Funnily enough the other half of this unlikely RPG is another love of mine: Bioware. In case you’ve been living under a rock for most of the decade, Bioware developed the Baldur’s Gate series, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic and most recently, Mass Effect. Their RPG pedigree is one of the strongest in the industry, I’ve yet to see them not turn a concept to gold. They are truly masters at their art. However, when it was announced they would be creating a Sonic based RPG, it was a bit of a surprise. Just how well could Bioware capture the essence of this high speed hero in the relatively slow paced genre of RPGs?

It’s perhaps a little predictable that despite the grandeur of the RPG nature, the story of Sonic Chronicles is incredibly similar to every other Sonic game ever made. Essentially, Sonic isn’t up to much having beaten Dr Eggman (Robotnik was a much better name!) until Tails informs him that Knuckles has been kidnapped along with all the Chaos Emeralds (always an essential feature of any Sonic plotline). Cue Sonic and friends trying to rescue Knuckles and track down all the Chaos Emeralds before the world is destroyed. Sonic fans will love the selection of playable characters on offer. They range from Amy Rose and Tails to some I can’t remember from other games such as Cream the Rabbit (?!). There are also a few surprise additions that I won’t mention so as not to ruin the story. As the story is pretty lightweight and predictable, you certainly don’t want me ruining the minor twists! Luckily, the dialogue used is not so lightweight and uninteresting. There are plenty of options for what you want Sonic to say when engaged in conversation, and some of it is quite funny in places. A sign of the strength that Bioware has when it comes to good dialogue as demonstrated in their earlier titles although it’s a pity none of it bears a long term effect on the characters.

Perhaps the main make or break feature to any RPG is its combat system, and this one is pretty unique. Initially it goes for quite a similar system to many RPGs, such as the ability to avoid encounters by stepping around the enemy on the map screen. Once in a battle, it goes to a separate screen with a menu based system to attack or use items. All very typical RPG behaviour. However, there are a few subtle differences. For one, there are POW moves, special attacks that once activated involve the use of the DS stylus in a small mini game where you have to mimic the movements required to perform the move. The first few times, it’s quite good fun but it can get a little repetitive after a while. Enemies can also perform these moves sometimes, so to defend against them, you have to perform a similar defensive mini game. Your enemy can also attempt to run from the battle setting off another mini game where you have to chase them, it very nearly feels like Sonic again, until you realise it’s on rails and all you can do is press a button to jump over boxes. The fighting itself is far from challenging and the limited options available can make things a bit unexciting after a while. The control system outside of fighting can take a little bit of getting used to and personally I found it quite irritating. The only way to move about is with the stylus, the d-pad doesn’t work at all. It is a good use of the stylus but I did keep finding myself desperately wanting to be able to use the d-pad instead. To jump up obstacles on the map, you also need to use the stylus which detracts a bit from feeling like you’re interacting with the game. It feels too counter intuitive to be completely comfortable. There are some simple puzzle elements that require a certain character depending on the type of obstacle. For example, only Sonic can do loop the loops.

The presentation of the game is perfect for younger gamers. It offers bright, cheery looking graphics for the most part and a simple inventory system to use that is clearly laid out. Overall really, this game could only really be suitable to Sonic fans and younger gamers. Sonic fans will love a change of pace and a slight return to form for the blue spikey wonder. It also forms a fantastic introduction to the RPG world for kids, it is lightweight enough that they won’t get bogged down by statistics yet it’ll still introduce them to the basic concepts of RPGs before they move onto some of the true classics on the DS such as the Final Fantasys and the forthcoming Chrono Trigger. It’s a great first effort by Bioware and I hope they learn from their mistakes with this game and release a sequel that does Sonic justice.

The premise of Dungeon Maker is pretty simple, you are a 12 year old boy looking for work in your local village, unfortunately there isn’t any, that is until a magic shovel appears. Yes, a magic shovel. Can you tell this game is a little Japanese in nature? I forgot to mention the magic shovel talks too (I guess it wouldn’t really constitute as magic if it didn’t talk) and it wants you to build a dungeon nearby your village. Why you ask? So that the monsters from the nearby forest are lured away to the dungeon of course! Yes I’m not so convinced by the plot either, but let’s focus on the gameplay instead. The game is quite RPGish in nature, albeit a very basic RPG. Even the graphics are basic to the extreme, and not once is the DS’s stylus required to perform any action whatsoever. Everything is conducted via the d-pad and buttons, very Gameboy Advance-esque. In fact this game wouldn’t look too out of place on a Gameboy Advance. Maybe Rising Star actually made this 10 years ago then lost it down the back of the sofa.

