Pumpkin's Video Game Diary!

[Pumpkin]

The Simpsons: Road Rage (PlayStation 2)

The Simpsons Road Rage features some of the show's characters as they taxi people around to raise money. Mr. Burns has started a bus transit line, but the buses are obviously dangerous and he must be stopped. The solution to this is equally dangerous driving and expensive prices. Because logic.

You start out with only a few characters and one area, but unlock more as you go. You select a character and you're then given a time limit, depending on your difficulty setting (which can be changed in the options menu). Passengers will have blue, circular lines around them and you must stop inside the circle to pick them up. Once you do, you'll be given a destination and a time frame to arrive in. The sooner you get there, the bigger a bonus you'll get, plus the fare for travel time. The destination will be surrounded in yellow lines and you must stop within them to deliver your passenger. Then you pick up another one, all until time runs out. If you fail to deliver a passenger in the allotted time, they'll leave the car and you'll have to go pick up somebody else.

During your runs, you'll also sometimes be challenged to avoid traffic, leading to a $250 bonus, or to hit a certain number of objects, leading to a $1000 dollar bonus. As you drive, character will sometimes say funny one liners or engage in small banter depending on who you're using and who you've picked up. Mr. Burns will also try to sabotage you by running in to you and slowing you down, as will the nuclear bus.

Each car has it's advantages and disadvantages, and on average the areas get harder as you go. Once your run is complete, you'll get a rating, be able to register your score, and your money will go towards unlocking new areas and characters. Areas are unlocked in order but characters can be selected freely. You'll need more and more money to unlock things the more progress you've made.

The is also a Sunday Drive where you can drive around at your leisure, and this is a good way to discover shortcuts and secret roads to help you in Road Rage mode. You can also undertake a Mission Mode where you'll be given ten specific objectives, which will allow you to unlock a special car.

Characters:
(In no particular order):
Homer: Family Sedan
Marge: Canyonero
Bart: Soap Box Racer
Lisa: Elec-taurus
Grandpa Abe: Shriner Car
Ned Flanders: Station Wagon
Reverend Lovejoy: Book Burning Mobile
Professor Frink: Flying Car
Apu: Sports Car
Homer: Mr. Plow
Barney: The Plow King
Moe: Sedan
Chief Wiggum: Police Car
Snake: Lil' Bandit
Krusty: Klown Kar
Groundskeeper Willie: Tractor
Otto: School Bus

Overall this is a very fun game, and it has some genuinely funny dialogue in at that makes it quite amusing. It does have some downfalls, though. It gets repetitive and especially towards the end when you need a lot of money to unlock one more thing, you'll find yourself needing a break. Also sometimes the dialogue of one character doesn't match well with another. The game has terrible load times and can be glitchy, which can either be frustrating or amusing. I did have a lot of fun with it before and I will again in the future, but it is best enjoyed in small doses where it will be a lot of fun, rather than playing it constantly where it gets boring.

Verdict:
LIKED IT

[Karifean]

I played this game for a couple of hours at a friend's house. I enjoyed it quite a bit, which was probably what led me to buy Hit & Run shortly thereafter. Which is a totally awesome game by the way.

[Pumpkin]

I've heard of it but never played it. I want to some day though :o

[Pumpkin]

Suikoden IV (PlayStation 2)

Story:
Suikoden IV is the first game in the Suikoden timeline. It follows a young man (default name of Lazlo) as he graduates the Knight's Academy in the Island Nations and becomes a fully-fledged knight. On a job one day, they run in to some pirates, one of whom carries one of the mystical True Runes, the Rune of Punishment. This Rune grants it's wielder unbelievable strength, but at the cost of their lives. Most don't live for very long.

After inheriting the Rune of Punishment, being accused of murder, and being exiled from his home, Lazlo comes across a man named Lino En Kuldes, the King of one of the Island nations. The Island nations are under attack by the Kooluk army and Lino recruits our hero's aid. He needs to assemble as many of the 108 Stars of Destiny (special people) as he can in order to fend off the Kooluk and save the Island Nations.

