I had heard of Chocobo Tales before, but the good reviews somehow managed to slip under my radar. However, this game is right up my alley. After all, it is cute, clever, and screamed Final Fantasy. After a friend told me of his interest in this game, Chocobo Tales flew to the top of my list of DS games to buy. Fortunately, I received it from a perceptive friend for my birthday.

The opening movie for Chocobo Tales was short and sweet. The chocobo theme blared out of my little DS and the screens flashed bright, happy colors. The story is rather ridiculous: an ancient book comes to life, as it is inhabited by a demon, and captures chocobos on cards. This ancient book wants to rule the world, with the help of a few bumbling henchmen and an evil girl with cones that resemble party hats sticking out of her head.

After the opening movie, you gain control of the chocobo. The controls consist almost entirely of the touch screen. You move the stylus and the chocobo follows your lead like a lost puppy. From the base world, there are several pictures books into which the chocobo will jump, each leading to a mini-game. I have described before how I have low tolerance for mini-games, and over half of this game was the mini-games.

I found the mini-game format of many of these games to be superior to many I have played before, making Chocobo Tales much easier to enjoy. The mini-games are all split into five levels. Level one could often be beaten with your eyes closed, but the levels become more difficult at a rapid rate. Fortunately, the story can be moved forward most of the time by only passing the third level. I found this to be a great system, since at that point you have played the game once or twice before, improving your skills. Instead of being prohibitively difficult, each mini-game will let you work up to levels to match your ability. For example, if I won an easy race very quickly, I could advance to level three or right away.

After conquering a few mini-games, I encountered a masked moogle. This moogle was pretending to be a superhero. I had never seen anything so silly in a Final Fantasy game, but I thought it was fantastic. Not only was the game about chocobos, but my all-time favorite Final Fantasy characters, moogles, also had a place in the game. This particular moogle explained the fighting system. The combat system is based on cards. One of my friends found it to be similar to Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards. I didn’t have much time to explore it yet, but it seems fun.

I have only played Chocobo Tales for a few hours so far, but it is very engaging. The mini-games seem to be very well-designed, systematically as well as artistically. The mini-games are in a 2D style that suits the game very well. The same style carries through into the battles, where characters jump off the cards into the battle. The rest of the game is 3D, in an anime style like the older Final Fantasies. I am really enjoying the game. It is very fast-paced, and I am looking forward to the hours ahead.  

I was crazy about Osu! Tatake! Ouendan! and tore my way through it like it was the wrapping paper over a Christmas present. I spent relatively few hours beating most of the levels, but when I got to the final level, I just had no motivation to beat it. I consider myself a methodical person, so what happened?

When I got to the final level, it was a step up in difficulty from the previous levels. I knew it would take me the better part of an hour to beat it, so I was avoiding what would seem like a chore. On top of that, there were no real incentives. There are 15 levels in Ouendan, as opposed to the 19 in Elite Beat Agents (EBA). This means there are no bonus levels to unlock. There are also no other rewards for completing the game or achieving certain ranks, other than unlocking the rest of the difficulty levels (and the female cheerleaders). There is no “bonus character” to unlock like Commander Khan in EBA.

With this lack of incentives, I now had two reasons to avoid playing: (1) it was likely to have to repeat the final level over and over, unable to skip half the introduction and (2) once the game was beaten, my little obsession would be over. As for the first reason, this was only partially true. The first time I sat down to beat it, I attempted the level about five times before my hands ached so badly that I physically couldn’t play anymore. I had spent relatively little time with the game, but it was so intense that it was almost entirely a twich level. The second half of the introduction couldn’t be skipped (which was changed for EBA), and it was longer than usual, meaning that I would sometimes spend more time watching the introduction than playing.

As for the second reason, there would be no real motivation for me to return to Ouendan. I had nothing more to unlock, and the levels were so easy for me at that point that I didn’t care about getting higher scores. The stories had less meaning for me because I couldn't understand them as well, so there was less of a personal connection to the game.

In the end, I did return to Ouendan a couple days after my first honest attempt to beat it. Once my hands had recovered, I managed to beat it on the third try, without warming up on an easier level. Once it was beaten, it felt so anticlimactic that I put the game down and haven’t touched it in days. I may still have a soft spot for EBA and Ouendan in my heart, but until the Ouendan sequel comes out, there won’t be a lot of iNiS games in my DS.  

My friend with a DS stuck around for a while after we played Elite Beat Agents. We had the chance to check out a few other DS games on multiplayer, including Super Mario Bros.

It should come as no surprise that I failed pretty miserably at this, especially considering that I’ve never made it far enough to save. My friend has been a Mario fan for quite some time, so he had an enormous advantage. The premise of the multiplayer is to get as many stars as possible (up to a certain number you set). You play as either Luigi or Mario and you can make the other character drop their stars in a number of ways, some of which are jumping on them, hitting them with fireballs, or smacking into them when you have a turtle shell power-up.

