Nintendo Nintendo DSs
Offers
Reviews
Nintendo Nintendo DS Game Reviews
 |
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS)
by Anti 'Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon' is a strategy role-playing game released for the Nintendo DS in 2008. The 'Fire Emblem' games have been around since the 90s in Japan but have only made its way to Europe since its sixth instalment back in 2003. 'Shadow Dragon' is in fact a remake of the very first 'Fire Emblem' game, now updated with better ... graphics and minor gameplay improvements for the benefits of people like me who will never master Japanese. Four years after its release I finally got round to buying and playing this game since I'm a big fan of the series but had read lukewarm reviews. But how does this game hold up after almost twenty since its initial release? ==---Story---== Players take control of a band of characters led by Prince Marth of Altea, whom might be familiar to some Nintendo fans as a playable character in the 'Super Smash Bros' series. Marth has been exiled from his homeland when a reawakened Dragon King, Medeus, joins forces with a malicious sorcerer named Gharnef and begin to take over the world again. Young Marth escapes Altea before its destruction, which includes leaving his father and the sacred sword needed to defeat Medeus behind to an unknown fate. Years later, Marth has been trained in the kingdom of Talys and is ready to take on Medeus himself. So he travels around the continent with his new army, going against the several armies of those allied to the Dragon King in his way. The story is disappointingly simple. Marth just going to each place, talking about how he must defeat the enemy, talking about the war/defeating others, etc. There aren't any plot twists or emotional moments that make me care much about the war or the kingdom Marth is fighting for. The playable characters themselves are very two dimensional, and save for a few of the more important ones most of your units don't even get any dialogue when they join your party. This is a frustrating contrast from other games in the series where I cared for many of them because they had developed personalities even if they weren't crucial to the game's plot. The closest to development you get are the 'Where Are They Now?' snippets at the end of the game. ==---Gameplay---== In 'Fire Emblem', you bring out a certain number of your units onto a grid-like battlefield on each chapter of the story. Each character is of a different class, all of which equip different weapons (swords, axes, lances, bows, magic tomes and staves) and have differing stats in Attack, Defence, Speed and so on. The player and the computer enemy take turns moving their characters (using either the touch screen or buttons) around the map to defeat enemies on screen, and win by defeating the boss and/or have Marth move onto the gate or throne of the map. Other things to accomplish might be to visit the shops to buy new weapons and items, collect treasures from the chests before enemy thieves do and have Marth visit villages where he might receive weapons or new characters. You have to be careful though, because if a character's HP is brought down to 0, they will die and cannot be used in battle ever again. The strategy of the games lies in understanding each of your character's strengths and weaknesses on the battlefield and utilizing them to kill enemies without dying in the process. Marth, for example, is quite a balanced character who only equips swords, which makes him strong against axe-users and weak against lances. Merric, on the other hand, is a mage who uses magic books, but has a low defences and shouldn't be put onto your frontlines without some other strong units to protect him. Damaging and killing enemy units lets your characters gain XP and level up, allowing their stats to improve and eventually become capable of promoting to a better class. The gameplay might sound difficult, but newcomers to the series shouldn't be alarmed. There are 5 prologue chapters which guide you how to play without overwhelming the player. The difficulty comes more in not letting the enemy (who will always have the advantage over you) overwhelm your characters, which will force you to restart the chapter so as to keep that character alive next time. There are also two save points on each chapter at different points on the map. Whilst fans of the games might find that this makes the game too easy for them, I personally found them useful for when I wanted to restart from a certain point instead of the whole chapter on account of making one wrong move (especially as each chapter takes 20-50 minutes to complete). I had to bear in mind a lot that, as this was the first game in the 'Fire Emblem' series, 'Shadow Dragon' has a lot of features which are missing which were introduced in later games, such as the 'Support' system (creating relationships between players over turns which improve stats when they are close to one another) as well as other types of magic and their related classes. Fortunately this is something I got used to as it keeps the original game intact, although it did make me wonder why they couldn't include these additions into the remake as well. There are a few improvements here for the whole series. Firstly, at the 'Battle Preparations' screen there is an 'Armoury' where you can not only buy basic weapons from your own shop but also improve your own weapons with the 'Forge' option. This allows you to increase/decrease attributes at a cost. I found this quite nifty to make my weapons more powerful or capable of hitting the enemy better. Furthermore you can also change a unit's class, such as making Merric the mage an archer, or thief etc., instead. However, I never used this option because I was happy with having a balance of different types of units. The gameplay does have some disadvantages though. Firstly, almost all the units have an average of 0 (!) magic resistance, so your magic characters are easily your strongest units providing they aren't too fragile. Secondly, characters will join or have the chance to be recruited into your army in certain chapters, but many of them you will end up not using (since you can only take between 12-15 into battle). At one point I had four cavaliers (a horseriding class) and some more characters joined which included another two- why does the game think I will