Gameplay:
Suikode IV, like most Suikoden games, is an RPG. You can have parties of up to four members, and you will select a command such as "Attack", "Item", or "Rune" (This game's version of magic). There are also Combo attacks that can be learned by certain characters should they participate in enough battles together. The experience is awarded in a unique was to compensate for the large cast of playable characters. Characters will gain more or less experience based on their level, and when reaching 1000 exp, they will level up. This makes for quick leveling of characters who may have joined late or who aren't caught up.

You can equip Runes on characters to determine which magics they can use, you can buy and change equipment, and you can also sharpen weapons to make them stronger. If you assemble ingredients, you can also have certain characters make you special equipment. The game in total has 56 characters you can use in battle as well as 108 to be recruited. Some are missable however. There are also a number of mini games to play such as cards, coin flips, dice, and a confessional booth where you can hear your characters confessions and choose to forgive them or not, among others.

Aside from the turn based gameplay, there are also duels and what I call war battles. Duels take place as a sort of rock-paper-scissors match where you have to guess which move your opponent will make based off of what they say. Attack beats Guard, Guard beats Special, and Special beats Attack. The war battles take place on ships. You have "Rune Cannons" of certain elements. Each element is strong against one element and weak to another. You have to equip your ship to deal with your foes weaknesses.

World:
The world takes place in the Island Nations and as such, most travel will be done by ship, although you may recruit a character who can teleport you from island to island later in the game. You'll visit different cities on different islands, as well as some dungeons. You'll be sailing through the seas a lot, so prepare to see a lot of water. Your headquarters is (SPOILER)also on a ship, which you can explore whenever to play mini-games or speak to your recruits and such.

Characters:
There are 108 characters, not including other story relevant characters, so here I will post the NON-MISSABLE characters in the potential order you can recruit them.
Lazlo – Leader and main character
Kennith – Knight of Razril along with Lazlo
Tal – Knight of Razril along with Lazlo
Jewel – Knight of Razril along with Lazlo
Paula – Knight of Razril along with Lazlo
Chiepoo – Nay-Kobold (cat person) who wants to become a great merchant
Desmond – Manages your character roster
Louise – Runs the Inn/tavern
Chadli – Runs the supply store, items and equipment
Tov – Your shipwright
Rakgi – A young man who's father was killed by the Rune of Punishment
Riki – Rakgi's mother
Lilin – A mermaid who is being hunted by poachers
Oleg – A genious inventor
Ramada – A man with mysterious motives
Akaghi – A man working with Ramada
Mizuki – A woman working with Ramada
Yu – Your doctor
Lino – The King of Obel
Haruto – Your navigator
Nico – Your ship lookout
Pablo – Works with your Rune Cannons
Kika – Pirate leader
Dario – Works under Kika
Nalleo – Dario's son
Sigurd – Works under Kika
Hervey – Works under Kika
Elenor – Your tactician, and also a drunk
Agnes – Elenor's apprentice
Axel – Son of Na-Nal's mayor
Kevin – A man tended to by the Nay Island Mayor. Cooks fish
Pam – Kevin's wife who also cooks fish
Helmut – A former Kooluk soldier
Flare – Lino's daughter, Princess of Obel
Setsu – Works for the Obel royal family

Overall:
This game is generally considered the weak point of the series, and I would have to agree. The encounter rate is very high and traveling slowly by ship (which they don't explain to you how to properly control) is tedious. The characters are also largely forgettable, and the story is oddly paced.. However, that doesn't stop this from being a great game. It's a lot of fun, there are some great areas, and the story is excellent. The Rune of Punishment is a great story asset and makes you feel for the people it affects. It has some fun mini games, and I like how even the confessional mini game ties in to the game's theme of forgiveness and punishment. The ending when you have an option to forgive someone or not, which affects the story, also helps tie in to this message. So while this game isn't the best the series has to offer, I still had a ton of fun and couldn't put it down.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Pumpkin]

Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven (Nintendo 3DS)

Story:
Luchs is a young man who runs an Inn on the outskirts of town. He never has any guests but he was told by his father to keep the Inn running. He was told that one day, his special guests would arrive and he is to treat them like family. While going out to collect some crystals to sell for money, he finds a mysterious girl trapped in a Crystal. Soon he finds himself under attack by vicious monsters when the girl steps in and saves him. She can't remember who she is or where she's from, but Luchs makes sure to let her stay and treat her like family. But it turns out that she's not the only mysterious girl, and bringing them all together may be the key to regaining their memories.

Gameplay:
Lord of Magna has an interesting and somewhat unique gameplay mechanic. You assign up to four characters per battle. Each character has a certain range they can move and a certain reach with their weapon. There will be a turn order displayed, and on your characters turn, you can move them within their movement circle and then act. By acting you can use items, skills, attack, defend, or end your turn to save up 'AP' which are needed for some skills. When you hit most enemies, they will roll back and possibly hit and defeat other enemies, making battles sort of like Dominoes or bowling, where you have to line up your attacks to defeat the most enemies possible in a single turn. If you defeat 10, you get to act again immediately.

There are a few types of enemies. First is the most basic, weak enemy. They will deal minimal damage and only need one attack to defeat. Defeating them is a quick and easy way to earn money and build up your special ability meter. The second type are stronger enemies that can summon the weaker enemies. Until you defeat them, they will most likely continue to summon numerous weaker enemies. They are much more of a threat and range in strength. There are also crystals that start to flash after a few turns. These will summon the stronger enemies, or sometimes healing items. These won't attack you, but they will continue to summon stronger enemies either until you destroy them or until the battle ends.

There are a few other aspects to the gameplay. The game has a dating sim in it, where at certain points you will get to witness heart events with your characters. This will give them access to special abilities. It is not possible to see them all in one playthrough, and they do carry over in to New Game+. Your ending and a few scenes here and there will change depending on who you've seen all of the heart events with. You can also craft items in to new items or skills and equip different skills on your characters.

World:
The world is mostly explored through battle. You can freely explore the Inn and interact with characters and objects, but other than that you will choose an area and a level on the world map, which will bring you to a battle. The game will indicate if the battle is story related or not, so you're free to level grind at the other areas. The areas will also give you a level guide, so you won't accidentally stumble in to an area you are not prepared for.

Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite):
Beatrix: Serious and mature, she believes in doing everything properly. She is an archer, giving her good attack range.
Adelheid: The eldest sister, a wise leader who always does what's best and isn't afraid to make the hard decisions. She is slow but can take a hit better than anyone.
Diana: Lacking in social graces with her mind always on the battlefield. She uses a spear and is a well rounded character.
Charlotte: Outgoing and friendly, Charlotte quickly makes herself at home with Luchs. She uses a sword and is very fast and hits hard.
Luchs: The protagonist and proprietor of the Inn, he's always friendly and welcoming. He acts as a support in battle and a healer.
Gabriele: A spunky young girl who isn't afraid to speak her mind. She has good range and good support abilities.
Elfriede: A mechanic whiz and genius inventor. She has a small range in battle, but can attack three times in a row.
Francesca: A messy, athletic, tomboy of a woman. She can't take a hit as well as the others but does devastating damage and can attack four times in a row.

Overall:
I suppose I have a lot to say about this game. I found it incredibly charming and I loved the sprite characters. The game slows down a bit at times, but it never really bothered me. It also has difficulty settings. While the story doesn't break any mold and can be rather cliche at times, I found it very sweet and I was engaged in the story, especially later on in the game. I also appreciated that the women in this game are all more powerful than your leading man, and he serves as your healer and support character, something that isn't seen as often. The gameplay was fun and interesting as well. It also came with a music CD and a full game booklet that you don't often find anymore, showing you characters and hints and the like, which I appreciate. Even their website is adorably and cleverly designed. While there is a bit of fanservice, it's pretty mild overall and the story was more sweet than anything. My main complaint is that the game is very short, although that would allow you to replay it and see more character events if you want to. The characters were also great and I found myself really liking most of them, and disliking none of them. Overall I found this to be an incredibly sweet, engaging, fun, and charming game, but it isn't anything new, unique, or special if that's what you're looking for. It was more than enough for me though!

