Catherine

So I recently bought and beat Catherine (one ending anyway) and I honestly have to say it was a fun experience. I have to admit I was rally skeptical of the game at first but after seeing more and more trailers I was hooked. I paid for the deluxe edition and sat at my door waiting for it to be delivered (I probably should have waited a day or two since the game hadn't been released yet.)

Ok, so enough gushing why should this game interest you. If you enjoy a great story line and fun and challenging gameplay then this might just be a sure fit. the game is about Vincent a 32 year old guy who is caught between advancing his relationship with his long time girlfriend 'Katherine' and his new found affair with a young hottie name 'Catherine'. All while dealing with horrible nightmares he has been having every night.

Now I don't want to spoil much but I will tell you that this game will have you watching each cutscene wondering just what till happen next. And with several different endings it will have you coming back for more.

Gameplay: The puzzles in this game are fun and challenging, at times they can seem cruel but with determination you can get your way through them. I will admit that the curve does kinda get loopy at one point and some of the puzzles are frustrating but in the end you will feel rewarded.

The cast: Each character in this game adds a lot to the overall feel and no one really feels pointless. Vincent's circle of friends do a great job of keeping the story going and giving you some humor to lighten things up.

BUY/RENT/IGNORE/DESTROY: I would have to say this game is a solid buy if you enjoy puzzles and a dating sim-like environment. If you feel kinda iffy on playing the game due to difficulty or the subject matter I would say see if you can rent a copy. I have only beaten the game on normal so I can't say much about the other difficulties as of yet but I did a few levels on hard and trust me it will kick your teeth in. This game brings a lot to the table and some may wish it had more length to it but it does a great job with the time it gives you and trying to obtain all the endings does add a lot of replay value.

Why aren't you in America: Rthym de run run

Name: Rizumu de Ran Ran Ran (Rhythm de run run)
Console: DS
Rating: E

Now to start off a lot of people would think of this game as a copy of rhythm heaven and you wouldn't be to far off saying that. But this game brings something quite interesting to the table. The visuals in this game can be rather hilarious but a few are somewhat nostalgic and just fun.

Gameplay: You simply tap your touchscreen with your stylus when prompted to on the screen in order to avoid obstacles and such. Some obstacles require you to hold down in order to jump over or clear them. Sounds simple enough and the screen tapping matches up with the beat pretty well so you can get the gist of it very easily. Some levels do get a bit busy so its a little harder to known when to tap but it adds to difficulty and isn't that much of a nuisance.

Modes: I made this section so that I can point out the different ways you can play each level.

-Normal: Pretty straight forward and fun obviously becomes more diffcicult as the game progresses
-Max: Oranges(Max) I don't know why they have oranges to display this one but its also straight forward. Pretty much you have to play the level on the maximum speed and not fail.
-Insight: They take away your ability to see the guidline box so you have to figure out when to tap the screen based on the beat.
Mike runner: (I dislike this mode) You have to blow into the mic instead of tap on the screen which becomes annoying since the DS picks up your breath wierdly(like it will sometimes pick it up twice which can be a hassle) so this mode is annoying and worse so because you have to beat it to unlock another mode.
Autorunner: You get to see the ai play the level and hit everything perfectly, I don't know why it is there. (maybe to show off to your friends how great you are)
Randomspeed: Speed up, no slow down wait what. In this game mode after each section of the level the game may either make you keep the same speed, slow down, or go faster.

Visual: Now this is were this game shines, I loved the visuals since they made this less of a generic rhythm game and added some fun to the mix. And this is one of the only games I know were you can watch a man running full speed trying to chase a porta-poty on wheels.

US-ability: This is where I discuss how use-able the game is to someone who doesn't speak or read Japanese. The menus in this are pretty self explanatory and are not hard to navigate. The bigger issue is unlocking new levels its kinda hard to determine right off the bat what you need to do to unlock more levels and you are kinda forced to replay old levels to get new ones. But I do have to say I love that the button to erase your save data is a red button behind a metal door.

Difficulty: This game has a crazy curve and can really frustrate you sometimes. The game is still pretty fun but an option for an easier difficulty would be nice for players who want to enjoy the vast amount of levels.

Rent/Buy/Destroy
I would say this game leaves me kind of mixed but the issue is you can't really rent it over here in the states. So your other options are to find a friend who owns it or watch gameplay online to see if you want it (well those are the options I am allowed to say) But I do feel like this is one of those games that actually would have done well in the states.

Find more Shoryuken songs at Myspace Music

Quick review: Abduction cont.

Ok so apparently I forgot a few things about adbuction. One problem is the levels are randomly generated and this become a problem the further you get because there are jumps that litwerally seem impossible. I also forgot to mention the trials they can be a bit unforgiving time wise or point wise but the major problem stems from the random levels. You literally think you get the flow for a level and the bam a platform that you can reach which will most likely lead to death. I tried playing the sequel but it made my phone lag I blame this on the age of my phone not the game. So sadly I can not tell you whether fixes were made or not. The last problem with randomly generated stages is that the animals you have to save also fall randomly. So you will get situations where the animal drops in a place where you would have die to get it. Normally you can just ignore it and continue but on the challenges where you have to collect animals or get a certain score it becomes so much harder. The game is entertaining but some of the issues will kinda bug you like how some platforms have their collider in the middle not on the top so you can make some jumps it doesn't look like you can but you also missjudge some jumps because of it.

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Mini review: Abduction!

Abduction is a fun little android market game. Using you phone's positionto move you have to make your way to the top saving your animal friends along the way.

Ok lets get into it, a good amount of the games features are free but if you want everything you have to shell out some cash. You only have to spend $2.13 on the game so it isn't that bad price wise.

The gameplay is pretty straight forward tilt you phone in order to control your ever jumping cow. It is visually pleasing and will help you kill some time. The difficulty isn't crazy high but is at good enough level to keep you playing. As a free gaame you miss out on some features but to be honest you get alot for basically a demo. I would say give it a try for free since its a fun time killer I don't know if would suggest it as a buy since I haven't bought it to know the difference. But its pretty goood as a free game.

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