Reviews

God of War III Review

2010-07-28T16:24:34Z

God of War III developed by Santa Monica Studios for the Playstation 3 is a game about revenge against the Greek gods. This is the first God of War game I had ever played, but there was enough background into the previous games that allow a new player to not be totally lost in the story line. The story unfolds with our protagonist Kratos scaling Mount Olympus to fight the gods of the world. He is seeking revenge against the gods that he feels have done him wrong. As the game unfolds Kratos, along with the player, are brought from the heights of Mount Olympus the depths of Hades, and ever where in between.

This game had its high points and its low points. The graphics are fantastic, and the story line is well done, though sometimes is can be a little meandering. The controls of the game left, in my opinion, some things to be desired at certain points in the game. God of War III is your typical hack-and-slash game, and the fight controls were well done. They were simple and allowed the player to create different combos and moves to fight enemies. Most of the bosses have patterns that allow a player to inflict maximum damage with little effort, or you can just hit buttons and attack with out any thinking and still beat the enemies. The two biggest problems that I found with the game were, one the controls for moving objects in a circular motion, and two, the set camera angle. First, in many parts of the game Kratos has to move wheels. The game asks you to move the left analog stick in a circle to move the object. If you move the analog stick to fast, Kratos just jerks and does not move at all. To properly move the character, you need to very slowly move the analog joystick. By slowly, I mean very slowly. The second thing that bothered me was the set camera angles. Many parts of the game involve the player to solve simple puzzles where objects that need to be moved all over select playing areas. The set camera angle forces the player to run around a space to look for each piece. If the camera angle was not fixed and a play could move the camera angle, then the puzzles would be easier to figure out where the pieces need to go without moving them yet. These were the two minor issues I had with the game.

Overall, I think this is a very well put together game. It does not require a lot of thinking to play, just hit the buttons and attack the enemies. The puzzles are not overly complicated, so players do not get frustrated with them. The story was interesting enough to keep the gamer playing, and the graphics were excellent. This game is going to get a 8 out of 10.

DarkSiders Review

2010-07-15T14:05:26Z

You are War one of the Four Horsemen, and you've been called to earth as heaven and hell have broken out into an all out war in front of humans (or as some call them, the "air breathers"). You will learn the basics of what you are capable of through the first level, but then a twist occurs and what you once were, you are no longer. You will have to redeem yourself and stop the forces that move through the world. The "air breathers" are no more, but there is plenty of challenges standing in your way.

Graphically this game is stunning, I like the style they went with and the models are all crisp and well made. The camera sometimes isn't as strong as I would like, but overall getting to view the world is a treat in itself. If heaven and hell were to really break out and fight for several years, what you see in the game is basically what I'd imagine the place would look like.

The sounds might get a bit old in the game, but you are playing a game that at times you're going to be button mashing to get through swarms of enemies, so don't be surprised if you hear the scythe sound, sword sound, horn, gun, etc over and over again.

The controls are for the most part solid. It does take a bit of time to get used to what all the buttons do, but once you get enough into the game where you have all your weapons you've got one hell of a handle on what there is to offer. There is some issues that I've seen when trying to go between swimming and jumping out. There's also some small issues with once you're holding on to something releasing from it.

As stated before you're War and because of a strange twist you've lost almost all that made you that powerful Horsemen. Now you'll have to get to the bottom of the mystery of what exactly happened to Earth. You'll be gaining weapons that will help you defeat all that stand in your path. You'll also be gaining powerful allies to help you along, some of them being demons, some of them being the ancient ones. You'll be able to gain special modifiers for your weapons, as well as special abilities that you'll be able to use in combat. There's a huge puzzle element to the game as well. Many people have equated this game to feeling like Zelda, and I can see where that thought comes from. You have an assortment of weapons, you're battling through different areas to get to a boss, to gain a treasure that will get you ever closer to your goal.

I found this game very entertaining, and for the most part unless I really screwed up, not too frustrating to the point of rage quiting. I think this is definitely a game that people who like a game more in the vein of Zelda (the newer ones) could really get behind. So pick it up, or at the very least you need to rent it. This game gets a 9.0 out of 10.

ModNation Racers Review

2010-07-13T13:19:00Z

ModNation Racers is kart racing game for the PlayStation 3 in which you get to not only race but create your kart and your avatar. You'll also get your chance at creating courses of insanity and difficulty. You'll get to race against friends and foes a like, and the fun never quite seems to stop.

