Top 10 Indie Games of The Year

I love end of year lists. I read them all the time. Most of the time I'm like " What's that show? I've never heard of that." or " Oh, another Playstation or Xbox game on this list." But still, those lists are fun to read.

They are also fun write and I plan on writing one today! This is my Top 10 Indie Games of the Year list. These are the Indie video games, on Wii U and 3DS, that I loved a lot. I think I'll start at 10 and work to #1.

10. Blok Drop X Twisted Fusion: Picking the best RCMADIAX games is tough. This developer constantly makes really simple, yet extremely addictive games for the Wii U eshop. With the help of @leuvsion, he made an even better take on Blok Drop. Very good graphics, fun gameplay, tough challenges. This is a must own on the Wii U if you love puzzle games.

9. Poker Dice Solitaire Future: Another RCMADIAX game. I almost said Shut the Box, but Poker Dice is slightly more addictive and will last you a bit longer than Shut the Box will. This game was highly underrated. I don't think it sold much. It should have. It might not have fancy graphics but its SUPER addictive!

8. Fairune: A retro-styled action rpg. It reminds me of the first Zelda but with better graphics and better puzzles. Fairune may seem very simple (and its very short) but what a great game. I had so much fun with this game. Much more than I thought I would. Plus: the game is super cheap. Highly recommend this game

7. Costume Quest 2: I loved the first Costume Quest on the PS3. I was pretty sure that I was going to like this one too and I was right. Costume Quest 2 was a great addition to the Wii U eshop. An rpg that had humor, good puzzles, and was centered around my favorite holiday (Halloween). Love it.

6. Paper Monsters Recut: Take parts LittleBigPlanet and Mario and what do you get? Paper Monsters Recut! PMR has excellent graphics and fun gameplay. Yes, it is a bit on the easy side but I actually love that too. Its nice to just have a really fun game to play and not worry too much about dying. Sure there are some hard parts in this game but overall, its just a fun relaxing game. A must buy for platformer fans!

5. Thomas Was Alone: Puzzle games aren't usually known for their stories. In fact, most puzzle games don't have a story. Thomas Was Alone is a puzzle game that has a huge focus on story, in fact, I would say that the story is even better than the puzzles. Don't get wrong, Thomas Was Alone has some cool puzzles and some tough ones too but its the story that will keep you coming back. The voice over work is just excellent. You'll want to know what happens to Thomas and co. next.

4. Moon Chronicles (Episode 1):  Moon Chronicles Episode 1 for 3DS didn't get much attention and thats a shame. Chronicles has good graphics, GREAT 3D, fun gameplay, and a mysterious storyline. And just when its getting very interesting...TO BE CONTINUED! Which you would think would be a minus but its not. It just makes you want the next one even more. And the next episodes are coming in January! FINALLY. I'm excited.

3. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse: Looking for some hair whipping fun? Look no further than Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. I reviewed this game on 3DS but this title is on Wii U now too. I bet its just as good on both systems. Shantae is such a fun game. Parts Castlevania, Metroid, and its own very unique style, Shantae is the best 3DS Indie game of the year. Although, can Wayforward be considered an Indie? I know they've worked on some big titles. Ah, well, I'm considering them an indie for this list! Buy this game!

2. Armillo: Forget Sonic. Who needs him. We have Armillo, the fastest and coolest platformer on the Wii U eshop. I love this game's graphics and its gameplay is a lot of fun. I was especially a big fan of the 2D bonus levels in this game but the 3D levels are awesome too. PLUS: this game is on sale RIGHT NOW. You should totally buy it if you haven't already. Armillo would have definitely been number one on my list if it wasn't for...

1. Stealth Inc. 2: Stealth Inc 2 is the best Indie game of the Wii U eshop. Its mix of platforming and puzzle is just brilliant. So many fun and often challenging levels, plus you can make your own levels or play other people's levels. Stealth is the game that keeps on giving. If you don't own this game, go buy it! This game gets my highest recommendation. SO GOOD. Man.

And thats my list of favorite Indie games of the year. There were other good games too (Xeodrifter, A World of Keflings) but these were the games that I truly loved in 2014.

Tomorrow I'll have a list of 10 Indie Games I can't wait to play in 2015! I bet you all can guess what my number 1 is right? Its pretty obvious if you read my blog often. heh. See you tomorrow! Happy New Year.

