If you are looking into getting a new hard drive, consider going with the new Solid State Drive (SSD) versions. There are many reasons why you would want to go this route over the traditional version.
We have switched over to SSDs in our server, and back up machines. Our kids Xbox 360 will be getting the new WD Green SSD that I received for this review and sponsored post. We also switched over our kids old machine when the hard drive crashed. It had been bumped a few times, so this is a better option. Read on to find out why.
1. Lower power consumption
With the hydro bills going up so high that people can't afford to pay them, and with everyone trying to go to the lower footprint products. The SSD is the better option for power consious people. This is one of the reasons, we have been switching ours over. We are changing all items we can to higher efficiency items as they need to be replaced. This is a great reason to start considering it.
2. Quiet
The older style hard drives are loud. Some are very loud. It can be hard to hear people talking to you, music, tv, or even your own thoughts! You don't want to hear your computer over things you are playing, like video games, or music. SSDs are really quiet, and you can barely hear when they come on. You have to be really listening for it.
3. Faster access time
When you are playing a video game, or trying to open a file from the hard drive you don't want to have to wait, or worse yet, the lag! Oh man the lag is killer! SSDs are much faster to access so they can eliminate a lot of these issues for you.
With read speeds up to 545MB/s and write speeds up to 525MB/s, WD Blue SATA SSDs deliver fast system boot times and less load time. The WD Blue SSDs is optimized for multitasking, it will let you simultaneously run several demanding applications with ease, which is awesome for gaming!
4. Smaller form factor
Bigger is not always better, people! Hard drives can be really clunky, and take up a lot of space in the CPU. The SSD is a much smaller form factor thus reducing the space it takes up, while still holding tons of data and being faster and quieter.
5. Not as susceptible to impacts
We have been replacing our hard drives with SSDs as we have upgraded, but I remember the days when the CPU would get bumped and then you would hold your breath. Sometimes it would get scratched, and start failing. The SSD is not as susceptible to those small bumps and josteling that the other type is.
An endurance rating of up to 400TBW ensures WD Blue SSD can help guard your data for years to come.
Now is the time to make the switch, since you can get 25% off on either WD SSD Blue or SSD Green with this discount code SUPERCHARGE on the WD Website.
Disclaimer: This post is a sponsored post, but all opinions and reasons for using SSDs are our own.
I'm so-so, on this video to be honest. The silly locker room spiel didn't do it for me. But the creatures? Dang! They are stunning. Tippet Studio did an amazing job of bringing some of the creatures from Monster Strike to life, and for that the video is definitely more than worth a view (or two).
BIG IN JAPAN
Monster Strike is the biggest mobile game in Japan, dominating the charts on both iTunes and Google Play store since 2014. Worldwide it's been downloaded more than 30 million times.
If you haven't tried it yet I would say Monster Strike is definitely worth a look. The game play mechanic is pretty unique for an RPG "level 'em up" style turned based fighter. To attack you pull back on your monster and fling them across the battlefield. Your creature then bumps around the arena, banging into bad guys and causing damage, or bouncing off of allies and setting off back-up powers.
It's sort of like shooting a game of pool while simultaneously playing Pokemon. The monsters are cute, the artwork is solid and the leveling up aspect can be a bit addictive. I will warn you, the boss fights can be challenging, particularly when trying to clear them in as few turns as possible to earn the speed bonus. Personally, I like it when a game isn't too easy and I think it's actually nice to lose every now and again.
MOBILE APP WITH A SOCIAL TWIST
One of the other really unique parts of Monster Strike is the co-op play. Rather then pairing you up with a random stranger somewhere across the world, co-op play in Monster Strike relies on gathering together with friends in the same physical space. Playing together and cheering (and jeering) each other on, creates a unique social experience that is missing from most app games.
The social aspect is the driving force behind the whole #MonstersWillBringUsTogether campaign that Mixi launched with this video. From now until April 4th likes will unlock Orbs. You can check out the full details of the #MWBUT promotion on their website, but the general gist is the more people that click "like" on a particular Facebook post Monster Strike has published featuring the new Andy Samberg video, then the more Orbs they will give out as an in game prize.
OVERALL, I find Monster Strikeaddictive and hard to put down. It's surprising just how much fun the fling to attack mechanic can be. Add in the ability to level up and combine monsters, and the engaging co-play options, and you've got a solid mobile game here.
