Holiday Gift Games

[Zevox]

Well, I'd imagine that many of us who are frequent video game players probably got at least a game or two, if not quite a few, for Christmas or another such December holiday here. But not all of those games are going to have their own threads, and starting a new one for each might just end up in a lot of short threads that peter out pretty quick. So I was thinking, how about a general thread for discussing whatever the holidays have given us to play?

Myself, I got quite a few games for Christmas. The ones I've started playing today are Kirby's Return to Dream Land and El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. Kirby is quite fun so far (I'm in the middle of world 4), though it is pretty easy and seems kind of short, and I do have one complaint in that I wish it were possible to backtrack to previous parts of stages when you realize that you missed one of the energy orbs by virtue of getting another that's further down the list than you expected. El Shaddai, eh, I don't know. So far it has a very weird, incoherent way of presenting its story, I really have a hard time figuring out just where it is I am and what I'm really doing (the story seems to say I'm on earth, but you sure as heck wouldn't know it from the level designs), and the controls just feel too loose to me for some reason, not quite what I remember from the demo I played earlier in the year. I'm still very early on though - haven't even seen the second weapon type, the projectile one, yet - so that's just very early impressions.

I also got Donkey Kong Country Returns, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and a 3DS with Super Mario 3D Land, Ocarina of Time 3D, and Star Fox 64 3D, but I haven't started those yet. And it may actually be a while before I touch the handheld titles, since I'm smack in the middle of a play-through of Persona 3 Portable, and having never played the portable version before I am getting new content since I'm playing as the female main character. That could easily last me quite a while yet, considering I've been playing it for a month just to get to around the halfway point. Yeah, Persona 3 is just that long. I'm definitely looking forward to Phoenix Wright and Mario 3D Land though. I'll probably pop in Phoenix Wright before Mario though, since I'll have Kirby and Donkey Kong providing me with Nintendo platforming goodness in the meantime.

So, anybody else get games they want to talk about?

Zevox

[Frankelshtein]

I received Vanquish, which I'm quite excited to play through. I'm a big fan of the developer, and the game seems like a throughly enjoyable arcade-y action-fest.

Somewhat unrelated note: I also got a hat. It's red, soft and amazing.

[The-Mage-King]

I got...


Skyward Sword and some MtG cards.


Haven't started Skyward Sword quite yet- My Wii has been... D/C'd for almost 6 months, so I'll need to remember how to set it up.



Unrelated.... I got a scarf. It's grey, and soft. Like my new felted wool fedora.

There. Beat you.

[Starwulf]

Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity, Breath of Fire III for the PSP and Valhalla Knights 2 for the PSP. Looking forward to BoF 3 the most, but it'll be a little while before I can get to it, I'm about 85% of the way done Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2. I say 85% even though I've completed all the storyline and optional storyline stuff, I'm just trying to breed the Ultimate Monsters, Rigor Mortex, and I"m just 4 breeding cycles away from that(Great Godbird(which I can already breed, just haven't yet), Wildcard, Leonyx, then Rigor Mortex.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity I'm greatly anticipating as well, but I'll probably start it tonight or tomorrow, since I play my handhelds at night only.

[Gourtox]

I got...


Skyward Sword and some MtG cards.


Haven't started Skyward Sword quite yet- My Wii has been... D/C'd for almost 6 months, so I'll need to remember how to set it up.



Unrelated.... I got a scarf. It's grey, and soft. Like my new felted wool fedora.

There. Beat you.

I also got Skyward Sword. Spent ten minutes looking formy nunchuck, put it in, and found out I need motion plus to play it. :smallannoyed: There will be a trip to walmart tomorrow.

[nhbdy]

got gift cards and $...

they are going toward getting the orange box and portal 2 (late to the party I know) and one other game... so far I'm thinking dark souls or assassin's creed

[TheSummoner]

I got Kirby's Return to Dreamland. Only game I got since there really isn't much out that I...

