IMMORTAL TEMPTATION TAKES OVER MY MIND
CONDEMNED
FALLEN WEAK ON MY KNEES, SUMMON THE STRENGTH
OF MAYHEM
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
PROVOKING BLACK CLOUDS IN ISOLATION
I AM RECLAIMER OF MY NAME
BORN IN FLAMES, I HAVE BEEN BLESSED
MY FAMILY CREST IS A DEMON OF DEATH
FORSAKENED, I AM AWAKENED
A PHOENIX'S ASH IN DARK DIVINE
DESCENDING MISERY
DESTINY CHASING TIME
INHERIT THE NIGHTMARE, SURROUNDED BY FATE
CAN'T RUN AWAY
KEEP WALKING THE LINE BETWEEN THE LIGHT
LED ASTRAY
THROUGH VACANT HALLS I WON'T SURRENDЕR
THE TRUTH REVЕALED IN EYES OF EMBER
WE FIGHT THROUGH FIRE AND ICE FOREVER
TWO SOULS ONCE LOST, AND NOW THEY REMEMBER
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
PROVOKING BLACK CLOUDS AND ISOLATION
I AM RECLAIMER OF MY NAME
BORN IN FLAMES, I HAVE BEEN BLESSED
MY FAMILY CREST IS A DEMON OF DEATH
FORSAKENED, I AM AWAKENED
A PHOENIX'S ASH IN DARK DIVINE
DESCENDING MISERY
DESTINY CHASING TIME
DISAPPEAR INTO THE NIGHT
LOST SHADOWS LEFT BEHIND
OBSESSION'S PULLING ME
FADING, I'VE COME TO TAKE WHAT'S MINE
LURKING IN THE SHADOWS UNDER VEIL OF NIGHT
CONSTELLATIONS OF BLOOD PIROUETTE
DANCING THROUGH THE GRAVES OF THOSE WHO STAND AT MY FEET
DREAMS OF THE BLACK THRONE I KEEP ON REPEAT
A DERELICT OF DARKNESS, SUMMONED FROM THE ASHES
THE PUPPETMASTER CONGREGATES ALL THE MASSES
PULLING STRINGS, TWISTING MINDS AS BLADES HIT
YOU WANT THIS POWER? THEN COME TRY AND TAKE IT
BEYOND THE TREE
FIRE BURNS
SECRET LOVE
BLOODLINE YEARNS
DARK MINDS EMBRACE
CRIMSON JOY
DOES YOUR DIM HEART
HEAL OR DESTROY?
BURY THE LIGHT DEEP WITHIN
CAST ASIDE, THERE'S NO COMMING HOME
WE'RE BURNING CHAOS IN THE WIND
DRIFTING IN THE OCEAN ALL ALONE

{I've already reviewed the original release of Ocarina of Time, so see that review for my thoughts on the base game.}

It's tragic how this beautiful adventure is limited to such a small screen. The low resolution doesn't affect the experience, it's still one of the greatest games I've ever played. The 3D functions quite well, especially on the New 3DS XL. The inclusion of Master Quest is a brilliant new way to play this classic game (if you missed it on GameCube). But I couldn't help but wonder why this graphical update to one of the greatest games of all time wasn't HD.

Ocarina of Time felt like such a massive adventure back in '98, so it's odd to have it brought into this century on a smaller scale. Obviously the idea of portable 3D Zelda was a novel one, but it always irked me that I couldn't blow this adventure up to 1080p 60fps.

Recently, I did just that. The best way to play Ocarina of Time 3D is with the Citra emulator and a Switch Pro Controller. I was able to take full advantage of intuitive gyro aiming while having actual analog sticks. I was able to play on my TV (via an HDMI cable from my laptop) while maintaining the updated textures and models of the 2011 release of the game. (Though there are updated texture packs that you can patch in to make things look even better!) It's not how Nintendo intended the game to be played, but it is my definitive recommendation for how ANYONE with a PC should play it.

