sequel in pretty much every way, it makes intelligent use of all the Wii U's features and you can't get it anywhere else right now.

Nano Assault is a lot better than all those other Shin'en shooters, I thought, but it's not a must-have or anything.

Also, just remember, $19.99 =/= $20.

Apreciate the input. It looks like it is a quality release. And taking into consideration what you say about Nano maybe i should pass it up. Not really that much into shooters really.

Get The Swapper + Stealth Inc 2
great combo. two great atmospheric puzzle exploration games.

Those are my picks but remember i need to spend 20. Since non of those are discounted the total would be 35.

Im inclining to Stealth, that means i need to find something really good at 5. Any suggestions?

 

[TheMoon]

Apreciate the input. It looks like it is a quality release. And taking into consideration what you say about Nano maybe i should pass it up. Not really that much into shooters really.

Those are my picks but remember i need to spend 20. Since non of those are discounted the total would be 35.

Im inclining to Stealth, that means i need to find something really good at 5. Any suggestions?

Stick it to the Man is $5 right now.

 

[maxcriden]

Stick it to the Man is $5 right now.

There's also Kung Fu Rabbit, a delightful platformer.

 

[SerTapTap]

Finally Shantae for Wii U! Enjoying it so far, TBH I don't miss the metroidvania aspects, weren't handled well in Risky's Revenge IMO. The HD art is super cute but makes me want the Kickstarter game even more. The pixels are still good but I didn't expect quite so much re-use from Risky's Revenge.

Decent use of the Gamepad (though I assume it's just exactly what the bottom screen of the 3DS does and optional off tv and that's okay). I just got to the desert island.

Stick it to the Man is $5 right now.

Stick It To The Man is pretty funny, puzzles are alright too but mostly worth it for the humor value IMO

 

[TheMoon]

There's also Kung Fu Rabbit, a delightful platformer.

That one goes on sale quite often for half that, though.

 

[Snakethesniper]

I'm gonna buy SMTIV (from EU, so no sale). As we know right now, there's no sale planned for it in EU right? Just to be sure before I buy it xD

 

[Kodaman]

Bought Stick it to the Man. Pleasently surprised!

Is Lego Movie Videogame worth it at $15?

 

[maxcriden]

That one goes on sale quite often for half that, though.

That's true! Just an alternate option in case my friend Refreshment.01 isn't a fan of adventure games like that.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I'm gonna buy SMTIV (from EU, so no sale). As we know right now, there's no sale planned for it in EU right? Just to be sure before I buy it xD

no one knows, but the game just released here. Perhaps in Janury of February though, who knows

 

[frankie_baby]

Anyone got Rock Zombie? Think I may have to pick it up (and it seems I can effectively get darts up free with it)

 

[Snakethesniper]

no one knows, but the game just released here. Perhaps in Janury of February though, who knows

yeah, I meant the weekly sale announcements, maybe I was missing one and I wanted to be sure! thanks!

 

[Sylverstone14]

Anyone got Rock Zombie? Think I may have to pick it up (and it seems I can effectively get darts up free with it)

Here's a review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDkSLWfPLXY

 

[maxcriden]

Need to spend $41 to get $5. Have until...Wednesday? Gotta think this over, not sure if there's $41 of non-sale stuff that won't go on sale that I definitely want. Probably would mostly be VC.

 

[zroid]

about $30 for me... Hyrule warriors dlc will cover 20. gotta think about the other 10...

 

[SerTapTap]

I need $24 more, not really sure it's worth trying to get. Kinda want the Isabelle DLC for MK8 but I doubt I'll ever play it much again

 

[Refreshment.01]

It seems the $5 or so game will be MASTER REBOOT.

How is Wayforward with sales? im interested in the Mighty Swith Force games but they are 6 and 10 respectively.

i remember there was a Nintendo event with a lot of indi games announced some months ago. Remember stuff like Nihilumbra, Q.U.B.E. and Hyper Light Drifter was supposed to be released in 2014. But i don't see them in the eShop.

 

[TheMoon]

i remember there was a Nintendo event with a lot of indi games announced some months ago. Remember stuff like Nihilumbra, Q.U.B.E. and Hyper Light Drifter was supposed to be released in 2014. But i don't see them in the eShop.

Because they're not done yet. That's how it goes with indie games.

 

[wilflare]

wondering if I should just spam on the VC items to get those $5 from DDP

 

[maxcriden]

wondering if I should just spam on the VC items to get those $5 from DDP

Well, as long as they're good VC games!

 

[daydream]

Because they're not done yet. That's how it goes with indie games.

I was going to say "or with any game, really" but then I remembered how AAA shook out this year.

 

[SerTapTap]

How is Wayforward with sales? im interested in the Mighty Swith Force games but they are 6 and 10 respectively.

They're not very commonly on sale that I've seen, but I think it does happen. Easily worth the money though IMO, I went and 100%'d MSF 2 and would have 100%'d MSF HD if the bonus levels weren't crazy hard. Got par times on all normal levels and got all unlocks that I'm aware of in both. Really fun games but replay value depends on your willingness to try and perfect levels.

I think MSF 1 must already have had a price cut, I recall it being either $10 or $15 before

 

[BooJoh]

Finally Shantae for Wii U! Enjoying it so far, TBH I don't miss the metroidvania aspects, weren't handled well in Risky's Revenge IMO. The HD art is super cute but makes me want the Kickstarter game even more. The pixels are still good but I didn't expect quite so much re-use from Risky's Revenge.

Decent use of the Gamepad (though I assume it's just exactly what the bottom screen of the 3DS does and optional off tv and that's okay). I just got to the desert island.