TRY IT FOR FREE Monster Strike is free to download and free to play. It's available in the Apple App Store and via Google Play. It does of course have the typical freemium gameplay aspects, where you can you use real world money to purchase in-game currency (Orbs), to speed things up or to hatch more monsters. However, having tested it out and played it for a good chunk of time I can vouch for the fact that you can play, and enjoy, this game without dishing out for the extras. Also, the whole #MonstersWillBringUsTogether campaign makes right now a particularly great time to join in on Monster Strike and get a bunch of free orbs (so far they've unlocked the "10 each" option, but I'm guessing more are to come).
Have you folks tried out Monster Strike yet? What did you think? Anyone else playing it right now? or are you about to download it and give it a shot? Let me know how you like it!
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, but as always our words and opinions are our own (and we would never suggest you try a game we didn't genuinely enjoy).
It's been awhile since I've played an MMO. Let's just say my lifetime subscription to Lord of the Rings proved to be unnecessary once we added a second child to the mix. Between blogging, the occasional roleplaying or board gaming session, and the approximately bazillion hours I spend doing mom things, there is seldom time to play games on the computer. Specifically I can't consistently find time to play, ad with most MMOs consistency is key. Basically once I became a mom anything that had a monthly subscription fee seemed like a bad bet. I feel guilty paying and not playing for a month or two, and as soon as I cancel the subscription that's when I find myself with time on my hands and an urge to play. It's frustrating. Add in the fact that when I do get to play the game invariably needs to update, and by the time it's done updating I no longer have the desire or the time to actually play (sometimes this takes over night, and yes my internet sucks, thank you for asking). The end result is I had given up on playing MMOs, as playing anything on a consistent basis just didn't seem to work at this stage in my life.
All of which is to say I had mixed feeling about trying out Trove, because, well, it's an MMO, and, depressing thought that it is, I had been thinking my MMO days were behind me.
Adventure, explore, and create in Trove, the acclaimed voxel RPG set in a massive universe of online worlds. Whether hunting treasure in far-off lands or building realms of your own, it’s never been this good to be square!
Trove has a brightly coloured, chunky, pixelated, art style. Looking at the still shots of the game I wasn't quite sold, but having played I find I actually like the chunky retro style. It's cute and quirky, sort of like the game overall.
It was quick to install and quick to update (the entire process took under half an hour). I suspect that has to do with the chunky block graphic style. It stands to reason there's less to store vs. the crazy hi-def graphics most MMOs are going in for now-a-days. To me this is a good thing. It means if I'm not able to play it for a bit I won't have to invest half a day into updating the game.
I like that Trove is blockish and the violence is abstract, this means my kids can watch me play (I cringe at letting them watch hyper realistic violence, a.k.a most console games). Of course having them watch is a mixed blessing. They press in close around me and nudge my elbows as I'm trying to maneuver, until I lose my patience and say "You guys have to give me some space, or else leave the room!" Geesh. They were entranced with the game, it was total love at first site as they yelled out, "It looks like Minecraft!", "It looks like Lego!", "It looks awesome!", "Can we play?", "Are you mining right now?", "Did you just kill that spider thing?" (I haven't let them play yet, but suspect it's just a matter of time until I cave.)
The game guides you through learning to play via a series of tutorial style quests. The dungeons are atypical, not just your standard crawl through dark tunnels fare. For example for one beginner's dungeon I climbed a giant tree fort to take out the "Fungal King.", and the far reaching views out over the landscape from the height of the fort were actually pretty impressive.
One of the neat aspects to this game is you gather bricks and use them to craft things as well as to customize your home base, or cornerstone. What I found particularly nifty is that your base isn't tied to any one geographic area, but moves around with you and can be summoned at any time to any empty lot. The ability to drop bricks pretty much anywhere at any time also adds a puzzle element to exploring the world.
The biggest surprise here was the music and sound effects. Given the simple blockish visuals I expected the music to sound like something from my NES days. I was shocked to find a decent soundtrack, well done music and sound effects that add thematically to the game. For example, leave the green fields and wander into the monster infested mountains and the music goes from chirpy to foreboding, but it a cute, cartoony way that is in keeping with the overall tone of the game.
