New addictions

[oyceter]

I have, strangely enough, been spending all my time playing social games online. I say strange because while CB is a gamer, I am not. I discovered with my ex that I enjoy watching games with stories—I loved watching Eternal Darkness even though it freaked me out, and I had a lot of fun watching Zelda: Wind Waker. But I'm terrible at playing them... I tried other Zeldas on Wii and Nintendo DS, and I never made it past the tutorial on the former and rapidly got bored of killing things in the latter.

But then, CB got hooked on Sims Social on Facebook, and then he sicced it on me! Argh! Now I am actually active on Facebook, what the heck?! (I play on an incognito browser window and delete cookies every so often due to recent reports of Facebook tracking you everywhere.) I think Sims appeals to my rampant consumerist nature, and at least buying virtual things online with virtual cash slightly appeases the desire to do so offline. (Also, I am geekily excited about all the Halloween stuff coming out right now. My Sim can sleep in a coffin!)

And then troisroyaumes introduced me to Glitch, an extremely cute MMORPG that involves no fighting or killing whatsoever. Normally I would have found it too complicated to play—the learning curve is much, much steeper than Sims—but the absolutely gorgeous and adorable art direction kept me in it even as I couldn't figure stuff out.

So possibly now I have a free trial at Gamefly... I have tried City Interactive's puzzle/quest games Murder in Venice and Tree of Life, both of which I find very clunky in design but puzzly enough to spend my time on. Am still waiting for the new Professor Layton to come out. I tried Sakura Taisen: Takarazuka in New York in the Roaring Twenties! Sadly, not its actual name. Even more sadly, I bounced off it due to all the talking and how obvious it was that the game was written for fanboys to ogle at all the different women. Ew.

Anyone have Gamefly recs (Wii or DS preferred)?

• I don't like anything that involves combat or combat stress. As in, I found Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds too stressful. And I am really sad, but I couldn't get past the tutorial for Okami too =(.
  
• I can't do 3D games with a lot of movement because they make me queasy (see: Ilo Milo, which is fun and adorable and sadly makes me feel like throwing up, and Portal, which looks really cool and has great writing but makes my head spin. Picross 3D is ok because of the tiny DS screen.)
  
• I am awful at physics-based games (see: Angry Birds and Cut the Rope).
  
• I really like puzzly games like Professor Layton, and I have been chronically addicted to Picross (as well as Piczle Lines on iPhone).
  
• I can do block-type games like Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Puzzle Fighter.
  
• Despite my current addiction to Sims Social, I generally find simulation games too complicated... I hate amassing armies; I don't want to run a city or a shop, much less a country or a world; and mostly I'm as much a giant homebody in games as I am offline.
  
• I like a very easy ramp-up period. I.e. I tried Myst a long time ago, entered the world, stared at the screen for ten minutes, clicked on five things, and then gave up.

(Both Sims Social and Glitch accounts are under my legal name, ergo my not linking.

ETA: And now the Glitch account is fandom friendly!)

Comments

[xwingace]

Slightly out of left field, but I've learned to love the Guitar Hero games on DS (on the XBOX as wel, but on the DS is a bit of a different experience). I'm much more of a classical/instrumental music kind of girl otherwise, but these games give me something to interact with in more popular music, and with a very simple gameplay idea. Lots of movement on screen, though.

Similarly, try out Elite Beat Agents or Osu! Tatakae! Oendan! (if you can get the second one anywhere...) on DS. Same arguments/warnings apply as for Guitar Hero.

Also fun to play, but maybe you've played them already: The Ace Attorney games. Personally, I'm waiting until Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney comes out/gets localised before even contemplating buying a 3DS.

XWA

[tablesaw]

Seconding Phoenix Wright. I think it's exactly what you're looking for. They're all on DS in English. There are a lot of low-stress DS games that are like visual novels.

For a simple picrossy puzzler, I recommend Polarium on DS and Polarium Advance on GBA (if your DS can accommodate GBA games). The Scribblenauts games are fun and about creativity. More wheb I remember them.

[tablesaw]

Touch Detective, Hotel Dusk, and Lost in Blue are all visual-novel-style adventures for the DS much like Professor Layton or Ace Attorney. Trauma Center (DS & Wii) also ahs a visual-novel style, but focuses own tense surgery. No combat, but could still be stressful, since they really play up the tension.

Harvest Moon is a series of farm simulation games for multiple consoles. Animal Crossing is very low-pressure sim where you do whatever you want in your town (again, multiple consoles).

The Puzzle Quest games (multiple consoles) are RPGs, but they replace combat with block puzzle games

[oyceter]

OMG you know Picross!!! I am totally looking that up thank you.

Also yay visual-novel style! I think I like them more on DS than on Wii, just because it's easier to control. May also try Puzzle Quest... I've checked them out in stores for a while but didn't want to buy something I might not be able to play.

[tablesaw]

ALLOW ME TO BLOW YOUR MIND

[vass]

Seconding Animal Crossing, with the warning that it can be a terrible time-suck.

[oyceter]

Ahaha, now on its way from Gamefly!

[oyceter]

OMG I love music games! I didn't realize you could play them on DS without all that other fake instrument stuff?

CB also recced the Ace Attorney games! I started the first one but need to pick it back up again, and it's just about the level I like. (omg is Layton vs. Ace Attorney for real?!)

[xwingace]

Hmm, not entirely. The Guitar Hero on Tour games can all be bought with a special add-on that fits into the GBA slot of a classic DS or of a DS Lite. Of course you only need to buy the add-on once, but you do need a DS with a GBA slot.

The drum and vocal careers of Band Hero DS *can* be played without the addon, but for the guitar and bass careers of that game you still need it. Lego Rock Band DS doesn't need any special add-ons, but I've always found it less fun than the Guitar Hero games.

Check out Elite Beat Agents!/Osu! The only addon you need for that is a screen protector for the touchscreen, because you *will* be hitting it a lot, and with some strength. Another option might be Rhythm Heaven, but I haven't actually played that.

I don't know about any earlier Guitar Hero games or other consoles, but Guitar Hero 3 on Xbox 360 could be played with a standard controller. Unfortunately they disabled that option in later games.

And yes, Layton vs Ace Attorney is real. Have a look at the trailer. No release date outside Japan yet, unfortunately.

XWA

[jinian]

Rhythm Heaven is really fun, but I haven't played Elite Beat Agents, so we still can't compare the two!