In addition to continuing to enjoy the delights of Wii Sports Resort on and off over the past week, I've also decided to get into two other games—one new, one old but staring down a sequel.
The former is Little King's Story, an absolutely delightful adventure that has caught me up way too late once already this week and promises to do so again. This fabulous game feels, on the surface, like Nintendo's own Pikmin; but LKS takes the concept of questing about with a little army of guys trailing behind you into depths not seen in that otherwise excellent series, painted with a thick coat of charm and irreverent wit that's all its own.
In LKS, each of those little guys trailing behind you has a life and even a little bit of a personality—they can even fall in love. You can train them in various jobs by tossing them into job houses, building up a good team to go questing with. Actually, just about everything in this game revolves around tossing your citizenry to accomplish all sorts of actions.
I've been having a ton of fun with it, exploring the dense, transition-less game world; I have to apologize to Excitebots, but this is looking like serious GOTY material here. Maybe even one of my top two or three Wii titles ever. I'll let you know when I'm done with my first playthrough; it clocks in anywhere from 25-50 hours. (If I keep playing late into the night, that might be sooner rather than later.)
When I'm not able to get to the Wii, I'm now finally playing our old copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village on the DSi. We got it for my wife ages ago, actually, but for the longest time, I never touched it. I've never really been a fan of brain teasers; perhaps I lack the specific kind of thinking skills necessary, or so I thought. Layton has actually been making me feel rather sharp, though, as I work through puzzle after puzzle while enjoying the charming story told through basic adventure trappings.
Is it any wonder I never have a gaming lull anymore, with great titles like these available and probably yet more I haven't even looked at?
The former is Little King's Story, an absolutely delightful adventure that has caught me up way too late once already this week and promises to do so again. This fabulous game feels, on the surface, like Nintendo's own Pikmin; but LKS takes the concept of questing about with a little army of guys trailing behind you into depths not seen in that otherwise excellent series, painted with a thick coat of charm and irreverent wit that's all its own.
In LKS, each of those little guys trailing behind you has a life and even a little bit of a personality—they can even fall in love. You can train them in various jobs by tossing them into job houses, building up a good team to go questing with. Actually, just about everything in this game revolves around tossing your citizenry to accomplish all sorts of actions.
I've been having a ton of fun with it, exploring the dense, transition-less game world; I have to apologize to Excitebots, but this is looking like serious GOTY material here. Maybe even one of my top two or three Wii titles ever. I'll let you know when I'm done with my first playthrough; it clocks in anywhere from 25-50 hours. (If I keep playing late into the night, that might be sooner rather than later.)
When I'm not able to get to the Wii, I'm now finally playing our old copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village on the DSi. We got it for my wife ages ago, actually, but for the longest time, I never touched it. I've never really been a fan of brain teasers; perhaps I lack the specific kind of thinking skills necessary, or so I thought. Layton has actually been making me feel rather sharp, though, as I work through puzzle after puzzle while enjoying the charming story told through basic adventure trappings.
Is it any wonder I never have a gaming lull anymore, with great titles like these available and probably yet more I haven't even looked at?