Disappointment and Magic

Today's blog entry was going to be a really positive blog entry about Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. This is a game that I like a lot. I use to have it on the PS3 and it looked great in HD. My dad always liked the DS version too. For Christmas, both of us got used copies of the DS version. So far, I haven't had a lot of time to play the game other than multiplayer. My dad has been playing the game a bunch and...

...this morning he ran into a game breaking bug. I have no idea if there is something wrong with the cart or if this is just a major game bug...

What happened you ask?

My dad was playing in the later part of the game. Its the Underworld level. He was just going back to get some more Vampires and then the game...froze. Well, kind of. The game menu worked fine and the bad guys animation was still working but he couldn't move his character. His character was stuck between two areas. The game froze mid-camera shift.

Then my dad saved there and went out of the game. He went back in and the game was the same way. He couldn't get out of this section of the game...

He went to the second save file. It was someone elses file and the game is working fine there. So it can't be that the cart is broken right?

I have no clue what's wrong with the game. Its pretty disappointing though. My dad was having so much fun with the game and getting very far and now he has to go back.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is a really cool game. We've never run into any issue like this before with it. I wonder if anyone else has or if anyone has a solution to this problem. Please let me know @df2506!

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Tomorrow, I'll be back with my Top 10 Favorite Indie Games of this year list!

Blok Drop X Twisted Fusion First Impressions

Along with my two major Wii U downloads on Christmas Day, I also picked up Blok Drop X Twisted Fusion. I wrote a preview of this game before. I was looking forward to it a lot. Has it lived up to my expectations so far?

Here are my First Impressions
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Right away, I was impressed with the graphics. Blok Drop U was a pretty simple game graphics wise. Blok Drop X Twisted Fusion, on the other hand, is really well animated. The graphics are very nice.

Gameplay wise, the game is similar to Blok Drop U in some ways, different in others. You still have to get rid of blocks to complete the levels, but there are some interesting new additions too. The enemies and the new nice looking environments are great additions. I'm kind of iffy on the new creature you have to save instead of a block. It does make sense that it would be a creature rather than a block, but man, it so annoying how that little guy will walk just a tiny bit more and fall off into the void. Of course, I guess thats part of the challenge. Can you safely get that guy to stay on the ground?  It is a bit annoying though...

Blok Drop X Twisted Fusion is a harder game than Blok Drop U. The challenges are tricker (not just because of the new creature you have to save). I admit I haven't gotten very far is this game yet. This is just a first impression of the game and not a review. If I ever get a lot further into the game, I'll do a review.

That said, Blok Drop X Twisted Fusion offers a challenging puzzle game, with wonderful graphics and a low budget price. Its is worth buying from the eshop. But then again, most @rcmadiax games are worth buying from the eshop!

(as an aside: this game also makes me very interested to see what Twisted Fusion is like)

What I am trying to say here? BUY THIS GAME. Especially if you like puzzle games with a bit of challenge. Ok, I said this wasn't a review. Its not. I'll be even more critical of this game later on. Maybe. If I can ever get past some of these hard levels....

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Tomorrow I'll talk about another game I got for Christmas: Might & Might: Clash of Heroes for the DS. It won't be a review or preview of the game. I'll just talk about why I like it. See you then!

Darksiders 2 First Impressions

I also got Darksiders 2, an older Wii U third party game, for Christmas too. It was on sale for $7.99 and I couldn't resist it. Here are my first impressions of the game
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Darksiders 2 is an action/adventure game. Its definitely a mix of different types of games. Combat wise, the game feels like God of War or Devil May Cry. The game also has jumping and running across walls and that reminds me of Persia of Persia. The dungeons and wide open spaces that you explore remind me of Zelda or possibly Elder Scrolls. All of this comes together to produce a game that is really really cool.

Darksiders 2 has fun gameplay. I especially love wandering around, exploring the landscape and dungeons for hidden treasure. I'm definitely enjoying the game a lot.

The game has pretty good graphics too. Its not as stunning as many of the recent Wii U games, but it does have some really cool settings and special effects.

Darksiders 2 has voice acting and its very good! The music and sound effects are good too.

I think the story is interesting but its not as good as the gameplay.

Overall, Darksiders 2 is a very different experience for a Wii U game. It feels more like a game you'd find on one of the other systems. This is a dark, broody game. Still, I really like it.

So far, I've beaten two dungeons and collected a bunch of treasure. I will be doing a review here (sooner or later) for Darksiders 2. For now, if you want to hear more thoughts from me about Darksiders, please check out my twitter @df2506. I'll be talking about the game once and awhile.