train them up at this point? Also, to access bonus chapters you apparently needed at least one character to die on the map (in later games the condition is usually to win in 15 turns or less). Even with the lack of character development in this game I didn't really want to kill any of my characters off and think those conditions are unfair on players who take the time to protect their units properly. ==---Graphics---== The graphics for 'Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon' are good if a bit lacking. The maps do have attention to detail in the terrain although I don't like how 'washed out' the colours are. The gallery pictures of characters are decent, but some characters look very similar to others, once again adding to their lack of personality among them. More impressive are the 3D in-battle sprites- each time your character attacks or is attacked by another they go to a close up screen where you see the two characters attacking and counterattacking. It's pretty cool to see your people hitting the enemy unit like this, especially when they do a critical hit (which is shown as a more impressive looking attack), even if sometimes it doesn't look like the weapons are actually hitting anything! Occasionally some of the 2D artwork seen on the cover makes its appearance in some of the story scenes and these look brilliant too, but sadly these are few and far between. ==---Sound---== To be honest, most of this time I had this game on mute. When I did play with sound though I found the background music to be fitting to the chapters or situation, but nothing really memorable save the epic opening theme (which is in every 'Fire Emblem' game anyway). ==---Extras---== Beating the game once unlocks the Sound Room under the 'Extras' Menu, where you can listen to the different music themes of the game at your leisure. There is also the 'Events Recap' selection where you can re-watch events within the story, such as recruiting a character or dialogue at the start of a battle, providing you actually accessed them. Since you have to do different things to unlock certain scenes, this does provide some longevity if you play through the game again to get scenes you might have missed. There are multiplayer options, either by playing wirelessly against another person's DS or online via Nintendo Wi-Fi. I have been unable to try neither of these because my DS Lite isn't compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi and I don't know anybody else with this game (don't judge me!) to try the Wireless. However, considering customization and characters are limited in 'Fire Emblem',I doubt that multiplayer is worth it. But that's just my opinion. ==---Overall---== 'Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon' left me with very mixed feelings. On the one hand it is a challenging game with solid gameplay very much unchanged from other entries in the series, which will please fans. There are 26 chapters to battle through which I completed in about 18 hours, which I think is good for a handheld game. There is also a 'Hard Mode' for those who want a real challenge (but I found 'Normal' difficult enough for me!). Sadly, this game seems to be stuck in the past, as it lacks a good story, decent characterization and more useful updates to gameplay. If you're a fan of the series, then I'd be wary of this game because it's missing many things that make the later 'Fire Emblem' instalments so enjoyable; however, I do recommend it more to newcomers to this genre of gaming as they shouldn't be as disappointed. The price of Fire Emblem varies as the game is quite rare. I purchased my copy off an eBay auction for Ł20, but I've seen places sell it for as high as Ł60, so shop around! (Review also on Ciao under the username Anti_W) Read the complete review |
 |
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
by TimStain The phrase 'best game of all time' is a stupid one, because 'of all time' implies that the thing you're reviewing will never be topped in the future (which it inevitably will). With that in mind, I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and say that the Phoenix Wright series is probably the best supernatural lawyer simulation of all ... time. Faint praise indeed when you consider the non-existent competition but bypass this excellent game (a sort of point and click adventure with superior pacing) and you'll miss out on some of the best logic based gameplay and stunning writing to feature in the medium. You play as Phoenix Wright, a defence lawyer tasked with saving some of the guiltiest looking suspects you could imagine. Gameplay consists of examining crime scenes, collecting evidence and then using it in court to prove your client innocent and identify the real guilty party. The courtroom is where the game gets interesting. None of the usual adventure game puzzles of 'combine object A with object B and hope for the love of God it gets you to the next stage' The 'puzzles' in Phoenix Wright come in the form of witness testimonies. It's your job to listen to the testimony and search through it for lies and contradictions. Once you've found a contradiction, you then have to present the right piece of evidence to prove your claim. For example, say a witness says that she 'saw the murder at 2pm', but you have an autopsy report that says the victim didn't die until 3pm, then you present the evidence at the witnesses statement (brilliantly, this can be done by screaming 'OBJECTION!!!' into the DS microphone) and then watch as they slowly break down as their story unravels. If shouting at people until they have nervous breakdowns doesn't sound like your idea of fun, well trust me, it will be after this game. I'm not going to spoil any of the plot here, but the writing is fantastic, with lots of dialogue full of quotable lines and a great sense of humour. This is particularly surprising when you consider the game was published by Capcom, who know about as much about good writing as Hitler does about compassion and letting things go. All the characters have clever arcs and are interesting enough to keep you playing, the identities of the real murderer in cases is rarely that surprising but the truth behind the cases can be surprisingly moving. Yeah, that's right, I think a supernatural lawyer sim with cartoon graphics is genuinely moving, why don't you shut up and play it yourself before laughing at me? You might just find this to be one of your favourite games ever. Read the complete review |