1) Want.
2) Can play with what I already have.
3) Don't already own.

Aside from that it was mostly cash and computer stuff. I haven't started playing it yet, but I'm glad to hear it's fun (not that I doubted it ^_^)

[Zevox]

I also got Skyward Sword. Spent ten minutes looking formy nunchuck, put it in, and found out I need motion plus to play it. :smallannoyed: There will be a trip to walmart tomorrow.
Well, yeah, that was kind of the whole thing that game was based on. Didn't you see any of the previews for it at all :smallconfused: ? There was even a special edition of the game that came bundled with a Wiimote+ (wiimote with the motion plus built in) that was colored gold and had the Skyward Sword emblem on it.


I got Kirby's Return to Dreamland.
[...]
I haven't started playing it yet, but I'm glad to hear it's fun (not that I doubted it ^_^)
Eeyup, it's definitely fun. You actually get quite a lot of different moves with each ability you copy - you should look them up on the pause menu each time you get a new ability, as there are some you probably won't guess on your own. For example, I've encountered a couple that give you a special jumping spin attack if you press down, then up, then attack, almost like a fighting game special move input. Oh, and one I just recently saw makes you a ninja, which is pretty awesome.

Zevox

[Gourtox]

Well, yeah, that was kind of the whole thing that game was based on. Didn't you see any of the previews for it at all :smallconfused: ? There was even a special edition of the game that came bundled with a Wiimote+ (wiimote with the motion plus built in) that was colored gold and had the Skyward Sword emblem on it.

I somehow managed to miss that part. I have no idea how, but I did.

[TheSummoner]

Well, yeah, that was kind of the whole thing that game was based on. Didn't you see any of the previews for it at all :smallconfused: ? There was even a special edition of the game that came bundled with a Wiimote+ (wiimote with the motion plus built in) that was colored gold and had the Skyward Sword emblem on it.

Was $20 cheaper than buying Skyward Sword and a Wiimote+ separately too. Best. Bundle. Ever.

[Balain]

I got Skyrim .... Woot

Assassin's creed Brotherhood ... I'm late to the game on this series still finishing up the first one

Duke Nukem forever .... kind of a guilty pleasure, only $9 brand new here now lol


Got some Munchkin cards too, Reindeer games and I suspect cthulhu set but won't get that one till later in the week.

[Xondoure]

There was a kinect spree at my house, odd because none of us have used the kinect in months until today. My favorite so far is Gunstringer. There's just something awesome about a skeleton cowboy marionette eating taco el diablos while seeking revenge on those who turned on him.

[Raistlin1040]

Skyrim! (Excellent!)
Ocarina of Time on 3DS! (Excellent!)
Dark Souls (...meh)

[Cogwheel]

A copy of Drakensang which I'm rather looking forward to playing once I have more time (thanks, Blackfox!) Generally don't get any presents for this time of the year, so it was definitely a nice surprise.

Now let's just hope I'm capable of playing other stuff without getting dragged back into Dungeons of Dredmor.

[Aidan305]

I got a Mega Drive. This allows me to play all the games I used to play when I was young.

[warty goblin]

Duke Nukem forever .... kind of a guilty pleasure, only $9 brand new here now lol.

If you like DNF, get the campaign DLC (The Doctor who Cloned Me). I found it a touch more fun than the base campaign, with one or two very funny and well written moments and a couple fun new guns.

Nobody else in my family really cares for games as a hobby, so I don't get games for Christmas, don't even bother putting them on my list anymore. On the other hand the digital sales are so crazy good that it doesn't really matter, I can get all the games I want for a fraction of what they'd cost if I asked people to buy them for me.

[Loki_42]

I got Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and just found out that the first game(Which I never played) came free with my copy, so that's cool.
I also got the Ico+Shadow of The Colossus Collection, which I was really late to the party on playing those.

