NOW PLAYING: Ni No Kuni (Part 3)

NOW PLAYING: Ni No Kuni (Part 3)

There be SPOILERS below!  Run for your lives!

Every Friday (well, this is a late post, so Saturday) I like to update you all on what I’ve been playing the past week, and unsurprisingly, it’s been Ni No Kuni for the last three.  The game has me hooked and I don’t think I can stop until I’ve done everything.

I’ve gotten to a point in the game where the world has finally opened up a bit.  After obtaining the ship and traveling to Hamelin, Oliver gained the Travel spell, which allows you to “Fast Travel” (Skyrim fans) to any location previously visited, making it SO much easier to collect items you missed or finish up outstanding side quests.

My favorite familiar so far... about to om nom nom nom...

I’m finally taking a lot more time to feed and properly upgrade my familiars, and I found a great place to grind levels – the Ugly Duckling isle just northwest of Hamelin has Toko’s, a weak and timid familiar that likes to run away in battle, but is worth about 2,000 experience a pop when defeated.

If you enlarge this picture, you can see where my red arrow-circle is in the upper middle portion of the map.  That's Ugly Duckling isle with the juicy Tokos!

The Casino in Tombstone Trail is open now, too.  It has the feel of a real life gambling joint, though.  You have to pay Guilders for Chips, and you use the Chips to play the games.  All the games are a bit luck based, and it almost feels like they’re “rigged”.  My boyfriend and I had fun playing the original “Platoon” game though, and we both got a laugh when we saw that the Temple of Trial Challenge involving Oliver and Esther walking on the dual paths was now a game, too.  Perhaps we’ll be spending more time there, later.

I also tried the Solosseum where you fight other folks with familiars in ranked challenges.  It was a little difficult beating just the first two tiers, so I’m probably going to have to go back later once I get strong enough to take on the rest.

The deeper I dive into the game, the more impressed I am with its design.  Good job, Level-5!  I’m totally loving it.  45 hours and counting…

LATE UPDATE – I got the dragon!  Woohoo!  Time to fly everywhere and collect all those nasty things that were just out of my reach!  Yay!

WEEEE!!!

MY VIEWS: Nintendo's Uphill Struggles

MY VIEWS: Nintendo’s Uphill Struggles

Do you remember back in the 80’s when Nintendo was king?  When the Nintendo Entertainment System was THE video game console?  I started gaming on the NES, and my very first game was the original Super Mario Bros.  My collection steadily grew to include many classics, like Bubble Bobble, Blaster Master, the full array of Mega Man games, and all the Mario titles.

When the Super Nintendo launched in 1990, I was probably one of the first kids to score one thanks to my mom (who admittedly spoiled me a bit).  Super Mario World was the first game I got, but I quickly accumulated many more.  I was introduced to RPGs with Breath of Fire, and quickly collected the gamut, from all the smash hits from Squaresoft to the Lufia series.  I played my first Zelda game – Link to the Past – and got hooked on Super Mario Kart.  At this point, Nintendo was still truly on top of the gaming world.

In 1996, the N64 was introduced, Nintendo’s answer to Sony’s Playstation released in 1994.  Although home to incredible groundbreaking hits like Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye 007, and Super Smash Bros, many considered it a strange choice to continue producing games on cartridges when more powerful and larger capacity discs were coming to the forefront.  The peculiar controller design was awkward and a bit uncomfortable.  Along with the Final Fantasy series, Playstation was already off and running with a massive array of new franchises, and others that jumped ship from Nintendo (like Bomberman and Castlevania).

Nintendo finally switched to discs (albeit small ones) with the debut of the GameCube in 2001 (the year I graduated high school), but Playstation had already trumped them the previous year with the Playstation 2, which grew to become the best selling console (right behind its predecessor, the original Playstation).  In addition, Nintendo now shared the playing field with Microsoft (the Xbox) and Sega (the Dreamcast).  With competition getting fierce, Nintendo attempted to go the innovative route, producing unique offerings like Zelda – Four Swords and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, but they were often met with criticism and only moderate successes.  In the end, GameCube’s less than spectacular library of games was its ultimate downfall.

