Jesp
Basically a midpoint for my quest to play every Pokemon game in release order. After getting through Platinum, this felt like a very fun final iteration on the same mechanics. Really did enjoy the story, and Castelia city was massive and amazing to walk through. Some of the coolest Pokemon designs, too. Love Litwick.
This review contains spoilers
It was almost impossible to hit the expectations of the sequel to Breath of the Wild, but this game did it. Tears of the Kingdom hit so many highs as BotW did, and delivered on pretty much everything I hoped for. Exploring the depths, creating weapon combinations, and rediscovering Hyrule, this game is pretty much the best I've ever played - while still having some shortcomings, in my opinion. Most of my gripes boiled down to wishing it did more as a direct sequel and referenced more of the events of BotW and AoC, but the team decided to focus more on telling a wholly different story. Which after accepting that, fine. (But still, I miss Kass so much). Still ended up 100%'ing it, looking up the last 150 or so Koroks as well as some of the last few map locations I missed. Still a masterpiece.
Starting at the introduction, the opening scene with Zelda was fun, and definitely made me wish we had more time to interact with Zelda. (And of course, it was great re-treading this area at the very end). The Great Sky Island was and felt much more linear than the Great Plateau, though I feel like it's a bit overblown - there are extra passages and areas to explore and get some hidden Koroks and treasures, and there's the completely optional Flux Construct to fight, which was extremely fun for me.
The new mechanics and moveset took some getting used to, but by the end of the Great Sky Island it felt very natural to use them all, though Ultrahand still took a bit to learn how to rotate the way you want. The menu-ing for fuse was also a bit cumbersome, though I also got used to that. I do miss Stasis and the bombs, but there's no doubt these abilities are refined siblings of BotW's.
One qualm is that TotK did introduce more meta game menu-pausing with Fuse. Though I don't mind the mechanics of it, I was already pausing to eat a full-course hearty meal every time I got walloped in BotW, and that did take me out of the action. I don't know how TotK would solve this "issue", since it is just a base mechanic of the game, but adding Fuse to menu through and find the right thing to fuse, especially if it's one of the first times I'm fusing it, continued to take me out of the action. Eventually, as most people did, I ended up just having a staple rotation of the few things I constantly fused to, like the Brightbloom seeds, fire fruits, bomb flowers, and muddle buds, as well as the elemental fruits/jellies and some horns for weapons. Though the game has an endless breadth of creative options, the paths I defaulted to hit no resistance or challenge, besides specific cases like the disadvantages of using Gloom weapons in the Depths.
Anyways, another good evolution was of the shrines. Gone were the monotonous Test of Strengths, replaced by interesting combat training shrines. Some of the overworld shrine quests did get a little monotonous, but for the most part, finding these shrines were pretty rewarding. And after I realized they all lay over Lightroots, figuring out shrines via Lightroot locations, and vice versa, was both fun and thematically cohesive! Besides one infuriating instance where I had to really delve into some long tunnels just to figure out the shrine was several meters underneath me.
About the world itself, I really liked how there were more people on paths that you could help, and much more interesting side quests (besides Tarrey Town). Though the world was the same, the lonely melancholic vibe was largely replaced by new settlements, the more mechanical looking Skyview towers, atmospheric wells and caves, and terrifying Gloom hands.
The sky islands were beautiful, and I did spend minutes just watching the clouds go by and looking at the landscapes, though I still wish there were more of them. Also wish there were more quests to do up there besides the shrines and the stone slabs. Some more of the unique things like the forge island chain and the three ring gliding challenges would've been nice. Getting the sage's wills from exploration felt sometimes rewarding, after beating a King Gleeok, but other times lame, in an obscure chest on an island chain. Coolest thing by far were the three Zonai labyrinths though, basically creating a cohesive set of three mini-dungeons with an overworld section, a low-grav sky section, and a final depths section with a Flux Construct fight.
On the depths: I managed to make my way down the depths via the first chasm I ran into, even before going to Lookout Landing and getting the paraglider - my Hero's Path will show the ten or so deaths I took while spawning a wing, rewinding to jump on top of it, and trying to sail down Hyrule Field Chasm.
(Yes, that's a log fused to a stick as my weapon.)
The shock and fear of all the gloom and monsters chasing me was quelled from the relief after hitting my first Lightroot. Then I promptly teleported back out - back to the Great Skyland, since I hadn't even done any shrine on the surface yet.
In general, the Depths were a great addition and basically was "hard mode", though besides fighting the bosses, there wasn't much incentive to explore. When finishing up my map percentage post-game, I had like 8 groves and forests to list out that I just didn't traipse through, even though I had lit up all of the darkness. Still though, throughout early and mid game, the depths were a fun break from the rest of the game, and I didn't ever really tire of collecting Zonaite and crystallized charges. I made it a point to complete chunks of the Depths in between the dungeons, and seeing boss platforms in certain spot before having even beaten those dungeon bosses gave me a exhilarating sense of anticipation.
Seeing my horses from my BotW save was sick. Loved that. Although after getting the golden horse, I basically stuck to that the rest of the game, making many vegan meals for Malanya to upgrade to perfection.
