Shall We Do It? (leaving Bravely Default behind for a bit and playing Yoshi's New Island, Pokémon Battle Trozei and 3D Fantasy Zone instead)

I think I've reached my breaking point when it comes to playing Bravely Default.

It pains me to admit that, but it's true.

Of course, I've been hurtling toward this realization for some time now (since the middle of chapter six, if memory serves), so I'm not sure why I'm finding it so disappointing.

Maybe it's because I've come to really like the vast majority of this turn-based RPG--its characters, its setting, its soundtrack, its battle system--in the 75 or so hours I've spent with it thus far, and so it saddens me that one or two other aspects of the game are keeping me from wanting to finish it.

As for which aspects are bugging me: surprisingly, the wordiness I've complained about in past "Shall We Do It?" posts isn't one of them. Instead, one is related to where Bravely Default's story takes players during its second half (I'll stop there so as to avoid spoilers), while the other is related to some of the (overly cheap, in my opinion) optional boss fights that pop up near the end of the game.

So, I've decided to take a bit of a break from it. I fully plan to pick it up again soon, if only to finish the damn thing as quickly as possible (on easy, if need be), but I can't currently say when that's going to happen.

In the meantime, I'm going to spend my free time with a few other 3DS games--Yoshi's New Island, Pokémon Battle Trozei and 3D Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Bros., in particular.

Here are a few early-ish impressions of each of those recently released 3DS titles, in case any of you are interested:

3D Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Bros.--After years of turning my nose up at it, Sega's peculiar, pastel-filled shmup, Fantasy Zone, has really wormed its way into my heart in recent months. Because of that, I snatched up this 3D-enhanced version, which just hit the Japanese eShop last week, as soon as I was able.

So far, I've only spent about 30 minutes with it, but already I can tell I'm going to like it. A lot. In particular, I'm in love with the bevy of options that are available to players in this release. For instance, you can display the game using the original aspect ratio, you can make it fill the entirety of the 3DS' top screen or you can morph things a bit so it looks like you're playing it on an old, curved CRT monitor.

That said, pretty much all of the changes that are present here are superficial. The backbone is still a 28-year-old arcade game, so if that sounds at all unappealing to you, it may not be your thing. For me, though, I'm completely stoked that I can now play a slightly enhanced version of this wonderfully quirky little game on my 3DS whenever I feel like it.

Pokémon Battle Trozei--Although I've never been the biggest Pokémon fan, I've always been a fan of the series' colorful cast of creatures. I've also long been a fan of portable puzzle games, as anyone who has visited this blog for any amount of time can attest. So, I decided the second it was announced to pick up Pokémon Battle Trozei the day it hit the North American 3DS eShop--an event that took place just about a week ago.

Anyway, if you haven't yet educated yourself about this game (and there's certainly nothing wrong with that), here's the gist: it's a match-three puzzler than seemingly takes some cues from the über-popular Puzzle & Dragons.

There's a bit more to it than that, of course. For example: while matching panels on the bottom screen, you're also battling a handful (I've encountered between three and five per stage so far) "wild Pokémon" on the top screen. Reduce a creature's hit points to zero and you add it to your collection.

All of that's well and good, but so far the stages have gone by so quickly I've barely had time to acknowledge the presence of the Pokémon I'm facing at the moment let alone devise a proper strategy to use against it.

Thankfully, that hasn't mattered much up to this point. Should it become an issue on later stages, I could see it negatively impacting my enjoyment of the game, but for now I'm glad I decided to pick it up.

Yoshi's New Island--I've experienced a roller coaster of emotions since this game was revealed last April. Initially, I was beside myself with excitement, as the original Yoshi's Island is one of my all-time favorite games. After glimpsing a few rough-looking screenshots and videos of New Island at last year's E3, though, my excitement quickly turned to befuddlement.

I've since waffled back and forth between those extremes depending on the time of day (or so it has sometimes seemed) and the quality of the media I've most recently come across.

Now that I've played a good chunk of it (I've just started the sixth world), which of the previously expressed emotions--excitement or befuddlement--am I currently feeling in regard to Yoshi's New Island? Neither, to tell you the truth. I'm still enjoying the game quite a bit, though, despite the fact that it pales in comparison to its predecessor in nearly every single aspect.

The thing is, this New Island may not look as good as the old one, or sound as good, or feature controls that are as finely tuned, but even then I think it's a lot of fun to look at and listen to and play. It does seem to be slightly less engaging than the original so far, and it also feels a bit "cheaper" (as in, more difficult--in an unfair sort of way), but neither of those things are impeding my enjoyment of the game at the moment.

Are any of you also playing Yoshi's New Island--or Pokemon Battle Trozei or Bravely Default or even 3D Fantasy Zone? If so, what do you think of them so far?

See also: previous 'Shall We Do It?' posts