Category Archives: games

Unboxing Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi

So, as many of you have probably heard (and are beyond excited for, I’m sure), Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will be seeing an English release sometime early next year. Well, unfortunately, the Nintendo DS version of Ni no Kuni will not probably be as lucky – it’s been out for just about a year now in Japan and no word as surfaced as to a potential localization.

I’ve been lamenting on how difficult it is to obtain a copy of said game (it’s available online, but generally runs around $80+), and have been coveting it for a long time due to the famous book it comes with. From what I’d read, the book is an integral part of the game, and that’s probably a big part of the reason why Level 5 (or whoever is in charge of localizations) decided not to bring the game over to the US.

Well, thanks to my great Twitter friend Zolbrod who lives in Japan, I’ve now got myself a complete copy of Ni no Kuni DS! It was used, but it only set me back about $25. Well, shipping was killer due to the size of the book, but it still ended up being about half what I would’ve paid online! Thanks again, Zolbrod!

I haven’t gotten a chance to play the game yet, but rest assured, I will be making a full report soon! For now, here are some sample pictures of the set and a few excerpts from the gorgeous book.

The box that holds the book and game.
When they say book, they mean book!

There are so many gorgeous illustrations!
The book contains full lists of spells, weapons, and a bestiary –  there are so many cute enemies. It looks like they each have 4 forms, one for each element. 
Why’s there a tire in the bottom right?

The book also contains a number of maps, as well as detailed history and other lore. 

And, of course, game itself.

I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this game! Expect a full report in the next few weeks.

Ruminating on Corpse Party

Japanese cover for the game. Full title: Corpse Party: Blood Covered… Repeated Fear

If you’ve seen my tweets over the past week or so, you know I’ve been gushing over Corpse Party pretty much nonstop. But what is Corpse Party, and why should you care about it? As I’m in the midst of writing my review, which probably won’t go up for a day or two due to some server transitions happening over at Video Game Writers, I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk a bit about the game here.

Believe it or not, Corpse Party is one of the few games in recent months that got me really excited in anticipation of its release. Even stranger is the fact that I really am not a horror connoisseur by any means, and generally don’t go out of my way to consume any sort of horror-related media. So what is it about Corpse Party that grabbed my attention so throughly?

First of all, Corpse Party is a game I would have never thought would see the light of day in English. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of it before XSEED announced that they would be localizing it. The game they localized actually is a port/remake of the original indie PC game, made with the help of RPG Maker. The original creators got quite a bit of publicity for such an indie title, eventually spurring the remake, multiple manga series, and even a sequel. But what makes people so enamored with Corpse Party?

Just because they’re pixilated doesn’t make the blood splatters any less creepy. 

The game starts off innocuously enough: A group of high school students are saying farewell to one of their classmates, who is transferring to another school the next day. One of them suggests they perform a special charm so that they will always stay friends, to which they all agree. They preform the ritual, but immediately afterwards an earthquake suddenly erupts, transporting them to Heavenly Host Elementary School, a school rife with murder and disappearances that was torn down many years before.

Keeping the story relatively vague, as the story is really the heart and soul of the game, I found that the first hour or so was terribly generic and cliche. After the initial introduction, there is even a break in the game to allow you to read each of the nine charaters’ profiles! At first glance, many might be turned off by the seemingly stereotypical characters and premise, but I was pleasantly surprised by how the game developed.

After the initial sequences, your characters are split up into groups, and the overall goal is to guide them to their peers and out of the horrible predicament they’ve found themselves in. There is a lot of character development, and as you play as the different parties, you slowly begin to understand their relationships and histories, which makes it all the more distressing when you find out that anyone can die. That’s right – in Corpse Party, no one is safe from a gruesome and horrible death, either at the mercy of a vengeful ghost or the hands of their own peers. Though some of the characters remained a tad too stereotypical/fanservice-y for my tastes (you’ve got your token panty shots and lesbian who’s in love with her best friend), overall, the story developments and character interactions were extremely enthralling, and were what ultimately made me love the game as much as I did.

I’m not one for fanservice, and unfortunately panty shots like these totally took me out of the moment. 

