A Short Hike simultaneously is and isn’t exactly what it sounds like. It’s a comfy and cozy exploration game where you play as a teenage bird girl named Claire. Claire is staying with her Aunt May for the summer at Hawk Peak Provincial Park, where her Aunt works as a ranger. The park is located on an island that has to be accessed by a ferry. It’s your typical beautiful looking park which surrounds a tall mountain, the kind of thing that can be hard for kids acclimated to suburban life to appreciate.

Claire lounges around her Aunt’s house, waiting for a very important phone call. Her Aunt tells her that the Park doesn’t get cellphone reception, and that she’ll have to hike up the trail to Hawk’s Peak if she wants to get a signal. Claire’s never made the journey up to Hawk’s Peak before, but this phone call is extremely important to Claire, and so she decides to make the journey so that she’ll be able to pick up when she gets the call.

A Short Hike is a game you’re just meant to chill and vibe with. While your goal is to get to the top of Hawk’s Peak, there’s no real sense of urgency. You can take all the time you need to get there. Exploring the Park and the rest of the island is the game’s primary focus. You can talk to the various residents throughout the park, get to know them as well as life on the island, play some beachstickball with the kids, fish with an old guy, and collect things like shells and coins. The island is very well designed with plenty of stuff to do and lots of things to find. In some ways it kind of reminds me of a level from Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine, just without any form of hazards.

Claire controls in a similar fashion to 3D platforming games. She has the ability to climb certain walls, jump and flap her wings as a method of mid-air jumping, as well as glide through the air while following the wind to carry her farther distances. In order to make it to the top of Hawk’s Peak, Claire needs to find Golden Feathers which increase her stamina, allowing her to climb taller walls as well as flap her wings in mid-air additional times. This is the most important collectable to find, as you’ll need seven of them in order to make it to the summit. There’s an abundance of Golden Feathers on the island though, so acquiring seven isn’t too difficult or too linear of a process. Claire feels very comfortable to control, and the flapping and glide mechanics feel very satisfying. Much like its title implies, the game as a whole is pretty short. It can be beaten in a little over an hour unless you’re trying to 100% the game, and even then, most people only take about four hours to complete it. I didn’t do all of the optional content, but I did some of it and I enjoyed what I played.

For the most part, its presentation is great. The game has an atmosphere that’s like a cross between Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, making for a vibe that’s all around the highest levels of cozy possible. Loved the adaptive soundtrack. I thought the default settings for the pixelation was wayyyy too high. The game genuinely looked like a poorly emulated DS game until I turned the settings for that down. Once I did, I thought the game looked great.

A Short Hike is a game that achieves what it sets out to do. It isn’t anything groundbreaking, it isn’t something you’re going to spend a lot of time with, but I think that unless you’re super jaded, it’s a game that you can at the very least vibe with and play with a smile on your face. For a lotta people, that’s more than enough. Claire’s satisfying controls, the open-ended approach towards beating the game, and the game’s impeccable aesthetic all make for a very worthwhile experience. It’s not the type of game I’m head over heels for, but at the same time, it’s a game that I really appreciate.

Seeing as Metal Gear is one of my favourite series, I was determined to make an event out of the first time I played Ground Zeroes. I sat down with a plate of strawberries, joking to my friends that, knowing the series' infamously long cutscenes, I would probably have finished them before the first cutscene was over. As you can see, I make very funny and original jokes, which is why I have lots of friends and am DEFINITELY not lonely.

These were famous last words. Not only was the intro over before I had eaten my strawberries, but so was the fucking game. Ground Zeroes is incredibly short, and savvy readers already know the only story-related mission can be completed within an hour.

I'll give it this: from a technical point of view, Ground Zeroes is a marvel. The first time I played it was on a laptop that didn't even have a GPU, and it still ran like a dream. The graphics are phenomenal, bringing the nigh-photorealism we take for granted today. I remember the exact moment in the first cutscene that I realized that there hadn't been a single camera cut, and I was mindblown. This gritty, guerilla-cam directing style became a staple of Hideo Kojima games from this point onwards. The climax is one of my favourite cutscenes in any video game.

And the gameplay is superb. Ground Zeroes provides a stellar stealth action sandbox that, while not quite up to The Phantom Pain's level of 'if you can think it, you can do it,' was an excellent taster of what was to come. There are many ways to achieve your goals, and the developers thought of everything: cutscenes change to accommodate the smallest detail. Despite the low score, rest assured that this game plays very well.

That said, it's terrible value for the money. Ground Zeroes launched for the price of $40, and even today, is being sold for $20 - $10 if you buy it as a bundle with Phantom Pain. Every one of these prices is a scam. Make no mistake, this is a demo. The story can be cleared within 45 minutes, the side ops (all using the same base) lack proper stories, and score chases/collectibles aren't a suitable incentive for the casual player.

It would have made sense if Ground Zeroes had been released as a free demo, or included in The Phantom Pain as a prologue chapter. There are a few players who claim to have hundreds of hours in it, but the only explanation I can think of is that they left their PC on all night. Even if you sieve this game for every morsel of material, it adds up to a few hours at best. Unless you're a completionist, you won't get your money's worth buying this game at full price. And here's the thing: you don't have to impose these conditions while purchasing other games. It's usually bad form to judge a game's value by its length, but here it's justified.