However what I liked most about Trove was the fact that it is easy to step in and out of. Granted I haven't gotten into higher level play, so maybe things will change as I level up, but at beginner levels I found the game incredibly easy to play in shorter bursts, easy to drop out of at a moments notice, and easy to get back in to when I had time to return to the game. Whenever you log back in you'll find yourself in the main hub, hop through a portal to head to a randomly generated questing world. Easy peasy. The game also does a good job of minimizing trudging around from place to place, for example when you finish a dungeon a portal will appear to bring you back to where you started, and also at any time you can drop back to the hub by simply holding down the H key.
The player classes are also atypical. It's not just fighter, mage, thief and variations thereof. For my first character class I chose Pirate Captain (the avatar even has a wee parrot following you around, and you can toss the parrot off with a cannon to do some backup attacking -- very cute). In total there are a dozen character classes available, ranging from some fairly classical archetypes like knight and gunslinger to more original options like the Candy Barbarian or the Fae Trickster. You only get to make one character, but that character can swap between classes (though you do need to purchase those additional classes with in game currency). Also, cosmetically speaking your characters are incredibly customizable. If you play around with it for a bit you can come up with some rather unique avatars.
The game is free to play, with plenty of options to pay real world money for upgrades, which range from costumes to power ups. There is also the option to be a "Patron" of the game and pay a fee for 15 or 30 days access to a range of upgrades and abilities. In the past I've been really leery about "freemium" games, but I now I actually find I prefer this to paying a straight up monthly fee.
Overall, I would seriously recommend giving Trove a try. It's quick and easy to download, and free to play, which safely places it in the "What have you got to lose?" category. It's available to play on both PC and MAC. The game play is easy to learn, and the game makes it simple to hop in and out, if like me your gaming needs to work around time constraints and interruptions. I suspect I'll be playing this one on and off for the next long while. If you give it a try let me know what you think of it.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post brought to you by Blog Meets Brand. My words and opinions are as always my own.
When it comes to apps, I am always on the look out for a good board game adaptation. Cube Your Mind's version of Hacienda fits everything I'm looking for. First, it's a good game that I also enjoy playing in it's cardboard format. Secondly, the game plays smoothly and has an intuitive interface. The third and final winning point being that it has a solid A.I.
The board game version of Hacienda has been out for about ten years. It's a game I have played easily well over a hundred times. A game I know the rules to well, enough so that I am comfortable with teaching it to others at public play events. It's probably up there in my top twenty-five or so favourite games.
All of which is to say Hacienda is a game I enjoy playing on a fairly regular basis, though I will say it's been hitting the table less frequently. It is also a game I normally win at. So imagine my surprise when I first tried out the app version and the A.I. kicked my butt. I was frustrated and surprised. But really, an AI that can beat me is a fantastic part of an app game. It's not fun to just win all the time. Yawn. Boring.
Flash forward a few weeks and having played the iPad version of the game quite a bit I've gotten to the point where I can beat the A.I. now... most of the time. Again, I find this frustrating but fantastic all at the same time. Playing versus the A.I. in this app actually taught me to look at the game play in new ways and upped my game. Pretty cool, right?
Other happy things to note:
The tutorial does a great job of walking you through the rules if you've never played the board game version, or are a bit rusty on the specifics.
The game also has pass-and-play functionality, something I always look for in iOS games. I love being able to pull the iPad mini out of my purse and play a game with hubby while out for coffee or dinner.
Unfortunately this one qualifies as a "lost gaming treasure" as it seems to no longer be available for download through the iTunes store, and as far as I can tell Cube Your Mind has gone out of business (their website is defunct, and I can't find any recent references).
My 8 year old daughter LOVES playing Hey That's My Fish!We've played the board game version a handful of times, and one day she noticed the app sitting on my iPad. Since then she's taken to playing the app regularly. It's one of her favourites.
My take: This is a solid board game to app port, with a decent A.I.
One day a few weeks back I was in a piss poor mood and I wanted a game to distract myself with. Nothing already sitting on my desktop appealed; either I'd beaten it, played it to death, or just didn't like it that much. So I opened up the app store and randomly browsed around, looking at "editors picks" and the like. I downloaded a few things, which I tried and quickly deleted, until I settled on DomiNations.