Many people are confused about what kind of game Corpse Party is. The game features decidedly retro graphics, a la RPG Maker, with anime-style character illustrations and the occasional CG cutscene. Described by XSEED as an adventure game, I’d probably most liken it to Sweet Home meets 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. There are no battles, however, and the bulk of the game is spent exploring the haunted school, looking for clues to advance the story. You’ll talk to the occasional ghost, but for the most part the only characters you’ll find are the ones in your party at the time. Decision-making is extremely important, and what you choose will often dictate whether or not you’ll bear witness to one of the game’s decidedly gristly “wrong ends.”

For each of the game’s five chapters, there is one “true end,” which will advance you to the next chapter, and any number of wrong ends. The wrong ends are some of the most disturbing things I have ever seen, but nothing that kept me awake late at night. Even so, I was terribly enthralled by them – the sound direction is amazing in both the music and the sound effects, and every gruesome squish and squelch there, accompanied by the horrified screams of teenage girls (I could’ve done without some of the latter, though). Something about the game made me actually want to go out of my way to view the wrong ends I missed, though I’m not sure what that says about me. Rather than just being mindless gore, by getting players to connect with the characters, every bloody scene is all the more jarring. Perhaps one of the most horrifying moments for me in the game was finding out the identity of the person splattered all over the hallway you’ve been passing by the last 3 hours, and one of the other character’s own reaction to that realization.

I’ll briefly touch on what I didn’t like about the game. In all honestly, Corpse Party is not a great game, but rather a great experience. There are a number of times where the game gives you absolutely no guidance and it’s up to you to wander the halls of the school, investigating everything until you hit the jackpot and are able to advance the game. Some of the puzzles are reduced down to simply mashing x on anything and everything, which isn’t all that fun when you’ve got a ghost on your tail and a drawn-out wrong end awaiting you if you run into them by mistake. The game also does not have a text skip feature for when you have to reply segments over and over again because you keep dying, which means you’re going to be skipping through a lot of death scenes you’ve seen before. Since the game shares a lot of similarities with visual novels, it really would’ve benefitted from some kind of fast-forward button like there is in 999.

All in all, I’d say that if you’re at all interested in the horror genre and experiencing truly unique game experiences, then you owe it to yourself to give Corpse Party a shot (this is really starting to sound like a review!). Even if you generally don’t like scary stories, I’d still suggest the game, though it isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s only available on the Playstation Network for the PSP due to the fact that its such a niche title, but if you can spare the $20 and the download, I highly recommend it. If you’re interested in hearing more about the game, I’ll be posting my full review on Video Game Writers in the very near future. I really hope more people are exposed to this game so that XSEED will be able to release its sequel in the future!

Wii on the Horizon

First of all, a very happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the US! We don’t have Thanksgiving here in Australia, of course, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be wistful for the turkey and cranberry sauce… The major holiday in November over here is Melbourne Cup Day, but with all the dressing up in expensive hats and betting on horses, I’d say it emphasizes few different priorities… 

But Thursday wasn’t a normal day for me! Far from it –– this Thursday marked the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in Australia. Well, technically the street date was broken (yet again), so you could pick up the game if you preordered it as early as Tuesday, but I got mine yesterday (don’t get me started on street date breaks in AU).

Pretty sleek, no? 

As most of you should know by now, there’s one big hurdle I’ll need to overcome before I can play my copy of Skyward Sword. Namely, I don’t have a Wii! I know, I know, a little late to the party…

It’s not exactly a question of “if” I’ll get one, of course, but more like “when” –– I know there will be some holiday sales soon enough and I can’t decide whether I want to hold out until they roll around in December or not! So many decisions! In the meantime, I asked some of you on Twitter what games you’d most recommend for the console, but I decided I’d like to open the floor up to everyone. First, let’s see what games I’m most looking forward to playing…



Murasama: Demon Blade
Basically, all you have to do is utter the word “Vanillaware” and I’ll be there. The company’s amazing art direction (though the lead artist’s penchant for bubble breasts and thunder thighs leaves something to be desired…) never ceases to take my breath away, even if I’m not always a huge fan of the gameplay. Murasama‘s focus Japanese mythology makes it a must-have in my book.

