GBAtemp game of the week- #36

FAST6191

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GBAtemp book game club has another edition right now. Although naming the series GBAtemp book game club probably says it all a rough overview of what it is about follows.
Games (usually one but occasionally a handful) are suggested each edition and those that wish get to play and comment on the selection or some part thereof. Now the selections have various factors leading to their selection but we do want to say that the series is not intended to be one of the many, many top ? games lists out there as those have been done to death really. That is not to say we dislike quality games but a game might demonstrate a nice mechanic, soundtrack, play style or otherwise have something to make a catch our eye and be selected for one of these.
We have not limited it to them but our main sources of selections will come from the consoles GBAtemp traditionally covered but as those have extensive (and in the case of rom hacks still growing) libraries of commercial releases, homebrew code, other releases and rom hacks we do not envisage having to scrape the bottom of the barrel any time soon.
Following the same logic that lead to the ignoring of perceived quality (or worse review scores) there will be occasions where in an attempt to keep things fresh additional criteria will be added like a game only being available in a given region (surprisingly there is such a thing as a good European exclusive), something that is now quite rare, something that is now quite cheap to get your hands on..... or if there is a good challenge (only playing a game using X or not doing Y), a quick go of the first hours or a compare and contrast that can be added onto the basic format.



#36- The Guild DS (NDS)

The entertainment industry and this certainly includes the computer game side of things seems to thrive on somewhat unbased criticism of various players in the various roles and one of the ones that gets thrown about with a higher chance of sticking than usual is that the DS lacks complex games. The Guild DS would be part of the, admittedly very small, answer to that charge (one of several options that hit around April 2009). Supposedly a port of a somewhat unknown (although it certainly has a few fans as these sorts of genres often do) 2002 vintage PC strategy game Europa 1400 it lost a fair bit of the source games options in the process of porting it (the PC series arguably plays like a finance simulator with nicer graphics) but still remains an interesting title and unlike many of it's peers has some decent mid and late game content as you actually start to form the titular guild and some extra replay value with the themed modes. For what it is worth we found it somewhat reminiscent of the trading side of elite with a dash of Defender of the Crown thrown in. We do not expect to win many people over with this choice but in case you missed it and like this sort of thing (handheld trading games on the GBA and DS are somewhat lacking) or decided what GTA chinatown wars needed was more drug wars minigame and less GTA then give it a spin.



Gameplay trailer (short and German language)

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GBAtemp release thread[/p]

Basic economics is not a game or were 4HEAD Studios onto something here? Those with GBA capabilities are also pointed at http://filetrip.net/f5226-Trade-Winds.html (one of the games to feature in our GBAtemp recommends homebrew series) and Sea Trader- Rise of Taipan.[/p]

gbagotw should get you other links in this series

 

Redhorse

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Independant Arts & RTL games hold the licenses here. I got this (in English of course), and I thought I was the only one who did. I really enjoy this, I have this and two others Carcasonne DS & Catan DS. You never hear much about these and they all had limited success and release but were decent if not outright good, depending on your personal taste In all cases the graphics take a backseat to the gameplay.

All 3 I imported. I wish they had come out in the US though. I mention these 3 as they have a similar feel/theme to them that I enjoy. It levels out and gets repetitive until you open workshops and get into the politics of it all, in each town you purchase branch offices, workshops or even purchase a title:ie 'Landlord' Duke etc, to win over local traders in favor of the Guild. or donate money to a good cause in town hall and such, Your fathers goal was creating a Guld which I believe they mean to be like a union of traders.

Much of the game is about buying , selling and gaining a good reputation and sway the people buy into your personal idea of union-izing. Instead of the main story you can play through 10 Scenarios instead. Like Civ Rev, each with it's own set of challenges. It could have been alittle better if they had added abit to the travel aspect making it like 'Oregon Trails' like. Here the travel is just grazed over. It's a good game just the same if you enjoy this type as I do. It fills a nice spot on my DS and my collectionof games.
 

FAST6191

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Carcassonne DS and Catan DS.
My main problem with these was they were released alongside (when DLC is considered)/compared to the some stunning versions on XBLA and PSN.

A pity we never got Uncharted waters/Daikoukai Jidai released in English... might have to see if there is a translation project going on. Actually looking around it seems there are several Japanese games of similar theme and many would be quite text light.

Back on topic I probably should say this is pretty good for a close the lid when something happens type game and has a fairly nice UI (saves having to note down prices in various places by doing it for you) and is largely stylus driven (pretty much everything onscreen and nice radial menus).
 

ferofax

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I have played this game to some extent, and although i've never made it to the point of having my own guild, i did however get a good feel for the game. it's pretty much just okay, even for fans of trading games (and i'm a big fan of trading simulators, or all sorts of simulators actually, especially on the mobiles from a few years ago). Anno 1700 (or whatever year that is) is a much much better game with more mileage and economic depth, plus the surprisingly cool but weird combat mechanic (that revolves on waypoints) has just so much more going for it.

if i had my way, i'd port/remake a LOT of my fave mobile titles onto the DS.
 

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