DomiNations is one of those "free" time and resource management games whose sole purpose seems to be to rook you into purchasing in game credits with real world cash. I normally go out of my way to avoid these freemium style games, and those I have tried have failed to hold my interest for any length of time. What caught my eye here, and convinced me to download DomiNations and give it a shot, was the name Brian Reynolds. A name that is attached to several blockbuster games, most notably Civilization II.
Okay, so the lead designer from Civ II, a game which sucked away more hours of my life then I'm willing to admit in polite company, put out a "build up your nation" style app.... yeah I'm interested.
You know there's two of us behind this blog right? Well there is also a supporting cast of characters, a.k.a. our awesome guest posters, but mainly it's Shari and I. We both love games in all their incarnations, however Shari is more into the mainstream stuff, while I'm into more "heavy" gaming. Particularly when it comes to board games.
For a while now I've been plotting, trying to devise ways to lure Shari deeper into board games. Then last week she reviewed a copy of GMT's stock car racing game, Thunder Alley. This might have been a bit of a deep jump for a first dip into euro-style board games. But it got me thinking. Shari loves two things above all others, knitting and NASCAR. I've yet to see a board game based on knitting (though heaven help us there IS a knitting video game). However over the years I've tried a few other racing games, while they weren't my personal all time favourite board games I could see Shari digging these. So I concocted this list and figured I'd share it with you all:
First, Monza by HABA. Now this one is admittedly a kids game, but I could see Shari enjoying playing it with her boys.
Monza. Adorable race car pieces and colourful track.
The general idea is you role coloured dice and decide what route to take on the colour coded race track. Aside from colour matching, there's some deductive thinking, as often there is more than once possible way to go and you need to figure out which path will get you around the track quicker. My daughters love playing Monza. It's also on that rather short list of kids board games that I actually don't mind playing along with them.
Next up is PitchCar. To be honest I despise playing this game because it is dexterity based. However it's a frequent favourite at the local public play events my husband and I help to organize and run. The basic idea is flick your little round wooden disc (aka your race car) around the track without crashing or flying off the board.
That's an 8-foot table. PitchCar takes up SPACE
The game is a bit on the pricey side. That's because the track pieces are made of wood. I don't have to enjoy playing the game to be able to appreciate the fact that it's sturdy, well crafted, and allows for all kinds of interesting track layouts. If you add in a few PitchCar extension packs you can end up with some pretty elaborate tracks. Even with just the base game you end up with a surprisingly large track, up to 12 feet long, which means you need a big play space to accommodate this one. (There's a mini version of PitchCar out as well, but I have yet to see it in person. From what I've seen online I suspect the quality is the same as the full size game.)
Now on to my favourite racing themed board game, Formula D. The game simulates racing Formula One style cars on both official F1 track and street tracks. It's a strategic game with a fairly high luck factor. As a player you are in charge of your race car. You need to decide which gears to shift into and when, with each gear providing a different range of speed (aka you roll different dice based on which gear you're in).
Formula D, nifty player board with neat gear shift mechanic.
Your car also has a sort of hit point system you need to track. You take penalties for things like bumping into other cars or having to suddenly downshift multiple gears. Flip the board to the street track and you switch to the thrill of illegal racing, with new elements like nitro acceleration and gun battles.
Finally, honourable mention goes to Daytona 500. While I've never played it, I couldn't pass up on mentioning this specifically NASCAR themed board game which was put out by Milton Bradley in 1990. It rates reasonably well on Board Game Geek and the photos I've seen make it look like an interesting game, but as far as I can tell it's out of print. Is it worth the after market price of $90 and up that I see it going for on Amazon and eBay? I'm not sure.
What other racing themed games have you folks tried? What would you recommend?
This brilliant little game from the designer of Suburbia allows you to build crazy complex multi-level castles one room tile at a time. I wrote a review of it back when I first tried it out at Origins Game Fair.
It stuck out in my mind as the best game we tried over the entire convention. It's now available for sale (Amazon.ca | Amazon.com). We picked up a copy the very moment I heard it was finally released. And it doesn't disappoint.
Love this game. I doubt I will get sick of playing it anytime soon, and it is also surprisingly easy to teach. That combo means it now tops my "must bring" list for public play events.
I highly recommend this game. 5 stars. You've got to try it.
Canadian Mom Reviews played a fun who done what game. And was able to find out what kind of gross, sneaky or funny things their friends and family has done.
