Last year I played through Picross DS, and as I'd expected it have very little in the way of surprises. I was really getting it out of the way with an eye on getting to its successor, Picross 3D, also for DS. I'm happy to be able to say that even though I got to it a decade after its release, Picross 3D does actually feel like a worthwhile evolution of the tried-and-true Picross formula.

The Wikipedia article on the game goes into extensive detail about its features, but basically at the core the game requires all the same kind of logic and reasoning that the 2D games do. Since the numbers are printed on a single cube on the sides, there's some shorthand (a number in a circle means the marked blocks are in two sections with one or more space between that adds up to that number, whereas a number in a square means the marked blocks are in three or more sections with one or more space between each section), but otherwise it's pretty familiar territory for Picross vets. The transition to 3D puzzles is done pretty flawlessly though. The touchscreen controls are accurate and feel great, although there's a new "slice" mechanic, where you can strip back layers of the puzzle in order to mark or remove internal blocks, that takes a bit of getting used to.

As with the other games the larger puzzles get a little more unwieldy, and it's annoying that you have to complete every single puzzle sequentially, including the seemingly endless series of tutorials, and you can't skip to the harder puzzles. This also the first Picross game made by HAL Laboratory (of Kirby fame), and the game just oozes with charm. There's a real tactile sense of chipping away the blocks to uncover the figure underneath, which is probably the closest I'll get to feeling like a sculptor, and there are little animations when you complete a puzzle. Each puzzle is categorized into "collections", and these sets get completed as your progress (although there's also this weird cubical chicken-like thing that runs you through the tutorials and is kind of creepy). The game's awards system is also kind of annoying in that you get a bonus star for completing a puzzle within the par time, and you get another star for completing it without any mistakes at all, but that's all to be expected in this kind of game and adds to the replayability. There are also "one chance only" puzzles where even one mistake makes you have to restart from the beginning, which is probably the game's worst feature, but those only pop up every once in a while.

Overall Picross 3D was a really well-executed and fun twist on the previous Picross formula. The 365+ puzzles will keep completists busy for months, and the ability to download additional official puzzles isn't really missed. Its direct sequel, Picross 3D Round 2 was only released digitally in the US on the 3DS's eShop, but it looks like it added a couple of new mechanics and I'm looking forward to seeing how the puzzles look in stereoscopic 3D.

It's been more than ten years since I slogged my way through the original Ghosts 'n Goblins on NES, and, sad to say, my impression of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts for SNES didn't end up being much better. The game is very similar to the original in terms of the setup, but it's clearly superior for many reasons. The graphics are much better, and there's a lot more variety in the stages, but the bigger upgrade is that the weapons system has been enhanced. Like the original game, there's a variety of weapons you can make use of such as a spear-like lance weapon, a dagger, torch, and an axe, but in this game you also can gain bronze and gold armor which dramatically enhance your weapon. Much like the spread gun in the Contra games, the bow and arrows gives you double firepower and was an easy favorite for me, but the one-hit penalty that is the series' trademark and that causes you to lose your armor and the power-up is a major bummer. This unforgiving life system and the high level of difficulty which oftentimes just seems unfair end up really sucking out all the enjoyment from the game. The game does provide an options menu that lets you adjust the difficulty level and increase your number of lives as well as a level select cheat code, but even with limitless save states when playing it via Switch Online the game rarely felt more than just a pain to make any sort of progress through.

For its time I can see why it was well-received by some gamers, but from a modern standpoint there just seem to be so many better ways to spend my time than replaying the same stage over and over and over again just to make a tiny bit of progress. To top it all of, as with the original you have to beat the game twice to see the actual ending, and to add insult to injury you have to beat the final bosses with a powered down weapon. Ugh! This is a game that I really wanted to like, but in the end I have to lump it in with its predecessor as games that I'm glad I'll never have to play again. Too bad! Other games in the series have gotten good reviews, including the most recent release from February of this year, but as for me it's going to be quite some time before I feel compelled to face another dose of this particular brand of pain.

