Well, Christmas is over with, and I got everything I wanted. So here’s the typical blog describing what I got. And since Christmas is a time for giving as well as receiving, I thought I’d also tell you all what I GAVE to others. Because I like giving presents just as much, if not more so, than getting them. Yarrr! So come along, mehearties, and let me show you me Christmas booty…um, that didn’t come out quite right, did it?

Zach & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure
My three ‘biggie’ presents this year were three Wii games that I asked for. And I got them all, too! But the game I wanted to play the most was Zach & Wiki. Zach is a short and feisty pirate and Wiki is his magical flying monkey companion. You can really tell this game was made by Capcom, at least in the character design department. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the same guy who did the characters for Mega Man Legends worked on Zach & Wiki. Wiki, for instance, looks just like Data the save monkey from Legends. Zach has a female rival pirate who could be Tron Bonne’s sister, and her crew of little pirates could almost pass for Servebots (though Servebots are WAY cooler). Zach himself belongs to a pirate crew consisting of little bunnies (yes). And like Mega Man Legends, the characters are full of personality, too. If you leave Zach still long enough, he’ll snicker to himslf, reach into his pocket, pull out a candy bar, and munch on it fervently while looking around. So just by the characters alone, you can tell that Zach & Wiki is MY kind of game!

So what kind of game is Zach & Wiki? Believe it or not, it’s a use-your-brain puzzle game through and through. Control in the game is similar to a point and click adventure. Point the cursor at the TV and click where you want Zach to go. When Zach stumbles upon a creature, he can use his magical monkey Wiki to turn creatures into items. Shake the Wii remote and Wiki turns into a bell for Zach to ring, and this ringing turns centipedes into saws, bats into umbrellas, and snakes into pilers. With item in hand, now you must figure out the proper way to use each item, and in the right order, to get through the stage and nab the treasure. When it comes time to use an item, the game turns to a first person view and shows you how to hold the remote. Move the remote back and forth to saw things, for instance. This really makes Zach & Wiki feel like a true Wii game that couldn’t be done on another console. A lot of the puzzles are like Myst puzzles except they’re not counter-intuitive like Myst is.

However, there is one big problem with Zach & Wiki that I could imagine many gamers getting frustrated at. It’s very easy to die in this game, and they don’t warn you what can squish poor Zach. Lots of trial and error here, like a Dragon’s Lair game. But the bad thing about this is that when you die, you have to start the level over again. Now, you can buy saves and hints, but they cost more and more, the more you buy them. Luckily, from what I’ve played SO FAR, the levels are pretty short, so it doesn’t take too long to retrace your steps. And since I’m used to classic gameplay frustrations from playing games my whole life, this snag in Zach & Wiki doesn’t bother me too much…yet. But I do wish I could send a note to the Zach & Wiki developers (and other game makers as well), saying that while I appreciate classic gameplay challenges, limited saves should go the way of the dodo. Fortunately, so far, Zach & Wiki is so much fun that dying and starting a short stage over again doesn’t seem so bad, yet.

NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams
I only played the first Saturn NiGHTS game at a demo station in a store for a few minutes, and couldn’t figure out what you were supposed to do. Because of my lack of time with the first game, I never understood why people clamoured over this game so much. It had the misfortune of coming out when I was a poor college student, and at the same time as the release of Mario 64. So when the sequel to NiGHTS was announced for the Wii, I was glad to be able to get the chance to see what it was about NiGHTS that so many people liked.

Unfortunately, I’m still not understanding it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still enjoying NiGHTS on the Wii. It hasn’t disgusted me yet like so many Sonic the Hedgehog games of recent have. But aside from some fun boss battles and a couple of pointless platforming stages with the kids, all you do in NiGHTS is fly through rings. And that’s pretty much it, with a few variations. Not a whole lot of variety there. Most games use the core gameplay of NiGHTS as a mini-challenge. How was the first NiGHTS game supposed to compete with Mario 64 (and how is this supposed to compete with Mario Galazy, for that matter)?

One thing I really do like about NiGHTS is the dream world setting and themes. But I think Klonoa games do the whole ‘dream world’ thing better. And while the 3-D backgrounds in Wii NiGHTS are stunningly beautiful, they’re really not necessary as the gameplay in NiGHTS is 2-D in nature. Hack, you could even do a NiGHTS game on the Game Boy Advance. Actually, there was a 2-D NiGHTS mini-game you could download to your GBA from GameCube games like Phantasy Star Universe and Billy Hatcher. Speaking of which, why did NiGHTS HAVE to be ONLY on the Wii at all? The game itself even recommends using the classic or GameCube controllers. So why not port the game to the Xbox 360 as well? And one last minor complaint. The voice they gave the main NiGHTS flying jester character sounds so, well, ‘gay’ for the lack of a better word. Just makes that Peter Pan connection even closes (flying around a clock tower and all). I’m not really a big Peter Pan fan either.

Now I can appreciate NiGHTS for what it is, a VERY simplistic game with neat dream world themes. But I’m still not understanding what makes it so special for many people. Maybe it’s a timing thing. Would games like Klonoa, Pac-Man, or Animal Crossing be as special to me if I had played them at a different time in my life? Who can say? Maybe one of you NiGHTS fans can explain to me what makes it so special. Or maybe I should just shut my trap and play the original Saturn NiGHTS game, huh?

Soul Calibur Legends
Technically I didn’t get Soul Calibur Legends for Christmas. It was sent to me to review for the GamerDad site. But I wanted it for Christmas, and it arrived in my mailbox around Christmas time, so I’ll consider it a Christmas present, too. Since I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to write for the GamerDad Web site, EVERYDAY feels like Christmas to me. Which is why I never understand it when other people who get paid to write game reviews complain about their jobs.

