#meaning we had an n64 to play with

[willowisapillow]

👑🍑 The Queens Of Nintendo 🌼👑

💖I ain’t never seen two pretty best friends-🧡

To tell you guys the truth, I’ve never really been too big on the Mario Tennis games. Don’t get me wrong, they do have their charm, but they just weren’t as exciting to me as the Kart and Party games. But that doesn't mean I dislike them, far from it. My personal favorites are Power Tennis, Tennis Aces, and the subject of today’s art; N64’s Mario Tennis, and this art was made as a (belated) 24th Anniversary to the game, hence Peach and Daisy’s classic designs <3.

Also made this as a (belated) 35th Anniversary to Miss Daisy herself. Wanted to draw her and Peach together because A. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve last drawn her and I’m over the moon that I’m doing it again, and B; last year and this year has just been one big W for both of my girls. Like, I finally get a Mario game where I can play as my fav Princesses that isn’t Kart, Sport, or Party related? Yes please! 💕

I just have a huge love and appreciation for both of these ladies, I’ve always hated the whole Peach vs Daisy rivalry that was so prominent back in the fandom back in the 2010s (not to mention how kinda toxic they quickly get 😬). Thankfully things have calmed down, but I still do see it here and then sometimes. Especially really hate how Daisy is often portrayed as this catty, spiteful, mean girl bully-type character towards Peach in fanart and animations. Ik she’s meant to be sassy and spunky, but having her do unnecessarily violent things like catfighting and throwing things at Peach just feels kinda wrong to me. Nintendo literally describes the two as being, “sisters in arms”, so can we just not make them be toxic towards each other for one damn second 💀

Personally, I think they both rule. They’re not perfect characters and they have their flaws, but that’s what makes them great. Plus I’m a huge sucker for the whole trope of the girly girl and tomboy duo. I was a mix of both as a youngin’, so I immediately related to both princesses. I love Peach’s bubbly, poised, and unapologetically girly personality, and I love Daisy’s boisterous, fun-loving, and sporty personality.

Also had a little bi-crush on both of them as a kid, but that’s a whole subject to talk about for another time 👀👀👀

💖 🍑 🌼 🧡

[feladi-fority]

Hi, I have brainrot for Shipwrecked 64 and that is now your problem

These NPCs are 100% sapient. I had a really hard time coming to this conclusion as it didn't seem to fit when compared to a narrative primarily focused on real-world drama with supernatural elements being slowly introduced, but the ARG aspects really sold me on it.

There is SO MUCH Stumbler content. Stumbler keeps commenting on things as himself and doing AMAs, and within the game he can even appear and dynamically react to you when Squeaks decides to play as him. Stumbler in his comments talks about the game like he is a sapient NPC, and certainly his behavior in-game reflects this with him writing guides for the player and having knowledge of the golden computer code he hid in a tape. You could argue that this is a member of the restoration team larping as Stumbler in-universe, but they've remained mysterious up to this point while Stumbler's life has gotten so much focus. Additionally with "A helping nub" referring directly to Stumbler's email, it would mean the restoration team would have had to be lying about not altering the game for that to make sense, which is possible, but I think this is more likely given the framing.

Then there's also the subplot I noticed about the wolves colonizing the lower layers. Like, in the waterway section of layer 2 there's a note from chief wolf referring to wolves moving down there accompanied with plenty of beds and several houses around with wolves living there. Several wolves inhabit other areas in layer 2. Layer 3 has more beds and houses showing an attempt was made to live there as well, and in layer 4 we can find the remains of dead wolves who must have tried to move there but were captured by the Starlings. Given the meta knowledge Stumbler and Chief Wolf are shown to have, it makes me wonder if this was an attempt to break out of the game's narrative and save everyone on the island, as the april fools update has Chief Wolf mention that this world is on a death loop. Furthermore investigation_09 seems to show this process from an NPC's perspective as we see more of Stumbler and Chief Wolf masterminding some operation which likely is the migration into the lower layers.