Graphically this game looks great on the PlayStation 3. All the little changes you make to your avatar and kart are easily reflected and seen by all who want to observe them. Now the editing tools for your avatar and kart are robust and yet they are easy to understand for those who aren't the graphical geniuses that some have shown. The track building system follows the same path. There's a lot to tweak in the track creation mode, but at the same time if you don't want to delve deep into all that it has to offer you can still create one hell of a track by auto-populating after the track is complete.

The sounds of the game fit in with the motif. There's not a whole lot to say about it, it just fits. What you would expect in a kart game is what you're going to hear in this game.

The controls take a race or two to master, but once learned you can do some pretty amazing stuff, and you're going to have to to win some of those races.

So there is the basic game in which you are trying to race yourself into the history books. When you win a race and are able to complete the side objectives you open up more stuff for customization. It could be a new kart body, could be new eyes for your avatar, it could be the actual racer you just defeated, whatever the case when you come through with the win you feel like you rule the world. Now of course there is more to the game than just the rising through the ranks, and that's the customizations that you can do in the game. Creating your own avatar from the doll body you start out with can be a lot of fun if you're willing to put some time into it. Actually any of the customization features (avatar, kart, course) can be absolutely amazing if you put some serious time into it. One of my favorite things to do is to jump into the map editor and then create the track and let the system auto-populate, then go back and add a little extra flavor. This game is meant to be played with several people either on the same console, or online. The power ups is another thing that can set this game apart from the rest. You'll get a chance to collect a random power up and then as long as you don't use it, if you can collect 2 more power up orbs, that power up increases in strength. There's a speed boost that will power up to a warp (which kind of reminds me of Back to the Future), or you could have picked up the missile power up that powers up to a barrage of heat seeking missiles. My one issue with this game, and one of the things that kills me about the game is the load time. If you're loading into a race you might as well go get a sandwich, or walk around the house because its going to take a noticeably long time before you get your chance at racing. I do wish there was a way that you could queue up a couple of race tracks so that you didn't have to load in and then load out then load back in between tracks.

This is a solid title for PlayStation 3 owners to have. It by far surpasses Mario Kart, and why wouldn't it when if you put some time into it you can basically recreate the Mario Kart tracks and characters. This game is a worthy purchase, and if you can stick out the loading times you're going to have one hell of a game to play against your friends, and create some insane tracks. This game gets an 8.9 out of 10.

Dementium: The Ward Review

2010-06-30T14:02:42Z

Have you been looking for a game that gives you a little bit of a spook on the DS, well this might be the one for you then. In this game you wake up in a hospital where the lights are out, and you're all alone. You're going to have to navigate your way through the hospital to find some answers, and maybe even save your own life.

Graphically on the DS you're not going to be blown away but the pixelated images you're going to find, but over all this game gives you the feeling of being in a run down hospital, in first person. You're going to run up against all kind of bad creatures that go bump in the night, some of which aren't the most attractive looking things, but if they were it really wouldn't fit the game.

The sounds are on par with what you'd expect from a survival horror game, not too much else to say about that.

The controls take a bit of time to get used to. I do have to give this game an A+ for the fact that they were willing to put in a control scheme for someone who is left handed. Instead of using the D-pad you can make the movement switch over to the button side so that you can continue to control what you're looking at with the stylus. As I said before it takes some time to get used to as the stylus isn't always the most accurate thing in the world to use when trying to look around quickly.

So you're in a hospital, with the lights out. You're going to find some weapons, a flashlight, and keys to get from place to place. The box says Silent Hill meets Doom, and it's not that far of a leap to see some similarities. My one recommendation though is that you don't get tied up with trying to kill everything that moves, if you try to do that, outside of the bosses, you're going to find yourself take a lot of hits, and running low on ammo. There is some frustration with this game as you're trying to get around a certain area, but then again it makes you even more aware that you only have a limited amount of health and if you take too many wrong turns you might end up dead, so perhaps that is intentional.

I'm not going to say that this is the best survival horror game I've ever played, but I have never played anything like this on the DS before, so if you're looking for something that is sure to have you slightly spooked, in a portable form, you might want to just give this game a look-see. This game gets a 7.6 out of 10.