[Zevox]

I've continued playing Kirby and El Shaddai today. Got into world 5 in Kirby, and it's looking like there's actually going to be some parts that resemble a challenge in it after all. The boss of world 4 was actually pretty awesome. It looked like some of kind yeti/gorilla thing, and when I got him to half health his hair turned yellow I immediately thought "did he just turn super saiyan on me?" When he started throwing kamehameha blasts around I realized that yes, that is precisely what had happened :smallbiggrin: . Beat him using the ninja power too, just tossing darts at him like a friggin' machine gun every chance I got. It turned into a close fight too, I wasn't sure I was going to win, unlike every previous boss fight.

With El Shaddai, I should just stop expecting narrative coherency and enjoy the fighting and visuals, shouldn't I? It hasn't put that much effort into making sense yet, so I'm kind of losing hope that it ever will. I ended my last session shortly after acquiring the third weapon, the veil, for the first time. Gotta say, the game's art style is definitely the most unique I've seen in a video game, and lends itself very well to some really surreal stuff, which is pretty much everything that's happening in the game. I'm getting more the hang of the combat too, so I think I'll enjoy this on the whole. It's just a pity that the writing is so choppy and impossible to follow.


I got Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and just found out that the first game(Which I never played) came free with my copy, so that's cool.
Really? Now that's interesting to hear. I haven't gotten around to trying the Assassin's Creed series yet, and I'll want to play them in order when I do, so I'll have to keep that in mind. How's that work precisely? Is that a physical copy of the original game that comes with the new one, or is it a free download code type of thing, or just on the same disk as the new game? Is it a special edition bundle type of thing or does it come with every copy?

Zevox

[Maxios]

I got:
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
3D Dot Game Heroes
InFamous 2
Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls (came as part of a buy two get one free deal).

[warty goblin]

Really? Now that's interesting to hear. I haven't gotten around to trying the Assassin's Creed series yet, and I'll want to play them in order when I do, so I'll have to keep that in mind. How's that work precisely? Is that a physical copy of the original game that comes with the new one, or is it a free download code type of thing, or just on the same disk as the new game? Is it a special edition bundle type of thing or does it come with every copy?

Zevox

The conventional wisdom I've heard indicates that Assassin's Creed 1 really isn't worthwhile, but the later games (AssCreed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations if you really like more of basically the same) are. I haven't played the later titles, but can confirm that the first game isn't particularly good. It's not bad mind, and the idea definitely has promise, but it comes nowhere near fulfilling said promise.

And the holiday sale madness continues: today's harvest being Civ V + DLC, Frontlines: Fuel of War, Grotesque Tactics 2 and Starpoint Gemini. I was sorely tempted by Battlefield 3 for $40, but the singleplayer's apparently dreadful and multiplayer seldom does much for me.

[Zevox]

The conventional wisdom I've heard indicates that Assassin's Creed 1 really isn't worthwhile, but the later games (AssCreed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations if you really like more of basically the same) are. I haven't played the later titles, but can confirm that the first game isn't particularly good. It's not bad mind, and the idea definitely has promise, but it comes nowhere near fulfilling said promise.
*shrugs* I would kind of expect the series to improve as time went on, so that's not terribly surprising. My main reason for wanting to play them in order is that I understand that the storyline gets a lot of focus in the series, so as long as the first isn't so terrible that I don't even want to finish it (which is rare with me), I should be fine.

Anyway, I beat Kirby last night. Not particularly hard, but very fun. I liked most of the later bosses. Went through the boss rush mode that winning the main game unlocks as well, beating everything with the water power as Kirby, clearing it in half the time with King Dedede (because he hits like a friggin' truck), and getting up to the second-to-last boss with Metaknight. I'm going to try the "extra mode" tonight - I'm guessing it's just a hard mode, but this game could really use one of those, so I'm in.

