Lock's Quest Review and other musings.

Well, I'm back!

I haven't started at the studio, so I'm still applying for work. Hey, if it keeps me paid, that's what I have to do. I've also got my birthday coming up in the middle of this month, so I'll be purchasing Pokemon: SoulSilver with the proceeds of said celebrations. I'm really looking forward to the port-over; I'm old enough to have bought the original Pokemon Silver when it was released as well as Pokemon Crystal which followed it. Needless to say, that will probably be the next review on my list.

Anyway, to the matters at hand - your timely review for Lock's Quest (DS).

So, the general idea is this - you're Lock, an amateur Archineer (a cross between an architect and an engineer) and your village is attacked by clockword droids (who may or may not be related to those in The Girl in the Fireplace - Doctor Who). In any case, you're given basic training in how to throw up a wall, put a turret next to it and defend both with your life.

Because Gods forbid you lose your objective.

Herein lies the funny part. Most of the time, you'll be asked to guard the ever-important Source Wells. Occasionally, you'll be asked to guard a gate. Or a blue-thing whose presence is never really explained. The funniest thing is that when you are asked to guard soldiers, not all of them have to survive to meet your objective.

Take this for example:

I was tasked with escorting the remaining force back to Antonia for the final showdown. Out of about six or so, only two made it to the end. I still completed the mission according to the game. While this made me very pleased that I could now shoot off to take down Lord Agony (one boss fight I was happy to be done with!), I was a little put out that these people seemed to think less of their "Kingdom Force" (see: fighting flunkies) than their Archineers (see: building AND fighting flunkies).

All in all, though, it was a fun little game, but not something that I will probably continue playing. The mechanics of wall and turret building get old very quickly and the length of the campaigns got a bit boring after a while. But as a cute little game with a vaguely interesting storyline, it's worth playing just to build your own fortress (and you really can't discount the traps you can set!).

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - Return to glory for the epic series of fantastic games!

Well, finally my prayers were answered - a NEW Kingdom Hearts game! Finally, I put aside my PS2 controller and stopped dribbling all over my walkthrough-guide pic of Riku from KHII and cast my attention towards my DS in the pursuit of something new.

Now, truth be told, a friend of mine has an R4 and has therefore been playing it for the last month or so. Under... interesting circumstances, I got a hold of his R4 and played a few missions. Thoroughly convinced that I desperately wanted this game, I felt heart-broken that it wouldn't be out until the end of the year.

Thank you for lying to me, EB Games.

Two weeks later, we found it out on the shelves after a uni lecture (yes, we go Game hunting. Insert bad pun here). I insisted, then, that when I arrived home, my mother drive me to my local EB to pick up my copy.

Now I'm almost halfway through the game, I think it's time that I posted my reaction.

Oh. My. God.

Could our dear Squeenix have got it any more right? I admit I was upset that I had to play through nearly half a game to get a peek at Riku, but when I did I was rewarded with a delicious cut-scene and dialogue that proved to me why he's my very favourite game character of all. Screw Sora, Riku is where it's at! Also on the character couch, we learn more about the Organisation. Woah. Twelve very messed-up people. Nobodies. Things. Whatever.

Stand-out member Axel is developed more and becomes less of an idiot once you learn how much he thinks of Roxas and the lengths he goes to in order to protect his friend. His actions make his demise in KHII that little more poignant and saddening. But one has to wonder; Axel seemed to be different from the rest of the Organisation, almost having feelings. Could he be as "special" as Roxas?

The music and the graphics both ported over to the DS well, but the camera still works a little wonky, even if you do take it off the one-way mode. But who cares?

Strangely enough, you don't get keychains in this one. You make your own, find them lying about and what not. This was fun, but the lack of panel slots made me frustrated. But it is a neat little levelling system.

On the whole, I'm glad that this is the next episode in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. The story is epic, the gameplay phenomenal and thoroughly enjoying. For fans of the series, it's certainly a welcome return. Five stars from me!

Traded in... and Super Mario Bros. DS

I did the dreaded cull. I got rid of Zoo Tycoon DS, Apollo Justice - Ace Attorney and Red Ninja - End of Honour. In their place, the last purchase of 2008 was the new Super Mario Bros. DS. After being a little apprehensive at first (wasn't quite sure if I would like a more modern version of the classic games on the SNES and NES), I bit the bullet and bought it.

Now, I'm only up to the end of world 2, remembering that there are eight in total. I'm quite impressed with the faithfulness to the original games that I loved when I was a child (though I wouldn't play Mario Kart -unless it was 64 - if you paid me). The mega mushrooms are a nice touch, though they tend not to last the distance unless you use dash mode.

On the whole, so far I'm enjoying it.

Back to the studio-Gameon work, now that the third designer has found his way into the forums, I'm starting to worry that my ideas are just going to go by the wayside. I've worked with him before and he tends to just take control and do what he wants to do. Which, considering that the other designer and I who are on the team have been discussing our ideas quite successfully, isn't fair. I really don't want a protagonist that the audience can't connect with... something difficult to do when you're playing as a blob or some weird casual stone thingy. The poll showed that people wanted an adventure... with possible puzzle elements. It's madness (and if anyone says 'This Is Sparta', I will throw a virtual spear at them).

Well, that's it. For now. I'm going to play some more of SMBDS. Will report back when I'm done. Peace out.