Fez's Are Cool!

Honestly, if the title got you to this article, its true.  And Fez, from Polytron and Trapdoor, is cool.  In fact, its one of the greatest games I've had the pleasure of playing.

The premise is simple, you are Gomez, a vaguely marshmallow-man 2D creature that is happy living in your 2D world.  One day you wake up and receive a letter from the crazy old codger in town asking you to climb to the top of town and talk to him.  When you do, some crazy stuff happens and suddenly you are aware of the "third dimension".

Now, manipulating the difference between what you see in 2D and 3D, you progress through the world trying to set things right and figure out what in the heck is going on.  Full of puzzles and cryptic messages, Fez stands as one of the most challenging games out there.  It could be beat in just a couple of hours, but if you're not one of those spoiled people with the internet (oops, you must be, you're reading this!), the game can take your whole life if your not careful.  But seriously, PLAY FEZ!  If you are a fan of using your brain, you must try this game.

Going Over the Records

There is one thing that will always sell.  A good memory.  You remind somebody of a wonderful childhood experience, they will buy whatever you put in front of them.  Final Fantasy Record Keeper is a fine example of this principal.

The entire idea behind the game is good memories.  You are in a library holding the records of all the greatest tales of your world, and surprise, surprise, they are the final fantasy games! 

But something has gone wrong, and now you, a brave librarian, must enter the records and set them right.  Fear not, though, young adventurer, you are not alone in your quest.  You are joined by the spectres of the heroes from the tales you are saving.

So, this game is all the nostalgia of your favorite FF games, without all the grinding and bothersome world-walking.  Also, abilities work different then they ever have for a FF game, and you are limited to two special abilities, and the basic attack and defense.  So even your spells and specials have to be strategically planned before entering the fray.  Honestly, I've been addictive playing this game for almost two years, and it just keeps getting more good stuff.  Check it out, it's one of the best free titles on Google Play. 

Click Till You Drop

So, I started down the dark and terrible path of Clicker Heroes almost a year ago, as something highlighted on Steam.  I really wish I hadn't.

Clicker Heroes, as the title suggests, is an idle click game, and so, by extension, not really much of a game at all.  It takes everything about an RPG battle system, and reduces it to clicking madly on a picture of a monster, or leaving it to die by auto-generated damage per second.

The real trouble is, this game is addicting.  Your get sucked in to the simplicity, the adorable characters, and the need to accomplish the many achievements the game offers you.  You come back to the game again and again just to see if you can finish things, then get frustrated and leave.  Then you come back.  Its a vicious cycle.

Another complaint I have, just having watched the game change over the last year, is the amount of change.  The game is not exactly the same one I started playing and got sucked into.  One recent change that has bothered me was the removing of buffs gained from achievements.  They used to give you +5% DPS per achievement, helping you move along through the game.  Now they are just badges, providing no benefit at all.  The developers also recently modified the Ancients, (statues that you can collect to help you do more damage and collect more gold), making them more complicated to work with by adding weird leveling requirements and even removing some Ancients.  And more changes; they've added Clans, Mercenaries, Transcending, the Powerbloop, Relics, Forge Cores (which still have no in game use), and many more minor things that just get overwhelming to keep track of.

All in all, Clicker Heroes has been a total waste of my time that I can't get away from, and feels more like a game beta than an actual complete game.  I did read in an in-game ad that they are working on Clicker Heroes 2, so maybe there is some hope for the second game.

Gonna Catch'em All

So, not going to say too much on the subject, be cause I'm not sure about the legality of things yet, but I've been putting some wear on my shoes trying to catch some Pokemon.

Skylanders

So, I spent time today convincing a fan of the old Spyro games that the Skylanders games, while not truly part of the Spyro seri3s, were still worth the time and investment to play.  A whole lot of talk, explaining, and debating didn't get anywhere near as far, though, as just plugging in the game and handing him a controller.  After the first level, he was hooked

Another Good One

So, since playing the game Ittle Dew by Ludosity, I've been eagerly awaiting a new title from the self-started game company, and there newest title didn't disappoint.  They have come out with a TCG game that has the feel of Triple Triad from FF8 and the gameplay of Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh console titles.  And as to be expected from Ludosity, there is plenty of parody and tongue-in-cheek humor.  If you grew up loving the Yu-Gi-Oh series, this game will make you laugh and challenge your skills all at the same time.

I'll be writing a bit more about it in issue #2 of Linux Gamer Monthly, so if you want to learn more before buying it yourself, check it out there.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

So, for Christmas I finally decided to ask for an upgrade to my DS system and move to a 3DS.  The options that Ms. Clause (my wife), had were a special edition Dream Team 3DS, or the 2DS bundled with either Pokemon X or Y.

She wanted to know which I wanted, and as tempting as the new Pokemon has been, I went with the M&L Dream Team.  And I couldn't have made a better choice.

As one of the off-shoots of Super Mario RPG, the M&L series has grown with its odd sense of sometimes subtle humor, and it's unique cast among the Mario Bros. franchise.   I  found myself getting sucked in to the usually ridiculous storyline and caught up in ancient war of the Pi'llo  people.

I have to say that over all, I really enjoyed M&L Dream Team, but the end was rather weak.  The final area is huge, but there are few amenities, and the grind is exhausting.

I would have to give the game four out of five arbitrary and meaningless stars.