Hi-Ho Hi-Ho

I was back to work yesterday after having had 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Year. I don't ever remember two weeks going by so quickly. I managed to do most of the things I wanted to.... eat too much, drink too much, snack constantly, drink constantly, stay up too late and play video games, and yet I feel unsatisfied. I did spend one whole week away from home, staying with my parents, away from any consoles, and this may be at the root of this unfulfilled feeling. I’m certain that more gaming, throughout 2009, will correct this feeling and so my new years resolution is to play more games.

I did play some games over the festive holiday even managing to find some time while at my parents to play Final Fantasy on the GBA SP that mysteriously found it’s way into my travel bag. Have you ever had that feeling of other people’s eyes tearing into your soul while you bury your head further into a game or a book or newspaper? I have.

Once I returned home I quickly set about playing some of my favourite older games. Not older as in mature, I know where some forum members minds will be wandering too, older as in retro and games as in video. With time seemingly on fast forward I merely dipped into Daze Before Christmas on my Mega Drive and Monty's Christmas Special on the PC. Both games that I'll leave until next December now. I blew the dust off my C64 and played Infocom's brilliant game Suspended, probably my favourite adventure game, John Singleton's Lords of Midnight and Maniac Mansion just so I could microwave hamsters. It just never gets boring!

The disappointing Fable 2 occupied a lot of the game time in the evenings and early hours. When I could get away with staying up late that is. I saw 2am once. I think it was 2am. My eyes were so bloodshot and sore that I may have been looking at the cat food dish. Now I know I'm getting old.

So although I would have liked a little more pixel time this Christmas I still had a really great holiday. Especially being with my family and visiting family and friends back home in Cheshire. I guess that's the real reason that time went so quickly.

Happy new year!

Sick bags are in the seat backs in front of you on the GAMEOV3R FORUM

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King

Gameov3rite macchinmi has given us his views of the Wiiware game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Like as a King. Released back on the 20th May, as a Wiiware launch title, mac has been putting in a good few hours with this one. Just ask his girlfriend! FFCC:MLaaK has recently received some DLC so it's high time that the forum spoke. Thanks macchinmi.

So I had some extra points from registering games and liked the look of this so took the plunge for the 1500 points.

Its quite phenomenally addictive and has already incurred the first 'wrath of female' reaction from my girlfriend when I accidentally {sure it was accidental mac! - Ed) played it for 7 1/2 hours last week.

I admit from the description it hardly sounds that enticing: you simply build the town and manage the kingdom and do no adventuring yourself, that being far too dangerous for the King, you hire suitable adventurers and send them off to dungeons to bring back reports. Initially there is very little you can build and do, the total build area seems very small, and you have to learn by trial and error and speaking to the inhabitants of your little town regularly.

Then you realise that having your adventurers explore certain areas fully and making sure they are experienced enough and have the right equipment allows you to, in the civilisation sense, follow the tech-tree and discover more and larger types of building, which in turn allow you to build more houses and entice more people to move in, giving a wider spread of suitable adventurers. Build a weapons, armour or item shop and your adventurers will stock up before a quest, and entering the shop allows you to fund research using the money you gain from taxing the population. Academies allow training in different classes, so your warriors can become wizards, clerics or thieves and gain the various benefits of specialising by your funding research into abilities in the different classes.

Controls are pretty simple, you control the little king as he runs around town in third person, and use the A button to talk to people, enter building or interact with things. wave the remote or press + and your assistant arrives and allows you to build structures and various other options. To build you simply stand on a suitably sized plot of land, choose the appropriate building type and place it in the relevant direction. the town has a specific layout and seems limiting but it is the positioning and streamlining of the town when you hit the limits which make the game interesting. choosing the correct location for a building is as important as having it, as the adventurers take time to prepare themselves in town before setting off and will return when it gets too late (they work nine-6 but will do overtime later in the game!), so having all their relevant buildings in a little shopping district is beneficial to time management. also having houses next to a training building will affect the children in that house, making them more inclined stats wise to be a cleric if they live near the temple.

so, the building is pretty basic, why is the game maddeningly addictive? Because of the people management, specifically the adventurers. being a 'hands-on' king and talking to the inhabitants of your town increases morale and allows expansion of the town. having your adventurers in a good mood makes them more likely to succeed, equally you have to make sure not to overwork them as they get depressed and so giving a hard worker some time off is also of value. at the start of the day you as king can place Royal Behests on the noticeboards, essentially quests you are looking for people to do. this can be as simple as 'go explore this dungeon' but can also be a request for volunteers to switch class and learn to be a wizard, or speak to the inhabitants of the town for information about a dungeon. you can also proclaim a holiday for everybody later in the game. any adventurer interested in the quest posted will hang about at the noticeboard, where you can speak to them and decide whether to send them or not. choosing the correct person for the job is essential later in the game, and building taverns allows you to create parties to send out. adventurers are on a salary and if they don't get a quest they will go off and explore and level up themselves. no-one gets killed, if they are defeated they will return to the town and stay at home for a couple of days to heal up. but if you visit them to see how they are doing they get better faster.

There is more than enough content in the game to justify the 1500 points, but you do have the option for downloadble content. so far I have purchased the extra buildings packs and the dungeons pack, as for the price they seemed the best value (if you like this believe me you will want more dungeons). the extra races can be bought as one pack or singly, these add different species which each specialise in a different class, the main one you start with are all-rounders. I haven't bothered with these as later in the game you get an inn which lets these races visit your town as tourists and wandering adventurers, which I kind of liked, although I will probably end up getting them eventually.

suffice to say that I thoroughly recommend this little gem of a game. it is stunning in its simplicity of design yet underlying complexity, and indeed random factors which increase its charm. works in short doses and long spells and has a surprising amount of replayability, having two harder difficulty levels unlocked allowing you to take your adventurers through with you, plus the prospect of continuing DLC. if you fancy this i urge giving it a go, although ultimately repetitive its charms make up for many of its failures.

The King of Gameov3r is indeed Gameov3r. Don't get any ideas about training yourself up with FFCC:MLaaK, joining the FORUM and then usurping him. He'll breathe on you. Enough to stop stampeeding wildebeest.

RIP Link

I’ve played Final Fantasy games before but having never played the original game, and holding Square Enix in high regard, I thought it was high time I did. So I went out and bought Final Fantasy I & II – Dawn of Souls for my GBA so I could play anytime and anywhere I wanted to.

While playing the game last night, tucked up in bed, I uncovered something that no Nintendo fan should ever have to see. I’d just sailed into a harbour and wandered into Elfheim. While I was investigating and chatting to the residents I spotted three gravestones in the north east of the village behind the Sanctuary. The first two gravestones were just plain old gravestones, I know this because that’s what the game told me, but the writing on the third gravestone was earth shattering. It said, “Here lies Link”. I could barely believe my eyes. Link is dead.

This is sad news indeed and it took me a moment to gather myself but as I did one almighty question began to form in my mind, and no, I wasn’t thinking about who’d killed Link. It was this, if Final Fantasy was created in 1987 then who the hell has been running around in Link’s clothes for the last 20 years!!?? A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess all had an impostor pretending to be the real hero of Hyrule. This is an outrage!

Come and pay your respects with us on the GAMEOV3R FORUM and then we’ll go and track down this usurper and make him pay!