Introducing: Shall We Do It?

As a result of my recent "Suggestions?" post, I've decided to add a new, published-as-often-as-I-feel-like-it column to this blog's line-up.

If you can't quite tell from its title what it'll cover (and I can't really blame those of you who feel that way), here's the gist: every so often--likely every other week, but I can't promise I'll keep to that schedule--I'm going to publish a "Shall We Do It?" post that details, via blurbs of a reasonable length, my impressions of all (or at least most) of the games I'm currently playing.

I'm not entirely sure how I'll title these posts, although I have a feeling it'll be something along the lines of "Shall We Do It? (Attack of the Friday Monsters, Bravely Default demo and Zooo)."

Another possibility would be to give them headlines like, "Shall We Do It? (Week of Jan. 6, 2014)," but that seems just a bit too or sterile to me.

That said, what do all of you think (of this pair of title options, not of the general column idea)?

Oh, and in case any of you are curious, the name of this new column was inspired by the most famous line--"Yaranaika?" which translates to, "Shall we do it?"--to appear in Kuso Miso Technique, the bara manga from 1987 featuring Takakazu Abe (aka the handsome guy seen above, in my avatar here and on Twitter).

I think I'm finally free of New Leaf's grasp

And all it took was the "triple combo" of Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale, the just-released Bravely Default demo and the four new-ish 3DS StreetPass Mii Plaza games.

Of course, I was heading down this path--to not checking in on my two Animal Crossing: New Leaf towns every single day, at least for a few minutes--before I nabbed all of the above from the 3DS eShop, but I'm not sure I would've done so as quickly as I have without their "help."

Illustration by leav

All that said, it's possible I'll slip back into my old, nasty ways once I've beaten both Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale and the Bravely Default demo, but I'm going to do my best to keep that from happening--mainly by booting up a few of the games I picked up in 2013 but have yet to actually play.

A couple of examples: Airu de Puzzle (PSP), Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (3DS) and Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS). And then there are a few older games that I've wanted to sink my teeth into for some time, like Contact (DS), Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii), Opoona (Wii) and Touch Detective (DS).

There's also the Feb. 7 release of Bravely Default to consider--because once that sucker's in my hands I probably won't even think of playing anything else until I've beaten it. (Assuming I don't falter at the very end like I did with its predecessor, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light.)

Anyway, all of this is just a really long-winded way of saying, "I'm finally free of New Leaf's grasp!"

I'm not entirely sure why I feel the need to share that here, but rather than overanalyze why that may be let's just celebrate the fact that it means I'll be playing--and, as a result, blogging about--a lot more games in the next six or so months than I did in the preceding ones.

A few thoughts on the Bravely Default demo

Note: my original plan was for the header above to read something along the lines of, "A few thoughts on the surprisingly polished, gorgeous and fun Bravely Default demo," but in the end I deemed it a smidge too wordy.

Which I guess kind of gives away how I generally feel about this just-released 3DS demo, although I'll let you in on a little secret right now--as much as I love the North American Bravely Default demo, I do, in fact, have at least one issue with it.

Before I get to that "problem area," though, let's focus on what I consider to be the demo's more positive aspects:

It looks stunning--Of course, I could've written that before the demo came out (and before I spent more than six hours with it), couldn't I? Still, seeing this game's graphics on an actual 3DS system has been quite the breathtaking experience for me. I'm especially impressed with some of the enemy designs, like the cheetah-esque baddie who bounces back and forth before bounding forward in attack. I'm also smitten with some of the clothing worn by party members while testing out various jobs--with the ninja, red mage and valkyrie wardrobes being my favorites at the moment.

The soundtrack's pretty ace, too--I've pretty much always loved the soundtracks to Square-Enix games, so I went into the Bravely Default demo expecting to be blown away by its music, too. And guess what? It's knocked my socks off so far. I particularly enjoy the demo's pan-flute-heavy overworld theme.

How ever did we survive previous RPGs that lacked the Bravely and Default battle system?--Seriously, this game's battle system is the proverbial feather in its cap, if you ask me. Which is funny, because when I first saw video of it in action I assumed it would make Bravely Default's battle scenes interminably long. Thankfully, that's not the case--or at least it isn't in the demo. Sure, some battles--boss ones, especially--can drag on a bit, but most non-boss fights can be finished in a satisfactory snap if you spam "Bravely" at the outset and wipe out the enemy before they know what's hit them.

A bit more character would've been nice--Specifically, it would be nice if the demo provided players with a more in-depth look at Bravely Default's four party members. As it is, though, they're basically hollow palette swaps--which is a shame, as it seems they're given pretty distinct personalities in the full release. Now, I realize it likely would've been tough for the folks who produced this demo to inject it with the additional story elements my request would require, but I also think some people currently unsure about the full game could've been swayed in favor of picking it up if the demo had a bit more, er, character.

So, those are my thoughts thus far on the Bravely Default demo. What do all of you think of it?

Five favorites: Japanese Game Gear box art

Now that the holiday season is over, it's about time I got back to discovering my favorite pieces of box art, don't you think?

This time around, I'm going to focus on that brick-sized handheld of yesteryear, Sega's Game Gear.

As the header above suggests, each of the cover illustrations below appeared on copies of Japanese Game Gear games at one point or another.

House of Tarot--I've never played this first-party tarot-reading simulator and I'm not sure I ever will, but I sure like its cover art. That's mainly because it screams "old-school Sega" (or at least it does to me), although I also really like its peachy color scheme and its prickly logo.

Ninja Gaiden--I can't speak for how well this game stacks up to the arcade original, but its box art is awesome, don't you think? I mean, it features a ninja (duh), missiles, some kind of zombie-like being, and a whole lot of purple. Yeah, it's awesome.

Phantasy Star Gaiden--Hey, more purple! I guess I really like purple packaging--at least when it comes to video games. Anyway, I think this may be my favorite piece of Game Gear-related box art, but don't quote me on that.

Puyo Puyo--Could this cover illustration be any more cheerful or colorful? I doubt it. Granted, I like pretty much any piece of box art that features this series' gelatinous logo, but even then this one manages to stick out from the crowd.

Shining Force Gaiden II--Yes, this piece of box art also features a lot of purple. It features some really nice character illustrations, too, though, so I'm including it here even though doing so means this post could be re-titled, "Five favorites: purple-tinged box art." Anyway, I really could have chosen any of the Shining Force Gaiden covers, as all three of them are top-shelf creations.

Be on the lookout for a second "five favorites" post devoted to Japanese Game Gear box art in the next week or so.

Suggestions?

Now that a new year is upon us, I thought this would be the perfect time to ask all of you if you have any suggestions as to how I may be able to improve this here blog in the next 12 or so months.

For instance, I cut back on "Great Gaymathon" and "Somewhat Gay" reviews in 2013--in part because they've never been my favorite thing to write and in part because they've never seemed very popular with readers. Would any of you like to see more of them in 2014, or are you OK with me publishing them only occasionally?

I also haven't published many "Manual Stimulation" posts in the last few months--would any of you like to see them show up with a bit more regularity this year?

Or maybe you'd like me to start an entirely new "column" or two (similar to the ones above) in 2014? I have no idea what said column(s) would focus on, but I'm sure you folks can come up with a few suggestions if you put your minds to it. Regardless, feel free to share any thoughts you may have in the comments section below.