My path through the game (or my own Hero's Path)
After grabbing the glider, my path took me first through Gerudo while trying to reach a sky island, and I landed in the oasis town. After meeting up with Riju, though, I decided to go back to Central Hyrule to do more exploring. Ended up somehow following the path up to Goron City, curious about what the heck was up with the Gorons. And after breaking through with Yunobo, I progressed through the rest of that entire region.
I poetically beat the Moragia fight while on a plane ride myself (very cinematic rising out of the volcano, but anticlimactic only taking three hits - oh well). Though I was lightly spoiled on learning dungeons were back, I still enjoyed them all - though it got a bit tiresome learning they all followed the same formula of go to five points, use the sage's ability, music progresses, continue.
Made my way down to Lurelin and saved the town, hopped over to Eventide and cleared the coliseum in the depths (that Midna's Helmet kept me safe for a long portion of the mid game).
Though Purah was yelling at me to go to Rito Village, I went to see fish boyfriend and cleared up the sludge at Zora's Domain. Though shooting the King's Scale through the teardrop and bounding up to the dungeon was sick, the dungeon and boss itself were not as fun.
After completing some neat side adventures with the Great Plateau and the Stable Trotters (reuniting theme was nice but still I miss you Kass), finished the Gerudo area and the Lightning Temple, which was quite fun. I'll give a rating of these four dungeons afterwards.
Then I sequence broke hard, blindly wandering through the Thunderhead Isles and making my way to the fifth sage Mineru. Probably the stand-out of the story for me - I found this whole sequence exhilarating, discovering it all unprompted and seeing those Main Quests populate my Purah Pad. I had already run into and discovered all the four depots earlier, and realizing what they were meant for as I rode that platform down from made me fistpump in excitement. The mech boxing was very fun, though kind of sad they repeated that with the last Kohga fight.
On the dragon tears: a common complaint was that since these were so linear, finding them out of order spoiled the story heavily. I think I was fortunate enough to find the majority of them in order, but I also feel like that complaint is a bit overblown - completing one temple basically gave the full story anyways. The two that would suck to get out of order are definitely 9 and 10 though, where Sonia is killed and then the subsequent is immediately after of Ganondorf becoming the Demon King. I lucked out in finding those back to back, running around Lurelin and then traipsing up past the Ice Gleeok in Tabantha. Besides that, I found them to be very neat vignettes and also pretty engaging to find, some locations more challenging than others. And the culmination at the end of Zelda and the Light Dragon - again, the story's pretty obvious, but it still hit with that final tear.
Continuing to willfully ignore Purah, I grabbed my Master Sword from my girlfriend's head and explored every sky island along the way. When I finally made it to Rito Village, I had....30 hearts. Still got blasted a bit by Colgera though, what an amazing boss. I can see why they push you to go there first - that whole experience is an incredible showcase of TotK, and should definitely be the spot to go to.
Overall thoughts on the dungeon storylines: despite being repetitive and formulaic, the sequences themselves were incredibly engaging and cinematic. I still think these dungeons fall closer to the Divine Beasts than traditional 3D dungeons like from a Twilight Princess, but the differing atmospheres and puzzle solving was captivating all the same. Of the four dungeons, I'd give the following rankings:
- The build up / questline up to each dungeon: Zora, Rito, Goron, Gerudo
Getting up to the Great Wellspring via the waterfall was sick, followed closely by the Stormwind Ark journey jumping up the ships. Running up Death Mountain was still pretty fun, but having the Lightning Temple just be on the overworld instead of in the Depths was a missed opportunity, in my opinion. I also didn't do Gerudo justice by finding Riju and then fucking off for 100 hours.
- The dungeon itself: Goron, Rito, Gerudo, Zora
I'll have a soft spot for Lost Gorondia, it being my first, but those mine carts are quite fun. Rito is a solid second, with the different layers of the ships. Gerudo takes third here with a fun pyramid structure, but I felt like the Zora dungeon was a bit too cramped for all its grandiosity.
- The boss: Rito, Goron, Gerudo, Zora
Colgera takes it easy. A completely different fighting style in the air, diving through the beast itself (I only learned afterwards you can bomb arrow it too), ultra cinematic. Marbled Gohma takes solid second, using Yunobo to take out its legs and knock it down from the ceiling. Queen Gibdo is a creepy menace but I just felt like using Riju's ability wasn't the most thrilling. Mucktorok stinks - floppy guy keeps running away.
Now for the story itself. After getting over the disappointment of not having more interconnectivity with BotW, I found this story to be...solid. Predictable but still fun and didn't take away from the main theme of these last two games - exploration. Delving into the history of the Zonai and learning more about them through the slabs and legends was, just like for the Sheikah in the previous game, more rewarding than the story told directly, in my opinion.
And that final boss fight/sequence. Jaw dropping, obviously. Not much more I can add to that discourse. Incredible from start to finish.
(Nintendo I know you said you're not making DLC but pleaaase. Dream DLC that'll never happen: Kass comes back, gives answer for connection between Sheikah and Zonai. All I want.)
Starting at the introduction, the opening scene with Zelda was fun, and definitely made me wish we had more time to interact with Zelda. (And of course, it was great re-treading this area at the very end). The Great Sky Island was and felt much more linear than the Great Plateau, though I feel like it's a bit overblown - there are extra passages and areas to explore and get some hidden Koroks and treasures, and there's the completely optional Flux Construct to fight, which was extremely fun for me.
