Joelthethief

As far as quality, budget RPGs go, you can't go wrong with the Denpa Men series. This new addition isn't anything you haven't seen before in other dungeon crawlers however, just like the last two, it has a twist. Instead of the normal group of young teenagers saving the world, you "capture" your characters using the antenna tower. Basically it allows your 3ds to pick up wireless signals in the world and uses the random bits of information to create characters with different stats, names and abilities. These characters are the Denpa Men. From there you go off on a simple but fun quest that is long, silly and perfect for relaxing after a long day of work. The battle system is perfect (you can command each of your Denpa Men to do different things or simply let them decide what to do for themself) and navigating the world couldn't be simpler with the ability to warp to any previously visited location. Especially good is the price (currently at $10), which makes this a particularly long budget title and another perfect addition to the 3ds library.

Its rare you find a game that can actually pull off a balance of humor and brilliant game play, but Battle Block Theater does both with a style all to its own. If you've ever loved any platformer of any kind, likely, you'll also love this game. It has a fun and engaging single player, but really you'll have a killer time playing with friends. There are so many tons of levels and even more unlockables, with more user created levels on the way. Check out the demo and from the silly/hilarious intro story to the creative and surprising fun level design, you'll likely be hooked.

If your a Sega fan, you probably already own this game, but even if you don't have a clue what Burning Rangers or Panzer Dragoon is you should still own this game if only for the fact that its a wonderful racing game. Don't worry if the cast of racers is strange to you, you'll love the high quality put into the courses. The games "gimick" transforming vehicles and alternating courses works perfectly. You might question it at first but when the track gets broken apart by a dragon and you're racing through an underwater building constantly flooding you'll be convinced. If you love racing games give it a try!

The sequel to the best auto run game doesn't disappoint. It takes everything that the first game did and does it better. The experience is a well polished, larger more fleshed out experience. From the games strange sense of humor to its amazing sound track this game keeps you entertained through out. It offers tons of replay value, whether it be replaying the levels for higher scores and different "perfect" scores, or the hidden treasures and vintage styled levels peppered through out. Playing it off TV on the Wii U pad works perfectly and using headphones lets you really experience the amazing music. If you love music, fun or indie games in general, you'll love Runner 2.

Take one look at Retro City Rampage and you'll probably know if you'll enjoy it or not. Its a retro inspired parody of GTA filled with cheesy jokes and references. It easily has enough charm and silly fun to hold its own though. The main missions are completed easliy enough but the side missions will really test your patience. The city itself has enough to keep you busy for hours at a time, filled to the brim with secrets and unlockables. From driving Kitt from Knight Rider to dressing up as parody superhero "Biff-man" to the fun of discovering playable versions of other indie classics (including an actual 3D Super Meat Boy), you'll be kept busy for a long time. If your into indie games or just a fan of having a silly enjoyable time, you'll love Retro City Rampage.

I should mention first off that I'm not one of the hard core Assassins Creed fans. I've played some of the others and thought they were good but hadn't really gotten into the game until this game. Because of this I can't really compare this game to the previous ones, but I can say this is the only one that's pulled me in. While the story is as good as it always is and the graphics look fantastic its the gameplay that really sines. Its different from other creed games and this will put some people off but I really hope people will give it a chance. Don't get me wrong, the sneaking around parkour building climbing is still here but now there is a ton of other things to do. Whether its exploring the wilderness or getting into the new ship combat, or simply building up your homestead the game is never short of fun enjoyable (and more importantly, varied) quests. On top of that, there are tons of collectables for various people scattered everywhere to bring out the collector in all of us. There are some down sides, such as the numerous glitches that span all the way from goofy to game halting. I've also read that they changed up the combat and I can attest there are probably too many guards with too much health for the games own good. The games AI can be unpredictable as well making the game occasionally frustrating. Barring those little gripes, the game is great. I'm sure some Assassin's Creed vets are going to dislike the changes but I hope they, and everyone else gives this great game a try.

If you already own the Binding of Isaac, why not buy this? Its cheep and adds tons to the game. New challenges, new items, new enemies will continue to do what this game does best: kick your ass. The only reason this scores a 9 and not a 10, is the fact that the difficulty might be just a bit too hard. Difficulty is one of the appeals of the game, however much like Ed McMillen's other game, Super Meat Boy, Isaac slowly ramps up the difficulty. Adding Wrath of the Lamb makes takes away this ramp, making the first few levels very hard. Completely worth buying, but consider your self warned!