MLB 10: The Show Review

2010-06-15T01:07:34Z

Before I begin this review I want to let you, the reader, know that the last baseball game I played was probably "Sports Talk Baseball 94.'" I can tell you that baseball video games have come a long way in the last 16 years. This was a really good video game. If you like baseball games this could be the game for you. The graphics are crisp, and I saw very few flaws that bothered me. Sometimes fielders would move through each other, but I found that to be rare. I found the game play to be excellent. I feel the designers did a very good job creating the different aspects of the game. That being said, the easiest parts of the game to pick up and master are the pitching and fielding. The mechanisms controlling those parts of the game are very simple. The idea of batting is very simple; you have two types of swings, hit for power, and hit for contact. Of course, just hitting the button does not mean you are going to make contact with the ball. The creators of the game made each pitch as realistic as possible. If a curve ball or slider pitcher is on his game, their pitches dip and dive just like a real pitch would. Pitches move in and away from batters just like you would see at a baseball game. Batting takes a lot of patience to master. This game was not designed for a gamer that just mashes the buttons and can not wait for a good pitch to hit. You need a keen eye on the ball, or you will not be able to make contact with the pitch. The biggest issue I had with the game was that the base running mechanism was very difficult to grasp. The in-game directions were not very helpful with that either. There are two different modes of game play. You can play either as an MLB franchise or as a single player trying to make it to the big leagues in the "Road to the Show" option. Each mode has slightly different game play, but once you get the hang of each mode, switching between the two modes is not very difficult. Finally, I just need to say that the designers did an amazing job of building each major league stadium into the game. The stadiums look absolutely amazing. I give this game an 8 out of 10. I wish the base running mechanism was a little easier to use, and the in-game instructions were easier to read.

3D Dot Game Heroes Review

2010-06-11T14:22:02Z

Do you yearn to return to the days of 2D kingdoms where the task of saving the world was in a simply flat world? Well there is a kingdom that once was exactly that, and had a hero who saved the day. People from all over came and visited, but as time went on less and less people showed up until the day that the king of the lands made the decree that everything was to go 3D. Upon that announcement the world shook and everything from cats, dogs, people, and houses rose up and embraced the 3D world. There is a problem, however, the once evil entity that ravaged the 2D world, who is trapped inside an orb, has had his orb stolen, and there is a new great evil threatening the world. You, a decendant of the great hero that once saved the lands must rise up and conquer all that is evil, and bring peace, once again to the kingdom.

Graphically this game looks as if you took the original Zelda game (8 bit and all) and thrusted it into the 3D world. So you still have the pixelated feel, but in a 3D way. The world that you will be traversing isn't an exact match to the one in Zelda, but you will definitely find yourself in the forest, in the desert, in the moutains, and through temples. One of the great things about the game is the fact that you get to customize your character, if you wish, but opening up the character editor and creating what could be anything you want. The enemy base designs look like they came right out of Zelda as well, of course there are some subtle changes, but for the most part you will be fighting waves of nostalgia.

The music in the game is probably the closest thing you can get to Zelda music, but without it screaming copyright infringement. There are no voices in the game, but that's for the best as that would break us out of the dream-state that one finds themselves in, while playing the game.

The controls aren't complicated at all, and that adds to the nostalgia effect. You'll have a way to block attacks, to attack (up, down, right, and left), use a secondary items, and to move.

As you can see this game oozes Zelda. You'll be tasked with finding the sages that possess orbs that will grant you magical powers so that you can be strong enough to defeat the evil that exists in the world. You'll have a heart meter, and a magic meter. You'll get to use a hookshot, bombs, boomerang, sword, shield, candle, lantern, and more. There are some subtle differences between this game and the original Zelda. One of my favorites is when you are at full health you get to use your ever growing sword. Throughout the game you'll be making money, and you can spend some of that to widen your sword and to lengthen it. So when you are at full health you get to see the damage you can cause with it. There's also more swords available than the equivalent of the master sword, each will have some special differences to help you out in the game. There's also some side quests that you'll be tasked with, but those really didn't draw me in as much as the overall game.

If you are looking for something that will make you giddy with delight over the old days of a Zelda like world, this is the game for you. If you are looking for something complex and challenging to the mind, you might not find as much enjoyment as I found in the game. This game gets a 9.1 out of 10.

