The Shrine

Since I think I have a fair amount of experience with the system. Some people are new Wii owners, and may be looking for new games to play. I will put down the amount of time I have put into the game, secondly a short description of my opinion on it.

Games I like:

Dragon Quest Swords - ~10 hours, it is a fairly light game, you essentially run around and fight battles using your Wii remote as both a sword and as a shield. There is voice acting, and the presentation is similar to Dragon Quest 8, with similar graphics, music, and voice acting. It's more fun than you would expect.

Endless Ocean - ~12 hours, a surprisingly interesting game. It's more of an educational type game, but you have this large area which you can swim around in and have a multitude of "quests" to perform. There's no violence in this title. It's a very pretty game despite not being as detailed as many other games.

Godfather - 15 hours, this game is also excellent, but unfortunately for this one I got Scarface and like it better.

House of the Dead Overkill - ~10 hours, The game has the best original soundtrack. It is the most fun and entertaining out of the arcade style shooter games. Resident Evil titles offer more, but in my opinion the fist RE game was not as fun or entertaining as this one. This game is much like a grindhouse movie with cheesy 80's style dialogue in the vein of Vice City.

Nights: Journey of Dreams ~20 hours, this game is incredibly difficult, but it is also one where you are always getting better. There are a lot of pretty spots in the game, but if you don't like difficult games then you won't like this one.

Scarface - 35 hours, this game is a blast. The controls are VERY fun, it would go on my favourites if it weren't for some missions that are just poorly designed, resulting in me not being able to finish this game (I could resort to an FAQ I suppose, but I would prefer to wait for another game). This game has some of the best dialogue I have ever heard, it has a lot of stuff packed into it. I would highly recommend it if you don't mind looking at FAQs.

Smash Bros Brawl - ~25, there is SO much to unlock in this game. I haven't unlocked most of it. I probably would have played this one more than I have. The single player and multiplayer are both good. It has a story mode which is very well done for a fighting game, I haven't seen anything THAT well done before in the genre for story (it even beats Soul Calibur).

Warioware - ~25 hours, I think 90%+ of the time I have played this has been multiplayer. It's a very fun game for social gatherings.

Games I don't like:

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ~40 hours, HIGHLY disappointing. I didn't find this game to be very fun at all. Despite having far more polygons and detail than previous games, it succeeded in being a very ugly game in most places, lots of brown and grey; although some of the forest scenes are actually very beautiful. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are much more fun. To make matters worse, Twilight Princess has fetch quests which caused me to quit the game fairly late on (I would guess I was 75%+ through).

Lego Starwars - 12 hours, Fairly fun, but gets old quickly. I generally am not having fun when I play this game.

Madworld - ~2 hours, One game I was highly disappointed in. The art style looked very interesting. Instead it turned out to be a game with very little depth and just constantly trying to show you how badass and hardcore it is. I always got the feeling that I was playing a game meant for 12 year olds. This game also manages to have fans, I personally couldn't stand it and consider it the worst game I own for the system by far.


No More Heroes - ~6 hours, the boss battles are all very cool, and the cutscenes are entertaining, unfortunately they account for 5% of the game at most. The rest of the game I found to be just shallow and repetetive violence. I didn't like the game.

Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros Treasure -2 hours, I can not understand how this game got such glowing reviews. I personally found it to be very uninteresting. Perhaps I need to play it more? I don't think that will happen.


My favourite games:

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - 45 hours, Despite some negative reviews, I really loved this game and felt it superior to the Gamecube title. Judging by what is said in the negative reviews, they didn't play this game very far. Like other Fire Emblem games, your characters die permanently. Also like other Fire Emblem games, you have sufficient new characters to replace the old dead ones. This one is my second favourite in the series, and I would judge it the second most difficult; my first favourite being the original which also happens to be the most difficult.