The game has never stopped being great, and there are so many ways to play it now. OoT is officially on N64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Switch, and 3DS. But until Nintendo drops an HD version of this remaster on Switch, the best way to play through this adventure is fan-made.

Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie are two of my favorite games of all time. I played BK in '99, so there's a ton of nostalgia there, but I didn't play Tooie until a few years ago, so there's no nostalgia there at all. I feel that they're both 10/10 experiences, and I backed Yooka-Laylee the very second the Kickstarter went live.

I think I was set up for the most disappointment possible. Since I am so hyper-familiar with the Banjo games, all of Yooka-Laylee's flaws and shortcomings were even more jarring to me.

The levels were too big and had too little in them, and what was there wasn't very interesting. In Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie, there aren't any repeated Jiggy challenges that show up in every level besides collecting Jinjos. in Yooka-Laylee, you repeated similar objectives constantly, and they weren't even fun. The characters' controls are cumbersome, the stamina meter is frustrating, combat is janky, and the whole thing just felt... rough.

I wanted to love it, but it felt like some rusty devs trying to get back into the swing of things. I'm really hopeful that they can shake the dust off and put out a fantastic 3D follow-up soon. (And if The Impossible Lair is any indication, they're already learning from their mistakes!)

"Hey dude wake up, it's the apocalypse"
"What? Really? Like Mad Max or more like Fallout?"
"Like Fallout..."
"Oh thats cool then"
"No no, let me finish, like Fallout One"
"..." Unalives himself

This game is absolutely packed with references, cameos and easter eggs that rival the newly released Super Mario Bros. movie (this won't age the review at all!).

Seriously though if you were a long-time Mario fan when this game came out, this game would be like the ultimate gift. Even playing it for the first time now, I can still appreciate the insane amount of sources they pulled from to put into the game. Enemies can be anything from generic Mario enemies, to spin-off stuff like the viruses from Dr. Mario, to variations on them (like mechanical dogs with chain chomp heads, scuba diva Goombas or Bullet Bills with Scope Rifles).

Of course it's not only references, the game has plenty of original content, including taking place in a brand new Kingdom to the Mario world, with everything within having a naming scheme that I...didn't really care for, even if it did fit the tone.

The combat is very interesting in this game since every action, offense and defense, requires player input. If you want to get extra damage on your basic attack you need to time it right, and if you want to pull off a special attack at all you'll need to time and input a short sequence of button prompts. You can even set these to your required difficulty level - you can set it to the easiest mode where the timing prompts play in slow motion with the game telling you which buttons to press, or you can set it to hard mode where the timings play at normal speed and don't tell you which buttons to press. The benefits of hard mode is that it takes up less "bro points" to do the move (think MP in any other RPG).

But I think it's the defensive stuff that makes the combat work so great. You can time your Bros. jumps or hammer strikes when an enemy is attacking to either dodge or counter attack. It makes every single enemy feel unique because the way they attack determines how/if they can be countered. It's such a refreshing system that can make even the most simple of battels feel more engaging for a playstyle that many consider slow.

I guess they do rely on this system a bit too much to carry battles though because Mario and Luigi's movesets are pretty lacking. 2 characters is already a small amount for an RPG, and these guys only get a total of 4 special moves (each with an upgraded version) and 3 basic moves, all of which are slowly unlocked over the course of the game. And yet, somewhat contradictory, it feels like these 4 special moves are also "too many". What I mean by that is, there doesn't feel like nearly enough variation in attacks. There's some simple things such as hammers can attack spiky enemies, but for the most part it rarely felt like there was any specific move that fit a specific enemy, so you just go with whatever. Mario also gets fire power and Luigi gets lightning somewhat late in to the game, so you get a grand total of 2 elements to use across this small arsenal. Even these elements feel underutilised, sure I noticed an enemy or two that was weak to, or absorbed one type of damage, but it was never worth it to me to test these elements out when stomping on an enemy was usually good enough to do the job.