Verdict:
LOVED IT

[Pumpkin]

Umineko No Naku Koro Ni (Episodes 1-4)

Do note that this game has strong themes of violence and abuse, if that's something that makes you uncomfortable.

Umineko No Naku Koro Ni (which I will refer to as simply Umineko from here on) is a very long visual novel. It has an interesting structure, being separated in to different Episodes, with each Episode also having a "playable" epilogue of sorts called the Tea Party, as well as a second ???? section, as well as a Tips section once the episode has been completed. You can also save at any time and resume where you were. Episodes are locked until the previous one is completed, although you can choose to unlock them if you wish. You can also go with the original artwork or download a patch for the updated graphics and such.

I have read the first 4 Episodes, with Episodes 5-8 being a separate download and called Umineko No Naku Koro Ni Chiru, which I haven't started yet and will review once I have completed them.

These first four Episodes of Umineko introduce us to the Ushiromiya family, a wealthy family headed to their family conference on the island of Rokkenjima. Battler, an 18 year old who hasn't been to the family conferences in many a year, is presented as our protagonist and serves as the narrator for a lot of the story. After the merriment and reintroductions and pleasantries, the island is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world because of a typhoon.

Things only go downhill from there when a series of bizarre murders is committed. A big point of the game is determining who is committing these murders, how to stop them, and also how they're being committed. Is one of the family members committing these murders? Maybe to inherit the family's wealth? Is there someone else on the island? Is there some truth to the Legend of the Golden Witch? Were these crimes committed by magic? The game explores these things and presents arguments for the reader to analyze if they so choose to try and figure out what the answer is, or they can just read along and see where the story takes them.

This is not the most interactive visual novel and you won't really be given choices that affect the story to select from. This can be a positive or a negative depending on how you feel, but I was a bit relieved that I wasn't actually prompted to solve this mysteries as that's not really a strong suit of mine. During the Tips section you will be able to go over each characters profile as well as what happened to them during the Episode, and you can also pull up the character profiles as well as some general tips and info as you play.

One thing to note is that the game changes moods considerably over the four episodes, going from thrilling and a bit scary, more focused on mystery and puzzles, dealing with some strong emotional content, and sometimes even some humour. Things that seemed scary, intimidating, or important during one section can sometimes lop around and no longer be very relevant, or the opposite can be true. If you have time to invest and the core story interest you, it's worth noting that if a particular tone is not to your tastes, it does change quite a bit.

Characters:
There are a lot of characters introduced but I'll focus on the core starting group. In no particular order:
Battler: Protagonist and narrator, Battler had been away from the family for a while before returning. Does not believe in magic or witches like the Legend of the Golden Witch.
Kinzo: Head of the Ushiromiya family, he is very strict and unfriendly, and has an obsession with western things and the occult.
Krauss: Eldest son of Kinzo who is thought to be the next head of the family.
Natsuhi: Krauss' wife, a very prim and proper woman prone to chronic headaches.
Jessica: Krauss and Natsuhi's daughter, a tomboy who isn't afraid to speak her mind.
Eva: Krauss' eldest daughter, very clever and intelligent.
Hideyoshi: Eva's husband who took the family name when they married. A generally happy man.
George: Eva and Hideyoshi's son, he's making his way in to adulthood and working to be a mature and successful young man.
Rudolph: Battler's father and Kinzo's son who is a business man with a reputation as a bit of a playboy.
Kyrie: Battler's step-mother and Rudolph's second wife. A master of critical thinking.
Rosa: The youngest daughter of Kinzo, she's softspoken and usually reserved.
Maria: Rosa's daughter who believes strongly in magic and the Legend of the Golden Witch and sometimes pretends she's a witch.
Genji: Oldest and most trusted servant of Kinzo.
Kumasawa: An old, experienced servant who makes a lot of silly jokes and has a positive attitude.
Gohda: A new servant and master cook hired by Krauss and Natsuhi.
Shannon: A servant who is very shy and nervous but also very friendly and kind.
Kannon: A servant who views himself as furniture, meaning less than human, and does his best to be a good servant.
Nanjo: A trusted doctor and friend of Kinzo's.