Still playing El Shaddai as well, and I might be about halfway through if the recent mention that I'm halfway up the tower is any indication. It still doesn't make any sense plot-wise, but it's pretty enjoyable. Though the fact that you don't seem to be able to unlock any new moves or abilities beyond the three weapons you get quite quickly and the super mode you get at the first major boss is disappointing. As far as gameplay goes they've got the foundation of a great over-the-top action game in the vein of Devil May Cry here, but it looks like they're not going to take it beyond the foundation.

Zevox

[Mewtarthio]

AC 2 is definitely way better than the first, if only because the alien mind control device is part of the plot from the start, instead of a last-second genre-smasher. Also, better plot, characters, pacing, and gameplay.

Myself, I got Arkham City. It's actually surprisingly different from the first game so far. I'll get into it some more once I polish off Skyward Sword.

[JabberwockySupafly]

Didn't get any actual games as gifts this year, as I'm happy with spending my own money on the Steam sales and I'd rather peopleput their funds towards more important things, like the RSPCA. I *DID* get a set of Turtle Beach X12 headphones that I've been wanting for ages as I needed a decent set for when I play PC or 360 games, especially since they play the gamesound through the headphones, which means the missus can't whinge that I'm being too loud at 1 in the morning when she's trying to sleep :smallbiggrin:



Skyrim! (Excellent!)
Ocarina of Time on 3DS! (Excellent!)
Dark Souls (...meh)

You...you're Meh-ing Dark Souls? Really? That game deserves RPG of the year, hands down. I own Skyrim, and I've played it for all of 50 hours to the 100+ hours of Dark Souls. And I'm still playing Dark Souls. I only play Skyrim if I can't get to the 360 for some reason or another. It's a game that's actually challenging and you actually feel like you've accomplished something when you defeat a particularly difficult boss or enemy.

Try the game. And I mean a good, solid try. I don't mean "play 20 minutes and make a decision." I mean, play it to the first real boss (Taurus Demon) and then make a decision. It's the first RPG where you have to take everything, even the landscape, into consideration when fighting your enemies, instead of just "Spam attack button with big weapon or spell, watch everything die" like more Action RPGs end up being today. If you don't care for it after trying it, that's fine, but if you're a fan of Action RPGs then please don't dismiss it until you've played it. There's a reason it's become the sleeper hit of 2011.


...And with that, I'm going to go... and uh... play Dark Souls... I am not obsessedgottagetqueelagsfuryswordtoplusfive...

[Zevox]

Myself, I got Arkham City. It's actually surprisingly different from the first game so far. I'll get into it some more once I polish off Skyward Sword.
Aye, Arkham City is just fantastic as sequels go. So much improvement gameplay-wise.

Anyway, I gave Kirby's "extra mode" a try, and yeah, it's a hard mode. The thing is, the only changes seem to be that you have about 3/5 of your hp from normal mode (an odd ratio, but it definitely seems to be a bit above half, but not as high as 3/4, so there you go) and that bosses got new moves to make them tougher. Which, to be fair, does seem like it'd make the bosses much more challenging - some of the later ones could get quite close even on normal, so the hp alone would make that a fair bit harder, and I can attest that the first major boss was much more difficult with its new abilities than it was originally. The problem is that doesn't make the majority of the game, the platforming stages, much more difficult, since then only the hp decrease applies, and you tend to get plenty of healing items and you have a ton of extra lives in this game.

So I don't think I'll be continuing with it - maybe the next time I want to play it, but right now I don't think I want to replay all those stages again if they're not going to mix things up a bit more than this. Guess I'll move on to Donkey Kong tomorrow.

Zevox

[Joran]

Given to me as a gift:

L.A. Noire
Orcs Must Die
Limbo

Grabbed at ridiculously low prices:

Bastion (currently playing)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Still have yet to play from last Christmas:

BioShock 2.

