DS Review: Puzzle Bobble Galaxy

Anyone who's played any of the Bubble Bobble series over the years (and it's been around for about as long as I can remember, so that's saying something in terms of longevity) knows how these games typically work. They are, as the name would suggest, various forms of puzzle games. This one in particular doesn't exactly have a very original style to it (I'm sure most of us have played some form of the "bubble pop" puzzle at some point), but it doesn't mean that it's not good. The difference with this game is that, for once, there's actually a plot to go along with this sort of puzzler. Granted, it's a somewhat loose plot, but a plot nonetheless. Also, just because you finish a level in this game doesn't mean that you've necessarily unlocked everything; oh, no. There's certain bubbles, star bubbles, that you MUST pop if you want the bonuses that come along with them. The boss levels are also particularly difficult, since you have to work around obstacles and use the utmost precision to hit very specific points that are damn near impossible to reach. But depending upon your viewpoint, this can be a good or a bad thing - I like a challenge, and it kept me busy for about a week playing through it. Of course, there's also a multiplayer mode where you can connect to another player through a single card, which comes in handy, because how often do you run into two people with the same obscure game title? Not too often, just saying. The graphics aren't bad...they're nothing spectacular, but they're pretty alright. And the music is pleasant enough; it won't drive you crazy from hours of playing (probably). Ideally, I think I would have liked to have seen the story mode go on longer than it does. Apart from that, if you enjoy this type of game, definitely give it a shot, I think you might like it. I'm rating this a 6 out of 10 colored bubbles.

DS Review: Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island

After how much I found that I loved A Witch's Tale, I took a gander over at the NIS game website to see what other games for the DS they've put out, in hopes that perhaps I might find another game I like equally well. The title seemed interesting - I liked the cover, but I recognized the title quickly as sounding German...or at least, German-inspired. Oh sure, why not? I'll give it a try.

I wasn't disappointed.

You're playing the role of Annie, a young lady who seemingly wants nothing more out of life than to merely "marry up" in society... You know, a gold-digger. She's lazy, has zero motivation, and never goes anywhere or does anything. Her family is worried about her, to the point where her grandfather feels the need to step in and do something. He sends her away to the remote Sera Island, where she will be trained to become an alchemist...whether she likes it or not! As you would imagine, she is not pleased with this arrangement. But, with the help of new friends that she makes on the island, she slowly begins to learn the ways of alchemy.

Initially, there's only one factor that makes her willing to try at all - there's a huge contest for all the alchemists on the island, and whoever wins will win either the King's son or daughter's hand in marriage. Talk about marrying up! Suddenly, it's nose-to-the-grindstone for Annie, and she begins to work harder than she's ever done in her life.

You spend the majority of the game mixing elements together to create different items that you'll need along your travels, as well as running errands for others. In addition, you'll be trying to build and operate the biggest, best resort the island has ever seen! Along the way, you'll run into deluges of monsters, who you must battle in a turn-based RPG style. But it's all fun, it's not as tedious as certain other games have made the genre out to be!

Where it gets interesting is that this game can have dozens of different outcomes at the game's conclusion. Just a quick tap into youtube, searching for "Atelier Annie ending" will bring up loads of these (which I sat and watched pretty much all of). Everything from the entire contest having been a huge mistake and everything's being shut down now, right up to actually going and marrying the prince. (With LOTS of possibilities in between those two.) It all depends upon just how you played the game, which relationships you developed, how well you managed things... This appeals to me, and definitely scores it major points in the replay value factor.

It's not often that I do this, but....I'm going to rate this game a 10 out of 10 alchemy pots!