Shall We Do It? (Danganronpa, Dokuro, Final Fantasy: Record Keeper and My World, My Way)

For the first time since I started my new job two-and-a-half-months ago, I'm finally feeling somewhat settled. One of the side effects of that feeling is that I'm playing--and enjoying--more games than I have in ages.

Given that, I thought now would be the perfect time to type up another "Shall We Do It?" post that compiles some of my thoughts on the four portable titles that are mentioned in the header above.

Danganronpa (Vita)--Although my precious pink-and-white Vita has been in my hands for a couple of weeks now, I didn't actually play a game on it until this weekend due to the vacation that popped up just after the system arrived on our doorstep.

The first game I stuck into my Vita's cart slot, of course, was NIS' acclaimed Danganronpa, a dark visual novel that certainly didn't disappoint in the couple of hours I spent with it on Saturday and Sunday. 

As much as I'm loving Danganronpa's well-crafted, whodunnit-style story, though, I'm loving Rui Komatsuzaki's delicious-looking art even more. I also really like how playing this game "feels." Stalking the halls of Hope's Peak Academy is more engaging than I thought it would be, for instance, and interacting with your surroundings in other ways (such as clicking on background elements to learn more about them, or doing the same to your comrades to converse with them) is similarly enjoyable.

That's about all I can say about Danganronpa at the moment, I'm afraid, but I can assure you I'll continue to plug away at it this coming week, so hopefully the impressions I share in my next "Shall We Do It?" post (which I hope to publish about seven days from now) will dig a bit deeper into the experience.

Dokuro (Vita)--Danganronpa isn't the only Vita game I spent some time with this past weekend. I also bought--for just $2.99 via PSN--and played Dokuro, a Game Arts-developed puzzler-platformer that's quite a looker in its own right.

This digital effort is attractive in a slightly different way than Danganronpa is, though; here, the visuals look like they've been created using colored chalk or crayons. The effect isn't quite as eye-popping as, say, the original Yoshi's Island, but it's still undeniably pretty.

As for the rest of the game, well, I like it, but I can't say I'm head-over-heels in love with it. Players are given a good number of things to do--like pushing boxes, flipping switches and even carrying princesses--and the great majority of them provoke a lukewarm feeling of accomplishment, but on the whole, so far, Dokuro seems to lack a bit of energy.

Hopefully things will pick up as I continue to pick away at the adventure at hand, which is exactly what I'm planning to do (to an extent, at least) over the course of the following week or two.

Final Fantasy: Record Keeper (iOS)--This mobile RPG's North American launch came out of nowhere for me. I vaguely remember hearing about its Japanese release, but I assumed it would remain unique to that region and so quickly forgot about it.

Given its nostalgic content and liberal use of sprites, though, I nabbed it from the iOS App Store as soon as I heard about it.

Despite my eagerness to download it, I'm not sure how long it's going to maintain a presence on my iPhone. Why? For starters, Record Keeper's battle-centric gameplay isn't as engaging as I expected it to be given its pedigree. Also, as much as I love all of the spritework that's on display in this game, it's somewhat tarnished by all of the not-sprite art that tends to surround it. (Sorry, I've never been a fan of such juxtaposition. For me, I'd much rather a game focus entirely on sprites or entirely on hand-drawn illustrations, although I know I'm probably in the minority in feeling that way.)

Anyway, I'll give it a fair shake before dumping it--which means I'll give it at least a couple of more plays between now and the next time I write about this Final Fantasy offshoot. 

My World, My Way (DS)--Of all the games included in this write-up, this Atlus-published RPG is the one I put the most hours into over the last week. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've put more time into this title than any of the others than have been played as part of my "A Decade of DS" series.

I'm going to publish a more in-depth post about this quirky DS game shortly, so I don't want to share too much about it here, but one thing I definitely want to get across is that I'm having a blast with it.

If you've never heard of it, it's an RPG that stars a spoiled princess who channels her inner adventurer in order to attract the attention of a handsome bloke--an adventurer himself--who has melted her heart.

