#i love that ocarina really is just the 2d zelda games but made in 3d

[scamperin-shroom]

The Ultimate Yapper

I drew these back when I was playing Ocarina of Time. 20 years later and Navi still manages to get on my nerves. I couldn't wander off in peace for a second without her telling me my main objective. Please, Navi, I want treasure first. Zelda is a strong girl. She can wait a few more minutes 🥺

I don't hate Navi btw haha. I admire her character and what she represents

[multbasa]

The reason why I don't mind that Zelda doesn't wield a sword in Echoes of Wisdom is because I never cared for having a "female Link".

Some people in the past have told me "why play Princess Zelda when Nintendo could just make the main character customizable or have a female option", and honestly, I hate that idea. I think it devalues Link as a character to just make him like the Pokemon Trainer or Squid Kid, and I personally enjoy Link being a more androgynous character which Nintendo really leaned towards in BotW and TotK. If Link is divided into "boy Link" and "girl Link" then that androgyny gets discarded. Not to mention that BotW/TotK made him so bland in so many cutscenes where he barely emotes at all despite having a lot of personality in the rest of the game: making him a generic self insert will just make him more bland out of necessity so people can project onto him. I much prefer Link having his own personality like in Skyward Sword or Wind Waker etc.

I want to play Princess Zelda because she has her own cool powers throughout the series. I don't need to play a female character because it's a female character, I want to play Princess Zelda or other versions of her like Sheik or Tetra because they're unique.

Furthermore, I do enjoy having unique gameplay styles. I'm really interested in Echoes of Wisdom because it is different. The 2D Zelda games don't really have much going on in the sword fighting department compared to the 3D games: they're very straightforward. It would be interesting for them to expand 2D sword fighting in the future somehow but I don't really know what they would do besides "swing sword, block with shield, attack weak point". The ability to summon minions to fight for you and to spawn all sorts of things sounds very exciting to me personally because it's going to be a very different game than past 2D Zeldas.

I hope that in the future we see more and different Princess Zeldas to play, and personally I would love some co-op titles where I can play with someone else. (It was my hopes and dreams for both Link and Zelda to be playable in TotK when it was first teased. Running around Hyrule with someone else like my twin would have been an absolute joy especially if Zelda had her own unique moveset.)

I just prefer variety. I don't play each Zelda game because I can swing a sword, I play it for the Ocarina of Time or the Wind Waker or the Minish Cap or the masks in Majora's Mask or all the other unique aspects of each game. The sword—besides Skyward Sword—is a method to hit stuff with but it's not often the star of the show, and I am usually disappointed when other items are not useful outside of their respective dungeons. I like how Nintendo is trying to incorporate abilities into the broader gameplay rather than specific uses like in the past because it gives me more options that just "identify the specific item needed in this situation" or "hit the weak spots like this with that".

That isn't to say that there can't be criticisms. For instance I noticed that spawning something with the staff is done by pressing the Y button and there's the whole scroll through items thing. I worry that only having one button assigned to this ability means that there will be a lot of menuing. I am hopeful that Zelda will have more options for different items besides the staff because the other face buttons are free for other things. The D pad icon also leaves space for 3 different things on the left too, so I am interested to see what other abilities Zelda will have available to her. Nintendo is not a stranger to hiding things about upcoming games, so I think there is a good chance that there is some else besides the staff in this game.

Anyway, I just wanted to get this off my chest. I am a female tradesperson, so I don't appreciate anyone insinuating that liking the different playstyle is tied to sexism and the idea that Zelda can't wield a sword (she did in Twilight Princess). I just don't think that a sword and shield is something that every game needs especially in a 2D Zelda where the other abilities are generally more interesting to me.

[lancerious]

Ok I made the Nintendo franchises tier list and am ready to see everyone protest

I'm not going to go over the franchises I've never heard of or know VEEEEEEEEERY little about. Therefore I'll only be talking about things in the "Absolutely love" tier down to the "Meh" tier, in that order. If I know a franchise and have experienced it, I'll mention that. If not, I'll just give my initial impression of it. Anyway, let'sa go!

Also I forgot to take screenshots of each individual tier and am too lazy to go back and actually add them, so if you get lost come back up here, k? K :).

Second little thing, I just went forward a color on the rainbow with each tier I cover. So PLEASE pay attention to what tier I'm actually on, and not so much the color.

Starting with the "Absolutely love" tier...

#1: Super Mario. Mario is, without a doubt, my favorite Nintendo franchise to ever exist. I've played a lot of Mario games and have legitimately beaten a couple of them (Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D Land--both for the 3DS--if you're curious). Otherwise I just cheat and die ten million times until I get that essentially-immortal powerup lol, or in the case of Super Mario Bros. Wii, Luigi SOMEHOW does the entire stage for me. But yeah, Mario is my absolute FAV, my entire childhood was Mario. Love this franchise from the bottom of my heart :).

#2: Animal Crossing. Ok so most of you will be shocked, but I've TECHNICALLY never played any Animal Crossing game. I know what you do, I know characters from the games, and I know how the games work, but I've never played one before. I even know that older games had more...COLORFUL villagers but less to do, and newer games have A LOT more to do but less interesting villagers. WITH this being said, I absolutely love Animal Crossing and am DYING to try the franchise at somepoint. Instant favorite even though I've never tried a game from the franchise before.

Now to the "Pretty good" tier :D.

#1: Mariokart. Mariokart rocks man. I've only played a couple of the games--Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS and the REGULAR Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U--but even then I still love them. I've played these two games so much I've essentially become a god at both of them. The maps and music often SLAP too.

#2: Zelda. I have technically played Zelda...barely. I don't remember what game it was, but I know it was on a DS or 3DS. Based on the TINY bit I remember about the graphics and environment, I think it was Ocarina of Time. I don't really remember anything--I made like 0 progress in the game lol--but I still think it's a good franchise! Majora's Mask especially peaks my interest.

#3: Luigi's Mansion. Similar to Animal Crossing, I've never actually played a Luigi's Mansion game. However, I HAVE seen a full playthrough of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, so I think I have a decent grasp on what the franchise is about lol. A side series focusing on Luigi is always nice--poor guy always gets overshadowed by Mario--and the concept, as well as atmosphere, is really intriguing to me. I definitely want to give this franchise a try in the future as well.

Next up, the "Not Bad" tier :>.

#1: Mario Party. Mario Party's not too shabby! I did play one of these games at one point, but I completely forget which one it is. I THINK there were maybe 3 different maps? I know it was on the DS or 3DS too. Anyway, Mario Party's pretty fun, especially if you play with friends, hehe :>.

#2: Splatoon. I will admit I don't know a lot about Splatoon, but I really like the little I DO know about it. I know there's a minigame where you try to color the cap with ink--or is it a minigame?--and I know a few of the characters you can play as, but that's pretty much it. Still seems interesting though!

#3: Paper Mario. Mario but on paper! Also partly 2D? I think? I'm assuming the whole point of the games is that most of it is in 2D. I honestly have no idea :P. But yeah, the games seem fun! I think these games are known for having villains that aren't Bowser--which if so is genius--as well, but I could be wrong.

#4: Mario & Luigi. I BARELY know anything about this franchise, but it seems all right! I'm assuming you can swap between controlling Mario and controlling Luigi, and I think there's Baby Mario & Baby Luigi too in a couple games.

#5: Metroid. Samus is from here! At least I'm pretty sure Samus is from here :P. I don't know much about Metroid either, but I do know it's a shooter/platformer-type deal and is centered around sci-fi and aliens. At least I think it is lol.

#6: Pikmin: Ok so, to be completely honest, I know virtually nothing about Pikmin. I know it exists, I know some characters look like goofy little plants...and that's about it. The only reason Pikmin is this high is because I know it exists and like some of the designs lol. I know nothing else about it.

Finally, the "Meh" tier!

#1 Pokemon. Okay, in all honesty, I should've put Pokemon a little higher, but I already made the list and don't want to go back and correct it. I have some good memories from Pokemon, but I only really like the part where you wander around towns and talk to people. I'm not too keen on capturing Pokemon, leveling them up, battling Pokemon...you know, the entire plot of Pokemon. I've only played Pokemon on my cousin's DS--or was it 3DS?--when we hung out together at a family gathering and had nothing to do. I never even owned a Pokemon game. Boy the Pokemon fans are gonna hate me for this T-T.

#2: Dr. Mario. Um. You play as Mario, but a doctor. You...match things? Pills maybe? And kill viruses? I think that's the point? Idk man, that's literally all I know. Seems cool, but strays so far from the main Mario IP that it doesn't interest me all that much.

#3: Starfox. This one's ok. I like the concept of intergalactic travel and it kinda being the Nintendo version of Space Invaders, but meh...I never really wanted to play a game from this franchise all that much. The one thing I like about it is this really weird easter egg from one of the games that would be too long to explain here :P.

#4: Kirby. Ok this is gonna be embarrassing, but for so long I thought Kirby was a female. 'Course now I know Kirby's a male, but dang, past me was dumb and never thought to look it up on Google ;-;. But yeah, Kirby's also ok. Kinda seems a bit too similar to Mario in my eyes, though I guess Mario can't eat literally anything :P.

#5: Yoshi. I've never actually played a game with Yoshi as the protagonist. I always just encountered Yoshi in a regular Mario game. The games seem all right, Wooly World looks GORGEOUS though holy CRAP.

#6: Donkey Kong. Finally, another franchise I've actually played! Donkey Kong is...eh. Never really liked it. My parents bought a couple Donkey Kong games over the years, but I only played one, and that is Donkey Kong Country Returns. At least I think that's how it goes. There are a couple highlights I liked from the game, first is the stage with that minecart. THAT was fun, even if I sucked at it lol. The other highlight is those weird pillar things with faces that scream bloody murder. I like those things so much and I don't know why. But yeah, I didn't get far into the game, and Donkey Kong ultimately suffers the same problem as Kirby: it's too similar to Mario. I'd rather play a Mario game than both Kirby and Donkey Kong.

#& Wario Ware. Truth be told, I know nothing about this franchise, but I'm GUESSING it includes all the Wario titles, because what else would it involve :P. The franchise seems all right I guess, but still, I'd rather play Mario.

Well that's it, this actually went quicker than I thought it would lol, but that's partly because I know so few Nintendo franchises. And to think I thought I know most of 'em...NOPE :D. Guess I need to work on that. I'm ready for you all to say my opinions are horribly controversial now :P.

[themattress]

My Top 30 Favorite Video Games

Inspired by @ultraericthered’s Top 30 Favorite Anime post. 

Although I’m doing mine in countdown form, ‘cause it’s more fun that way!

30. Super Mario Bros. - Arguably the first “blockbuster” game to be released, not only does Super Mario Bros. still hold up over 35 years later but it’s a gift that keeps on giving with how many different incarnations, remixes, fan games using its assets, etc. that we have now.

29. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - OBJECTION! While I cherish the entire original Phoenix Wright trilogy of the Ace Attorney franchise, I’ll always be the most partial to the original outing. The sheer audacity and hilarity of the concept, which is grounded by endearing characters and compelling mysteries, shines brilliantly in this little, easily accessible game. 

28. Trigger Happy Havoc: Danganronpa - While similar in many ways to Ace Attorney, Danganronpa boasts a variety of more actual gameplay than mere point-and-click text scrolling. But what really makes this stand out, beyond gameplay or even the strength of its concept, story and characters, is the atmosphere it creates. For good and for ill, traversing the pristine, neon-lit hallways of the abandoned Hopes Peak Academy looking for clues as I’m forced to play by Monokuma’s twisted rules is an experience that will stay with me forever.

27. Star Fox 64 - Beyond all the entertainment this game provides through memes, it’s really just a fun, reasonably simple but just moderately complicated enough game that’s accessible to any player even if they usually don’t go for aerial shooters. It’s also one of the earliest console games that I ever played, so of course it’s going to hold a special place in my heart.

26. Batman: Arkham City - It’s an impressive feat when an open world game can still feel so claustrophobic in all the right ways, and that’s what Arkham City accomplishes. This game is essentially The Dark Knight to Arkham Asylum’s Batman Begins, escalating the action, suspense and sheer Batman-ness, providing unlimited opportunities to enjoy yourself playing as Gotham’s defender and facing down the greatest Rogues Gallery in comic book history.

25. Red Dead Redemption - Look, I know that Red Dead Redemption 2 is technically the superior game. But its complicated story, sprawling cast of characters, and vast canvas of a world can be pretty daunting, whereas I feel like the original Red Dead Redemption struck a much better balance. Allowing open world freedom within the confines of the straight-forward story of John Marston’s redemption really makes you feel like you’re in an old Western film, and the way that choices you make as a player impact the way that film ultimately turns out is one of the strongest arguments for video games being worthy of consideration as true art.

24. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - So, ten years ago an open world adventure video game series releases its fifth entry...and to this day, we’ve had no sixth, in favor of expansions and updated re-releases of said fifth entry. But that’s not a sign of laziness; it’s a sign the developers know they hit such a peak in quality that they have no need to rush anything further out the gate, as Skyrim is a gift that keeps on giving. Addictive in how unlimited in possibilities it is, with each playthrough never being the same as the one before, Skyrim is a gaming masterpiece that I don’t think I’m going to get bored with playing anytime soon.

23. Super Paper Mario - This may be an unpopular opinion, but I vastly prefer this game’s action-platform-RPG hybrid gameplay style to the prior installments’ traditional turn-based RPG style, which feels more at home in stuff like Super Mario RPG and the Mario & Luigi series. But gameplay aside, I think this has the strongest story of any Mario game, trading in the usual “save the kingdom/princess” fare for saving all of reality, with legitimate emotion and drama and even character development. It’s one of the Wii’s shining gems, to be sure.

22. Epic Mickey - This game’s graphics are by and large unremarkable, its gameplay is fraught with issues (that camera is unforgivable), and it’s nowhere close to the best on its system or genre. But Epic Mickey is a case study in where the effort put into crafting the game’s world and story, not to mention the obvious love and respect for the material being worked with, pays off. Any Disney fan will love this game for its story, which puts Mickey front and center as an actual character rather than a mascot and dives deep into his history as he meets his “half-brother” Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and its mystical, unique atmosphere - what the graphics can’t deliver, the fucking music more than makes up for. All of the game’s flaws mean nothing compared to the sheer heart on display, and I treasure it greatly as a result.

21. Batman: Arkham Asylum - I already mentioned that Arkham City is the superior game, but as was the case with Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, personal preference strikes again. The simpler story and narrower confines of Arkham Asylum just appeal to me slightly more, and I feel like the borderline horror atmosphere this game has could never fully be replicated by all of its sequels and spin-offs. Also, you can play as the Joker in this. WIN.

20. Metal Gear Solid - And on the subject of Arkham Asylum, it owes much to this game, which created the template of a lone badass hero having to use stealth and weaponry to liberate a government-owned island from the lunatic terrorists that have taken over. Hideo Kojima famously never wanted this game to have any sequels, and I can definitely see his point, as it’s a complete and wholly satisfying experience in of itself and I don’t feel like it’s ever been topped. At the very least, it’s certainly the most enjoyable of the series to me.

19. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Also, speaking of “borderline horror atmosphere”, we have the freakiest game that the Legend of Zelda series ever put out. What was supposed to just be a gaiden to Ocarina of Time mutated into this beautiful monstrosity that’s become just as iconic. Nobody who plays this game is ever going to forget that fucking moon and all the constant jumping back and forth in time across three days as you try to prevent the apocalypse of Termina. It’s the kind of gaming trauma that’s well worth experiencing.

18. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Like Majora’s Mask, this game is a case study where you can take a bunch of recycled assets and gameplay, and then make something unique from it if you have a well-crafted story with a dark and disturbing atmosphere. It’s hard to experience or appreciate the transition between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II without playing this midquel, which takes the narrative and characters to deeper levels without being pretentious about it and sets the stage for the proper console sequel perfectly. And if you can’t get into it being on Gameboy Advance, then just play the PS2 remake (which is arguably the superior version anyway) and you’re good! Just...don’t mind the cards, OK?

17. Sonic CD - And now we have another game about jumping back and forth through time to prevent an apocalypse! See the common threads at play here by this point? Sonic the Hedgehog is at his best in 2D gameplay, and I personally enjoy this the best out of all the 2D games in the series. As obscure as the Sega CD was as a system, it was powerful enough to take the blue blur’s speed to its maximum level, set alongside beautiful graphics and a kick-ass soundtrack (well, two different kick-ass soundtracks; and I actually prefer the US one). 

16. Pokemon Black & White - While there were advancements made to story and graphics and gameplay features in the third and fourth generations of the Pokemon series, nothing felt as truly ground-breaking as the second generation games until the fifth gen with its Black & White games. This was arguably the game series’ peak in quality on all fronts, but its specifically the story that lands it on this list, as its well-written and paced, subverts many formulaic elements from the previous games, is set in one of the most unique regions in the Pokemon world, and has a timeless message that has only grown more relevant with age. 

15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - The whole series could really go here, but fortunately the most recent entry is the perfect embodiment of said series, with every playable character there’s ever been and then some. The sheer variety is unmatched by any other fighting game out there, and its story mode, “World of Light”, is quite possibly the greatest video game crossover in history given how many characters are featured as both fighters and spirits.

14. Super Mario 64 - I’m pretty sure this game used to be higher in my favor, but replaying it on the Nintendo Switch recently has made me aware of how, as the first game on the Nintendo 64 and the first 3D platformer, it’s poorly aged in several areas. However, I must stress that it is still a very good game. The fun of going to the various worlds within paintings in Peach’s Castle hasn’t changed, nor has how smoothly and seamlessly Mario managed to make the jump from 2D to 3D. Just like Super Mario Bros., the number of games that owe something to this one is too great to count, and that’s an achievement that remains timeless.

13. Dark Chronicle - Also known as Dark Cloud 2. I hadn’t heard a damn thing about this game before renting it on a whim many years ago, and I was caught off guard by just how good it was. It’s got a simple but effective story and likable characters, a timeless atmosphere, beautifully cel-shaded graphics, dungeon-crawling gameplay, action-RPG combat gameplay, literal world-building gameplay, and even a fishing minigame! This game can actually stand besides the Zelda series without shame; it’s truly an underrated gem.

12. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Oh, speaking of Zelda, this game goes full Lord of the Rings-style epic fantasy with it and it is glorious. Between the near perfect gameplay, beautiful 3D graphics, and one of the best stories in the series (with one of the best characters: Midna), Twilight Princess’ most prevalent complaint from critics all the way up to its own developers is that it wasn’t even MORE expansive and awesome given how long it was hyped, and if that’s the biggest issue with the game then I’d say it’s in pretty good shape.

11. Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario 64 may be held back a little by how its aged, but no such thing is holding back Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Odyssey might be as good or possibly even better, but I just don’t hold the same feelings of amazement and respect toward it that I do for this game. From the blitzkrieg-style attack on the Mushroom Kingdom by Bowser to the discovery of Rosalina’s space station, this game had me hooked from the first few minutes, especially with it blaring that awesome orchestral score the whole way through. To this day, I maintain that this is Mario’s greatest 3D adventure. It’s simply magnificent.

10. Final Fantasy X - Ha! See what I did there? This game has caught flak for some of the awkwardness that comes from being the first fully 3D entry in the series, but I think that’s tantamount to nitpicking when compared to all it does right. To me, this was the last really good installment of the main Final Fantasy series, with a story and world so brilliantly developed that the game earned the immediate breakthrough success and acclaim that it found in its native Japan. 20 years later and, as the HD remaster has shown, it still holds up as one of the most engaging JRPG experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of having.

9. Banjo-Kazooie - At the time, this was basically Rare’s copycat version of Super Mario 64, although considered about as good. Now, however, there’s a difference: the aging issues I mentioned for Super Mario 64 don’t apply for Banjo-Kazooie. Whether replaying it on the Nintendo 64 or on whichever Xbox you’ve got, this game is still just as fun, imaginative and hilarious now as it was back then. It’s quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made.

8. Pokemon Crystal - The definitive edition of the Gold & Silver games of Pokemon’s second generation, taking what was already a phenomenal advancement and improvement to the first generation and making it even better with additional features such as the ability to play as a girl for the first time and a more clearly defined storyline centered around the legendary Pokemon featured on the game’s box art. Pokemon had been written off as just a passing fad up until this point. This was when its staying power as a video game juggernaut was proven.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Talk about a win right out of the gate for the Nintendo Switch! This game returns the Legend of Zelda series to its roots while also applying all that has been made possible in video games since the original game’s release, and the result is an enthralling, addictive, open world masterpiece that has set a new standard of quality for both the Zelda series and for many modern video games in general.

6. Kingdom Hearts II - The Final Mix edition to be precise, although in this day and age that’s basically the only edition people are playing anyway. This game is the apotheosis of Kingdom Hearts as both a video game series and as a concept; filled to the brim with Disney magic and Square Enix RPG expertise and paired with some of the most refined action-based gameplay there is. And when it comes to bringing the original Kingdom Hearts trilogy’s story to a close, does this game ever stick the landing. The series could have ended right here and I would have been completely satisfied (and its reputation would be a lot better off, too!)

5. Pokemon Yellow - While I maintain that this game, the definitive edition of the original first generation Pokemon games, still holds up as fun to play even now, I’ll admit that it’s pure bias that it ranks so high. It was the first proper video game I ever played, there was no way I was leaving it off the top 5! Its blissful nostalgic atmosphere is always such a delight to return to.

4. Banjo-Tooie - Remember when I said Banjo-Kazooie was “quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made”? The “quite possibly” is because its in stiff competition with its own sequel! And personally, I’m in Banjo-Tooie’s corner; something about how inter-connected its worlds are and the addition of so many things to do all while maintaining your full moveset from the original game is just beautiful to me. Both it and its predecessor are like obstacle courses that I never tire of running through, which is the hallmark of brilliant game design.

3. Kingdom Hearts - Another case where the sequel may be the superior game, but my own personal preference leans toward the original. And in this case, it’s a highly personal preference: this game and my memories of playing it for the first time are so very dear to me. The characters and worlds of Disney put into an epic crossover RPG was like a dream come true for me and no matter how far the series it spawned has deteriorated, nothing can detract from the magic of this game. It’s got a certain, indescribable feel and atmosphere that’s never truly been replicated, and that feel and atmosphere still holds up whenever I revisit it. The gameplay may not be the best, particularly when compared to Kingdom Hearts II’s, but the charm of the story and the characters and the world and the very concept more than makes up for that. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of Disney and Square’s greatest masterpieces.

2. Final Fantasy VII - I was aware of the hype this game got and was totally ready to call it overrated, but damn it, it got me! I don’t know what it is about this game with its blocky early 3D graphics, poor sound quality to its excellent soundtrack, and frequently mistranslated script that proved to be so gripping and enjoyable to play through, but man did it ever Limit Break its way into my heart. This is considered a JRPG classic for a damn good reason.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Do I really need to explain this one? It’s famous for being frequently cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, and like Final Fantasy VII, its hype is well-deserved and totally justified. Whether you’re playing it on the Nintendo 64, the Gamecube, the Wii, the 3DS, and hopefully the Nintendo Switch in the future, there is a magic quality to this game that permeates through every step you take in its fully 3D world. It’s a triumph that has stood the test of time, cementing the Zelda series as truly legendary.

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: Mega Man Legends

Ah yes, a wonderful PS1 classic. Exactly what I needed. Exactly what I always need.

I played through three Star Wars games back to back: Dark Forces 2, Mysteries of the Sith, and Jedi Outcast. What I hoped to get out of these games was strongly Star Wars themed action adventures that were pickup-and-play. They were that, for the most part. But the levels were overly long, the difficulty uneven, and the complete experiences were mostly...exhausting. So when choosing my next game, I felt like I needed something more “reliable”. Mega Man Legends might be just what I was looking for...

I played the game as a teen in the 90s. It blew me away. Not sure I had played a Mega Man game, but I knew of them as 2D run-n-gunners. So to see a 3D Mega Man, with voice acting, cut scenes, and a full-fledged story was surprising. And it wasn’t like every game at this time were of this caliber. Resident Evil 2. Metal Gear Solid, and Ocarina of Time hadn’t been released yet. This game was blazing new trails!

Now...that’s not to say it’s a complete original. Tomb Raider had already shown the world how 3D platforming shooters could work. And much of MGL is RPG-inspired. Still, there was decent anime voice acting, and cut scenes. The graphics were doing the best they cool for 1997 on the PS1, and the art-direction is still a delight now in 2021. But what really always blew me away was how the buster-canon could be customized. You bought add-ons that boosted specific stats: power, range, fire-rate, and energy (clip-size). You could customize the canon with certain combinations to fit your play style or the situation. I’m really disappointed more games haven’t ripped this off completely (looking at you Borderlands!).

What I really love about this game is the freedom. That’s what makes all great games to me, a sense of freedom to enjoy the world presented. And I love getting to explore and find secrets. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed this game in the past and I’ve restarted it many times, but I’ve never beaten it. That changes now. I’m committed.

