Bronze
02-04-2009, 08:20 PM
Now that we're getting stuck into our DSi's, I think it'd be good to share our experiences with a multipurpose DSi Ware thread. Reviews are scarce at the moment, so feel free to post impressions and relevant information. New releases are expected every week, so check back here and someone (maybe!) will have updated the thread with new releases, much like the XBLA/PSN/Wii equivalents.
I'll kick things off with some Art Style Series impressions. Bare in mind that I have a Japanese DSi, so some of this software may not make it to Australia for a while.
Basically, the Art Style games are puzzle games. Much like Art Style: Cubello, Rotohex, and to a lesser extent Orbient on the Wii.
Aquario reminds me very much of the PS3 game Piyotama, where you have a cage the pushes two vertically-connected blocks horizontally in and out of a column of blocks. You can swap the two blocks that you pull out, and you slide them back in to make three or more connect anywhere in the column. You do this until you can connect three flashing blocks, and the level ends shortly after that with another mini-puzzle connecting pieces in a certain order. It sounds confusing, but it's very simply in practice.
Somnium is reminiscent of those sliding tile puzzles mixed with a little Rubik's cube. There are blue pegs on a board, and blue and white tiles below them. You just need to line the blue tiles up with the blue pegs to finish a level. You can't move the tiles individually though, you can only slide an entire row up/down or left/right. Doing this, you have to maneouvre them into position.
Decode is very cool. You hold the DSi like a book, and red digital numbers fly onto the touch screen from the left. You basically have to flip the numbers around to make numbers equalling ten. For example, if you have the numbers 5 1 2, then you literally flip the 1 and 2 around, making the 2 a 5 (remember, they're digital clock-style numbers). You then tap the two fives to make them disappear. It's a lot of fun.
Nalaku is bizarre. It's a 3D puzzle game where you have direct control over a little man reminiscent of the Echochrome guy. You make him walk over an isometric grid to make individual blocks beneath his feet permanently light up while more blocks fall from the sky. You need to dodge the falling blocks, make lines light up, then they disappear. Your guy can climb up and down the blocks that have landed, but he can get squashed if you're not looking for shadows from above, and lower levels disappear over time so you need to make sure he doesn't fall through the stage.
Hacolife is ingenius. It's just brilliant. You're presented with a flat pattern that you need to cut up and turn into boxes. It's hard to describe, so I'll make a short video that explains it better than I can. It's created in an awesome pixel-art style.
J891qBgVuqU
And lastly, PiCOPiCT. The best of the lot. Once again, a video is the only way I can do this game justice. It's filled with nostalgic Nintendo characters, levels, themes, and songs. You need to elimintate Tetris-style blocks before they land by filling up a pallete, then painting the blocks in your pallette back into the play field. The eliminated blocks are actually pixels, and they fly up to the top of the screen to make a classic Nintendo figure. Every time you elimintate the pixels, you recieve coins which can be used to unlock new levels and music. Check out the video below, and you'll get a better idea.
o78eLNZhlwI
Each of these games cost 500 Nintendo Points. I'd have to recommend PiCOPiCT and Hacolife as the best of the lot, with Decode a close third.
I'll kick things off with some Art Style Series impressions. Bare in mind that I have a Japanese DSi, so some of this software may not make it to Australia for a while.
Basically, the Art Style games are puzzle games. Much like Art Style: Cubello, Rotohex, and to a lesser extent Orbient on the Wii.
Aquario reminds me very much of the PS3 game Piyotama, where you have a cage the pushes two vertically-connected blocks horizontally in and out of a column of blocks. You can swap the two blocks that you pull out, and you slide them back in to make three or more connect anywhere in the column. You do this until you can connect three flashing blocks, and the level ends shortly after that with another mini-puzzle connecting pieces in a certain order. It sounds confusing, but it's very simply in practice.
Somnium is reminiscent of those sliding tile puzzles mixed with a little Rubik's cube. There are blue pegs on a board, and blue and white tiles below them. You just need to line the blue tiles up with the blue pegs to finish a level. You can't move the tiles individually though, you can only slide an entire row up/down or left/right. Doing this, you have to maneouvre them into position.
Decode is very cool. You hold the DSi like a book, and red digital numbers fly onto the touch screen from the left. You basically have to flip the numbers around to make numbers equalling ten. For example, if you have the numbers 5 1 2, then you literally flip the 1 and 2 around, making the 2 a 5 (remember, they're digital clock-style numbers). You then tap the two fives to make them disappear. It's a lot of fun.
Nalaku is bizarre. It's a 3D puzzle game where you have direct control over a little man reminiscent of the Echochrome guy. You make him walk over an isometric grid to make individual blocks beneath his feet permanently light up while more blocks fall from the sky. You need to dodge the falling blocks, make lines light up, then they disappear. Your guy can climb up and down the blocks that have landed, but he can get squashed if you're not looking for shadows from above, and lower levels disappear over time so you need to make sure he doesn't fall through the stage.
Hacolife is ingenius. It's just brilliant. You're presented with a flat pattern that you need to cut up and turn into boxes. It's hard to describe, so I'll make a short video that explains it better than I can. It's created in an awesome pixel-art style.
J891qBgVuqU
And lastly, PiCOPiCT. The best of the lot. Once again, a video is the only way I can do this game justice. It's filled with nostalgic Nintendo characters, levels, themes, and songs. You need to elimintate Tetris-style blocks before they land by filling up a pallete, then painting the blocks in your pallette back into the play field. The eliminated blocks are actually pixels, and they fly up to the top of the screen to make a classic Nintendo figure. Every time you elimintate the pixels, you recieve coins which can be used to unlock new levels and music. Check out the video below, and you'll get a better idea.
o78eLNZhlwI
Each of these games cost 500 Nintendo Points. I'd have to recommend PiCOPiCT and Hacolife as the best of the lot, with Decode a close third.