Little King's Story - 40 hours, This game is deceptively deep, it is sort of a simulation/adventure/strategy game where you begin in a little part of the world, go on quests, and eventually begin to expand the world. It soon becomes clear that your goal is World Domination and in some cases genocide of monster races. This game pits you as a character that appears good, but performs lots of evil type acts.

Resident Evil 4 - 20 hours, Wow! This game absolutely demolishes all other games in terms of playability. Unfortunately, I can't stand playing any of the older games anymore as a result of playing this one. The content of the game is excellent, and although it has been a long time since I have played this one now, it left a lasting impression.

Rune Factory Frontier - Over 90 hours. This game really captured my heart. It is similar to previous Rune Factory games, and succeeded in fixing all of the problems I had with the previous games, and added more. It is a fairly robust title and there always is something to look forward to. It's also very very long, but there are shorter routes, I like to do as much as I can.

Super Mario Galaxy - 25 hours - this game is excellent, probably my second favourite 3D platformer of all time. It is just a joy to play through. Though it is not nearly as intense as New Super Mario Bros Wii which I just got recently, but would also most likely be on this list.

Wii Fit/Plus - 230 hours I love this game, the new version adds in some very wanted features, such as the ability to create your own routine which can be several hours in length if you wish it to be. That means you can put down the controller, and just roll through it every morning. The game also uses a formula involving the activities and your weight, and gives an estimation of burnt calories. You an also specify what sort of workout you want to do, and how much time you wish to spend, and the game will assign acitvities that you can run through. It also has a location where you can track progress in other activities (if you go to the gym on weekends, etc...) which will be added into your progress charts. It is also a very good way to maintain or get into good shape.


I would also recommend downloading the Nintendo channel. It will track various stats on most of the games (there are a few that it won't track, like Uncharted Waters 2 on Virtual Console for example), and has access to lots and lots of video previews and other features, information, recommendations for various games. Think of it as a library for Wii and DS game information. There is also a weekly 15 minute show on the channel which reminds me a lot of an old show I used to watch called Video and Arcade Top 10 (YTV). Also, you can download DS demos from here. It is by far the most useful channel on the system.

About 6-7 hours into Metroid Prime 3. The game is good, but not my favorite. I think 2 is better. Frankly, the control system, while well executed for what controls they were given, is ultimately inferior to the one on the GameCube. Accuracy is enhanced in point and shooting, but dulled in moving around. The lock-on ability in the Metroid Prime series made the need for complete accuracy unnecessary, so I would have preferred to be able to turn as well as I can strafe on the analog controller.

About the only games I would be interested in on the "like" list would be House of the Dead Overkill, and only mildly. SSBB is another fighting game that I wouldn't have friends to play with. Warioware is probably like the ones I haven't finished on the DS. Don't like DQ of any form. Disappointed that Madworld and No More Heroes isn't any good, but I was warned about them a while ago.

I'll probably get SMG at some point, though, and if there's another Mario RPG for the Wii, that might be another good thing to grab. I've played RE4 on the GC, and my dad has finished it on the Wii; definately an excellent game.

Have been playing FFCC and Bit Beat, as I mentioned before. Though, again, not a lot of demos, so I don't know which Wiiware titles are good to grab. Shellie's playing Zelda. Frankly, if it's better than Young Link and the Sea, it's worthy of playing.

Super Smash Bros you don't need other people to play with. There's a shitton of stuff to do on your own, including a 3+ hour "story" mode with full cutscenes. It's a ton of fun even without other people. Yes, it's best with others, but there's more than enough content on its own. You'll get well over 30 hours if you go through the different modes, more if you try to unlock The Great Wall of Achievements. It truly is an incredible game and by far the best in the series.

WarioWare Smooth Moves certainly isn't something that is different than anything else you've played. It's exactly the same as the DS ones except it makes pretty solid use of the motion sensing, particularly the accelerometer. It's quite clever and surprisingly sensitive. It's actually quite difficult to fool it (ie. holding the controller in a different pose than asked). The best one is still Twisted on the GBA. If you didn't bother finishing the DS one, this one ain't gonna sway your opinion. But if you love the series, this is another solid entry.