The only major structural difference I've noticed between Pirate's Curse and Risky's Revenge (other than the dances being switched out for items obviously) is the ship as a hub instead of a fully interconnected world. Still feels very Metroidvania to me, but with a way better map. The series has definitely gotten better with each iteration for me though. I'm not sure Half Genie Hero could really do anything to make the gameplay better, but as long as it's as good as Pirate's Curse it'll be a treat.

I'm still glad I got the 3DS version. Same graphics, but 3d layers makes it all really pop. The 3d on the character portraits can be a little.. distracting though.

 

[SerTapTap]

The only major structural difference I've noticed between Pirate's Curse and Risky's Revenge (other than the dances being switched out for items obviously) is the ship as a hub instead of a fully interconnected world. Still feels very Metroidvania to me, but with a way better map. The series has definitely gotten better with each iteration for me though. I'm not sure Half Genie Hero could really do anything to make the gameplay better, but as long as it's as good as Pirate's Curse it'll be a treat.

I'm still glad I got the 3DS version. Same graphics, but 3d layers makes it all really pop. The 3d on the character portraits can be a little.. distracting though.

Someone compared it more to Zelda 2 which I'd say is a bit of a better comparison (less the map). You still use abilities to progress in dungeons, but in more of a Zelda style "all items you need are in the dungeon, backtracking is only for optional items" sort of way.

I was fairly impressed with how wayforward did 3D in MSF 2 (I noticed this AFTER 100%ing the game) but still think I'll like it better on Wii U. The HD character art looks great, even if the HD UI is a bit out of place. Be interesting if they did toggles for stuff like that.

 

[Dash Kappei]

That's a DS game.

I know

Spoiler

I own TWO copies, one with the rumble cart

 

[BooJoh]

I was fairly impressed with how wayforward did 3D in MSF 2 (I noticed this AFTER 100%ing the game) but still think I'll like it better on Wii U. The HD character art looks great, even if the HD UI is a bit out of place. Be interesting if they did toggles for stuff like that.

No doubt Half Genie Hero is going to be absolutely gorgeous judging by the HD assets I've seen and the way MSF1 looks on Wii U. I have a soft spot for pixel graphics, but I can appreciate the HD stuff too, and thankfully WayForward is giving us the best of both worlds with Pirate's Curse and Half Genie Hero.

 

[Chrom]

Live in NA, most noteworthy a Capcom games sale:

[3DS] Balloon Pop Remix - $1.99 thru 1/31 (was $4.99)
[3DS] Big Hero 6 Battle in the Sky - $19.99 thru 1/20 (was $29.99)
[3DS] Coaster Creator 3D - $6.99 thru 1/8 (was $9.99)
[3DS] Disney Frozen: Olaf's Quest - $19.99 thru 1/20 (was $29.99)
[3DS] Johnny Hotshot - $1.99 thru 1/31 (was $4.99)
[3DS] Johnny Impossible - $1.99 thru 1/31 (was $4.99)
[3DS] Johnny Kung Fu - $1.99 thru 1/31 (was $4.99)
[3DS] Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - $15.99 thru 1/2 (was $39.99)
[3DS] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies - $22.49 thru 1/2 (was $29.99)
[3DS] Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D - $7.99 thru 1/2 (was $19.99)
[3DS] Resident Evil Revelations - $8.99 thru 1/2 (was $19.99)
[3DS] Retro City Rampage DX - $7.99 thru 1/5 (was $9.99)
[3DS] Samurai Sword Destiny - $1.99 thru 1/31 (was $5.99)
[3DS] Smash Bowling 3D - $2.99 thru 1/8 (was $4.99)
[3DS] Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition - $7.99 thru 1/2 (was $19.99)
[3DS] Thorium Wars - $4.99 thru 1/8 (was $7.99)
[3DS] Zombie Slayer Ziox - $1.99 thru 1/31 (was $5.99)
[Wii U] Arrow Time U - $0.99 thru 1/15 (was $1.99)
[Wii U] DuckTales: Remastered - $6.75 thru 1/2 (was $14.99)
[Wii U] Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara - $5.99 thru 1/2 (was $14.99)
[Wii U] GetClose - $2.99 thru 1/2 (was $4.99)
[Wii U] Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - $15.99 thru 1/2 (was $39.99)
[Wii U] Paper Monsters Recut - $3.99 thru 1/15 (was $7.99)
[Wii U] Resident Evil Revelations - $15.99 thru 1/2 (was $39.99)
[Wii U] Shuttle Rush - $3.99 thru 1/16 (was $7.99)
[Wii U] Xavier - $2.49 thru 1/8 (was $4.99)

 

[Dash Kappei]

How long does it take for purchases to show up on DDP?!
EU here, don't see them under DDP nor my Club Nintendo account :/ should I be worried yet?

[Wii U] Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara - $5.99 thru 1/2 (was $14.99)

Wish this one was for EU as well, but besides this one and MonHun (Ducktales is still too pricey compared to other sales on Gold/PSN) our sale was much better for me.

 

[Crimsonclaw111]

I can connect fine though, so I'm not sure. Can the system connect to the internet through anything else, like the web browser? Do you have another 3DS available that can connect through the same access point?

I can connect to the eShop just fine, the problem is I wanted to link his 2DS to my family account to get coins for his downloadable game before I downloaded it. Does not look like it's gonna happen though.

Only Club Nintendo linking seems dead atm :/

 

[terrisus]

PSA: Anyone who does not own Earthbound for the Wii U's SNES VC:
Buy Earthbound now!

No, it's not on sale.
Although at least you get points for it right now.
But, the point is that it's Earthbound, and you need to own it.

If you have a Wii U and don't buy Earthbound, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore.

Spoiler

Just kidding, I'm not that mean >.>

Spoiler

But seriously: Buy Earthbound!