The controls (playing on Duckstation) kinda suck. You move forward, back, and left-right with the D-Pad. To turn (rotate) you have to use the shoulder buttons. It’s a precursor to the now-standard two-stick shooter controls of all FPS’s. But at this time, it was a complicated concert of actions to get around. Luckily, the environments aren’t too crazy: usually just straight hallways and large, open spaces. But some challenges are only challenges because of the controls. This is made more annoying by the fact that you can’t shoot while moving.

Well...you can. But only when moving forward or sideways. Not while backwards or turning. I think this is fixed in MML2--but not sure.

There’s a Lock-on button to help with the shooting, but it can occasionally focus on the wrong target. But even without the lock-on, there’s a pretty helpful auto-aim for targets mostly in front of Mega Man.

The difficulty pacing of the game is...well it’s bad. But that’s because as much as the game likes to hold your hand with tutorials and gameplay explanation, they don’t do a great job ensuring you’re properly equipped. I remember playing a few times and finding the first “bosses” to be brutally difficult. You basically go from exploring a short beginner’s dungeon to fighting three boss fights back to back. And these are not easy-going boss fights. These are “hope you’ve mastered these awkward ass controls” boss fights.

But the problem, it seems, is that I just wasn’t prepared. I double-checked a shop before going into the fights and found I was able to upgrade my health points by about 3 notches. I bought a health flask, and upgraded it as well. And then I was able to buy buster parts to make my canon  more formidable. This time, each boss fight was...not easy--but not frustrating. I didn’t fail any of the objectives, and found I could take a few risks without fear of losing. So now I’ve made it a point to constantly visit shops and grind some Zenny for upgrades.

This is where the RPG-ness comes in. While you don’t earn XP and level up--money (zenny) can be used to purchase health, armor, and weapon upgrades. You can also find weapon upgrades in the “dungeons”. Not all combat happens in dungeons. Much of the fighting has been above ground, in forests and towns.

The dungeons are pretty simple. They’re basically on grid-layouts with hallways leading to a variety of open rooms. It would be super easy to randomly generate these kinds of levels. And while I get some Zelda vibes from the treasure chests, the dungeons lack any sort of creative puzzle solving or unique tools and obstacles.

Given that the story of this game is that “diggers” (treasure seekers, tomb raiders--whatever you wanna call em) are exploring underground dungones/vaults for riches, the game could have easily been about finding islands with dungeons and exploring them. I mean, this game could totally function as a Sea of Thieves, and be infinitely playable. But I’m not sure games as such were really in the minds of designers at the time. So instead they created something more linear and story-driven. Which totally works.

Speaking of story--it’s silly. Mega Man is a “Digger” that goes around looking for refractor power sources. It seems this is a post-apocalypse world where oceans have risen to engulf much of the mainland (climate change warning??). To have power, the new cities that have formed must scavenger power from subterranean labyrinths filled with hostile robots. But while the Diggers appear to be generally well-meaning, there are pirates who seek power for power’s sake.

There’s a legendary abundance of energy called the Mother Lode. Um...Ok. It’s supposedly underneath this specific city that Mega Man and friends just so happen to crash land at. So Pirates have begun attacking the city to claim it. One of them is a girl named Tron Bonne. While she works with her pirate family and their army of super cute lego-looking robots, she develops a crush on Mega Man after he saves her from a tiny dog. It’s kind of an interesting development as you see signs of the pirates and Tron before the invasion truly begins. 

Beyond that, there’s not a ton of plot development. It’s really more character driven. Not super complicated characters, but people trying to live their lives while pirates bomb the library (why the library??).

I’m hitting the point in the game I reached when I first played as a teen. That first time was the furthest I’d ever gotten. So once I’m past that, it’ll be all new territory. I can’t wait!

While playing this, though, I can’t get Elder Scrolls out of my mind. I’ve really wanted to play through Morrowind or Oblivion. That thought has made me wish MML was open world like ES.

[mrslittletall]

Alright, a quick rating of the Zelda titles: 

The Legend of Zelda (NES) I actually only played this game when I was 15, because we didn’t had it on our original NES, then sold it and only got the game when we bought a used NES.  For such an old game, it holds up pretty well. It is fun to play, but it has some hiccups, like totally random bombable walls in the overworld. I was lucky to have found an old map from some 1989 Nintendo magazine.  I rate this game as a solid 7/10.  Adventure of Link (NES) Ah, the black sheep. For some reason, they thought they needed to make this game into a sidescroller which were pretty popular at the time, but imo took away from the Zelda experience.  It also is hard, super hard, one of the games that named the trope “nintendo hard”. I actually never made it past the second boss.  So I never played through the game, but watched others play. I think they shouldn’t have changed the formula so much after only one game, but it isn’t a bad game per se, just one that doesn’t fit.  I give it a 5/10.  A Link to the Past (SNES) Now that game took everything the original had and made it BETTER. The overworld is huge, the music is stellar, the game even tells a story, a bit hidden, but it is there, it established quite a few staples in the series like the heart pieces and some leitmotifs like Zelda’s lullaby and Hyrule Castle theme.  And then the game takes its huge world and makes it in a dark mirror, now that was amazing!  The only criticism I have? The Dark World dungeons are too similar, but other than that: 10/10

Link’s Awakening (GB/GBC) Ok, this game was my first Zelda, so it gets the nostalgia bonus.  I ADORE this game. Now that I am older, it is obvious, that the game started as fangame, but whatever. It works super well with the tiny console it came out on (the Game Boy), is super fun, has well thought out dungeons which revolve around a theme and also adds two new more staples in Zelda games:  The quirky characters and the creepy undertones.  LA has a really big twist in the second half and it is kind of depressing when you know it, but I love that scene and the music that plays in it. That game was surprisingly mature for it’s cute limited style.  It also gave us the ballad of the windfish, though... In my heart it gets a 11/10, but objectively it gets an 8/10. Ocarina of Time (N64) Ehhhh... Nah, it isn’t the best Zelda ever.  I liked the game, but even at age 11 it felt just like A Link to the Past in 3D, even less, because OoT is very linear. LA was linear too, but it had the game boy excuse.  What I like about OoT is the focus on more story, the races of Hyrule are more in the focus and the music is gorgeous, as well as the jump in 3D was well done, but I wished they hadn’t given Link the autojump. Ugh.  It’s a solid title, 7/10.  Majora’s Mask (N64) Now hold my beer, that game looks so stressful, but it is GOOD. Seriously, this game is amazing. It takes a timed countdown and makes it WORK!  It isn’t just a reskin of OoT, because of a lot of clever new mechanics, the transformation masks. The story is a bit weird and also dark. Jeez, this game is the darkest Zelda game ever, but wow, it’s also deep as hell.  Music? FANTASTIC! Actually my fav score from all the games.  Majora’s Mask earns a 10/10.  Wind Waker (Game Cube) Adorable, cute, has some really cool twists, music is fantastic, art style is timeless and the sailing wasn’t boring!  Like Majora’s Mask, that game lives a lot of sidequests, but I really liked it and I liked the slow reveal of just what the world of WW is.  I loved it on the Game Cube and even though I only played through it in like 2014 (because I deleted my save game and started over, wtf?), I think this is one amazing title. It get’s a 10/10. Because I loved the sailing.  Twilight Princess (GC/Wii)  Well, that game just screams OoT at me at every single moment.  I still love it. I played it after I had a a bit of a fallout with single player games and went raiding in WoW for a year straight. Going back to just being single player was amazing. Ok, the wii mote was a bit meh, but the game was good. I liked Wolf Link and Midna and the Twilight Realm and all the references. I felt at home and liked to see a more mature approach at the story, even though this game isn’t as dark as MM, it still counts to the darker ones.  But I don’t like every little thing about it... I give it a 8/10 though.  Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons (GBC) Yeah, they are weird. Yes, I love them nonetheless. Music is a disappointment though, but love the idea, characters and dungeons as well as some of the new items. 7/10 for both.  Phantom Hourglass (DS) Oh, come on, the game isn’t that bad, but I admit, the phantom hourglass temple was uuuugh.  6/10 and one point is for Linebeck alone. Spirit Tracks (DS) Now that is what Phantom Hourglass should have been! A clever story, a nice inclusion of Zelda, the touch screen controls work well, the train is HELLA fun, tons of sidestuff to do, stellar OST, really fun villain.  This games works and it works well. 9/10, just because the pan flute was awful and I got dizzy by all that blowing.  Skyward Sword (Wii) Master, your batteries are low.  Shut up, Phai!  I want to like this game, I really want, but, but...  I had to recalibrate my Wiimote every 20 minutes! The motion controls made the game unneccesarry clunky and Phai is the most annoying sidekick of all time.  The story was cool though, I loved learning how the master sword came to be and it had some really clever dungeon ideas, like the time based ones. Also, Ghirahim as well as Ballad of the Goddess. I give it a 5/10 though, because of the damn motion controls!  A Link between Worlds (3DS) It is AlttP with a twist. A good twist. It used the 3D effect of the 3DS and played with 2D and 3D perspective for puzzles. It took the story of ALttP and made it good.  It made the OST better.  the dungeons were short enough to be played in a short session, good for a handheld fixed the same looking dungeons. 11/10, really, that game ist fantastic  BotW (Switch/Wii U)  I had some troubles with the game at first, but then? I started to adore it. The world is HUGE, like, never ever have we seen such a huge world, oof. And there is actually stuff to do. Shrines to find, Koroks to find, monster camps, animals to hunt, unfixed events! The game is super non linear and it’s amazing!  It is a whole new look on Hyrule and on the formula and it works. It has a few annoying things (climbing in rain, weapons breaking, some foes overpowered), but it is super fun and I want the second installment now. 9/10 

[fibrielsolaer]

Majora’s Mask (N64)

Hello people of Tumblr! Let’s talk about the most divisive Zelda game.

James Rolfe semi-reviewed Majora’s Mask as part of Angry Video Game Nerd, tying the game’s themes into both a Twilight Zone reference (as per masks) and the New Year ball drop (as per moonfall):

I DIDN’T LIKE WUT HE SAID HARUMPH. >:o[

The Nerd is, of course, a fictional character that James has to put on an act for, and I’ve found that this act is much more obvious and stiff than usual. The Nerd normally tries to balance criticism with praise, but the transition in this one comes across as especially jarring and abrupt.

(OOTA = Ocarina of Time Also = James / The Nerd complains about something that applies to OoT also, or doesn’t notice / appreciate something that he ought to as an OoT veteran)

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Graphics

For some strange reason, The Nerd begins by complaining about the graphics - possibly a reference to the Game Grumps playthrough of Majora’s Mask. Arin Hanson did not wait 5 seconds before blurting out “THIS GAME LOOKS LIKE SHIT“ in a tone that made it obvious he was simply trying to stir drama.

OOTA: Despite pointing out that Majora’s Mask reuses the engine and some other assets, James / the Nerd doesn’t include or compare to OoT while criticizing the derived graphics of Majora’s Mask.

Of course, Majora’s Mask is designed to take advantage of the N64′s surreal, creepy graphics and create a disturbing, uncanny world. I would say that “bad graphics” tend to work in the favor of such games, if handled properly. Just look at Puppet Combo.

One must keep in mind, and James would absolutely be familiar with this, that older games up to around the GameCube era were still played on CRT televisions. The color choices and jagged edges of the N64 were less obvious due to the color balancing and blurriness of these old TVs. As such, today’s better monitors actually make these particular games look worse.

While the console overall has definitely not aged well visually, Majora’s Mask is one of the most graphically intensive games on the N64. If I recall correctly, the scene where the Woodfall Temple rises from the swamp is the most graphically demanding scene in any N64 game.

The Nerd asserts that, in contrast to early 3D, certain 2D styles such as Link to the Past still look good by today’s standards. This is never going to be an objective statement - not only because of the strong bias most people have in favor of or against particular graphical media, but also due to the high emotional investment longtime Zelda players have in both LttP and OoT, which tend to jockey for the title of Best Zelda. (Link’s Awakening is usually a close third place.)

I personally find LttP’s color palette appealing, but many sprites are incoherent or anatomically malformed, and its Escher-esque viewing angle with every wall slanting away from you is absurd. This is underscored in A Link Between Worlds, which is in full 3D but copies the viewing angle by hilariously tilting everything.

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Cosmic Checkpoints

The central criticism of Majora’s Mask, which the Nerd for some strange reason prioritizes after the graphics, has always been an example of Time Limit Syndrome.

