PixlBit

Ignore the click-bait title; this is just another batch of game reviews I’ve written lately over at GamerDad.com.  I hope you get a chance to click on the links and read as many reviews as you can, and maybe even post a comment or two.  I’d appreciate it.  But you just gotta read this blog if you want to find out who is marrying Farmer Man Cary, and who the heck is this guy, anyway?  And just what is my beef against the Angry Video Game Nerd?  Oh, the drama!  You just have to click to find out!

Story of Seasons (3DS)

Speaking of drama, even the title of this game evokes a bit of spectacle.  How so?  You see, this is actually a Harvest Moon game.  But, Marvelous, the makers of the Harvest Moon games in Japan, bought out XSEED in the US.  So now XSEED publishes the Harvest Moon games in the US, not Natsume.  Only problem is, Natsume still owns the name “Harvest Moon” in the US.  So they couldn’t use that name anymore.  Natsume published their own Harvest Moon game late last year, but Story of Seasons is the TRUE Harvest Moon.  I wanted to review Natsume’s take on the franchise, but they didn’t send me a review copy.  But XSEED sent me a review copy of Story of Seasons.  I hope Natsume can still stay around, though, because they’ve been supportive of my game reviewing ever since the Dallas Morning News days.  I’m just worried since Harvest Moon was kind of their bread and butter.  But maybe Natsume and XSEED can team up someday!  I like both companies.  Anyway, Story of Seasons is your typical Harvest Moon farming game.  If you played any of the other ones, you know what to expect here.  I was impressed the game came with a full-color instruction booklet, though.  You don’t see that much anymore.

Anyway, one of the things you do in the Harvest Moon games is talk with the townsfolk, give them gifts, and make friends with them.  You can even date and marry a select few bachelors or bachelorettes, depending on your gender.  There are a bunch of fun characters this time around.  Farmer Man Cary would definitely NOT date the spoiled rich girl, even though she has pink hair.  The TV weather lady seemed nice, but she’s always at the TV station so I could never talk with her.  Plus she looked like she was 12.  There is also a nurse who isn’t very friendly, but she says the funniest things like, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…along with the other two.”  Or, “You’re the picture of health.  But the picture of health usually doesn’t visit the clinic, so what’s wrong with you?”  But no, I think Farmer Man Cary likes Iris the novelist the best, and will probably marry her.  She’s nice and funny and purdy.  Only problem is she hangs around that pretty-boy Klaus too much.  Darn old Klaus!

Someone on this blog site once said that my video game persona would probably be a polygamist by now, what with all the people’s he’s married.  THAT’S SO AWFUL!  But also pretty funny so I had to laugh.  Hey, there can be many different Farmer Man Carys out there!  But that got me to thinking about other video game characters that I’ve married in these types of games.  Rune Factory is a Harvest Moon spinoff where you get to fight monsters in dungeons as well as farm.  In the last Rune Factory game on the 3DS, Farmer Man Cary dated and married the knight lady, because you could take her into dungeons to help you fight monsters, and that counted as a ‘date.’  In the last Harvest Moon game, Farmer Man Cary married the blacksmith lady, but I can’t remember why.  I don’t remember any Harvest Moon games before that.  I think my favorite was in Tomodatchi Life.  I made a Mii Cary and a bunch of other Miis based on video game characters.  Care to guess which one Mii Cary married?  Mii Princess Zelda!  It’s a good thing I didn’t make a Mii Link, or I’d be in trouble.  Anyway, Mii Cary and Mii Princess Zelda had a baby.  I named him Zelda Jr.

Horse Haven: World Adventures (iPad)

Keeping with the ‘down on the farm’ theme, I also reviewed this iPad game from UbiSoft that’s like a cross between Farmville and a virtual pet simulator where you take care of horses.  As a free-to-play game, you can only get so far before you HAVE to start paying money to keep playing or else you won’t get anywhere.  I named the horse I got in this game and in Story of Seasons the same name: Turbo Horse.  I always name my horses in games Turbo Horse, and if you want to know the story why, let me know in the comments section and I’ll tell you when I reply.

Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (Wii U)

I hate to admit it, but I’m kind of jealous of all the game reviewers out there who have YouTube channels and have become very successful because of that.  They’re even taking the E3 press spots I used to get with ease.  I worked hard in college getting a degree that would help me do stuff like this, and even did well writing for The Dallas Morning News.  But things change and life happens, you know.  I could probably figure out how to do a YouTube channel myself, but I lack the time, materials, and knowhow, plus I have a full-time job and other commitments.  I still enjoy writing reviews and don’t plan to stop any time soon, but I’m only human and can’t help but feel a little jealous at all these YouTube upstarts.  And to make matters worse, now one of them gets his very own video game!

