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3DS: Friend Codes on First Page, OMG THE THIRD DIMENSION

The Damned

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Soul Splint Newbie

Soul Splint

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ohey dragon quest vii 3ds

"We're currently evaluating the title for the Western markets, but nothing has been determined. Please stay tuned for more information." - Square-Enix statement

also this

Well, crap. If they release this in the U.S. (no good reason why they shouldn't) I'll be forced to get a 3DS.

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Thalzon Newbie

Thalzon

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Dragon Quest games tend to have pretty standard overarching plots, but well thought-out and unique subplots. 7 has this in spades, as each region has its own subplot in the past, then you travel to the present and see the long-term effects of your actions.

Additionally, Dragon Quest as a whole has some pretty creative enemy designs, and the way classes are structured means battles are rarely a waste of time.

In DQ7 (and the remake of 6 on the DS) there is also a "party chat" feature, wherein your characters, if prompted by the player, will comment on damn near everything. They'll have something to say about almost any NPC, any location, any boss (it's usable in battle too), and so on. You can ignore it if you want, but it's pretty much 95% of your party's dialogue, so it's recommended you give them a listen every so often.

In the original PS1 game, there were around 60-80 job classes. Most of them were monster classes (so, slime, zombie, lips, etc) and roughly 20 or so were "career" classes. Mastering certain jobs would also unlock combo jobs. For example, mastering Thief and Sailor unlocks Pirate, which has the stat bonuses of both and fewer drawbacks.

DQ7 and 9 are my favourites of the series, so I'm definitely looking forward to this.

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Arrow Newbie

Arrow

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For anyone that picked up Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (and if you didn't, WHY THE HELL NOT), there's a bug in the Japanese version that it turns out they didn't fix for the American release. If you save your game while inside the P.E.C. or Crew Quarters puzzle rooms, your save file may be corrupted. Best way to get around this is to just not save in any puzzle room to be safe, in case the bug may pop up elsewhere.

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CinnamonJihad Newbie

CinnamonJihad

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F#CK!!!!

Arrow, if only you could have mentioned this earlier! I just got my save data corrupted by saving in the infirmary! I had 10 hours logged into it! What a depressing thing. Luckily by skipping dialogue and knowing the puzzles i had done already, I got back to the same place i was at in about 4 hours, but still.... ouch.... no more saving in puzzle rooms for me! Thanks for the heads up though, glad to know exactly where I should be looking out.

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Mirby Newbie

Mirby

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i'm gonna post some game reviews i'm writing on another forum over here so enjoy~

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THE "DENPA" MEN: They Came by Wave

Platform: 3DS (eShop-only)

Developer: Genius Sonority

Genre: Platformer

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Known in Japan as Denpa Ningen RPG, or roughly translated (or rather, Google translated because I'm lazy) "Human Radio," referencing the titular humanoid creatures that ride on the radio waves all around us. For those of you who've played Mega Man Star Force, think Mr. Hertz and the EM beings. Anyways, the game suddenly was mentioned a few weeks back as being localized. The second entry of the series, Denpa Ningen RPG 2 hit the Japanese eShop last Thursday (September 27, 2012), the same day the North America eShop received the first entry, the one you're reading a review for right now.

The game is touted as being an Augmented Reality Role Playing Game, in that you use the 3DS Camera to scan your surroundings and reveal the little Denpa Men floating along like fish in the ocean. For those that don't want to use the camera but still catch Denpa Men, there's a handy Manner Mode which turns off the camera and replaces the background with a blue wireframe. The first thing you'll notice about the Denpa Men is that they're all pretty much wearing a bodysuit, somewhat like a Mii but with arms. The second thing you'll notice is that those suits are different colors.