[Loki_42]

Really? Now that's interesting to hear. I haven't gotten around to trying the Assassin's Creed series yet, and I'll want to play them in order when I do, so I'll have to keep that in mind. How's that work precisely? Is that a physical copy of the original game that comes with the new one, or is it a free download code type of thing, or just on the same disk as the new game? Is it a special edition bundle type of thing or does it come with every copy?

Zevox

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. I believe it's only an option for the PS3 copy, and the internet is telling me it was a day one bonus, but I don't think the gift-givers in my case bought it on release, so I'm not sure. It bundled the game onto the same disk, and you have to install it on your hard drive to play it, but you can play it without the disc. Sorry if I'm not that helpful, I wasn't even aware I was getting it until I noticed the little sticker on the case.

In other news, I used some money I got to buy the God of War series, which I haven't gotten around to playing yet, and the PS3 remake of No More Heroes, which I'm loving immensely.

[Raistlin1040]

You...you're Meh-ing Dark Souls? Really? That game deserves RPG of the year, hands down. I own Skyrim, and I've played it for all of 50 hours to the 100+ hours of Dark Souls. And I'm still playing Dark Souls. I only play Skyrim if I can't get to the 360 for some reason or another. It's a game that's actually challenging and you actually feel like you've accomplished something when you defeat a particularly difficult boss or enemy.

Try the game. And I mean a good, solid try. I don't mean "play 20 minutes and make a decision." I mean, play it to the first real boss (Taurus Demon) and then make a decision. It's the first RPG where you have to take everything, even the landscape, into consideration when fighting your enemies, instead of just "Spam attack button with big weapon or spell, watch everything die" like more Action RPGs end up being today. If you don't care for it after trying it, that's fine, but if you're a fan of Action RPGs then please don't dismiss it until you've played it. There's a reason it's become the sleeper hit of 2011.


...And with that, I'm going to go... and uh... play Dark Souls... I am not obsessedgottagetqueelagsfuryswordtoplusfive...I did play to the Taurus Demon. I played it past the two Gargoyles, rang the first bell, wandered around in the jungle place for a while. I logged about 20 hours on it between two files. I just didn't like it that much, for a lot of reasons that would take a long time to get into. I think Skyrim is much more interesting, better art, better music, better story, more options (although I'm further in Skyrim than I am in Dark Souls, so that might only be at the beginning that you feel fairly confined). Yeah, Skyrim can be a bit hack n' slash (I just beat a giant that should have killed me just by running around and spamming my spells the entire time), but I'm not really playing it for the combat. The combat is nice, but I'm playing it for the story.

[Zevox]

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. I believe it's only an option for the PS3 copy, and the internet is telling me it was a day one bonus, but I don't think the gift-givers in my case bought it on release, so I'm not sure. It bundled the game onto the same disk, and you have to install it on your hard drive to play it, but you can play it without the disc. Sorry if I'm not that helpful, I wasn't even aware I was getting it until I noticed the little sticker on the case.
Hm, I see. If it is a limited-time thing then I can't count on being able to get it myself, since I probably won't have time to get to old games that I don't have but would like to try until the second half of the coming year, given that pretty much every game of 2012 that I want is coming out within about a month of each other in March. Oh well, no big deal.

Anyway, I started up Donkey Kong Country Returns, and sheesh, quite the contrast with Kirby there. DK is pretty unforgiving, even in the early stages. It does seem to be pretty easy to stockpile extra lives, but if the game gets much harder, I'll probably need them.

Also continued with El Shaddai, and somehow it's making even less sense the further I get into it. I haven't seen a game with a story this poorly told since Final Fantasy 13 - though to be fair at least El Shaddai isn't full of characters that are actively annoying like FF13 was (I actually like its take on Lucifer - something about him popping up every so often while casually chatting with God via a cell phone is just appealing to me), and I'll be surprised if even El Shaddai can rival FF13 for "most nonsensical ending in a video game." Still fun to play, but sheesh, it really leaves me wishing they had spent as much time on the writing as they did on the surreal-as-hell art style.