Time Limit Syndrome is the phenomenon where perceiving a time limit will make many players freak out and possibly make them quit playing the game permanently. This is true even if the time limit turns out to do absolutely nothing when it expires. After all, they don’t know that ahead of time.

I usually hear complaints about Majora’s Mask’s time system from people who quit within 5 minutes due to Time Limit Syndrome... but James / The Nerd has beaten the final boss and really ought to know better.

As James / The Nerd implies, Majora’s Mask does not expect you to beat the game within a single three-day cycle. Indeed, you are forced to “fail” the first cycle in order to teach you the underlying mechanic of resetting the clock and instill in you the idea that you do not have to “beat the time limit”.

Majora’s Mask runs on a cosmic checkpoint system.

At any millisecond you can simply play the Song of Time to return to the Dawn of the First Day and keep every “checkpoint” you’ve met up to that point; “checkpoints” are things like acquired items and learned Songs.

For instance, as soon as you have the Sonata of Awakening, you can enter the Woodfall Temple. You can and should smack the Owl Statue closest to that temple, then immediately reset to a new cycle and enter the temple fresh on the First Day, skipping the long-ass Metal Gear Solid segment you did to get that song.

The Nerd’s implication that you’re “losing progress” when you use the Song of Time thus makes no sense. It’s not any different than leaving a room in a dungeon and seeing that the puzzle in it has reset when you come back in. You don’t need to do that puzzle again if you already got the key item you get for completing it, thus you have not lost any progress. The proper term is replay value, since you have the option at any point of doing any part of the game over again, with any power-ups or self-prescribed inhibitions you like, without starting a new game. Why criticize Majora’s Mask for the #1 reason people love Super Mario World?

When you use the Song of Time to return to the Dawn of the First Day, you save the game. This is the only way to make a “permanent” save in the N64 version of the game (as compared to the 3DS remake); the other methods let you make a temporary save if you’re interrupted or have something else to do, which is deleted when you load it back up.

If you do let the timer run out by itself, then you get an amazingly horrific game over scene (as featured in the above video), and your current 3-day cycle is lost as you must reload the previous First Day save. The reason the N64 game will not let you override your permanent save mid-cycle is, undoubtedly, so that you do not somehow save a scenario where you will repeatedly game over without any chance to use the Song of Time (however unlikely that may be.) In addition, you can always count on your hard saves being at the start of everybody’s schedule, and you will not need to remember where in the middle of some convoluted three-day quest you were.

Personally, I would have made it so that the timer running out just forced the Song of Time effect. The only “good reason” I can think of to do otherwise is because Majora’s Mask is a very unsettling game and the anxiety of Time Limit Syndrome may actually be intentional as part of the mood... but I would prioritize consistent and intuitive gameplay over an inconsistent and unpredictable audience response.

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Time & Dungeons

Majora’s Mask does have a few frustrating consequences of its time system.

Minor annoyances include quests and rewards that only trigger at a very specific time (ghosts at night, The Other Link, etc.)

Moderate annoyances include quests that are not only that specific, but you have to trigger them first by doing something else specific at an earlier time, or intentionally fail another quest. (the Kafei & Anju quests that are not the Couple’s Mask quest)

Major annoyances include questlines that take place over all three days and which you have to completely restart if you mess up at any step and which sometimes have more than one ending (Couple’s Mask quest)

... but the dungeons semi-resetting is not a problem.

You should be smart and warp back as soon as you can access the dungeon, so that you can enter it at the very start of a new cycle. All you need is the Song that opens it and the Owl Statue closest to it (usually right in front of the dungeon entrance.)

Half of the dungeon is only there to block off the dungeon item. Once you get that, if you need to reset, you can skip half the dungeon next time because you’ve already got the dungeon item. You only need to get the Big Key and go fight the boss.

If you’ve ever challenged the boss, even if you had to quit the fight and reset, you can skip the entire dungeon and teleport right to the boss again on all subsequent cycles. (The boss will also call you out for holding its remains, if applicable.)

You only need to gather the fairies once per dungeon, since you keep all of the unlocked items across cycles.

It’s really quite forgiving except that it does not make it overt exactly where your checkpoints are. In fact, before James made this video and I looked it up, I didn’t know for the last 15+ years that merely challenging the boss let you skip the dungeon on subsequent cycles.

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But Why Tho

The entire 3-day nonsense is a necessity because of the illusion of life.

Similarly to Harvest Moon, major NPCs are scheduled to be in particular places at particular times of the three days. However, unlike Harvest Moon, this schedule is extremely specific for applicable characters. If you slow down time with the Inverted Song of Time, you will actually see these affected NPCs moving proportionately more slowly, because even their path from one place to another, and their exact departure and arrival times, are aligned to the time schedule. Doing certain things will also alter NPC schedules accordingly.

This, of course, helps deepen the characters and make them look more life-like in a game that is all about exploring them emotionally and learning about their fears, hardships, and heartbreaks. Link earns every single Mask in the game by healing somebody, even if he does not use the Song of Healing per se. If he gets every single last one, then he has the ultimate power of love and kindness that off-handedly obliterates the malice and hatred of Majora.

This level of detail would not be feasible, or at least not very intuitive, with a very long schedule, so the game takes place over the same three days repeated indefinitely.

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Comparisons

The Nerd compares Majora’s Mask to Breath of the Wild in other places in the video, but does not do so when it would not be favorable to the latter; specifically, his criticism of the Majora’s Mask banker and his/her talkiness applies ten times over to the Great Fairies in Breath of the Wild, who not only give their entire explanation of how they work every time you leave and return to them again, but also forcibly close the upgrade window when you run out of items you have materials for, without letting you look them over to see what you need to farm for.

You need to use the BotW Great Fairies all the time, but you only need to use the MM bank rarely. You can just deposit money into it once per cycle and ignore it otherwise, since you refill your ammo just by cutting bushes and never need to purchase any... unlike Breath of the Wild.

To deposit or withdraw all your Rupees at once, just enter 999 as the number. It will change it to however many you actually have. The reason you’ve given 5 Rupees in hand is (probably) because otherwise you might lose them when you had 995 or more Rupees in the bank, if indeed you can stand to grind Rupees for that long.

OOTA: The banker is the Termina counterpart of OoT’s beggar, and reuses the animation.

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Around this point, the “sequence breaking” in the editing becomes apparent. Like a videogamedunkey skit, random bits of the game are strewn into the video out of order.

This comes back to bite the review because the Nerd acts like he’s just gotten to a part of the game that has to be completed before what was shown earlier in the video (hence why I call it “sequence breaking”). This breaks the illusion of sincerity; the suspension of disbelief as to the video being scripted is lost and it starts to look a bit more doctored to color the perception of the game.

OOTA: The Nerd does not recognize obvious counterparts to or parodies of characters like the Organ Grinder / Guru Guru, and acts like he’s never encountered an N64 ReDead before.

OOTA: The swim sound is the same sound as in Ocarina of Time. Talk about fishing for complaints.

I disagree harshly with the statement that “all everybody talks about [in regards to Majora’s Mask] are the good things”. I’ve almost only ever heard people complain about the time system and how it’s “Not Really Zelda”.

The particular glitch shown - Zora Link rapidly colliding with the wall - must be intentionally invoked. That glitch occurs if you use the speed-swim against very specific spots of very specific walls... fittingly, any of the corners in the infamous whirlpool room work. All you have to do is let go of the buttons and it will stop. It’s kind of like sailing Mario under the log with a Green Shell in Lethal Lava Land, except Mario always dies (in the most hilarious way) when you do that and Link is only briefly inconvenienced (in the most hilarious way).

OOTA: Most of Majora’s Mask’s more common glitches are the same as in Ocarina of Time due to reusing the engine. Infinite Sword Glitch and Bombchu Hover are both still around, for instance.

The one glitch that is the most problematic is that sometimes, when you reset in the middle of a dungeon, the doors will lock but the Small Keys will not go back into their chests. You then have to keep resetting until it resets correctly, which should be the very next reset.

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Wart / Arrghus

Majora’s Mask may be the only Zelda game with two minibosses in every dungeon - one for the dungeon item, one for the Big Key.

That eyeball boss is Wart, the first of the two Great Bay Temple minibosses, who guards the Ice Arrows. It’s Arrghus from Link to the Past, who was always called ワート WART in Japanese. In the 3DS version, its name in several other languages is the same as Arrghus’s.

Wart is the most annoying enemy in the entire game. He’s a fucker and I hate him. The worst thing about Wart is that the only way to make his long-ass battle faster is to completely destroy your N64. You do this by shooting an arrow into his eye when it’s open, causing every single mini-eyeball to fall off of him, dropping your frame rate into the gutter. (It gets even worse when you start hitting them with the sword.)

You fight Wart again in the Secret Temple (which is basically a boss gauntlet.)

Fuck Wart.

And fuck the second Great Bay miniboss, the gecko in the blob.

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Bits and Bobs

Sometimes the game’s camera cuts (such as when night falls and the game pauses to announce it) interrupt the gameplay. I don’t remember whether the camera angle you had before the cut effects the camera angle after the cut.

While not strictly required, the Bunny Hood literally only makes you run much faster, and makes the skeleton captain sequence (and 90% of the game) much easier. Always use the Bunny Hood when you don’t need any other mask.

OOTA: You should always be tapping the Lens of Truth on and off to use way less magic. (Basically zero, if you tap it rapidly enough.)

The Goron Race is one of the most frustrating parts of the game, and you need to complete it by the 2nd Day or else you can’t get the Gilded Sword. To get the most amount of time possible to complete it:

Confront Ghot at least once

Save a lot of Rupees in the bank

Get the Powder Keg certification

Start a new cycle

Buy a Powder Keg

Use Fire Arrow to ready forge and turn in sword for Razor Sword

Defeat Ghot (necessary for races to start)

Use bought Powder Keg to blow up boulder (shoot it with an arrow to detonate it)

Complete race as soon as possible for Gold Dust

Get Razor Sword

Turn Razor Sword right back in

Get Gilded Sword

Nintendo has never had good control sticks; the N64 and the Joycon alike both have shitty sticks that experience drift or misalign after a few months of use. This is probably why James is unable to roll Goron Link straight forward, or stay on the pipes, despite the N64′s analog stick locking into an octagon to ensure the 8 main directions are easy to hit.

You have to hit the trees with the Hookhot, but the stupid turtle wobbles around, so the trees are hard to hit. I’m not sure how the game determines whether the Hookshot connected or not. Is it checked on fire? Is it checked on arrival? No idea.

The reason the Ice Arrows are not working is because James is shooting too close to the wall. The ice platform would then clip through it. The game could move the platform to be further from the wall but decides to just not form any platform at all. I remember being pretty pissed off with it myself.

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Video ending

The Nerd doesn’t have to do the entire dungeon over again, because he already has the Ice Arrows. He only has to get to and fight that stupid blob gecko again for the Big Key and then get back to the boss.

OOTA: Why would you walk into the giant exit light before you got the Heart Container. Hell, so far as I know, this is Every Zelda Game Also since all of them let you forget to pick up the Heart Container...

Majora’s a bastard. If you get every mask in the game and turn them all in to him, he will for some unfathomable reason give you the Fierce Deity Mask and let you completely whoop his ass with it. The Fierce Deity Mask makes the battle into an utter joke. In the N64 version you can only use it in boss rooms, unless you use a glitch. The 3DS version also lets you use it when fishing (which itself is not in the N64 version.)

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In summary

Majora’s Mask is definitely beloved more for its themes and characters than for its gameplay. It has some of the most beautiful music in all of Zelda, most notably the Song of Healing, and its advanced special effects and cinematography are top-tier by the standards of the N64. It is chock-full of bittersweet, heavy-hitting content and is a major source of inspiration for future "serious subject” indie games and creepypastas - not just BEN DROWNED and Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion, but in general.

The gameplay is, for the most part, a weird Ocarina of Time mod. The mask forms play differently, and there are extra mechanics introduced by some songs such as the Elegy of Emptiness, but overall you solve puzzles and fight battles with the same “strategy” as in OoT.

MM has always been very divisive because of the time system, which the game does not adequately explain to most players, and which is particularly frustrating in regards to specific parts of the game such as the Gilded Sword or the Couple’s Mask quest. The Bomber’s Notebook helps keep track of some aspects (and is expanded in the 3DS version), but many players simply find the detailed scheduling and the sequence of events too much crap to keep track of and too many repeated chores in the event of failures and many resets, and do not develop a recognition - let alone appreciation - of when they have reached a checkpoint in the main game and can reset to a new cycle without losing anything, or how to gauge whether they have the time left to take on a new task whimsically rather than through planning.