All of this and the fact the 1997 version regularly has supernatural stuff happen which Conner could not have known about and would be impossible for him to have implemented, it raises the question of who caused this. My theory is that at some point after the game's initial sale Husk got ahold of the game and used whatever supernatural abilities they may have to insert the Starlings and sapient NPCs for some unknown purpose and that version of the game is what the restoration team found, this would also explain why they could not use normal N64 emulators. This fits nicely with how Husk talks in the first person and seemingly to the player directly at several points. Conner could not have gotten these clips of the Husk and if he knew about the Husk he would have brought it up in the layer 3 series of notes. The Husk's presence throughout the game is literal, it is the ghost haunting this game causing everything to happen.

[wfagamerants]

As is well documented by now, I really love Mario Party, even beyond the realm of Mario it’s one of my favorite series ever. It’s also been said plenty by now that my relationship with the Switch games has been rocky.

I know, me being so nice to ND Cube’s output, only to have problems with the Switch games is for many an off-beat opinion, it’s just how I feel.

When Jamboree was announced it seemed to be the MP I had been waiting for right out of the gate and I can happily say it delivered. While we are still in the honeymoon phase with the game, I feel confident even calling it one of the best Mario Party games, a sentiment I never agreed on when brought up with Superstars, which I only find solid.

I’ll go by the same structure I went with for my essay on the Switch games, since that is what I am most comfortable with, so we’ll start with the roster.

While the selection was very not for me, I do give a lot of credit to Super for really beefing up the character numbers and after a really sad showing in Superstars, Jamboree returns to that, with a 22 characters large selection, one I am a much bigger fan of.

The character/mook ratio is closer to what I prefer, the Toads are back, Pauline and Ninji are wonderful newcomers and my issues with playable Bowser have been addressed with the introduction of Imposter Bowser. At least in terms of what can be expected, the roster is just one Diddy short of being perfect for me.

The game in general prides itself on the sheer amount of content it packs and that shows with the boards too.

7 boards, 5 new and 2 returning. I got some nitpicks, particularly how we are still sticking to only N64 boards coming back, but on the whole I do like the idea of Mario Party going Mario Kart by bringing back old boards. They genuinely are really well remade.

Mario’s Rainbow Castle was always going to be more strategic and involved thanks to the inclusion of items, but Western Land was the big surprise. I always loved the board, but the greater control you have over Steamer, the train here, being able to drive two stations ahead or even get him to come to whatever station you’re at, thanks to the new Steamer Ticket item, really alters the game. It’s a far bigger part of the game plan to knock opponents back to start, but the wealth of movement based items also means you have the means to rush where you need to, it’s well balanced that way.

The 5 new boards are an extremely good selection. Superstars is the basis for the board play, so in many regards it’s a bit hard to go into heavy detail without stating the obvious. It’s classic Mario Party and still clearly based on 1-4, with things like Boo being on every board, but it’s in the details and a couple key aspects where the game leaves its own mark of quality.

Despite the Super moniker, the boards are thankfully nothing like in that game. They are all a good size and full of mechanics of their own and obstacles. In fact, what impresses me most is how distinct they all feel.

Whether you rack up an insane amount of coins and visit specific shops for items or collect stamps in Rainbow Galleria, brave the delightfully evil Bowser Byway in King Bowser’s Keep or make a mad dash across the track in Roll ‘em Raceway, every board feels distinct and has a very strong identity. I do miss the more varied star collecting methods from 6-8 and DS, with only Roll ‘em Raceway feeling similar to that, but they are still the most distinct bunch of boards to not go for that formula and that is a genuinely huge compliment.

Of course, good boards are one thing, but the finer mechanics need to check out too and luckily Jamboree doesn’t disappoint and that’s where three major points about the board play I love come into play.

First are the Lucky Spaces. I am on and off with how I feel about them, but thanks to the much greater amount of hazards threatening your coin count and ways to spend them, their bonuses end up feeling like a more natural part of the game’s economy. 

They can still feel a little overtuned at times, but unlike Superstars the game is designed in ways to make their instant perks a bit more justified. There even is an Unlucky Space counterpart, even if the penalties there are milder than the benefits of its good counterpart, but it does contribute to keeping things in check.

Secondly there are the items. While there is still a heavy emphasis on movement based items, I think the variety has seen a good upgrade. I’m particularly fond of the returning Bowser Phone, as well as the traps, which are just hexes from MPDS and can turn portions of a board into a hilarious coin and star steal minefield.

