Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

 

On this extra day, let's review the last Fire Emblem game of the Nintendo 3DS.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden for the Family Computer. When comparing it towards Awakening and Fates, Echoes is less ambitious and goes back towards simpler times.

It does happen to stick and stand out on it's own for being somewhat of an unusual entry or spin-off, as not only is the traditional turn based strategy involved, but you can also crawl into dungeons to take on enemies and discover loot, or you can interact with NPC's at neutral locations.

The story follows dual protagonists Alm and Celica as they undergo different paths to deal with war, through violent or peaceful means. I was unable to combine two units into one like the previous entries, but I was also still missing my rescue feature, although a work-around exists.

Voice acting has also gone up in quantity, as selected units tend to respond vocally, while the story is fully voiced too. There's also a world map involved between the acts where you can move more freely with your protagonists in the sense that you can arrange the order of levels somewhat.

Combining the odd, obtuse features of Gaiden with modern Fire Emblem mechanics makes Echoes another solid entry that rejuvenates it's original roots while giving a bit of filler content before the next project would eventually launch and return back onto a Nintendo console.

Rating: 7.8

Rhythm Heaven

I have only played 2 entries of this musical based series.

As a rhythm based game, Rhythm Heaven lets you play up to 50 different kinds of mini games where timing is key towards progress, success and entertainment. From choir boys are portrayed on the cover towards a karate man doing his moves, variety is to be found.

While holding the DS vertically similar towards the Brain Age games, you can conveniently tap along using the stylus to play the touch based mini games, or drag it, or move the whole handheld around.

With it's various stages per mini game and high score intact, Rhythm Heaven is ideal to play in short bursts, similar to the Wario Ware games.

Rating: 7.5

This is a megamix consisting and compiling games from all of the previous entries; Rhythm Tengoku, Rhythm Heaven and Rhythm Heaven Fever. While also upgrading the graphics and gameplay, there is a story mode featured and it's just fun in general.

Rhythm Paradise Megamix on the Nintendo 3DS is the latest release, and they could easily develop one for the Nintendo Switch!

Rating: 7.8

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Trying to catch up on all of the latest Nintendo games, let's highlight a few 3DS games next.

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are the seventh generation of the franchise , which are enhanced editions of Sun and Moon from the previous year. Normally we would get a third "definite" edition, but this time, Game Freak decided to change things around.

The general setting is based off Hawai, where you will continue to catch and train pokemon while battling around, dealing with a villainous group, and overcome trials that haeve replaced the gyms from previous games.

With 81 new Pokemon, there is enough hunting and collecting to do, but like always, you will have to trade between Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon in order complete your pokedex. The core gameplay of battling Pokemon remains my favorite feature, as this can go quite deep.

Easy to learn, hard to master, setting up a balanced team of 6 pocket monsters remains fun to do, including the strengh and weakness elements, as well as learning new moves, per creature. For the first time, the games have authentic 3D graphics.

The plot is like always, nothing special, and I actually like to grind in here, which is a rarity for me nowadays. The Ultra Beasts and the Z moves on the other hand feel like generic buffed up specialties to use.

In overall, they are fine as a continuation, but definitely not peaking.

Rating: 7.7

Top 5 James Bond theme songs

These can fluctuate, but as of right now, the OFFICIAL POWER RANKING as I pay respects towards the upcoming 25th Bond film:

5.Matt Monro – "From Russia With Love"
4.Tina Turner – "GoldenEye" 
4.Chris Cornell – "You Know My Name"
2.Paul McCartney & Wings – "Live and Let Die"
1.Louis Armstrong – "We Have All the Time in the World"

Brain Age

 

Let's talk a bit about these educational video games. Because the first 3 are so similar, I decided to fuse them into one review.

I am of course talking about Brain Age, Brain Age 2 and Brain Age: Concentration Training, or as they are called over here in Europe, Brain Training: How old is your Brain?, More Brain Training and Devilish Brain Training.

The concept and ideas of these games are developed by Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, a Japanese neuroscientist. They are designed to improve one's mental processes, regardless of your current age, as all humans are basically welcome.

These include simple mathematical tasks, rock, paper and scissor, counting time, writing down words and playing the well known numerical puzzle game known as sudoku. The overall packages are designed in such a way that you can only play them once per day.

Kawashima himself appears in the games in a 3D variant as the host, educator and entertainer, motivating and teaching you to become better, and to show you stuff about how human brain activity works.

Brain Age is one of the very few video games that my mother likes to play, the other being Tetris. I used to show this to my grandmother too, and I enjoyed seeing how they interacted with the games using the stylus.

Now with a new Nintendo Switch version being available, I might jump back in, as Devilish Training was underwhelming after it got delayed for so long. Not only to keep my mental clockwork ticking, but also to enjoy!