The new mechanics and moveset took some getting used to, but by the end of the Great Sky Island it felt very natural to use them all, though Ultrahand still took a bit to learn how to rotate the way you want. The menu-ing for fuse was also a bit cumbersome, though I also got used to that. I do miss Stasis and the bombs, but there's no doubt these abilities are refined siblings of BotW's.
One qualm is that TotK did introduce more meta game menu-pausing with Fuse. Though I don't mind the mechanics of it, I was already pausing to eat a full-course hearty meal every time I got walloped in BotW, and that did take me out of the action. I don't know how TotK would solve this "issue", since it is just a base mechanic of the game, but adding Fuse to menu through and find the right thing to fuse, especially if it's one of the first times I'm fusing it, continued to take me out of the action. Eventually, as most people did, I ended up just having a staple rotation of the few things I constantly fused to, like the Brightbloom seeds, fire fruits, bomb flowers, and muddle buds, as well as the elemental fruits/jellies and some horns for weapons. Though the game has an endless breadth of creative options, the paths I defaulted to hit no resistance or challenge, besides specific cases like the disadvantages of using Gloom weapons in the Depths.
Anyways, another good evolution was of the shrines. Gone were the monotonous Test of Strengths, replaced by interesting combat training shrines. Some of the overworld shrine quests did get a little monotonous, but for the most part, finding these shrines were pretty rewarding. And after I realized they all lay over Lightroots, figuring out shrines via Lightroot locations, and vice versa, was both fun and thematically cohesive! Besides one infuriating instance where I had to really delve into some long tunnels just to figure out the shrine was several meters underneath me.
About the world itself, I really liked how there were more people on paths that you could help, and much more interesting side quests (besides Tarrey Town). Though the world was the same, the lonely melancholic vibe was largely replaced by new settlements, the more mechanical looking Skyview towers, atmospheric wells and caves, and terrifying Gloom hands.
The sky islands were beautiful, and I did spend minutes just watching the clouds go by and looking at the landscapes, though I still wish there were more of them. Also wish there were more quests to do up there besides the shrines and the stone slabs. Some more of the unique things like the forge island chain and the three ring gliding challenges would've been nice. Getting the sage's wills from exploration felt sometimes rewarding, after beating a King Gleeok, but other times lame, in an obscure chest on an island chain. Coolest thing by far were the three Zonai labyrinths though, basically creating a cohesive set of three mini-dungeons with an overworld section, a low-grav sky section, and a final depths section with a Flux Construct fight.
On the depths: I managed to make my way down the depths via the first chasm I ran into, even before going to Lookout Landing and getting the paraglider - my Hero's Path will show the ten or so deaths I took while spawning a wing, rewinding to jump on top of it, and trying to sail down Hyrule Field Chasm.
(Yes, that's a log fused to a stick as my weapon.)
The shock and fear of all the gloom and monsters chasing me was quelled from the relief after hitting my first Lightroot. Then I promptly teleported back out - back to the Great Skyland, since I hadn't even done any shrine on the surface yet.
In general, the Depths were a great addition and basically was "hard mode", though besides fighting the bosses, there wasn't much incentive to explore. When finishing up my map percentage post-game, I had like 8 groves and forests to list out that I just didn't traipse through, even though I had lit up all of the darkness. Still though, throughout early and mid game, the depths were a fun break from the rest of the game, and I didn't ever really tire of collecting Zonaite and crystallized charges. I made it a point to complete chunks of the Depths in between the dungeons, and seeing boss platforms in certain spot before having even beaten those dungeon bosses gave me a exhilarating sense of anticipation.
Seeing my horses from my BotW save was sick. Loved that. Although after getting the golden horse, I basically stuck to that the rest of the game, making many vegan meals for Malanya to upgrade to perfection.
My path through the game (or my own Hero's Path)
After grabbing the glider, my path took me first through Gerudo while trying to reach a sky island, and I landed in the oasis town. After meeting up with Riju, though, I decided to go back to Central Hyrule to do more exploring. Ended up somehow following the path up to Goron City, curious about what the heck was up with the Gorons. And after breaking through with Yunobo, I progressed through the rest of that entire region.
I poetically beat the Moragia fight while on a plane ride myself (very cinematic rising out of the volcano, but anticlimactic only taking three hits - oh well). Though I was lightly spoiled on learning dungeons were back, I still enjoyed them all - though it got a bit tiresome learning they all followed the same formula of go to five points, use the sage's ability, music progresses, continue.
Made my way down to Lurelin and saved the town, hopped over to Eventide and cleared the coliseum in the depths (that Midna's Helmet kept me safe for a long portion of the mid game).
Though Purah was yelling at me to go to Rito Village, I went to see fish boyfriend and cleared up the sludge at Zora's Domain. Though shooting the King's Scale through the teardrop and bounding up to the dungeon was sick, the dungeon and boss itself were not as fun.
After completing some neat side adventures with the Great Plateau and the Stable Trotters (reuniting theme was nice but still I miss you Kass), finished the Gerudo area and the Lightning Temple, which was quite fun. I'll give a rating of these four dungeons afterwards.