What really pushes it to another level though is an idea 6 toyed with in Snowflake Lake and what 7 made a much bigger deal of: board specific items. Superstars did have that in the sense it makes no sense to have a Skeleton Key available on the MP1 boards, but Jamboree is different.

These board specific items are all made to interact with the gimmick of the board. Use the Tide Shell on Goomba Lagoon to control the tide, put a hole into everyone’s deep pockets with the Markup Sticker in Rainbow Galleria and I already mentioned the Steamer Ticket on Western Land and how that alters how you play the game.

Items have always been meant to be the more strategic part of MP, something to give the player agency in a kind of game ruled by the dice and items like this really allow you to make power plays and plan ahead in a way the orbs in 6 and 7, still the best item system to me, excelled at.

The way they are distributed is also good. Multiple shop types like in 3, item minigames are still here as a potential outcome on an Item Space and while Lucky Spaces can still give out items, it feels a bit more restrained or at least the game is better designed around it. Horror Land in Superstars when I play it often devolves into a long series of Chomp Calls, since it’s so easy for everyone to get an arsenal of those. Nothing like that ever really happened for me here.

The third big aspect for me is the Jamboree Buddies.

For all its flaws, being basically just lifted from Star Rush, I did find the allies to be one of the genuinely interesting parts of Super, but it needed a lot of retooling and Jamboree did just that in a variety of ways.

Jamboree Buddies will eventually appear on the board, but only one is around at a time and you need to reach them first. If you aren’t fast enough they just leave and you need to wait a couple turns for the next one to show up.

Even if you do reach them, you need to win a Showdown Minigame first, each centered around that character and only through winning it, will you get them.

While their perks such as their own abilities or doubling the effects of positive spaces OR being able to use Boo twice in one turn or buy two stars at once, are very powerful, they also double negative effects. If you land on say, a Bowser Space, you take double the punishment and on King Bowser’s Keep, that even makes for situations where there are so many Bowser Spaces that passing up on a Buddy may even be the smarter move,

While their perks are potentially game changing, you only get them for a few turns and someone passing by you can steal your Buddy from you, so making the most of their perks in the limited time you have can be a genuine challenge.

All that combined makes the Jamboree Buddies a significantly more balanced take on allies. Very exciting when around, but the game doesn’t centralize around them and it is possible to even suffer more bad effects than good ones, if you get one in a bad spot.

Those are some of the big factors that help Jamboree really push the board play up further in quality for me beyond ‘’boards good’’. In the end it’s Mario Party as you know it, but it has some really good refinements and new ideas.

Another such good idea is a voting system for minigames now being an option, along with the Bonus Star options returning from Superstars. It’s just neat to see Mario Party inch towards a more customizable experience.

In fact to add to this, Jamboree introduces an entirely new ruleset called Pro Mode. This mode offers a bunch of changes, including, but not limited to:

The turn count is a set 12 turns.

Chance Time and Hidden Blocks are not a thing.

Everyone can choose one item to start the game with.

Items in item shops are limited in supply.

The voting system for minigames is the default and only option, no roulette.

There is only one bonus star and you know which one it is from the start, so you can play specifically for it.

Lucky Spaces let you choose between 10 Coins or a Double Dice item.

Bowser on a Bowser Space will automatically steal a star if you have one.

Boo always steals 15 coins, no mashing mechanic to be found.

Among other things.

Overall it’s a really fun alternative way to play the game that changes your approach to many situations. I wouldn’t call it a definitive competitive minded experience, since it is at the end of the day, still a board game, but as a different way to play the boards, it’s a lot of fun.

Of course the board is just half of the MP experience, so how are the minigames?

In my opinion, really good!

I touched on this in my write-up on revisiting the previous Switch entries, but something about how many minigames in Superstars controlled always felt off to me. It’s hard to explain and really weird since I didn’t feel that way about Top 100 or any other MP, but it is a contributor to why I was never fully on Team Superstars.

Luckily Jamboree feels just fine to me and the overall selection of minigames is solid, packing a lot of action based games, mixed with more puzzly or reaction and mashing based ones. The variety is here and there isn’t much in the way of stinkers.

