Games - Punch-Out / Professor Layton vs Pheonix Wright

So after getting my 3DS I had a nice long flight home. I dug waaay deep into Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, now I had finished everything but the last boss months ago, and then the boss a week or so ago, but now its all about the Maiamais.

There are 100 Maiamai's in the game, roughly 50 in Hyrule and another 50 in Lorule. They are hidden all over the map, and your maps let you know how many are left in each area. When you are near one you can hear them crying. So you know to start looking all over the place when you hear that, turn over every rock/bush/pot, look on every wall. Since my guy is ready for the final battle I've got a lot of weapons and lots of hearts, so none of the enemies really could bother me. I had only maybe 40 of them that I found just by normally going through the game, so I had a lot to find. I actually really enjoyed going through that map again and even seeing some hidden corners of the map I hadn't noticed. Some of them were fun to find, had to do some problem solving. The other thing I didn't realize I could find was more Master Ore, in the game you need to find 2 pieces of master ore to make your sword stronger. I didn't realize there was 2 more ore I could find, and it can make your sword even another level stronger

. So I probably got another 4 hours out of that game, that I basically already finished, which is super cool. Its funny because getting more Maiamais let you upgrade your items for them to be stronger, and then the Master Ore making your sword ever more powerful...but I already beat the game so its a little useless, but still glad I did it. I have totally closed the book on A Link Between Worlds now, great damn game.

Once I got home, I started dabbling more with Punch-Out Wii, gotten through a couple more guys, before getting stuck at Bald Bull. Also started playing a bit of Punch-Out NES, and playing the newer one made me better at the NES one. I never had Punch-out as a kid so I never knew the appeal, and now I freaking love these games, totally respecting the twitch gameplay, and almost puzzle game aspect to it. Its the first game that was basically nothing but Boss fights. But yeah I've really been enjoying my time with it, then I used my Nintendo Club coins to get NES Punch-Out for the 3DS...so I can play it anytime. I even got really addicted to listening to the Wii's Punch-Out Theme, it makes me want to get work done. On the NES version I can now get to the 2nd Piston Honda fight consistently. But that is the game I'm playing when there isn't enough time for...

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, its the first game I bought myself for my 2DS, and I have been meaning to play it for a while and what better time, now that I have my *new* Nintendo 3DS XL. This game is a mash-up of 2 or Capcom's popular mobile game series Ace Attorney(Visual Novel/Adventure Game) and Professor Layton(Adventure/Puzzle Game). The story is weird for a Phoenix Wright game but not as much for Layton, his games have had some supernatural elements before, but Phoenix Wright is mostly grounded. You play Phoenix fighting an odd case, and afterwards he gets transported away. Then we play as Layton uncovering a mystery that leads him in a similar direction, they both end up in a strange Medieval town called Labyrinthia that is on no map, run by a mysterious figure called The Storyteller. This place is full of puzzles for Layton, and Witch Trials for Phoenix. This game changes focus as the story demands, and swaps between the 2 play styles. Much of the game seems to be more Professor Layton, its going to different spots on the map asking people for clues and them making you solve puzzles, and uncovering the mystery of the town. Then when that stuff is done for the day, there is a Witch Trial at night. You have a new friend who is accused of being a witch and you must defend her in court from being burned in the fire pit. I had gotten through what seemed like the intro/tutorial section. They make you do some puzzles and move around as Layton, then have you have a little Court Room Case with Phoenix to get you re-acclimated to how those games play, as well as a tutorial if you hadn't played one or the other before. Now I've finished the 1st Day in Labyrinthia, so I finished my first Witch Trial, which was a doozy. In this last one you have 5 witnesses at once and you had to play them against each other, it was pretty nifty, but long. Its my current *main* game I'm trying to play. I like the story and the puzzles and the trials but there's so much in between. So I just finished Chapter 2, and I looked online to see that apparently there is 9 Chapters...so this game is gonna have some legs.

There is a good amount of voice acting during the bigger moments of the game, but I wish more was there, because it is enjoyable to hear all the colorful characters actually speak especially in Phoenix Wright. In addition to that, like Professor Layton there are a number of fully Animated sequences and they look fantastic, but again wish there was more because they are so good. So far its got everything I could want out a Layton Game with all I want out of the Phoenix Wright game. Lots of pointing, lots of objections, lots of gentlemanly headwear. Just making these characters come together is a silly idea, I almost got it just to see how it worked, but damn if they don't make it work, and even make it fun.

I was going to talk about Super Mario Bros. vs SMB Deluxe on the 3DS slightly but this went long, so I will get to it next time.

Games - *new* Nintendo 3DS etc.