Resident Evil 4
I’m putting this sucker on the list because I know my husband would quite enjoy it. I saw a significant portion of the game played back when it came out for the PS2, but I’m really just awful at tense games where I’m required to shoot things. I’ve heard the Wii controls really shine in this game, so I would love to see my husband give it a go. Honorable mentions in the category of “games my husband and I can enjoy together” would be Donkey Kong Country Returns (can you believe he’s never played the original?) and maybe House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return.

Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon: The Labyrinth of Forgotten Time

There are few video game animal mascots I love more than chocobos. Actually, probably the only thing I love more than chocobos are moogles (sense a pattern?). I’ve never gotten into the roguelike genre before, and figure chocobos and cute things might soften the potentially harsh blow the traditional roguelike might have (I’m really a wimp when it comes to games). Also, Cid’s design in this Final Fantasy spin-off is pretty rad (right). 
Little King’s Story
I’ll be honest, I don’t really know a whole lot about this game. But what I do know, I like, and this is definitely one of the top games on my “must pick up immediately” list. From what I’ve seen/heard, it seems like a Harvest Moon-type life simulator with some unique gameplay elements, and if that’s the case, then I’m all for it! 
Rhythm Heaven Wii
I shouldn’t need to say much about this one. I loved Rhythm Heaven on the DS, and it goes without saying that I’ll pick up this next installment. Problem is, I’ll have to get a big chunk of play time in before my husband gets his hands on it! If he gets half as obsessed with this one as he did the last, he won’t stop until he’s got gold medals on every song! We still find ourselves humming some of those tunes… 
I can’t wait for this game
Well, of course there are many many more Wii titles I plan on picking up eventually, including classics such as Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Super Mario Galaxy 2 (I’ve seen a significant portion of the first already, would rather experience Yoshi). Any titles you think I should add to my list? Let’s hear your top Wii games! 

Talking games, importing, blogging, and more with The Gay Gamer

Bryan Ochalla is by far one of my favorite people on the internet. He’s the voice behind the colorful gaming blog, The Gay Gamer (not to be mistaken with GayGamer.net), and is known for his quirky tastes in games and a penchant for collecting boxed retro titles in immaculate condition (sometimes just for their cover art). He covers all manner of games from the PC Engine right up to current-gen titles in his Great Gaymathon reviews, compares regional differences in game box art, and takes some incredibly sexy photos of his game collection. His newest series, Manual Stimulation, focuses on highlighting some of the best game manuals in his collection, reminding gamers how much care and attention used to be put into those few often-overlooked pieces of paper.



All of this is done with a down-to-earth yet cheeky pizzaz that makes The Gay Gamer a joy to read day after day. Bryan also fosters a great community of like-minded gamers who have some great discussions in the comments section of almost every single one of his posts (and he posts pretty much daily, mind you!). Rest assured, if you comment on one of his posts, he will always read and respond to you, making him one of the most easily-accessible and charismatic people I’ve ever had the pleasure of “meeting” online. 


Bryan was kind enough to agree to answer a few questions via email, so I took the opportunity talk with him about his gaming history, interest in Japanese import titles, and a bit about what it’s like to maintain a blog. He gave some great responses, so please take the time to read through the whole interview, even though it’s a bit long! 

Apricotsushi: Would you mind starting with sharing your first influential game?

The Gay Gamer: Wow, that’s a pretty difficult question to answer, especially since I’m not sure I can remember that far into my past. That said, I can recall at least two games that were pretty important in terms of turning me into a fan of video games.  

The first is the arcade version of Bubble Bobble.  It’s one of the first games of any sort (arcade, console, etc.) I remember playing, and to this day it remains one of my favorites.  Everything about it amazes me — its wonderfully realized graphics (especially all of the food and other items you collect — I’ve been a sucker for that kind of thing ever since), its hummable soundtrack, its ability to pull you back for “just one more game.”  I don’t think I’ll ever tire of playing it, to tell you the truth, which is pretty amazing given its age and simplicity.

The second game, strangely enough, is Kid Icarus, which is the first console game I remember obsessing about as a kid. Oh, I liked Super Mario Bros. well enough, and Metroid and The Legend of Zelda, too, but for some reason Kid Icarus really stood out for me.  I think it was mainly due of the mythological theme, as I’ve always been a sucker for Greek gods and goddesses and the stories that surround them.  I also remember being entranced by its graphics — especially the enemy sprites — and Hip Tanaka’s amazing soundtrack, though.  Anyway, I know the game isn’t all that highly regarded these days, thanks to its overt difficulty (some would say cheapness), but I loved it as a kid and still play through it now and then in order to relive some of those “good old days.”