Then I sequence broke hard, blindly wandering through the Thunderhead Isles and making my way to the fifth sage Mineru. Probably the stand-out of the story for me - I found this whole sequence exhilarating, discovering it all unprompted and seeing those Main Quests populate my Purah Pad. I had already run into and discovered all the four depots earlier, and realizing what they were meant for as I rode that platform down from made me fistpump in excitement. The mech boxing was very fun, though kind of sad they repeated that with the last Kohga fight.
On the dragon tears: a common complaint was that since these were so linear, finding them out of order spoiled the story heavily. I think I was fortunate enough to find the majority of them in order, but I also feel like that complaint is a bit overblown - completing one temple basically gave the full story anyways. The two that would suck to get out of order are definitely 9 and 10 though, where Sonia is killed and then the subsequent is immediately after of Ganondorf becoming the Demon King. I lucked out in finding those back to back, running around Lurelin and then traipsing up past the Ice Gleeok in Tabantha. Besides that, I found them to be very neat vignettes and also pretty engaging to find, some locations more challenging than others. And the culmination at the end of Zelda and the Light Dragon - again, the story's pretty obvious, but it still hit with that final tear.
Continuing to willfully ignore Purah, I grabbed my Master Sword from my girlfriend's head and explored every sky island along the way. When I finally made it to Rito Village, I had....30 hearts. Still got blasted a bit by Colgera though, what an amazing boss. I can see why they push you to go there first - that whole experience is an incredible showcase of TotK, and should definitely be the spot to go to.
Overall thoughts on the dungeon storylines: despite being repetitive and formulaic, the sequences themselves were incredibly engaging and cinematic. I still think these dungeons fall closer to the Divine Beasts than traditional 3D dungeons like from a Twilight Princess, but the differing atmospheres and puzzle solving was captivating all the same. Of the four dungeons, I'd give the following rankings:
- The build up / questline up to each dungeon: Zora, Rito, Goron, Gerudo
Getting up to the Great Wellspring via the waterfall was sick, followed closely by the Stormwind Ark journey jumping up the ships. Running up Death Mountain was still pretty fun, but having the Lightning Temple just be on the overworld instead of in the Depths was a missed opportunity, in my opinion. I also didn't do Gerudo justice by finding Riju and then fucking off for 100 hours.
- The dungeon itself: Goron, Rito, Gerudo, Zora
I'll have a soft spot for Lost Gorondia, it being my first, but those mine carts are quite fun. Rito is a solid second, with the different layers of the ships. Gerudo takes third here with a fun pyramid structure, but I felt like the Zora dungeon was a bit too cramped for all its grandiosity.
- The boss: Rito, Goron, Gerudo, Zora
Colgera takes it easy. A completely different fighting style in the air, diving through the beast itself (I only learned afterwards you can bomb arrow it too), ultra cinematic. Marbled Gohma takes solid second, using Yunobo to take out its legs and knock it down from the ceiling. Queen Gibdo is a creepy menace but I just felt like using Riju's ability wasn't the most thrilling. Mucktorok stinks - floppy guy keeps running away.
Now for the story itself. After getting over the disappointment of not having more interconnectivity with BotW, I found this story to be...solid. Predictable but still fun and didn't take away from the main theme of these last two games - exploration. Delving into the history of the Zonai and learning more about them through the slabs and legends was, just like for the Sheikah in the previous game, more rewarding than the story told directly, in my opinion.
And that final boss fight/sequence. Jaw dropping, obviously. Not much more I can add to that discourse. Incredible from start to finish.
(Nintendo I know you said you're not making DLC but pleaaase. Dream DLC that'll never happen: Kass comes back, gives answer for connection between Sheikah and Zonai. All I want.)
2009
This is what I think of when I think of the Wii and Wii Sports. Wuhu Island. An amazing expansion and re-imagining of Wii Sports, creating a world of its own for the Miis to not just golf and bowl, but swordfight, fly planes, shoot targets, cycle, basket, wakeboard, canoe, many other water sports, golf but with frisbee, golf but with frisbee and dog, and tennis but with table.
(They forgot how to baseball and boxing but that's okay).
Most played game for us by far was Table Tennis. Might sound like an ad, but using the MotionPlus to put all sorts of gnarly spin on the ball was exhilarating, and gave it a lot more nuance. That was the only sport I hit rank 2500 on. Still trying to get the stamp for not hitting the guy's face in Return Challenge though.
My favorite game, though, was the Island Flyover. I'm still impressed with how much detail they were able to give to the supposed life of this resort, with 80 collectible points (iPoints) to find all over the island and its neighboring islands, and with 240 different flavor texts for those points in the three times of day. The only thing I wish this game could've added was an endless mode, but still, flying around the island and seeing how everything was connected was amazing. From the town, with the bowling alley and basketball court, to the swordfighting stadium, and up the mountain to the canoeing lake, Island Flyover really made what would've been a mini-game package into a cohesive story. Well not too much story, but flavor enough to let you imagine a story.