Who's done what? You'll find out in the hilarious game of Pointing Fingers! You'll also find out how well you know your family and friends in this fast-paced question-and-answer game. Each person reads a question from one of the cards, then everyone else writes down how often they've done it on their Truth Meters. Then you point out who you think has done it the most with your funny Foam Finger! If you're right, you score. Don't miss out on the big laughs and hilarious discoveries of the Pointing Fingers game!
Remember Dragon Warrior on the Nintendo (NES)? I loved that game. I've enjoyed every game in the Dragon Warrior series that I've managed to get my hands on. Dragon Quest VIII was the first installment in the series available for the Playstation 2. (Formerly known as Dragon Warrior in North American, it's always been called Dragon Quest in Japan.) It's one of my all time favourite PS2 RPG-style games.
The game looks and sounds great! The soundtrack is amazing. Those who've only played the demo need to know that the music has been completely revamped for the full release. The symphonic version of the music is beautiful. The parts of the soundtrack which have the danger of becoming repetitive are subdued. At other points, where key storyline moments occur, the music adds wonderfully to the action and intensity.
The visuals are gorgeous. The cell-shading anime-like style is beautiful to look at. The brightly coloured, beautifully rendered graphics are full of plenty of little details. There are butterflies fluttering in the fields. Birds, cats, dogs, horses, and sheep wander on the overworld map. You're not going to get breathtaking photo realism here, but the visuals are very consistent in their quality. The actual game play looks every bit as good as the cut scenes.
The overworld is huge! At first I was overwhelmed by the size and because I had yet to find the in game world map (don't worry you get one eventually) I avoided exploring due to fears of getting irrevocably lost. However, my fears were without base. The game does a good job of limiting you from just wandering endlessly, while still maintaining the feel of a wide open world.
As this is an old school style roleplayer I fully expected to be hoping right onto the level up treadmill. However there is so much to do and explore in the overworld areas that this was never a concern. There are tons of treasure chest hidden throughout the world map. There are also notorious monsters to hunt down in each area. There is so much to see and do that the leveling up ends up happening while you're busy just exploring and attempting to hunt down all of the hidden extras.
The world is beautiful to look at and utterly engaging. Time passes from day to night. The sun and the moon rise and set. The (gorgeous!) stars come out to light up the night time sky. You encounter different, more difficult, monsters based on the time of day. For example, some notorious monsters only show up at night time. The towns folk also have different things to say based on whether it is day or night.
The towns aren't large, and there are a limited number of towns folk character models. I was pleasantly surprised by the changes in the townsfolk as the game progressing. For example, as the time line progressed in the game I kept returning to the first town, and each time some, but not all, of the characters would have different things to say. What they had to say wasn't always important, sometimes it was just window dressing, but the fact that there was constant change really added to the immersive feel.
The game play is simple and intuitive. The menus were clean and easy to work with. Movement both in town and on the overworld map is fluid. You have complete control over the camera angles at all times.
Much frustration has been eliminated by making "warp" items immediately available in the game. From the moment you start playing you can purchase items to let you warp out of a dungeon or back to town. Also the spell equivalents are learnt early on. At any time you can warp back to any town you've already visited, thus taking out any frustrating or time-consuming back tracking.
The monsters are great to look at and consistently amusing.
The entire game is full of amusing and unique characters. If the storyline is the standard save-the-kingdom-from-the-evil-mage fare, the game makes up for it by having some rather unique characters. (My favourite being your sidekick Yangus, the reformed bandit.) The characterization and character interaction is great. Some very amusing stuff here. The plot is fairly linear, but the amount of side quests, and the wide open feel to the world, help nix the feeling of being dragged along. There is a vein of humour running throughout the game that I think most players, of all ages, will enjoy.
My one disappointment was in the voice acting. I thought it was horrible! Teeth grittingly horrible. I was particularly annoyed by the cheesy accents. Why is each speaking part a different nationality? (eg. French bartender, Russian fortune teller). The guying doing the voice acting for Yangus wasn't bad, but why is he British? Overall, I felt they could have just left the Japanese voice acting in place (with subtitles) and I would have been much much happier. While on the subject of sound, my husband was exceedingly annoyed by the classic "do-do-do" beep noises that happen as text goes by. It didn't bother me... but I think he was ready to rip a speaker out.