I was a bit iffy seeing returning minigames initially, since two of the three last games were all returning minigames, but Jamboree handles it gracefully and in a way that, like returning boards, would even be totally cool as a new norm for me. There are only a couple, the selection is good and several are even heavily recontextualized, like Leaf Leap, Bumper Balls and Shy Guy Says now being a three-part marathon challenge in Mario’s Showdown game or Platform Peril now being a coin minigame.

I am happy to say the game cools it with Coin minigames. They are still there and that’s fine, but the game isn’t blatantly rigged for them to pop up often like Superstars was and I appreciate that.

Duel minigames are once again oddly snubbed, only five once more, but at least the selection is really good. Slappy-Go-Round in particular is easily one of the most brilliant concepts for a duel minigame in the whole series.

Showdown Minigames for Jamboree Buddies are totally new. They revolve around the character you play for and are far longer than the average mini-game. This is gonna be more subjective but I think they mostly pull it off, with Waluigi, Wario, Mario, Daisy, Jr, Rosalina and Yoshi all having really good ones. Luigi’s is pretty good, but can be an autowin for players who reach him and get an advantage. Peach and DK are the only duds for me. Peach’s has an awkward first part and a luck based second part, while DK’s doesn’t do a great job filling its length and ends up being the one game of the bunch to really feel long for me.

Jamboree also brings back boss minigames from 9, 10 and Star Rush. Once unlocked in Party Planner Trek they can appear as options on the VS Space, making them effectively a return of dedicated Battle Minigames, if mixed with regular minigames in the rotation.

The minigames themselves are decent, Imposter Bowser’s is a bit lame to me and none are quite as good as the ones in previous games, but they aren’t bad by any means and I am happy to see them experiment with bringing that idea over into the classic formula.

Lastly for Party Mode minigames there are the motion control ones and that is a bit of an awkward one. Like in Super, I actually think the controls for them work really well and I like the minigames themselves, but being required to play with the one Joycon method to play them isn’t my favorite thing in the world and it’s a shame that they didn’t find a more graceful solution than to just lock those minigames away when playing with a more comfortable controller.

Also a bit of a shame there are no Bowser Minigames this time, though at least they have a good substitute in another mode.

Despite a slightly more mixed tone by the end, I consider Party Mode a big success, so let’s discuss the other modes.

First there is Party Planner Trek, our first dedicated singleplayer, somewhat story mode, in a long time.

In a lot of ways it’s basically a mix of Advance and the Minigame Island-type modes. You can walk freely across the board and do tasks for NPCs, along with playing all the minigames to collect Mini-Stars. Collect enough and you face the boss of the board, defeat them and you can move on to the next one.

It’s a simple concept, but nicely executed. The best way to describe it is cozy. It’s a nice laidback excuse to run around the boards and play through all the minigames that I can see myself revisiting when in the mood for it. The framing of this being how all the boards are made ready for the big event is also just really charming.

The only bad thing about the mode was getting first place in Gate Key-pers due to its luck based nature. I’d even call it the worst part of the game, but it is just one tedious minigame, hardly something that ruins anything and it can be skipped if you don’t care for 100%.

Then we got the Minigame Bay, with its modes and it’s….okay. The Boss Rush and Showdown Minigames based modes are welcome inclusions and the presentation is great across the board. Still, I miss the minigame modes of days past, especially Decathlon and would love to see some of them again.

We got two more flavors of extra modes and to me the stronger one is easily the two Bowser modes.

First up is Koopathlon, which is very much just Coinathlon from Star Rush, but now with 20 players and online functionality. You still collect coins in minigames specific to this mode, to move across a linear board and race to clear a certain amount of laps first. Even the items are taken straight from Star Rush, apart from Lava Bubble being replaced by Imposter Bowser and even that amounts to the same effect, all that changes is what burns your butt.

None of this is a negative though, since Coinathlon was easily one of the best side modes in the series and Jamboree is a very positive case of more of the same. I’d even say I like it a bit more thanks to the Survivathon Bowser minigames.

These were already a thing in Coinathlon, you try to survive a Bowser minigame and if you don’t you get moved back a certain amount of spaces as punishment. Jamboree edges out as better for me for not only having more and really good Bowser minigames, but also being far more challenging to survive, making them much more intense.

Koopathlon’s just great, taking an already amazing side-mode and making it just a tad better, easily my most played mode aside from Party Mode.