All the other games were extremely solid too. A good amount of single player, two player, and multiplayer options as well. And having multiple modes within each sport helped with the variety as well. Sometimes I'm not feeling a pickup game, but could go for the 3-point contest. The VS. modes in Canoeing, Cycling, and Power Cruising did fall short, though, it's basically who can reach the end the fastest, and was limited to only two players. Otherwise, they all were pretty fun.
The stamps were the perfect sort of collectible to add. Some would be skill-driven when completing the sport, some would be fun Easter eggs, and other would be just random stuff. Standouts are having to pop every white balloon in Island Flyover (which I guess I somehow did, although I did put in over 100 hours into probably just that), and all the hidden targets in Archery - which are kind of ridiculous, but thank goodness for online guides to find those.
Beautiful game. Always wishing we could get another game that returned to Wuhu Island, or at least just one with the same amount of heart and spirit. Seeing Nintendo Switch Sports come out with its Spocco Square (and disclaimer, I didn't end up getting this game) with only six sports felt so lifeless. At the very least, bring back the Wuhu Mountain Loop track from MK7 please!
Sincerely, a Wuhu Island Balloonatic
(They forgot how to baseball and boxing but that's okay).
Most played game for us by far was Table Tennis. Might sound like an ad, but using the MotionPlus to put all sorts of gnarly spin on the ball was exhilarating, and gave it a lot more nuance. That was the only sport I hit rank 2500 on. Still trying to get the stamp for not hitting the guy's face in Return Challenge though.
My favorite game, though, was the Island Flyover. I'm still impressed with how much detail they were able to give to the supposed life of this resort, with 80 collectible points (iPoints) to find all over the island and its neighboring islands, and with 240 different flavor texts for those points in the three times of day. The only thing I wish this game could've added was an endless mode, but still, flying around the island and seeing how everything was connected was amazing. From the town, with the bowling alley and basketball court, to the swordfighting stadium, and up the mountain to the canoeing lake, Island Flyover really made what would've been a mini-game package into a cohesive story. Well not too much story, but flavor enough to let you imagine a story.
All the other games were extremely solid too. A good amount of single player, two player, and multiplayer options as well. And having multiple modes within each sport helped with the variety as well. Sometimes I'm not feeling a pickup game, but could go for the 3-point contest. The VS. modes in Canoeing, Cycling, and Power Cruising did fall short, though, it's basically who can reach the end the fastest, and was limited to only two players. Otherwise, they all were pretty fun.
The stamps were the perfect sort of collectible to add. Some would be skill-driven when completing the sport, some would be fun Easter eggs, and other would be just random stuff. Standouts are having to pop every white balloon in Island Flyover (which I guess I somehow did, although I did put in over 100 hours into probably just that), and all the hidden targets in Archery - which are kind of ridiculous, but thank goodness for online guides to find those.
Beautiful game. Always wishing we could get another game that returned to Wuhu Island, or at least just one with the same amount of heart and spirit. Seeing Nintendo Switch Sports come out with its Spocco Square (and disclaimer, I didn't end up getting this game) with only six sports felt so lifeless. At the very least, bring back the Wuhu Mountain Loop track from MK7 please!
Sincerely, a Wuhu Island Balloonatic
Another evolution game, picked it up to explore in remembrance of the Zebra Evolution game I had played a few years back. Still silly and fun, but didn't stick as long and didn't have the companionship of my previous time.
Very fun little celebration of Celeste, a Mario 64-esque 3D version of the Forgotten City. Took a bit to get used to the mechanics and 3D, and understand how the dash worked here vs. from base Celeste, but the tight platforming and design and physics was really fun. Made me nostalgic remembering my playthrough of Celeste and how good of a platformer it is.
Complete with hidden strawberries and cassette tapes leading to Mario Sunshine-esque a capella platforming stages. That last one was real tough, but managed to beat it after 15 minutes or so of platform gaming! Reminded me of my grind through 7-C and Farewell - maybe I'll get into the Celeste mods someday...
Complete with hidden strawberries and cassette tapes leading to Mario Sunshine-esque a capella platforming stages. That last one was real tough, but managed to beat it after 15 minutes or so of platform gaming! Reminded me of my grind through 7-C and Farewell - maybe I'll get into the Celeste mods someday...
2006
Was obsessed with checking this game out after the Into the Aether podcast waxed poetic about the fun absurdity of this game. Extremely eccentric, with very early 2000s vibes.
The premise of secret agents helping people by bringing dance and music into their life already starts out absurd with helping a babysitter and her boyfriend take care of kids. Then they go help a captain and an oil tycoon find riches, help two supermodels survive on an abandoned island (by...seducing literal lions and bears?), and then takes a SHARP turn into helping a daughter and mother mourn the loss of their dad during Christmas.
And at the end aliens come and two ridiculously difficult levels later you dance your way to victory.
Gameplay-wise, it's a frenetic rhythm game and a Westernized version of an OSU! game (that I tried and was basically the same as well). Tapping and holding beats, with a wacky spinning mechanic that I felt bad destroying my touchscreen with.
I found that it actually got a bit easier after unlocking and switching to the "Sweatin'" hard mode, since the beats more closely follow the full lyrics instead of switching between lyrics and off-beats. Once I got used to the mechanics, would replay a level over and over just to try to not miss any notes.
