SHOCKING NEWS: physical copies of Class of Heroes 2 (PSP) may go on sale this week

Sorry for the snarky headline. I'm just feeling a little pissy after being forced to wait for more than two months for actual, straight-from-the-horse's-mouth--with the horse in this case being Gaijinworks' Victor Ireland--news about the physical release of Class of Heroes 2 for PSP. (I realize this is the definition of a first-world problem, by the way.)

It seems I may be just a bit less pissy this week, though, as the word on the street (or, rather, the word from Gaijinworks) is that pre-sales for the game may open up over at gaijinworks.com within the next few days.

Should that happen, I'll likely order myself a copy. I say "likely" as opposed to "surely" because I'm not a fan of the price tag--$36.99--that'll be attached to the physical-digital iteration of Class of Heroes 2. (Compare that to the digital-only version that will be just $24.99.)

Will any of you be buying copies alongside me, or are the days of picking up PSP games behind you?

All-new Nichiest

If you're looking for something to do today (or even next week), you could do worse than listen to the latest episode of The Nichiest Podcast Ever.

This "take" covers the gamut as far as niche-y and even not-so-niche-y games are concerned. PSP games like Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, Class of Heroes 2 and Black Rock Shooter are discussed this time around, for instance, as are 3DS games like Bravely Default, Fantasy Life and Sayonara Umihara Kawase.

Speaking of the 3DS, each of us whipped out our pom-poms in support of one of that system's many worth-playing titles during this show's "Cheer- leading" segment, with me hemming and hawing about HarmoKnight, Anne raving about Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and shidoshi gushing over Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.

Anyway, to take in all of that fabulosity, direct your browsers over to radio.morningproject.com at your earliest convenience.

A somewhat gay review of HarmoKnight (3DS)

Game: HarmoKnight 

Genre: Platformer 

Developer: Game Freak 

Publisher: Nintendo 

System: 3DS (eShop)

Release date: 2013

It has to be said, right from the start, that I've been chomping at the bit to play this Game Freak-developed digital title since it was unveiled during a Japanese Nintendo Direct broadcast back in August of last year.

I liked pretty much everything about the chunks of HarmoKnight that were highlighted during its first trailer--its art style, its music and its rhythm-based gameplay, especially. Each of those aspects continued to enthrall me after I played the title's demo for the first time about a month ago, which prompted me to assume this would be the next 3DS release--after THE DENPA MEN and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, among others--to consume my so-called free time.

How wrong I was. Although HarmoKnight's art style is unquestionably appealing, and while its soundtrack and overall gameplay--which generally consist of "endless running" platformer stages that task players with jumping or hitting enemies and obstacles in time with a backing track's beat, although boss encounters switch things up by going with a more "Simon Says" approach--are (for the most part) stellar, those pieces never come together to produce the thoroughly enjoyable, must-play experience I expected after loving the demo.

In a way, this creation is much like Sega's Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure, which similarly intrigued me in the lead up to its release, only to disappoint and even enrage me (on occasion) afterward.

As for which elements were most responsible for letting me down: the most notable revolves around too many of the game's stages--I'm looking at you, Baroque, Jazz and Rock worlds--feeling cheap from a difficulty standpoint. Sometimes that's due to the background music being too subtle (making it hard to discern an actual beat), while at other times it's due to enemies or obstacles literally coming out of nowhere. (Both of these issues are present in every one of HarmoKnight's maddening mine-cart stages, by the way.)

Three other components that contributed to my more-negative-than-I'd-originally-hoped assessment of HarmoKnight: its lack of checkpoints (although this only becomes a real problem during this eShop title's later levels), its love of narrative text (especially annoying when you consider its story basically boils down to "save the princess from the bad guy") and the fact that it's a fairly short-lived experience (I beat the final boss and encountered the game's end credits after just three hours of play).

Do all of the above-mentioned cons outweigh HarmoKnight's pros--which include not only its art style and soundtrack, but also its Space Channel 5-esque boss and mini-boss battles and Pokémon-themed bonus stages? Sadly, I think they do.

I have to say, though, that I'd probably respond to that question in a more positive manner if the game cost $5 or even $10. At $15, though, it's far too flawed to recommend to anyone other than huge fans of rhythm-based platformers--and even those folks are likely to wish they'd refrained from hitting the "buy" button at one point or another.

See also: previous 'somewhat gay' reviews

My Month with Super Mario Sunshine, Part 2

So, my second week with Super Mario Sunshine is over. How did I do this time around--you know, compared with the disaster that was my first week with Mario's most major GameCube outing?

