coxoncable
9 reviews liked by coxoncable
I'll try to do this game justice but I honestly can't. To get this out of the way, one of the best stories ever written and a contender for best video game story absolutely no debate. To explain why this is the case for such a huge story is not an easy task but I'll try.
We get placed in a world with a rich history dating back hundreds of years. Where there are other worlds running parallel, no omnipotent entities, the scale of it all dwarfs human imagination. A variety of different races populate this world, each with their own culture, literature, art, religions, philosophies, values, politics and eventually prejudices. All with different ideas of what is just and vile. Witcher 3 through the sheer scale of the world, confirmation of no omnipotent entities and differences in the societies states that morality is malleable depending on circumstance and ultimately pointless.
Yet our protagonist tries to do good anyway. When his very identity has every reason for him not to act this way. We see a variety of different moral situations where the game takes advantage of the medium and forces you to make tough decisions. We see Geralt care for his companions deeply, trying his best to do good in a war-torn (caused by the differences in societal structures and human power lust) era of this pointless existence that constantly tests everyone's values. Worst part of it is, the magic of the setting shows the darkness humanity can lower (and are often forced to) to right back at themselves.
To aid this brilliant setting-theme integrative shell for the story is a deeply layered plot and one of the best casts ever. So many striking personalities, dynamics (backed by what is in my estimation the best dialogue in gaming) and tension filled drama involving these wonderful characters. The culmination of everything creates a story that says so much, does so much and teaches so much.
We get placed in a world with a rich history dating back hundreds of years. Where there are other worlds running parallel, no omnipotent entities, the scale of it all dwarfs human imagination. A variety of different races populate this world, each with their own culture, literature, art, religions, philosophies, values, politics and eventually prejudices. All with different ideas of what is just and vile. Witcher 3 through the sheer scale of the world, confirmation of no omnipotent entities and differences in the societies states that morality is malleable depending on circumstance and ultimately pointless.
Yet our protagonist tries to do good anyway. When his very identity has every reason for him not to act this way. We see a variety of different moral situations where the game takes advantage of the medium and forces you to make tough decisions. We see Geralt care for his companions deeply, trying his best to do good in a war-torn (caused by the differences in societal structures and human power lust) era of this pointless existence that constantly tests everyone's values. Worst part of it is, the magic of the setting shows the darkness humanity can lower (and are often forced to) to right back at themselves.
To aid this brilliant setting-theme integrative shell for the story is a deeply layered plot and one of the best casts ever. So many striking personalities, dynamics (backed by what is in my estimation the best dialogue in gaming) and tension filled drama involving these wonderful characters. The culmination of everything creates a story that says so much, does so much and teaches so much.
This review contains spoilers
(Replay) Man, I knew I loved this game, but I didn't know I loved it this much.
To get it out of the way, this game has easily the best gameplay in the entire series to me, it's not even close. We'll see if TotK tops it (I doubt it will) but this game has three fantastic dungeons (Great Bay and Stone Tower have been my top 2 in the whole series for a while now, and they probably still are), fun movement, fun minigames, and the game as a whole is a phenomenal exercise in routing that, in my opinion, make it the absolute best 100% run in all of gaming (I 100% every playthrough). Time management IRL is like my favorite thing ever, this game was literally made for me.
But the gameplay isn't even half the reason I love this game. The story is both a masterful continuation of OoT's themes and is also great on its own. Link went through a journey with a child's mind in an adult's body, learning what it truly means to mature and grow up, and now Link has an adult's mind in a child's body. The details of him being able to use all the adult weapons that he couldn't as a child in the last game (like the hookshot and hero's shield) are great at showing his maturity, but he also has to deal with adult responsibilities and fears that he can no longer run away from. We all wish we could go back to those days where we had no real worries or stress (just like how Link in this game is trying to find Navi, the one who represented his carefree childhood innocence and who has now left him). The sad truth is that we can't just run away from or ignore our problems forever (the unstoppable force that is the moon representing this fact on top of the fear of inevitable death), but we can put in the effort to live our lives so that when our fate catches up with us, we won't have any regrets. As so many of the wonderful story moments and side quests in this game try to tell us, strengthening your relationships with those you love is always worth it in the end.
Clock Town has the most humanized and realistic NPCs in all of gaming to me and learning about how much of their lives they've built up, how intricate their schedules and relationships with others are, only to have to watch their varying reactions and responses to all of that being washed away in a single moment during the haunting final hours segments is one of the most immersive experiences I've had in a game in a long time. Even putting aside Clock Town, there are so many tiny details packed into the NPCs of this world, so many interactions and conversations you'll discover for the first time on each playthrough. Some of them gave me chills.
"By doing one good deed, a child becomes an adult." The line that bridges the gap between OoT and MM.