There's a few times when Mario & Luigi are split up too, and Bros. moves can't be used in these instances, so in these battles they must be completed with only 3 basic moves.

So the battle system is weird. It's very fun, but very limited. Whether the battle interaction justifies the lack of options is a very tough question.

Moving on, since this is a Mario game, even if it's an RPG, platforming elements still show up. And it's where my biggest issue with the game came from. The GBA only has a few buttons, but there's a LOT of field actions in this game. And not only does every action they can do to interact with the world have an individual effect, but an effect when used on the other brother AND the order the brothers are set in matters. What this means with few buttons is that you're constantly micromanaging which action is set at any one time, and which of the 2 moustached fella's is in the lead. The amount of times I skipped past an action, or rushed and pressed the wrong one so I made Mario tiny by hammering him with Luigi instead of doing the super jump was annoying. It's a very minor annoyance, yes, but it's one that persists throughout the game.

Speaking of that super jump ability, it's easily the worst one because of how unnecessary it is. It's literally just used to get to platforms slightly too high to reach at a regular jump, but why? Why not just make the platforms normal height? It's not like it was done for gating the player off, since it's one of the two first abilities you learn. It has no puzzle or challenge attributed to it. It's like they just needed a filler ability for Luigi to match Mario's spin one, so they then had to justify adding it by throwing in a bunch of platforms that force you to waste just a couple extra seconds to get past. Yes it's a petty complaint.

Let's get back to praising the game. I really liked the soundtrack, which like anything else, has a mix of new stuff, with old remixes.

The game is full of decently fun mini-games, each of which can be replayed after its mandatory play for extra rewards.

A very small thing, but the luck stat in this game is called "moustache". It also gives you discounts in the store if you grow this "mous-stat". It's that kinda thing that just makes the game a joy.

The game is surprisingly not as hand-holdy as I thought it'd be. Like this is babbys first RPG in many ways. It's not hard at all and many systems are simplified, such as equipment pretty much only ever having basic "power/defense/hp/bp(mp)" numbers and then maybe a simple effect added on. But it gives you access to the world map pretty early on. Of course most of it is locked off until you get the required abilities, but it still surprised me that it let the player explore and find this out themselves, rather than railroading them to the next story point. Hell if I'm being honest, sometimes the game gives you so LITTLE direction on what to do next I had to look up a guide on where to go at a couple of points.

Part of me felt like this game had too many tutorials, but I don't think that's true. It does give a new one every time you learn a new ability, so to some people that's too many, but I think the main problem is how SLOW they were. Whenever characters are talking, this game is definitely very slow.

By RPG standards it is, of course, pretty basic. But it's an RPG for Mario fans first and foremost. However the fact that they went further with the gameplay than the simple turn-based battle system just really helped so that I could enjoy the game even after all the Mario fanservice started to lose its effect.

It seems like a lot of people view partners in time as one of the weakest Mario and Luigi games, but I really enjoyed my time with it. It is one of the best-paced titles in the series. None of the areas really drag on too long, and I enjoy how each of them carves out their own identity. The idea of the babies is fun and I think it is executed pretty well for the most part. I don't think they got all that creative with the overworld functions of the babies, but the combat is pretty fun in this game. Utilizing all the buttons in attacks and counter-attacks is a cool way to spruce up the series in my opinion. Not to mention the adorable cutscenes of Mario, Luigi, and the Toadsworths attempting to cheer them up and any time baby Mario or baby Luigi says "thank you very much." The bosses were unique and, as always for Mario and Luigi, really fun. However, I was playing on the US version which made the boss HPs obnoxious, but it did help make the final boss very challenging and memorable for me (especially with the banger playing). Speaking of music, Partners in Time excels. The title screen, thwomp volcano, Yoshi mountain, and the time-hole music all also go off. Overall, I think partners in time is not talked about as an upper-echelon Mario RPG, but it absolutely deserves to be. Soul levels off the charts with this one.