Tomorrow, I'll be back with my First Impressions of Blok Drop X Twisted Fusion!

Captain Toad First Impressions

For Christmas, I got Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Here are my first impressions of the game
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Captain Toad is a adventure puzzle game. Each level has you navigating Toad through an environment to get three diamonds, coins, and more. The level variety is really AMAZING. Sometimes the levels are pretty small, while other times, they are a bit bigger. You just never know what cool new area the game will throw at you next. The gameplay is so much fun.

I also love Captain Toad's visuals. This is a very cute game. Its like a wonderful animated cartoon. And some of the levels are just down right beautiful. This is probably the best looking game on the Wii U right now.

Treasure Tracker's music, voice, and sound effects are excellent too. Love when Captain Toad says " Time for Adventure! "

The game's story is simplistic but its also downright cute (like the visuals). Some people might find it kiddy. I don't care. I love it.

Overall, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a real treasure itself. It may very well be my Game of the Year. Yes, I might like it more than Smash Bros even. We'll see.

I'll have a review of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker sooner or later. Though, for now, I'll just tell you: if you love adventure/puzzle games, you should buy this one. Its so great.

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I'll be back tomorrow with First Impressions of another Christmas gift: Darksiders 2 for Wii U.

My Pokemon Special Demo Thoughts

The other day, one of the the awesome Treehouse people on twitter was giving away Pokemon Special Demo codes. I'm not a Pokemon fan but I thought I'd like to try the demo & write about it. I had never really played a regular Pokemon game before (I'd played the Pokemon dungeon demo but didn't like it).

For me, it was the name Pokemon, plus the anime' graphics (I'm not an anime fan) that always turned me off of the Pokemon franchise.

So what do I think of the demo?
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The Pokemon Special demo has really good 3D. I was impressed. BUT...

The 3D is only on during the flying scene & during battles (and its not always on during battle).

When you're just walking around town or the dungeons, the 3D turns off. I don't get this at all. I think the graphics in this game would look so much better with 3D always on. Is the actual game like this? If so, thats pretty lame in my opinion.

The regular graphics (without 3D) are alright. Like I mentioned before, I'm not an anime fan so the graphical style didn't wow me.

Gameplay wise, the town exploration in the demo is pretty limited. You can't go into any of the houses, you can talk to people but they don't really give you advice or help you in any way. I'm not even sure why the town is really included in the demo.

The battles are turn-based and I kind of liked them. It was neat that you can switch out Pokemon during battle. Mega Evolutions seemed like a cool feature too. I only got to see pokeballs a little but that seemed like an interesting addition. The battles weren't anything out of the ordinary for rpgs but that was fine. It was definitely the part of the demo I liked the most.

I actually had more fun with the demo than I thought I would. It didn't make me want to run out and buy one of the Pokemon games though. I still didn't care for the graphical style, found the town boring, and honestly the dialogue was cringe inducing. Its not a bad game though. I may want to revisit the demo again sometime.

Happy Holidays

Hi everyone! I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everybody. Tis the season for gaming and fun for sure.

Tonight, especially, is a great gaming night for me. I'll be playing Animal Crossing New Leaf. New Leaf has a special holiday called Toy Day where the player dresses up as Santa and delivers presents to the animals. Toy Day was in the original Animal Crossing and City Folk too, but its much more fun on New Leaf.

If you have the game, I highly recommend checking it out. If you don't, please take the time tonight to replay one of your favorite games or better yet, download a new Indie game for either the Wii U or 3DS eshop.

Here are links to previews/reviews I did of some of my favorite Indie games. These are great downloadable games imo:

Steamworld Dig (3DS): http://morethoughtsfrome.blogspot.com/2014/12/steamworld-dig-3ds-review.html

Armillo (Wii U): http://morethoughtsfrome.blogspot.com/2014/09/rolling-around-universe.html

Stealth 2 (Wii U): http://morethoughtsfrome.blogspot.com/2014/10/stealth-inc-2-wii-u-review.html

Shantae (3DS): http://shigerureviews.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/shantae-and-the-pirates-curse-3ds-review/

Costume Quest (Wii U): http://shigerureviews.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/costume-quest-2-wii-u-review/

Stick It to the Man (Wii U): http://shigerureviews.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/stick-it-to-the-man-wii-u/

RCMADIAX Games (Wii U): http://morethoughtsfrome.blogspot.com/2014/09/puzzle-it-out.html