How I spent my time with video games in 2019

Not only did I finish more games in 2019 than I have in many years (read about them here and here), but I simply played more games in 2019 than in recent years, too.

Also, I spent more time with the games I played in 2019 than I can remember doing in ages.

Don't take my word for it; scan the following list and then compare what you see there to what you see on the similar lists I prepared for 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.

My 25 most-played games of 2019:

• Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) — 65 hours, 40 minutes
• Ever Oasis (3DS) — 50 hours, 15 minutes
• Pocket Card Jockey (3DS) — 43 hours, 30 minutes
• Mother 3 (GameBoy Advance) — 32 hours, 35 minutes
• Lapis x Labyrinth (Switch) — 29 hours, 35 minutes
• World of Final Fantasy Maxima (Switch) — 26 hours, 30 minutes
• Romancing SaGa 3 (Switch) — 26 hours, 25 minutes
• Crimson Shroud (3DS) — 22 hours, 15 minutes

• Dandy Dungeon (Switch) — 22 hours, 10 minutes
• Heroland (Switch) — 20 hours, 25 minutes
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Switch) — 20 hours, 10 minutes
• A Witch’s Tale (DS) — 17 hours, 45 minutes
• Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Switch) — 17 hours, 30 minutes
• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch) — 15 hours, 45 minutes
• Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS) — 15 hours
• Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (DS) — 14 hours, 40 minutes
• Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn (3DS) — 14 hours, 40 minutes

• Tetris 99 (Switch) — 12 hours, 45 minutes
• Ghost Trick (DS) — 12 hours, 30 minutes
• Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS) — 10 hours
• The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (Switch) — 9 hours, 30 minutes
• Katamari Damacy Encore (Switch) — 8 hours
• Dragon Quest XI S (Switch) — 7 hours, 45 minutes
• Yo-kai Watch 3 (3DS) — 7 hours, 45 minutes
• Touch Detective (DS) — 7 hours, 15 minutes

So, how did all of you spend your time with games in 2019? Feel free to share your play-time stats in the comments section of this post.

My favorite games of 2019 that weren't actually released in 2019

Although the number of old games I play often competes with the number of new games I play in any given year, I'm pretty sure the scales tipped in favor of the former in 2019.

As such, I thought I should write up a post about my favorite games of the last year that, you know, weren't actually released during the last year.

A Witch’s Tale (DS)--Truth be told, I bought this Nippon Ichi-made RPG simply because I liked how it looked. I'd heard the rest of it wasn't very good, though, so dragged my feet on playing it. Now that I've not only started but finished it, I'm here to say all the folks who suggested I'd hate A Witch's Tale were wrong. It's no Mother or Undertale or, um, Bravely Default, as you might expect, but I still found it both fun and unique. Regarding the latter, A Witch's Tale is completely touch-based--you don't use your system's directional pad or buttons for anything. Also, there's no overworld to explore here. Instead, you jump between a small hub town and six larger areas that sport curious themes. Oh, and you fill your party with an assortment of odd-looking dolls rather than with other humans, which I found to be a particularly interesting change of pace.

Cave Noire (GameBoy)--Although I've played this Japan-only GameBoy game before, none of those experiences lasted more than an hour at most. I'm not sure why that is, as I usually love roguelikes. At any rate, I stuck with it quite a while longer than that this year. My thoughts on the four or so hours I devoted to Cave Noire in 2019? I adored them. They allowed me to discover just how much it differs from your typical example of the genre. For starters, the dungeons you explore here are delightfully bite-sized and perfect for brief bouts of gaming. Also, conquering them requires you to meet various goals, like collecting a certain amount of money or saving a specific number of caged fairies. Speaking of which, I have yet to beat all of Cave Noire's challenges, but I hope to do so in 2020--with the game's exceptional soundtrack egging me on all the way.

Crimson Shroud (3DS)--If I were to tag a theme to my last year with video games, it'd be something like "playing games I stupidly ignored in the past." Actually, though, I haven't ignored Crimson Shroud. In fact, I bought it upon release--only to play it in fits and spurts until earlier this year. Once again, I'm not sure why I failed to stick with it up to now. Its dice-centric battles, inspired by tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, are right up my alley. As are Crimson Shroud's gritty aesthetic and cinematic soundtrack. Some of its late-game tussles grated on my nerves, I have to admit, but they barely put a dent in my enjoyment of this novel adventure.

Ever Oasis (3DS)--Unless something drastic happens between now and midnight on Jan. 1, this GREZZO-developed RPG will end up second among my most-played games of 2019. That's pretty cool, and surprising, considering I bought Ever Oasis expecting it to disappoint me (at least a bit). Obviously it didn't. Although it wasn't as Secret of Mana-esque as I was told it would be, I thought its real-time battles were even better than those of Squaresoft's 16-bit classic. I also appreciated Ever Oasis' enormous selection of whimsical weapons--its humungous hammers shaped like cacti and pinecones and other odd objects, in particular. The main complaint I can aim at this 3DS cart: its town-building component wore out its welcome well in advance of the finish line.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)--Despite the fact that I love the original Final Fantasy Tactics dearly, I've never played its portable spinoffs. Or I hadn't played them before I stubbornly set out to beat Final Fantasy Tactics A2 this summer. Over 65 hours later, I met that objective--and then promptly returned the cartridge to its blue-sleeved case. Did I do so happily, or grouchily? It's hard to say. Only one aspect of A2 made me grouchy, but it was a doozy: the final battle. I loved pretty much everything else about it, though--from the graphics, to the music, to the focus on quests over story. Speaking of that last point, I know a lot of people wish Final Fantasy Tactics A2 had a better story. I'm not one of them. Most RPG stories are bloated, boring messes, in my opinion, so I'm fine with the one in Final Fantasy Tactics A2 doing the bare minimum to move things along.

