Blueflower's Gaming Blog and Reviews

[BlackDragonSlayer]

I have a Hariyama on my team in my current Sapphire playthrough, and while I love how high his attack is, I actually don't like the way his stats are set up. Sure, his HP is massive, but HP means nothing if your defenses are dismal. When I initially saw how high his HP was compared to the others on my team, I was excited to have a hard-hitting wall, but as soon as I entered my first evenly-matched battle, I was disappointed to see how badly his defenses made up for it. He's pretty good as a sweeper, but I just wish his defenses were a bit higher.

Mega Hariyama for Gen 7

+Atk, +Def, and +Spe

[blueflower999]

I'm still waiting for Mega Shuckle with like base 200 HP.

[Waddle Bro]

Sure, his HP is massive, but HP means nothing if your defenses are dismal.

lies

Hariyama can be damn bulky if you invest in it's defenses a bit.

[Echo]

Mienshao's pretty sweet, wish it learned something like Power Whip or a signature move that highlights the whips on its arms though.

I have a Hariyama on my team in my current Sapphire playthrough, and while I love how high his attack is, I actually don't like the way his stats are set up. Sure, his HP is massive, but HP means nothing if your defenses are dismal. When I initially saw how high his HP was compared to the others on my team, I was excited to have a hard-hitting wall, but as soon as I entered my first evenly-matched battle, I was disappointed to see how badly his defenses made up for it. He's pretty good as a sweeper, but I just wish his defenses were a bit higher.

He's definitely better in Link Battles. He gets Knock Off/Whirlwind for trolling, and it's funny when something like Salamence/Gyarados/Aerodactyl try to hit you with Hidden Power Flying/Aerial Ace only to get one-shot by Counter.

[blueflower999]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney:

I've wanted to check out this series for a while and I'm very glad I did. Looking forward to continue it. For those of you that don't know, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (PWAA) is the first game in the series.

Gameplay: 8/10 and 9/10 See, the reason I need to give the gameplay two scores is because the game cycles through two very different modes. The 8/10 goes to the investigations that take place before and between the trials. They're kind of like click escape games with multiple areas to visit and people to talk to, present evidence to, and the like. Essentially it's preparing for the trial scene the next day, which is fine. It's nice that there is at least a bit of variety in the gameplay, but then again, I didn't really get bored with reading text. Anyway, the 9/10 goes to the Trial scenes, which are a lot of fun. The specifics of course differ from case to case, but generally you play as the defense attorney Phoenix Wright and defend your clients against prosecuting attorneys, of which you meet three over the course of the game. Various witnesses are (usually) called by the prosecution and your job as a defense attorney is to press them and use evidence in the court record to point out flaws or contradictions in their testimonies. It sounds simple, but it really requires more and more thought as the cases go on. All of the five cases in this game are murder cases, by the way, so most of them follow the same general outline towards the beginning. The first two actually show you who the murderer is in the cutscene before the case, but the last three don't, and they're the ones I had the most fun with. The fifth case adds a few more elements of gameplay into the investigations, such as the ability to spray luminol and dust for fingerprints, which added much more depth than I would have thought.

Addictiveness: 9/10 There was only one part in the game where I didn't feel the urge to play, and that was after I finished case 1-4 (Turnabout Goodbyes) and was about to start 1-5 (rise from the Ashes). This is mainly because 1-4 was so good, but I heard that 1-5 was super long and I didn't think it'd be worth it. Wrong. 1-5 is the best case in the game, and so if you didn't finish it, you owe it to yourself to go back and do so. Anyway, the game is difficult to put down, especially in the middle of a trial. The investigations can be a little drawn out, but nothing too bad, and honestly what most people consider to be the "filler" case (1-3, Turnabout Samurai) is actually my second favorite case in the game.

