Hey guys!

As many of you Wii owners already know, the WiiWare service launched yesterday. With Virtual Console, you can download classic games from systems of yore (yes, yore). WiiWare is like that, only you can download new, Wii-exclusive games. I was fortunate enough to buy two games, LostWinds and Final Fantasy: My Life as a King.

LostWinds is great, but you can beat it in a matter of about three hours. You essentially play as a little boy and a Wind Spirit that helps him through his adventures. It's a quasi-3D platformer in which you use an on-screen reticule to control the wind, helping the little boy character (controlled using the thumbstick and Z button on the nunchuck attachment) move to new heights and defeat enemies.

The game looks stunning in terms of what Wii is capable of. It's a success in its character and environment design and graphically, it looks better than most disc-based Wii games (sad, I know). The controls work remarkably well and it's nice to see someone doing something different with the platform genre.

On hurtle for this game, however, is that it's incredibly short. I beat it in about 3 hours total. Also, there's little variety in enemies and those that exist are very easy to defeat. But I guess the game is more about its puzzle elements than anything, and for 1000 Wii Points ($10), and with a confirmed sequel (or continuation, if you will) on the way, this game is practically a steal. I recommend you buy it if you haven't already.

Final Fantasy: My Life as a King is not your ordinary Final Fantasy game. It's actually a sim game in which you play the role of a young king trying to build a community where a once-powerful kingdom used to thrive. I'm not usually big on sim games, but I figured any game that has ties to Crystal Chronicles (off of which this game branches) can't be that bad. And the delightful truth of the matter is that it's not that bad at all. I haven't had the chance to delve into it too deeply, but it seems to be an enjoyable little game (and also happens to be the first Pay To Play Wii title, where you can apparently buy new clothing and items and houses and whatnot). Graphically, it doesn't quite match Crystal Chronicles (due mostly to a smaller frame rate), but it charmingly resembles it. If sim games are your thing, you'll probably enjoy this. If they're not, you might still be surprised. I'll let you know if I become passionate about the game once I get more time to play it.

Have any of you guys bought either of these or any other WiiWare titles yet? If so, let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Anyway, I'll be going. I'd like to sketch some stuff just for fun and I also have some commission stuff to work on.

Hope all is well!

~Andrew

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1: Status: Pending confirmation to start.
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