Ghost Trick (DS)--I feel like I've said this a lot over the last few weeks, but I have a bad habit of avoiding games that garner too much hype from the masses. Capcom's Ghost Trick is but one example of a title that's met this sad fate. My loss, right? I'd certainly say so after playing through it on a tear this autumn. I had no idea the core gameplay in Ghost Trick was so ... puzzle game-ish. That alone increased my interest in it tenfold, though I found its art style, animation, dialogue, and music more than a tad captivating, too. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that, while it took me a while to play Ghost Trick for the first time, it won't take me quite so long to play it a second or even third time.

Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (DS)--I loved Hotel Dusk: Room 215 when I played through it a number of years ago. I expected to play through this follow-up shortly after, but you know how it often goes with best-laid plans. Oh, well, all that matters is I finally tackled it. And that I enjoyed nearly every minute of my time with Last Window. I especially liked that the setting was so different from that of Hotel Dusk. I'm unable to say the same about the new cast of characters, but you can't have everything, right? At least Last Window's soundtrack lived up to my sky-high expectations after the brilliant Hotel Dusk OST knocked me off my feet.

See also: my favorite games of 2019 and, uh, my other favorite games of 2019, too

Mini-reviews of the 19 games I finished in 2019, part two

My last post featured mini-reviews of 10 of the 19 games I finished this year. Here are some similarly succinct write-ups for the remaining nine titles I completed in 2019.

Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (DS)--I first played and finished Hotel Dusk: Room 215 back in 2015. I wish I could give you a good reason as to why it took me until 2019 to play and finish this follow-up, which released in 2010. The best I can come up with is I wanted to savor the experience and felt like I couldn't do so until this year. At any rate, I loved Last Window--much like I loved Hotel Dusk. Although these two point-and-click murder-mystery titles are strikingly similar, they're just different enough to be equally enthralling. There's no question in my mind that I'll replay both--many times over--in the coming years.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)--Given my love of the GameBoy, it probably seems strange that I didn't play Link’s Awakening back when the original version released in 1993. I did download the GameBoy Color DX version from the 3DS eShop a few years ago, but I only put a couple of hours into it before walking away for some reason I can't remember. So, what did I think of this Switch remake? I liked it. I wouldn't say I loved it, though. That's mainly because I regularly had to refer to a guide to figure out what to do or where to go next. I also found the game a bit disjointed. All in all, it was far from a turd, but it also didn't live up to my expectations--or to my previous, more positive experiences with the series' first release, A Link to the Past, or even A Link Between Worlds.

The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (Switch)--I did more than finish this Nippon Ichi Software-made game once; I finished it twice. That's how much I enjoyed The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince. What was it about it this darkly cute puzzler-platformer that prompted such adoration? Its touching, fairy-tale-esque story was the chief culprit, though its unique gameplay, soothing tunes, and eye-catching art style played key roles, too. By the way, I'm far from done with this title, which also can be played on the PS4 and Vita (though the latter was a Japan-only release). In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if I beat it a couple more times in 2020.

Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch)--I developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with the 3DS port of the original Luigi's Mansion when I played through it last year. Did the same thing happen when I played through Luigi's Mansion 3 this year? I'm sad to say it sort of did. On the love side, there are the Pixar-worthy graphics, the beautifully varied floor themes, and the surprisingly creative puzzles. On the hate side, there are the frustrating controls and the occasional lack of direction. In the end, I'm glad I bought, played, and finished Luigi's Mansion 3, but I'm not sure I'll ever return to it.



Mother 3 (GameBoy Advance)--Those of you who've known me for at least a little while should be well aware of the fact that I'm a late bloomer when it comes to Nintendo's  deservedly ballyhooed Mother series. I didn't play through its second entry, called EarthBound in my neck of the woods, until 2014. And I waited all the way until 2017 to do the same with the original Mother. I adored both titles, so I approached Mother 3 with the highest of expectations. Although I can't say it disappointed me, I can say I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. The chapter structure kind of turned me off, plus I thought it felt a tad padded. That said, I have every intention of replaying it at some point down the road--after I've replayed the first two Mother games, of course.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Switch)--I hate to admit this, but sometimes the hype surrounding a game turns me off to the point that I stubbornly ignore it. That's what kept me from playing classics like EarthBound and Undertale for so long, and it's what kept me from diving into the Ace Attorney series, too. As was the case with those aforementioned titles, I'm now hitting myself for my stupidity. I can honestly say I loved nearly every minute of the 20-ish hours I put into the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Switch port this spring. If I had known its characters, soundtrack, and writing were so brilliant, I would've raced through it when the DS port made it way stateside back in 2005.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS)--I avoided this DS port of Nippon Ichi's PlayStation RPG from 2000 for ages because the word on the street was that it was filled with game-killing glitches and bugs. I finally threw caution to the wind and picked up a copy this summer, though--in part because my curiosity got the best of me, and in part because I desperately wanted to play a short game for a change. Well, guess what? The risk paid off. I had a blast with Rhapsody. Its colorful cast of characters--the fiendish Etoile, in particular--was the highlight for me, but I also got a kick out of its puppet-focused battles and its Easter-egg aesthetic.