The long and short of it is, Konami found a way to fuck it up once again. It's a shame that a game with such high production value was handled by a company whose unofficial motto is: "Where there's a will, there's a slot machine."

This is the third review in a marathon of reviews for “The Legend of Zelda” series. If you haven’t yet, please read my previous review here. Please also check out Reyn, Phantasm, Steinco, Dunebot & ptcremisi who are doing this marathon with me. They will also be posting reviews for each Zelda game in the marathon, though not all of us are playing the same games. I will also be linking specific individuals who will be playing specific Zelda games alongside us, so please check them out also! Without any further delay, let’s get right into The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past!

The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, or LTTP as I’ll be calling it for this review, might just be the most important Zelda game ever. Not only did it establish so many essential staples to the franchise such as the master sword, heart pieces, the big/boss key, puzzle themes, item progression, and basic formula of Zelda games having three dungeons in order to retrieve the Master Sword, and then a plethora of more complicated dungeons afterwards, the final dungeon, and then the final boss. It’s not just what LTTP did for Zelda though that’s important, it’s how The game did it, and how it did it successfully, especially after coming off from The Legend of Zelda II: the Adventure of Link, which was a huge departure from the series.

Link has never felt more capable or more easy to control before. Link can now easily walk in all directions, which allows for more complex level design and enemy design. Link now swings his sword in an arch instead of a stab, allowing for much less frustration on top of a generous hitbox that will stop enemies in their tracks. Link now has a new spin attack which will go on to become an essential staple in his swordplay for every entry afterward, allowing Link to protect himself in a large circle that also deals rather good damage. In LTTP however, Link holds his sword in front of him to charge before spin attacking, which also serves as a hitbox which is thoughtfully designed to ensure the player isn’t fully compromised from attacking while trying to charge up this attack. Link can now also pick up pots and bushes to throw at enemies to deal considerable damage and also gives him an essential ranged option for encounters early on, they can even be used to knock poor unsuspecting foes off from balconies to kill them instantly. This ability would also be in every Zelda game afterward, however in the 2D entries specifically, the pot-throwing feels more reliable and significant as an offensive option due to the higher accuracy and damage, whereas 3D entries don’t emphasize it as much for combat, but definitely more for puzzles. Link can also hop off ledges, pull and push levers and blocks, and even his sword bounces off harder materials, adding a sense of realism to everything. Not only are these mechanics incredibly polished and always useful throughout the game, but Link is very animated and expressive which adds further charm to these additions, like when he’s visibly struggling to lift up an object before carrying it over his head. It’s things like this that remind us Link is still young, or at least inexperienced, but still very much capable and resourceful when he needs to be, even if a single line of dialogue is never spoken, this particular incarnation of Link has a lot more personality and flair to him than any Link before.

LTTP does more than give Link better characterization though, the writing has also taken a significant leap forward. LTTP establishes a lot of lore and mechanics that later Zelda games would flesh out, such as the seven wisemen who sealed Ganon away, the “Golden Power” known as the Triforce that can grant a wish when touched, unlike Zelda 2 where it simply lifted Zelda’s eternal coma, and Princess Zelda’s inclination to magic. While not everything LTTP presents is exactly compelling, it certainly makes an attempt in both the World and narrative as each dungeon completed, and each NPC talked to provide more context and information that can add deeper appreciation to what the game is going for. The Overworld presents a lot of history and nuance as well, such as the Zoras for example. Before, the Zoras were nothing more than nuisances in Zelda 1 and LTTP, yet they still offer Link their help should he compensate them with the right amount of rupees. Small ideas like this would later snowball into the Zora becoming an entirely peaceful race that Link assists and allies with in future titles. It’s not just the Zora either, many monsters in LTTP offer services to Link in exchange for money, while Zelda 1 did have the friendly Moblins who gave Link rupees, they pushed the envelope here a lot more and allowed for more monsters to present this human-like contrast to them where they’re not all necessarily evil or working for Ganon, which I really appreciate. Other aspects I like are the ancient hieroglyphs you can find in Hyrule, you need an item called “The Book of Mudora '' to read. .While as a gameplay mechanic, it makes sense you’d need this book to translate these hieroglyphs to receive an item, but from a lore perspective it’s incredibly interesting. An ancient civilization at one point who perhaps knew now long-lost magic that Link learns and uses to access later areas in the game, as well as needing the Master Sword to even obtain them almost makes it seem like a previous Hero of Legend left this power behind for the next Hero to inherit. It’s small details like this that LTTP is able to overlap in both gameplay and lore that makes it so interesting to think about, on top of just having a satisfying progression where every item you receive feels impactful throughout most of the game.