The other Bowser Mode is Bowser Kaboom Squad, one that caused a lot of intrigue pre-release for how little was known about it.

An 8 player team goes up against Imposter Bowser in a city and attempts to dodge him and other obstacles to collect bombs to attack him, as well as balance that with collecting coins for a Bonus Round where all bombs do more damage. 

The team needs to defeat Imposter Bowser in 5 rounds and at the end of every round is a team minigame, where you will net items to help you in various ways, with what items you get being determined by what Rank you archived in the minigame.

In some ways this mode feels like an extension of your typical Bowser final boss minigame from the Hudson days and I really like it for that. It’s frantic, offers fun opportunities for teamwork and Imposter Bowser, especially on Hard, is genuinely imposing to go up against. 

It’s a simple mode, but I really enjoy it. Not quite on the same level as Coinathlon, but a really welcome addition. I have played quite a bit already.

Lastly is the Motion based modes. Those were always going to be more novelty driven, but I do think the end result is a positive one.

The best is easily Rhythm Kitchen, a sequel to its equivalent in Super, my favorite part of that game. Unlike in that game the minigames are cooperative, making it more of a ‘’go with the vibe’’ experience and luckily it succeeds there.

The games are simple, but easy to understand, the music catchy and you even get to play a Rhythm Heaven-style Remix mode, set to the SMB1 overworld theme.

It’s a fun, cozy mode. Doesn’t take long until you have seen everything it has, but as basically a glorified minigame mode, it does it’s job well and is a nice every once in a while option.

I feel similarly about Toad’s Item Factory. The goal is to get orbs to a goal, using motion gimmicks to guide them. The controls are intuitive, the gimmicks varied, that’s really all there can be said. Fun mode, but very simple and not something to go back to regularly, but a good time when you play it.

The last mode is Paratroopa’s Flight School and yeah, that is the lowlight of the game, not bad though.

I do love the idea and the free flight mode in particular is actually pretty cool for what it is, with two extra modes as an extra on top. It works well, never had a problem with the controls and it is a cute idea, it’s just also very much a gimmick and not one that lends itself to going back to it a lot. The idea of it just wears thin and also requires more set-up to properly play.

It’s also weird how the mode locks you into playing as Mario or Luigi as the second player. Not a huge deal, modes where not everyone is playable isn’t new to the series, but being stuck with just one set character feels alien for Mario Party.

That’s all the modes and there is one constant across most of them: online. Jamboree emphasizes that aspect more than any other part of the series and I am happy to say that at least from my experience, it’s very good. It plays as well as the game does offline and I didn’t experience more than one small lag spike and no connection errors, which sometimes plagued Superstars for me.

Another big area where the game shines is presentation. The NDCube games have always been very good at this, but Jamboree takes this to another level. There are so many things to say that I may as well do it in a list format, because there is a lot there, in many different places too.

First off, a lot of old animations got small touch-ups, tiny details in how say, Mario, Luigi and Wario’s hats now obey gravity when they go back down after hitting a dice. Similarly, the characters during high rolls will not only speed up, but even transition into a new sprinting animation once fast enough.

There are several new situation specific animations, such as the panic run animations in the Granite Getaway remake, which you don’t see anywhere else.

The camera on the boards is way more dynamic and loves showing very appealing shots, such as Imposter Bowser looming over the characters in King Bowser’s Keep.

Mario’s Rainbow Castle turns dark and threatening if Imposter Bowser is in front of the castle, you can even see Bullet Bills pass by in the background.

They went through the work to tweak some animations for certain boards. Chance Time always catapults the characters in the air for instance, but in Rainbow Galleria this comes with a crashing sound and a visual effect showing the characters crashed through the ceiling.

Roll ‘em Raceway in general bothered with a unique, if simple, animation set of everyone in cars, to make the board concept possible.

Really, long story short, the game looks great and is full of life and personality. It also retains the zany, cartoony vibe that I love the series for, Super mostly lacked and Superstars didn’t always retain either.

Goomba Lagoon is in part my favorite board for representing this so well. It’s the perfect showcase for the dynamic camera and things like Lava Bubble spaces making everyone bounce across spaces with their butts on fire or the characters being forced on zipline rides they visibly don’t want to get on and even lose their grip by the end, are that toony fun energy that always gave the series a distinct personality for me.