Punch-Out!! Review

2010-06-02T13:17:29Z

Remember the good old days of the Nintendo game, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, where you took on the role of Mac, a boxer on a mission? Well you're going to get to do it all over again, with a couple of extra fighters in the way, and no Mike Tyson. In this updated version you'll get to see that some of the old favorites have some new tricks of their sleeves, but it all comes down to spotting their second of weakness, do that and you can once again rise to the top.

Graphically this game looks smooth. You get to be a bit behind Mac so you can see the true heights of your opponents. The character designs definitely stand out from fighter to fighter.

The music will bring fits of nastalgia as you will hear some of the old tunes, but most of the time its just the sounds of you, hopefully dealing out the punishment, and not the other way around.

The controls are the one thing that can get pretty confusing. There's really 3 sets of controls. The first one is to just use the Wii-mote as a controller, turning it sideways and utilizing the buttons that you have in front of you. The second is to add the nunchuck into the equation, and now you're going to have to start swinging to land punches and use the analog stick to dodge. The final setup incorporates the balance board, and now you'll be throwing punches with the nunchuck and wii-mote, and physically dodging with the help of the balance board.

Overall this game isn't a boxing game, its a puzzle game. You're going to have to learn the patterns of the fighters and know when you'll have an opening. The further you get into the game the more difficult its going to become to figure out the fighter, but once you've figured it out you're not going to see the fighter mysteriously change everything about themselves. The one exception is when you go back to challenge a defeated opponent and they have a couple new wrinkles for you for different scenarios.

This is really a game that those who grew up with Punch-Out will enjoy, but if you're a boxing enthusiast you're going to find this game lacking. I personally thought this game was alright, the multiplayer fell really short of what I thought could be done. This game gets a 7.2 out of 10.

Jade Empire Review

2010-05-29T15:11:38Z

Another spectacular title from Bioware, the premise of Jade Empire is you're a warrior in a land similar to those with ninjas and samuaries. Or in this case, you're studying at a monastery to kick some major ass. And major ass kicking, you will do. At its most basic, Jade Empire is an action role-playing game where you control one character- whom you choose at the beginning. And ya, this game is like 5 years old but whatever.

You Character
You choose among a variety of starting characters with the biggest difference being their starting martial styles. The sex doesn't matter, though it does influence romantic opportunities if you're so inclined.

Fighting
Fighting takes place in a third person view- very similar to Kingdom Hearts. Your character will start off with a basic martial (hand-to-hand) skill and a support skill. While martial skills will damage enemies, support skills will aid in your fights such as slowing down enemies or draining chi (similar to mana). There are a few other main fighting styles: Weapons, Magic, and Transformation (I think; I never used this one). In fighting, it should be noted there are 3 main stats: Health, Chi, and Focus. Health is self-explanatory, while Chi is your "mana" to use magic and heal while Focus is drawn from using weapons or using a focus attack where everyone else slows down dramatically- a very useful skill when you're in a bind. I never used tranformation, and I'll get to why later on.

Overall, I found the fighting in Jade Empire very crisp and ranging from easy to challenging. There are 3 difficulty levels, and by the end, I was fighting almost every battle on the hardest not because I'm a fighter master (if anything, I'm always too impatient in these games in run in BRAVEHEART!!!!), but rather it is very easy to cheese most of the bosses. Most boss fights are mono-a-mono and by jumping in the air or rolling around (dodging), it is not hard to dodge your opponents attacks will getting off your own. In almost every boss fight, you can simply jump behind, attack, roll out of way. Rinse and repeat a few hundred times and you've beat all the one on one bosses. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the fighting elements- rather, I highly enjoyed them and found the battles surrounded by 10 baddies the most fun and requiring me to really take my time and think.

Fighting was made "easier" in that there's a targeting system. It's not like hack-n-slash RPGs where I can just button mash without really aiming and kill everyone with ease. Rather, in Jade Empire, if I'm not aiming, hitting enemies can be hard. As a result, Jade Empire will auto-lock on to enemies to make life easier. Again, kind of like Kingdom Hearts. However, this also draws out a major frustration: For some reason, my character likes to walk at half speed while in targeting mode. While normally not a big deal, there are some enemies who fire magic missiles from afar and walking instead of running creates a harder fight than is necessary. In these cases, dodging out off their missiles can also prove problematic. Luckily, you can disengage targeting mode to run around at will and sneak up on magic users much easier.