I'm not used to writing reviews as long as this, but the ultimate point is that with great gameplay and an amazing story, MM has always been, and always will be my favorite Zelda, and I'm ranking it higher on my top 10 immediately.
To get it out of the way, this game has easily the best gameplay in the entire series to me, it's not even close. We'll see if TotK tops it (I doubt it will) but this game has three fantastic dungeons (Great Bay and Stone Tower have been my top 2 in the whole series for a while now, and they probably still are), fun movement, fun minigames, and the game as a whole is a phenomenal exercise in routing that, in my opinion, make it the absolute best 100% run in all of gaming (I 100% every playthrough). Time management IRL is like my favorite thing ever, this game was literally made for me.
But the gameplay isn't even half the reason I love this game. The story is both a masterful continuation of OoT's themes and is also great on its own. Link went through a journey with a child's mind in an adult's body, learning what it truly means to mature and grow up, and now Link has an adult's mind in a child's body. The details of him being able to use all the adult weapons that he couldn't as a child in the last game (like the hookshot and hero's shield) are great at showing his maturity, but he also has to deal with adult responsibilities and fears that he can no longer run away from. We all wish we could go back to those days where we had no real worries or stress (just like how Link in this game is trying to find Navi, the one who represented his carefree childhood innocence and who has now left him). The sad truth is that we can't just run away from or ignore our problems forever (the unstoppable force that is the moon representing this fact on top of the fear of inevitable death), but we can put in the effort to live our lives so that when our fate catches up with us, we won't have any regrets. As so many of the wonderful story moments and side quests in this game try to tell us, strengthening your relationships with those you love is always worth it in the end.
Clock Town has the most humanized and realistic NPCs in all of gaming to me and learning about how much of their lives they've built up, how intricate their schedules and relationships with others are, only to have to watch their varying reactions and responses to all of that being washed away in a single moment during the haunting final hours segments is one of the most immersive experiences I've had in a game in a long time. Even putting aside Clock Town, there are so many tiny details packed into the NPCs of this world, so many interactions and conversations you'll discover for the first time on each playthrough. Some of them gave me chills.
"By doing one good deed, a child becomes an adult." The line that bridges the gap between OoT and MM.
I'm not used to writing reviews as long as this, but the ultimate point is that with great gameplay and an amazing story, MM has always been, and always will be my favorite Zelda, and I'm ranking it higher on my top 10 immediately.
This review contains spoilers
(Spoilers for MM, WW, and TP) As I get older I find myself not enjoying the gameplay of the Zelda games that much anymore. That is partly my fault, I have been playing the games since around Ocarina came out and have replayed each one dozens of times. I've just worn them out, even the dungeons are auto pilot for me now. The gameplay is a bit too simple for me nowadays (I hate to say it but the endless ocean of depth in terms of mechanics in soulsborne has ruined most gameplay for me, fuck man lol). Either way, Majora's Mask isn't so much special for those reasons. The work's biggest strength are primarily in the storytelling and the way it uses the medium masterfully.
Just as the world of Termina itself is a mystical, unfamiliar and hard to decipher location, this game focuses on the point in the human condition where everything is in flux internally. We have experienced enough to have some regrets, lost connections and are just starting to contextualize the fleeting nature of time and mortality. However, we haven't lived long enough to fully understand and accept these feelings as we grow further into maturity. We have all experienced this hidden darkness dormant within us at some point. The moon represents the unescapable nature of death itself, fleeting time and the fear of these 2 things. The story uses this thematic tool as a canvas to which the game explores a variety of different flavors of lost connections, dealing with regrets and finally healing from all of this for more spiritually fulfilled sense of self.
It is often hard to consider one's own life across its entire span but the setup Majora has forces us to do just this. What connections have we lost due to immature behavior or bottled up resentment? What regrets do we have that still linger within our hearts that hold us back from true spiritual prosperity? What immature actions am I doing today that I need to grow out of in order to change? The Hero of Time himself has to confront all of this during the final battle, regretting how he has been forgotten by time, lost the only person who truly knows his story, completed his grand role. Broken hearted. He didn't let himself get consumed by these feelings and overcomes this at the end of the game through Skull Kid's journey of also accepting his broken heart and childish tendencies for seeking attention (representative of what Link would become if he never matured properly with the right mindset).
We know that in Twilight Princess the Hero of Time indeed has accepted everything and goes on to be a hero on a smaller scale than what he rightfully deserves but he is accepting of that. His action on a meta scale only temporarily stopped darkness, Ganondorf comes back and indirectly causes the end of the very land he saved. He doesn't know this but it adds a layer of profound pointlessness to his actions in Ocarina. Yet he still accepts everything with a mature heart and lives the best life he can, finding a wife, performing heroic duties throughout Hyrule and dying only with the regret of not passing on his skills to the next generation, even giving up his green tunic. Termina, in all of its dark beauty, helped the Hero of Time and thus us the player understand ourselves and move on to be spiritually centered adults.