Overall, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is definitely one of the best RPGs I've played in a LONG time. Fluid, intuitive, game play, gorgeous graphics, wonderful sound and an immense, utterly immersive, world, make this an RPG that's not to be missed. It's probably the best roleplayer available for the PS2 period. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed.
I had the chance to try out this game because my husband received a beta copy to review. I enjoyed it too much not to give it a quick mention over here because listen closely here folks This Is A Game For Girls. And do you know why I say this? Because this game has one very nifty quirk, it's small, portable and requires ZERO table space to play. Yep, that's right - You play the entire game in hand without ever needing to set anything down anywhere. A.K.A this is a game that needs to live in my purse so I can pull it out and play it anywhen and anywhere. And since most guys don't carry purses, that means that makes this a game that is ideally suited for those of us that do.
Today, I've got a retro review for you folks. I wrote this back in 2005, after just finishing Suikoden IV for the PS2. It was published on a local gaming forum. I thought I'd borrow it and re-air it here.
I'm writing this review of Suikoden IV mainly because I feel I should warn you all away from it. For some inexplicable reason, I played through it twice, even though it was a truly lacklustre game. The previous games in this series were excellent. So much so that, regrettably, I went out and immediately bought IV at launch without renting it first.
A mere ten minutes with a rental copy would have saved me a good chunk of change. The graphics are sub-par. The voice acting is retched. The cut scenes are chock full of mood-breaking lengthy loading screens. To top it off, at several key points in the game the only way you figure out what to do next is to look at the map of the world and see where the little blue arrow is telling you to go... with no clue as to WHY you would be going there story-wise.
The previous Suikoden games have always had a rather dark-story line with an underlying theme of the fact that war is both ugly and deadly. In this version the plot is pretty much non-existent.
Here, the main character is a blank-faced idiot. He has a constant large eyed totally blank look on his face, regardless of how exciting, or earth-shattering the current events are. Supposedly this is to allow you to impose your own emotional responses on the character. It certainly didn't work for me.
The limited speech options the game gives you are ridiculous. Usually there are two options, the obviously correct option, and the blatantly stupid, insulting, or suicidal one. At other times the two options are just close rewordings of the same choice, and whichever one you pick the same result ensues.
And I haven't even touched on the main flaw with the game... The ridiculously high fight frequency. The fight frequency was (utterly without exaggeration!) approximately 1 fight every 10-15 seconds. Also, there were a series of main bad-guy fights which took place out at sea, and once you've triggered the set story-line fight vs each monster, it would then appear as a random fight. These "main" random fights were so long and tedious they would actually take over ten minutes to fight through. They weren't difficult per say, just extremely lengthy, tedious and boring. It almost seemed like a game flaw to run into these main bad-guys as random fights.
I really missed the "Iron Chef" mini game, which was present in the previous Suikoden games but not in this one. Still present were the myriad sub-quests to collect "all 108 stars of destiny". (which is what had me playing the game through twice.) The game is also remarkably short. I'm guessing about 30 hours, less if you ignore side quests.
Overall this game didn't live up to the franchise. Poor production quality plus lack of story line means this version of Suikoden fell so short of the mark set by it's predecessors that it felt as though the developers had sold it off to someone else. If you happen to find it dirt cheap, or you're a diehard fan of the series, pick it up, otherwise avoid at all costs. (And if you enjoy old school turned based RPG video games and you've yet to try Suikoden I through III you are truly missing out. Run out and get them NOW.)
I'm guessing most of you are probably familiar with Viva Pinata. It's a cute little game where you breed and raise animal shaped pinatas. You plants trees and flowers and care for your garden, which attracts various pinata breeds. You raise them and fatten them up to send them off to Pinata Central where they will be sent to fulfill birthday orders. Yeah, that's a bit of a wacky concept but really no stranger then say a plumber who rescues a princess by collecting mushrooms and jumping on turtle shells.
Now I have to admit for a wee bit I was addicted to this game, missing some much needed sleep in favour of playing it. However, that wore off pretty quickly. Within four or five days of playing the shine wore off and the ugly bits started to show through.
For one this game is BUGGY as all hell. I have had pumpkins that were planted too close to each other need to be watered non-stop for several in game days until I finally stopped watering them and they both died. I have had one of my little helper Gatherlings leave my employ after getting "stuck" on nothing.