When I first started playing I hated it, but over time I began to be okay with the structure around the time cycle, albeit a bit bored or frustrated when I had to repeat day 1+2 because I screwed up a quest on day 3.

There are so many cool moments in Majora’s Mask that, for me at least, it supercedes the frustrating parts of the quests that cover all 3 days, and some of the just plain annoying parts that are not strictly relevant to the time system.

How the dogs react to each form of Link

Any time you use the Song of Healing

Mummy-Dad and the Well

When you realize who the Skull Kid is

When you realize what happened to the Butler’s son

The full ending with 100% completion

I’ve often said that Earthbound is “a lousy game but a great experience”.

I suppose it’s not out of the park to say Majora’s Mask is in the same boat.

[aion-rsa]

Every Nintendo Console Ranked From Worst to Best

https://ift.tt/3tsRYCX

There are some who believe that the best Nintendo console ever is the first one you owned. It’s an idea that speaks to the mark Nintendo has left on the industry and how you feel the first time you experience the latest entries in one of their classic franchises. Your first Nintendo console truly is something special.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about which Nintendo console is actually the best. No, there’s no way to convince everyone that one Nintendo console is actually better than the rest, but we’re looking back at Nintendo’s history of both home and handheld console releases (minus some peripherals like the Game & Watch) to give a little love to your first Nintendo console (whatever it may have been) and also talk about the Virtual Boy.

While this ranking was heavily based on the quality of each console’s games (which is arguably a device’s most important factor in terms of its legacy), any potential ties were broken by hardware quality, longevity, and intangible features that elevated one console over another.

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13. Nintendo Virtual Boy

Well, let’s get this out the way, shall we?

You have to give Nintendo credit for trying to make virtual reality happen in the ‘90s, but even if you accept that this console’s VR capabilities were always going to be limited (even for the time, much less compared to modern VR headsets), everything else about this device was a disaster. Its few “okay” games barely utilized its VR technology, and those games ambitious enough to explore that possibility were quite literally painful to play. It was also expensive enough to ensure that few people actually owned one, which was really for the best. 

More importantly, the Virtual Boy is the one Nintendo console that doesn’t seem to generate any nostalgia beyond being a relic of a specific time. Much like the Ark of the Covenant, though, this relic could burn a hole through your eyes if you looked at it for too long.

12. Nintendo Wii U

If it wasn’t for the Virtual Boy, it would be incredibly easy to name the Wii U the worst Nintendo console of all-time. 

Right down to its name, the Wii U always felt like Nintendo’s half-hearted attempt to answer the question “What comes after the historically successful Nintendo Wii?” The idea of making a home console slightly more portable was a good one (just look at the Switch), but the actual Wii U tablet was a terribly designed peripheral that was often tough to enjoy even when you found a non-Nintendo developer that bothered to properly use it in the first place.

Yes, the Wii U had some truly incredible exclusives, but the fact that Nintendo couldn’t wait to port most of them to the Switch really tells you all you need to know about this console’s fundamental design failures.

11. Game Boy Color

Despite its place on this list, I’d actually say this is the point when we’ll start talking about Nintendo devices that were at least worth owning. Actually, you probably either owned a Game Boy Color or you probably wished you could convince your parents to buy one.

So why is it so low? Much like the Wii U, the biggest problem here is that Nintendo and its development partners failed to really properly utilize the device’s core feature often enough. The list of true Game Boy Color exclusives is relatively small, meaning that many of us ended up using the Game Boy color to slightly enhance Game Boy games. 

While that’s not necessarily a bad thing given the quality of the Game Boy library, the Game Boy Color still feels like a missed opportunity that ultimately bridged two more notable handheld releases.

10. Game Boy Advance

It’s hard to fault anyone who thinks about really bad lighting whenever they try to remember their time with the Game Boy Advance. Nintendo eventually corrected that issue with the Game Boy Advance SP, but you have to wonder what could have been had the GBA hardware been ready for primetime (or, more accurately, bright daylight) when it was released.

Of course, a big part of the reason why people wanted to be able to see the GBA screen a bit better was that the GBA had so many great games. The GBA could have justified its existence if it was just a portable SNES (which it sometimes was), but here was a device that strangely inspired some of the industry’s best developers to really push the limits of handheld game design and start to explore what was possible.

Honestly, you could probably swap the Game Boy Advance and the next entry on this list depending on what mood you’re in, but the Game Boy Advance’s surprisingly short lifespan ends up being the fact that earns it a slightly lower spot. 

9. Nintendo 3DS

Ranking the Nintendo 3DS is difficult if for no other reason that than the fact it took a while for Nintendo to get the hardware right. Even then, the Nintendo 2DS is still one of the oddest pieces of strangely bitter “budget” device design this side of Apple. There’s also the matter of the handheld’s 3D technology which proved to be such a mixed bag that it’s honestly hard to blame anyone who never bothered to use it. 

However, the 3DS’ game library is simply one of the best in Nintendo handheld history. The 3DS boasts some of the best Pokemon, Zelda, Metroid, and Animal Crossing games ever, as well as a surprisingly strong lineup of third-party titles. 

It’s always been a little annoying that it’s so easy to recommend 3DS games but it’s been historically difficult to recommend the 3DS hardware itself. Still, Nintendo did eventually right this ship somewhat, which is more than you can say about some of their other devices.

8. Nintendo Wii

There are times when it feels like the Nintendo Wii was a fever dream. Remember when we were playing motion controlled bowling with our grandmas as we both marveled at the realization that we were indeed in the future? What a wonderfully weird few years that was.

That’s the thing about the Nintendo Wii. No, it’s motion controls weren’t always the best in retrospect, and yes, many of its games were sometimes too dependent on those controls, but the fact of the matter is that it’s hard to replace the memories that the Nintendo Wii gave us. 

You don’t need to put your rose tinted glasses on too tightly to look back fondly on the Nintendo Wii, but the console does start to fall apart just a bit the more critically you look at it. 

7. Nintendo GameCube 

You know, we can actually save a little time talking about the GameCube’s failures as we previously took an extensive look at the console’s shortcomings in an article focused on how the GameCube made Nintendo a little cynical. Check it out if you want to be reminded of the many ways this was not a perfect console. 

Then there’s the other side of the GameCube argument, which largely focuses on the fact that the GameCube’s library features one of the best collections of exclusive titles in gaming history. I mean, this is the console that gave us both Resident Evil 4 and Animal Crossing. This is the console that brilliantly reimagined the Metroid franchise and proved that Super Smash Bros. was so much more than a gimmick. 

The GameCube’s shortcomings have always been easy to focus on simply because it’s hard not to imagine what this console could have been if just a couple of the more obvious flaws had been addressed. 

Read more

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By Matthew Byrd

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By Matthew Byrd

6. Nintendo 64

If you put the PlayStation’s best 100 games next to the N64’s best 100 games, the PlayStation would probably look like the better console. If you stack the PlayStation’s top 10 games against the N64’s top 10 games, though, then the conversation becomes much more complicated.

That’s the thing about the N64. While it reminds us of a generation when Nintendo started to lose some of their third-party support, that’s hard to focus on for too long when you realize that the N64’s best games were essential parts of their era. Can you imagine a world without Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time or going through the ‘90s without experiencing a proper GoldenEye 007 all-nighter?

Actually, in retrospect, the thing that puts the N64 over-the-top from a historical perspective is its status as arguably the best local multiplayer console ever. The industry changed shortly thereafter, and it’s always been a shame that more modern developers don’t recognize what makes the local multiplayer experience so much more than the predecessor to online play. If it weren’t for the console’s controller and a few missing/weird features, this one could rank even higher.

5. Nintendo Switch

It’s tempting to just leave the Nintendo Switch off this list for the simple fact that the console’s story is far from done. Yet, it’s a testament to the Switch’s run so far that it could pretty much fall flat on its face from here on out and still arguably rank relatively high on this list.

The thing about the Nintendo Switch’s gimmick is that it’s not really a gimmick. Instead, Nintendo simply recognized that the time had finally come to merge handheld and console gaming in a way that we used to only dream about. While the Switch’s portability is obviously one of its best features, what makes the console work is the fact that you could leave it plugged into your TV until the end of time and never feel like you’re somehow missing out on the way you “should be” using the device.

It’s honestly hard to imagine how Nintendo ever releases another console that doesn’t at least somewhat emulate the Switch’s design. Oh, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that the Switch’s library has been largely stellar so far.

4. Nintendo Game Boy

It’s easy enough to forget just how bad most handheld gaming consoles released before the Game Boy were and, for that matter, how bad many of the handheld gaming consoles that followed the Game Boy ended up being. We’ve often been willing to settle for less to play games on the go, but the Game Boy truly spoiled us.

Years later, it’s clear that the “secret” to the Game Boy’s success was the way Nintendo set a clear precedent that portable games would no longer just be lesser console games. The Game Boy occasionally dove into those waters, but many of the device’s best games felt like the kind of titles that wouldn’t have found a home on any other platform despite clearly being worthwhile (often great) experiences.

At a time when so many people still play games on mobile devices that too often boil titles down to their simplest forms, the ambitious Game Boy is more impressive than ever.

3. Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS is another one of those Nintendo devices that can justify its high ranking on the basis of its library alone, but the thing that I don’t think gets talked about enough when we’re discussing the legacy of the DS are its touch screen features. 

At a time when the idea of touch screen gaming felt closer to a novelty, the DS treated the concept with a sense of joy that perfectly captured the thrill many of us felt when we realized that were able to control games in such a futuristic way. We said something similar about the Wii, but years later, there are DS games that make better use of touch controls than even modern smartphone titles.

The DS could have “just” been another Game Boy, and it would likely still be fondly remembered. What elevates it are the ways that it so perfectly showcases the benefits of Nintendo’s outside the box thinking.

2. Nintendo Entertainment System

You know, I’m pretty sure that everyone I knew who owned an NES eventually saw the console “fail” at some point. From broken loading trays to dusty cartridges, the NES may have been one of Nintendo’s least reliable consoles from a hardware perspective.

Like the old sports car that breaks down so often that you learn to love fixing it, though, the memories the NES gave a generation of gamers were certainly worth the trouble. Yes, the NES’ library is impressive, but what’s really impressive is how so many NES games are still playable to this day. Some of them are still seen as the gold standard in their particular genres.

You can debate which console was the best in any given generation, but it’s hard to imagine being a young gamer of a certain era and not having an NES in the house. 

1. Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Incredibly, there was a time when parents everywhere were convinced that the Super Nintendo was some kind of scam. After all, we already owned a Nintendo. Why would they ever spend a couple hundred dollars on another one?

Kids everywhere quickly figured out the answer to that question. Unlike other console follow-ups from previous generations that offered diminishing returns in order to score quick bucks, Nintendo built the SNES to prove to all the doubters that this really was the future of gaming and that the SNES was going open doors that many of us never even knew were there. 

As you’ve probably already guessed, though, the SNES spot at the top of this list was secured by the quality of the console’s games. With help from some of the greatest studios ever working at the top of their games (as well as more than a few notable contributions of their own design), Nintendo assembled a library of SNES classics that may never be topped in terms of quality, innovations, and diversity. This is truly the best Nintendo console ever.

  The post Every Nintendo Console Ranked From Worst to Best appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2SxWAJF

[adaru32]

I saw my cousin @differentaspect​  do this on Facebook and thought I’d join in on the fun. I’m not sure who made the original layout but I thought I’d provide it if any of you wanna do this too. Feel free to tag anyone as well, if you wish.