Touch Detective (DS)--Despite my years-long fascination with developer BeeWorks' Funghi mascot, I didn't play the game that birthed it until early 2019. My thoughts after putting over seven hours into said DS title (which was just enough to reach its end credits)? Touch Detective is the definition of "mixed bag," though for me its positives outweighed its negatives. As for its bright spots: those would be its marvelously weird aesthetic, characters, and mysteries. Admittedly, that last component confounded me more than I'd usually like, but it didn't annoy me here as it often does in similar situations.

Unou no Tatsujin: Soukai! Machigai Museum (DS)--This game was renamed QuickSpot when Namco released it in North America. I bought a copy of the Japanese version--hey, it's got the better cover illustration--after some folks on Twitter recommended it. A few bucks and about a week later, I was done with it. Don't take that as complaint. I was done with it because I'd gone through all of its spot-the-difference stages (or whatever you call such things). Yes, this is a digital, dual-screened photo-hunt game. Sounds like I real snooze, I know, but it's actually quite nice--thanks in large part to all the lovely art packed inside it.

Mini-reviews of the 19 games I finished in 2019, part one

Back when I was a teenager, I finished a ton of games each year. These days, I'm lucky if I can beat even a handful.

Well, except for the last two years. In 2018, I finished 15 games. And I've finished 19 games so far in 2019.

I enjoyed every single one one of those games, so I thought I'd share mini-reviews of them in a pair of blog posts. Here's the first batch; look for the second in a few days.

A Witch’s Tale (DS)--I approached playing this role-playing game with the lowest of expectations thanks to the fairly terrible word of mouth that surrounds it. It didn't take me long to develop my own, far more positive opinion of A Witch's Tale, though. I'd never call this touch-heavy offering a classic, don't-miss DS RPG, mind you, but I think it's both unique and fun enough to warrant a playthrough or two if you still own (and use) one of Nintendo's dual-screened systems.

Another Code (DS)--You may have heard that this point-and-click adventure, known as Trace Memory in North America, is on the short side. Well, it is. In fact, it took me less than five hours to reach Another Code's end credits. That said, it packs a lot of intrigue, not to mention interesting puzzles, into the brief, coming-of-age journey of its heroine, Ashley Robbins. One thing I would recommend to folks who've yet to play any of now-defunct developer CiNG's DS games: start with this one, then move on to the far superior Hotel Dusk and The Last Window at a later date.

Crimson Shroud (3DS)--Although I bought this Yasumi Matsuno-helmed RPG the day it hit the 3DS eShop back in late 2012, I barely put more than a few minutes into it until early this year. I guess all the talk about it being inspired by tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons intimidated me a bit? I needn't have worried. In the end, I found Crimson Shroud to be a thrilling change of pace. OK, so a few battles near the end aggravated me, but not so much they caused me to walk away in a huff. I did feel a bit, well, huffy after watching the game's initial ending sequence, but even that didn't ruin the otherwise-lovely experience for me.

Ever Oasis (3DS)--This 2017 release was made, in part, by Koichi Ishii, who also had a hand in such gems as Secret of Mana, that game's sequel (Seiken Densetsu 3), and one of my all-time favorite RPGs, SaGa Frontier. Ever Oasis resembles the first of those titles, but it's far from a copycat. Unlike that 16-bit classic, this overlooked 3DS gem includes town-building, material-gathering, and quest-fulfilling components. To learn more about those and other aspects of this game, check out the blog post I published a few months ago, "A whole lot of thoughts on Ever Oasis for the Nintendo 3DS."

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)--Here's another DS title I long avoided because of the negative word of mouth that surrounds it. Now that I've played it, I'm baffled as to why so many others pooh-pooh A2. Sure, its vibe is decidedly different from that of the original Final Fantasy Tactics, and it's quest-based rather than story-focused, but I found those changes refreshing rather than off-putting. Actually, the only issue I had with Final Fantasy Tactics A2 was its annoying final boss--and that's a complaint I could level at most Square Enix RPGs I've bothered to finish.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS)--People have been begging me to play this Shu Takumi-directed adventure game from 2011 for ages. Now that I've done so, I can understand their passionate pleas. For whatever reason, I always assumed Ghost Trick was just Ace Attorney with a different coat of paint. Instead, it's more of a puzzler. With an amazing art style. And an impressive soundtrack. And a surprisingly touching story. What I'm trying to say here is: if you've yet to play it yourself, do so as soon as possible.

Katamari Damacy Encore (Switch)--As much as I love the original PS2 release of Katamari Damacy, I rarely pull that system out of the closet these days. I play my Switch all the time, though, so you know I jumped all over this port--especially since it's portable. (I pretty much only play portable systems at the moment.) The eight hours I spent with it were among my most joyous of the year, as far as the time I spent with games were concerned. As a result, I sincerely hope Bandai Namco gives us a Switch port of We Love Katamari in 2020.

Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn (3DS)--I know a lot of people reacted to the announcement of this barely enhanced portable port of Kirby’s Epic Yarn with a shrug or a sigh (if not worse), but my own response was far more positive. Granted, I adore both the original Wii game and the 3DS system, so the idea of playing through the former on the latter sounded like a dream come true. And you know what? That's basically what it was for me. The only way I could've loved it more would've been if it had included new stages or been playable in 3D.

Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS)--Despite my love of cute games, I've never been the biggest Kirby fan. I had such a good time with Epic Yarn, Return to Dream Land, and Planet Robobot, though, that I broke down and bought a copy of Triple Deluxe early this year. I didn't find it as thrilling as I found Epic Yarn or Planet Robobot, but I still had a blast with it. It felt like a portable Return to Dream Land, and that was more than fine with me.

Lapis x Labyrinth (Switch)--I hemmed and hawed a lot before buying this Nippon Ichi Software title. Why? The main reason was preview trailers made me think Lapis x Labyrinth's gameplay might not be my cup of tea. My reticence seems silly now. I loved nearly every second of the 30-ish hours I put into this frantic, side-scrolling dungeon-looter. I get the distinct feeling it's one of those "not for everyone" titles, but it definitely was for me.

See also: 'Mini-reviews of the 19 games I finished in 2019, part two'

My most popular posts of 2017

Before I start cranking out forward-looking content for 2018, let's take one last look at 2017.

Specifically, here are this blog's 12 most popular posts from last year (arranged in order of most views to least). If you see a headline that doesn't look familiar, check it out. Who knows, you may have missed a real gem.

1. Five overlooked GameBoy Advance games you need to play as soon as possible

2. Ten questions with the guy chiefly responsible for the English fan translation of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love



3. The best 3DS eShop games you've never played (or, 10 overlooked 3DS eShop games you need to try as soon as possible)

4. Nice Package! (Mizzurna Falls, PlayStation)

5. If Nintendo put me in charge of a GameBoy Classic Edition, here are the 30 games it would include

6. Five favorites: Famicom leading ladies



7. A few thoughts on Golf Story for Switch now that I've put about eight hours into it

8. Five overlooked Nintendo DS games you need to play as soon as possible

9. Nice Package! (Bubble Bobble, Famicom Disk System)

10. Don't mind me, I'm just completely obsessed with Nintendo's Mother at the moment



11. In honor of the 28th anniversary of GameBoy's Japanese release, here are a handful of my all-time favorite GB games

12. My 10 Most Influential Games: Balloon Kid (GameBoy)

I'm not finished with my "most influential games" series, by the way, although I did forgot about it for a while. The same is true of my "Welcome to WonderSwan World" series. Look for new entries for both to be published soon.

See also: my most popular posts of 2016

How I spent my time (with video games) in 2017

The 2016 version of this post focused entirely on Nintendo 3DS games. There was a good reason for that: aside from a few "retro" titles, I only played 3DS games that year.

That certainly wasn't the case in 2017. Of the 20 titles listed below, only seven are 3DS releases. Five others are Switch games, three are for Vita, and the rest are divided between the Famicom, GameBoy, DS, and Wii.

With that out of the way, here are the games I put the most time into over the last 12 months:

• Dragon Quest VII (3DS)--43 hours, 50 minutes
• Mother (Famicom)--23 hours 30 minutes
• Opoona (Wii)--20 hours
• Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World (3DS)--17 hours, 45 minutes
• Golf Story (Switch)--17 hours, 15 minutes
• Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)--16 hours, 45 minutes
• Dragon Quest Builders (Vita)--12 hours
• Miitopia (3DS)--10 hours, 45 minutes
• Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)--9 hours
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)--7 hours, 45 minutes

• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (GameBoy)--6 hours, 45 minutes
• Yomawari: Night Alone (Vita)--6 hours, 45 minutes
• VA-11 HALL-A (Vita)--4 hours, 30 minutes
• Monster Hunter Stories demo (3DS)--4 hours, 15 minutes
• The Starship Damrey (3DS)--3 hours, 45 minutes
• Boxlife (DS)--3 hours, 15 minutes
• Great Greed (GameBoy)--3 hours
• Project Octopath Traveler demo (Switch)--2 hours, 50 minutes
• Elliot Quest (Switch)--2 hours, 45 minutes
• Witch & Hero III (3DS)--2 hours, 20 minutes

As strange as this may sound, I have a strong feeling 3DS, Switch, and Vita games will dominate the 2018 version of this post as well.

I don't expect the 3DS to lead the way as it did in 2017, though; if I had to guess, I'd say the Switch will move into the pole position this year, followed by the 3DS and then the Vita.

If you know how much time you spent with various games in 2017, please share the details in the comments section that follows.

What a fabulous way to kick off 2018: the Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love English translation patch has been released

Eight months ago, I published a post that declared an English (fan) translation of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love for the Nintendo DS was nearing completion.

Well, a patch containing that translation was released last night, just in time to close out 2017 with a wonderfully fabulous bang. (Download it now at tingletranslation.blogspot.com.)

I plan to start through it this coming week, and I'll do my best to share at least a few thoughts on the experience here by the end of the month.

In the meantime, those of you who are curious to learn more about the Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love fan translation should check out my interview with the guy chiefly responsible for getting the project off the ground.