To tell you the truth, I didn't do much better in week two than I did in week one. In part, that's because all sorts of things once again conspired to keep me from gaming as much as I would have liked. (I'll spare you the details.) It has to be said, though, that it's also due to me just not enjoying this game--for all of the reasons I mentioned in my last Super Mario Sunshine write-up and then some.

Still, I gave it a go and collected a handful of additional Shine Sprites. I only nabbed two of them, though, after turning to videos on YouTube. Before that, I had no idea how I was supposed to accomplish the goals mentioned at the start of each respective stage.

That, in a nutshell, is my biggest problem with this title at the moment. All too often I have no idea where I'm supposed to go or what I'm supposed to do in a given level in order to snatch its precious Shine Sprite.

Before you call me an idiot: I never had this problem with Super Mario 64 or either of the Super Mario Galaxy games. Maybe I'm just trying to run through things too quickly? Or maybe I should better pay attention to the things that are being said to me by the odd-looking residents of Isle Delfino?

Regardless, I'm not quite to the point of giving up on Super Mario Sunshine, although I'll admit to being awfully close to that breaking point. I'd say that if things don't improve appreciably within the next few days, I'm going to move on to something else. Life is too short, in my opinion, to waste time on games that make you want to stomp on your controller until it's a pile of plastic dust.

Speaking of games that produce violent reactions: when I wasn't attempting to play Super Mario Sunshine last week, I attempted to play one of the latest games to hit the 3DS eShop, Game Freak's HarmoKnight.

As flawed as I've found the latter title to be so far (I'll explain in further detail in a "somewhat gay" review of it that'll be published tomorrow), I've enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine--although even HarmoKnight has made me consider throwing my 3DS against the nearest wall on more than one occasion.

Don't worry, I won't be buying the Animal Crossing 3DS XL. Or at least I don't think I'll be buying it ...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm pretty sure I won't be buying the Animal Crossing 3DS XL that will be released in North America (and throughout Europe, too, I believe) alongside Animal Crossing: New Leaf on June 9 (June 14 in Europe).

I still love the system's classy design, of course, but I like my pink-and-white XL nearly as much--and, really, who needs to own two different XLs?

The Animal Crossing 3DS XL's European and North American release was announced during a pair of Nintendo Directs that aired earlier this morning, by the way. You can watch them here and here, respectively, if you'd like. A Japanese Nintendo Direct (deemed the "Luigi Special 2") went live at the same time and can be viewed here.

I took the time to watch both the Japanese and North American Nintendo Directs, so I figured I might as well share my thoughts on some of what was covered during those broadcasts.

Japan's getting a Luigi-branded 3DS LL--Haven't Japanese gamers received enough limited edition LLs? I guess not, as another one--featuring a number of green Luigi silhouettes--will be released there alongside Mario & Luigi RPG 4 (aka Mario & Luigi: Dream Team) on July 18.

Another Mario Party? Yawn--What can I say? I'm not all that interested in this long-running series. In fact, I don't think I've played a Mario Party game since the second one. That said, I know a lot of people still get a kick out of them, so I'm glad another is being prepped for release.

AHHHHHHHH!!!--That was the gist of my reaction to the news that we'll soon be getting a new entry in the Yoshi's Island series, by the way. Although I wasn't sure what to think of the new art style at first, it's since grown on me and now the game is at or near the top of my "most wanted" list for whichever year it winds up being released.

I think I've changed my mind about Sayonara Umihara Kawase's graphics--I've been pretty down on this game in the recent past, despite my love for previous Umihara Kawase titles, but the gameplay snippet shown during the Japanese Nintendo Direct prompted me to do a 180, as they say. Now, I still don't consider it gorgeous, by any means, but I do think it looks better in motion than it does in statis screenshots. Assuming its gameplay holds up to prior iterations, I have a feeling this will be a 3DS game well worth owning. 

You had me at A Link to the Past 2--So, those devious designers and developers at Nintendo are busy working on a follow-up to one of my all-time favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I couldn't be happier. Well, OK, maybe I could be happier if the game was sprite-based rather than polygon-based, but that's probably asking a bit much in this day and age. Also, this sequel earns bonus points for employing an art style that somehow reminds me of (a prettier) Super Mario RPG.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy it is (I think)--You know how I just said I couldn't be happier? I was lying, as this piece of news was responsible for bringing the biggest smile to my face while watching today's Nintendo Directs. Sadly, it won't hit store shelves here until 2014, but I have a feeling it'll be worth the wait. By the way, does this mean the folks at Nintendo and Square Enix--who will be publishing the game in tandem, it seems--have decided to stick with the Japanese name? I sure hope so.

Now that I've had my say, what did all of you think of this morning's reveals? Did they satisfy you, or did they leave you wanting more?