It's also impossible to make an island. Once you have the dig pond feature available adding a nice island to your garden seems like the obvious choice. However the game can't handle it. I suppose if the island was smack dab in the centre of the garden it might work. But if it's along any edges then Seedos and the other NPC's wander on to it, get stuck and throw a fit. (Mind you all they have to do is back off the lot and enter somewhere else, but they can't figure that out). At least one pinata managed to make it out to my island, but then get stuck there and pine away. The game would try and set things right by constantly sending in Dastardos to throw dirt down in my pond. Highly annoying.
Another annoying feature is the item limit. When we first hit the limit for number of pinatas allowed in your garden (I think it's around twenty-ish), I was surprised and disappointed. However, I did adapt my game play to work around this. Getting rid of lower pinatas to lure in the newer ones. It almost added another level of skill to the game. So grudgingly I allowed that this limit was reasonable.
But then I hit the limit for over all items in the garden. Absolutely everything in the garden, every paving stone, every fence, each tree and flower, each piece of fruit, takes up slots and you are only allowed so many items. I was constantly hitting the max on this. It was extremely annoying! The part that really pissed me off was that even when my garden lot was expanded to the max size, the max item limit remained the same. Tiny beginner garden, max size garden, doesn't matter, still the same limit on items. So any cool design ideas you may have in mind, toss them out right now. They aren't going to work, not even once you've earned the biggest lot.
Overall Viva Pinata for the 360 had a lot of promise. It's quirky, with a cute style, but too many buggy or annoying features to make it worthwhile. All of this added up to me tossing this game aside to gather dust. Until recently, when my five year old daughter noticed it sitting on the shelf and asked to play. We blew off the dust and gave it a shot, but unfortunately my original opinion sticks. This game is fun for the first little while, then quickly becomes annoying.
I wonder if the sequel, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, is any better? Have you played any of the Viva Pinata games? What did you think?
I recently wrote about receiving a Brady Games Survival Guide for a review. With that book, Brady Games also sent us their collectors edition Art Book Called Tomb Raider The Art of Survival.
We think of this as a coffee table book, as you would want to flip through it over and over and look at the beautiful art work.
On the Brady Games Site, they say this about their Art Books:
Our compelling, high-quality Art Books are collector's items
for video game fans. Filled with exclusive creator commentary and
inspiring concept art, these stunning books reveal an in-depth look at
the incredible world these talented game developers have created.
Stunning images printed on high quality paper make these books a
must-have for any collector or fan.
While this is a very apt description, I don't think you fully get the quality of the book until you pick it up and hold it in your hands.
The art in this book is amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through it after we played the game. All of the images are in the book, and I remember we couldn't get over the art work in the game, the graphics were amazing. We kind of laughed in a respectful way at the details they put into the smallest of items.
You sort of miss some of that details when you are absorbed in game play (someone shooting at your head tends to give you that reaction). So having them all laid out in a quality book gives you the time to really look through it and appreciate each piece.
Hubby brought it into work to show his buddy that plays Tomb Raider Survivor. He loved the book too!
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the game, or who loves gaming graphics.
I've written a bit before about how my first exposure to roleplaying games was via Basic Dungeons & Dragons, you know the classic D&D Red Box. Well, many years later my first long term campaign was first edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, a system I was to play on and off for many years, and as many various characters. So I guess you could say my first "real" role-playing experiences were with Warhammer.
I've always enjoyed the dark British humour at the heart of the game setting, and the fact that you don't start as shining heroes out to save the world. The setting is too grim and gritty for that. Class distinctions matter. Politics and intrigue play a large part in the game. You are more likely to start out as a Rat Catcher or a Road Warden than as a Warrior or Mage. It's a low magic setting, where magic users are somewhat distrusted and magic items are truly rare. And while you may triumph and beat back chaos, there is always something just as bad (or bigger and badder) on the horizon.
You've got to love a game system that has built in rules for how characters develop both insanities and chaos mutations. Compared to some other fantasy based games, your hit points aren't just a number on a sheet that occasionally moves up and down as you alternate between taking hits and getting healed by a party cleric.You are quite likely to get seriously wounded, and the wounds can have lasting effects, both mental or physical. Your character might die. And that doesn't just mean a time out while the party members haul you off to get resurrected.