Item progression is perhaps the best it’s ever been for Zelda in LTTP as well. Every single item, even the boomerang now has a substantial purpose that justifies having it, as well as smart design decisions that continue giving these items importance and utility throughout the entire game. Let’s go back to the boomerang for example! I conceded in my Zelda 1 review that I rarely used items like the boomerang because the game never really much reason to use it over something like the Magic Wand. In LTTP, this is entirely different now as the Boomerang can now be used to pick up items from afar, this includes enemy drops such as rupees and arrows, to much more important items like small keys. Even if the boomerang is never required to use, the utility of collecting items out of reach or inconveniently far away is now a non-issue because the Boomerang can grab it for you. This can even become useful if an enemy drops a key but is surrounded by dangerous hazards, rather than having to take damage, you can simply use the Boomerang! It’s not just the Boomerang either that has this sort of thoughtfulness to it, the bug-catching net allows you to capture bees and fairies which each have their own use, yet the bug-net is useless without its partner item, the bottle. The bottle is used to store things you catch with the net, which I really like, it allows for two items to overlap in how they’re useful to the player which gives them both value. Yet, even the bottle can be used to store potions as well, so it still has its exclusive use besides being reliant on the net, it’s this sort of design that always allows for an item to be useful. It gets even better when items need to be used in tandem in order to succeed. Even the items by themselves stay relevant after you’ve received them, such as the Hookshot. The Hookshot is a fan favorite item, and was introduced in this game, it allows you to hook onto specific objects to pull Link far distances. You can hook chests, blocks, kill enemies with it, and even pull items and specific enemies to you as well. Due to the sheer vastness of the Hookshot, it always stays useful, but the game always accounts for you having this item once you get it, and is always creating scenarios you need to use it in, such as getting to the other side of Death Mountain, or being able to enter Misery Mire at all. LTTP is incredibly smart with its items, and even innovates old items like the bombs. Originally in Zelda 1, bombs were a very finite resource that you needed to be careful about placing correctly or you’d be wasting them, much unlike LTTP. In LTTP, you can now pick up your bombs, you can throw them, they have a longer detonation time, you can even upgrade your bomb capacity up to 40 bombs, ensuring you’ll never run out. These new mechanics not only make bombs more practical in combat and puzzles, but it allows the developers to make far more convoluted puzzles involving them, while also being able to evolve the puzzles steadily so players can continue mastering the art of using bombs. Without these mechanics that require precision and fidelity, bombs would feel just as one-dimensional as Zelda 1’s, but thankfully LTTP does nothing but improve everything established before it, even Zelda 2.

In my review for Zelda 2 I mentioned how shielded enemies always annoyed me because you had to always jump-strike to land a hit, and even then it wasn’t always consistent. I’m happy to say LTTP somehow made this mechanic far better, and much less annoying! As early as the start of the game, LTTP establishes that not every enemy can just be mindlessly slashed to defeat. The corrupted Hyrule knights who fight Link are equipped with shields which protects them from Link’s attacks. This teaches the player very quickly that positioning is key to dealing with certain enemies, and for these knights, attacking them to the left of their shield, behind them, or in front of them will be able to damage them. Zelda 1 had this concept with the Darknuts, but didn’t have the technology to allow for Link to hit their exposed body their shield isn’t covering, and Zelda 2’s perspective limited it to low and high hits. LTTP hits this sweet spot of allowing the enemies to have resilience, but not a perfect defense either, it has compromises, just as Link’s defense is in every Zelda game prior and including this one. Other enemies such as hardhat beetles have unique reactions to attacking them, knocking Link back like a bumper. Other enemies such as Gibdo’s that are now far tankier than Zelda 1, now have a crippling weakness to fire. Having these specific weaknesses and attributes to enemies only serves to enrich combat, and these are just a few examples. Other enemies outright justify certain items you have, such as the red variants of Goriyah’s and Eyegore’s requiring the bow to even harm, Terrapin’s needing to be knocked over with the hammer to expose their weak stomachs, and the Freezor’s needing to be melted by the Fire rod or Bombos. It’s because of these enemy designs and behaviors that allows LTTP to elevate itself far past previous entries. Enemies that require specific strategies to defeat, requiring specific items, and having certain immunities and strengths that individualize them. It becomes much better when a variety of enemies are placed into the same room, it creates extremely dynamic gameplay of swapping out your items to deal with each one methodically like a dance. Yet the game never expects you to switch items constantly per room, and there’s plenty of enemies you can dispose of with just a simple swing of your sword, such as the Gibdo’s again, but it’s never annoying. In Zelda 1, they often bombarded you with too many enemies, and Zelda 2’s enemies were too difficult to dispose of and their placements were often unfair and frustrating. LTTP has neither flaw, at least, not to the same severity. Many of the enemy placements and combinations felt thoughtful, balanced, and most importantly, it feels fair. That’s the most important part to me, LTTP always felt fair even in the most harrowing of rooms, enemy placement never felt too overwhelming, there was never a moment where I said “wow, that’s some terrible enemy placement!” Things that I thought and said many times in the previous entries of Zelda. The game always gives you the tools to win, you just have to utilize them, and that’s one reason I love LTTP!

Let’s talk about something that’s not so great about LTTP, the minigames. Now, let me just preface that I don't find these games mechanically bad, rather their reliance on RNG is what kills me. I think the most infamous of these is the digging minigame. In the digging minigame, you pay 80 rupees to start digging around, but you only have 30 seconds. Now, to be as fair as possible here, the digging minigame usually pays out enough rupees to try again, so it’s just a matter of repetition to get the piece of heart. However, the issue is how long it can take, for this playthrough it took me about 10 attempts, which isn’t bad. I understand the idea, and it’s not even a bad minigame, but the reliance on luck rather than skill when the rest of this game is the exact opposite of that is a bit jarring for me. Same could be said for the Chest minigame in Thieves' Town which I’d argue is worse had the town itself not have 600 rupees you can grab with relative ease. You also have the racing minigame in Kakariko town which actually isn’t that bad at all and is kind of fun! The rest of the minigames don’t provide a substantial reward, but are fun enough on their own to kill time or make some extra money.