Overall:
It's hard to place this game exactly and I'm going to wait until I have finished Episodes 5-8 before giving a verdict since I've already seen how much things can change during this story. It had some positives and negatives. The negatives for me were the writing. It came off at times as pretentious, the narration would change suddenly sometimes, and things could be oddly and repeatedly explained. The positives would be that the story is very complex and has many layers to it, and if you like the challenge of solving complicated mysteries, this would should have you scratching your head. There were a lot of moments that really made me question what was happening and why and wanting to understand the situation better. There's a wide variety of characters, which is also something I enjoy. Keep in mind this visual novel is quite long, but if a complicated murder mystery that focuses heavily on weaving together a story is what you're looking for, this VN is worth checking out!

[sharkythesharkdogg]

This happens a lot.




Like.....a lot, a lot.

[Karifean]

AND IT IS GLORIOUS.

[Pumpkin]

Tokyo School Life (Steam)

Tokyo School Life is a visual novel. It's about a teenage boy (default name of John Smith, which is totally not sketchy or anything), who gets his dream chance to spend a few months in Japan. He's learned Japanese largely through anime and manga (something he is a big fan of), and had his eccentric traveling Sensei from back home teach him a bit about the culture, so he feels quite prepared for his visit. Unfortunately for him, it turns out his Sensei is a bit of a troll and has set him up to live in a house with three female classmates, without telling any of them what was going on.

After the initial misunderstanding is (sort of) cleared up, John is free to enjoy his time in Japan. Thankfully his three roommates, Aoi, Karin, and Sakura, are more than willing to show him around and explain a few things here and there about the culture. I can't say I've fact checked everything, but I did look up a few things mentioned and I learned a few things myself!

This visual novel is a dating sim, where you may end up with one of the three ladies. For the first part of the game, you will at certain points be prompted with "questions", of which there will be 3 replies to choose from. There are 8 questions total, and two different sorts. The first kind, like the first question you will receive, will give you 1 point towards one of the girls. So when they ask what type of food you like, replying the first way will give you 1 point towards girl #1, the second reply will give you 1 point towards girl #2, and the third reply will give you 1 point towards girl #3. The second type of question will add points towards one girl only. One answer will give you 0 points with her, one answer will give you 1 point, and one answer will give you 2 points. Your answers to these questions will NOT affect the other girls' points at all. You will also hear a little chime for a 1 point answer, a big chime for a 2 point answer, and no chime for a 0 point answer. Each girl has two of these questions.

For the second part, you will decide which romance to pursue. You must have at least 4 points with a girl in order to have the option to pursue her ending. There is no option to date more than one of the ladies, so either save your game in one of the zillion available spaces or just start over in order to see a different ending. The game is quite short and there is a skip feature so you can fast forward to the questions and try again. The game will also write the options you've already chosen in a different colour so you can select a different option if you choose. Once you've chosen an ending, the second part of the story will follow John's blossoming romance with that girl. If you didn't get at least 4 points with any of the girls, you will get the "bad" solo ending.

There are also different language and subtitle options available, and you can turn the voices off if you wish to. However, the voices are done in Japanese, except for the few times someone speaks English. I should also note that I occasionally run in to the issue of buttons and clicking not responding when I start up the game, but minimizing and returning the page solves the issue.