Story: 10/10 it would be criminal of me to not give this game a 10/10 for story. The first case (1-1, First Turnabout) is the tutorial case, so it can be excused for not being as exhilarating as the others. Likewise, case #2 (1-2, Turnabout Sisters) is the tutorial to investigations, and while it is arguably more enjoyable than 1-1, it's still nothing all too shocking. 1-3 is my second favorite case and my favorite case of the first four, despite most people disagreeing with this. Turnabout Samurai had great characters, hilarious lines, a fun investigation, and it was the first case where they didn't show you the murderer right off the bat, so it actually felt like I was being an investigator for the first time. Case 1-4 was much better than 1-3 in its impact on the plot, but I enjoyed 1-3 much more for whatever reason. Anyway, 1-4 is still fantastic and is likely to be most people's favorite along with 1-5, despite being fairly long. All in all, the story feels broken up by case but also unified (1-2, 1-4, and 1-5 are the ones that affect the grand plot the most) at the same time. Well done Capcom, after playing so much Mega Man I'm impressed that you were able to come up with such great plot lines.

Music: 10/10 As some of you may know, PWAA was originally released as a GBA game, and so much of the music is in the GBA soundfont, which I really like. In addition to this, this game includes many character specific theme songs, which I've been such a sucker for in the past. I'd describe some of the songs in greater detail, but I think I'll just let the music do the talking:

Jake Marshall's Theme

[close]

Damon Gant's Theme

[close]

Inspector Dick Gumshoe's Theme

[close]

Court Beginns

[close]

Cornered!

[close]

Happy People

[close]

Steel Samurai Theme

[close]

Grossberg's Theme (And a few other people)

[close]

NOOOOOO

[close]

Character Design: 10/10 So many great characters! From lovable protagonists to despicable murderers to hysterical side characters, this game has everything I need. All the character theme songs (my favorites are posted above) really add to people's personality too. I'm not going to say much in particular here to avoid spoiling things, but the characters are among the best, most colorful, and most memorable I've ever seen in a video game.

Humor: 10/10 This is one of the quirkiest games I've ever played. Remember above when I mentioned hysterical side characters? Well, yeah. This game has a lot of hilariously weird moments in it. One of my personal favorite is when someone throws their wig in Phoenix's face after being caught lying during his testimony. The main prosecuting attorney, Miles Edgeworth, has this cold and sarcastic sense of humor that always makes me smile. Also, whenever a character is caught lying or is proven to have committed a crime of some sort, they all have a hilarious breakdown animation that ranges from throwing wigs to banging their head against the wall to being struck by lightning. Yeah, it's funny how hard to play this game with a straight face considering it's all about murders!

Difficulty: 8/10 The most difficult parts of the game are the trials in the last two cases, but if you save often enough and make smart choices, there's nothing all too difficult. Worst case scenario you'll have to reset your system a couple times, but that's about it. It's all just text reading and selecting responses anyway, so you're bound to figure the correct path out eventually if you keep trying hard enough!

Other Memorable Features: Whenever you finish a case, an image of all the important characters replaces the background on that case's selection screen, which serves as a nice reminder of what you just finished. This game has a few hilarious moments in it that occur by checking random objects, so if you play it, be sure to explore your surroundings and examine anything that looks suspicious!

Overall: 9.7/10 The last series of the Holy DS Puzzle Game Trinity does not disappoint.

[popo447]

Hey Blue, I know this is a little off-topic, but can you do a review of Metal Gear Solid?

[blueflower999]

I'm sorry, since when do I own a PlayStation?

[Yugi]

YOU ARE MISSING OUT

[blueflower999]

If there are no games I want, I don't buy the console.

[Yugi]

If I were to convince you to get a PS2 game, would you get one?

[blueflower999]

Take a minute to think about how many times people have had this conversation with me, and then think about the odds of that actually happening. 

I don't play Microsoft or Sony consoles. Period.

[K-NiGhT]

Katamari Damacy.

'nuff said.

[FireArrow]

If I were to convince you to get a PS2 game, would you get one?

It's futile. Trust me.

[mikey]

I respect blueflower for that 

[popo447]

I'm sorry, since when do I own a PlayStation?

You do realize that they made ports of MGS and MGS2 for GameCube...