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Here's the fun thing: those colors determine their elemental strengths and weaknesses. Black bodysuits have no strengths or weaknesses. White ones are strong against Dark without weaknesses. Red is weak to water and strong to fire, whereas green is strong against wind and weak against water. Then there's striped Denpa Men, such as the one below. Danny there is red and light blue, meaning he's strong against fire and ice. The third thing you'll notice is that some have antennas and some don't. These determine their abilities; each Denpa Man can only have one ability, but they can grow. Occasionally you'll find a Denpa Man with an Antenna Root; those grow into rare abilities and are rare themselves depending on where you live. And occasionally you'll even come across shiny Denpa Men that appear white on the touch screen radar; these Denpa Men hold rare abilities and are rare themselves.

When you start a new game, you'll get a Hero with a random name like all the others, random facial appearance, and a random color. The hero will always have the Revive ability though. From there, you catch a few more Denpa Men to make your party grow. Your home base is Digitoll (a pun on digital), an island that houses many things. You'll find an antenna which captures Denpa Men, a house for all your Denpa Men to stay in, a shop run by a dwarf, a shrine to revive fallen Denpa Men, a PC to scan QR codes to receive Denpa Men from others, a museum that shows every antenna ability you've seen in the game, a port to see the World Map and head out to other islands, and the first dungeon. The handy part about the World Map is it tells you a recommended level for each island, which is its own dungeon.

When you first enter a dungeon, you'll see its name along with an episode title akin to anime and your hero will talk to you. You explore the dungeon in old-school RPG fashion, which is wandering aimlessly looking for treasure and the next floor. Enemies appear on the map, so you can flee them if they haven't seen you yet or if you're sufficiently leveled to outrun them when they chase you. A handy map is also filled in on the touch screen, useful for the inevitable repeat trips through the dungeons for treasure and experience. Within every dungeon hides a healing fountain (except the first) that restores all your HP and AP and removes all status effects. Occasionally you'll find a dwarf who'll give you a recuperative massage (I think) with the same effect.

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You'll also find a warp when you're near the boss of the dungeon. This is useful in most dungeons as it gives a safe way to heal, and you can check out the scenes before each boss battle without triggering them (you still need to walk up to the boss in most cases to trigger the battle) and then run back and leave. The game autosaves whenever you return to the World Map from a dungeon or finish doing ANYTHING on Digitoll, which is useful. When you get into a battle, which you will, there's four things you can do. Let the computer decide, make everyone attack, choose everyone's attacks yourself, or run. The AI is pretty good too; often I'd leave it up to the AI and it usually would do what I wanted, though it also became predictable on some grinding trips so I had to compensate with some manual orders a few times. Overall, it's useful and speeds up the battles. And if your quests go unsuccessful and everyone dies, you can recapture lost Denpa Men with the Shrine. Just be prepared to spend a lot of Offerings if your guys were high-level.

And speaking of battles, the monster designs are great in this; there's a few designs I'm surprised I hadn't seen before, but I'll leave those as a surprise for obvious reasons. I loved encountering new enemies and seeing the clever designs, though the staple palette swaps were in full supply as usual. The game is full of a quirky charm, and a quirky sense of humor in everything from the text to the monsters. One Denpa Man I caught asked me, "Is this some sort of scam?" Another inquired, "Is my beauty a crime?" You can also talk to them in the Denpa House and get some seasonal dialogue based on the internal clock. The music is also quite quirky, handled by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Basiscape. Honestly, I love all the songs, and was surprised he was behind it.

One of the fun things about this game was that within every dungeon you would find some sort of upgrade for something on Digitoll, and after every dungeon the shop stocked new items. It became rather exciting, seeing my home base grow with my Denpa Men, new features coming as a reward for clearing a dungeon. It was also nice being able to upgrade my Denpa Men with accessories and clothes to reflect the changing environments in the game. Yeah, your team of firebending Denpa Men who can't be touched by wind may be good for one dungeon, but you may need to switch that up for the next dungeon; that one has a lot of water, and your fire team will be extinguished. There's a balance, you find, and exploiting that is the best way to survive in this game. It's surprisingly tactical when it comes down to it.

