1153: Reasons to Own a Wii

Poor old Wii. Despite being one of the biggest-selling consoles of all time and bringing new people who never would have considered gaming before to the hobby, it doesn’t have the best reputation among self-professed “hardcore” gamers. In fact, it’s not really taken seriously by the press or public alike in most cases, with Wii titles often being noticeably absent from “best of the generation” lists and people often forgetting that it is, in fact, home to some astonishingly good games.

What’s also worth noting is that if you’ve picked up a Wii U recently, you have access to all of these previous-generation games and can discover them for the first time if you’ve never checked them out.

I’m going to share some of my favourite Wii games now, and none of them are going to be Mario or Zelda games. They are, however, all excellent games, and you should absolutely check them out. If the sole reason you haven’t checked them out is because the Wii runs in 480p resolution, get over yourself and stop being so shallow. You’re missing out on some fantastic experiences.

So without further ado and in no particular order, here we go:

Xenoblade Chronicles

First of the three “Operation Rainfall” games, Xenoblade Chronicles is a sprawling Japanese role-playing game that bucks almost every convention of the genre to create an experience that should get even the most hardened, grizzled Western RPG veteran to sit up and pay attention. The game features a sprawling open world populated with hundreds of unique NPCs, many of whom have quests to give you; an awesome real-time(ish) MMO-style combat system with some fantastic party AI; some brilliant British voice acting (and the option for Japanese if you prefer); a decent story in a highly imaginative setting; and a rockin’ soundtrack, Xenoblade Chronicles is an absolute winner that will keep you busy for well over a hundred hours in total.

The only real criticisms you can level at it are that there’s a bit of filler content (that you can easily ignore), the character faces are a bit blurry and facial animations are a bit inconsistent. The latter two are side-effects of the game being produced on a much smaller budget than a game of this magnitude would require on HD consoles, and as such are easily forgiven.

The Last Story

The second of the three “Operation Rainfall” role-playing games, The Last Story is a cinematic JRPG with a resolutely linear storyline that is over and done with within 25-30 hours, making it something you can play and enjoy without having to dedicate a month or two to it. It has interesting and unconventional characters, a well-realised “hub town”, a cool story, an interesting combat system and the pedigree of Hironobu “Final Fantasy” Sakaguchi behind it.

Common criticisms include the prevalence of brown in the graphics (a deliberate stylistic choice to sepia-tint the whole thing that you’ll either be into or not), the fact that some parts are pushing the Wii a little too hard, leading to drops in frame rate, and the fact the unusual real-time combat system takes a little while to get interesting. Still well worth a punt, though. There’s also a multiplayer mode, bizarrely, though I’d be surprised if anyone’s still playing.

Pandora’s Tower

The third of the three “Operation Rainfall” games, and the most unconventional of the lot. Unfolding more like a cross between Zelda, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus than a typical Japanese role-playing game, Pandora’s Tower is an emotional tale of a young man trying desperately to save the woman he loves from a horrific curse — and the pair of them doing anything it takes to survive the ordeal. By turns romantic and horrific, Pandora’s Tower is simultaneously epic and intimate, with a wonderful sense of atmosphere and excellent use of the Wii’s unique control scheme.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Despite the name, this was the first Trauma Center game to hit the Wii; the Second Opinion part of the title refers to the fact that it is a remake of the first Trauma Center game: Under the Knife for Nintendo DS. The plot tells the tale of rookie surgeon Dr Derek Stiles and his assistant Angie as they attempt to rid the world of a mysterious illness known as GUILT, and the Wii version adds some new story material to the mix courtesy of newcomer Dr Naomi Kimishima and her assistant Navel.

Gameplay is a peculiar fusion of visual novel sequences and frantic, terrifying, arcade-like surgery sequences in which your skill with the Wii Remote and its unique capabilities will be well and truly put to the test. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a realistic medical drama — this is entertaining Japanese sci-fi at its finest, and you’ll find yourself doing everything from performing relatively conventional surgical procedures to battling mutant viruses and defusing bombs with your surgical implements. It’s not perfect — lack of 16:9 aspect ratio support is a sticking point for some — but it’s still worth playing. As is its sequel.

Trauma Center: New Blood

The first all-new Trauma Center game to hit the Wii brings a whole new cast, a new storyline and a new disease to battle against. It also adds 16:9 aspect ratio support, a rather unnecessary (and not particularly well-implemented) two-player cooperative mode, full speech for the story sequences and generally a nice refinement of the formula. The main theme tune also sounds like it was ripped off from House.

Trauma Team

The ultimate refinement of the Trauma Center formula, Trauma Team features not only the surgery gameplay of the previous two games, but also adds a variety of other gameplay styles — the frantic pace of First Response missions, the tense, skill-based gameplay of Orthopedics, the Descent-style first-person exploration of Endoscopy, and two distinct adventure game-style components in Diagnosis and Forensics. Each of the game’s characters has their own distinct plotline to follow, and they all come together for a seriously epic final episode towards the end of the game. The traditional visual novel presentation of the earlier games has been replaced by a fantastic “motion comic” style, and the whole experience is absolutely gripping.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

I must confess to not having played this yet, but you can’t go wrong with Fire Emblem. Radiant Dawn is the direct sequel to Gamecube title Path of Radiance, and continues the series’ iconic strategy-RPG gameplay.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure

This unusual and all-but-unknown offering from Capcom is a curious fusion of traditional point and click adventure and puzzle game, and has a huge amount of visual charm. Deceptively simple gameplay — point at things with the Wii Remote and click on them — belies some absolutely fiendish puzzles that alternate between slow-paced headscratchers and tests of reflexes.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Arguably one of the best Silent Hill games, and one of the most thought-provoking games out there. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a complete reimagining of the first Silent Hill game (and consequently requires no knowledge of the franchise) and features some immensely clever psychological tricks and treats over the course of its narrative. It’s also noteworthy for featuring no combat whatsoever, instead replacing the fighting and gunplay of the other games in the series with “running frantically away in the dark” sequences that aren’t entirely successful, but do evoke a pleasing feeling of panic.

Honourable Mentions (that I haven’t played but have on my shelf)

No More Heroes/No More Heroes 2
Sin and Punishment
Resident Evil 4
Cursed Mountain

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Got any more to share that don’t have Mario or Zelda in the name? Feel free to comment!