About Some of My Game Choices:

Favourite Game of All Time - Yeah, I can’t decide on this one, despite DMC3 being more of a finished game compared to DMCV. Favorite Art Style - I was gonna go with Undertale, but Welcome Home I feel was more of my style both art and gameplay-wise. It’s hard to describe what art styles I like in games and such, but if I were to sum it up it would be creepy, disturbing, hyper-realism vs 2D sprites, surreal, and cute. Big Personal Impact - I was gonna pick Cry of Fear ‘cause that game is what got me into indie gaming and watching people play games on Youtube more, but I was introduced to Alone In The Dark 4: The New Nightmare first before that one. Alone In The Dark 4 was the first ever horror game I’ve ever played, completed, and got really creeped out in. I also would’ve chosen Resident Evil since that was the first horror game I was ever introduced to in my life, but I’d figure Resident Evil deserved a different spotlight on this list of games. Best Combat: I was gonna choose DMC3 and DMCV again but there could only be one, and I didn’t wanna be repetitive. You Like But Everyone Hates: For how many years and how many gaming discussions I’ve come across, I see a lot of people shitting all over Nintendo and any game that comes from them. Sure Nintendo’s business practices are very questionable, but they have really neat consoles and gadgets that I wish other game companies can take note of. Like the 3DS where you don’t need 3D glasses to see things in 3D, and the Nintendo Switch where you can game at home and on the go. I think the other reason for them shitting on them has to do with how they’re trying to act cool by playing more “mature” games. Why Do I Like This? - Red Haze contains some subject matter and mechanics that I’m not a fan of, which makes me question why I like it. But I do have reasons for liking it which have to do with its genre, challenging gameplay, Easter eggs, and unique puzzles for how to progress in the story. Game You Always Come Back To - Yeah, I chose 2 different games...They’re technically the same things which is why I chose both. I’m aware they’re not like playing real instruments, but I still have fun playing and singing. Biggest Letdown - I know quite a bit of people are gonna be mad at this, but yeah...I was honestly disappointed in Kingdom Hearts 3. It didn’t live up to its hype for me. I enjoyed Dream Drop Distance and Birth By Sleep more than this one. So much wasted potential, unnecessary scenes, more complex story content, gameplay and level play content missing from other Kingdom Hearts games, and the fact that SquareEnix lied to their fans about how they had no plans for DLCs, only to release a DLC that costs a lot of money. I understand they were on a timer and were working on many other projects side-by-side, but they really should’ve gotten their crap together. I would’ve also chosen Final Fantasy XV, but I haven’t played that one yet. I’ve been wanting to for awhile, but even I see that it kinda fell into the same boat as KH3 when it comes to story completion, and such. Back In The Day Game - I was gonna choose Mario Allstars since that was the first game I’ve played that I owned, but Mario already had a place here. Gotta go with Crash ‘cause that was one of the games that introduced me to next gen gaming (PS1), and it had some elements similar to Mario in a way. Depressing Game - Don’t get me wrong, I love Chrono Trigger, but there were just some emotional moments that made me feel sad.

Other games I had in mind that I would’ve added to the list:

- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Killer Is Dead - Catherine - Silent Hill 1-4 and Downpour - Shadows of The Damned - South Park Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole - Too many indie games to list (Genres are horror, fantasy, adventure, and puzzle) - Pitfall 3D - Gex 2 and 3 - Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask - Super Smash Bros Ultimate - The Warriors (Never played it but I enjoyed watching my brother and one cousin play it) - Batman Arkham series - Last of Us 1 - Guilty Gear - Sphynx And The Cursed Mummy (I don’t have that game anymore. I only owned it for a little bit)

[dokidokikusoge]

TOp TeN GaMes of 2017 The Official Only List Forever I Can’t Believe I GOt Teleported To Another World As A PIece of ChiCken MEat

Hi.

It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? Well it’s that time of the year again, which means I get to write out a list of ten video games that I thought were awesome in the year 2017. Despite being busy translating and editing video game text for work, I somehow found time to finish approximately 30x more games this year. In the name of research. Or something.

Boy oh boy has there been a whole lot of good games. Everything from massive AAA titles to tiny little indie darlings. Free experiments and expensive 150 hour adventures across time and space.

This is not an objective list, but it is 100% the absolute truth and all other lists are full of shit. Fuck those lists. Fuck my list. FUCK THE POPO.

Let’s rock.

For what it’s worth, there are a TON of other games I adored this year that didn’t end up making the list. Titles I’m still playing like Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, or Fire Emblem Echoes (amazing localization). Just because they’re not on this list doesn’t mean they aren’t every bit as fun. This was a packed year.

10. Xenoblade Chronicles 2

I’m cheating.

I have not beaten Xenoblade Chronicles 2 yet. I’m 85 hours in and on chapter 7, but I have not beaten the game. I desperately wanted to include it on this list, and quite frankly, would have put it much closer to the bottom. It’s just that good. However, I figured it’d be unfair to do so considering I haven’t even come close to seeing the end credits.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the best big budget PS2/Dreamcast JRPG that never saw the light of day until now.

That’s about the best compliment I can afford it.

9. Gravity Rush 2

So the original Gravity Rush was one of my favorite games the year it first released for the Vita. Despite the load times and some of the muddy visuals, I found Kat’s bizarre tale of gravity bending madness to be equal parts charming and dark. Coupled with the legendary Kohei Tanaka’s score, I couldn’t help but be dazzled by her ability to travel through the air like a rocket. I spent years waiting for a sequel that would wrap up her story. I’m glad I got one.

It has its issues (the quest design and some of the pacing), but Gravity Rush 2 is still mostly everything I wanted from the end of Kat’s story. Beautiful world design crossed with fun traversal, an amazing soundtrack, and a whimsical little cast of characters means that even almost a full year removed from its release, I still think back fondly on the game. 

See you around, Kat. Thanks for all the fish.

8. Resident Evil 7

It’s so good to have you back, babe. I missed the shit out of you.

I used to be one of the biggest Resident Evil fans this side of the east coast. I’ll never forget Christmas Day many years ago, when I opened up two boxes to find a Playstation console and a copy of Resident Evil 2 (and no memory card WHOOPS). But since then, things have taken a turn for the worse. I enjoyed Resident Evil 5 for what it was, but it was starting to feel like something else entirely.

And then Resident Evil 6 happened, and I couldn’t get more than a few hours in before getting angry. 

Yet somehow Capcom managed to win me back. Somehow Resident Evil 7 reminded me of what I used to love about the series. It certainly didn’t hurt that I played the entire thing in VR and loved every second of it.

Bring on RE8.

7. The Evil Within 2

And the award for most improved sequel goes to... The Evil Within 2. A wonderful surprise and return to form for producer Shinji Mikami and his team. If you like good survival horror, this will be your jam. Fixes every single issue with the original game, at least in my opinion.

Bethesda dropped the ball on marketing this game, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing one helluva time.

6. New DanganRonpa V3

The less said about this one the better. Try to go in blank if you can.

Some people aren’t fond of the direction this one takes. I don’t think it could have gone any other way. The perfect way to end this franchise, should this truly be the end.

5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III

But Elliot, how is this game not higher on your list!?

The answer is actually simple. I’ve stopped really approaching each entry of the series as independent games. They’re just chapters in one larger saga. No single game is my favorite. The series as a whole is my favorite.

Cold Steel III cut me deep. The game takes the format of the original CS, improves on it, and then shakes things up to the point where you’re not even sure where you’re standing anymore. I can’t count how many times I screamed at fellow series fans, shook by what had just taken place. This series continues to blow my mind time and time again, and the wait for Cold Steel IV couldn’t possibly feel any longer than it does right now.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I don’t like 3D Zelda games. Let’s just get that out there. I never liked Ocarina of Time. I never liked Majora’s Mask. I enjoyed Wind Waker the most out of the bunch (but still nowhere close to my love for the 2D games). I hated Twilight Princess and I had zero interest in Skyward Sword and its motion controls. 

I also don’t like open world games very much.

A 3D open world Zelda game? Well now you’re talking my language...?

Any other year and this would have been an easy number one. Too bad that 2017 is packed with killers.

I can’t wait to go back and play the DLC.

3. PUBG

Man, what a surprise. I haven’t been THIS into a realistic multiplayer shooter since my days of playing Call of Duty 4 endlessly during its beta test on the 360. 

To be honest, I’m not even sure if it’s the game I’m in love with so much as it’s the moments with friends I’ve gotten to experience within the game. I only ever play in team matches, but every single round is like some dumb action movie starring me and my pals, and even when things go poorly, they typically go poorly in the stupidest way humanly possible. I’ve played so many hours of PUBG that I’m scared to check the exact number.

I want to play this game with every single one of my friends. It’s that kind of experience.

2. Dragon Quest XI

I think the funniest thing about Dragon Quest XI’s place on this list is that in any other year, this shouldn’t have been close. That just goes to show you how absurd 2017 has been for video games.

The less said about the journey of DQXI the better. All I’ll say is that it is simultaneously the perfect jumping point for franchise newcomers while also being the most beautiful, glorious love letter to those who have been there since the beginning. This is quite possibly one of my favorite games of all time, and if you manage to make it to the true end without being at least a little bit moved, you might not have a soul.

You might be an android or something.

Wait a sec.

1. NieR: Automata

Was there ever any questioning this? What else is there to write about this game that people much smarter than me haven’t already? It’s oppressive, it’s suffocating, it’s joyous, it’s hopeful, it’s hopeless, it’s crushing, it’s tear-inducing, it’s a breath of air after emerging from deep within the water. NieR: Automata is a very special game, made by an extremely talented group of men and women who should have been recognized for their talents a long, long time ago.

Much time has passed since Drakengard, that bizarre and kind of terrible but fascinating PS2 game, first hit shelves and got dumped on. But now, finally, Yoko Taro and his close collaborators are finally getting the chance to step out into the light.

Thanks, 2017.

[1-bitatatime-blog]

Welcome to the first real post of 1-Bit at a Time! Today I am going to be talking about a lot of firsts. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time on the 3DS was the first video game I ever finished. I played a few games growing up but I was never able to finish any of them. I would get to the final boss and be unable to beat them no matter how hard I tried. This was also on the 2DS which was the first console and hand held I ever bought myself. This was also my first Zelda game. Even though I played a few games growing up they were mostly third party movie games, which I can’t say I’m proud of, but when you’re a kid, you are excited to play any kind of video game no matter how bad they are, really. All this to say, I had never even heard of Zelda until dating my now husband who graciously enlightened me to the wonderful world of Nintendo. But I will write about that whole thing later, back to Ocarina. So I started this game in October of 2014 and finished it in May of 2015. It takes me a very long time to play games for a multitude of reasons I may get into at some point but that is for another blog. So it took me seven months to finish and about 64 hours of game play. Now when I say finish I mean with the main story line. I am not a person who 100%s games and gets all the trophies and whatnot. No thank you. Understand that I totally admire the people who do 100% games (my husband is one of them) but personally I can’t do it. I am too impatient and get way too overwhelmed. Anyway back to the game itself. I also messed up this game quite a bit. I had no idea what I was doing through most of it. I found out the hard way what a mess the water temples in the Zelda games are. I got so lost and twisted around that I actually asked someone for help who had finished the game several times. I will never forget the moment when after messing with my game for a few minutes,  she handed me back my 2DS and said, “I’m sorry but I have no idea what you’ve done.” I still have no idea how I made it past the water temple but I somehow did end up finding the last key I needed. I also I ended up all the way to adult Link only to find out I never went to the farm where Epona was as kid Link so I couldn’t get her. So I did restart the game for that mistake. I didn’t want to have to run everywhere and you really miss out on what makes a Zelda game a, well, Zelda game if you don’t have the horse! I also stupidly didn’t realize what you name your save file is Link’s name so I called it Redo and the rest of the game everyone called Link Redo which I found quite amusing. I remember finally finishing it after months and months of working on it and that feeling of satisfaction and slight disappointment that it was finally over. Now that I’m thinking back on it, I’m not sure this was the best first ever game for me to start with. I messed up majorly and while the openness of this game is great, I think it just left me confused and unable to figure out what I was supposed to do next. Also Navi. Need I say more? All this to say I really loved this game and it will always hold a special place in my heart. This game definitely has replay value and I would for sure recommend it to anyone who hasn’t played it, just maybe not as a first game ever.    

[thegeminisage]

9 14 19 27 39 41 69 70

pls you sent me so many thank u ilu

9. Most regrettable purchase?

it’s a tie between 1. the white knight chronicle games & 2. the tron legacy video game - but for very different reasons. i LOOOVED white knight chronicles and the online play was PERFECT it was like not a full mmo so not #cursed (sorry mmo players but dont boo me for being right) so it was really great to play with my pal @skillethelm but then RIGHT after i got into it they SHUT THE SERVERS DOWN and so like i wasn’t allowed to sort of move on naturally and i always feel really bitter and resentful when i think of it. the tron video game, on the other hand, was just super awful. unplayable. i tried real hard to like it bc i love the movie more dearly than any other movie on god’s green earth but…i couldn’t. im sorry sam flynn

14. Favorite game music?

all of it? there are games i have played JUST BECAUSE the soundtracks were so good i couldn’t stop listening and i got curious - these include chrono trigger, ff6, UT, and mirror’s edge (kinda). like, my favorite of all time will always be zelda music, & my favorite zelda track is oot’s title screen theme, but like…i just fucking love game music man. i love sonic’s buttrock and dragon age’s elven emo pop and zelda’s grand orchestrations and ff13′s/mirror’s edge smooth synth-y stuff and all the catchy tunes of Ye Olde Game Era and dishonored’s  goth harpsichord steampunk shit…like i could never really TRULY pick - actually the very first time i ever used a computer it was to visit websites about zelda and listen to the music online - and before that i used to run chrono cross and kingdom hearts on the title screens/opening cinematics for hours just to listen, like before i really knew there was like, online music. man. so much. i love everything

19. Favorite handheld console?

gameboy advance sp, hands down. gameboy advance had the best/most games that i love, could also play regular gameboy games, and the sp had a BACKLIGHT so you could play in the dark. i used to play the original tetris every night to fall asleep on mine. 3DS is a close runner up but you just can’t fit that thing in your pocket the way you can an SP

27. Game that makes you rage?

i fuckin hate super smash bros melee. YEAH I SAID IT LOL like… ok everyone says it’s sooo good and they RUINED smash after that but like, i main pikachu? and they nerfed the FUCK out of pikachu in melee. so i could never win. and it was a horrible teenhood i had growing up playing that shit. brawl was like ten zillion times better. i still lost a lot but i was because i sucked not because the game sucked. melee worshippers can kiss my ass

also, as i was recently reminded, the fight sections of mirror’s edge. fucking bullshit

and a special award to life is strange for having the WORST ending to a NEARLY PERFECT GAME of ALL TIME

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?