To be fair to it, designing a dungeon does require a small modicum of sense. Essentially the key is to encourage the odds of fighting three monsters at one time as it means more chance of acquiring a rare item. To attract monsters, you need to make the dungeon appealing to them by adding rooms and items such as straw beds for them. The further along you go, the more monsters appear, the more items you gain to sell on to buy more rooms to attract more monsters ad infinitum. Every now and then a boss monster appears, once you defeat that you gain another level to your dungeon and so the slog continues. The actual designing even takes a while at first too just to discourage you even further. You see, your magic shovel isn’t quite as amazing as it thinks it is, it can only dig so much each day before running out of magic points. Cue going back to the village to buy some items and rest for the night. The village shops are your generic RPG shops plus a furniture shop. Occasionally the mayor of the village has a chat with you too, but as you can guess it’s fairly standard stuff. The next morning you can go dig some more in your dungeon and if you’re lucky, you might even have a few monsters to fight too as of course, they don’t want to share the dungeon with you even if you are making their home nice and cosy for them. The turn based combat is extremely typical in nature and requires very little strategy, just press the attack button every now and then and you’ll be fine. As you progress in the game, you do acquire two partners in crime, a typical female magic focused character, and a more unique slime based creature that can mimic other monsters to gain special abilities or armour (not quite Cait Sith but functional). However, the game is still just oozing mediocrity, even the music is a bit of a slog and I found myself wanting to turn it down immediately with its constant generic drone.

It’s not that Dungeon Maker does all these things in a bad way exactly, it just does it in an extremely uninspiring way that makes it instantly forgettable once you turn your DS off. Then why bother returning to it? Go play some Harvest Moon or Pokemon. Both have similar concepts to Dungeon Maker but achieve it in a much more entertaining manner. Can I recommend Dungeon Maker? Well as you can guess, the answer to that question is a big fat NO. Kids might enjoy it more but then again why should they have to? The DS has a wealth of quality gaming for all ages, take advantage of it for you and your kids, don’t be subjected to this. It may not be the worst game in the world but nor is it worth your time. And if you’re really desperate to make your own dungeon, go pick up a copy of Dungeon Keeper, it may not be child friendly but it’s cracking fun.

This time round, Intelligent Systems has decided to make a sequel to the NES game Famicom Wars rather than follow the story arc offered by Dual Strike. Because of this, Dark Conflict has decided to cast aside its shiny bright images and to turn emo with its bleak, depressing surroundings that are there for all your battles. War has suddenly become very real in the world of Advance Wars…well nearly. The bonus to the quite drastic graphical change is that the graphics have all been redrawn and are much more detailed than previously. The game actually feels specifically designed for the DS now, rather than feeling like a GBA conversion. One let down with the graphics change however is the story. It manages to be quite drab and doesn’t really engage the player at all, it’s simply something to get you from one mission to the next, it’s a pity it couldn’t have been more detailed or engrossing.

Of course, despite the gritty change in graphics and the not overly compelling story, the game is still the same old Advance Wars we all know and love, with a few additions. Initially fans may find themselves a bit bored, as there is no separate tutorial, instead they are integrated within the first few missions within the story mode of the game meaning that it can be very slow going at first if you know what you’re doing, and also confusing if you don’t know what you’re doing. But don’t worry fans of the series, once it picks up, so does the difficulty level and you’ll find a much more challenging game underneath its grim surface. There are also additional new units in the game so the tutorial does help you understand those, these range from flare units (to help dispel the fog of war in some maps) as well as a war tank and antitank units. Each unit can also now earn ranks throughout battle, gained by destroying enemy units: these ranks improve the potency of the unit making them much more effective at their job.

