Topic: A Boy and His Blob is adorable

V, you were supposed to keep that a secret. I don't know why I didn't think of using the "Contact Us" tab. Thanks for sending that in the right direction.

On Topic: I don't know why I can't get of the fence about The Boy and His Blob. It could be the art style. While I love it, it kind of comes of childish and makes me question the actual challange of the game. I guess it's a double edged sword. I'll anxiously await Corbie's review. Maybe that will be enough to push me over into buying it.

How bad are those load times I've been hearing about? I'm getting this for christmas no matter what, but I'd like to know how much they disrupt gameplay.

Regarding the childishness of the art style, I have to admit, I'm not an accurate gauge. People are turned off by the Kirby series because of how kiddy it looks, but I love those games. In THOSE cases, however, the games actually are pretty easy. (No offense to the series...two of those games are among my favorites.) In Boy and His Blob's case, I can't see a young child making it very far. Through the first world, perhaps. But even there, there's enough tricky parachuting and (sometimes) patience-requiring problem solving that I think a child will spend more time playing with the blob than trying to solve the levels.

I'm not very far in the game yet so I can't vouch for overall quality, but right now I'd rate it "somewhat easy" rather than "very easy." The puzzles are fun, though, and the solutions to several of them definitely had me smirking when I worked them out.

Regarding load times, Shadx, it varies. There's always a loading graphic, and sometimes the next level loads before that graphic even starts animating. Other times (traveling back to world 1 from world 2) it takes a little longer. In the big picture, it hasn't bothered me. I DO wish they could have gotten away without them, as it's just enough of a hiccup in the gameplay that it will register with you, but it's far from unlivable.

EDIT: Not speaking for NL here, of course. I have no idea how Corbie would answer these questions...so I do advise waiting for his review if you're on the fence...just in case.

JayArr - the difficulty is probably moderate, many of the harder puzzles require timing and problem-solving. For most of us, the animation is appealing, but if the animation doesn't appeal to you, then you might not like it altogether.

The IGN reviewer is somewhat of an idiot. The loading times aren't even that bad. In my opinion, the game with the worst loading times is SSBB. Loading in this game takes only like 5 seconds.

He also said that the game can only be played with the nunchuck and remote, but the classic controller is supported.

He also complained that the controls aren't "intuitive", but when I hear that, I just hear a stab at the Wii's "waggle interface", boo hoo hoo.

Thanks for the impressions C_B and Ramandus, much appreciated.

I actually love the art style of this game. My jaw dropped this first time I saw screen shots. Lush, atmospheric, and vibrant. Though it seemed to carry a extra easy game vibe with it. Knowing there are some clever puzzles plus some that take skill has qualmed my fears. I think I may just pick this up as I've been interested from the first time I heard of it.

Hey, it could be worse. Like controller smashing frustration I had with the original.

I bought my copy at Target tonight based on Chicken's one-line (one-subject?) review. I love puzzles (like Adventures of Lolo 1 and 2, Toki Tori, etc., etc., etc.) and I love adorable. Sold.