Anyway, a lot of reviewers have bashed Soul Calibur Legends, but I’m not sure why. Maybe only because it’s not a true Soul Calibur game. It may not have the production values of a big main Soul Calibur game, but not every game has to, I think. Legends is just a 3-D beat em up, similar to the old sidescrolling beat em ups such as Streets of Rage. Or like a more recent 3-D one, like God Hand. Swing the remote to swing your sword in the game, like Wii Zelda. It’s simple, but fun. And I like the characters and story in Soul Calibur games, so that’s good here, too. Soul Calibur games are about the only fighting games I’ll play. As you progress in the Wii game, you can play as more characters, so here’s all the characters you can play as:

Siegfried: He’s cool because he has a big ol’ sword and later on in the series he turns into Nightmare, who is one of my favorite characters in the games because I can win sometimes with him.

Mitsurugi: He’s just a regular samurai guy. Not one of my favorites, but not one of my least favorites either.

Asteroth: He’s another big scary guy. Did you know they put him in the crappy Pac-Man Fever Mario Party rip off? He was pretty funny looking in that game!

Sophitia: At first I thought she was supposed to be Cassandra, but I guess she’s just a younger Sophitia. They’re pretty much the same character so it doesn’t really matter. Cassandra is one of my favorite characters because she’s funny and one of her alternate outfits in SC2 was a reference to the classic Legend of Valkyrie game. Too bad you can’t be Xianghua in Soul Calibur Legends, she was another silly character.

Taki: She’s cool because she’s a ninja, but I sure wish Namco’s character designers would tone down on her, um, chest area. Sheesh!

Ivy: Taki’s pretty bad on the breasts thing, but Ivy’s even worse. Plus she’s mean and nasty and I’m not into the whole leather and whip thing.

Lloyd Irving: He’s a secret character from Tales of Symphonia. He doesn’t really fit in a Soul Calibur title, but I’m not going to complain because it’s just a game. But if they were going to put a Tales character in Soul Calibur Legends, I’d rather they use Grune or Norma or Anise.

And that’s all the characters! Others show up, too, as bosses and whatnot, like Cervantes. So while Soul Calibur Legends doens’t have as good graphics or neat cutscenes like the main fighting series has, it’s still simple Wii fun and I like it so far. I need to get cracking and play it some more, though, so I can write my GamerDad review of it! I’ve been too distracted by Zach & Wiki lately, though!

Draglade (DS)
Actually I didn’t get Draglade for Christmas, it’s another GamerDad review game. But since I’m here I guess I’ll briefly talk about it, too. It’s a one-on-one fighter kind of like Jump! Superstars. It’s VERY anime-ish. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a Draglade cartoon or comic book. Moves are pretty simple to pull off, and you can store six special moves that you can activate on the bottom screen, like projectiles or healing items. There’s a sidescrolling RPG mode, too. But the main gimmick in Draglade is that you can push a button to open up a ‘beat combo’ and if you hit the enemy in time with the beat, like a rhythm game, you can do more damage. Lots of customization as you can make your own beat combos and fight people online with WiFi. It’s an alright game. Nothing really mindblowing to me, but not bad either.

The rest
Those are the main games I got, but I got some other stuff for Christmas, too. A few clothes items (finally got a GamerDad T-shirt), and some lunchbox tins with Nintendo characters on them. A Staples “That Was Easy” button that happily sits at my desk at work, and gift certificates to places like Barnes & Noble and GameCrazy. And other little things that I’m too lazy to write about right now.

What did I give?
Most of the gifts I gave to my mom were homemade jewelry that my friend’s girlfriend makes. She even has her own Website: www.jewelry-junkies.com. I think it’s cool that my friends have such neat talents. I gave my dad a gift card to the Bass Pro Shop, and some little things like a keychain that makes farting sounds.

My little brothers on my dad’s side of the family got things that I sell at work from me. Plush screaming monkeys, model cars, etc. Since my mom’s foot broke, I didn’t have time to get them anything better, but next year I’ll try and make it up to them. Jeff, my little brother on my mom’s side, from me he got an origami desk calendar. He loves to make origami. One thing that Jeff got from his mom was Call of Duty 4. It was funny when he played it at Christmas because all the war sounds didn’t really fit with the Christmas mood. “BLAM BLAM BLAM POW POW BOOM RATATATATAT…Ouch! That grenade blew my face off! Sorry, I’m dead!” It’s not my cup of tea, but I will say one good thing about Call of Duty 4. It has some of the best graphics I’ve ever seen. Everything HAS to be running in 60 frames per second, and it looks good even on my old crappy TV. So imagine how good it’ll look when I get my new big HDTV in a month or two!

All my friends got video game related junk from me that I’m too lazy to write about. But one guy at work that I’m friends with, I got him something neat. He’s fun to talk to at work and I wanted to give him and his family a little something, but I didn’t want to give it to him at work, because then I’d feel like I’d have to give everyone something at work. But I found the perfect thing for him. A few weeks ago, the Wii Shop Channel let you buy VC games with points and send them to people on your friends list as gifts. So I sent him Kirby’s Dream Course, one of my favorite SNES games. I think it’s so cool that Nintendo lets you do that, now. If I had enough money, I’d give VC games to everyone on my Wii friends list!

And that’s pretty much it. Next time on my blog I’ll probably do my annual “Cary’s Best Games of the Year Awards Show” sometime in January. So watch out for that. In the comments section, tell me what YOU got for Christmas and what you gave to others as well! Later! –Cary

Tags: Misc