UNDERTA– no sorry. sorry. sorry i’m not gonna say it

ok uhhhhh honestly? my main answer is: any zelda sequel. like all the games take place hundreds or thousands of years apart with different characters and timelines…save for like the oracle games, mm & oot, and then like TECHNICALLY phantom hourglass…i would really just like to see an honest to god sequel in the same continuity. more throwbacks. i lost every bit of my shit when [someone from skyward sword] sorta-kinda made a cameo in botw. it’s everything i want

my other answer is: golden sun 4. we had to wait a literal decade for golden sun 3 and then it ENDS ON A CLIFFHANGER ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? im still lowkey mad abt it. idk if it’ll EVER happen

41. A genre that you just can’t get into?

i’m actually pretty flexible when it comes to genre? i’ve tried & liked: platformers, adventure games, open world, dating sims, stealth, shooters, QTEs, RPGs, racing, music/beat timing, whatever the hell genre animal crossing and harvest moon are…but like the one thing. i cannot do. is real-time strategy. it’s just too boring rip

also, i dislike playing online against other people bc they are usually jerks lol

69. In your opinion, best game ever made? 

that’s such a hard one!! it’d be easy to say ocarina of time because it holds such a special place in my heart, but just because it’s special doesn’t mean it’s the most fun or satisfying to play. the best game EVER made would have to have it all - great gameplay, a good amount of story that isn’t too sparse, a catchy and memorable soundtrack, lovable characters, lots and lots of replay value, and excel in online/dlc if that’s a thing, good voice acting/graphics if that’s a thing, no ragequit sections…like i could easily just name the zelda game that comes closest but i wanna be as objective as possible here…

ok i’m gonna go with two categories - 2D games & 3D games - bc they are such different beasts

for 2D im gonna have to say chrono trigger…some places are really frutstratingly hard, but not ragequit hard, and level grinding can be a BIT repetitive but the story, characters, cast, & music are all top notch, and with all the different endings + new game plus you could play it over and over and still have things to do

then for 3D…mmmm see this is hard because like nothing meets ALL of those requirements…portal 2 and okami both have very satisfying stories and wonderfully addicting gameplay that varies up often, but not a lot of replay value…breath of the wild and dragon age inquisition both have amazing story/gameplay balance and near-infinite replay value, but i have a few major nitpicks with both stories, and none of the games i mentioned have online play. i think in the end my nitpicks with zelda’s story and direction are pretty minimal + i have a personal loyalty to the series, so i’d go with breath of the wild.

70. Very first game you ever beat? 

you know, i actually can’t remember for sure! i suspect it was either majora’s mask or link’s awakening - funnily enough it was years before i first beat ocarina on my own.

[retrogamingelin]

zelda

so, i was playing it the other day and i needed to wake up the sleeping man by the caslte. i had played this once before but didn’t remember. so when i first climbed the vines, there was no girl there. second time, she was there, but only said something about her dad. then i didn’t know what to do, so i looked it up, which i hate doing. and apperently she was supposed to give you a chicken. i didn’t get no darn chicken???! so i talked to her a third time and then she gave me the egg. was it a glitch? 

it’s like you have to talk to every single NPC in the game. and over all, the game is quite slow. walking back and forth is more of a pain than in a link to the past. in a link to the past, there is something to be discovered in every screen. in ocarina of time, it’s walking up that darn hill that doesn’t even have enemies except when it’s night. i didn’t want to explore the world. i just didn’t get that feeling. 

i shoulnd’t complain too much since i’ve only gotten to the forest temple, but really, IN MY OPINION: such an overrated game. in MY opinion. 

a link to the past, however, is the perfect video game. 

i love exploring, though not too big worlds. this world is perfect – it’s small, but so much stuff to do! make that double, since you have two worlds, the dark world and the light world. i love getting abilities – swimming, the gauntlet, pegasus boots or any of the items, so i can go back to places and use them to get secrets. that’s a thing i love in games.

and oh boy, the puzzles. i enjoy puzzle games so much, when you have to stop and think. when i headed to the town for the first time i went in the mossy house and downstairs. a puzzle! i just looked at it for a long time, trying to figure out how to get all the chests. i didn’t succeed. i’m stupid. one kind of puzzle element i don’t like though, are mazes. i go crazy.

i just love the story,  the twist that agahnim was ganon all along – he who we’ve heard about throughout the game. and i love the backstory, the creation of hyrule and the triforce. the god of power brought fire and mountains in to the land, the god of wisdom made magic and nature and the god of courage made the warriors – i love when games have their own ”religion” and genesis. i also like the little side stories, like the two brothers fighting and flute boy.

the bosses are so fun, mostly, and almost always are defeated with the item you get in the dungeon. i remember my favorite boss being the squid one, where you take your hookshot on the little cottonballs and kill them until they’re all gone and you can attack the big squid. 

the many landscapes – desert, mountain, land… the sprites are amazing too, i’ve made some perler bead things from link to the past because i just love them. unlike early 3D games, these visuals are timeless. the 16 bit era is probably my favorite when it comes to that. and the music is fantastic. when you get out of the sanctuary and hear ”dun dun… du du du du dunnnn” for the first time!! it’s epic, and it’s what gave me the ultimate nostalgia factor even though i didn’t remember the game so well when i beat it the first time.

back to OoT, why did that get all the glory when the GBC games were better? oracle of ages and seasons were so fun to play. it’s a lot of thinking, and the puzzles are fun. it’s not “shoot this eye to open a door” or whatever. it’s a lot more fun than that. i get that it’s a nostalgia factor for many people, and maybe if i would have played it when i was a kid i would be head over heels too, but i’m not. it hasn’t aged as good as 2D zelda games, 

IN. MY. OPINION. 

i recently did a poll on which of the two were people’s favorite. link to the past or ocarina of time. link to the past won, but not with much. it was so close. 

for the record, i know i’m complaining a lot on OoT, but it’s not a bad game. i’m just comparing it to the greatest game of all time, but OoT is good fun. 

[antibunny]

So what if Nintendo comes out with the N64 classic?  What 30 games should be on it?   I remember a few very good ones, but it wasn’t exactly a quantity system.

Reblog with 30 N64 games.

Here are mine and I’ll even explain why.

1. Mario 64:  Duh

2. Ocarina of Time: Gotta have Zelda

3. Majora’s Mask: Some under appreciated Zelda

4. Starfox 64: I still fire up the N64 to this day to play this.  It’s just that good.

5. Yoshi’s Story: The N64 was more than just a 3D console. Though most devs preferred to take advantage of its 3D processing power, it could still shine as a 2D system as well.

6. Goldeneye 007: There’s going to be some tough licensing involved in getting this one, but it would well be worth it.  This is in most people’s top ten lists for N64 titles.

7. Gauntlet Legends: Who doesn’t love some Gauntlet? Get your freinds together, pick your classes and go murder waves of enemies.

8. Megaman 64:  A solid port of Megaman Legends.  A great example of how low poly doesn’t need to be muddy and ugly.

9. Wave Race 64:  The N64 was host to a good share of racing games, but Wave Race deserves props for its excellent water physics.

10. F-Zero X:  When we’re talking about racing games you can’t leave this one out. 

11. Mario Kart 64:  Sure Mario Kart began on the SNES, But in 3D it truly found its identity.

12. Mario Party 3:  Mario Party games keep getting made, and the N64 having pioneered a 4 controller setup was the perfect place for a party game.

13. Super Smash Bros.:  How could you possibly leave this one off the list?

14. Donkey Kong 64:  While Rare developed this game, it’s solidly Nintendo’s intellectual property, so why not include it?

15. Diddy Kong Racing:  Another racing game?  I’ll be honest I don’t even like racing games, but man did the N64 have some that I loved anyway, and this is one of them.

16. WWF No Mercy:  The N64 also saw its share of great wrestling games.  It was a hard call to choose among them, but this one is the most fully featured.

17. Kirby Crystal Shards: Gotta have those mascot games.

18. Mischief Makers: Another example of amazing 2D on the N64.

19. Sin and Punishment:  Sure it’s an import, but the localization was so complete before its cancellation that it was already offered on the Wii virtual console, so why not take advantage of that?

20. Paper Mario:  The N64 was pretty RPG starved, so this fills that gap.

21. Doom 64: Lots of FPS games on the N64, but what was great about Doom 64 is that it wasn’t a port of Doom, but an entirely new game that not nearly enough people have had a chance to experience.

22. Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness:  Ok, so I get that the N64 Castlevania games are controversial, but most haven’t even played LoD.  This was a vast improvement over CV64, and in many ways was what that game was meant to be the first time.  It’s dark and atmospheric, and I think enough time has passed that a new audience can give it a chance.

23. Ogre Battle 64:  I’m not a big player of strategy games myself, but the cult following this game has more than justifies its inclusion.

24. Harvest Moon:  The start of a popular series with a simple, but engrossing premise.  Also a nice break from all the ultra violence popular in the late 90′s era of gaming.

25. Pilotwings 64: Some would call it a glorified tech demo, but what a tech demo it was.

26. Fighter’s Destiny 2: Again with the obscure gaming.  The N64 had a few fighting games, but the Fighter’s Destiny series used a 3 falls system not unlike Olympic karate which made it very different from other 3D fighters of its time.  The sequel also was much more fully featured than the original.

27. Mortal Kombat Trilogy:  It was hard to choose between this and MK4, but since there’s already a 3D fighter on the list, I thought it best to include a 2D fighter as well, and MK Trilogy is a massive one, featuring every MK character in the series up to that point.

28. Bomberman 64:  Bomberbman 64 was a departure from the classic Bomberman formula, but still a quality game in its own right.

29. Mario Tennis:  Gotta have sports right?

30. Pokemon Snap:  It was hard to choose a Pokemon game for the N64, but the big deciding factor was that Stadium required an accessory and a copy of the gameboy Pokemon games to really play it to its fullest, while Snap was a full game right out of the box.

Excluded from the list:

Most Rare games:  There’s going to be enough of a fight to license Goldeneye already.  I’d love to include Perfect Dark, Turok, Conker, Killer Instinct Gold, and Jet Force Gemini, but it’s not happening.

Mario Golf:  I think one Mario sports game is enough.

1080 snowboarding:  Again, the racing and sports genres are represented enough already.

Rayman 2: I’ve played it, and it’s honestly not a very good game.  Besides it has plenty of ports already.  The difficulty is too high, and the graphics are dull and muddy, which doesn’t suit Rayman at all.

Cruisin USA, Excitebike 64, and Automobili Lamborghini: Simply, the racing genre is represented enough already.

Resident Evil 2: In the N64 days I was happy to get RE2 at all being a Nintendo player, but this isn’t the best port of this game.  If there was space on the list, I’d have included it, but I felt like the existing selection was well rounded enough already.  If Goldeneye is not possible, then this would be the first candidate to take its place.

[gascon-en-exil]

The Not Really Definitive Ranking of the Zelda Series: #13

#19 - Four Swords

#18 - The Adventure of Link

#17 - Phantom Hourglass

#16 - Four Swords Adventures

#15 - Spirit Tracks

#14 - The Legend of Zelda

#13 - The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Even if they aren’t talked about very often, the two Oracle games made for two very curious entries in the franchise. They were the first (canon) Zelda games developed by a company other than Nintendo - Capcom, who would also go on to develop The Minish Cap - they are the only games joined together in both plot and gameplay (via a password system, one that will make you thankful they scrapped the idea for a third game early on), they were the first 2D games produced after the series made the leap to 3D in grand style, and partially as a result of that they’re arguably the first games to make obvious callbacks to previous games in the series. Numerous minor NPCs in the Oracles like Malon and Talon, the windmill organ grinder, the postman, and the hand in the toilet come directly from the N64 games, the eponymous oracles are women named after the now-established creator goddesses of Hyrule, and the overarching antagonists of both stories are Twinrova, Ganondorf’s surrogate mothers from Ocarina of Time. This never really detracts from either game, but it’s interesting to bear in mind considering how self-referential the Zelda series would eventually become.