The game also strikes a good balance of modern Mario visuals and original stuff. There is plenty of NSMBU and 3D World inspired content in there, but then you get say, the cities from the Bowser’s Kaboom Squad mode, which feel like cities you could see in Hudson era minigames. It’s nicely diverse.

While Mario Party has always been good with cool references to other Mario things, I’d argue Jamboree may be the best one yet.

The Showdown minigames are an obvious example, with say, Wario’s taking from both Ware and Land, Waluigi’s being a Waluigi Pinball reference or Donkey Kong basically making you play Donkey Konga being some big examples.

Even beyond that though you got things like Imposter Bowser being a shout-out to the SMB1 Fake Bowsers or Plessie making his first appearance in a spin-off. There is a lot to discover and it always made me smile. Mario spin-offs aren’t really like say, Dissidia or Theatrhythm are for Final Fantasy, where they feel like a true crossover and celebration of the whole series history, so any time one does include a lot of nods and elements from other games, it’s a treat.

The music ended up being a surprising highlight too, being full of catchy and varied tunes, not to mention just a lot of music in general. This is a hopelessly subjective topic, but there are several tracks I have already listened to a bunch outside the game. Imposter Bowser’s rocking themes and the bouncy, motivating Level 2 theme for Koopathlon being my highlights.

There is a lot of good detail work in here too, such as Imposter Bowser getting his own version of the Mario’s Rainbow Castle theme when he is out or all 22 characters getting their own little turn start jingles, because this game loves effort and I in turn love it for it.

We also got a fresher set of voice clips for a bunch of the cast, some new and some from Wonder and I won’t lie, Superstars with how much it makes the characters shout their canned old clips really tested my patience with the same clips they have used game after game, not just in this one sub-series, for over a decade and being rid of them feels like sweet release.

It helps that I genuinely think Kevin does a good job with his roles and while Deanna Mustard was really good, I utterly adore Giselle Fernandez as Daisy.

Been doing a ton of gushing and well, that’s because this game’s damn good and a showcase they learned all the right lessons. It’s not perfect, I have laid out things I thought could be better or are missing, but none of it comes even close to souring the experience for me.

I’d still put 6 and 7 at the very top for me, but Jamboree is really competitive with 3 as a solid third place for me and I don’t think that’s just the honeymoon phase speaking. Jamboree is a true return to form that makes me extremely optimistic for the future of the series.

That and I am curious if we will see DLC this time. The game is already more than packed enough to not need it, but if a MP ever were to see that kind post-launch support, I’d want it to be one as robust as Jamboree.

Because Jamboree really is just that good and I am so happy I can say that.

[shadow-cat-gremlin]

OK this is for all my German Zelda fans out there.

Normally I prefer the German translations over the English ones for any Zelda game. And I mean any. I remember all the German names instead of the English ones. I remember all the locations. All kinds of quotes and just the phrasing in the German translation.

In my opinion the German translation just does a much better job than the English ones. Often times I find myself seeing screenshots of the games with the English translation and I think to myself "Wow. They really did this dirty"

And I had always preferred the German one over English, until it did a big fuck up in TotK. Don't get me wrong there is still plenty of things I prefer in the German version than in the English one. cough gloom and bubble gems cough

But there was one thing that bothered me immensely, and it was one thing I had praised the German translation for until this massive fuck up.

And that being the whole Temple of Time situation.

For all who only played the game in English, the Temple of Time was always called that. It appeared first in OoT, reappeared in TP and then again in BotW and of course TotK. And then TotK decided to add a second Temple of Time into a mix, messing up the whole thing because now we had two temples with the exact same names.

But us German players have a different story to tell. (As a heads up I grew up with the 3DS version of OoT so if the OG German version on the N64 was different then please let me know).

In the German versions of the games OoT, TP and BotW we all knew the Temple of Time as "die Zitadelle der Zeit" (translated as "the Citadel of Time") in all of these games it was known as that. In all.

So when TotK came rolling around, it was pretty easy to assume that for us it would be less confusing keeping the new Temple of Time and the old one separate as they have different names.

And what does the German translation do?

