May 21: wallet threat level yellow

This week’s wallet threat level is as low as it is mainly because Defender Chronicles II is so cheap and Mario Tennis is so specific. But they’re both quite good. Defender Chronicles II for the iPhone is a ridiculously generous and long-term investment in tower defense RPGing, even more generous and more long-term than the original. So one of the best tower defense games you can play on any platform just got better. Mario Tennis Open for the Nintendo 3DS is one of those games I like in spite of the Mario goofiness. It’s not just enthusiastic and colorful. It combines the slickness of Virtua Tennis with the finesse of the Top Spin series.

I find Dragon’s Dogma a real chore so far. Capcom has assembled a collection of bad choices, from ugly world building to awkward combat to a wretched party system to the very name. I haven’t played such a “what were they thinking?” game in a while.

Also out this week is Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.