Characters:
In order of favourite to least favourite:
Aoi: Aoi is a short, sweet, bouncy girl who loves to cook and takes good care of her housemates, acting as a mother to them. She's also trained in Karate and practices diligently every single day.
Sakura: Sakura is sweet and soft-spoken and in less than ideal health. She's very graceful and caring. She also has some interests she's rather embarrassed about and tries to hide from others.
Karin: Karin is spunky and loud and a big eater. She has a soft spot for all things cute. While usually confident and self-assured, she does have one weak spot that she struggles with.
John: The main character, John is pretty open and blunt and loves all things Japan. He's very excited about his stay overseas and makes the most of everyday.

Overall:
I was a bit worried when Steam asked for my age as I'm the type who loves dating sims but hates more sexual scenes. While this visual novel had some fanservice, it was overall very mild. It gave the impression more of 12 or 13 year olds becoming smitten (which is actually under the age of the characters) and it was actually very sweet and cute, something I enjoyed a good bit. There were some cliche moments and some bad writing moments, but for me the game was actually quite charming and I liked seeing each character develop in their own way. Aoi, the character that stood out for me the least in the beginning, actually became my favourite, and I really enjoyed watching her storyline. I also liked how the game would focus on the particular character when you chose their route, because it reminded me of my younger crushes and how suddenly everything centered around them. I also really liked the friendship between the ladies and how caring and supportive of each other they were. There was no drama or cheating or anything of the sort. It was just a sweet, summer romance between some teenagers growing up. If you're looking for something heavier, deeper, more original, and less tooth-achingly sweet, this may not be for you. But for me, it was incredibly sweet, charming, lovable, and probably my favourite visual novel to date. The only downside for me was how short it was.

Verdict:
LOVED IT

[Karifean]

Hmm, maybe I'll get this one after all. I've only just finished a mostly dramaless VN so I'll definitely read something else inbetween, but lighthearted stories like these are fun from time to time.

[Pumpkin]

Suikoden V (PlayStation 2)

Story:
Suikoden V is the second game in the Suikoden timeline. It follows a young Prince (default name of Freyjadour) in the Queendom of Falena. Falena is a beautiful, prospering nation, blessed by the divine and powerful Sun Rune. But the politics underneath that are a bit more complicated. Soon, the Prince's little sister, Lymsleia, is to be wed. Her future husband is decided by an event called "The Sacred Games" in which men compete for the hand of the Princess. But they don't need to compete themselves, they can also hire representatives to fight in the tournament for them.

The two most powerful and most corrupt noble families, the Godwins and the Barows, both have some powerful fighters and a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to the Sacred Games. Both want to wed the young Queen so they can rule Falena in the way they see fit. And it's up to the Prince to gather the 108 Stars of Destiny (special people) in order to stop the corruption happening in his country.

Gameplay:
This will feel very familiar to fans of the series and fans of RPG's in general. Encounters are random and you'll have a party of six to fight with. At the beginning of the turn, you'll input commands for each character, such as "Attack", "Rune" (magic), or "Item" among others. Characters and enemies will then act according to speed and a few other things. There's also an auto battle mode, and this game offers a few new changes to the battle system. In Suikoden V, you can bring an entourage with you, which can consist of support characters (who offer a certain benefit but can't fight) or other playable characters that you can swap in. This game also allows you to find and use different battle formations, which raise your stats and allow you to strategically place your units according to their strengths.

You can sharpen weapons, buy equipment, buy items, trade goods for profit, equip magical runes to your characters, and also increase and equip certain skills which will raise their stats and allow them to do things like parry an enemy attack. You can also play various mini-games depending on the allies you have recruited.

Aside from regular battles, there are also War Battles and Duels. Duels take place as a sort of rock-paper-scissors match. The enemy will give you a hint as to their action and you have 3 seconds do decide between Attack, Defend, and Special. Attack beats Defend, Defend beats Special, and Special beats Attack. In War Battles, you will control Units which you will then move across a battle map to engage with the enemy. There are two types of War Battles, land and sea (and sometimes a combination of the two), and they also take place as a rock-paper-scissor match of sorts. By moving a unit over another one, you can tell if it will be strong, weak, or equal to that unit. You can also set up the Units to use special skills like Recover and certain magics.