One of the handful of elements that sets My World, My Way apart from the JRPG pack is that its spoiled-princess protagonist has to juggle "pout points" as well as experience and hit points. By pouting, Elise (that's the princess' name) can alter the landscape around her, call more enemies to a particular area, force them to drop more items or experience points than they would otherwise and a number of other interesting actions.

As intriguing as that may sound, My World, My Way's definitely not for everyone. It's pretty repetitive, for one, plus it's far from the most attractive of DS games. That said, it's managed to keep my attention for more than five hours so far, so maybe its allure is more than the sum of its somewhat-unappealing parts?

Have any of you played some or all of the games discussed in this post? If so, please share your thoughts on them in the comments section below.

Five games I'd probably pick up if I owned a PlayStation Vita

Although I'm hardly what you'd call a "Vita hater," I'm also not exactly the biggest fan of Sony's latest handheld.

Still, a handful of its games have captivated me enough that I don't think it's completely out of the question that I'll own a Vita someday (especially considering I'm far more interested in portable, rather than console, gaming these days).

Should that "someday" ever arrive, here are five Vita games I'd seriously consider picking up alongside the bulky, OLED-screened system:

1. @field--What do you get when you combine Hot Shots Golf and pinball? Apparently you get this Sega-made game. Don't worry, I don't quite understand how a golf-pinball mash-up is supposed to play either. Something like mini-golf, perhaps? Regardless, I'm intrigued.

2. Dokuro--I've written about my interest in this puzzler-platformer before, so there isn't much more to say about it here. What I will say: if possible, I'd prefer to pay a premium and pick up the Japanese retail version of this game--just so I can sit and stare at its beautiful box art.

3. Gravity Rush--So many people trumpeted this title's merits around the time of its release that I actually stopped paying attention to it. (What can I say? I'm sometimes contrary like that.) Anyway, now that I've had a chance to reflect a bit, I think I can see why gamers went gaga over it and I'm curious to give it a spin myself.

4. Persona 4 Golden--Full disclosure: I've never before played the original version of Persona 4. In fact, I don't even own a copy of the game--although it's been on my "to buy" list since it was released. Everyone says this is the best version of it, so maybe I'll just skip the PS2 release and buy this one instead (should I ever purchase a Vita, of course).

5. Sei Madou Monogatari--The two main reasons I'm interested in this sure-to-be-Japan-only Vita title: 1) I've long been a fan of the Madou Monogatari series of dungeon-crawlers and 2) I like that this one looks more than a bit like Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Other possibilities: The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki, Orgarhythm, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Tearaway and Touch My Katamari.

Who needs Thanksgiving leftovers when you've got a new episode of The Nichiest Podcast Ever?

OK, go ahead and enjoy those Thanksgiving leftovers, too. (Assuming you even have them, of course.) I don't think it would be a terrible idea to wash them down with a cold, refreshing glass of The Nichiest Podcast Ever, though, do you?

Especially since this "take" (our fourth) includes chatter about a whole heap of niche-y gaming goodness. Cases in point: Anne (aka @apricotsushi) talks about the Animal Crossing-branded 3DS LL (XL elsewhere) she recently acquired, while shidoshi (@pikoeri) and I continue salivate over the pink-and-white XL that just hit (some) store shelves in North America.

We also confer on Style Savvy: Trendsetters, the slew of niche-y PSP games due to be released throughout North America between now and next summer, the Deadly Premonition Director's Cut that's set to come out (for PS3) this coming March, and the possibility that the wacky PS2 title, Chulip, may soon find its way onto PSN.

Oh, and we also blathered on for a bit about the recent launch of the Wii U. Are Anne and shidoshi planning to join me in picking up Nintendo's next console at some point in 2013, or are they going to give it a pass?

Check out this episode of The Nichiest Podcast Ever (here) and you'll hear the answer to that question and also hear the three of us "cheerlead" in support of Dokuro (for Vita), Magical Whip: Wizards of Phantasmal Forest (DSiWare) and Persona 4 Golden (also for Vita).

Attention Vita owners: Dokuro is now available for purchase via PSN

OK, so most of you probably don't own a Vita. And if you do, you likely already know that GungHo's 150-level puzzler-platformer Dokuro is hitting PSN today. Just in case any of you weren't aware of that fact, though, I thought I'd remind you.