If you can look past all the cursing and immature humor, the Angry Video Game Nerd videos have lots of good insight about bad game design and how our beloved 8-bit classics may not be as good as what we remember.  But all the cursing gets real old, real fast.  I guess maybe it’s an age thing.  For example, when I was in college, there was a guy who had his own web site and wrote reviews of bad games and I thought he was funny at first.  You might have heard of him, his name was “Seanbaby.”  But by the time he got his own column on EGM, he wasn’t funny to me anymore and was more like a one trick pony.  The Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures game is like that, too.  The game parodies are great by themselves, but I could certainly do without the cursing and such.  And the level based on the Atari 2600 porn games was a bit TOO much.  Yuck!  It’s not a bad game, per se, but definitely for adults only.

When I went to PAX South, I attended a Gamer Parenting panel and one of the big topics was what YouTube reviewers and Let’s Play videos were safe for kids.  Because a lot of them aren’t.  I can’t think of too many good ones for kids myself, but I will say that one reviewer, “Peanut Butter Gamer” manages not to cuss and still be funny in his videos.  But I’m still jealous of him.

But playing the Angry Video Game Nerd game got me to thinking.  What if I had MY own video game starring me?  What would it be like?  Let me know what you think it would be like in the comments section.  My brother Jeff said I would be in a point and click adventure game where I would “Blue Skidoo” into different video games.  But I’d like to know what you think, too.  Also, tell me what kind of video game would you be in, too!  Let me know in the comments!

Steven Universe: Attack the Light (iPad)

This is an RPG based on the popular Cartoon Network show.  The cartoon kind of reminds me of Adventure Time in some ways.  The game is made for tablets, so the RPG elements are stripped down in some places.  But the action packed battles, which are similar to ones found in Mario RPG games, are so much fun that it didn’t really bother me.  But I think only big fans of the show will get the most enjoyment out of it.  I’ve seen a couple of episodes, but that’s it.  Seems like an all right show, but nowhere near as good as Gravity Falls.  One of my brothers really likes the cartoon, though, and even cosplayed as Steven Universe at a couple of anime conventions he went to.  He said that if you tape a plastic gem to your belly, never scoot up when you’re sitting at a table, as it was painful when he did that!  I’m still looking for a Cheeseburger backpack for him!

Box Boy! (3DS)

This is a platform puzzle game with minimalist graphics and characters, and you can download it on the 3DS eShop.  You play as a box with eyes and legs and can create boxes to do all sorts of things.  You can use them to climb up, hook on ledges, protect yourself, and more!  It’s very creative.  The game was made by HAL Labs, who also does the Kirby and Smash Bros. games.  I’m convinced they can’t make a bad game (well, Day Dreamin’ Davey on the NES wasn’t very good).  HAL is no stranger to puzzle games, as before Kirby, they made the Adventures of Lolo games on the NES, which were a series of block pushing puzzlers.  Lolo was kind of HAL’s mascot back then, and you can even see Lolo and Lala in some Kirby games, even to this day!

LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin (3DS)

It’s just a typical LEGO game, but based on the Ninjago toy line and cartoon.  While I think only young fans of the show would like this the most, it’s still a fun romp that puts you in the middle of an action packed Saturday morning cartoon turned game.

Monopoly Plus (360)

It’s just a video board game based on the classic Monopoly.  They added new rules and updated the playing pieces.  A while back, the Monopoly board game made news when they announced they were adding new pieces, like a cat.  But unfortunately, they also got rid of a couple of pieces, including my favorite: the iron.  Now granted, I can understand why they did that, since it was an old timey iron, and who irons their clothes anymore anyway?  But it was still my favorite piece.  Oh well, it doesn’t bother me TOO much since I don’t really like playing Monopoly anyway.  In the comments section, tell me what your favorite Monopoly piece is.

Choo Parr (iPad)

And last is this simple iPad game.  You play as a dragon and flap around trying to catch random objects and avoid dangerous ones like bombs and such.  It’s a bit too amateurish for its own good.

Conclusions

And that’s all for now!  I hope you can click on the links and read my reviews and please do post comments.  I’d appreciate it.  Thanks so much for reading my reviews and blogs!  Later!  --Cary