I spent most of the game trying to avoid losing my stars, as I was in no position to go on the offense. I ran around the tiny level with wild abandon and killed myself more times than I’d like to admit. However, I did accidentally stumble upon one surprising moment of offensiveness. This occurred when I got my first turtle power-up. I never thought much of power-ups at that point since seemed to get hit or die so quickly that I lost them in a matter of seconds. By this time, I had been playing for several minutes and managed to stay alive long enough to ask my friend how to turn into a turtle. I figured it out, and soon I was sliding back and forth in a lowered area.

My friend, playing as Mario, soon tried to pass through this area but I, as a turtle, was simply too fast for him. I was able to hold him off for a bit, sliding back and forth and hitting him over and over again. He dropped quite a few stars, but he was more agile that I was and so he got most of them back. Soon, he came back with his own turtle power-up and the game was over before long.

I really enjoyed playing Super Mario Bros. with my friend. It was one of those instances where you get really engrossed in a game, simply because you believe you must survive. Even if my Mario skills were lacking, I went on the defense and did my best to keep on going. My friend did go easy on me, certainly helping to stretch the game out, but I have to admit it certainly made the game more fun. I really love playing with someone else because you can create such original experiences. It was much more fun for me to tackle my friend when I was a turtle than to kill some mindless enemy, knowing that my friend had been beating me by quite a large margin for most of the game. Maybe the game does not matter. In this case, it was my fellow player who made it fun.  

I was really excited when I finally got together with a friend who had a DS. I’d heard about the wireless capabilities and how you could play games together, but I never was able to experience it until recently. I have to admit it was even more fun than I expected.

I was most eagerly anticipating the chance to test out the Elite Beat Agents multiplayer mode. I had tried playing in versus ghost mode, where you play against your saved replay of the same level. It was frustrating when you did worse than the replay, because your buttons would shrink and you screen would shake to make it more difficult. This concept seemed odd to me; the game didn’t seem to follow a “beat you when you’re down” philosophy in the story mode. While this feature was the same in the two-player versus mode, it was not nearly as fun as when I was playing with someone else.

Most of my gaming is an independent experience, so I’m sure that the rare opportunity to play a traditionally single-player game with someone else made me like it from the start. I had forgotten what it was like to be able to share my triumphs and defeats with someone. When you scream, “Oh crap! I missed one!” someone actually reacts to you. It’s no longer just about you; it’s a friendly competition where you have to pay attention to the other person.

While it was somewhat amusing to hear “Oh no! I keep missing a bunch in a row because my buttons keep getting small,” I do like my friend and felt bad that he had spent less time with the game. This meant that, while some competitions were close, he had more small button occurrences than I did. Instead of allowing us to have a fun, close match, it would keep him behind if he slipped back a bit. The same happened to me on a couple occasions and I remember feeling like a sore loser because the game seemed to hold me behind.

After both of us grew somewhat frustrated by this situation, we switched to co-op mode. The two players mostly take turns on the level, with a couple instances where you play simultaneously. It was so much more fun. We could laugh about our bright moments and not so bright moments at the end when the score screen showed each of our health graphs. I really enjoy co-op games in general because it brings both people together. You cheer for each other and focus on what they do right, rather than hoping they’ll do something wrong.

I was really satisfied with the Elite Beat Agents multiplayer mode. While it is not something that I could play for hours, it is certainly a fun new way to play the game. I especially enjoyed playing with a friend who was close to my skill level, making the co-op mode a more balanced experience. I hope I can play it more in the future.  

When I discovered that I was sick this weekend, it was not necessarily the end of the world. After all, “taking it easy” meant that I could game for hours on end. That sounds great, right? Unfortunately, the games I’ve been playing recently (with the exception of Elite Beat Agents and Ouendan) haven’t been able to grab me. I’m still searching for the next Okami, Final Fantasy VIII or original Kingdom Hearts. I want a game I can really sink my teeth into for 50+ hours and make it my own. While I really love the DS, I haven’t found a game yet that can provide that type of immersive experience.

I like to think I'm a forgiving person when it comes to games, and I really wanted to give Final Fantasy XII another shot. I had similarly hated the constant movies in Final Fantasy X, but after playing past the ten-hour mark, it got better. It may have just been that I was finally used to the characters and had enough invested in the game at that point that I grew to like it. However, I hope that wasn’t the case and ended up playing FFXII for several hours, hoping it, too, would get better.

I was at a point in the game where I could run around and fight for several hours. I fought monster after monster, getting battle chains of 36 enemies or more so I thought I would get some great items. I then went to sell my items at a shop (since that’s how you make a large portion of your money, as enemies don’t drop much money). I was so excited because I had fought for nearly two hours straight and had leveled up my characters to the point where they finally surpassed the level of my guest character. I was so happy because I finally had enough money to upgrade my weapons.