Oh, and I also should remind you that this "two-dimensional Boxxle and ICO mixture with chalk graphics" title (according to NeoGAF user deimian86) will cost you just $19.99.

Here's a (Japanese) gameplay video of Dokuro--which is Japanese for "skull," basically--for those of you who've yet to see it in action:



If you just can't get enough of Dokuro, you may want to watch this video, too, which takes viewers through the game's Japanese demo. (Warning: The guy playing said demo is very annoying.)

Personally, if I owned a Vita I'd probably pick up the Japanese retail release of Dokuro, as I'm pretty fond of its box art, rather than the North American PSN version, but I'm weird like that.

See also: 'Surprise, surprise: The first (and only) Vita game that interests me is an odd, niche-y one'

I'd totally (probably) buy Sound Shapes if I owned a PS3 or Vita

I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one--it was released early last week, after all, although it won't hit the streets in Europe until tomorrow--but what do you expect from someone who owns neither a PS3 nor a Vita?

Even then, you'd think this Queasy Games-developed title would have appeared on my radar before this past weekend, when I read about it on the geek out! blog.

As for why I'd totally (probably) pick up Sound Shapes if I owned a PS3 or Vita: I really like its minimalist, LocoRoco-meets-NightSky aesthetic, for starters. Also, I'm intrigued by its gameplay, which seems to be an appealing mash-up of a platformer and a rhythm title.



The only thing that makes me a bit, well, queasy about this digital release: Its $14.99 price tag. Still, I'd likely bite the bullet and hand over my hard-earned cash for it if I owned a Vita, as only a couple of its games have caught my attention thus far (namely @field, Dokuro and Gravity Daze/Rush).

See also: 'Sega's doing its darndest to lead me @field' and 'Surprise, surprise: The first (and only) Vita game that interests me is an odd, niche-y one'

I'd buy this game for its cover art alone if I actually owned a PS Vita

Did a feeling of déjà vu wash over you when you first glanced at the following piece of box art?

That wouldn't surprise me given that an edited version of the illustration that takes up the majority of said box art's acreage was included in this recent post about the same game.

Anyway, although I've heard that Dokuro, a platformer-puzzler made by the folks at Gamearts, will see the light of day in North America, I've yet to hear when that will happen. (It'll hit the streets of Japan--and PSN, too--on July 5, according to andriasang.com.)

Thankfully, it's doubtful the US version will receive a physical release like its Japanese counterpart--which means I can hold off on picking up a PS Vita for at least a few more months.

Surprise, surprise: The first (and only) Vita game that interests me is an odd, niche-y one

I haven't exactly been shy about the fact that I'm a bit "ho hum" when it comes to the PS Vita. Oh, I find the hardware itself interesting enough--if a smidge over-priced--but its software catalog bores me to tears.

Actually, I take that back. What I should have said is that this bulky handheld's current software line-up bores me to tears. I find one of its upcoming releases, though, pretty darn intriguing.

That upcoming release: Gamearts' Dokuro (Japanese for "Skull"), which looks to be some sort of platformer-puzzler combo.

I'm a sucker for puzzler-platformers, so that aspect alone makes me want to keep an eye on this particular title. The reason I want to purchase it (at some future point in time, of course), though, is the art style--which makes everything look as though it was created using chalk. (Said art style is somewhat apparent in the illustration to the right, although it's much more so in the screenshots shown here and here.)

The story is pretty cute, too, with Dokuro focusing on an evil "Dark Load" (er, I think that's supposed to be "Lord") who kidnaps a princess and then puts her behind bars until they can get hitched. Guarding the imprisoned princess is a skeleton named, you guessed it, Dokuro, who sets her free after seeing her cry and then attempts to lead her out of the Dark Load's tower.

I'm not entirely sure how Dokuro (and the players controlling him) will accomplish the above-mentioned task, although I'm guessing from the screens that have been published over at andriasang.com that it will involve some amount of screen swiping and tapping. (Sadly, this recently-released teaser trailer doesn't include a single second of gameplay.)

Regardless, consider me curious.

See also: 'Raise your hand if you picked up a PS Vita yesterday'