In the previous entries of Zelda, I found it rather odd that most of the items you receive don’t necessarily help with traversal. Zelda 1 had the stepladder which was useful, but didn’t really provide much help, Zelda 2 was especially bad considering a lot of those items could’ve actually been great, but instead were relegated to very specific paths that mostly just led to the next dungeon. LTTP once again just kills it with both explorative progression, but ease of travel. The Pegasus Boots being one of the most substantial, allowing Link to run super fast in one direction without being able to turn. On the plus side, he keeps his sword out in front, shoving enemies out of your way to keep the sprint going. This alone makes LTTP far less intrusive to play, especially when in the Overworld and backtracking. Not only does it serve its own purposes as an item, but it doubles as improved transportation which was really smart. The Zora Flippers allow you to swim, a first for Zelda. They once again, not only allow you to swim, but unlock so many new avenues to explore via the whirlpools which will warp you throughout the map, which is very convenient. Zora flippers also serve as a paramount item later in the game for dungeons like Swamp Palace, which gives it immense value. My absolute favorite has to be the flute though. The flute allows you to warp to 8 different points on the map, and usually puts you in a spot of interest, such as Link’s House, the Old Man’s cave house, the Witch’s hut etc. All of these areas serve a purpose, or are a significant landmark to help distinguish where you are and what you can do. And yet again, even something like the flute allows you to gain access to a new area you couldn’t otherwise, which as I’ll say again, is so smart. Not only does it make it easier for the player to explore the World and find things easier and faster, but the progression feels strong, it’s quantifiable how much more capable Link is as the game progresses, not just in strength, but in utility. I wanted to stress this point, because Zelda 2 drove me wild with having to start from the very beginning every time you died because Link doesn’t feel anymore capable or faster to get somewhere even by the end of the game. Compared to LTTP, I can save my game, warp to Link’s House, use the flute to get to death mountain and reach the final dungeon in a manner of 5 minutes. This comparison alone, along with my horrible experience with Zelda 2, made this one simple feature hold far more value for me, and I am very grateful to have it, it’s a luxury Zelda didn’t always have, but very glad it exists in LTTP!

Now, for the most important question, how cryptic is this game? Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 I dubbed as “guide games” in my reviews because I legitimately couldn’t fathom how someone could’ve realistically figured out what to do in those games due to the lack of visual tells, or the game not relaying the information you could even do certain things that it asks of you later on. So, what about LTTP? Well, I can happily say it’s a lot better! LTTP was smart with the Castle Escape sequence exposing players to very important concepts early on. Opening chests, defeating enemies to open doors, enemies dropping keys, being able to push things/interacting with the environment, the map, and the big key. All of these things plus dark rooms, torches, and levers are introduced and exposed to the player so they can understand them in a controlled, but not hand-holding environment. Interactable environments such as bombable walls now have a visual tell with cracks to represent a weak wall. The map and compass aren’t incredibly reliable, but a step-up from Zelda 1. The overworld is far less cryptic, items now give descriptions on what they do in-game so the player doesn’t need to guess their functionality anymore. Dungeons such as Eastern Palace introduce more complex dark rooms and simple block puzzles. Desert Palace forces the player to find the second part of the dungeon by leaving the dungeon, which later dungeons like Skull Woods do a lot more of. Desert palace also teaches you about torch puzzles in a manner that’s easy to understand as well. Tower of Hera introduces the idea of descending floors through holes to reach normally inaccessible areas which becomes incredibly common in later dungeons and the Overworld. Tower of Hera also introduces the red and blue blocks that rise and drop depending on the color of the switch you use. LTTP is very considerate about introducing and having the player practice new mechanics slowly while not fully spelling it out for them. It allows the player to keep their agency and sense of discovery, but also doesn’t allow them to get frustrated because the solutions themselves aren’t too difficult, and some good perception will lead them to the answer. Now granted, there are a few moments in this game that are still cryptic, I won’t deny that. However, the fortune teller pretty much removes any possibility of being stuck in this game. Essentially an in-game guide, you can pay the fortune teller to give you a hint about what to do next, or specific points of interest you might want to look into doing. You do have to pay 10 to 30 rupees for this info, but considering just how generous LTTP is with money, you won’t need to worry about spending them to progress in the game. It’s this sort of resource that allows the player to steadily progress without getting stuck for too long outside of dungeons. Considering the time this game came out, strategy guides and hotlines you could call for help with games would’ve been an easy solution that would’ve provided more revenue for Nintendo. Yet they decided to add the Fortune Teller into LTTP so players could always know what to do, where to go, and other tidbits of helpful info and insight to make the playing experience as smooth as possible. I deeply respect the decision, and I am glad they did this, it probably allowed many players over the years to enjoy the game that much more. With that said, any issue of the game being too cryptic to figure out is pretty much eliminated, a flaw the previous two games had that LTTP doesn’t, a gigantic plus for LTTP.

