Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 12:06
(A review of
Metroid Dread)
After 19 long years, Metroid Dread has finally arrived, and it's everything fans of Samus Aran's 2D adventures could have wanted. Excellent controls, phenomenal visuals, and an interesting story combine to make a challenging, but rewarding package. 19 years was a long time to wait, but this title is good enough that it almost makes up for that.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 11:55
(A review of
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Classic NES Series))
Being only the second game in the Zelda series, it can't be said that there was an established format for the series. This is, as stated above, a great game; combining a gigantic over world map with wandering monsters, which then converts to a side scroller to fight the various types of beasts. Link can go to towns and converse with the local populations, explore caves, temples and the like. Unlike in the first game, Link can now gain experience, learn new sword techniques and cast spells!
The story begins after the original "Legend of Zelda" with Ganon's minions trying to resurrect their fallen master by sprinkling Link's blood on Ganon's ashes. The storyline is very deep brought to life by the expanse of the world map and the depth of the game play and exploration. Highly recommended game for any fan of the Zelda series.
I know I'm leaving stuff out, but I hope this description will help anyone unfamiliar with the Zelda series.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 11:52
(A review of
Duplicate)
I don't think enough people played Link's Awakening back in the day. And it definitely doesn't have enough fans in this current generation. Is it because it's old? Maybe, but if you ask me, this remake is worth a try. It's difficult, much like the original, but if you figure things out for yourself, it's feels greatly rewarding. One of the best things about this game are the characters; they give this game its charm. Unfortunately, this remake is missing the photo booth. In the original, a mouse character could take various photos of you on your adventure. I'm guessing it's because you can take pictures with the Switch, so what's the point of having a photo booth? But this remake has better graphics and music to make me feel better. Most of the music is quite calming, almost resembling a lullaby, which just makes it more likable. So I'd recommend this. If you play it, I hope you enjoy yourself.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 11:46
(A review of
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening)
Link has defeated Ganon (again!) and sets off for an adventure. His ship is caught in a deadly storm, which destroys the ship (possibly his entire crew as well) and leaves him on an island inhabited by strange people, friendly animals, and evil monsters.
As Link, you must set out to wake the Wind Fish, who is the only creature who can set you free of the island. To wake the Wind Fish, you must gather the eight instruments of the sirens, which are scattered about Koholint Island.
There are many puzzles in this game, and they don't frustrate you as bad as other games (like Myst and Riven). This game consists of lots of action and adventure and a great plot and storyline. The characters are even kind of realistic in their actions, and the music is actually quite good (just imagine it orchestrated).
If you are a fan of the Zelda series or even action adventure games, this one is a must have. It follows the Zelda storylines well and fits in with the rest of the games, even though it takes place in a land totally different from Hyrule.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 09:00
(A review of
Duplicate)
When I learned that this game was going to be a game that was like my favorite Zelda game, "Link to the Past" I just knew I had to play it. It is not only like that game, it is actually a sequel to that said game. Once I learned this when I started playing I was ecstatic as a couple of people that I had talked to made it sound like this was sort of a remake of that game and that there were only going to be a few new places and a new power. So, suffice to say, this is one of the better Zelda games I have played in a while. Do not get me wrong, there has yet to be a Zelda game that I disliked, but all the ones that I have played that have come after this one all have parts about them that I find disappointing. Ocarina of Time was really fun, but at times those dungeons were too much as I needed a strategy guide to traverse them. Windwaker's dungeons were not too bad, but the problem with it was the world was so covered with water. Twilight Princess had the same problems as Ocarina. Once again, all these games were fun, but this one defeats them with its simple charms and the fact that it is not so short that it is over before you know it and it is not too long that it overstays its welcome. The two worlds are also fun to explore.
The story is set in Hyrule, where many years have passed since the previous hero defeated the vile Ganon and sealed away his awful powers. Unfortunately, a new threat has arisen in the form of a person named Yuga, who is obsessed with capturing beauty in paintings. His powers turn people into portraits. It is not long before he is invading Hyrule castle and turning Zelda herself into a painting. Link must go from being a lazy apprentice at a blacksmith's shop to the hero we all know he is. He must, of course, seize the master sword from its resting place once again and find the sages across two worlds as another princess seems in need of a hero of her own.
The game play is standard Zelda with a few twists to it. In this one, you do find some items in dungeons, but a lot of items you can purchase in a shop run by a strange man named Ravio. You also do not have to worry about buying bombs constantly or arrows as when you use these items it simply takes away some magic. I can see people not liking this feature as it does take away from some of the challenge, and it also makes buying stuff not all that central to the game once you have purchased all the items there are to buy. The combat is standard and dungeon exploration is much easier here than in the more 3D games as the ones mentioned above. The dungeons are challenging, but they do not take forever! As for the 3D part of the game, it really just adds depth to the world. I find it strange that a game that was converted (Ocarina) had more in your face 3D than this game that was made for the 3DS.
