I enjoy checking out demos for new games, even if I'm pretty sure that I won't buy the game. I find that you can always learn something from playing a new game, and you can often learn the most from terrible games. However, I can count on one hand the number of demos that actually made me want to buy a game. Fortunately, I had that exciting experience this weekend. I raced to the computer and bought Mini Ninjas shortly after finishing the demo.

I had heard about Mini Ninjas several months ago and I was charmed by the cute teaser trailer. Yet I remained skeptical, as the cutest games often are often rushed out the door with the assumption that kids won't know the difference between a good game and one that needed more time. Mini Ninjas is being marketed as a family game, but seems strong enough to please more discerning gamers.

Mini Ninjas reminds me of a cross between two of my favorite games, Spyro the Dragon and Okami. It has the same strength and charm as Spyro, from the well-designed 3D levels to the
enemies who require more skill than strength to defeat. It is also like Okami, as it appears to have roots in Zelda-style adventures and it is very centered in nature. In addition, the aesthetic is clearly Japanese, which once again appeals greatly to my love of Japanese art and culture.

Combat feels light and fun. There are many tactics you can use to defeat the enemies, which allows for customization in what would otherwise be a fairly simple game. It's a nice change to see a game with solid combat that doesn't shed a drop of blood. Enemies simply turn into animals (as the animals were enchanted), leaving a frolicking bunch of critters at the end of each fight. If you find an animal that you particularly like, the main ninja, Hiro, can temporarily possess the animal. I couldn't get over the novelty of being able to see an adorable animal (such as a kitty), running up to them, and then POOF! I was suddenly controlling a kitty. While many of the most adorable critters are relatively ineffective in combat, some of the larger animals can be used offensively. Fortunately, the developers accounted for those moments when your prancing kitty gets unexpectedly attacked - the ninja will return to fight seamlessly.

Mini Ninjas is filled with other delightfully charming details that make it irresistible for me. You can free animals trapped in cages along the path, which gives you experience points. This reminded me of feeding animals along the path in Okami, which also gave you experience points. Also, when you enter water, you can ride in a large hat (like a boat). You can steer through rapids or, as I saw in a video, ride down snowy passes. You can even fish from the boat, which gives you health-restoring sushi. Even the animations and movements are adorable without hindering the mechanics. The ninja can deftly jump up a narrow space between two rocks, a feature that feels far more natural than any wall jumps I attempted in Mirror's Edge.

I have been looking for a game like Mini Ninjas for a long time. The most recent 3D platformer/adventure game that truly satisfied me was Okami, and I played that years ago. Despite the short length of the demo, I bought the game, optimistic that it will just keep getting better. I hope that Mini Ninjas will prove to be the adventure game experience that I have been craving. In the meantime, it's great to be excited about a new game again.  

When I first saw my friend playing Prince of Persia, I thought it was a beautiful game. Screenshots couldn't capture the beauty of the game - it looked like a painting in motion. There were beautiful vistas, fluid animations, and an overall fantastic flow. My friend claimed that it was fun to play, but I had no idea just how fun it was until I got to play it myself.

After so many frustrating game experiences, Prince of Persia is a welcome change. The game is an absolute pleasure to play. Much like one of my other favorite games, Okami, the game involves traversing through diseased areas and healing them. As a player, my job is to beautify the area, bringing light to it and driving out the evil. I could heal an area in about half an hour, creating a very satisfying experience, much like a good TV show. Each level had a beginning, middle, and end.

The best part about Prince of Persia is that I enjoy each part of every level. While traveling through a diseased area, I have to solve small puzzles and do some amazing acrobatics. Unlike Mirror's Edge, I am completely relaxed about doing ridiculously acrobatic moves. The Prince is drawn to nearby holds almost with a magnetic pull. Then, if he dies, his companion will rescue him and place him nearby. I absolutely love this feature - it greatly reduces the stress and cuts down on time spent fuming over loading screens. The player is punished enough for missing a jump with their frustration; the Prince's companion simply brings levity to annoying but inevitable situation with clever comments.

After traveling through a deserted area, there is usually a boss fight. There are a few main bosses, each providing a different challenge. The combat moves are beautifully acrobatic and fluid. Fights are an elegant dance. Although I have had a few frustrating moments, mainly due to movement limitations during fights, I have been impressed overall with the fluidity and grace of the fights.

