Android Games #8: No Subtitle Needed?

So, since July, I have a new phone. I’m using the Asus Zenfone 3 MAX 5.5. It’s quite a mouth-full, but I really like my phone. It was a great help on my trip to London this week. Anyways, with a bigger screen, I had played some games I wanted to talk about. So, I decided to write a new installment in my Android Games series. So, if you are new to this series; in this series, I talk about casual games I played on my phone I’m unable to write a full article review about. So, I take a quick look at them to give them a spotlight. That said, keep in mind the publishing date of this article since some games are in active development and can change when you compare them to the review I wrote in this article. In any case, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on the games and/or the content of the article. Also, if you know of any good casual games on Android, feel free to let me know. So, on with the article! PS: the score stars are based on how much stars I would give it in the Android Store.

InstLife

Oh yes, this is one of the games that inspired this article. InstLife. This game came on my “recommend” list one day and I installed it and gave it go.

This game is truly very interesting. This app is in its very early stages of development but I really like what I have experienced so far.

This game is a sort of life simulator you sort have control over. Each update introduces more and better ways to control your life.

At the start of the game, you get a random country, gender, and name. And then you are at the mercy of an RNG. Yes, each playthrough is different. A playthrough can take anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes or more.

Take a look at the store page I link above since you get a good idea from the screenshots it has up on the game store. Also, this app is free and doesn’t require any permissions to run. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Give this game a try! I’m highly enjoying myself with it. Each time I have a few minutes to spare, I do a quick round of this game and I’m glad I can.

The thing is, I press “Age” quickly. While there is in the recent update a lot more added to give a lot of depth to the game. The big warning I need to give for this game is a basic understanding of how adult life works and a good understanding of English. Otherwise, you might have some trouble.

Score (v0.2.8): 4 stars

Pokémon Go

Oh, deary me, I have never talked about nor have I mentioned Pokémon Go since it got released in June of last year.

I think I don’t have to introduce this game since it’s still somewhat present. I saw it several times on my trip to London.

To be honest, I think Pokémon Go is a mediocre game. Perhaps the fact that I life in an area where not too much Pokémon Stops are has something to do with it.

After a few months of playing it here and there, I just stopped playing it. It actually bored me seeing all the same Pokémon over and over again and only seeing new Pokémon when you level up or walk on different parts of the day.

I’m sorry, but Pokémon Go didn’t click with me. There isn’t enough to draw me back in and launch the app to try and catch random Pokémon. I might open it here and there when I’m thinking about the game, but I have been doing it less and less. So yeah. I can see the appeal of this game, but it’s a game that isn’t for me.

I also think that the game has some major flaws where it doesn’t explain things like raids amongst other things to new players. Such a shame.

Score: 2.5 stars

Stellar Fox

Stellar Fox is an interesting game. In this game, you draw lines so the white fox can roll towards the exit.

But, there is a catch. Once the fox starts rolling, you can’t stop it. Also, there are some very interesting mechanics where you, for example, have to let a clone go faster to pick up a key to open the exit before the original fox reaches it.

This game is a very neat puzzle game and if you have the time and interest, I urge you to check it out. The visuals, presentation, and music are very well done and I can’t give anything majorly wrong with this game. While here and there, the levels might be a bit too difficult, I really like this game.

Score: 5 stars.

Finishing this article

So, that are my opinion on three Android games I have been playing on my new Android phone. I do realize that this article is shorter than my other Android Games articles, but I took some time off past week to enjoy myself, so I didn’t have time to prepare a bigger article for you guys.

I do have some other Android Games on my list I’m saving up for a longer and bigger article in this series but that will be for another time.

In any case, thank you so much for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to see you in another article on my blog but until then, take care and have a great rest of your day.

PS: if you want to see pictures of my trip to London, you can visit this Imgur album I uploaded. I had a great time there! While I was there, I was talking with some of my blogger friends and we might have plans for next year… So yeah. Keep an eye on that.

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Review: Ace Attorney – Miles Edgeworth – Investigations: Prosecutor’s Path (DS) ~ Not Guilty

Ace Attorney Wikia entry

Some time ago, I wrote a first impression on this game. I know it has been way too long, but I finally finished this game. So, the readers who know me; know what that means! No need to shout an objection! Is it actually good or is it bad? Keep in mind, this game isn’t officially in English. I played a fan translated English rom. If you want to play this game as well, I won’t help you finding it. Piracy is something I don’t want to promote. In any case, let’s get this trail started! And as usual, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on the game and or the content of this article. 

Objection!