So, yes, this game is very fun. I still prefer Link to the Past, but this is due to the fact that this game was essentially placed in that world. If there were more new places it would have been a bit more fun, or if the world was expanded just a bit more. Sure, Lorule, was sort of different than the Golden Realm of Past, but it also kind of mirrored it a bit to well too. The story is really good, but I wish there were a few more character interactions in certain areas too. I like talking with people and learning about areas and locales and there is a bit of that in here, but not enough for my tastes. Overall though, the game is great so enough talking about its faults. I wish more gaming companies would make games in this simpler format for release as this is the type of game I prefer than the same game being released everywhere with just a few tweaks to it.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 08:59
(A review of
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds)
When I learned that this game was going to be a game that was like my favorite Zelda game, "Link to the Past" I just knew I had to play it. It is not only like that game, it is actually a sequel to that said game. Once I learned this when I started playing I was ecstatic as a couple of people that I had talked to made it sound like this was sort of a remake of that game and that there were only going to be a few new places and a new power. So, suffice to say, this is one of the better Zelda games I have played in a while. Do not get me wrong, there has yet to be a Zelda game that I disliked, but all the ones that I have played that have come after this one all have parts about them that I find disappointing. Ocarina of Time was really fun, but at times those dungeons were too much as I needed a strategy guide to traverse them. Windwaker's dungeons were not too bad, but the problem with it was the world was so covered with water. Twilight Princess had the same problems as Ocarina. Once again, all these games were fun, but this one defeats them with its simple charms and the fact that it is not so short that it is over before you know it and it is not too long that it overstays its welcome. The two worlds are also fun to explore.
The story is set in Hyrule, where many years have passed since the previous hero defeated the vile Ganon and sealed away his awful powers. Unfortunately, a new threat has arisen in the form of a person named Yuga, who is obsessed with capturing beauty in paintings. His powers turn people into portraits. It is not long before he is invading Hyrule castle and turning Zelda herself into a painting. Link must go from being a lazy apprentice at a blacksmith's shop to the hero we all know he is. He must, of course, seize the master sword from its resting place once again and find the sages across two worlds as another princess seems in need of a hero of her own.
The game play is standard Zelda with a few twists to it. In this one, you do find some items in dungeons, but a lot of items you can purchase in a shop run by a strange man named Ravio. You also do not have to worry about buying bombs constantly or arrows as when you use these items it simply takes away some magic. I can see people not liking this feature as it does take away from some of the challenge, and it also makes buying stuff not all that central to the game once you have purchased all the items there are to buy. The combat is standard and dungeon exploration is much easier here than in the more 3D games as the ones mentioned above. The dungeons are challenging, but they do not take forever! As for the 3D part of the game, it really just adds depth to the world. I find it strange that a game that was converted (Ocarina) had more in your face 3D than this game that was made for the 3DS.
So, yes, this game is very fun. I still prefer Link to the Past, but this is due to the fact that this game was essentially placed in that world. If there were more new places it would have been a bit more fun, or if the world was expanded just a bit more. Sure, Lorule, was sort of different than the Golden Realm of Past, but it also kind of mirrored it a bit to well too. The story is really good, but I wish there were a few more character interactions in certain areas too. I like talking with people and learning about areas and locales and there is a bit of that in here, but not enough for my tastes. Overall though, the game is great so enough talking about its faults. I wish more gaming companies would make games in this simpler format for release as this is the type of game I prefer than the same game being released everywhere with just a few tweaks to it.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 08:48
(A review of
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition)
This is, by far, the WORST DSiWare game (and one of the worst games) I think I've ever played in my life. There are way too many issues with this game that I just can't fathom how people can praise it. I'm glad it was only available on the DSiWare and eShop for a limited amount of time, so that people don't have to suffer from this hunk load of garbage.
Firstly, the biggest flaw in this game is that you cannot save your progress during the middle of a door. If, for any reason, you need to leave and turn your DSi/3DS off, everything you've done so far is GONE! One time, I had been playing for HOURS in the Hero's Trial room and none of my progress was saved!
Speaking of which, this game has a tendency of being WAY too hard for what it's worth. The worst offender is the one I could never get past through (Hero's Trial), where in the 2nd room of the 2nd door, the ground is way too slippery and it's too easy to fall off the platform. That's an issue as by the time you get to the more complex enemies in that room, you won't have enough health and you'll inevitably lose, and as a result you'd have lost ALL your hours of progress!