Japanese import Hello Kitty World 
Apricotsushi: What are your favorite game genres?

The Gay Gamer: If I were forced to whittle them down to just two, I would say two-dimensional platformers (a la Super Mario Bros.) and turn-based JRPGs (like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and EarthBound/Mother, especially).  I also like puzzlers a lot, though, and rhythm games, too.  Really, I like most genres, with the exception of first-person shooters. I actually enjoy watching other people play FPSes, but I can’t for the life of me play them myself (due to the perspective, I think). 

Apricotsushi: As a fan of Japanese games myself, I’ve noticed you do a lot of importing of niche Japanese games. What do you find so appealing about them? 

The Gay Gamer: When I was a kid, I thought Japanese Famicom games and PC Engine games — and their boxes and cartridges — seemed so much more exotic and beautiful than the ugly NES and TurboGrafx-16 games my parents bought me.  I’ve also always liked quirky games and, back in the day, especially, companies either didn’t bring the quirkiest titles (like Parodius, for instance) to our shores or they altered them to make them more American (which didn’t appeal to me at all).  Anyway, that’s what finally prompted me to start importing — I wanted to play Parodius and TwinBee on my TG-16, but I knew neither NEC nor Konami would bring them to the US.  So, I imported them from Japan Video Games or some company like that.  From then on, I was hooked.

Apricotsushi: Do you have any favorites in particular?

I still consider my copies of Final Fantasy V and VI for the Super Famicom to be prized possessions, even though the former is completely mangled and worth about $2 (if that).  That’s probably due to the fact that they were among my first import purchases and because they’re two of my all-time favorite games.  I also love my original white PC Engine and the many games I’ve amassed for the system — Parasol Stars, Photograph Boy and Mizubaku Daibouken, in particular.  Oh, and my Famicom “Pulse Line” carts.  If I could, I would mount all of them in some sort of museum-quality case — they are that beautiful and interesting to me.

Bryan’s photos of his Pulse Line carts are just gorgeous!

Apricotsushi: You’ve been writing at your blog, The Gay Gamer, for a couple of years now, right? Have you done any other game-related writing for other sites/publications?


The Gay Gamer: Yep, I started the blog in early 2007, so it’s been around for more than four years now.  I did take about a year (or more) off, though, so I guess that’s not entirely accurate.  

Anyway, I wrote a few features for Gamasutra.com when I first started freelancing and I also wrote a number of gaming-related articles for The Advocate (a North American LGBT magazine) and GayWired.com a few years ago, but I haven’t written anything gaming-related for money (professionally) in a long time, mainly because it often doesn’t seem worth my while monetarily speaking.  

Also, I like that I have full control over what I write for my blog.  I don’t have to worry about what would appeal to the masses or bring in the most hits, I can just write about whatever interests me at the moment.

Apricotsushi: I know you’ve mentioned you write for your day job, as well. Even so, you post daily for your personal blog. After writing for work all day, what motivates you to post in your free time for The Gay Gamer?

The Gay Gamer: Well, to be honest (and maybe a bit blunt), I like writing posts for my blog more than I like writing anything else — and that includes the articles I write for the magazines that help me and my husband pay our bills.  So, I basically use my blog writing as a “getaway” of sorts from my day job. 

I have to admit that sometimes I feel a bit burned out in regards to the blog, but it never lasts long.  Plus, something inevitably pops up — a game announcement, the release of a new system — to get me excited again.  

Also, I really like interacting with the folks who visit my blog and comment on my posts.  In fact, oftentimes the “high” that I get from that kind of interaction is even more enjoyable than the one I get from writing posts in the first place.  

One of the many great manuals featured in Bryan’s Manual Stimulation series



In closing, I asked Bryan if he had any tips he has for fellow aspiring game bloggers. Here’s what he had to say: 


Write about the games and systems that interest and inspire you if you want to make the most of the time you spend writing.  Also, if you have a blog and you allow comments (and you get comments), respond to them!  It just might help you create a bit of a community — if that’s what you’re looking for, of course. 