Dungeons this time around feel a lot more familiar to the rest of the Zelda series. Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 certainly had maze-like dungeons, though they relied a lot more on overpopulated enemy placements and cheap tricks to create difficulty. LTTP on the other hand is much more focused on puzzles and figuring out where to go by using your resources carefully. Unlike the previous entries as well, LTTP designs its dungeons in a way that prevents you from having to leave or reset the dungeon if you do something incorrectly, they’re incredibly interconnected and have a plethora of keys for the player to use so they can eventually find the right path. As I mentioned before though, LTTP is much more focused on puzzle-solving within the dungeons than combat. One example is the Ice Palace, while it’s undeniable this dungeon has a rather annoying gimmick and plenty of enemy encounters, the puzzle revolving around finding buttons to open doors, navigating the slick terrain, and the last puzzle involving you pushing a block down to the bottom floor and then going around the dungeon to get to the other side to push the correct block down when the conditions are right feel very tightly designed and clean cut. LTTP is also incredibly open-ended, allowing you to do dungeons out of order to get a specific item before tackling another dungeon which could make it much easier. Let’s use the Ice Palace again as an example, the only item you need to complete this dungeon is the fire rod. So you’ll have to go to Skull Woods before going to the Ice Palace of course. However, if you decide to do Swamp Palace to get the Hookshot, and then do the Thieves hideout, you can go to Misery Mire before Skull Woods. Doing so gets you the cane of Somaria, which allows you to use magic to create a block you can use freely, and has the same properties as a block with a few fun additional capabilities such as throwing it, or discharging it to create four projectiles to hit switches and enemies. If you go to the Ice Palace after receiving the Cane of Somaria, you can skip the last puzzle entirely by just placing a block on the button. The design of these dungeons allows for more than one solution to solve them, and LTTP allows players to mostly go about the dungeons in many different sequences which can lead to an entirely different experience each time. While it’s true the dungeons are numbered like Zelda 1 and have a recommended order of doing them, you don’t have to. I’m glad LTTP took the freedom that Zelda 1 allowed but made it much more valuable to the player by making earlier dungeons much easier. While the dungeons do get progressively harder and more complex in layout and enemies as well, it’s not too difficult that it would be inconceivable for even a newer player to accomplish this, which I appreciate and gives the game a lot of replayability in this aspect.

Last thing I have yet to go over are the Heart Pieces. Heart Pieces were introduced in LTTP as well, and I think they were a smart decision mostly. In the prior two games, you would get Heart Containers, increasing your maximum life as soon as you found one. Zelda 1 also gave you Heart Containers when you defeated a boss, which LTTP also does. The difference is that Heart Containers outside bosses were basically broken up into four pieces, finding four gives you a Heart Container. The reason I think ultimately this was a good idea is it simply makes the game more justifiable to play. In the originals, there’s certain areas and screens you can ignore entirely because there’s nothing of interest there, so it’s just a waste of time. In LTTP, due to the higher abundance of worthwhile items to find, specifically Heart Pieces, it not only makes exploring a lot more valuable, but it also allows for a lot less waste. Even the minigames in LTTP are worth doing because you can get a Heart Piece. Health is valuable in Zelda games, and for completionists it’s even better because the game is diversifying how you obtain your upgrades. Zelda 1? Find a cave, get a Heart Container every single time. Zelda 2? Find a random tile on the map and get a Heart Container. LTTP? Do this puzzle, play this minigame, find a way to this area to get the Heart Piece, use your items to get it etc. LTTP allows for itself to essentially take more risks in design because the game will always be able to grant the player a reason to do it in the first place with Heart Pieces. But also, since Heart Pieces are in this in-between of important and not so important, and are also very high in quantity, it allows players to choose what they want and don’t want to do much easier. If there’s a Heart Piece that’s frustrating to grab, the player can skip it and have solace in the fact there’s plenty more to get to increase your health. It’s not a full-encompassing positive though since the creation of Heart Pieces could feel like padding, bloated, and annoying compared to the previous 2 games that feel much more generous in hindsight because you get an instant health upgrade, even if they're optional. The issue is, Zelda 1 and 2 did nothing unique with these Heart Containers, you just find them and move on. LTTP always creates value with an item that arguably has less value than the Heart Containers. They always allow for a small puzzle to be made, a minigame to play, or an obstacle to overcome. It's engaging, it’s diverse, and it’s fun. I’m glad later Zelda games continued to keep the Heart Pieces, because from here-on, how they’re rewarded and obtained simply become better and better since their inception. Even in the first game introduced in, they’re executed very well and feel like a worthwhile addition!