I was able to afford new weapons for most characters…except one. I then discovered that, not only did I not have enough to upgrade everyone’s weapons, but I also had forgotten about armor upgrades and regular items. Even when I sold my old weapons I barely had enough and then there were still some vital spells I had to buy. Once again, I was back where I started. I needed money but there was no fast way to get it. Even fighting didn’t help that much, because you spend so much time fighting that your stats seem to increase before you could buy a weapon that would do the same thing. I wouldn’t be so upset if I wasn’t so frugal with my money. I hardly ever use items if I can help it, to the point where I consistenyl endanger my party due to low MP. Yet I still never seem to have enough money.

To make it worse, I’m not too happy with the license board character improvement system. I wasn’t fond of Final Fantasy X’s sphere grid, but at least characters would be on certain tracks that would turn them into more of a healer or a warrior or a black mage. With this game, I have to spend a ridiculous amount of time peering at tiny print in my strategy guide's license board, trying to figure out who should learn what. I think this is a case when there are just too many choices. Every character can learn everything and I really don’t think that should be the case. When you have six characters, it makes sense that they should specialize. So why aren’t there more licenses in the magic section that increase MP or evasion? Why is it that you can have everyone as a melee fighter and a ranged fighter? This method is very expensive, as you have to keep so many types of weapons on hand. It just takes way too much effort to try to outfit everyone so they are balanced fighters and mages. I really get frustrated with this system, as I feel I have too little direction.

Finally, I was aggravated to unlock new “quickenings” (like limit breaks in previous final fantasies) and discover no help at all in how to use them. I skimmed through the section in my strategy guide before the boss fight and it seems like something terribly complicated with buttons and timing. All the game needs is a mini interactive tutorial on quickenings. It would take two minutes of our time and yet the game just leaves you hanging.

I think it’s time to take another break from FFXII. Between the stupid movies (where they say phrases such as “manufacted nethicite” in every other sentence) and the frustrations in the economy and leveling system, there is little to enjoy. I have a couple of the older final fantasies, and it may be time that I replayed them to rediscover my love of RPGs. I really miss that case of game addiction. I just can’t stand the thought of playing FFXII again, only to discover more and more issues that make it feel like I’m wasting my time for nothing.  

I have already proclaimed my unabashed love for Elite Beat Agents (EBA), so it should come as no surprise that Osu! Tatake! Ouendan! found its way into my mailbox. As the original Japanese game that inspired EBA, Ouendan has been critically acclaimed and developed a large fan base, both in its native Japan and foreign countries. I couldn’t wait to try it out.

When I began on the easiest level, I was a little surprised. Like EBA, it was hard when it was too slow (you have to concentrate to hit the sparse buttons, a drastic change from the more constant buttons that practically keep the tempo of the later levels). However, the overall pacing of the difficulties was much, much better. Levels progressed at an accelerated rate to that of the Westernized EBA. While it may be challenging for the new player, I felt that there was less of a plateau in difficulty among the levels. While in EBA there would seem to be a couple easy songs and many harder songs (in each of the four difficulty levels), Ouendan provided levels that progressed more steadily. As a player (and an EBA veteran), I felt respected. The game adjusts to the player’s rising skill, making it more fun.

Also high on the fun factor were the charts themselves. By charts, I mean the layout and pacing of the touch buttons and other devices during the songs. They were laid out in such a way so that they were not frustrating (such as not placing buttons all the way across the screen so you have to rush over to that spot) but high on the fun factor (such as laying out a string of buttons for a fun little drum solo). Perhaps it was the songs themselves, as many felt more like dance songs than those in EBA. Overall, there were fewer tricky rhythms to stumble over (like triplets in even time signatures) and the beat patterns fit the songs really well.

One you get past the fantastic gameplay, the main difference between EBA and Ouendan is the language. Ouendan is in Japanese. While I know some Japanese, I cannot read most of this game. The stories are still fairly easy to figure out from the pictures alone, but it appears the there are some stories that I may not understand due to language and/or cultural barriers. Keiichi Yano described how he changed the stories entriely for EBA because some problems just don’t suit Western audiences, such as the student having trouble focusing to study for an important exam. I have to admit, I found the stories for EBA to be much easier to relate to, perhaps because I’d seen stories like them so many times (the oil tycoon falls from power, the stealthy ninja steals secret plans, the lost puppy must find his way home).

Considering that I skip past most of the story animation after watching it once or twice, I really believe that the gameplay is the most important aspect of these iNiS games. If I had to pick between the two, I’d say Ouendan is definitely the more solid of the two and more fun in terms of gameplay. However, I’d definitely recommend Elite Beat Agents to most of my friends first since it is much more accessible. I am really glad that I played EBA first because it seems less difficult in general, making Ouendan quite a treat.