DS Daily: Addicted
by Chris Greenhough 
{ May 1st 2008 at 9:00AM }
My name is Chris Greenhough, and I'm an ... an ... Advance Wars addict. I can't put it down. I think about it constantly. While eating. While walking the dog. While out with friends. While waiting for buses. Every second of the day, I crave it. Occasionally, I'll even sneak in turns while blogging, surreptitiously hiding my DS in my coat pocket. An odd pot-shot at an anti-air unit here, a strike on my opponent's Dusters there. All while my colleagues aren't looking. I'm a mess.
I need help.
But sometimes, simply sharing can help. So let's do that. What do you play far too much of?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Flint @ May 1st 2008 9:12AM
Definitely The World Ends with You at the moment, that game has grabbed me and not let go since the moment I first put in in my DS.
I tend to tun it on thinking "I'll just play for half and hour" and 3 hours later I'm still there trying to master the various pins, buying clothes, messing around with the difficulty settings and the drop rates, fighting battles to consume food for stat upgrades, wandering around reading peoples minds... so much to do and so engrossing!
I've been very pleasantly surprised by how amazing and addictive the game is.
More of this kind of thing please, Square Enix!
avantgardener @ May 1st 2008 11:45AM
Totally agree with you there! I picked it up after reading the rave reviews and was totally lost for the first in-game day. Couldn't handle the fighting mechanic, but once they explain Shiki's combo system, things became much better.
I'm only starting to get into the food and clothing system now. Ps, I love the unique leveling system.
Nigeria - MK: 0430-8491-9123 @ May 1st 2008 9:18AM
For me it was Puzzle Quest.
Me and my boy wizard would scour the world for adventure. Searching for runes. Battling monsters. Capturing cities. Losing them. Them capturing them again. And a five minute play session would always last the hour. Afterwards I would always ask: "what the hell am I doing and where did the time go?" But the next day would roll by and I'd repeat the process. I would act without thinking: I couldn't help it.
Eventually, I sold the game. It was painful, but I had to do it. I still don't understand how the game took hold of my attention for so long. I'm not really one for puzzles.
avantgardener @ May 1st 2008 11:55AM
Oh PQ.... I certainly whittled away many nights forging new weapons and learning spells from my captured creatures.
Don't know how many times I got close to finishing 'em, only to be short one scroll as the moves ran out on me!
Wiiboy @ May 1st 2008 9:21AM
Im not addicted to it anymore, but I was pretty hyped on advance wars for a while, too. For total playtime, my Pokemon wins, with 295 total hours played. (I know Pokemon has been out much longer than advance wars)
laughingman @ May 1st 2008 10:07AM
I have been playing video games for 25 years (since the Atari 2600), and I don't think I've ever been as captivated by something as I have by Shiren the Wanderer.
I have spent over 130 hours on Shiren so far, and I will probably double that before I am done with the game. It's one of the most polished, entertaining, and challenging titles I have played for any system, so I don't regret playing several hours after I should be in bed...several days in a row.
TheCoats @ May 1st 2008 10:21AM
okay guys
everyone in here is probabl an addict or has been an addict to this game......for me i have been one for a LONG time and that is why i return to nintendo systems......Pokemon.....i can not go a day with out playing......and just this week they released a pocket pokedex-which i already got-b/c the original one that i bought for some reason doesn't tell me where i can find them in Dia./Per.
and NO im not 12 im 20 but i cant stop ......
Jacek99 @ May 1st 2008 1:31PM
laughingman - what is so good in this game? I'v e played it for 1 hour and I didn't fing anything interesting. I wanted id to be good but I just don't knot how to get fun from this game.
laughingman @ May 1st 2008 7:13PM
Jacek99-you should never write off a game after only one hour, especially something as deep as Shiren. (unless it is something truly execrable like Spy Games: elevator mission.) A general rule of thumb for me is to give a game five hours to show me something, ten for RPG's. If it hasn't grabbed me by then, it's probably not going to after another five.
That said, the roguelike genre is not for everyone.
Shiren has done three things extremely well. First, it is challenging every time you play it. You cannot expect that you will survive just because you have extremely powerful gear, you have to use it intelligently or you will end up dead.
Second, it is infinitely replayable. Random dungeons, items, and monsters mean that you must adjust your strategies to your situation. It also means that your story changes each time: I might be Shiren the Mastersword-swinging slayer of countless monsters, or I might be Shiren the crafty magician who uses his wits, staves, and scrolls to overcome the challenge of Table Mountain.