Also, the levels are all randomized! (Well, when it comes to the first three worlds that is) If I quit a stage and then rejoin it, I'm put into some different map! This also means that any walkthroughs and tutorials of this game do not work, as due to the randomization of the levels, if you're stuck on a particular level it's darn near impossible to find a walkthrough for it! I've never had the same issue with any other game!
Oh, and there have been several levels I've faced where you're completely stuck at a dead end and no amount of power ups would be able to get you through. This was apparent in one of the maps in the Sea of Trees stage, where you could not get through the stones, and the flying power up doesn't help much at all.
Anyway, I could go on, but suffice to say, this game is riddled with so many issues and design flaws that it's put me off the whole Zelda franchise for life. To think so many people praise this game fills me with so much rage. Anyway, I better go before I go insane. This game is terrible, I've got absolutely nothing good to say about it, and that's all.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 08:40
(A review of
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks)
Warning: Spoilers(www.plasticpals.com) The Legend of Zelda takes a detour in Spirit Tracks, the pseudo-sequel to 2007's Phantom Hourglass. Inspired by his son's favourite children's book titled The Tracks Go On and On, director Eiji Aonuma decided to include trains as a key ingredient, and the game takes off full-steam in this new direction. Although many classic Zelda elements are present and accounted for, half of the time you spend with the game will be aboard the train. Zelda purists may cry foul at the changes being introduced here, so what is the end result?
An evil king called Malladus was confined in the earth long ago, with the Tower of Spirits locking him away. The Spirit Tracks, which converge at the Tower, are energized by a race called the Locomos who watch over them. Soon enough a villain is revealed who smashes the Tower of Spirits (causing the Spirit Tracks to disappear) and steals Zelda's body. It's up to Link and Zelda (in spirit form) to fix the Tower and re-energize the Tracks to prevent the resurrection of Malladus. While not directly stated, the game appears to take place a couple of generations after the events of Phantom Hourglass, with which it shares many elements in common.
Graphically Spirit Tracks doesn't improve on Phantom Hourglass, a fine adaptation of The WindWaker's cartoony style given the graphical limitations of the system. The characters and monsters are cel-shaded, and while they're a bit on the chunky side they're full of personality. The environments are a tad boxy, and the pixelated textures are an eyesore, but the game's bright and colourful look more than makes up for that. The music is also very good and almost completely original, sparing us tiresome remixes of Zelda themes we've heard many times before.
I've long felt that Princess Zelda ought to take a more proactive role in these games, and Spirit Tracks gives her that opportunity. Zelda helps out by possessing the Phantom Guards that protect the Tower of Spirits. Once she has taken over an armoured suit, she'll follow Link automatically and can be given directions by simply drawing a path on the screen. Players will have to use both characters wisely, and while strictly speaking this is nothing new to the series, it is perhaps the best example yet.
The difficulty of the dungeons and some of the bosses has been cranked up noticeably higher compared to Phantom Hourglass, and feels just right. The Tower of Spirits will be visited several times over the course of the game, but thankfully unlike Phantom Hourglass' Temple of the Ocean King players can skip the floors they have already completed.
The touch-screen controls work just as well as they did in Phantom Hourglass, and the way in which you use Link's assortment of items is particularly fun. Simply draw the flightpath of your boomerang, or hold-and-release to fire an arrow. You'll keep important memos on the game's many maps by simply jotting them down with the stylus. I'm amazed that no one has copied this control scheme for similar games on platforms like the iPhone.
Let there be no doubt that Spirit Tracks is an improvement over Phantom Hourglass. It bumps up the difficulty to a more enjoyable level and features some exceptional boss encounters, very cool new items, and ingenious puzzles. Transporting passengers and items lends an air of consequence to your travels, and including Zelda as a secondary character that the player can control helps to spice things up. Crossing the world map is still a slow and repetitive task that can become tiresome, but going by rail is more entertaining than sailing the seas.
Nintendo has once again outdone themselves with the hardware's unique functionality, and it's all woven together by a cute story and endless questing that is hard to resist. It's quite possibly the best game available for the platform, so don't hesitate to pick it up.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 08:23
(A review of
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD)
I have been a big fan of The Legend of Zelda since its humble beginnings on the NES, and those who know me well have frequently heared my praise for the original GameCube/Wii version of Twilight Princess. Not only is it one of the best Zelda games in my opinion, but also one of the best video games ever made. So seeing this masterpiece rendered in full HD feels like justice has been served: a game finally presented in its intended form.