Madworld actually got pretty solid reviews, including a 9 from both 1up and IGN. No More Heroes didn't fare quite as well but it's not horrible, getting over 80% aggregate and actually isn't the easiest game in the world to find used as it has been snapped up used after mediocre new sales. They're both solid $10-15 titles that are a bit unique and are a fun romp, as long as you didn't pay too much. Very similar to Mirror's Edge that way. Both would also be better choices than DQ Swords (not particularly good), Endless Ocean (very neat but likely not your cup of tea as it's hardly a game), or Nights (very meh).

Super Paper Mario is a quasi-RPG / platformer that you may wanna look at. It is reviewed pretty well and is an offshoot of the Paper Mario RPG series with a little more emphasis on platforming.

Don't listen to Seek, Zack and Wiki is widely considered one of hidden gems that no one played and was also reviewed very strongly. If you're lucky enough to find it and actually wanna play through a puzzle-based 3D platformer/action game, this is the one you want. Also, Lego Star Wars is a very, very fun game to play with two people. It's a cute, light-hearted, and often comical romp through the SW universe. It's also only $20 and well worth the coin if you didn't already get it for the 360 (that may actually be your better option since it's cheaper used and easier to find and gets you achievements).

Mario Galaxy is an absolute must-have, it's unbelievable. Remember the camera issues you had with Mario 64? Gone. One of the big complaints was those huge worlds that took forever to get around, felt like you were running around forever for no reason? Gone. I've already recommended this before so I'll stop there. Just get it sooner rather than later.

If you want a straight-up puzzle game, look at Boom Blox Bash Party. It's really cheap right now (I got mine for $15 new) and was very, very well reviewed. Was an improvement over the original in every way. Who doesn't like building things then demolishing the shit out of them? Also, Okami for the Wii is a natural fit and if you missed out on the PS2 one, it's a great title to pick up. Another one no one ever mentions is the Sam and Max Season 1 on the Wii. You can get it dirt cheap ($10 used up here) and if you like Sam and Max, it's great. If you can get Trauma Center cheap (either of them), it's a fun little title that will entertain you for a day or two. And if you like Wii Sports and you guys play that a lot, Wii Sports Resort is an excellent follow-up.

WiiWare has a lot of good games.

If you are looking for a good game to play with Shelly, try TV Show King 2, it was just released for WiiWare a week ago, and costs 800 points. It is a much improved and much expanded version of the original Gameloft game which takes various TV gameshows and combines them into one:

Jeopardy
Wheel of Fortune
Carmen Sandiego (I love this one)
and more.

There's a video preview for it on the Nintendo channel which is what really sold me on it. I would recommend avoiding the original though.


For single player, one game no one talks about is Swords and Soldiers. I haven't replayed it, but it was a memorable experience, lots of fun. The game is like King Arthur's World, a 2D RTS, but with more depth to it, and it is more fun. Essentially you build up armies and just set them loose on the enemy. You can back them up with spells which are all fun to use. There are a variety of different strategies as well. It is a well spent 1000 points.

My life as a Darklord I haven't got into yet, the game seems to be heavily inspired by Disgaea in terms of characters and art style: just change the main character to a female, and turn Prinies into Toneberries. I played through the demo, and may pick it up some day.

Just picked up SMG, Super Paper Mario, Little King's Story, and FFCC: Crystal Bearers.

I've been playing Super Paper Mario for a few hours and I'm enjoying it. I played the original on the GC, and this is much more of a platformer so far than the first one was. One thing I love about the Paper Mario series is the silly dialog

I was playing Zelda Twilight, but I get sick of the puzzle dungeons. They frustrate me more than anything, and it just isn't fun to me.

I am interested in Crystal Bearers. I don't know a lot about the game presently as I kind of passed it over in favour of some other games.

Yeah, I found that with Twilight Princess they forgot about making the game fun. I was bored 90% of the time I was playing it.