You can find Bryan at his blog The Gay Gamer and on Twitter @TheGayGamer. For his drool-worthy game collection photos, check out his Flickr. 

Madam Luna’s Kirby Horoscope

Ever wondered what your favorite Kirby Super Star power says about you? Well then step right up and be ready to uncover the secrets of your personality with this handy-dandy Kirby horoscope, whipped up by the amazing and talented Madam Luna!

I’m sure the horoscope is much more accurate if you have an affinity to a particular power from playing a significant amount of the game, but if you’re like me and aren’t extremely familiar with Kirby Super Star, I’m sure you’ll still get a kick out of choosing the power that appeals most to you!

Head on over to Madam Luna’s blog to view the complete horoscope here. For the curious, I picked wing because of Kirby’s politically incorrect yet adorable Native American headdress.

Wing: Traditionalism – ambition – kindness. Despite being a flying creature, you prefer to keep yourself firmly on the ground, where you know what to expect. But when the situation calls for it, you can take wing with the best of them! You know when to use your talents and when to hold back and let other people take center stage. You like Beam types and Sword types.


What is your favorite Kirby Super Star power? Did you find the horoscope surprisingly accurate, or totally off the mark? For the record, I think “wing” describes me pretty well! I think I’m going to have to play some Kirby Super Star now…

Australian EB Games ad “Man’s Guide to Trading” is horribly sexist

As always, I’m horribly busy and don’t have much time to comment in-depth on this, but it came to my attention today on Twitter that EB Games here in Australia is now showing this ad in its stores. Needless to say, I’m disguisted, outraged, etc., but what I’m must curious about is what you all think! Has there been a similar campaign in the United States or elsewhere? 
Apparently there will be a woman’s guide coming as well, but I don’t expect it to be any better. Most likely it will show a desperate wife trading in her husband’s games behind his back so she can snag the latest iteration of Cooking Mama.

Taking a look at the gorgeous art in Atelier Torori’s premium edition

Time sure flies! Have you noticed I haven’t been posting very frequently (all two of you)? Well I had, but I’ve been quite busy with some new and exciting stuff over the past week or so, and unfortunately I had to put all of my great blog post ideas on hold! Most importantly, I’ve been promoted to junior editor over at Video Game Writers, and I’m quite thrilled about that. Who would’ve thought?
Well today I finally got my package from the US, and in it was my Atelier Totori premium edition (among other games, but that’s for a later post)! I never preorder things, let along get collector’s editions, but I was so enamored with Atelier Rorona a couple of months ago that I jumped on the chance to get both the game’s soundtrack and artbook. The art is just so lovely that I had to share! 

The whole set comes in a cardboard box featuring the Japanese/European box art, which is much prettier than the NA version, in my opinion:

Next we have the soundtrack CD:

And the CD itself. Isn’t it cute? I haven’t seen this illustration used anywhere else.  
The art book is a tad disappointing, as it’s only the size of the game case itself, and as you can see they’ve reused the cover art.

The art inside doesn’t disappoint, however, and I particularly liked looking at the character sketches and some of the earlier scrapped character designs. 
For those familiar with Atelier Rorona –– Sterk is back, but he’s much more broody this time around!

I’m not particularly fond of Gino (the childhood friend)’s character design, shown right, but one of his earlier versions looks quite appealing! I really wish they stuck with the swashbuckling look. What hair!

Some of the early designs of Totori look great, too! I’m not a fan of the version pigtails, but I almost prefer the top one with the yellow dress to her final design. It’s really interesting to see what could have been! 
And finally we have the tear and water resistant poster, which was an exclusive to the NIS America online store. Er, I’m afraid to ask why a poster needs to be water resistant… Anyway, this poster clearly isn’t aimed at me, as both side feature Totori looking, well, cute. If it were me, I’d much rather have a group illustration or even the very first picture they used as the box art on the limited edition (or, I admit it, one of the male characters…). Can’t have everything, I suppose! 

Yeah, I probably won’t be hanging that up any time soon… But for an additional $10, I’d say the premium edition is definitely worth all of the extra goodies! If you’re at all tempted, they still have a few left at the NISA store, so grab one while you can!