Zevox

[TheSummoner]

I beat DKCR a while back.

Yes, the game is quite liberal in giving out the extra lives.

Yes, you will need them.

I think I reached 99 lives at one point. I think I had about 20 left by the time I beat it.

[hayabusa]

I still get a lot of video games for Christmas. Usually not the newer ones, but I really don't care.

PS3

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Final Fantasy XIII
Madden 12
NCAA Football 12

PC

Dragon Age: Origins
D&D Anthology: The Master Collection (AKA: Baldur's Gate I & II including expansions, Icewind Dale I & II including expansions, Planescape Torment and Temple of Elemental Evil).

Handheld

Dragon Quest IX
DuckTales (Game Boy version)
Breath of Fire (GBA)

[Zevox]

I beat DKCR a while back.

Yes, the game is quite liberal in giving out the extra lives.

Yes, you will need them.

I think I reached 99 lives at one point. I think I had about 20 left by the time I beat it.
I believe it. Did world 2 today, and sheesh I hate the controls on the rocket barrel already. I mean, really, controlling it angle of ascent and descent by how much you mash the "2" button? Ow. Beyond that I'm having fun, since it's actually a good platformer most of the time, but that was just painful.

Also beat El Shaddai, and yeah, it still doesn't really make sense. To be fair though, I was right, it doesn't beat out FF13 for most nonsense ending in a video game. The final boss comes clear out of nowhere (pretty much literally, in fact), there's a twist ending that results in an anticlimax, and a lot of the details still don't add up no matter how you try and think about it, but at least there's a relatively simple story at the core: God sends Enoch to track down seven fallen angels, Enoch finds them living in a tower, kills the ones that are still alive, the tower falls, the humans that were living there are freed, the end. The way its told and basically all of the details along the way never add up to anything sensible, but you can at least get that much out of it. I can't say that much for FF13.

Oh well. El Shaddai is ultimately mostly wasted potential I'd say. As I mentioned before, it has the fundamentals of a great action game in the vein of Devil May Cry or God of War, but never goes beyond those fundamentals. So the gameplay is good but limited, the visuals very good, but the story unimpressive and very badly told. It was fun, but could have been so much better. Makes me very glad I went with Catherine instead of it back when the two released simultaneously earlier this year though.

Zevox

[Mewtarthio]

I believe it. Did world 2 today, and sheesh I hate the controls on the rocket barrel already. I mean, really, controlling it angle of ascent and descent by how much you mash the "2" button? Ow. Beyond that I'm having fun, since it's actually a good platformer most of the time, but that was just painful.

Protip: You can, in fact, hold down the button to make a faster ascent. Took me forever to figure that out, and you will need to do that to survive the later rocket barrel stages.

[Zevox]

Protip: You can, in fact, hold down the button to make a faster ascent. Took me forever to figure that out, and you will need to do that to survive the later rocket barrel stages.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Finished world 3 today. There was a particularly frustrating segment of one stage that really got to me, where I was without Diddy trying to complete a segment with a new enemy type (a tower of five blob-like enemies) that took me several lives to figure out how I was supposed to beat, plus some tricky platforming and enemy spawning that made getting through with only two hp a pain. Must have cost me more than a dozen lives. That got to be a little too much for my taste honestly - I like a challenge, but that was overdoing it.

Zevox

[ObadiahtheSlim]

I got LA Noire and Deus Ex with christmas money. Unreal 3 was given as a gift.

[Tavar]

So, Zevox, would you say El Shaddai is worth, say, 20 bucks? And how is the actual game play?

[Zevox]

So, Zevox, would you say El Shaddai is worth, say, 20 bucks? And how is the actual game play?
Hm, depends on much you like simple action-game combat I'd say. I probably wouldn't be bothered to have spent that much on it myself, but I do like that kind of fighting.

