Category: Zelda

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – May 2017

This may be the longest list to date… I don’t know quite how it happened, seeing as I feel like I’ve been playing far fewer video games than usual. Ack! Maybe it’s time to start logging playtime?

~ Game Over ~

Bye-Bye, BoxBoy! (3DS) – Is it the Best Box Boy? Yeah. Yeah it is. They’ve definitely pushed the series as far as it can go, and I’m glad it’s (ostensibly) being retired before it loses its lustre.

KAMIKO (Switch) – I thought “This looks neat, I’ll buy it off the Japan eShop because there’s no way it’ll ever come out in North America” but was stymied because the Japan eShop doesn’t accept my MasterCard. And then it came out in North America the very next week. Welp!

ABZÛ (PS4) – Something about a diver saving an underwater ecosystem from the ravages of machines. I don’t really get it, but it was super pretty. Also, so many cool fishies!

Blazing Star (Switch) – A NEO-GEO shoot-’em-up that is visually amazing (duh). It also taught me what separates a good shmup from an annoying shmup: enemies that soak up bullets. Also most of the playable ships are kind of terrible. Windina is always the way to go.

Stardew Valley (PC) – We accomplished everything that isn’t a horrible slog. Once we acquired the Junimo Hut, it just seemed like there was nothing else worth doing. And so it’s finally over.

Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical (Switch) – The title gives away that this is not your average Legend of Dark Witch game. In fact, it is instead a weird rhythm game that demands nothing less than perfection. Despite that, I still kinda liked it.

Destroy All Humans! (PS4) – Bought the PlayStation Humble Bundle just to replay this. Honestly, a little underwhelming on the gameplay front, but I loooove the B-movie aesthetic/plot.

Snipperclips (Switch) – Chopped my way to the end of the single-player levels. It’s a very clever game, but is so much more fun when you’re working with other players. And I say that from experience, having previously solved all the multiplayer stages with a full four-person team.

ARMS Global Testpunch (Switch) – Okay, so I didn’t really “beat” it because it’s just a demo… But I really wanted to list it because it absolutely sold me on ARMS. Of course.

Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – May 2017

The Tale Of Eventide Island

The day before Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were released, I had a bit of a lapse in my spoiler-avoidance. I took a good, long look at the full map of Hyrule. Though it was completely void of any marks or notes, I did see some interesting buildings and landscapes that I decided that I would prioritize in my travels. One of those places was an island off to the southeast of the mainland, quite a ways out into the ocean.

It doesn’t look so bad from far away…

During the hours of gameplay leading up to me reaching that island, I quickly learned that Link could not swim very far before running out of stamina and being warped back to the last solid ground that he’d stood on. Much, much later, I discovered that rafts were common around larger bodies of water, and many more hours after that, I found that I could use a korok leaf to generate wind to sail those rafts around. And thus, I was finally able to access Eventide Island.

Little did I know, it would become my greatest nightmare.

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Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – March 2017

~ Game Over ~

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) – Amazing game. Still so much content yet undiscovered. I look forward to diving back in after taking a short break from Zelda-mania.

NieR: Automata (PS4) – So far, it’s been a wonderful follow-up to NieR, and a huge step up in quality from Drakengard 3. Boar drifting is still a thing! I’ve completed Branch A, and picked up a handful of the 21 “joke” endings. Really liking how differently Branch B plays.

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (Switch) – You should already know that I like this one.

Drakengard 3 (PS3) – Powered through the impossibly difficult final boss rhythm battle, which may be the greatest achievement of my life. Also, played through all of the DLC chapters and got that sweet platinum trophy. It’s finally time to close the book on this one, thank goodness.

Dragon Quest VII (3DS) – IT’S FINALLY OVER.

Shovel Knight (Switch) – Played through yet again to experience Body Swap mode, wherein I flipped the gender of every major character. Mostly to see the Order Knights’ lady-style redesigns.

Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – March 2017

Unfortunate headgear

One of the best features of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is how it allows you to approach nearly any situation in any way you like.

For example: the super dramatic scene where Link pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal, which I completely ruined by making him wear a goofy rubber fish hat.

Okay, that’s a terrible example, but I thought it was funny.

Also it would have been better for you, the reader, if the camera had been a little closer to Link, so as you could actually see the goofy rubber fish hat. Alas.

Merry Switchmas!

It’s finally here! The most exciting quinquennial (give or take) occasion: The launch of a new Nintendo Games Machine! Happy Switch Day, everyone!

Betcha didn’t know that word. Quinquennial.

This post was written in advance, because quite frankly I’m going to be upset about and try to avoid having to do anything that’s not Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the next few weeks. Expect few posts in the coming weeks, but maybe some vague impressions on the Switch and/or Zelda over the weekend. Maybe.

Clever post title

One week left, baby! I’m losing my dang mind!

I’ve got next Friday off and I’m going for the midnight launch and HNNNNGGGG it’s gonna be so good. The next six days are going to feel so long (except for Saturday and Sunday).

I can’t wait to play Zelda: Breath of the Wild for three days straight. And then forget to go to work on Monday because Zelda.

Really wish I didn’t have to wait so long for Splatoon 2, though.

*Addendum: Just learned that there isn’t actually going to be a midnight launch. Rats.

 

The Top 12 Video Games of 2016

“Why” you ask, “did you choose to list twelve games?”

The answer is simple. Because sixteen (for 2016) seemed too many, and ten is too cliché.

“But doing a Top X Things of Year list is in itself too cliché!”

Shut up!

(You should know my Top Video Games rules by now: Any game that I beat in 2016 is fair game, regardless of what year it was actually released in. No remakes or remasters allowed.)

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Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – November 2016

Hey. November. It’s cold outside now. All the more reason to stay inside all the time and play video games. Except when it’s not and I go outside to play Pokémon Go.

~ Game Over ~

Pokémon Sun (3DS) – FINALLY. I haven’t been so excited about a game since Smash 4. And you know I’m not kidding because I tore through that sucker in only a week. Also, have you seen Crabominable yet??

crabominable

Heaven Island (PC) – A VR walking simulator MMO. Note that I do not own a VR device, so half the experience was lost on me. But I still wandered around until I’d picked up enough apples and seashells to claim all of the “achievements.”

You Deserve (PC) – I think I would have liked this horror adventure a little more if it had run a little bit smoother. It pushed my PC a little harder than it really needed to. Oh, and also it’s got jumpscares placed in seemingly random spots just for the sake of cheap jumpscares. I put up lots more words about it yesterday.

Wario Land 2 (GBC) – I was itching for a replay, so that’s what I did. Considered taking the secret route to complete the game in five levels, but opted to go for good ol’ 100% in the end. I like Wario Land 2 that much.

Paper Mario: Color Splash (WiiU) – Quite a divisive game, though personally, I think it’s incredible. It’s not really much like the N64 or GameCube Paper Marios, but at the same time, it kind of is? Also, it’s super pretty and maybe the funniest game I’ve ever played. If I have one complaint to lobby against it, it’s that they spelled “colour” wrong.

Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – November 2016