Like Wind Waker HD which also got the remastering treatment, Twilight Princess looks better than ever. With its widely varying array of vistas, mountains, cities, ruins and fields, you might say that TP benefits even more from this higher resolution. The first time you enter Hyrule Field or Lake Hylia is almost an assault on the senses, with so many beautiful details demanding attention. There is nothing quite as magic as standing in the Gerudo Desert at dawn, watching the sun slowly illuminating the vast area, and the splendor of a majestous and bustling city like Castle Town is especially rewarding with HD quality image and surround sound.
Spectacular video quality aside, the sturdy foundation of this game lies not in its graphics, but in its solid storytelling. I will maintain that this is still one of the most interactive games ever, where gameplay and story are in delicate balance. Most games simply start with a prologue and a tutorial, and then linger off into a series of interconnected fetch quests that lead to the ending. However, the screenwriters of TP have done a tremendous job trying to hide the obvious game sequence by cleverly interweaving it with the plot.
The story kicks off with a search for a couple of missing children, which serves to familiarize the player with the controls, the important areas in the game and its dual worlds system: as there is a Light World, there appears to be a world of Twilight as well, and its evil denizens have launched an attack on Hyrule. The dark creatures attack you at times, but after their defeat, they leave behind a portal that Link can use for warping, a nice example of how story and gameplay go hand in hand.
There are scripted events that take us to unexpected places or situations, and many of them have some kind of challenge to overcome, which makes such discoveries much more fun and engaging, instead of just roaming around. What is unique is that the narrative not only connects the dungeons in a logic way; it often continues inside the dungeons as well. Technically, your main objective there is to get inside and obtain Fused Shadows or Mirror Fragments, but the game makes us believe that we are really looking for children, helping out Gorons and Zoras, searching for a giant snow monster or soup ingredients, or discovering an ancient civilization.
In the meanwhile, the journey also introduces the player to important NPCs such as Midna, a sassy, imp-like character who finally breaks with the stereotype of the annoying sidekick who is only there to constantly tell us what to do. Granted, she DOES tell us what to do, but she also has a backstory and agenda of her own. Throughout the game, she bonds with Link in ways that thicken the plot considerably, especially when she introduces Link to the series' namesake Zelda. Over the course of an epic adventure, Link builds a whole network of allies who aid him in his quest, like animals, bar ladies, scholars and fellow warriors, so for once it doesn't feel like the entire fate of the world rests on the shoulders of one humbe stableboy while the rest of Hyrule takes a backseat.
The developers seem to have been inspired by the Lord of the Rings movies, with armies of Boboklins that look suspiciously like Orcs, a main focus on sword fighting and archery, sweeping shots of lush landscapes with ancient ruins, and a couple of horseback chases that definitely sell the epic factor. But the game always retains its own unique feeling, with familiar elements from the series like Gorons, Zoras and the Temple of Time. What also helps is that Hyrule looks a lot like the Hyrule we have come to know from Ocarina of Time, with its majestic Hyrule Field and the castle in the middle, surrounded by familiar mountains, lakes, waterfalls and deserts (and some new ones). But most of these are spectacularly bigger now, so having your trusted horse Epona from the beginning is quite an asset.
As for the switch from the Wii to the Wii U, we unfortunately lost the cool feature to aim with the Wiimote, but the Wii U gamepad largely compensates for this with its gyroscopic function. It is also much easier to check a map, assign items to buttons or change into a wolf and back by using the gamepad, instead of having to go to pause screens all the time. And this version reintroduces the ability to move the camera, which was impossible on the Wii due to lack of remaining joysticks.
Like Ocarina of Time and its 3DS remake, IMDb voters seem to appreciate this HD version somewhat less than its original version, which may have to do with the relative lack of new additions. There is a new cave that can be unlocked with an Amiibo which is quite a challenge, but it is still more of a minigame than a true expansion. Maybe the old game was already near-perfect to begin with, and this new version doesn't really improve on it as the Wind Waker HD did on its forebearer. But it shouldn't matter to the biggest fans. If you loved the old version and think it is worth a HD replay, this is the game to buy.
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Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2022 08:17
(A review of
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
I must confess that I am not a Zelda expert, this was the first 3D Zelda game I've ever played (I have played a few GBS Zelda titles though so it completely new to me) but it was pure brilliance.
It plays so well with the Wii's controls and the story is so deep and it is so satisfying to figure out the next step. It will also lull you into a false sense of security, you'll think it's a peaceful moment when suddenly, something thrilling and unexpected happens and the plot thickens.
It looks great, the story keeps you playing and it makes the Nintendo Wii a must have just so you can play this game. Well done Nintendo!
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