Ten questions with the guy chiefly responsible for the (nearly complete) English fan translation of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love

You're all waiting with bated breath for the English fan translation of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love to be released, right?

Don't tell me this is the first you're hearing of it. I wrote about it back in May--in a post titled, "Coming soon-ish to a DS near you: a fan translation of Irozuki Tincle no Koi no Balloon Trip"--for crying out loud.

Unfortunately, we've still got a bit of a wait before the patch is finished and made available to the hand-wringing masses. In the meantime, here's an interview with the guy who not only got this project off the ground but is seeing it through to its release.

I can't share his name in this post for reasons that should be obvious. I can, however, share the handle he tends to use for his fan translation work: joesteve1914.

With that out of the way, let's get to the 10 questions I recently asked joesteve1914 about this tantalizing project as well as his responses to them.

The Gay Gamer: Why did you decide to translate Irozuki Tincle no Koi no Balloon Trip? Are you Tingle fan from way back? Or maybe you're more of a general DS, Nintendo or Zelda fan?

Joesteve1914: I'm a big Zelda fan. I've loved the Legend of Zelda series my entire life, and I've played almost every game in the series. When I learned of the Tingle series, I was instantly intrigued since Tingle is one of my favorite characters. (Not many people share that opinion!) I played Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland and liked it, so I wanted to experience its sequel as well.



The Gay Gamer: When did you start this project? You launched its blog in early 2013, but based on your first posts, it sounds like the project began before that?

Joesteve1914: Yeah, the blog was something I thought of a few months after I started working on the game. If we're being really technical here, I suppose the project started on July 31, 2012, at around 5 pm EST. That's when I posted in the RHDN forums asking for help with hacking the game, since I had never done ROM hacking before. I basically spent the next two years trying to learn about ROM hacking in my spare time. I didn't have the help or the knowledge to start a long-term project like this until the beginning of 2014. So realistically you might say the project started “for real” in 2014.

The Gay Gamer: How many people have worked on or are currently working on the patch? Also, can you explain what each person on the team has worked on or is working on now?

Joesteve1914: In total, around 13 people have contributed to the project so far. At the moment, our team consists of five people. First up we have our translators, waldrumpus and DaVince.

DaVince joined in early 2014, right around the time a major development occurred that made the translation of the script a realistic possibility. He translated the first “page” and some other miscellaneous stuff in the script. He also sometimes stops by our Slack channel and helps us with localization decisions (names, how to translate puns, etc.).

As for waldrumpus, he joined in August of 2014. Like me, this was his first time working on a fan translation. Despite this, he went on to translate nearly 90 percent of the very lengthy script by himself. The dedication waldrumpus has had over the last few years has been amazing. He also is going to be involved in the editing process and will be there to assist the other editors if they have questions.

Next up we have chir-miru, who's been helping out here and there since 2012. At the beginning of the project, chir-miru and I both worked on hacking, which included figuring out how to edit the script and the graphics in the game. We parted ways for a while, but chir-miru came back in 2016 and helped out with some graphics editing.

Zell0s joined in July of 2016 as a graphics editor. He’s been a great help to the graphical side of the project. He did, by my estimate, nearly half of the graphics in the game himself before he left the project this year. We also have masterofzoroark on the graphics side of things. He joined in June of this year. He's been a great help in recent months, too--especially as we near the end of the graphics editing. Finally, we have Pandamanu, who very graciously did the English graphics for the chapter scrolls in the game. There’s around 44 of those, so this was a big help and sped the project up a lot.

And then we have our script editors. We’re still assembling this team, so that work hasn’t really begun in earnest yet.

Although not part of the team, these next few people have also been a huge help to the project. There’s DarthNemesis, who coded the awesome script dumper and extractor (I can’t even imagine editing the text manually), as well as FShadow, who created the new English title logo.

There’s also Auryn, Kelebek, Normmatt and FAST6191; they have given advice and assisted me with some of the more difficult (at least for me!) hacking.


The Gay Gamer: What has been the biggest stumbling block to the project so far? Or what has been the biggest problem you've encountered since you kicked it off?

Joesteve1914: For me personally, the biggest stumbling block in general has been my inexperience with rom hacking. When I started this project back in 2012, I had no experience whatsoever in hacking; in fact, I decided to learn rom hacking for the purpose of translating this game.

I’ve had a lot of problems in terms of hacking that I’ve had to overcome, but the most major one would be figuring out the game’s text engine; specifically how to fit in more text, since English takes up more space than Japanese most of the time. Thanks to the help of Kelebek, we now know that the game uses an unconventional way of determining the length of text. Long story short, it ranges from extremely painful to impossible to expand the amount of text displayed manually. Fortunately, DarthNemesis’s text editor makes editing the text as easy as editing a .txt file.



The Gay Gamer: Have you been pleasantly surprised by anything while working on this translation?

Joesteve1914: I think what surprised me the most was the support and encouragement we got from people. Seeing hundreds of people view the blog every day, as well as the comments that people leave, is very encouraging. I’ve even received a few offers to donate money to the project! Unfortunately, if we accepted anything we’d be asking for a cease-and-desist letter from Nintendo.

Coming soon-ish to a DS near you: a fan translation of Irozuki Tincle no Koi no Balloon Trip

Most Nintendo fans know about two of the Tingle games the company published for the DS a few years back.