Was able to get perfect combos for every song (besides one of the finale levels) on all difficulties. Was terrified when the Elite Beat Divas were unlocked, but turns out theirs is just a mirrored version of Sweatin. Wouldn't have kept returning to this and high-score chasing if I didn't enjoy it, and it really did hook me. Was able to accumulate enough points to get the highest rank (Lovin' Machine, excellent).
Overall, an intense obsession for this game for a good month. And also feel bad about my touchscreen, I whaled on it with those taps and swirls.
The premise of secret agents helping people by bringing dance and music into their life already starts out absurd with helping a babysitter and her boyfriend take care of kids. Then they go help a captain and an oil tycoon find riches, help two supermodels survive on an abandoned island (by...seducing literal lions and bears?), and then takes a SHARP turn into helping a daughter and mother mourn the loss of their dad during Christmas.
And at the end aliens come and two ridiculously difficult levels later you dance your way to victory.
Gameplay-wise, it's a frenetic rhythm game and a Westernized version of an OSU! game (that I tried and was basically the same as well). Tapping and holding beats, with a wacky spinning mechanic that I felt bad destroying my touchscreen with.
I found that it actually got a bit easier after unlocking and switching to the "Sweatin'" hard mode, since the beats more closely follow the full lyrics instead of switching between lyrics and off-beats. Once I got used to the mechanics, would replay a level over and over just to try to not miss any notes.
Was able to get perfect combos for every song (besides one of the finale levels) on all difficulties. Was terrified when the Elite Beat Divas were unlocked, but turns out theirs is just a mirrored version of Sweatin. Wouldn't have kept returning to this and high-score chasing if I didn't enjoy it, and it really did hook me. Was able to accumulate enough points to get the highest rank (Lovin' Machine, excellent).
Overall, an intense obsession for this game for a good month. And also feel bad about my touchscreen, I whaled on it with those taps and swirls.
2007
My first 3D Mario game, and one of my favorites. Formative experience, loved the different galaxies and worlds, and the bit of story given through Rosalina and her diary was quite compelling, though I didn't understand it much.
The Comet Observatory was my Peach's castle for those that grew up with Mario 64, really enjoyed running to the different domes, wondering what the green launch star was, and exploring the dark areas even before they were unlocked. Twirling up the slope and getting to the engine room before it was unlocked is a core memory. And hearing how the music developed after beating Bowser the first and second time was magical. Only regret is that they gave you the Red Power-up star way too late - and that it didn't really control that well (that Gateway purple coins was tough). Would've been great to use that earlier in the observatory to fly through everywhere, getting the five hidden 1-Ups.
Still remember how difficult it was to complete 100%, getting so many Game Overs on Sweet Sweet Galaxy and Loop-de-loop Galaxy on my first playthrough. And then even more so in the challenge Green star trial galaxies. But finishing all the stars, including the comets, and then replaying the whole game again as Luigi was thrilling. Replayed it multiple times over the tenure of the Wii.
Replayed it again in 2021 as part of the 3D All Stars package, and that's one of the only games I've used double joy-cons as the default best way to play.
The soundtrack is seared into my memory. Gusty Garden of course, but also the observatory, Battlerock, Buoy Base, Toy Time, and even the credits. Loved this game.
The Comet Observatory was my Peach's castle for those that grew up with Mario 64, really enjoyed running to the different domes, wondering what the green launch star was, and exploring the dark areas even before they were unlocked. Twirling up the slope and getting to the engine room before it was unlocked is a core memory. And hearing how the music developed after beating Bowser the first and second time was magical. Only regret is that they gave you the Red Power-up star way too late - and that it didn't really control that well (that Gateway purple coins was tough). Would've been great to use that earlier in the observatory to fly through everywhere, getting the five hidden 1-Ups.
Still remember how difficult it was to complete 100%, getting so many Game Overs on Sweet Sweet Galaxy and Loop-de-loop Galaxy on my first playthrough. And then even more so in the challenge Green star trial galaxies. But finishing all the stars, including the comets, and then replaying the whole game again as Luigi was thrilling. Replayed it multiple times over the tenure of the Wii.
Replayed it again in 2021 as part of the 3D All Stars package, and that's one of the only games I've used double joy-cons as the default best way to play.
The soundtrack is seared into my memory. Gusty Garden of course, but also the observatory, Battlerock, Buoy Base, Toy Time, and even the credits. Loved this game.
The first game I played on Switch. On the first night, I played for six hours straight, from Shrine of Resurrection through the entire Great Plateau, into taming my first horse.
I then proceeded to devour the entire game, putting in over 300 hours over the course of two months. Completed all the main quests and shrines, upgraded all the armor, and finished all the side quests and DLC (those Master Sword Trials were incredibly tough) before finally heading over to Ganon (sorry for the wait, Zelda).
I then spent the next 400+ hours hunting down all the Koroks.
The quiet atmosphere combined with the endless exploration and its litany of awards, from the excitement of finding and solving a Korok puzzle, to getting a memory or shrine. This game truly gripped me.
Although the story was sparse, the amount of character they gave to each Champion was still great. The memories were a highlight for me, and I really wish there were more.
