Zelda

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: October 2024

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Visions of Mana (PS5) – Played some more to wrap up the post-game. There are some really cool little additions to the NG+ mode, but I don’t think I really need to play this one again just yet. Maybe in a couple months.

Peglin (PC) – This is the game that doesn’t end, it just goes on and on, my friend…

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch) – Very good game! I really liked how it took pieces from a lot of other Zeldas and glued them all together to make an incredibly unique entry in the series. I wouldn’t say it’s world-shattering or anything, but I definitely look forward to inevitable replays.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: September 2024

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Peglin (PC) – What more do you want me to say? I guess I could stop listing it in the “Game Over” section, but does a successful run not count as “beating” the game?

FNAF VR: Help Wanted (Quest) – Played this again for the sake of a let’s play. Good times were had, except for the stupid Funtime Foxy levels. Those are the WORST.

FNAF VR: Help Wanted 2 (Quest) – As much as I enjoyed the first game, this is one is scores better. While it doesn’t have any mini-games that are quite as engrossing as the FNAF1-3 recreations, it also doesn’t have any ridiculously difficult mini-games like the stupid Funtime Foxy levels.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: August 2024

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Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition (PC) – 20 years later, I finally understand why this game has a cult following that is desperate for a sequel. I’m not in that boat myself, but I get it. Alas, to a cynical Modern Ryan, it seems kinda like a very ambitious project that ran out of money halfway through development.

Peglin (PC) – Several rather large updates means, of course, more Peglin.

TMNT: Splintered Fate (Switch) – 2000+ words coming soon. I like this one. A Lot.

Nintendo Direct 6.18.2024

Honestly, I kinda lost interest in doing these Nintendo Direct play-by-plays a while ago, but this is very likely the last one where the Switch will be the main focus. In that case, I figured why not? Let’s a go!

Mario & Luigi: Brothership – Sweet! I know some people were predicting a remake, and I certainly wasn’t expecting an entirely new game! It seems to have a pretty wide variety of original characters and enemies, which is great! And the series’ art style looks wonderful in true 3D!

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition – I’m just really not into this. It’s interesting, yes, but I’d honestly rather just play the actual games instead of the parceled-out challenges.

Fairy Tail 2 – Anime nonsense that I don’t care about.

Tunic Rocks, Give it a Chance!

Probably the only thing that I universally dislike about Dark Souls and the plethora of copycats that followed in its tracks is the difficulty level. And I don’t even dislike that they’re (generally) hard games, rather I have a problem with why they’re hard games. I don’t have great reaction speed, which is a problem because the combat in these games almost always revolves around nailing split-second timing to dodge enemy attacks. It gets even worse when enemies have several attacks with similar tells-most of which are only several frames long-and you have to guess which one it’s going to be and respond in kind.

It’s frustrating! I don’t like it and wish that action RPG developers would come up with a way to make the same combat system a little more player-friendly..

Oh, wait, that already exists, and it’s called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. (Or Tears of the Kingdom, if you’d prefer.)

Anyway, a very long blog post about this exact thing is why I ignored Tunic for a very long time. But then my youngest brother played it and could not stop praising it, which made me wonder if maybe I’d made the wrong call. And then Tunic was offered up as one of PS+’s free games for May 2024, so I decided to give it a spin. Nothing to lose when something’s free, right?

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: July 2023

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Akane the Kunoichi (PC) – I remember playing the demo of this waaaaay back on Xbox 360. It’s a very 2011 indie platformer. Which is to say that it’s very simplistic in both visuals and gameplay. Not bad, but nothing special.

Peglin (PC) – Peglin a while, Peglin forever!!

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) – What an incredible ride. In my opinion, there’s absolutely no competition for Game of the Year 2023.

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: June 2023

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Peglin (PC) – Well, it’s a roguelike. And therefore highly replayable. Especially since it’s got a mode that adds a new handicap every time you beat it.

Inhabit (Switch) – A cute puzzle game about taking care of yourself. It took less than two hours to beat, so it was really just a li’l appetizer of a game, but it was fun. Also, I recorded my playthrough for YouTube.

Gargoyle’s Quest (GB) – An action-RPG spin-off of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series, and much more enjoyable in my opinion. While it’s got blind jumps and cheap deaths for sure, I did have fun revisiting this one for the first time in well over a decade.

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: May 2023

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Peglin (PC) – Imagine Peggle, but as a roguelike. Not something I’d normally give a second thought, but it’s so much more fun than it has any right to be. It’s a bit short, but still in Early Access, so there’s potentially a lot of room to grow.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (Switch) – Now THIS is the heaping helping of fanservice that I was hoping the base game would be. Simply being able to go on another adventure with Shulk (and Rex too, I guess) made my heart so happy. Plus they added a similar system as the last few Ys games had that tracks all the collectibles and treasures you’ve found, which really should be in every RPG.

Lost Alone Ultimate (PC) – I watched let’s plays of all three chapters of Lost Alone when they were originally released last year, and really enjoyed them, so I was very excited to play this remade collection. Easily one (three?) of my favourite Steam horror games in recent years.

Dawn of the Final Day

I know I haven’t been blogging much lately, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. See, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases tomorrow (but I’m getting my copy tonight), and if it’s half as compelling as its predecessor, I will be fully lost in it for at least a solid month. Honestly, it’s kind of okay that I’ve been completely failing at dating ~~lately~~, because I ain’t gonna have time for no woman.

To say that I have been strongly anticipating this video game would be one heck of an understatement. Yeah, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were massive hype machines, and the Resident Evil 4 remake was pretty high up there, but both Pokémon and Resident Evil are effectively annual franchises now, which kind of undercuts how exciting a new release is. Zelda, though? It’s been six years since the last new game in the series. Sure, Skyward Sword HD happened, but that wasn’t even a remake. It was a port that looked a bit nicer and added traditional controls. It barely counts.

I feel like this is the part of the blog post where a good writer would be driving home some kind of point, but… I think I already got there? But just in case: Zelda, man! It’s gonna be amaaaazing!!!

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: April 2023

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Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) – I wasn’t too sure about this one for the first few hours, but it really grew on me over time. An excellent game in most regards, though it does feel very repetitive, as open-world games usually do. My favourite parts by far were the side-stories of Jin’s allies. Folks who ignore side-quests in games would absolutely be missing out on the best parts of this game. Norio and Masako in particular were characters that I really liked adventuring with. Platinum trophy’d.

Super Mario Land 2 (GB) – Yes, again. But this time, the colourized romhack! It’s… the same game, but looks nicer. Also, you can be Luigi!

Resident Evil 4 (PS5) – Everything I could have hoped for. It’s generally a very faithful remake, but remixes a lot of the content in different ways to keep veterans of the original on their toes. That plus a whole bunch of new elements, and MUCH improved boss fights across the board. Basically exactly what a remake should be, in my opinion. It also fleshes out the story and characters way more than the original, which is definitely a nice-to-have. I’ll absolutely be playing this a few more times before the year is done.