So the *new* Nintendo 3DS XL(n3DSXL) came out on the 13th, and I did plan on getting it, but I didn't pre-order it, nor was going to get on the first day. My plan was to wait for the bonus I was getting for all the traveling I do for work, and then buy it. As it happens I had a last minute trip to Flo-Rida on the 12th, coming home Friday morning on the 13th. So after getting there on Thursday and finding that this trip was not as easy as I was told, so I had to extend my trip from leaving 6am Friday morning to 8pm Friday evening. I went into the job site around 9 on Friday and no one came to let me in, so I left. There was mall nearby so I decided to check things out there to waste time. That's when it began, my buddy Harold started messaging me. He had been excited about getting the n3DSXL and counting down the days, going over the plans he had for upgrading. He had a 2DS like me, so he was kind of letting me know everything I had to do. Harold was telling me he was on his way to Gamestop to get in line for his n3DSXL. Gamestop was offering $70 off the n3DSXL if you were trading in a 2DS towards it. So I was around the Mall and thinking...they probably have a Gamestop around here, and its almost 10am....maybe I should check this out. But then I got called back into work, so I went back.

After I got there, and past the front door, the guy realized I couldn't do anything until some spare parts arrived, which wouldn't be for over an hour, so he said I could take off and he would msg me when they were ready. So I took off again! The Gamestop wasn't open yet, but now I had it in my mind, so I went to Office Depot to get a micro-SD adapter, since I would need that to transfer. Then I went to the Mall's Gamestop, where there was small line of people. When I got to the front of the line, he told me they only had enough for pre-orders. So I left slightly sad, but its kind of what I expected. All the while Harold telling me about how he was home and doing his system transfer, telling me how pretty the n3DSXL is. At that point it was in my brain...I now needed it. But just as I was deciding where to look next, I got the call to go in for work. So I did that, but thankfully it didn't last long.

So after going in around 11am, I was done by 3:30pm, and my flight wasn't till 8pm. So by that point I went to another Gamestop and got the same story there, only enough for pre-orders. But I was already formulating a plan, because they only reason I was using Gamestop was because of that $70 for trading it in towards the n3DSXL. But because I didn't pre-order I don't think I could do it anyway, plus the deal was only for that day. So I inquired how much it is normally to trade in a 2DS, and they told me about $50...and that was more than enough to buy Majora's Mask, which everyone had plenty of. So I went to Walmart with high hopes. As it turns out they had plenty of n3DSXLs. So I purchased it for full price, easy-peasy.

So now I have it, but now I had to transfer my Data. I needed a reliable Wi-Fi connection, so I looked for a Starbucks, got a Flat White. And sat down to begin that business. Got 2DS and 3DS on the internet, so they could start the transfer, and I must say it was nerve wracking. I just had to watch the transfer, not knowing how long the battery would hold out on the uncharged n3DSXL, or how long the transfer would take. Some of it went fast other parts super slow. But it went through without incident. The next step was to transfer the SD card to a micro-SD card, and man can I say how annoying it is that they switched to a micro, making me buy another thing *grr*. At first I thought I was going to need to buy a card reader because I didn't think my work laptop had a SC card slot, but I found it, it was different than my last laptop, and not in a super obvious spot. So that made it easy, I took my SD card and dumped the contents on my laptop, put in the micoSD with adapter and put all my stuff on it.

So now everything is set, just have to get the micro-SD in the n3DSXL, at which point I realized I would need a screwdriver. then contemplated going to Walmart again to buy a small screwdriver set. Thats when I felt dumb and remembered I had had my tool bag which has many screwdrivers. Unlike the other models of the 3DS the micro-SD is actually inside the system. Had to unscrew 2 screws then detatch the bottom, which was the most terrifying moment of all, because it feels like your gonna bend the plastic enough to crack it. But it all went well. I had all my stuff an especially my streetpasses were intact.

The last thing was going back to Gamestop, getting the regular trade it value for my 2DS, and then using that to buy Majora's Mask and a charge cable, since I had to give up my 2DS charge cable, and the n3DSXL didn't come with one. So then I ran to Chipotle, and then the airport, and let it charge there till it had enough battery to last the whole trip home. Which I spent enjoying Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds in 3D for the first time. Spent my time with that game looking for the last of the collectibles in that game. So now I am finished with that. Man just firing the n3DSXL up with the 2DS right there, man the screens are HUGE and the new face-tracking 3D they added works great. I'm really liking my time with it so far, spending a lot of time playing it lately, because of travel, and the wife hogging the TV with Dragon Age: Inquisition. So I will definitely be talking more 3DS stuff.

