Weapon Shop de Omasse (Nintendo 3DS) Second Opinion Review

Fans of RPGs will no doubt be familiar with weapon shops that provide heroes with the necessary equipment to face tough enemies and save the day. This game puts the player in the position of both a shopkeeper and a blacksmith, and creates a strange but satisfying mix of shop simulation, rhythm gameplay and - most importantly - comedy, as it's written by a Japanese comedian called Yoshiyuki Hirai.

Unlike traditional weapon shops, Weapon Shop de Omasse rents weapons to its customers instead of selling them. There is no up-front fee and payment is only received if the quest is successful, otherwise the weapon will be lost completely. The shop starts out quite humble, with only a small selection of fairly weak weapons, but eventually expands its inventory with a wider selection of stronger weapons. This is done by fulfilling quests of all regular customers, who all have their own motives and crazy personalities, such as a fearsome female pirate chasing after her lover. Others are cheekily called NPC A, B, C, and so on, to make it clear that they're just unimportant side characters, as seen in many classic RPGs.

Weapons come in several types and have three damage attributes called Slash, Pierce and Blunt. Each character has different preferences for both weapon type and attack style, making it vital to rent them the best weapon for the job. Creating one is a fairly simple affair, and involves a quirky rhythm game, in which the goal is to hammer the metal into shape in a given rhythm while maintaining an ideal heat. It's quite fun and there is some skill involved to achieve really good results, but it's still something that wouldn't carry the game on its own.

Luckily, it doesn't have to, as the game features an extremely impressive localisation and delivers heaps of funny interactions between the characters, all supported by classic laugh tracks. In addition to that, a special tool called the Grindcast - that's built into every weapon - tracks the feats of every customer in a way that can be compared to social networks such as Twitter. While its main purpose is to provide live updates on how the regular characters are doing on their quests, it's also a culmination of references of RPG and game tropes, Internet expressions, and silly hashtags. Those who are into this type of humour will love what the Grindcast offers and keep playing until the end to experience everything.