That said, In regards to fighting, I consider Jade Empire nearly flawless. My one wish is there was some kind of training mode. While one is offered early in the game, your character will be attaining a number of different fighting styles throughout the game- I had at least 2 of every style by the end. My issue is that you can really only level up 4 or 5 styles to their max and it can be difficult to see how a style would perform when leveled up. I would love to see some kind of mode where I can test out various fighting style- especially the transformation modes which eat of Chi very quickly- or magic style's long attack mode which take a few seconds to pull off and can be hard to master when being attacked by 5 enemies at once.

One last piece about fighting is that in 90% of the battles, you'll have a companion to fight with. You can choose your companion to fight in battles (who will almost aways die in prolonged fights with harder enemies) or have them assist. In assist mode, they won't actively fight, but rather help by restoring one of your stats or giving you a bonus depending on the followers. I always had my companion in fighting mode because I simply enjoy fighting with companions in these kind of games. Looking back, however, some of the harder fights would have been much easier had I put my companion in assist mode to give me that little extra bonus, particularly when I can have my Chi or Health recharged to help me live in longer battles.

The Story & Good vs. Evil
Overall, the story was simply OK. If you're played Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect, you already know Bioware's recipe of choosing from a couple of responses when talking to NPCs, which typically have a "good" (Open Fist in Jade Empire) or "bad" (Closed Fist) connotation. While I love that Bioware's games have the good/evil elements- with Jade Empire being no different- Jade Empire's morality has the least influence on gameplay of the games I've played. In KotOR, your alignment affected you much energy (or whatever the stat was) a great number of Jedi abilities took, while Mass Effect's morality choices opened up new dialogue trees. With Jade Empire, though, the biggest effect I can tell is the choice between 2 different magic styles you get about 1/3 into the game. Otherwise, it didn't really influence my character at all. And with a possible SPOILER ALERT, the last 1/10 of the game is similar to other Bioware titles in that you can influence the outcome of the empire with decisions you make. In this case, the ending decisions are very close to KotOR. I have to admit, I love that element of games. Seeing how my choices influence an entire Empire, imaginary world and all, just gives that much greater immersion and enjoyment out of the final product.

Graphics & Gameplay
While there was nothing special about the graphics, they also didn't take away from the game. Your character looks the same throughout the game, as do you follower for the most part. The enemies aren't also incredibly varied in their textures, though to be fair, that has never seemed been high on Bioware's to do list and doesn't bother me at all. I'd say the one knock is a lot of the scenery was rather uninspiring. Maybe it was due to being on the original XBOX instead of the 360, but nothing stood out. SPOILER ALERT***Unless you made a choice at the very end of the game causing you to be remembered for all time with a 100 foot statues being built in my memory with everyone basically worshiping me. That amused me and felt somewhat inspired.***

As I mentioned before, the gameplay was generally very good with responsive button mashing. My one annoyance was my character walking half speed in targeting mode. Also, the NPCs, particularly in one on one fights, are stupid. It seems all higher difficulty levels do is make them a) have more hit points b) hit me harder and c) heal more. Not a whole lot to do with their AI.

I should also mention there's a mini-game like Raiden- A side scrolling shoot em' up game (or in this case, a scrolling up game). While the mini-games do offer experience, you can thankfully skip the missions, which are far from necessary to power up your character to beat on hard mode.

Final Thoughts
If you enjoy RPGs, particular real-time, action ones where you get to beat up enemies with a decent story line, this games for you. Overall, a 9/10, with the -1 being for lack of usefulness for the good/evil spectrum. Then again, I probably would dock a point if there wasn't a morality aspect of the game, but whatever. A 9.5/10 it is then!!

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Review

2010-05-27T11:05:15Z

Ratchet and Clank are back again to protect the universe. This time around you will get to play as both Ratchet and Clank as you try to stop Dr. Nefarious from trying to control the flow of time in the universe. This is the first outing for the franchise onto the PlayStation 3.

Graphically, the smooth, cartoony look looks stunning. There's only some slight issues when moving around quickly through the level, but for the most part everything looks smooth, there's no jagged edges. The creative look to each weapon is a personal favorite of mine, its easy to tell what you're unleashing upon your enemies. The level designs all have their special looks, even the small planets/moons that you can venture upon have an almost Super Mario Galaxy feel to them.