THEY RENAME THE CITADEL OF TIME TO THE TEMPLE OF TIME!

Like what!?!?!

That is one of my biggest pet peeves I have with this game. (And I see no other German fans talk about) The fact that they changed the name of a location just like that. Especially in a game that introduced a new location with the exact same name! Wouldn't it have been smarter to keep the old name to distinguish between them? Why would they do this? This is such a dumb move of the translators.

I genuinely hate that change. It's so impractical and annoying and just plain old dumb!

[madhogthymaster]

Master Recs: The "N64" Trilogy (2023)

Pseudoregalia

Let us muse over a very small, three-dimensional Metroidvania game stylistically fashioned after the Nintendo 64 era of graphical fidelity. It stars a deliciously polygonal rabbit-y, goat-y, cat-like girl.

Now, I am playing this on the fabled Steam Deck. It runs and controls smoothly on the platform but you might require to fiddle with the video settings as the default configuration is slightly blurry due to a very specific and fascinating reason. It turns out Pseudoregalia vaunts a certain level of depth in its technical customization, one that's surprisingly fun to manipulate. There's an option to toggle on or off a retro graphical scale and character movement rate, which graciously emulate the old school console experience. You can also manually reduce or augment the maximum framerate for the whole game. You could theoretically play something that looks like a 30 fps 3D Platformer from 1997 or the most HD upscaled version thereof at 144 fps, or everything in between! The default, blurry configuration comes as a result of the aforementioned retro scaling clashing with the 4K resolution in full screen mode. This is the first and last time in recorded human history that I will ever be this enamoured with "specs talk."

The point is, we have a darling gem with a cultivated aesthetic, a good level of polish: it will look "right" regardless of your favoured settings. I'm impressed by the extra layer of work placed in the subtle use of limited framerates for the character's movement.

Pseudoregalia captures the idea, the abstract concept and low-poly charm of a N64 title with a gameplay that recalls your memory of it, rather than the unwieldy reality. I say this as someone who doesn't have nostalgia for early 3D graphics: the game makes them look spiffy.

I shall be honest, this is normally not the sort of title I would enjoy playing, as precise platforming and traversal puzzles are my nemesis. I mentioned afore the level of polish, which is generally consistent, but some of the movement upgrades you get (such as the jump/wall kick) can be rather finicky to master. In that sense, be wary that the game does not openly provide you with tutorials for the moves that require more finesse, choosing instead to hide an additional set of instructions in the inventory descriptions. It's "old school", you see. Older versions were bereft of maps thus making exploration a burden for those like me who are directionally challenged - both in games and in real life. Regardless, I kept getting drawn by its world, its somber atmosphere, its tight gameplay and especially its protagonist, Sybil.

An appealing design for your avatars goes a long way in ensuring an emotional connection to them and Sybil just so happens to have one of the most striking and instantly recognizable appearances I can fathom. It's a pleasure to look at her go! Furthermore, I would posit that she has a lot in common with my precious videogame fluffy boy, Klonoa - and I do I mean, a lot. I will not elaborate. If you get it, you get it. In conclusion, Pseudoregalia is an impressively put together jam. It's easy to pick up yet punishing to handle, it's fun and fascinating in spite of its more irritating aspects. The best overall critique I can give it is that it made me want to keep trying, and trying, and trying, until I eventually became good enough to complete it several times and even beat the insanely hard Time Attacks. In short: game is good. Play it.

---

Corn Kidz 64

If I had a nickel for every time a throwback 3D Platform game starring a cute goat-like creature managed to grab my attention, I would have a whopping three nickels! Anyway, here is Corn Kidz 64, an artistically verosimile homage to the Rareware games you probably remember.

Deliciously stylized polygons welcome both you and I into a quirky mindscape. You play as a rude little prick named Seve who's having a vivid nachos related dream but has to contend with various bollocks - as it's often the case.

If you are even marginally familiar with all the Kanjo-Bazooies and Konkey Dongs out there then you will recognize its sphere of influences right away. It's a proper tribute to that era of gaming up to the inclusion of the "correct" low video resolution settings and insane completion requirements. There is much puzzling and platforming to be had, tactical traversal and secrets-within-secrets to bamboozle and titillate your gamer's lizard brain. Genre freaks will feel very welcome here.