As someone who married the GM, I have often heard my husband rave on about how fantastic the modules were written for the system. A detailed world was presented, things happened on a timeline, and then you insert the player characters and let them run amok.
I will admit, there are parts of the gritty realism that I haven't always enjoyed. Detailed visceral descriptions of gore, violence, pestilence and disease all play a part in the game. One which thankfully my gaming group to a large extent glossed over, as I do not relish gory details.
So these are my impressions on Warhammer Fantasy as a roleplaying system. Lethal, a bit grim, humorous in a dark British way. A game with a rich world setting and detailed modules, one where you can lose a limb, or go insane, and potential continue to play your character. One where you fight back against the darkness and chaos both within and without while never truly 'winning'.
Now let's skip ahead say eighteen years, and here I am trying out the third edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Brought to you by Fantasy Flight Games it's full of BITS. Tokens and more tokens, cardboard standees, counters, tiny cards, full sized cards, character sheets, class sheets, and special proprietary dice. The game comes in a chunky sized box with a hefty matching price tag, with enough bits stuffed in there to make your average board game box look empty in comparison.
I agreed to give the game a try, and I tried to keep an open mind, but let's just say I was seriously leery going into this. At first glance, there were several things I did not like about this new version. First and foremost the way the game was divided up and sold in parts. There are a number of expansions available, each adding additional rules to the game. The core game doesn't even include rules for insanities! To me, this seemed criminal, as it's one of the unique features key to the game setting. Then there were the bits and bobs, the silly dice. It all seemed too gimmicky.
I played a one-off in the new system where we were all, Games Master included, just learning the rules and I still wasn't sold. In particular, the way the game handled location and range during combat felt awkward to me. It's supposed to be more like the free form, it's all in your head, range rules of old, while still having physical markers on the table. Here is a card that says "Road" and here is one that says "Forest". You place your standee on or near the terrain card, depending on how close you are. Each terrain type has rules that affect what happens during combat. As you move in and out of range, you scoot your marker around on the table, and try to remember to apply any additional conditions granted by the card you're standing on.
Meh. I didn't love it. But I was outvoted and several months later we started a long term campaign. (I will take my roleplaying where I can get it, thank you very much.) We have been playing for several weeks now, for more than half a dozen sessions. We just finished our first module and my character is almost ready to move to her second career. So I think I've gotten a good "feel" for the game at this point, and I have to begrudgingly admit that I've come around to liking it.
The old school roleplayer in me hates sharing dice. Using a common dice pool of special proprietary dice which get passed around the table as needed still feels off to me. But I will admit, the quirky seeming boon/bane dice system is actually quite solid. And I love the way something interesting happens when you roll a comet or a chaos star.
Based on my husband's holiday wishlist, I went crazy and picked up every add on box I could get my hands on when Fantasy Flight had them on discount during their big yearly Black Friday sale. So we now have all of the rules. Chaos gods. Colleges of magic. Diseases. Mutations. Insanities. Everything you need to run a proper Warhammer game. And the dark humour is still there. Though to be honest I have no idea how much of that is directly in the module and how much is GM intervention.
The card based system, with the slots for talents and whatnaught, could easily be done via paper. In fact, they have published versions of the books that allow you to do just that. I don't really mind the system as it stands, my problem is that I find it sometimes puts me into a boardgamer mindset. I have x many cards in front of me to flip. There is one optimal move I should think of to "win" this round of combat. Too easily I slip into meta-gaming, a bad habit I'm trying to break myself of. I think the problem here lies more within me than with the game mechanics.
Have you ever played Warhammer Fantasy in any of its various incarnations? What do you think of the setting? What are your thoughts on roleplaying with tokens and cardboard bits? Clutters the table, or useful tools? Have you tried the dice system yet?
Overall, I am enjoying our 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy campaign. The modules have been a nice balance of intrigue and combat. The unique dice system has grown on me to the point where I can say I don't simply tolerate it, I truly like it. Despite the gimmicky over-trappings, I find the flavour and uniqueness of the setting still shines through, and I'm eager to get back to the table each Monday night. Would I recommend it to others? Definitely. My advice to you is, if you've passed this game by because you've been turned off by the flashy trappings, have an open mind and give it a try.