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So is this game worth it or should it have stayed in Japan? Personally I didn't even know it existed until I saw the sequel on a Japanese Nintendo Direct, and I fell in love instantly. Everything about it is quirky, and it's a breath of fresh air. It also has some pretty good 3D, if you like using your 3DS for that. There's a free demo on the eShop that everyone should check out; not only can you save your progress at any time, you can save transfer data to the full game. This allows you to keep your progress and Denpa Men intact for the full game, which is only $9.99.

It also has about 20 hours of gameplay for the main storyline. Notice the italics; you probably know what the reason for that is. Yep, once you beat the final boss a post-game storyline consisting of three dungeons with recommended levels ranging from 40 to 60 opens up. I haven't quite started on those yet, but I look forward to seeing what they look like and the enemies present within. And, of course, treasure hunting. I may just update this review when I finish those, and I may not. Either way, I foresee a lot more time with the Denpa Men in my future. Perhaps you'll spend some time with them as well... Until next time, game on!

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Mirby Newbie

Mirby

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so so so excited for new shantae. now where's mah 3ds vc shantae?!?

also have another review

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Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

Platform: 3DS (Retail and Downloadable via eShop)

Developer: Level-5

Genre: Puzzle/Mystery

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Ah, Professor Layton. Ever since the first game, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, was released in early 2008 I've been a devout fan. Equal parts point-and-click adventure, mystery, and puzzle game, Level-5 combines them all flawlessly for a cohesive experience that is only bolstered by the rustic atmosphere Tomohito Nishiura's soundtrack provides. After four games on the Nintendo DS, Layton makes the transition to the 3DS with this installment, and he does it flawlessly.

Though this is the fifth game in the series, it's the second chronologically and takes place after Professor Layton and the Last Specter. If you want to get technical, it takes place after the movie, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, as well, but I'll elaborate on that later. In regards to Miracle Mask, this adventure takes place in the thriving desert city of Monte d'Or that is currently being terrorized by the Masked Gentleman and his "dark miracles." Or is it?

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The game opens up with a grand parade through the streets of Monte d'Or, a city that's thriving but was but a desert oasis 18 years beforehand. Such is the first mystery to be added to the list; how did this city get so big in such a short amount of time? Before anyone has time to ponder this, the Masked Gentleman appears. The giant clown balloon starts to deflate and falls to the ground. Everyone flees, but not Layton and Luke. They run towards the commotion; after narrowly avoiding being smashed by the balloon, they come across statues... of people... The first dark miracle they are witness to is the petrification of tourists!! Just who is this Masked Gentleman, and how does he hold such power? And what's up with the mask he wears, the Mask of Chaos? Layton isn't fooled though; for every puzzle there is a solution. And this is quite the puzzle.

As for the reason they were drawn to Monte d'Or? Layton received a letter from an old friend, one Angela Ledore. Though they hadn't spoken in 18 years, she knew Layton would be able to solve the mystery of the Masked Gentleman. As such, the game's chapters alternate between the present with Professor Layton and his companions, and the past of Hershel Layton and his friends. It's interesting to see how Layton became who he was in his hometown of Stansbury, and how it all relates to what's happening to Monte d'Or in the present. There are two distinct areas to explore in both time periods, and the story is quite well written.

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Naturally, this being a Layton game, there's going to be some puzzles. 150 to be precise, with about 365 more free downloadable Daily Puzzles. There's a good variety too, without as many of the oft-annoying sliding puzzles as in previous installments. I found that though the 3D wasn't used in any of the puzzles for the sake of a solution, the other features were used nicely. There's even a couple puzzles that utilize the internal gyroscope, so you need to move the 3DS like one of those old-school marble labyrinths with the slots the marble could fall in. It's quite rewarding to solve a puzzle on your own, a trend that continues with this game.