The first, of course, was the Zelda-esque Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, which hit the streets of Japan in 2006 and Europe in 2007. The second, Tingle's Balloon Fight DS, also was a 2007 release, although it never left the Land of the Rising Sun. (If you'd like to see some snapshots of the latter title's case, cartridge and instruction manual, by the way, you can do so here, here, here and here.)

Well, Nintendo offered up a third DS game to Tingle fans two years after Tingle's Balloon Fight dropped. Its name: Irozuki Tincle no Koi no Balloon Trip, which apparently translates to Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love.

Unlike its predecessors, this title isn't an action RPG or a rehash of an arcade classic. Instead, it's a point-and-click adventure game.

As if that weren't appealing enough (I don't know about you, but I've long been attracted to point-and-click games), the story that envelopes the gameplay of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love is based, at least in part, on The Wizard of Oz.

Combine all of the above with a rather glorious art style (see screenshot on the right) and you've got a game that looks to be right up my alley--if my understanding of Japanese were in a more advanced state than it currently is, I mean.

Thankfully, I probably won't have to wait another year or two to stumble my way through Balloon Trip of Love's oddball story. That's because an English fan translation of the Vanpool-developed game is rapidly approaching its finish line.

Unfortunately, no one really knows when the patch containing Balloon Trip of Love's English translation will be offered up to the masses. Considering the most recent update on its progress suggested the project was nearly 80-percent complete, though, I have to imagine a release by the end of this year is a possibility.

In the meantime, you can keep an eye on how things are going by checking out the translation team's blog at tingletranslation.blogspot.com. (Threads devoted to their efforts can be found at gbatemp.net and romhacking.net as well, if you're curious.) Something else to keep an eye on: my upcoming interview with the person heading up this ambitious project.

See also: my Tingle's Balloon Fight DS review

Nice Package! (Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, DS)

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon was one of my favorite Wii games. (You can read my succinct review of that title here, if you're curious.)

As such, I was keenly interested when I heard--some time ago, of course--Square Enix was prepping an enhanced DS port of the game that was known in Japan as Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu.

For whatever reason, though, I didn't actually buy this portable roguelike until recently. This despite the fact that it hit Japanese store shelves all the way back in late 2008 (just under a year after the Wii version was released).



How does the DS port, which allows you to play as that old Final Fantasy standby, Cid, as well as the titular Chocobo, compare to the Wii original? I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, I've yet to even pop the cartridge shown in one of the photos below into any of my DS or 3DS systems.

I brought said cart with me on sabbatical, though, so expect me to at least start my way through its dungeon-crawaling adventure sometime in the next few months.



In the meantime, let's ogle the packaging produced for this surprising DS game (called Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, in case you missed that earlier).

I'm pretty fond of its cover illustration, I've got say--even with that brown band of text obscuring its bottom fifth.



Does anyone know what it's trying to convey to potential buyers, by the way?

I see the word "dungeon" in there a few times, but that's about it. I know this port doesn't contain 1,000 dungeons, though, so what does that figure refer to--the number of weapons in the game? Enemies? Facial expressions made by Chocobo? Any help here would be greatly appreciated.



As for the instructional manual that accompanies complete copies of Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, I'm fond of it, too.

That shocks me a bit, if I'm to be honest. Why? Because I find most DS manuals to be disappointing. Sure, they offer up a couple of nice visuals, but other than that they're usually filled with text.



Although that's largely the case here, too, there are enough brilliant illustrations (like the one above) to make the whole shebang appreciably impressive--to my eyes, at least.

Have any of you played this updated version of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon? If so, what do you think of it?

Whether or not you've played Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, what do you think of its outer case, cartridge and manual? As always, share your thoughts in this post's comments section.

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts

Five overlooked Nintendo DS games you need to play as soon as possible

Don't worry, I'll publish more than "five overlooked games you need to play as soon as possible" posts this year. In fact, I'm working on a handful of reviews as we speak. I also have a slew of "Manual Stimulation" and "Nice Package!" posts waiting to be written.

The above isn't the full extent of what you can expect to see here in the coming weeks and months, of course; I just want everyone to rest assured that (hopefully) interesting content is on the way.

That's not to suggest the post you're reading right now is a total bore. I mean, unless you harbor an irrational hatred for Nintendo's DS handheld.

For those who are at least somewhat curious about that duel-screened system and its extensive catalog of games, you should get at least a slight kick out of this write-up about five Nintendo DS titles I think have been overlooked by the masses.

Daigasso! Band Brothers--I have a feeling I should include this game's 2008 sequel here instead, especially considering that more recent effort earned an English release (as Jam with the Band, although it only saw the light of day in Europe). I'm sticking with the 2004 original, though, because I've spent more time with it and, well, I prefer its cover art. Plus, if you're going to jump into an unknown game series, you should start at the beginning, don't you think? Anyway, don't fret about the first Daigasso! Band Brothers being in Japanese. You don't need to know a lick of that overwhelming language to enjoy this music game. All you need is a DS or 3DS system with a working d-pad and A, B, X and Y buttons--as they're what you use to play Daigasso! Band Brothers. In that respect, this early DS title is a lot like Namco's long-running (and also well worth trying) Taiko no Tatsujin releases, although in Daigasso! Band Brothers you use all sorts of instruments, rather than just drums, to play a vast selection of tunes.