As time goes on it seems that the video game market continues to be filled with remakes and ripoffs. Because of this, it seems truly special when something crazy unique comes along. Enter Cubivore! The game plays like some strange survival game with RPG elements. You play a cube whose dream is to become the top predator by eating just about everything that moves. From start to finish, this is all you do, eat evolve, eat evolve. As you eat, you gain limbs and with different colored limbs comes different combinations. The goal being to play through the game until you've got 100 different combinations. Essentially its a simple game but its given more depth through the games fascinating personality. Every night, your cubivore writes in its diary (it sounds cheesier than it actually is) and the game uses this to comment on the idea of competition and killing things to live. Over all, its a one of a kind experience that really should be shared with modern audiences.

Strategy games may be plentiful on PCs but when it comes to quality RTS experiences on consoles, they are few and far between. Even when they do come along, they're often watered down or inferior ports. Thankfully, Pikmin 2 is the gleaming exception. Its not often that a reviewer uses the word "perfect" but this just happens to be one of those cases. First off, the game improves on the original in just about every way. The controls have been tweaked, more Pikmin have been added to increase your strategy options and new randomized dungeons have been added to vastly increase the games replayability. The game is also charming, with characters and enemies that are bursting with personality. The entire experience feels light hearted yet RTS junkies can expect a decent challenge, especially in the latter half of the game when the difficulty ramps up. A pure joy to play and a must buy for anyone who needs proof that not only can an RTS work on consoles, it can be one of the most memorable gaming experiences you've ever had.

Looking back on the Pokemon series, its easy to claim that Gamefreak hasn't made very many changes. That was never more apparent than in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. It was disappointing and over all, the game felt stale, with hardly any new pokemon worth caring about. Thankfully, Black and White have solved all of these problems. The game is longer, the pokemon are better, and everything looks and feels new and exciting. It seems like its been years since I've cared about pokemon and this game has pulled me right back in. Of course, its a very similar game as you still move from town to town, defeating trainer after trainer and gym after gym. However, now with new pokemon and a bigger emphasis on exploration rather than HM moves, it all feels much better. Even if you're a jaded game, Pokemon Black/White does a lot to pull you back in.

Patapon's rhythm meets RTS style of gameplay is brilliant. Mix in unique RPG elements and you've got an awesome little music/adventure game that is chock full of personality. Its not all quite as perfect as you may like. There is a lot of grinding to do and the system used to level up your troops is plenty more convoluted than it should be. However, this never stopped me from enjoying very long and very fun game.

Super Meat Boy is a rare gem. Its a huge blissfully creative, perfectly made, incredibly tight game. Not only that, but its cheep and constantly has updates coming out making it even greater. Its a game that could have only come in this time and place in gaming history, seeing at it was made by only two people and was made to only be sold online. At first the controls seem overly simple, other than the control stick, theres only a run and jump button. However, you find all sorts of moves that are possible with experimentation and this is what makes the game great. It evolves along with you. This along with the crazy difficulty and super quick level designs creates a unique and interesting platformer experience the likes of which us gamers having seen in years.

As an art form, video games bring something new to the table: game play. As opposed to movies, books or other types of art, you are merely a spectator, however with video games, you get a direct involvement that is incapable in other forms. Perhaps the best example of this involvement is Zelda: Majora's Mask. The game has two different aspects that make it unique from not only other zeldas but other video games. The three day aspect: you continuously play the same three days over and over, as well as the mask aspect: you can don masks that either have specific jobs or transform you into the soul of someone who comes from the world that you inhabit. In the game, you play as not only "Link" the main character, but inhabit a Deku Scrub, a Goron, and a Zora. With the Deku, you enter into an established role in a world that unfamiliar to you. Deku scrubs are obviously second class citizens. You can't go in some buildings, you can't join clubs and you are generally treated like dirt. Its different with the other two. The goron is a hero of his people and when you become him, you take on the cares and problems of his people. With the zora its similar, you need are part of a band and take on some of the problems of the zora people. The involvement in this story is what makes this game so great. Through experiencing the various people's lives in this game you experience what gives the game its amazing personality. You see the ups and downs and are compelled to change the things that are bad. Theres so much more in this game to talk about: the ever present Moon that hangs above head, with a constantly sad look on its face, the beautiful and sad stories that are constantly appearing in the game, the games villain, The Skull Kid, who's only crime was looking for new friends. Its a hard game that is so wonderfully artful and amazing. It will remind you why video games are an art form worth fighting for.