Once a boss has been defeated, the area can be healed by the Prince's companion, Elika. After the healing, the area becomes beautiful, and the level then becomes a playground with collectable light seeds scattered about. The levels are cleverly designed to be fun not only with the enemies as obstacles brought on by disease; they are also great fun to traverse once cleared. The Prince can travel with a speed and fluidity reminiscent of flying. This is a wonderful experience that I had not had in a game before, with the exception of a few moments in Mirror's Edge.

Another clever element of this game is the dialogue. The game took a risky move with the narrative, breaking the story up into mostly on-demand story chunks unlocked by sub-areas. I really enjoyed it, as some nights I wanted to chat with Elika and other nights I didn't. I love the relationship between the Prince and Elika, and the comraderie that comes from being in such a situation. The Prince is arrogant but undeniably amusing, and Elika is intelligent with a wicked sense of humor.

I'm really looking forward to playing more Prince of Persia. It has become a wonderfully relaxing way for me to enjoy my evenings. It is an unusual game that took a lot of risks that I really appreciate and it is a fantastically immersive experience.  

I really wanted Mirror's Edge to be my next favorite game. It started out so well. The only issue was that it was a little too challenging for my taste. But no game is perfect, right?

I found out at the end of chapter four that Mirror's Edge was just too difficult for me. The end no longer justified the means - I was attempting jumps over twenty times and turning off the game out of frustration. And I wasn't even to the fifth chapter. I read through the rest of the chapter on a walkthrough and found that I would not only have to jump onto a moving train - I'd have to dodge cement columns and jump onto other moving trains. The thrill of a challenge was gone. I lost hope.

I talked with my friends, wondering if I was just an inferior gamer and if I was really missing something. One of my friends finished the game, carefully explaining that there was little reward in the story or the gameplay. Enemies became nearly impossible to avoid, and the unpolished combat system became crippling. The game was tedious and expected the near impossible, requiring more luck than skill.

I was hesitant to give up on Mirror's Edge, but, after hearing my friend's bleak report regarding the rest of the game, I lost all motivation to continue. Mirror's Edge had so much potential with the sleek aesthetic, fantastic parkour mechanics, and solid opening level design. It's unfortunate that the attempt to make it more difficult seems unbalanced, perhaps by developers and testers too familiar with their game to see the unrealistic expectations on the player. If the entire game had been scaled to match the levels from the beginning chapters, it may have been a fun experience. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to give up on Mirror's Edge, as it is simply too difficult.  

Last Thursday night, I was too restless to sleep. I usually take some time to relax after my late class, and I found the perfect way to unwind. I cracked open my brand-new copy of Mirror's Edge and played until two in the morning.

It's been a long time since I've loved a game enough from the start to play for hours. I had a feeling that I would like it from the demo, but I didn't know that it would be this much fun.

Perhaps the best part of Mirror's Edge is the sensation of flying. Sometimes this comes from familiarity with a level; after failing a certain part several times I would find the swiftest path. However, good level design can create the feeling of flying without practice runs. For example, when running through a particularly intuitive portion of a level, I found myself suddenly faced with just one option for escape: jumping down the steep side of a building. To my surprise, I slid smoothly down and then used my momentum to complete a particularly long jump. It was a great feeling, and the fantastic sensation of flying felt completely natural in that environment.

Aside from flying, I found many other areas to commend in Mirror's Edge. The first couple of levels that I played through were quite intuitive. When running through small spaces at high speeds, this is a particular accomplishment. I was impressed with the level design, since players need to run through the level as fast as possible, and ordinary platformer and adventure game rules do not apply. I was also glad that the enemies were not an issue, at least at this stage in the game, since I could avoid combat. The combat system seems less refined than other mechanics, and it's nice to have a more peaceful option.

My greatest challenge when playing action-adventure games like Mirror's Edge is jumping. I don't know what it is about me, but I seem to be lacking a key skill in the spatial-relations department. For a game that I enjoyed so much, it may seem surprising that I swore like a sailor half the time I played. I have an odd habit where I almost never curse, except when playing games. Perhaps that was the release I needed to cure my restlessness.

My love-hate relationship with Mirror's Edge became more of a love when I discovered how forgiving the game was regarding death and respawns. Most of the particularly difficult jumps only had to be completed once, which made them much more accessible for people like me. The game had a plethora of triggered spawn points that minimized the time it took for me to reach the points where I got stuck, which also reduced my frustration. No matter how hard a part may have seemed, at least I knew that I only had to complete it once.

I'm excited to play more of Mirror's Edge. The sleek aesthetic, modern music, and HD graphics round it out to create a very enjoyable experience. I hope that it continues to be this fun. If so, Mirror's Edge could easily become my next favorite game.