A big part of the game is collecting the 108 Stars of Destiny. These are people that will help you with your cause and in some cases be playable. Certain characters are recruited automatically, while others will need special conditions fulfilled at special times. The number of Stars of Destiny you have will also affect which ending you get, as their are multiple possible endings. There are certain other factors that play in to which ending you get as well, such as dialogue choices, adding some replay value to the game.

World:
The country of Falena is quite beautiful, and has the Feitas River flowing throughout it. You'll find many areas to explore by foot and by boat as well. You also gain access to a character who can teleport you to areas you've been previously. Like a lot of RPG's, you'll gain access to more and more areas the further in to the game you are.

Characters:
Since there are so many characters, I will only include a few of the main characters, in no particular order.
Prince Freyjadour: Prince of Falena, although men can't inherit the throne. Loves his family and is very close to his little sister. Main character.
Lyon: the Prince's bodyguard, very dedicated and loyal and always does her best to protect the Prince no matter what.
Georg: A warrior from another country who knows the Prince's father and has accepted a job as a Queen's Knight.
Kyle: A Queen's Knight and womanizer. He's a good fighter and magic user and has a lighthearted attitude.
Miakis: The Princess's bodyguard, she loves to tease her and has quite a silly attitude.
Logg: A man from Raftfleet. He's not the brightest but he's there in a pinch. Gets himself in to trouble a lot.
Lun: Logg's daughter, she's always up to shenanigans with her pop. She has a go-to and loud attitude.
Kisara: Logg's wife and Lun's mother, she does her best to keep them in check. The brains of the family.
Raja: The wise leader of Raftfleet, she cares very much about her people.
Lucretia: Your strategist, a brilliant woman who's mind knows no limit.
Zweig: A self-serving man interested in the ruins of the ancient Sindar Civilization.
Lorelai: A young woman with a cold attitude who is interested in the ancient Sindar Ruins.
Zerase: A mysterious and unfriendly woman with an interest in Runes.
Viki: A ditzy magician who can teleport things when she sneezes.
Luserina: A kind young woman who tries to keep her family in check.

Overall:
I adore this game and always have. It's an adventure from beginning to end and you really feel the world changing and the time passing. The characters are interesting and there are some beautifully touching moments. The story is well told and engaging. The gameplay is overall fun with a few negative spots here and there. The War Battles can be fun or stressful, but they certainly get your attention. Overall I love it for it's characters, story, and beautiful world. It always kept me interested and engaged, it has some of my favourite characters ever, and it's fun to play. However, this game is extremely stressful when it comes to recruiting characters as it's much more sensitive than previous entries. Things are also expensive, the War Battles are more engaging, and the formation adds a strategy element to fights. For those reasons, I wouldn't recommend this one to newcomers of the series.

Verdict:
LOVED IT

[Pumpkin]

Doodle God (PS Vita)

Doodle God is a puzzle game released originally as a mobile game, but the version I got is for the PS Vita. Doodle God starts with 4 basic elements from which he created everything, like volcano's and stuff. But then Doodle God wondered what would happen if he started mixing elements.

In this game, you mix elements together to make new elements. You start out with the four basic elements of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. From there you will mix elements until you have made all of the available ones. In this version, there are 228 elements and 25 categories.

Do note that this is a silly game and not everything is actually an element. You start out with basic elements until you start making things like houses and books and TVs. There are four "episodes" to play through. The first, called "Beginning" simply has you trying to make 100 elements from the original 4. The second is called "Technology" where you will create a lot of technology, as the name implies. From there the game splits the world in two. Unfortunately you cannot decide which order to play them, but episode 3 is "Modern Age", a world without magic but more technology, and episode 4 is "World of Magic" where you will make more mystical things. The game is complete once you've finished all 4 episodes and created all 228 elements.