However, with the transition from DS to 3DS comes a few changes to the system. No longer will the puzzle itself be always present on the top-screen; instead, you can display the description on either screen or even hide it altogether! In addition, the note feature has been overhauled, allowing even more colors to be used (even purple!) and an undo feature if you mess up. It's quite nice. And the mini-games have been done nicely as well; there's 3 in the trunk and another one you can access but only at night (in-game, not actual nighttime). There's a toy robot that's pretty fun, a shop interface that gets devious in later aisles, and a cute rabbit that you teach tricks and use those tricks to act out plays. Just beware of that rabbit; all reports I've seen call it the cutest thing ever, and I'm inclined to agree.

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The exploration interface has also received quite the overhaul. The biggest change is that the scenery is all on the top screen instead of the bottom. As such, you no longer need to choose the shoe to move; you just tap where you want to go on the touch screen and you're there. Instead of a shoe, there's now the magnifying glass; this is necessary to search areas with, as each part of Monte d'Or you explore is bigger than the screen's display area, so you'll need to move the camera around a bit. Hint coins are a bit less painful to find now as the magnifying glass icon will turn orange when over a suspicious area, be it a bit of funny text, a coin, or a collection item. It can also turn blue, denoting an area you can zoom into, revealing even more in that segment of the city and potentially more coins or collectibles. The characters are now 3D models as well, and as Level-5 has proven time and again, these models are faithful to the artwork we've seen of the characters. They move about and have their own mannerisms and everything. It's much more entertaining to watch than just the static poses they had in previous games.

All these systems come together for one of the most riveting Layton adventures I've played, and it all leads into the recently announced Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies. The prequel trilogy that began with Last Specter started an overarching storyline involving the ancient Azran civilization, and all parts of it (including the aforementioned Eternal Diva) are relevant to the end. I recommend playing (and watching) these parts, because they're all great; however, this review isn't about the trilogy, it's about this installment in it. And it's a great installment; it moves Layton to the 3DS perfectly. The cutscenes are crisp, the music is clear, and the world is even livelier than ever before.

Speaking of the music, it's quite good. Tomohito Nishiura's on top of his game with this one; there's not a track in the game I haven't come to love. And it's as clear in-game as you hear in that video; with the transition from DS to 3DS comes better audio fidelity, which this game uses magnificently. Though the backgrounds of each area are actual artwork, there's plenty of other things in front of that to bring it to life, and the random NPCs that litter the area only help that (fun fact: these NPCs are the very same unnamed characters you'll see in the assorted puzzles of the game). And of course, the music only heightens that sense of life, that feeling that Monte d'Or (and Stansbury) is a living breathing world somewhere.

I highly recommend this game, whether you like puzzle games or just want a good mystery (but are good at solving puzzles because, come on, that's a huge part of the game). The music is phenomenal, and ties into each area perfectly. And the ending... once everything falls into place and you see how it all worked out... It's great. Check it out if you want, and if you're interested in the story of the Azran be sure to check out Last Specter and Eternal Diva. Until next time, game on!

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ocre Newbie

ocre

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For those of us playing Paper Mario Sticker Star, here are a couple of tips to help you enjoy the game.

- You can fast-exit from an area you've already cleared by pressing Select.

- You can arrange your stickers by pressing Select while on the Sticker album page.

- You can purchase any of the unpaperized 'Things' in a shady black market type corner to the left of the Stickerization yard in Decalburg.

- Remember to use your action commands.

- Remember to switch to Paperize view often, as there will sometimes be squares to place stickers(which often results in upgraded shiny stickers) or Scraps to fix.

Edited by ocre
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Mirby Newbie

Mirby

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For those of us playing Paper Mario Sticker Star, here are a couple of tips to help you enjoy the game.

- You can fast-exit from an area you've already cleared by pressing Select.

- You can arrange your stickers by pressing Select while on the Sticker album page.

- You can purchase any of the unpaperized 'Things' in a shady black market type corner to the left of the Stickerization yard in Decalburg.

- Remember to use your action commands.

- Remember to switch to Paperize view often, as there will sometimes be squares to place stickers(which often results in upgraded shiny stickers) or Scraps to fix.

you can also use Start for the first two. in fact, the icon for sorting stickers says START not SELECT.

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