Now for some smaller points I couldn’t really dedicate an entire paragraph to. I love the sprite work in this game, it’s not exactly the most expressive besides Link, but it’s top-notch. A lot of these monster designs really came to life with this game, and I think a lot of how these enemies were designed moving forward oftentimes use LTTP as a reference point. The map in this game is fantastic It's incredibly detailed and showcases points of interests and dungeons remarkably well so the player won’t get lost. It’s a far cry from Zelda 1’s terrible map, and much better than Zelda 2’s map because it has detail, it has personality, and it’s a very accurate depiction of Hyrule! I enjoy the antagonist not being Ganon for the first time in a Zelda game, well at least initially. Agahnim feels very intimidating and powerful, even though his boss fight is relatively easy, he’s certainly an imposing antagonist that was a nice change of pace in a while. I also love Ganon in this game when he’s revealed, probably my favorite design of classic Ganon, he’s also just charming because he calls Link “lad”. It’s such a tiny detail, but Ganon calling Link lad doesn’t feel like it’s from a place of disrespect, honestly it feels to me like Ganon is somewhat impressed by this young man being able to overpower him. I might be reaching a bit here, but this Ganon feels a lot more respectable despite destroying two entire worlds practically, yet he doesn’t underestimate or talk down to Link, he absolutely views him as a worthy adversary. I like the idea of the seven maidens, though I think games like Ocarina of Time do it way better, but not a bad start. I also enjoyed how Zelda appears at the start and asks Link for help through telekinesis. It’s a small detail again, but hints at Zelda’s affinity for magic that later Zelda games, like Ocarina of Time once again, delve into deeper, and especially a game like Breath Of The Wild. Unfortunately, Zelda just like Zelda 1 and 2 has barely any presence here, but I think it’s also a step in the right direction for her. Really most NPC’s in this game are charming, not exactly well-written, but definitely makes the world feel more alive. I enjoy all the treasures in this game, especially when there’s bundles of 4 or 5 chests in one given room and you get to open them one-by-one. It’s something that’s incredibly satisfying and fun that later Zelda games would also do, for LTTP it’s especially gratifying, especially with that little jingle it always plays. Sound design is superb here, it’s very unique, but there’s nothing here that feels out of place or annoying like Zelda 2, everything is balanced well and doesn’t grate on the ears. The entire OST is fantastic! I really love Kakariko Village a song that every future Kakariko in Zelda would use, I love the Hyrule field in this game as well, the SNES really made this song feel more heroic and hopeful. My favorite song in the entire game though is Majestic Castle, this song is only played in two areas in the whole game, the tutorial, and the Castle Tower after obtaining the Master Sword. This song has an air of seriousness and danger to it, it really encapsulates the tone and situation of LTTP. It’s incredibly apt especially after seeing your uncle die in the castle sewers, this game isn’t necessarily light-hearted, but not so serious that it can’t also be fun or whimsical. Majestic Castle is definitely my favorite, it also just has this great atmosphere to it with the rain you can hear in the background, it’s magical really, especially if it’s the first time you’re hearing it. Last thing I’ll mention is the magic meter which I really liked. Powerful magical items and spells now have a resource you need to manage in order to use, but the game does a great job at supplying it when you need it, and is rather generous with the drops in the first place. It’s a substantial improvement from Zelda 2 because the Magic Meter isn’t used to heal yourself, it doesn’t cost nearly as much to use most magical items. Rather it’s more for puzzle-solving and convenience like using the powerful medallions to clear an annoying room of enemies, it helps the game makes sure you’ll always have magic when you need it too, or else it’d be as bad as Zelda 2, but LTTP is just always making sure the player has what they need to do things, kind of similar to how Zelda 1 did it, but is much more attentive.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past is a masterpiece. It’s one of my favorite games ever made, and the quality still holds up to this day. I’ve played this game hundreds of times through the randomizer and vanilla playthroughs, and the charm still persists for me even now. I’ll end up playing this game for the remainder of my life solely due to all the memories attached to it, and it helped me establish a lot of important relationships in my life to get a bit personal for a second, Disregarding that though, the game is just polished extensively, it’s got a very open-ended design, tons of improvements from the last two games, implementing tons of ideas that are executed the best here even now. It corrects all the wrongs, it pushes Zelda to what it is today with the formula, the lore, the heart pieces, the magic meter, and the master sword. Introduced so many iconic songs as well like Kakariko and the Fairy Fountain theme. Without Link to The Past, Zelda would not be what it is now, and I’m forever thankful for this game for that, and will always love it. Thank you all for reading my longer LTTP review, the Zelda Marathon has a new king for now, but next up is Link’s Awakening! I played the Switch remake on release, but it didn’t grab me. I'm gonna be playing Link’s Awakening DX and hopefully it’ll pull me in this time! After Link’s Awakening DX, I’m going to take a break from the Zelda marathon for a bit to finish up some reviews, and finish playing Banjo Kazooie. As soon as I hit the 3D entries for Zelda, I’ll also be slowing down, but we’ll get there when we get there. Thank you all for reading, and I’ll see you all in the next one!

Reyn’s review - Steinco’s review - Dunebot's review

What a weird game Yakuza 3 is.

At first I did not plan to play this entry and the rest of the Kiryu saga since I was slightly underwhelmed by Kiwami 1 and especially 2, coming off the near perfection of a ride that Yakuza 0 was. The fanbase is also real vocal about this game not being good, so I was a bit cautious going into this old entry that only got a remaster rather than the Kiwami treatment of 1 and 2.