Having not played the Original Divinity or its sequel, I don't have much to base this game on its improvements. I have however, gotten sick of most modern RPGs and this game is a breath of fresh air. The writing isn't as good as a Bioware game, nor does it look as pretty. However, this game has something that Mass Effect and Dragon Age lacked: exploration. The world of Divinity II is huge and beautiful and it only gets better the more you play. Much of the games design is great too, but you'll have to look past some of the games problems to get there. There is some freezing issues but most of the glitches you'll see in the game don't effect the over all playability of the game. Once you get past this you'll see an RPG that is more about fun and enjoying yourself than about nerdy stats and grinding loot fests. For instance, you get access to any skills in the game, regardless of what class you choose. This allows you to create your hero in any way you want. Want to be a ranged weapon specialist who can summon demons and shoot fire? You got it! The over all menu system is easy and from about half way in the game, it gets even better, allowing you go send anything you pick up to your "Battle Tower," a central hub that acts as your own personal shop/training grounds/evil necromancer's lab. There are other fun unique things as well, such as the ability to turn into a dragon on command and having your own Frankenstein-esque creature that you piece together from body parts scattered in the game. This game is a hidden gem, destined to be a sleeper hit that any RPG fan who just wants to have fun exploring a huge and endearing world.

There are far too few positive examples of games that are art. This is one of them. As it is, its a difficult to find and somewhat expensive game, but now that the individual plankton games are for sale on the DSi, people shouldn't miss them! The game is a simple music maker, thats it, but the way it does so is so inviting and creative you'll love it. Also, its design makes it so that you'll never have the same experience twice, always discovering something new and original about each time you play each game. My advice: plug in your head phones and take your time. Totally worth it.

The original was a miracle coming out in America, as games like that usually never make it out of Japan. Now, it seems that hell has frozen over because not only is there a sequel, but we're seeing it localized for a mere $30! Incredible! But anyways, on to the review. This is a wonderfully unique game thats full of content and great to explore. The company Arika did cut some corners in order to make this a budget title, but thankfully, most of them were good ones. Theres no voice acting, but thats fine since if there had been it would have been bad. They've also expanded on the original in just about every way possible and this is for the better. Instead of being confined to a large space that magically has every type of aquatic animal ever, the game is split up into several areas that literally span the globe. Its all the places you'd want to visit too, from frozen poles to tropical seas, even the Amazon are all places to visit. It gets even better, since you have tons more to do as well. Each character that you meet usually has specific jobs for you to do. From salvaging to dolphin training, this game has everything. If you can get money doing it underwater, this game has it. The surprisingly deep photography jobs are back as well, having you attempt to get your photos rated by those picky editors of underwater magazines. There is one annoying thing and thats the music. There are about 10 or so songs sung by some overly energetic opera singer that are just plain terrible. Oddly enough, theres no ability to upload your own MP3s as there was in the original, which would have helped with the grating music. Thankfully, you can just turn that part off and the games wonderful sound design, ie scuba gear breathing, bubbles, the sounds of whales, completely makes up for the terrible music. Over all, theres a ton to do and a ton to see and unlock. My advice: buy the game, turn off the music and enjoy!

Ilomilo is a great 3d puzzle game. Its artsy look give it a feel all of its own and tiny beautiful touches abound in all the right places. From the piano notes that play in the selection menu to the indie game cameos that keep popping up, the game does a lot to pull you in with its personality alone. But personality can only get you so far. Thankfully, the game play is also wonderful. The idea is simple: reunite the two main characters Ilo and Milo to beat the puzzle. Along the way you can collect art, music from the sound track and little bean shaped characters called Safkas (named after Melanie Safka) that unlock super difficult levels. It works well and the difficulty curve is forgiving. Theres also a nice story (yes, a story in a puzzle game). Its cute and even somewhat sad. It all blends together well with the game play and is full of symbolism. All in all, its a great game thats well worth the price of $10 ($12 if you count the downloadable content). If you love inspired art and have a secret love of difficult puzzle games, get it!