The dialog in this game is something that sets it apart from almost all other 3D platformers. Some of the characters will make you laugh and others will make you just shake your head and cause you to be embarrassed for them. The musical selection for this game fits the bill, you're going to get that Sci-Fi vibe, and it fits with everything.

It only took a little bit of time to get used to the controls, my biggest hurdle was trying to switch between weapons quickly. One kind reminder is that when you bring up the wheel of weapons, game time stops, so don't try to rush through the screens, or you'll end up doing what I did often and that's select the wrong weapon and end up taking some pain.

So you are going to get to play as Ratchet who is trying to find his friend Clank, who was kidnapped by the Zoni. You'll gain a very large arsenal of weapons ranging from a gun that shoots lasers to a gun that creates a rift in space and has a space monster attack your opponents. You'll also meet some helpful, and some not so helpful characters along the way. You'll have to visit a lot of different destinations in your search for Clank. You'll also get to take control of Clank and try to protect the place that you're trapped at, the Great Clock. This is more about getting through different puzzles that will require you to record actions and then replay them to open up doors. You'll find that there are many out there who want to seize control of the clock and control the flow of time, but with the combined forces of Ratchet and Clank, you have a shot at saving the universe. Speaking of the weapons, I have to say that I like the fact that the more you use the weapon the stronger it gets, up to level 5. There are some small issues with the game, there's some lag when pressing buttons in intense moments, and there's also the fact that sometimes your auto targeting gets a little off and you'll end up wasting precious bullets. There's also the issue with the game realizing that its almost at the end and throwing hordes of enemies at you to try to make you play a bit longer, and use a bit more strategy to navigate through the last couple parts.

If you're looking for a solid platforming game for the PlayStation 3, you can't go wrong with this game. This was enjoyable, for the most part, and I highly recommend that you, the reader, take this game for a spin. This game gets an 8.6 out of 10.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Review

2010-05-10T13:31:19Z

You must once again become the boy in green, Link, whose task is to save Tetra, who turns out to be Princess Zelda. This time you will have to take on an evil spirit named Bellum, a spirit who has attacked the Ocean King, and who has gained his powers. You will be sent all over the world to rescue the spirits of Courage, Power, and Wisdom, to have a fighting chance of locating this evil being. This game is played on the Nintendo DS.

The graphics of this game are a little Wind-Waker-y, but with the graphical limitations that are presented with this portable platform it seems to fit. Most of the time you'll be locked in an almost top down view of the world, but there are those times where you actually get to control where the camera is, and that's when you're taking the boat from one island to the next, this is where you're going to find your first round of issues with the game. You're going to see some of your old favorites, for enemies, and you're also going to see a couple that could have been pulled from a Mario game (one in particular is the octopus that you'll encounter from time to time while taking a boat trip).

The music is what you're going to get from any Zelda game, its going to have you getting lost in the notes. The grunts of Link swinging his sword or getting hit will also be present in the game.

The controls are probably my biggest issue with the game. Yes, I get it, this is a first party title, and as such you need to makes sure everyone knows the "awesome" functionality that the touchscreen gives you, but please give us the option of utilizing something other than the touchscreen. It is beyond frustrating during the portions of the game where you need finesse and you can't get it because you are stuck dragging your stylus to move your character.

So you're Link, you have apparently just saved Tetra/Zelda from an evil bad dude, when a ghost ship appears and Tetra gets taken away. You get washed up on an island and are greeted by an old man and some kind of fairy. You learn that the only way that you can find the ship is be enlisting the help of the 3 great spirits (Courage, Power, and Wisdom), but something has happened to them, so you're going to have to rescue them. For the most part this game is very enjoyable. The boat rides got really old near the end when you just needed to go to another island for a second but had to cross 2 sections of map to get to it. There was the fun mini-games of salvaging and fishing (but fishing came way too late in my game, so I had no interest in doing it). You're going to be to use the boomerang, the grappling hook, the bow, bombs, shovel, and more to try to solve the rooms that you have to go through. Which reminds me the Temple of the Ocean King gets really really old when you have to do the same puzzles over and over again to advance deeper into the dungeon.

In the end this is a Zelda game, its well made, yes it has some issues, but there's not a perfect game out there. This is one you're going to want to pick up if you've got a DS, and haven't done so already. This game gets a 9.1 out of 10.