When the latest generation of consoles was released, Nintendo created waves with the Wii in 2006.  The console was innovative and cool, something that helped its initial sales.  But as it grew, one major setback became painfully clear – while its core games developed by Nintendo were incredible, its third party offerings were mostly pitiful jokes.  And these pitiful jokes would grow and grow and eventually become the majority of the Wii’s catalog.  With the PS3 and Xbox 360 pumping out hit after hit, it was hard for Nintendo to keep up with its mediocre offerings, even with its cool Virtual Console that allows you to buy and play classic Nintendo games.  It didn’t help that PS3 and Xbox also eventually introduced their own “move” technology (although only the Xbox’s Kinect was marginally successful).  Developers began to shy away from the limited power of the Wii, instead choosing to (smartly) realize their visions on the two more powerful consoles.

Now with the Wii U leading the way into yet another generation of consoles, I wonder what the future holds for the original gaming giant.  The launch was only moderately successful, and the flagship titles are a bit lackluster.  Most of my favorite games are now on the other systems, with only a handful on my old Wii.  As Nintendo looks ahead, I hope they are developing a plan to reclaim their status as a world class hardware and software developer.  I’ve always had a special place in my heart for these guys, and I wish them the best in their endeavors this year.  I’m excited to see what will happen!

GAMING VOICES: Giving and Taking Heart in Ni No Kuni

GAMING VOICES: Giving and Taking Heart in Ni No Kuni

When I first heard you had to take pieces of good people’s hearts to help restore the heartbroken in Ni No Kuni, I had visions of the Heartless from the Kingdom Hearts franchise.  Turns out that Giving and Taking hearts is not nearly as evil as it sounds.  Borrowing some Courage, Kindness, or Enthusiam from someone actually makes their hearts feel lighter, and the recipient is cured of his or her lack thereof.  In the realm of video games, this is a welcome relief from the normal tedium of “fetch quests”.  But could we apply these simple mechanics in real life, too?

Of course none of us are wizards with a locket that can hold pieces of heart (at least, not that I know of), but the idea behind this is realistic.  If you think about people in Ni No Kuni terms, everyone is born with this perfect, golden heart, full of Kindness, Enthusiasm, Courage, Belief, Restraint, and so on.  Along the way, people invariably lose a bit of these here and there.  While it may not be Shadar that steals their hearts, tough life experiences and dealing with other brokenhearted folks can chip away at a person’s heart.  In time, one may become brokenhearted, or even be possessed by a nightmare, causing them to lash out at life and do terrible things.

If only it were that easy in reality to help others by borrowing virtues from those with an excess, and giving them to those in need.  But if you stop and think about it, it really IS that simple.  When someone is mean or cruel, perhaps they didn’t have someone to show them some true kindness.  When a friend is afraid to take the next step, don’t you lend them some of your own courage to move on?  When a coworker is feeling down and unmotivated, don’t you contribute some of your enthusiasm to get them through the rest of the day?

Ni No Kuni and Oliver aren’t very far from the truth.  Whle we don’t run around with wands and a Locket, we lend our hearts to people every day.  And when we can’t help someone on our own, we often reach out to others to borrow their strength, as well.  Oliver is unfortunately an exception to the rule, however.  While there are people like him who go out of their way to help others, it feels like there are many more who would rather ignore the plight of those in need.  If everyone in the world was more like Oliver, would it be a better place in which to live?  I think so.

More PS4 News

More PS4 News

More and more information about the alleged announcement of Sony’s next gen PS4 is becoming available.  IGN ran two great articles below that you guys should really take a look at.

Predicting the PS4 Event

Rumor: Playstation 4 Will Cost About $400

Of course, a lot of this is speculation at this point, but it’s making me (and the rest of the gaming community) more excited about the information Sony will release come February 20.

Skylanders Swap Force

Skylanders Swap Force

Just when I thought the collector’s craze was over, Activision announced yet another title in the Skylander’s franchise – Swap Force.

With a new mechanic (creatures that can actually be mixed and matched to form different characters) and a whole new roster of additional toys to collect, I’m afraid my wallet be a little emptier once the game is released this Fall.

Read the full introductory article at IGN here.

Skylanders Swap Force First Look