Title: Slice It!
Developer: Come2us, Arc System Works, Aksys Games
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Game Type: 3DS
NA Availability: Digital
EU Availability: Currently Unavailable
Block Usage:  468

A lot of times, there are certain types of games you expect from certain developers.  Take a moment and think about it.  With Square Enix, I expect games to mostly be RPGs (Outside of them having acquired Eidos Interactive).  With TT Fusion, I expect platforming and puzzle games.  The list goes on.  There are just specific genres that certain developers do best or some publishers generally always go for with localizations.

Every so often, you get a game from a developer or publisher that is completely outside the norm for them.  I had that happen this past week with a game I was given to review by Aksys Games.  When I think of Aksys and Arc System Works, I think of games like BlazBlue, Sorcery Saga, and Xblaze.  What I got was something very unexpected.  It was a puzzle game, and not only that, a very Mobile-like puzzle game.

With the idea of unexpected games in mind, here is my review of the Nintendo 3DS version of Slice It!

Story

Due to this game having no story, this section shall remain blank.

Gameplay

Slice It is a geometry-based puzzle game.  I’m not sure if this is actually a known genre, but that’s the best way I can describe it.  In the game, you solve puzzles and the theme is very much based on basic shapes and geometry.

You play through the game in stages.  You have 3 basic game modes you can do.  The first two are Episode 1 and Episode 2, which function as the main game.  They each feature 100 different puzzles to go through.  Then you have the Quick Mode, where you basically do endless puzzles, trying to solve as many as you can in a certain timeframe.  It’s pretty much the same amount of content that there was in the original Mobile version that this was ported from.  This is both good and bad.  The good is that there’s a good bit of content.  The bad thing is that it hardly justifies paying a lot more money for the game for the near-non-existent price tag on Mobile.

Playing the game is a pretty basic idea from Geometry: Symmetry, for lack of a better term.  Each stage shows a certain shape or collections of shapes that connect together.  Your task is to divide said shape into a certain number of shapes of relatively equal size and you also have a certain number of lines (turns) to do this.  You may be presented with a triangle with 3 “pencils” for turns and will be required to divide it into 5 different shapes of relative size.

The premise of the game, as you can see is extremely simple.  You make lines to divide shapes, and that’s all there is to it.  No story.  No status elements.  Just dividing up shapes.  While there is a Hint system where the game will help you with each puzzle, it’s an incredibly simple Mobile game and that’s exactly what it still feels like when playing on the 3DS.

That’s not to say it isn’t a fun game, though.  While each puzzle is simple and short, the harder the game gets, the more satisfying it is to eventually solve it.  I consider myself fairly good with math and I was getting challenged less than 40 stages into the game. Without a guide, it will definitely challenge you, and the game encourages you to figure it out yourself.  The in-game hints run out quickly and you have to play Quick Mode to be able to get more.

As you play the game, you can also work on unlocking more content, mostly in the form of different color palettes to use while you play the game.  You won’t be working towards a lot of unlockable extras, but more or less playing the game as more of a pick-up-and-play experience.

Considering there are more than 200 stages to go through, it’s got a fair about of length to it.  If you get one right the first try, you could probably beat the game in less than an hour.  Given the fact that a lot of them are very hard, I would increase that to at least 4-5 hours.  That is assuming that you figure each out yourself and don’t use Google to find a guide to tell you the answers for each one.

Controls

Controls for the game are good and bad at the same time.  First of all, there are almost no button controls in this game at all.  The only button feature to know of is moving your line with the Circle Pad while also holding the touch screen to make a line.

The rest of the game is completely touch-based, just like the Mobile release.  The lack of button controls can be forgiven with the fact that the game’s requirements for lines are very precise.  One of the lackluster features in the Mobile version is that it was hard to make precise lines.  Thanks to the 3DS’ stylus pen, this is no longer an issue.

Presentation

Visually, the game looks really nice and crisp.  That’s not the interesting part of the presentation, though.  This is a 3DS game that uses portrait orientation, similar to Sunflowers on the PS Vita.  This means you actually have to hold your system side-ways to be able to play it.  It works, but it’s definitely a little weird at first.

I don’t have any complaints about the sound or performance.  Everything runs really well and the music is pretty nice.  I won’t say it’s overly memorable music, but it has a very family/children tone to it, which is clearly how this game was made and the audience it is intended for.