Thankfully, those ideas were explored in the DLC with the Champion's Ballad, which I adored, as well as (loosely and sort of non-canonically) in Age of Calamity. Finding extra details and nuances between each character's relationships in the Champion's Ballad, as well as exploring and talking to other villagers, gave a multi-faceted view of many of the champions (besides Daruk - lovable guy, but not much else there than fun strong adventurer). Love each champion's theme as well, especially Mipha and Revali. And I appreciate how the descendants eventually got their time in the spotlight in TotK.
Speaking of details, the journals you can find are sometimes heavy-handed, as Zelda recounts her relationship with Link, or heartwrenching, as Rhoam reflects on his with his daughter.
I was a bit heartbroken that finding all the shrines, side quests, and memories, didn't give anything extra besides a short cutscene after the credits - though I've come to expect as much from Nintendo and Zelda games, always resetting right before the endgame.
I really didn't mind the item durability, besides in the very early game. I also found the Korok seeds charming and perfect for a completionist like me to scramble over. It also gave me a reason to truly appreciate all the features and topography of the entire map - why else would I try to climb to the top of every mountain?
~~~ DLC Review:
A week and a half within the two month blitz that I played through BotW. Glad I bought this while playing the game, and was able to find the chests and experience the story and trials throughout the game instead of afterwards. To go over each of them:
- Trial of the Sword was amazing, and gave a really challenging, interesting dungeon experience akin to Eventide, but massively more difficult. Really a different way to play the game, having to know which enemies were up in the next room and building up strategies. Definitely frustrating, and the middle chunk was probably the most difficult for me. Some of the bosses at the end in the final stages were much easier than the swarms of Lizalfos in other rooms. Super fun, and a showcase of what made BotW and its combat and basic mechanics so fun.
- Hero's Path, Travel Medallion, Ancient Horse Gear: all super useful to have, and I'm glad they included the former two as a base mechanic in TotK. Ancient Horse Gear was neat for the little while - until you got the Master Cycle.
- Korok Mask: A lifesaver. All the other outfits were cool, but this one made Korok hunting much more bearable. Was able to hunt down hundreds of those little poops with this on, would not have trekked everywhere to do so without it.
- Champions' Ballad: Already stated in my other review, but really brought the whole show together. Loved finding the extra shrines with their cool challenges, especially Mipha's sailing into the water. And hearing more of each champions' story and tragic end, as well as having to fight the bosses with their equipment, again shows off how good the core mechanics are of this game. Same with the One-shot weapon, and then leading into the Sheikah boss fight for the motorcycle (which also made traveling around and hunting Koroks way easier). The ending scene with Kass addressing Link directly will live on in my memory.
Master Mode: Only one I didn't do, but remains a perfect excuse for me to return to the game.
~~~
After 100%'ing TotK, it might be time to finally go through this game on Master Mode...
I then proceeded to devour the entire game, putting in over 300 hours over the course of two months. Completed all the main quests and shrines, upgraded all the armor, and finished all the side quests and DLC (those Master Sword Trials were incredibly tough) before finally heading over to Ganon (sorry for the wait, Zelda).
I then spent the next 400+ hours hunting down all the Koroks.
The quiet atmosphere combined with the endless exploration and its litany of awards, from the excitement of finding and solving a Korok puzzle, to getting a memory or shrine. This game truly gripped me.
Although the story was sparse, the amount of character they gave to each Champion was still great. The memories were a highlight for me, and I really wish there were more.
Thankfully, those ideas were explored in the DLC with the Champion's Ballad, which I adored, as well as (loosely and sort of non-canonically) in Age of Calamity. Finding extra details and nuances between each character's relationships in the Champion's Ballad, as well as exploring and talking to other villagers, gave a multi-faceted view of many of the champions (besides Daruk - lovable guy, but not much else there than fun strong adventurer). Love each champion's theme as well, especially Mipha and Revali. And I appreciate how the descendants eventually got their time in the spotlight in TotK.
Speaking of details, the journals you can find are sometimes heavy-handed, as Zelda recounts her relationship with Link, or heartwrenching, as Rhoam reflects on his with his daughter.
I was a bit heartbroken that finding all the shrines, side quests, and memories, didn't give anything extra besides a short cutscene after the credits - though I've come to expect as much from Nintendo and Zelda games, always resetting right before the endgame.
I really didn't mind the item durability, besides in the very early game. I also found the Korok seeds charming and perfect for a completionist like me to scramble over. It also gave me a reason to truly appreciate all the features and topography of the entire map - why else would I try to climb to the top of every mountain?
~~~ DLC Review:
A week and a half within the two month blitz that I played through BotW. Glad I bought this while playing the game, and was able to find the chests and experience the story and trials throughout the game instead of afterwards. To go over each of them:
- Trial of the Sword was amazing, and gave a really challenging, interesting dungeon experience akin to Eventide, but massively more difficult. Really a different way to play the game, having to know which enemies were up in the next room and building up strategies. Definitely frustrating, and the middle chunk was probably the most difficult for me. Some of the bosses at the end in the final stages were much easier than the swarms of Lizalfos in other rooms. Super fun, and a showcase of what made BotW and its combat and basic mechanics so fun.
- Hero's Path, Travel Medallion, Ancient Horse Gear: all super useful to have, and I'm glad they included the former two as a base mechanic in TotK. Ancient Horse Gear was neat for the little while - until you got the Master Cycle.