The gameplay is pretty much that - simple action-game combat. Like God of War or Devil May Cry, but more limited than either of those series (fewer weapons, no magic powers, no upgrades or new moves to get over the course of the game). You get three different weapons - the arch, which is your standard melee-style weapon; the gale, which is your projectile weapon; and the veil, which is a defensive weapon, a shield that splits into two gauntlets. The arch is fast and good for juggling enemies in air combos, the gale is fast and long-range but hits lightly with each individual attack and is the worst at blocking attacks, and the veil is slow but powerful and possesses the ability to block even boss attacks. Each has a couple of different attack patterns based on the rythm with which you press the "attack" button, just like in God of War or Devil May Cry, though in all honesty I never found much use for their alternate attack patterns and tended to just mash out the basic one; each has a charge attack which is more powerful (and in the gale's case can combo several times when done on the ground) but requires time to charge up; and each has a special attack, which is normally done with block + attack, but I switched to be a button in itself (the option to change the controls is actually very helpful in this game, as it has a couple of odd choices for its default button layout).

The arch's special attack is a launcher when done on the ground, which allows the aforementioned air combos, and when done in the air extends those combos or knocks the enemy back to the ground. The gale's is the most useless of the bunch, causing you to jump up or down with the gale's ilttle pegs (which are its projectiles and normally hover behind you when you have the weapon) encircling you. You'll hardly ever use that, since if anything gets that close to you when you're using the gale, you'll just want to run. The veil's is a basic hit on the ground, but pressing attack after it transitions into a set of rapid punches that are good for using on enemies that don't have backup; in the air it does a slam attack where you bash the ground below you with the shield and a few small lightning bolts strike near you, which is decent for crowd control.

And that's all there is to them, really. Once you get accustomed to the flow of each weapon's strategy fighting with any of them is easy. And the enemies are all the same few types, and almost all armed with one of those three weapons. Part of the game is that you only carry one weapon at a time, and can steal new ones from enemies after doing a certain amount of damage to them. It's actually often worth it to steal from every enemy, just to disarm them and make them less of a threat afterward. Doing so also means that you never need to worry about the game's purification/corruption mechanic - over time, hitting enemies with your weapons causes them to become corrupted, and if they become fully corrupted they do less damage. You can purify them at any time, but this takes just long enough that doing so mid-battle is often a bad idea (though it can be pulled off if you put some distance between yourself and your enemies). When you steal a weapon from an enemy though it is automatically purified, solving that issue.

Beyond the combat there is a significant amount of platforming, but that doesn't get too hard. Near the end some somewhat challenging segments arise, but they just take a few tries at most. The platforming is even eased by a couple of the weapons - each has a special movement ability you can use. The arch is very useful for the platforming since it lets you float slowly instead of falling normally, the gale is okay for it since it lets you do a quick air dash, and the veil is useless for it since its movement ability allows you to take a step forward while blocking (this is very useful in fights though, particularly with bosses).

Oh, there's also a super mode you unlock during the first boss fight, which you'll occasionally be told is available to you (I never could figure out how it charges up). I only really used it during bosses - when you activate it you get your armor (hp) restored, knock the boss into a vulnerable state, and your attacks all have the archangel Uriel backing them up with fiery punches. You can end the super mode early with a super attack, your most damaging move, and I pretty much always did that after one combo, since it's far more powerful than just wailing away with the super mode on until it ends.

Zevox

[Zevox]

And since this thread got revived: I recently wrapped up my play-through of Persona 3 Portable, and have started on Phoenix Wright. And my goodness if this isn't the goofiest, hammiest game I've ever seen. If there's a normal person in this world, I've yet to meet them. Which, don't get me wrong, is extremely entertaining. It's easy to see why people love these games if they're all like this. It's so ridiculous it's hilarious.

It's not realistic in the least - I'm quite certain that Phoenix wouldn't get far at all in a real court - but honestly, I'm left not caring about that at all.

Zevox