 |
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
by LauraHannan == Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney== ===The Story=== The game takes place in an unknown near-future country, based roughly on a caricature of the Japanese legal system. You playPhoenix Wright, a recently qualified defence attorney, and with the help of your trusty and loveable side-kick Maya Fey, you take on a series of ... cases and try to discover the truth behind each. Unfortunately for Phoenix, there is no presumption of innocence until proven guilty, reflecting the actual practice in Japan (though it beginning to shift away from this as later games in the series explore). Not so much a reflection of Japanese law is that not even 'guilty until proven innocent' applies, but rather 'guilty until someone else is proven guilty instead'. So not only must Phoenix get his clients off the hook, but he must find the real killer and prove their guilt in court. In doing so he must beat his rival, the Prosecutor Edgeworth, a zealous, antagonistic man who has never lost a case and will do anything to achieve a guilty verdict. The story is fantastic, as is the case with every game in the Ace Attorney series, and worth owning for that alone. The writing is zany, the cases unique and interesting and will hook the player from the start. The penultimate case (or the final case on the Advance port) remains the best case of the Phoenix Wright series (in my opinion), delving deep into the past of the Prosecutor Edgeworth and his rivalry with Phoenix as he find himself on trial for murder and only Phoenix will take his case. Its emotional, heart wrenching, but at the same time utterly hilarious in places - I played it at night on a ferry to France, secretly under the sheets of my bed, and had to get up and lock myself in the bathroom at one point because I couldn't stop laughing. ===The Gameplay=== There are two game modes, both 'point and click' in nature, the first where you search the various locations connected to the crime for evidence, question witnesses and try to work out what happened. The second place Phoenix Wright in court, where he must try to win the case by bleeding the lies out of witnesses on the stand and disproving the prosecution's evidence with his own. Mistakes are punished with penalties given by the judge; once the player accumulates enough they lose and a guilty verdict is handed down. Overall the game is completely linear; there is only one way to advance the plot at any one given time and only one answer to any given puzzle, but the game does a surprising job of masking this by providing a range of locations to explore and people to talk to. The one downside of the game is that the puzzles can be completely head scratching at times, and first time players will probably find them getting through some parts through trial and error (always save first if you are unsure), but overall it's fun to play and it feels incredibly rewarding when you work out a particularly difficult puzzle. ===The Characters=== Phoenix Wright is a strong protagonist, naďve, optimistic but determined and capable of holding his own in a battle of sarcastic comments. Maya Fey is a quirky and cute side-kick who was so popular with the fans that they ended up pasting her character onto every new side-kick for pretty much every other game in the series (I'm looking at you, Trucy and Kay Faraday), so that tells you something. Edgeworth, while starting off as a bit of a one-dimensional extremist, quickly gains a lot of character development as losing to Phoenix starts to break his mind and the reason for his obsessive need for a guilty verdict is revealed. By the end the players care deeply about them and their fates and want to see them succeed. The side characters are all unique and a lot of fun to talk to, and though a lot of them are two-dimensional comic relief characters, you will still cheer when they show up for their obligatory cameo in future games. Some side characters are as well developed and loveable as the leads, especially the beleaguered Detective Gumshoe. ==Conclusion== A must own for any DS or GBA owner. The story is top notch, the characters are captivating and its just an all-round great experience. Its also one of the most unique gaming series out there - I personally can't think of a game where you play a silly haired lawyer and cross-examine parrots. Make sure you get the DS version if you can, as it contains an extra case (and a really good one at that). And play all the sequels too! You won't regret it. Read the complete review |
Nintendo Nintendo DS Game |
||
|---|---|---|
|
6 reviews Genre: Puzzle / Nintendo DS Game / ESRB Rating: Everyone / Release Date: 2007-05-11 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
2 reviews Genre: Action & Adventure / Nintendo DS Game / Video Game for Nintendo DS / To Be Announced / ESRB Rating: Everyone / Release Date: 2009-10-09 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
Genre: Role-playing / Nintendo DS Game / ESRB Rating: Everyone / Release Date: 2008-11-21 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
Genre: Puzzle / Nintendo DS Game / Video Game for Nintendo DS / Release Date: 2009-12-18 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
1 review Genre: Simulation - Life / Nintendo DS Game / Release Date: 2008-12-12 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
Genre: Education & Reference / Nintendo DS Game / Release Date: 2009-08-07 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
2 reviews Genre: Role-playing / Nintendo DS Game / ESRB Rating: Everyone / Release Date: 2009-11-20 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
7 reviews Genre: Action & Adventure / Nintendo DS Game / Video Game for Nintendo DS / Universal, suitable for all / ESRB Rating: Everyone / Release Date: 2009-12-11 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
4 reviews Genre: Simulation / Nintendo DS Game / Video Game for Nintendo DS / ESRB Rating: Everyone / Release Date: 2009-10-23 / Published by Nintendo |
|
|
Genre: Strategy / Nintendo DS Game / PEGI Age Rating: Age 3+ / Published by Nintendo |
|
| Nintendo Nintendo DS Game Recommendations 1 ... 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ... back next | ||
| dooyoo Results 61 - 70 of 247 | ||