Just as the world of Termina itself is a mystical, unfamiliar and hard to decipher location, this game focuses on the point in the human condition where everything is in flux internally. We have experienced enough to have some regrets, lost connections and are just starting to contextualize the fleeting nature of time and mortality. However, we haven't lived long enough to fully understand and accept these feelings as we grow further into maturity. We have all experienced this hidden darkness dormant within us at some point. The moon represents the unescapable nature of death itself, fleeting time and the fear of these 2 things. The story uses this thematic tool as a canvas to which the game explores a variety of different flavors of lost connections, dealing with regrets and finally healing from all of this for more spiritually fulfilled sense of self.
It is often hard to consider one's own life across its entire span but the setup Majora has forces us to do just this. What connections have we lost due to immature behavior or bottled up resentment? What regrets do we have that still linger within our hearts that hold us back from true spiritual prosperity? What immature actions am I doing today that I need to grow out of in order to change? The Hero of Time himself has to confront all of this during the final battle, regretting how he has been forgotten by time, lost the only person who truly knows his story, completed his grand role. Broken hearted. He didn't let himself get consumed by these feelings and overcomes this at the end of the game through Skull Kid's journey of also accepting his broken heart and childish tendencies for seeking attention (representative of what Link would become if he never matured properly with the right mindset).
We know that in Twilight Princess the Hero of Time indeed has accepted everything and goes on to be a hero on a smaller scale than what he rightfully deserves but he is accepting of that. His action on a meta scale only temporarily stopped darkness, Ganondorf comes back and indirectly causes the end of the very land he saved. He doesn't know this but it adds a layer of profound pointlessness to his actions in Ocarina. Yet he still accepts everything with a mature heart and lives the best life he can, finding a wife, performing heroic duties throughout Hyrule and dying only with the regret of not passing on his skills to the next generation, even giving up his green tunic. Termina, in all of its dark beauty, helped the Hero of Time and thus us the player understand ourselves and move on to be spiritually centered adults.
Properly finished. First the story. This game's story is even worse than BotW and honestly just very amateurish in so many areas. This is the same series that gave us Majora's Mask fuck sake.The dissonance between the memories and gameplay is even greater than in BotW, the structure of the 4 primary quests is legitimately bad, awful dialogue, just thin all over. There's maybe 2 good aspects to the story (Zelda's last memory and the final boss) but otherwise this has me scared for the future of the series. I hope Nintendo figures out how to tell a good story in this format.
However, while this game is probably the story valley of the 3D games, it definitely is the gameplay peak of the series overall. It has far, far, far and away the best gameplay in the series, I don't think it's close and probably some of the best gameplay ever. So many things to do, so many ways to do them and the level of challenge is there to back up the gameplay content. I've lost hours already playing and not caring at all about the story, that rarely happens for me these days. I'm planning on hopping back in ASAP for some more fun messing around with the mechanics and finishing most of the content. Overall, I'd probably put it above BotW purely off gameplay being substantially better and the story in BotW not being that much better. Eh, honestly mid tier Zelda's for me overall probably but I'll enjoy the kino gameplay.
However, while this game is probably the story valley of the 3D games, it definitely is the gameplay peak of the series overall. It has far, far, far and away the best gameplay in the series, I don't think it's close and probably some of the best gameplay ever. So many things to do, so many ways to do them and the level of challenge is there to back up the gameplay content. I've lost hours already playing and not caring at all about the story, that rarely happens for me these days. I'm planning on hopping back in ASAP for some more fun messing around with the mechanics and finishing most of the content. Overall, I'd probably put it above BotW purely off gameplay being substantially better and the story in BotW not being that much better. Eh, honestly mid tier Zelda's for me overall probably but I'll enjoy the kino gameplay.
A strange work of art that showcases flavors of horror and love in equal parts. Profound in it's themes, it uses Termina and its residents to explore the accepting of death, overcoming grief, valuing our time in life and what we should be doing with that time. Best dungeons in the series, wonderful side quests, gameplay variety is through the roof. The 3 day time cycle is stressful in the best way possible and Termina is an amazing setting.
Dammit I love this game now lol
Gets a perfect score because of being unbelievably deep. My favorite e-sport and a childhood favorite. I have too many hours in this game, I'm literally ashamed to admit it (it's probably like 4000 plus ( >︹<) )
Resident Evil 4
2023
I have no idea how Capcom managed to make a game even better than RE4 OG but here we are. Some of the best combat in gaming, somehow made the story of RE4 make sense within the lore of Resident Evil, set piece galore, gorgeous, grotesque, tough, loads of replay value. A new addition to the top of the franchise. It does overstay its welcome a bit I will say.
Resident Evil 4
2005
Not much to say. Best third-person shooter ever. Perfect gameplay loop, tense, unique mechanics that create a one of a kind experience and a GOOFY campy story