Loopop Cube: Lup Salad--It blows my mind that none of this adorable game's many versions ever left Japan. Yes, this 2008 release, published by the charmingly named Dimple Entertainment, came out 12 years after the original title, developed by Fupac and published by Datam Polystar, was made available to Japanese PlayStation owners. And two years after the game hit the Nintendo DS, Dimple offered PSP fans a port, too. The different iterations aren't identical, mind you--each one offers up slightly unique puzzles, modes and options--but they all basically look and play the same. Speaking of Loopop Cube's gameplay, think one part Puzznic (or Bejeweled) and one part Sokoban. Although, unlike Hiroyuki Imabayashi's box-moving puzzler, Loopop Cube's stages are depicted from the side. That means some light platforming action is thrown into the mix, too. It's all explained in this wonderfully fashioned write-up, so check it out should you ever pick up a copy of this brilliant brain-teaser.

My World, My Way--I was skeptical when my pal Mollie first mentioned this Atlus-published game during a recording of The Nichiest Podcast Ever. Those skeptical feelings remained even after I watched some video footage of it. Still, Mollie's word means a lot to me, so I dutifully tracked down a used copy and put My World, My Way through its paces as part of my #ADecadeofDS series in early 2015. (Read my impressions here.) I walked away from that experience thrilled I'd followed Mollie's sage advice, as My World, My Way is a delightfully weird RPG that mixes traditional turn-based battles with a thoroughly unique world-building component. Also, its protagonist (a bratty princess who wants to be an adventurer) is about as far from typical as you can get--always a plus in my book. By the way, if you prefer the PSP to the DS, and if you can understand Japanese (or you don't mind playing a game you won't understand), developer Global A published an upgraded version of the game for Sony's first handheld in Japan, as Sekai wa Atashi de Mawatteru: Hikari to Yami no Princess, in 2009.

Pop Cutie! Street Fashion Simulation--Hey, I think the aforementioned Mollie turned me on to this oddity, too. Or was it Anne? Regardless, one of those two wonderful ladies deserve the biggest hug I can give them for making me aware of Pop Cutie! Although I wouldn't put this Koei-made title in the same league as Nintendo's similarly themed Style Savvy series, it's still a lot of fun. Just don't go into a playthrough expecting an overly deep experience. It feels very much like a mobile game before mobile games were a thing. (For an explanation, read my #ADecadeofDS post about Pop Cutie!) Don't take that as a negative, as it allows you to pop into and out of this Street Fashion Simulation without a whole lot of fuss--a big positive for someone like me who no longer has the time or energy to regularly spend multiple hours per day on a game. Bonus: even copies of Pop Cutie! are pretty cheap these days.

Zombie Daisuki--Here's another overlooked Nintendo DS title that gives off strong "mobile game" vibes. As was the case with Pop Cutie!, though, I don't use that term to cast aspersions on Zombie Daisuki. This ChunSoft creation isn't perfect--something I made pretty clear in the last post I published about it a couple of years ago--but if you can nab a cheap cart, I say go for it. There's no question Zombie Daisuki looks great, with pixel art that would've been drooled over during the medium's heyday. It also sports an intriguing premise--one which puts you in control of a horde of blue-skinned zombies and then has you sic them on living, breathing human beings. (It's not as horrific as it sounds, I swear. Everything here is presented in a very comical manner.) On the flip side, you may grow tired of Zombie Daisuki repetitive actions--hence my suggestion that you not blow too much to buy it.

See also: five overlooked Famicom, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Game Gear, PC Engine and PlayStation games you need to play as soon as possible

Seven 'old' games I'm planning to play at some point in 2017

Late last year, I published a trio of posts about the many Japanese and North American 3DS and Vita games I'm planning to play sometime in 2017.

(This post covers the 3DS games I'm itching to experience, while this post and this post cover the Vita games on my "play as soon as possible in the next 12 months" list.)

Despite my current living situation, I'm also hoping to play a number of "old" games next year. Here are the ones I'd like to tackle first:

Clock Tower (WonderSwan)--Why would I play the WonderSwan port of Human Entertainment's first Clock Tower game when I could play the Super Famicom or PlayStation versions instead? Because I want to show my new-ish WonderSwan Color system some love, for starters. Also, I can't help but think that playing this game in black and white could be kind of cool--not to mention surprisingly atmospheric. If only experiencing Clock Tower on a fairly small screen would make Scissorman's appearances a bit less terrifying.

Last Window (DS)--After ignoring it for ages, I finally played through--and thoroughly enjoyed--Cing's Hotel Dusk in 2015. (You can read some of my thoughts on it in this "A Decade of DS" post.) I have a hard time believing this sequel from 2010 will be anywhere near as captivating as the original, but I'd love for my skepticism to be proven unwarranted. Regardless, it'll be really nice to hold my DS Lite--or, you know, my go-to 3DS--sideways like a book again.

London Seirei Tantei-Dan (PlayStation)--A Japanese RPG set in Victorian England that's full of lovely sprite art and turn-based battles? Where do I sign up? Also, why did it take me until late 2016 to track down a copy of such a game? I've yet to even stick my London Seirei Tantei-Dan disc into my trusty PSone system, of course, but I'm determined to rectify that in the coming months. I'm also determined to publish a post about this game's magnificent packaging, by the way, so be on the lookout for it if that sort of thing is your cup of tea.