The story here, while miles ahead of 2 and slightly less trope-y than 1's efforts for me, is really good but very underdeveloped in some parts. Honestly, the Okinawa sections were the highlight for me the entire story, only dragging a bit when trying to leave Okinawa the first time. The setting was so chill and a nice change of pace from the always busy and dingy streets of Kamurocho, and I'm definitely gonna get more out of it in premium adventure. I know people have gripes with the kids and Okinawa taking away from the usual, balls-to-the-wall, yakuza story, but I love dad simulator and chapter 11 made me cry! The energy here is definitely more lowkey compared to the others and I respect what the devs were going for with it, even if the results are real convoluted in the end.

The combat is....not great. I've seen the memes of enemies always blocking in this game, and they were real true for sure! The first half is brutal without having a lot of Kiryu's combat unlocked and it gets better once you get there, but man it sucked. To cap it off, enemies just straight up run at you randomly and you can't run from them either. It's not the absolute worse as I had some fun later in the game, but I was going through the motions in most enemy encounters despite the upgrades.

Also in this game are chase and pseudo stealth sequences in the main and some side stories. I didn't encounter much of the latter, but the former has a few spread throughout the main story. The execution isn't bad but feels way too loose and strangely hard at some points. I feel like the NPCs were just tripled whenever I did them and you cannot upgrade your run meter until almost near the last third of the game, where only one sequence is left and it's not meant to be won. Definitely almost ten years too early since the judgment series nailed these mechanics later on.

The villains here are pretty weak, except for Mine. Kanda and Hamazaki, despite his role in the next game, were a real drag as they didn't really amount to much in the game. Mine has some shine in the last half, but his motivations were messy to say the least. Wish we got more of him. The CIA is real random too, but I enjoyed Richardson at the end. He really was coked up on Metal Gear Solid vibes and added more absurdity to the last chapter. I also loved Rikiya and liked Mikio and Nakahara as additions to the cast, besides just having the kids who I also liked.

As for the side stories, they were pretty enjoyable and some very satisfying. A few did get repetitive with the same premise of Kiryu getting tricked by someone and then fighting them to get money back. Regardless, there were a cool set of side stories in the game, even the weird couple one.

Back to what I said at the beginning, Yakuza 3 is just a very weird game to me. It kept me in way more than Kiwami 2 and didn't get too ridiculous as Kiwami 1, and when this game hit me in the emotions, it hit hard. The core of a Yakuza game is still here despite the change of pace, but the game is brought down hard by its gameplay and a few undercooked plot decisions and directions. Definitely not as bad as many people say it is, it's a good time.

Edit: In thinking back on this entry after playing through the rest of the Kiryu saga and....not having that great of a time, I think this and his section in 5 might be where I find Kiryu to be his most interesting. Idk, the ruminations on brotherhood, masculinity, trust and relationships, and other relevant topics just hit hard here and in 5 for Kiryu. Makes me want a Kiwami 3 even more to fully flesh out this game because damn the rushed production undercuts so much of the good shit here.

Maybe the real blockuza was us

Absolutely outstanding game the story an characters were amazing an memorable the slice of life orphanage part of the story is cute an charming a nice change in pace to the yakuza series the combat was fun an fluid wall binding is rad as shit to pull off every single boss felt fair an challenging cept lau ka long fuck that guy worst character in the franchise overall it was an amazing game my only complaints is that the main story is really short which sucks considering how good it is by the time it gets extremely good its almost over an the music can be hit or miss wit this game another thing to add on to this review is that i don't get most of the complaints people got wit this game i rarely had any enemies or bosses block an if they do i usally hit em wit the standard 3 square an triangle combo or grab them or just dodge durin an attack an hit em from behind people really out hear havin the most insane skill issue wit this game it's crazy but anyways this game was great an i love rikiya

If Yakuza 3 has a million of fans I am one of them.

If Yakuza 3 has ten fans I am one of them.

If Yakuza 3 has only one fan that is me.

If Yakuza 3 has no fans, that means I am no longer on earth.

If the world is against Yakuza 3, I am against the world.

From the moment you start Yakuza 3, something is troubling. You likely follow suite to Kiwami 2, and now Kiryu controls like an RC Car and the game tries to retcon his closest companion. Is it over? No. All a facade. We're just getting started. Let's start with the less obvious first, I love the combat. It provides the perfect amount of challenge and really rewards the bold and the cunning. Enemies not being HP sponges would cement my love for it, but huh, whoops.

Okinawa is a great location so I would allot more time there if I could. But to my own surprise, I decided to not do the substories. Well, I did a few, but I was so enthralled by the story. Playing as the dad to my big ass family? Yes, waiter, bring me more of this. The yakuza side of things was more lowkey, toned down bullshit explosions in favor of politics, with stakes still high and, like Ryuji, a villain I want to stick around, but absolutely deserve punishment for their actions. There's one scene though, badass but definitely goofy, that definiely was a load of bull. Cried at the end I still did.

Kiwami 3 would go very hard with the treatment Majima got in Kiwami 2 given to the character that failed the vibe check and was sent to Ohio at the start. Trying to be vague here. Opportunity for RGG to try their hand at another non-japanese location. Yes I'm an hypocrite, Im always the first one to say I'm tired of games taking place in the USA. I've been baka may your fists mitai my face for your own gratification.