Finally, the story itself and the numerous sidequests are funny, sometimes poignant, and always entertaining.
I hope this helps you understand my love for the game, and gives you an incentive to try it again.
Roto13 @ May 1st 2008 10:58AM
I've never been addicted to a single game. I always get bored of them eventually.
I might be addicted to gaming in general, though.
Mike_NJ @ May 1st 2008 11:10AM
My Pokemon Diamond had over 130 hours on it...
I've put 45+ hours into Final Fantasy VI four or five times...
30+ into Final Fantasy IV four or five times...
My current "big times" are probably SSBB with ~40? hours, PMD: Darkness with ~22, and Mario Kart Wii with ~18 hours. (PMD:D is easier since I can carry it with me!)
Jacksons @ May 1st 2008 11:12AM
Addicted...not quite. You could take whatever game I was currently playing and throw it in a fire and I'd easily find another to play. Well... after I kicked you, of course.
SL4IN @ May 1st 2008 11:27AM
Well, my addiction is Pokemon. And like theCoats, I'm also 20 and I've been playing the series since it came stateside over 10 years ago. My current feat is over 400 hundred hours on just my Diamond gamesave. But if I had to calculate the entire amount of time I've spend on the Pokemon games, I can assure you it would be over 1000 hours. Crazy I know, but I just love them pokes.
Puddles @ May 1st 2008 11:36AM
Recently I've been putting a whole lot of hours into Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. Those Harvest Moon games are highly addictive. Every time I want to turn my DS off, I just think "one more day", and then hours later I'm still playing...
Donald @ May 1st 2008 11:39AM
Add me to the Pokemon crowd. Mainly because the Battle Tower is making me its (female dog).
DAMN YOU ACCUPRESSURE TENTACRUEL!
Adam Hunt @ May 1st 2008 1:10PM
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I _want_ to play The World Ends With You, but I CANNOT. I must kill that group of five Viera. They are too strong.
Lanceh @ May 1st 2008 2:22PM
Fire Emblem.
Any of them.
burgerbat @ May 1st 2008 2:35PM
Tetris DS online. It consumes my life. Gotta go play.
Holden @ May 1st 2008 4:08PM
Picross DS.
I played it all the time; even when my Game Boy was powered off.
It was horrendous - when I slept, I would progress through simple puzzles with the kind of aplomb that only a dream can produce.
Awake, I began to arrange objects into lines, assigning numbers to their placement in said pattern.
And the worst part: I wasn't even terribly good at it.
Of course, that's not as bad as the time I played Katamari Damacy so much that it caused me to vomit.
That... was not good.
elfgirl @ May 1st 2008 9:19PM
yeah add me to the pokemon crowd also! been playing since yellow- not as many hours on pearl (70)- its not as deep for me but still fun! i have every single pokemon rpg. on my ruby i have over 400 hours, all the other ones arou nd 200. i've never not loved them!
Henke @ May 2nd 2008 5:45AM
Definitely Shiren the wanderer. It's just too awesome. The risk of losing it all due to one single misjudgment really has me on the edge of my sofa while playing. Actually losing it all ain't so bad, since you the player is the one who actually gains the experience in this game. You'll always be better next time you enter.
Kai Wong @ May 2nd 2008 4:57PM
it's so wonderful to see so many shiren lovers out here. Seriously, it's the first game on the DS to really draw me in (70 hours, and still only 30% complete, but beat Kitchen God, Fay's 50 puzzles and Table Mountain). Such a well-crafted game makes me hope for good things for the DS...
But then there's my old addiction, looming somewhere in the future (namely, Ragnarok Online DS). If it comes out and it has good online play, I might seriously fall prey again.
ArmorForVictor @ May 3rd 2008 3:04PM
has to be pokemon diamond which i have about 100 hours in and team fortress 2 on my ps3 which i have played also for 100 hours.
Kimiko @ Jun 5th 2008 9:06AM
Puzzle Quest has to be number one for me. I've finished that game four times (each time including all the sidequests).
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story (GBA) I've finished twice (68 and 34 hours resp.), the first time also including the whole bonus dungeon.
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 (GBA) also racked up over 60 hours (finished once, including the bonus dungeons).
Magical Starsign I finished twice (2×37hrs), but never really attempted the bonus dungeon.
Final Fantasy I&II: Dawn of Souls (GBA) got 23 and 29 hours respectively.
Gee, you think RPGs are my favorite genre or something?