- Korok Mask: A lifesaver. All the other outfits were cool, but this one made Korok hunting much more bearable. Was able to hunt down hundreds of those little poops with this on, would not have trekked everywhere to do so without it.
- Champions' Ballad: Already stated in my other review, but really brought the whole show together. Loved finding the extra shrines with their cool challenges, especially Mipha's sailing into the water. And hearing more of each champions' story and tragic end, as well as having to fight the bosses with their equipment, again shows off how good the core mechanics are of this game. Same with the One-shot weapon, and then leading into the Sheikah boss fight for the motorcycle (which also made traveling around and hunting Koroks way easier). The ending scene with Kass addressing Link directly will live on in my memory.
Master Mode: Only one I didn't do, but remains a perfect excuse for me to return to the game.
~~~
After 100%'ing TotK, it might be time to finally go through this game on Master Mode...
Trains are great. Zelda and Link are really cute in this one. Though it still has the same issues as Phantom Hourglass, the story and gameplay was much more compelling, or at least memorable, than PH. Chugging along the tracks, with a banger theme, from point to point and unlocking mysteries at each waypoint was fun. The whole ending section in the Dark Realm felt very high stakes with the demon trains chasing you, and being able to control Zelda through her spirit armor is the some of the closest we'll get to having Zelda be a playable character.
But seriously, bring back train conductor Link, what a fun outfit.
But seriously, bring back train conductor Link, what a fun outfit.
For some reason played this one after LEGO Star Wars II The original trilogy. I guess that matches me up with the films? Still hadn't seen them, still didn't know what was going on, but I loved Jango Fett even back then. Dual pistols was cool.
2006
I liked playing as Argentina cause of the colors of their shirts. Had fun taking the goalie and making him run across the entire pitch and have him try to score.
2013
A classic, really came into its own after The Impossible Game even though I only saw it as a knockoff originally. The levels after the 10th or so got brutally difficult, but all the user created ones were cool.
2013
A breath of fresh air that kind of landed flat for me, as my quest to play each game continued. I try to make my 6 Pokemon team only from the newest gen, and it was disappointing to see so many old Pokemon - every route had like one new Pokemon and that was it. Mega evolution is whatever, hoard battles were annoying unless you had Surf or something, and all your friends can't wait for you to kick their ass.
Still, got my first full odds shiny (a Gulpin!) here, so that's cool.
Still, got my first full odds shiny (a Gulpin!) here, so that's cool.
2010
More of Super Mario Galaxy. I was lucky to be able to start this up right after finishing the first. My first playthrough took me a month of straight playing to complete the game in 21 hours, and another two weeks to get through World S and 100% in 38 hours.
Getting my disappointment out of the way first - Starship Mario just doesn't compare to the Comet Observatory. In general, I wish there was a bit more story or continuity in Galaxy 2, but I understand that they just focused on more Galaxy. But left me missing the secrets in the observatory, and Rosalina's story and diary.
Failing a level enough gave you a scary ghostly version of Rosalina though at least.
But things that Galaxy 2 does better: a concise, easy-to-access world and level structure with Starship Mario, cool new power-ups, and Yoshi of course. I'm not sure if I figured out the infinite flutter glitch by myself, but it was fun to practice it on Starship Mario fluttering to the Toad ship.
An fun finale in World S, and the final level (and its comet) took me an incredibly long time to get through.
I would say in the end, I think Galaxy 1's vibe and setting is more memorable, but the gameplay and post-game is better in Galaxy 2.
Both have great soundtracks though. Sky Station and Cloudy Court definitely homage to Gusty Garden, but some other favorites include Bowser Jr's Fiery Flotilla, Galaxy Generator, the Glider music, and World 3's tranquil background vibes.
Getting my disappointment out of the way first - Starship Mario just doesn't compare to the Comet Observatory. In general, I wish there was a bit more story or continuity in Galaxy 2, but I understand that they just focused on more Galaxy. But left me missing the secrets in the observatory, and Rosalina's story and diary.
Failing a level enough gave you a scary ghostly version of Rosalina though at least.
But things that Galaxy 2 does better: a concise, easy-to-access world and level structure with Starship Mario, cool new power-ups, and Yoshi of course. I'm not sure if I figured out the infinite flutter glitch by myself, but it was fun to practice it on Starship Mario fluttering to the Toad ship.
An fun finale in World S, and the final level (and its comet) took me an incredibly long time to get through.
I would say in the end, I think Galaxy 1's vibe and setting is more memorable, but the gameplay and post-game is better in Galaxy 2.
Both have great soundtracks though. Sky Station and Cloudy Court definitely homage to Gusty Garden, but some other favorites include Bowser Jr's Fiery Flotilla, Galaxy Generator, the Glider music, and World 3's tranquil background vibes.
2008
The single player campaign mode was actually pretty fun, despite having to run around and backtrack a bunch. Solving each area with its unique theme, and then seeing the nighttime versions of the courses, was quite fun. Favorites were Bowser Jr and Yoshi's theme parks. Also, got a lot of mileage out of playing Toy Field multiplayer. Kept returning to this one over the years!