Would it be wise of me to talk about the story when it’s translated by fans? I think it’s actually quite fair to do so. After all, the English players will most likely play this game using the patched rom. Like I (should have) said earlier, I won’t provide information on how to get it.

In any case, the story is written quite well. I actually enjoyed reading and experiencing it. The care and love put into the translation is mind blowing. I haven’t seen any typos as far as I can remember. (And that’s an impressive feet since the main games actually have typos in the game.)

The characters are quite memorable and they have a nice personality. Some old characters return and a few new ones are introduced. In Ace Attorney 5 – Dual Destinies, the actual character development happens mostly in the 5th and last case. But in this game, the character development happens in every case. More then in the 5th game.

Every case was fun to play through. At certain moments, it was tough to keep track of everything since the final case actually somewhat connects to the previous four. If you would play this game, either play it in one go or take notes so you can remember. Otherwise some parts of the story actually get a bit lost.

What really surprised me is that they actually replaced the Japanese voices with the English voices. The voice acting of Miles was simple to get I assume. Just from the previous Miles Edgeworth game. But for the other actors, well, congrats. You did an amazing job. The quality of the voices is also extremely well done. Almost as if they were made in a professional studio.

Gameplay wise, this game is almost the same as in the original. There is one addition, which is logic chess. This is a sort of logic battle where to try and get information out of somebody. It’s more fast paced and it’s the only thing that is timed in the game. Compare it to Phoenix Wright’s breaking of psyche locks or Apollo’s bracelet. The good thing is that it’s well used, but not overused in the game. Truth to be told, it are the most challenging parts in the game in my opinion.

A scoop of a story.

Alright, visually this game is what you would expect from an Ace Attorney game. Nicely crafted visuals. Again, thank you to the translation team to actually put in the effort to photoshop the art and make it in English. The game is nice to look at. It makes the game that more memorable.

Animation-wise, this game is one of my favorites. While I know for a fact, some things won’t be possible in the real world, the creative approach that the designers took payed off. It really makes the game pop a bit more. It also felt a bit more alive and polished.

The controls, well, if you have problems or complaints in the previous game… They will be here too. If you got used to them, you will feel right at home here. They are responsive and I have nothing to complain about. Only one minor thing and that is in the translation, some controls get explained a bit too late. But that’s only a very minor nitpick.

The music and sound effects, well, they are in my opinion, the weakest link in this game. Don’t get me wrong, it is enjoyable music. But when I’m listening to music from the series, I rarely to go the soundtrack of this game. It just doesn’t want to stick with me enough like with the previous games. The sound effects add to the atmosphere and none stood out as a sore thumb.

No creativity anymore for subtitles.

Length wise, this game hits that rare butter zone. Apart from the 5th case which was a bit too long, I have no complaints about the length.

Until now, I have been praising this game. And in the end, apart from some minor text issues with the translation like the text that sometimes not appears when you load your game or open your DS or that you can already skip most of the dialogue that you haven’t read… Those issues might all get fixed when the patch isn’t in beta anymore.

The game is a bit on the easy side if you played a lot of Ace Attorney games. Even then, I got stuck on some parts and rethink everything. I could try the “save and try out everything technique” but that’s lame. If you find things out by yourself, its way more rewarding.

Before I go to my conclusion, I think the translation team did an amazing job. I would like to thank them for the amazing translation they did. They also added their names in to the credits. Which is a really nice touch.

If you know how to patch roms and find translations online, I really recommend patching this game to English and playing it. Hopefully, Capcom never does this again with any Ace Attorney game. In any case… I think I have said everything I wanted to say about this game. So, let’s go right on to the conclusion.

Conclusion

The good:

+ The visuals are amazing just like the last games.

+ Perfect translation of this game. The care and love put into this project really shows.

+ Lovely and thrilling story with a true unexpected end.

+ ….

The bad:

– The music is a bit so-so

– Some minor bugs in the translation.

– The game didn’t come over to the west. Such a shame!

– The 5th case was a bit too long to my taste.

Final thoughts:

So, I think this patch was really well done. They replaced all the voice work, the artwork and the text into English. Not only that, they made it bit more interesting to the Western audience. Besides from some minor glitches and one freeze, I think this game is really well crafted.

While I played the beta version of the patch, I didn’t encounter any major issues that would stop me from enjoying the game. Besides the things I mentioned in the article of course.

If only, they release this to the west one day. So, I can buy this game and that I can recommend this game to my readers. It’s really worth it! As any Ace Attorney game actually.

So, I think it’s time to wrap this one up. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. And I hope to be able to welcome you in another article. But until then, game on!

Score: 90 / 100