Some elements will not become available until you've completed a certain chapter, so don't be afraid to retry things. Every minute and a half or so, you can click on the lightbulb to get tips. The game is played simply by touching or clicking on an element and then touching or clicking on a second element to see if they'll make something. You can also check a log of previously made elements, although it's long to sort through as you get further in.

Overall I really enjoyed this game, although it is incredibly short. I'm also not too good at puzzle games so I needed a lot of hints by the end of it. My complaints would be that it's a bit frustrating that you can re-create elements, making things a bit harder to sort, and that my fingers get tired using the touch screen. While clicking does work, it's a good bit slower. Other than that, this game was a lot of fun, and it had a good sense of humour to it as well. I liked discovering things and making new "elements" even if some of them didn't really make sense. It's pretty affordable and could be a good game for road trips or the like.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Pumpkin]

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (Nintendo DS)

Story:
Dragon Quest IV is a game about several heroes who all end up banding together to defeat an evil. At the beginning of the game, the player is prompted to chose a gender and name, which will represent the "main" hero of the story. But shortly after being introduced to the main character, the player is then taken through different chapters following different characters, before they eventually return to the hero and band together the other "Chosen" characters that they saw previously. Each character has their own motivations, such as wanting to avenge someone or even just trying to grow their business. They eventually unite under a common goal.

Gameplay:
As I mentioned, DQIV is separated in to chapters. The first chapters follow different characters, who will all start out at low levels and need to be built up. The battles are random and take place in a similar fashion to other DQ games I have played. The battles are in first person, and at the beginning of the turns, the player will choose commands for the character to do, such as "Heal" or "Attack" or "Item". Characters have different roles they fulfill in battle, with some being adept at healing magic, or attack magic, or just good physical fighters, or a combination of all of those.

Time does pass in game as you wonder around the world map and some dialogue or story or other things will be dependent on if it's day time or night time. It should also be noted that this is an older RPG and as such there aren't many scenes and it's not always clear what the goal is or how to achieve it without talking and exploring on your own. This can be a good thing for those who don't like "hand-holding", or a bad thing for those more accustomed to a lot of newer RPG' where goals and solutions are made much more clear. The game is also on the more difficult side (for me) because it isn't the most generous with funds and requires a good bit of grinding.

World:
The world is pretty big and fun to explore. You'll go around the world map and enter town, talk to people, explore buildings. The camera can be rotated to find hidden entrances, chests, or people. There are some diverse locations, as well as some locations that are very similar. There are towns as well as dungeons, where enemies can be encountered. Some parts of the world will be blocked off until a certain event has been completed.

Characters:
In order of favourite to least favourite:
Taloon: A weapon's merchant who works hard to open his own store one day.
Meena: The more grounded and younger sister of Maya, she is a fortune teller. Her father died under mysterious circumstances.
Alena: A tomboy princess who wants to travel the world and often causes trouble for her father.
Ragnar: An honourable Knight who is going to explore the case of the missing children.
Hero/Main Character: An avatar for the player. MC grew up in a small, sheltered town until they were thrust in to an adventure.
Maya: A dancer and older sister of Meena. She's flirty and more careless. Her father died under mysterious circumstances.
Kiryl: A priest that travels with Alena and has feelings for her.
Borya: A magician and tutor to Alena. He promised her late mother he would take care of her.

Overall:
This game has the typical Dragon Quest humour, which I quite liked. The story being told through several people was also interesting, and I really liked Taloon, Meena, and Alena. However, while I didn't dislike any characters, some of them were rather forgettable. I'm also a person who prefers more scenes and dialogue explaining where I need to go and I often got lost in this game. It's also on the more difficult side. But the gameplay is fun enough and the world was good and there were no bad characters. It did kind of lack a certain charm to it that I really loved in DQV though and was largely on the forgettable side, unfortunately.

Verdict:
IT WAS OKAY

[Colonel Angus]

Pumpkin, have you played DQVIII yet?

[Pumpkin]

Yeah, I didn't get far either time. Not my deal