Once every single new element of the game has been introduced including the rather pointless zoom feature, you will find yourself already half way through the main campaign, however this doesn’t mean you’re nearly done. The missions after this point become a lot harder as well as longer lasting. It can get extremely frustrating when one wrong move early on in the battle completely wrecks your chances of winning. However, despite this, it is still for the most part, extremely engrossing and the hours can fly by before you know it. Overall the single player campaign has 26 missions of varying length, and a number of optional missions available to you that can help you hone your skills on the battlefield. The optional missions can often be a lot harder than the campaign missions, but also more satisfying. They certainly help extend the already quite reasonable longevity that the game offers, and are worth returning to once you’ve finished the storyline.

Of course, I haven’t yet mentioned the main new feature that has excited fans of the series: the online multiplayer. Fans will be very pleased to hear that this works well. There is voice communication using the microphone which actually works well, and the game includes a brief test for the microphone so you can ensure you’re speaking at the correct volume. And with the 150 maps within the game available, as well as a map design mode, there are plenty of maps to beat your friends at. There’s not even much lag. It’s good to see Advance Wars finally offer more than just local multiplayer. Hopefully this will spawn a growing community of players as the strategy involved in the game is even more intense and complex when playing against real people. Nothing can beat the satisfaction of a well played tactic paying off and hearing your opponent’ disappointment.

Overall Intelligent Systems’s have produced an extremely enjoyable addition to the Advance Wars series. The only thing I can really find at fault is it seems to have lost some soul and character due to its new graphics, it’s hard to put your finger on but it doesn’t quite manage the same finesse that Dual Strike had. It’s just not quite as accessible to a new player as it was before. Also the control system still hasn’t been hugely improved so I still find it much easier to use the D Pad than the stylus which feels like a waste of an innovation. However despite these niggles, underneath that shell is still the same old Advance Wars so fans of the series will still enjoy it greatly. Just be warned though, don’t expect it to be an easy ride at all. War is hell, especially in Dark Conflict’s case. If you’re new to the series then maybe start with Dual Strike for a friendlier introduction.

By this time next week, there’ll probably be another one too. It’s been a very busy time. I’ve got The Last Remnant, Scene It: Box Office Smash and Lord of The Rings Online: Mines of Moria to review at the moment. Although I’ve not had a chance to start The Last Remnant yet, I need to get on with it as soon as possible so that will be mostly done by next week. Looking forward to playing Scene It, I loved the first one. I’m still not keen on the reviews layout so when I get a chance, I’ll have to sort that out somehow.

Anyway it’s been a tricky week for my personal life. I suspect December on the whole is going to be rough. I’ve also managed to damage my elbow somehow which is nice, not. I’m not sure how exactly, I think maybe it’s from when I fell down some stairs a couple of weeks ago. At the time I thought I was ok despite banging my elbow. But since last Thursday, I’ve had a big painful lump on the side of my elbow. According to the doctor it’s slightly infected and to come back in a week if it hadn’t healed by itself. It hasn’t so I think I’ll be off to the doctor again soon Makes using my left arm a bit awkward at times as I can’t lift it very high without pain and it’s hot and painful on the whole really. Bloody irritating!

With my relatively limited gaming time (I’ve also been working quite a few evenings lately), I’ve played a fair bit of Gears of War 2 Horde with friends which has been a great laugh and some excellent stress relief I’ve had a few rentals arrive, namely BF: Bad Company and Madden 09. Madden is purely for point whoring which is a bit slower than normal as I can never figure out American Football games very well :p BF: Bad Company seems pretty good but I’ve sent it back as I think I’d rather buy it cheap at a later date. I’m trying to whore a fair amount of points at the moment as the AV Forums Xmas Challenge has kicked off and I’d like to do quite respectably. Therefore I’ve bought some cheap games thanks to actually having some spare money for once. From work I bought Just Cause, Saint’s Row, Blitz The League, Stranglehold and PES2008 for £25. No easy, quick 1ks but hopefully enough points to help me along the way. I’d certainly like to reach 70k by the end of the year. I’ve also bought Space Chimps for £7.99 as I figure if I hit it hard, I should be able to sell it for the same sort of price quickly enough. Also just rented Crash of the Titans and Conan from work for the week.

I’m still trying to get into Fallout 3, but I just can’t I’ll keep perservering but it’s not looking good for me! Guess I could always whore points from it if I get desperate and I still can’t get into it.

Anyway, no huge update. Not really got anything exciting to say so apologises for the emo bloggyness of this post