So out of nowhere a while ago, Nintendo drops an Indie World Showcase presentation, which is basically a Nintendo Direct but without any actual Nintendo games. Usually these spotlight a few cool-looking titles that I never end up buying because who has the time for all these games? This one was different, however.
Enter Minishoot’ Adventures (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition), a game that was announced and released on the very same day, which also happened to be the day I purchased it. Now I don’t know if this game was released on the original Switch or not, but it did come out on Steam at least in 2024. And I find it baffling that I’d never heard of the game at all until then, because it is AMAZING.
Minishoot’ is kinda like a Zelda game; run around a world map, battle enemies, discover power-ups, and journey through dungeons. The twist being that instead of a little adventurer guy, you play as a little spaceship-lookin’ guy. And also the “combat” is that of a bullet-hell shooter. Quite a combination, I know, and it works marvelously.
It’s not the only musou game I’ve played this year, but it’s a helluva lot better than the other one.
Release year: 2025
Developer: Koei Tecmo, AAA Games Studio
Platform: Switch 2
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the third game in the Hyrule Warriors series, if you don’t count all the re-releases of the first game, and it’s kind of the fourth game in the “Wild” era of the Legend of Zelda series. It’s not my favourite of either category, not by a long shot, but it is a lot of fun to play, and it does a great job of filling in a lot of the story and character that was desperately missing from Tears of the Kingdom.
To that end, Age of Imprisonment tells the tale of what happened to Zelda after she travelled back in time at the start of Tears of the Kingdom. Or, moreso, it fleshes out the details of what happened during that era. We get a much better idea how Ganondorf seized control over Hyrule, what happened during the imprisoning war, and how Rauru and the sages finally managed to put an end to it. And also it actually gives Rauru and those sages a lot more screentime and personality (and names) than Tears of the Kingdom did.
There is also a fun additional story that follows a Korok named Calamo and a mysterious Zonai construct as they travel about and cross paths with Zelda, Rauru and the the gang. Despite seeming like they would be almost more comic relief than anything, this duo actually ended up being my favourite characters in the game, and they really added a lot to the climax and ending. Like, if they had been absent, I don’t think that I would have found the finale nearly as satisfying as I did.
The gameplay is pretty standard Warriors-style hack-and-slash action. So you run around, beating up hundreds of weak little monsters, then come up against some stronger monsters, and when the story calls for it, an actual boss from time to time. Unlike the original Hyrule Warriors, there really isn’t much focus on capturing bases in this one, and I feel like that’s a bit of a miss. Age of Imprisonment’s missions are all pretty much the same formula, and it could have used a little more variety in objectives. It’s still fun, but could have been more fun.
There’s also a sizeable roster of characters to play with. Half of it is comprised of important, story-centric characters like Zelda, Rauru, and Calamo, while the other half is composed of more generic citizens of Hyrule. It was kind of weird to see all these “lesser” characters at first, but they all play fairly differently, and as such you’re guaranteed to find at least character from any given race you really like to play as. My personal favourites were the mysterious construct, the Gerudo sage Ardi, and the Zora sage Qia.
Age of Imprisonment also has an absolutely massive amount of content to play through. The main story is 6 chapters long, and five of those chapters are made up of multiple missions that take an average of about half an hour each. Then every time you clear a main mission, it seems like about a dozen sub-missions appear on the map. Some of those are shorter combat stages, and some of them just require you to turn in some resources to give one of your characters an upgrade. And then you beat the game and the map gets completely covered in additional things to do. Again, it’s not quite as dense as the dozens of adventure maps in the original Hyrule Warriors, but you certainly get your money’s worth from this one!
I’ll say it again, Age of Imprisonment doesn’t really hit the heights of the games it’s derived from, but it’s definitely solid when judged on its own merits. I very much appreciate how it fills in Tears of the Kingdom’s backstory and then some, and the gameplay is a little repetitive but has enough different characters to mess around with and carrots to chase that it never gets boring. I’ve happily sunk more than 50 hours into it already, and I fully intend to keep going until it’s 100% cleared.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch2) – While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Legends: Arceus, it was clearly going in a very different direction from the start. Not outstanding, but I had a lot of fun playing it! And will keep playing through the postgame and DLC expansion.
Ramona (PC) – What I’ve been calling an “escape house” game, this is the most recent Doesn’t Matter Games release, and it doesn’t disappoint. A creepy house full of puzzles and jumpscares? Sign me up!
Kromaia (PC) – A neat 3D space-shooter game that’s as dizzying as it is impossible to see what’s going on. While I could see myself playing it through in leaner times, there are so many other games I’d rather spend my time on. So I beat the first level and then tossed it on the “not really feeling it” pile.
Ten years ago, Square-Enix and Omega Force released a video game called Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below. It is a “musou” game, which means that it’s a generally mindless hack-and-slash game where you mostly just tear through thousands of hapless goons. It’s also a spin-off of the Dragon Quest series, but I think that part’s a little more obvious.
Nintendo did a similar thing with the Legend of Zelda the year before, Hyrule Warriors, which is a game that I played obsessively. Twice. I didn’t end up playing Dragon Quest Heroes, though, since I was poor at the time and had to be more selective about my video game purchases. But it has stuck in the back of my mind all these years. Ironically, now I have enough money to buy all the games I want, but there isn’t nearly enough time to play them all. The grass is always greener.
All that to say that I finally bought and started playing DQ Heroes the other day.
Gestalt: Steam & Cinder (PC) – A totally average metroidvania. The gameplay is solid and the world design is good, but the unlockable skills are largely useless and the story is waaaaaay too wordy. Also the ending is poo.
Deltarune (Switch2) – It’s absolutely wild that somehow each chapter manages to be better and more mind-bending than the last. I guess that what happens when there are years of development between them. Hopefully the rest of the chapters are released in my lifetime!
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic (PS5) – A complete 180 from the unfinished mess that was Security Breach, I thought this game was genuinely really good. It’s a ton of fun, has plenty of variety, didn’t crash once, and has a plot that you could clearly follow from start to finish. Great success!
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.
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.
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.
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.