Yup, it's another indie release from the Switch eShop. I actually like having all these games that are only a few hours long but that offer unique experiences, and Gris was another one of those games that was on my radar because it looked interesting and had gotten generally really positive reviews. The game's title means "Gray" in Spanish (the developers are from Spain), and the tone actually reminds me of another recent indie Switch game I've played recently, The Gardens Between. That game was a puzzle game whereas this one is a light platformer, but both of them have a similarly melancholy atmosphere. It's a bit pointless and churlish to compare the two, but I have to say that even though The Gardens Between has more unique gameplay, I would have to give Gris the edge in terms of its overall impact: it has some of the absolutely best art and sound design I've seen in any video game, let alone an indie game (this is the game you should point to if anyone ever doubts that video games are art). But both are fun games and really memorable, and I would highly recommend both.

There were occasional moments in Gris where I wasn't sure which direction to go and there were some occasionally tricky jumps and some mechanics that were a little underused, but overall it's a great experience. Gris includes a few optional challenges which I mostly didn't bother with because I wanted to see more of the game, but those do add to the replayability. As with The Gardens Between, after playing Gris I'm left impatient for the next release from its developers, Nomada Studio. Hopefully we won't have to wait long!

I was thinking about Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, a 3DS release, lately for several reasons. For one thing, some characters from the game were added to Fire Emblem Heroes recently, the first time in a long time that the game has gotten any recognition in that game. Also, as Nintendo's E3 presentation rapidly approaches, I'm still holding out hope for another Fire Emblem Echoes, i.e. another remake of a previously Japan-only Fire Emblem game. I've also been dipping into Fire Emblem DLC in general lately, and I was planning on checking out Shadows of Valentia's DLC next.

It looks like it's been about four years since the release and my playthrough of Shadows of Valentia. Getting back into it did take some adjustment. The sprites seem quite small, although the art style and presentation are still distinctive compared to the other 3DS Fire Emblem games (Awakening and Fates). There's a focus on gaining weapon experience in order to unlock skills, although it's annoying that they're tied to the weapons and you can't easily determine which weapon you have to re-equip to re-enable any particular skill. I had to refresh my memory on what the various skills and weapons are and who the characters were, but pretty soon I was back into it.

There were several parts of the game that I had ignored the first time around. By this time I've bought the two Amiibo for the game, and they unlock pretty easy "dungeons" with five battles each which net you some unique but non-essential items. There's also an "Act 6", which is post-game content with a handful of more battles and a huge 10-level dungeon. I still have PTSD from the similarly lengthy marathon labyrinth from Sacred Stones, so I've left that aside for now (although in this game we have the benefit of the ability to rewind bad moves and also to exit the dungeon at any time). There were also a couple of useless awards (i.e. achievements) that I had missed on my previous playthrough that were easy to fill in.

As I mentioned, though, my main focus was checking out the DLC (completist that I am, of course I bought all of them). As with the DLC sets for the other games, there are some maps that get you experience, coins (used for upgrading weapons), or rare items and equipment. There's also a four-part prologue involving the Deliverance characters, and amongst other entertaining story elements we also get more insight into the character of Fernand and his relationship with the others. Apparently this also adds some support conversations amongst those characters, which I haven't unlocked yet. There are also two maps that unlock four brand new characters (from Fire Emblem Cipher, the sadly now-cancelled trading card game), each of whom has a unique weapon and some support conversations. A big chunk of the DLC is devoted to "overclasses", which are classes your characters can promote to if they've reached the maximum level of the previously highest classes in the game. My characters were generally not even close to being at high enough levels since I hadn't grinded at all during my original playthrough, and although the game has an auto-battle feature that wouldn't make it too hard to grind for experience on the DLC maps, it just didn't seem worth the time and effort. I suppose I'll do that at some point for at least a few characters and then tackle the marathon labyrinth.

Overall the DLC is a fun little perk, although not as extensive as the previous 3DS games, and it's too bad I wasn't able to play around with the overclasses (they really do seem pretty useless unless you plan on doing a lot of grinding). Now that I've gone through all of it, I'll be able to integrate some of it (like the Cipher characters) into my next playthrough of the whole game. I have a lot of gaps I need to fill in other entries in the series, though, so I'll be leaving this game and DLC in general aside for the near future.