Seriously underrated by the Yakuza community, however I will be fair and say the Remaster is a pretty poor way to play Yakuza 3. I've gotten the Plat twice for this version of the game and I've played a significant amount of the original version to note the key differences:
1. Quickstep distance on PS4 is halved of what it is on console and double on Xbox/PC. This makes it difficult to get behind enemies which is a key part of Y3's design.
2. Enemies block waaaaay more than they should. Enemies block a decent amount in the original release, but an important strat is to whiff your light hits and land your heavy ones. This is much harder on the remaster because enemies will block you from a distance for no reason (Shinzaki in the hitman missions is completely ruined due to him blocking 99% of attacks, it's miserable).
3. Minigames like pool and darts are much harder than they've ever been. Shooting cues is inaccurate unless you pull your joystick back perfectly and dart shots are imprecise unless you find the perfect speed. Fishing used to be insanely difficult but a patch was released to make it the easiest fishing in the series.
4. Heat will drop extremely quickly if you don't constantly hit your enemies, dropping three times sooner and three times quicker than the original release. This makes heat actions tough to consistently use which is unfortunate since Y3 lets you pop them off constantly.
Y3's got a fun story, alright side content, and satisfying combat but unfortunately the remaster puts a bit of a botch into this great game. I'd still recommend this version but if you can get your hands on the original I'd recommend it more, despite the cut content

The game that seperates hardcore from the normie.

Combat

I think combat is good.

Why? Because this is one of the rare times that yakuza game requires player to be careful about their timings. You actually have to use dodge and grab button? You can't just spam square endlessly? Wow what a big improvement! Actually it's not that big of a thing but of course people that come from kiwami games probably dumbfounded when they realize they have to use buttons other than attack button.

For me it was a fun time with some couple problems. Thing I love For example are... you can bound enemies now! if enemy's back crashes to a wall. Also quick select weapons with d-pad now! More heat actions and couple more move additions here, also more weapons and awesome accessories to equip as well. Bounding alone makes it better than most of the yakuza titles because it's kinda broken :P.

It's not perfect tho, new heat actions and sound effects doesn't feel as brutal as og yakuza 2. Also stun times But I think my biggest problem with the combat is, it feels slow. They probably made this way to force people to not spam attacks or limit Kiryu, because he was overpowered in 2. But I am not into this decision, because it results with too much defensive play. Maybe if I hadn't played y2 I would had seen it as an upgrade because y1 slow as well, but after yakuza 2 it's hard to used to this kind of gameplay speed for me. Also crowd combat feels a bit downgraded compared to y2 I think with only being able to attack your behind.

So I liked the new moves and really fun bounding, but like I said combat speed felt limiting to me but I can still certainly say I had fun. I especially had fun in the boss fights because they actually require you to time shit now.

Story
This game's story is a mess. But have the best characters(for me), so I can't decide if it's a improvement or a decline? Maybe I can explain like I did with combat: it's a one step forward, one step back.

Story is about how kiryu starts an orphanage like his father did and how the land he resides actually have a dark secrets in it. With Kiryu, we slowly learn more about the kids that stay in the orphanage and more about the land's dark secrets. Also this game's story focuses on a pretty small group compared to the previous games and that's really pays off for both the new characters and kiryu itself. Why? Because we really have new opportunity to see father Kiryu in this game.

People tries to unjustify this with saying previous games had it but not to this degree, so I don't agree with them. You really see the struggle of Kiryu with kids and it's really pays off at with Kiryu's character development.

But there is two problems with story, one is the pacing. For some reason, game goes first half full slow, then second half bam bam bam full action. Problem with this: game bores the player with sticking one pacing too long. I like helping people in yakuza games of course but I also like kicking people with my punchs too and game doesn't mix them naturally like the other games unfortunately.

Second problem is, game feels like written with two different people. What I meant is, first half is emotional fatherhood journey, second half is constant action with stupid twists back to back with no stop.

Of course all yakuza games have stupid twists at the epilogue chapter of theirs but yakuza 3 rushes the twists so much, that make you think why...? It's like: wow that character coming back? Wow that character actually betrayed me but actually not? Wow that character actually related to this person but actually not? Wow that is the actual mastermind? Back to back to back Bla Bla Bla nonsense.

Sad thing is, our new antagonist is pretty interesting but slides away in this nonsense. I think he have less time in the story even less then nishiki somehow? Or maybe it's not? But the amount of time goes for spending stupid twists and stupid scooby-doo villains are so much that I wonder did they even think once when they were writing it. Because unused potential is a damn shame in the second half in my opinion.

Also I have small nitpicks
-Game is grey and no, ps3 also can handle other colors fine... so why the game is too much grey?
-You have a "remember the previous adventures" part, yet story have almost have no connections to the previous games except the prologue of this game.
-Upgrades, require obscene amounts of points, I for this fact couldn't unlock the final ones.
-substories sucks ass. Not even mediocre they are just boring. Only saving grace is awesome hitman missions where you track a mini boss and slap him and new heat action revelations where an awesome looking short cutscene happens.
-Amon sucks and not as exciting

and yeah that's my thoughts. For me this game is a step back from yakuza kenzan a little bit and especially og2 but probably the same level as the first game. I am a bit harsh on it but I still choose to give 4/5 because characters are that damn good for me even with the stupid plot twists, they really give the feeling of my own family.