Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Genre: 3D Platformer
Release Date: 10/29/2013

I’ve never been a big fan of 3D platformers. In fact the last three I can remember liking in reverse chronological order are Psychonauts, The Haunted Mansion and Muppet Monster Adventure. That’s three in thirteen years. Well, I like Pac-Man. Whether it’s running around a maze in the original classic, exploring Pac-Land on my TurboGrafx (I can’t believe that’s not on Nintendo’s Virtual Console!), engaging in hilarious multiplayer action with Pac-Man Versus on my Game Cube or one of the many other games I have featuring him, Pac-Man games are generally fun. Still, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures is not just a game in a genre I dislike (Platformers), but it’s also a licensed platformer, which is generally the biggest red flag for a bad game there is.

Wait, how can a Pac-Man game be a licensed platformer, you ask? After all, Pac-Man is owned by Namco Bandai! Well, THIS Pac-Man game is a video game based off the new cartoon airing on Disney XD. So it’s a game based on a cartoon based on a game. Crazy, huh? Well, it’s not the first time. I have fond memories of Pac-Man and especially the old cartoon from the 80s by Hanna-Barbara, so I was going into this game hoping that it was worth playing and that the cartoon was worth watching. Well, one of the two things turned out to be true, at least for me. Let’s see which one it was.
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The Guided Fate Paradox
Developer: Nippon Ichi
Publisher: Nippon Ichi
Genre: Roguelike
Release Date: 10/25/2013 (Europe)/11/03/2013 (North America)

Although not a direct sequel to ZHP: Unlosing Ranger Vs. Darkdeath Evilman, The Guided Fate Paradox is a spiritual successor as it uses an almost identical engine to that game while changing the plot and characters as Nippon Ichi brings us their first ever roguelike for the PS3. I’ll admit I had a lot of fun with ZHP, but I’m also a huge roguelike fan, having spent a lot of time with games as old as Azure Dreams up to more modern renditions of the genre like Adventures To Go!, Baroque and of course, the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon franchise. Roguelikes, while still the least popular subgenre of RPG in the West has been making a comeback as of late, which is something I’m quite happy to see.
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Rayman Legends
Developer: Ubisoft Montpelier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Platformer
Release Date: 09/03/2013

If you’re a long time reader of me here at Diehard GameFAN, then you know platformers and driving games are my two least favorite genres. Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t games in each genre I enjoy. Take platformers for existence, since that’s what this review is on. I love the first two Sonic games, Super Mario Bros. 3, The Haunted Mansion, Psychonauts, NiGHTS, The Legendary Starfy, A Boy and His Blob, The Kore Gang and several others. However the only platforming franchise I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed every game of is the Rayman series. Whether it was playing the original on my Atari Jaguar (I’m old) to gettingRayman Origins as a freebie for my Vita by being a member of Playstation Plus, I’ve always enjoyed the franchise, even if I’ve never purchased a game for full retail price. So when I was sent a review copy of Rayman Legendsfor the Wii U, I was more than happy to review it. I’m happy to say I had a lot of fun with the game and that it’s one of the best platformers I’ve played in years. So let’s overlook that Ubisoft says the game failed horribly in terms of meeting sales expectations and the big dramarama that occurred when it was announced the game would no longer be a Wii U exclusive. Instead, let’s look at why the game is so good and why you should pick it if you haven’t already.
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Pokémon X/Y
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo of America
Genre: Turn Based RPG
Release Date: 10/12/2013

I had no intention of picking up Pokémon X. I stopped picking up a Pokémon based paycheck because I was disappointed (and a little disgusted) by the forced mandate regarding a yearly turn based Pokémon game instead of letting the games come at their usual pace. I wasn’t the only from Game Freak, TPC, Hal Labs and the like to leave because of this decision as we had all seen what happened when a yearly release schedule was forced on a franchise. Look at Yukes and the WWE games. Every year, it’s mostly the same with a slight roster change and a TON of bugs that could have been fixed had they been given time to clean up the poorly coded engines. My fears were proven right by Pokemon Black and White 2 which was a little more than a face lift and the throwing together of modes of play from older games in order to say, It’s different.” Rather than give us something new. I wasn’t the only one to have this problem with the game. Long time Pokémon fans considered it the worst in the franchise (check multiple polls) and even here at Diehard GameFAN, where we are unabashedly pro-Pokémon, there was nary a kind word about the game. For the first time in the ten year history of the site, a core Pokémon game wasn’t even mentioned in any of our year end top ten lists. Thankfully Pokémon fans had Pokemon Conquest that year.
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