As with Four Swords Adventures the Oracles deliver an overall serviceable experience, but in this case the expansion upon the game engine of Link’s Awakening and their own dual nature makes for grander and more involved games. They improve upon some of the technical limitations and minor annoyances (*cough*I can’t lift pots without an item, thanks for telling me for the 50th time*cough*) of LA while also focusing the gameplay on either tougher combat (Oracle of Seasons) or harder puzzles (Oracle of Ages). There are also the animal companions, who only get used about two times in each game but are nevertheless entertaining additions: Dimitri, the Dodongo who can swim up waterfalls but can’t breathe fire (what); Moosh, the not remotely aerodynamic flying blue bear (what); and Ricky, the boxing kangaroo with gender confusion issues comparable to Yoshi’s (I reiterate, what). Hey, I said they were entertaining, not logical.

The question now though is why I placed OoA lower than its counterpart, and from here on I’ll have to talk about the differences between the two games. Despite what their packaging might suggest, the Oracles are not comparable to a generation of Pokémon with two or three games identical but for a few unique species and maybe some slightly altered plot elements. These games are set in two separate countries with eight unique dungeons apiece (nine if you count the bonus dungeon in linked games), present two separate but interrelated plots, and make use of two entirely different gameplay mechanics. As mentioned OoS purports to be combat-intensive whereas OoA focuses more on puzzles, but I distinguish them more by the games they are most directly attempting to emulate. OoA draws more influence from the N64 games, with a slightly deeper plot and more prominent side characters (Ralph, Queen Ambi). Additionally, like both OoT and Majora’s Mask OoA revolves around a time travel mechanic, which for the third game in a row begins to wear a bit. Sure, the scope of time travel here is much larger than OoT’s seven years or MM’s repeated three days, but that just means the difference in time periods is more notable in Labrynna’s changing geography and political landscape (for the Hylians/humans at least...the resident Gorons and Zoras seem remarkably unchanged after four hundred years, and the latter even hint at their very long-lived nature before Breath of the Wild made it fact).

Also I’m somewhat certain that some of the Zoras don’t actually move between the past and present. Talk about static NPCs!

Joking aside, the span of time traveled in OoA leaves no room for the sort of emotionally-driven character studies seen in MM’s frantic three final days of existence or even in the long-delayed reunions of OoT’s timeskip. I suppose it’s an interesting tidbit when Ralph learns he’s a descendant of Ambi, but the force of that reveal comes not from his meeting his great-great-...great-grandmother but from the possibility that Ambi may have to be killed because she’s been possessed by the sorceress Veran - which would cause Ralph to cease to exist. That’s something, I guess?

Even if you find that moving, though, OoA calls back to the N64 in other areas as well, and almost always to its detriment. This game’s version of Jabu Jabu’s Belly represents pretty much all the worst of both of OoT’s water dungeons with none of their highlights, hunting for stray fairies has been turned into an awkward, pace-breaking side story on the way to one of the midgame dungeons, and the construction and transformation of the Black Tower over the course of the game just doesn’t land as strongly as OoT’s depiction of the (partially) ruined Hyrule of the future.

But those are all my reasons for placing OoA below OoS. This is still a fantastic handheld Zelda, with a villain who’s both well-designed and fun to fight, an engaging overworld that alters itself drastically but logically over the centuries, a large ocean area and two water dungeons (even if one does kind of suck) to satisfy my water level-loving self, and a ton of puzzles that can be very satisfying to work through.

Though it could maybe have done with fewer of those “walk on each tile exactly once” rooms.

Next time: Oracle of Seasons, duh.

[team-skull-admin]

My favorite 40 games of all-time

Made an arbitrary list of my favorite games of all-time cause I wanted to figure out where Breath of the Wild is on it. It’s, uh, pretty high. Assload of text below the break.

40: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow I'm not the world's biggest Symphony of the Night fan (outside of the incredible soundtrack) and I think this is where Iga's seamless platformers found their footing.

39: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger I love goofy, experimental games like this and Far Cry: Blood Dragon, but I think the schtick in this (an unreliable narrator bragging about their heroic exploits) works better than Blood Dragon's dorky 80s nostalgia.

38: Rayman Origins A beautiful platformer with incredible level design. The music for the diabolical secret level is seared into my memory.

37: Cibele A short, story-centric indie game that captures the essence of playing MMOs in the mid-2000s and long-distance relationships. The awkward conversations in this game made me think about my WoW years for an entire weekend.

36: Mario Kart Wii It's not technically the "best" Mario Kart, but I actually enjoyed the motorcycles and I have fond memories of crushing my brother while we downed beers and talked shit.

35: Guild of Dungeoneering I'm usually not super into "We made X game, but added CARDS!" even though I love card games, but they nailed the loop here. I vaguely remember one of the decks being super busted, though.

34: Tropico 4 Adding a political slant to Sim City by making you the leader of a banana republic was just the slant to that formula I was looking for, and I lost a weekend circa New Year's '13 just delving into this hard.

33: Gran Turismo 2 My brother bought a PS1 off a friend when they upgraded to a PS2, and I grabbed a copy of this cheaply at the local EB Games. Once I wrapped my mind around the simulation, upgrading cars and havin fun with them here might have more to do with me being somewhat of a car person than anything else.

32: Metal Gear Solid 4 I should really put the whole series on here, but MGS4 deserves special note for making the core stealth actually fun and somehow tying all the loose ends of the insane plot together while dialing up the insanity even further.

31: Sim City 2000 I figured out how to make a 50,000 person city when I was like, 8. I still have no fucking idea how I did this. It took me till my 20s to crack 100k.

30: Pokemon Black/White People are torn on this game, but the contentious design decision to hide the old Pokemon in the postgame made every new encounter incredibly exciting in a way the series hadn't been since the orignals. The writing also shows signs of the maturity that Sun/Moon would follow through with.

29: Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 I think most would deride this series as a soulless Pokemon cash-grab on the surface, but they're actually roguelikes with a crazy monster breeding system and the most rote of stories to get you into the core loop of exploring new keys to breed ever crazier monsters.

28: Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls Diablo 3 vanilla's reliance on the auction house created design issues that were hard to look past, but Blizzard abandoning it for the expansion made the game into an incredible dungeon crawler. I never laddered, but had fun for hundreds of hours chasing loot with friends.

27: Fallout 3 I'll never forget the feeling of walking out of the vault for the first time, and feeling like I could go anywhere. I also think this is the only Bethesda game that regularly pays off when exploring - weird shit like the Republic of Dave or the man stuck in the tree are fantastic rewards for poking at the less inhabited edges of the map.

26: Bassin's Black Bass featuring Hank Parker I'm honestly wondering if the rest of the world has picked up on this game's low-key genius since I saw it for 15 bucks at a retro game store recently, but this game's arcadey fishing is incredibly satisfying and snappy. It has some major, obvious, irritating mechanical issues, but the core gameplay loop is so good I don't care.

25: Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor I still remember my nemesis. This motherfucker was right at the beginning of the game, inside the first quest area, and was like level 5 or 6, but had a defensive ability that made it harder for me to gank him easily. So he killed me. Twice. And leveled up each time, becoming a level 12 badass who could literally sniff me out when I hid. But he was weak to fire, and I lured him to a campfire and set him ablaze, getting my revenge.

24: Super Metroid I feel like most people would have this game higher on the list, but I think the controls are floaty and Meridia is overly confusing. The rest of the game is incredible and I can't believe they pulled it off on a Super Nintendo.

23: Pokemon Sun/Moon After XY and ORAS were disapointments I was cool on Pokemon, but Sun/Moon challenged a ton of series conventions and got a lot right in the process. I can't believe how deftly this game handles dysfunctional families.

22: A Link Between Worlds This was Nintendo's hit at what was to come with Zelda - a smart, experimental take on the franchise that's easily its best 2d outing.

21: Muramasa: The Demon Blade Vanillaware's magnum opus, a gorgeous Metroidvania where everything is hand-painted. The combat's loop of mixing launchers with sword management is also incredibly fun, if not particularly deep. But fuck I loved looking at it so much and it felt good.

20: The Walking Dead Only time a video game made me cry.

19: Banjo-Kazooie The only 3d collect-a-thon platformer from that era that still holds up, it combines cheeky humor and an incredible soundtrack to craft a world that's always surprising.

18: Borderlands 2 is better crafted, but I enjoyed the dry wit and more grounded guns of the first. I've replayed this like 4 times and I'm not entirely sure why, but I have a blast each time.

17: Doom (2016) Apparently the secret to making this license work in a modern context is to give Halo combat arenas a healthy dose of cocaine and play Meshuggah riffs over it. It so fucking works.

16: Saints Row: The Third I think the writing in GTA is usually sophomoric at best and its attempts at commentary are eye-roll worthy, but having a game say "FUCK IT" and just Mel Brooks that experience is such a wonderful idea. It's also hard to pull off, and SR3 totally sticks the landing (unlike the sequel).

15: Super Mario World The best traditional Mario game. I replayed it recently, and it struck me how much secret exits add to the level design versus 3, and how freed Koji Kondo is by the new hardware. The castle music's classical overture sticks out.

14: Monster Hunter 4 I liked Monster Hunter 3's various iterations but I hated swimming. Taking out swimming and replacing it  with mounting was enough for me to sink hundreds of hours. I actively avoided getting Generations because I knew it would interfere with school.

13: Mario Golf (GBC) The perfect portable game. Golf works well on the platform, and adding basic RPG hooks was enough to make a rote story totally engaging.

12: Super Mario Maker I think the real triumph of Mario Maker isn't the levels (which are usually terrible), it's how Nintendo imparted the feeling of being creative in such an easily digestible and satisfying way. It's an achievement that ascends past Mario design (which still works here) into something greater and more profound.

11: Hearthstone I fucking hate this game and I keep playing it because the Arena is like literal fucking crack and every time I have an opponent at 1 life and they beat me they can eat fucking dicks.

10: Super Mario RPG Clever writing and a strange world grabbed me way harder than Intelligent System's later Paper Mario games. It's too easy and doesn't look as slick now, but the writing still holds up.

09: Mass Effect Trilogy You can't really separate these, as the experience that makes Mass Effect great was carrying your Shepard and their decisions from one game to the next. Everyone will remember Garrus, Wrex, and co. Shame about the ending.

08: Tetris I am weirdly good at Tetris. I know what a T-Spin is. I sank hundreds of hours into it on Facebook. I don't regret it.

07: Persona 4 Describe a game to me as a mix of a J-RPG and a slice-of-life anime and I'll run to the hills, so the fact this game's sharp, mature writing and "just one more day" calendar mechanic combined into one of my favorite games of all-time is a shock. They also put in Pokemon with fucking demons, how cool is that shit?

06: Ocarina of Time I can't believe this game came out in 1998. The world is still fun to traverse, and the dungeon design (especially as an adult) still holds up at the top of action-adventure puzzle design.

05: Magic: the Gathering I wish it was less expensive otherwise it'd be higher.

04: Breath of the Wild I can't believe Nintendo reinvented the wheel so well that I'm putting the game so high on the list. Every design decision in this game is carefully considered to make exploring this iteration of Hyrule that much more satisfying. And its incredibly clever chemistry engine, where every object in the game has chemical properties that can be manipulated as well as physics, creates a ton of emergent gameplay scenarios where you're constantly asking "Can I do that?" and the game almost never lets you down.

03: World of Warcraft Sometimes I regret the 4000 hours I spent in Azeroth, but I'd have a hard time giving up the friends I made there. I could probably shred and like, speak another language though.

02: Pokemon Red I was the perfect age for Pokemon mania, and the fact that the core game was literally designed to appeal to me didn't help. I still love collecting the things and min/maxing ways to beat the Elite 4 with minimal grinding.

01: Mega Man X I think this is literally the perfect platformer. Moving X feels incredible. There's nothing in any of the levels I think is out of place. The soundtrack is a masterpiece. And the game's hidden secret is so insane you'd probably call bullshit on any kid who told it to you at recess. I'm really glad the rest of the world picked up on it after Arin Hanson did a Sequelitis about it, because I've been beating this drum for decades.