Metroid II (GameBoy)--I'm one of those weird folks who loved both Metroid and Super Metroid as a teen but then never played another Metroid game. I'm not kidding here--no Metroid: Fusion, no Metroid: Zero Mission, no Metroid Prime and, yes, no Metroid II. That last game is the most appealing to me, and everyone knows how much I adore the GameBoy, so I'm going to do my best to jump back on the Metroid bandwagon (if such a thing still exists after Nintendo's attempts to kill the series) with it in 2017.

Mother (Famicom)--I actually put a few hours into this game a couple of years ago. For whatever reason, though, I walked away from it after that--despite the fact I was really enjoying its rather antiquated (especially in comparison to follow-up EarthBound) adventure. I'd prefer to give it a second chance by buying and playing EarthBound Beginnings on my 3DS (ahem, Nintendo), but since that's unlikely to be an option, I guess I'll either put the Mother cart I bought ages ago to use or, you know, plug the old EarthBound Zero ROM into my emulator of choice.

Seiken Densetsu 3 (Super Famicom)--You'd think someone who absolutely loves the second Seiken Densetsu game, released in North America as Secret of Mana, would've played the third by now. Well, you'd be wrong. I find Seiken Densetsu 3's graphics mesmerizing, though, so look for me to finally put it through its paces by the end of this year. (I'd like to do the same to the similarly gorgeous Legend of Mana, to be perfectly honest, but that may be a stretch given everything else on my plate.)

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS)--When Atlus announced this 3DS  port of it Japanese Sega Saturn game from 1997, I told anyone who would listen that I'd buy it as soon as it hit store shelves in my neck of the woods. Nearly four years later, I've still yet to follow through on that affirmation. Copies of Soul Hackers are pretty cheap these days, though, so I'll do what I can to add one to my pile of 3DS cartridges before this time in 2018.

Are you planning to play any particular "old" games this year? If so, which ones?

Six games I bought and regrettably failed to play in 2016

I bought a good number of games this past year. Although I played as many as I could, the majority were lucky to leave their packaging for more than a couple of minutes.

I wish I'd spent quality time with all of them over the last 12 months, of course, but the following six are most responsible for my current pangs of regret.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D (3DS)--I only bought this game a few weeks ago, so I probably shouldn't feel bad that I've failed to play it. Regardless, I do. Who can blame me, though? After all, this 3DS remake of the Tose-developed and Enix-published GameBoy Color cart of the same name (well, without the 3D part) is as bright and colorful as can be. Also, the monster recruiting, fighting and breeding that are at the center of Terry's Wonderland look and sound like a lot of fun. Bonus: the game's now fully playable in English, as the screenshot above showcases. Learn more about and download the required patch here.

Grand Knights History (PSP)--I'm pretty sure my eyes popped out of my head when I first caught a glimpse of this game back in 2010 or 2011. Which should be completely understandable, as Grand Knights History is drop-dead gorgeous just like every other game Vanillaware's ever made. The thing is, the initial enthusiasm I felt for this PSP game quickly faded into the ether when I read that connecting to Japanese servers (apparently a near-impossibility for people in other countries) was a must. Apparently that's not entirely the case, though, so now I'm back to desperately wanting to play this tantalizing RPG.

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Vita)--I've long been a sucker for games with unique art styles, and this Nippon Ichi Software-made title fits that bill and then some. Unfortunately, I've heard that htoL#NiQ's gameplay isn't quite as enjoyable as its graphics. That isn't why I failed to play it this year, however, No, that would be because I basically ignored all of my Vita cartridges (and digital titles) in 2016. Thankfully, I plan to give those games--and my pink-and-white Vita--lots of love in 2017. Don't worry, I fully intend to let you know what I think of The Firefly Diary's dark adventure after I've plugged away at it for a bit.

Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! Happy Richie Oosouji (DS)--Full disclosure: I have no real experience with the Chibi-Robo! series. My goal is to rectify that sometime next year by playing as much of the Japan-only Happy Richie Oosouji as I can handle. Accomplishing that should be a lot easier than it would've been if I'd picked up a copy of the game on or around its 2009 release, as a patch that translates its text into English hit the Internet in May.

Tomato Adventure (GameBoy Advance)--Speaking of English translation patches, it's a crying shame no one has created one for this Japan-only game. Why? It was developed by the wizards at AlphaDream, best known for Nintendo's long-running Mario & Luigi RPG series, for starters. Also, it's beyond adorable, as the screenshot above proves. Thankfully, it seemingly was aimed at youngsters, so I'm hoping I'll be able to understand enough of its text to make my way through it in 2017.

Xi Little (WonderSwan)--If Xi doesn't mean anything to you, maybe Devil Dice does? That's what the first Xi game (for the original PlayStation) was called when it was brought to North America in 1998. (Oddly, the second Xi title was renamed Bombastic when it made the same trek a few years later.) Anyway, the plan is to pop this sucker--and all of the other WonderSwan cartridges I've acquired in recent years--into the translucent black WonderSwan Color system I bought late last year as soon as possible in the new year.

How about all of you? Which games did you buy and then fail to play this year?