Toku - Tokkyuger / Kamen Rider Decade

So I had to make a last minute trip out top Florida for work last week. I was slightly bummed because I had to get up at 4am on Thursday and I had a feeling I might get stuck somewhere for Valentine's day. I had been keeping an eye on Tokkyuger's Diesel-Oh on amazon and some other places. For a while now buying them all separate(Diesel, Car Carrier, and Tank Ressha) was going to be the cheaper option. But I could never get them all on Amazon with Prime shipping. Then I checked out my preferred import retailer ItCameFromJapan.com, and since they are Canadian, the US dollar is strong right now, so getting them from there seemed the cheapest option. But then Amazon had the actual Diesel-Oh set for $63, which was about $8 more than ICFJ, but it would mean I would have it in 2 days. So I jumped on that as soon as payday hit. Normally I wouldn't buy that the same week as Valentine's, to make sure I could do all I could on that day for my wife(cause she's awesome), but the price was too good. Thankfully I got home the night before Valentine's day, but I still had some shopping to do. My wife went out for a bit in the morning, and that is when it arrived

I ripped it open immediately, He came ready to be Diesel-Oh, and I set him like that for all of 10 seconds. Then went about grabbing ToQ-Oh and Build Dai-Oh, so I could form it into Cho Cho ToQ Dai-Oh, who is enormous and looks awesome. In that form its the biggest Mech I own now, he towers well over Gokai-Oh, I had to clear a big spot for him, since that how I plan to display those guys.

One other thing that I ordered a little after Christmas has also made its way here...although not to my doorstep, as with most of my Ebay purchases I needed to pick it up at the Post Office. That is my Kamen Rider Decade DX Ride Booker. This was Decade's only real accessory other than the Driver(Belt) and the K-Touch(Lame). Its his Gun, his Sword, and is also a case for his Transformation/Attack Cards. Since I am getting the CSM Deca Driver, I thought it would be good to have this if not only to hold the cards and look nice in a display of the Driver. I got it on Ebay for like $26, new in box supposedly, which seemed like a steal. Its not a well loved toy because of its size and that the sword mode is pretty pathetic, but for display and gun-mode I think it will be rad. And the price is perfect!

But now that I actually have the toy in hand, its actually even smaller than I imagined. The main card holding section, doesn't even hold all 10 of the Kamen Ride Cards. There is another larger card holding area, and that seems big enough to hold a whole bunch of cards, just a shame I can't get the other 10 in the special slot. All for now, but more coming soon

Games - 3DS Boy Advanced

So shortly after my last post, while looking for my missing 3DS Case with most of my games in it. I came across a smelly plastic bag in a box in my basement. Surprisingly it contained a few of my beloved GB and GBA games, My cartridges of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 and Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. The GBA games I found were WarioWare: Twisted (which I literally just bought a replacement of), Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, others??... This was also after finally getting a new Gamecube AC adapter, so I was now able to play the Gamecube and Gameboy Player. So even though I've been playing a bit of Warioland on my 3DS I brought it up on the big screen, it still had my completed savegame with just about everything unlocked. In that game there was one treasure I didn't have, so I looked up where to find it, got it, and played the final level. So I beat the game there and don't know if I will still continue playing it on my 3DS(there is only 34 stages), so I may move onto Wario Land 2. Next week brought some more traveling, so I was 2DSing it this week. Played a good chunk of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Thankfully, that game is a prettier version of Aria of Sorrow, which I loved. The touchscreen elements are minimal, there were a couple areas that let you breakdown ice chunks by tapping on them, and for most boss fights you have to draw a magic seal to finish them off. Having just played Aria recently, I really noticed the improvement to the graphics. And with the 2 screens I really like having a live view of the map. The game has the same soul system as aria, but your able to create 2 Soul/Equipment loadouts that you can switch between on the fly, I use it for switching between my sword and a heavier weapon like the Axe. Its very useful and a great improvement. I am at a point now where I'm not sure how far into the game I am, and not sure where to head next. But that is pretty standard for this type of game, just gotta scour the map and try my new moves to reach new places. Right before I left, my Import copy of Rhythm Tengoku for the GBA came in, its the original game in Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven series and was never released in America. I probably should have expected, but it looks like everything is unlocked in that game already. So I can play any of the levels at any time, which is good, but I also like to unlock them myself. Because I don't speak Japanese, and there are a few parts where that makes a difference in this game, I will probably just leave it. I've played quite a few on them now, just trying to brute force my way through the menus in some cases. But its fun and catchy and its just nifty to see all that Japanese text come up when I start up the GBA. Thats all for now, but some cool stuff is coming soon.