I will say that I find the character design especially pleasing. Aesthetically, I would place it somewhere in between Rayman. Belgian comic book artist André Franquin and web strips from twenty years ago or more. It's expressive, to say the least.

As a sign of good will from the game's part, this is the track that greets you as you plunge into the realm of your dreams of childhood:

Corn Kidz 64 is a short, fun experience, bedazzled by tight controls, surreal atmosphere and "Early Internet" humour. It does not overstate its welcome and only occasionally gets immensely frustrating. Its dedication to the N64 ethos is both a boon and a detriment, in that sense. Let me put it this way: I shall not be doing a 110% completion run any time soon.

---

Cavern of Dreams

As a direct result of me wanting more, here is Cavern of Dreams. Yet another N64 aesthetically driven title that came out last year but was promptly overshadowed by Funny Goat Game and Sexy Goat Game - as far as my own pop cultural myopia is concerned, that is.

It is a small yet multilayered Collect-A-Thon with an emphasis on exploration rather than combat or complex platforming. There is no health bar and there are no traditional enemies. There is a handful of puzzles here and there, some of which might be legitimate head scratchers. The dragon baby is cute. I do have a couple of gripes with this one.

Playing this game is, in a word, annoying. It is bothersome how weighted and limited the movement is, it is fastidious how the character collision is in relation to the environment, it is aggravating how it all affects the gameplay in small yet noticeable ways. Here's an example: you can use the traditional ground pound to gain extra height. However, in order to do so, you have to keep pressing the attack button while in midair. The problem with that is the game still registers it as an attack when you do so. As such, if you happen to be hugging a wall, atop a small ledge, this action will inevitably cause your character to hit said wall and propel you backwards, resulting in you falling to your doom. This happened constantly. Generally speaking, the control scheme doesn't feel ideally tailored to an experience that requires precise platforming. A repeated offender would be grabbing onto climbable ropes. Which is to say, sometimes it just doesn't happen. You'll float towards a rope and, if the collision isn't pixel-perfect, you will miss it entirely. Also, Baby is unable to jump above once he climbs all the way to the top, half the time. The later levels are worse in that regard as they need some amount of skill.

Speaking of which, something that will always make me consider quitting a game in a fit of rage is being sucked down a drain that expels me into a different area, forcing me to walk all the way back to where I was before. Once again, annoying is the word.

All that said, the saving grace of Cavern of Dreams lies in the exquisitely crafted, imaginative stages that compose the dreamlike tapestry of the game's aesthetics: living airborne vessels, desolate ice kingdoms, nightmarish art galleries that twist and distort your senses.

The use of colour hues, sounds and deliberately non-contiguous spaces create this palpable atmosphere of both wonder and anxiety. A welcoming world may turn weird and alienating. A dream may turn into a nightmare. There is a depth beneath the surface presentation that is absolutely worth experiencing. I really wanted to like this game but, alas, I'm left with mostly mixed feelings. Regardless, it's an adorable title with some tinges of darkness and it might just be for you!

---

As a conclusive note, I find myself enthralled by the subtle similarities these games share as well as their abundant differences. All of them are stylistically reminiscent of a specific bygone era whilst being perfectly distinct in presentation, and they all are about Dreams...

They are about exploring dreamscapes, lands where subconscious thoughts and memories materialize in daunting vistas of a forlorn past, comically bizarre hyper-realities from an active imagination or an infant's idea of the world around itself. Pondering about the familiarity of it all fills me both with comfort and melancholy: the parallelism of Dream, Childhood and Gaming. The distant memories of youth in correlation to the experience of videogame escapism are akin to a dream from which we are expected to wake... Well, now I just want to gush about Klonoa again!

In fact, I would go as far as to say that Corn Kidz 64's "plot resolution" feels like a direct parody of Door to Phantomile's ending, and it gets funnier the more I think about it.

---

A/N:

Thank you for reading.

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[commsroom]

Re: Doug and video games (I tried to find the post we were chatting on and think it maybe got eaten?) After some thought I think the sole reason he isn't more of a gamer in Canon is money, he seems like maybe he was the kid who didn't own a Wii or Xbox but played at a friend's house, like casually games in group settings kinda guy? BUT given means to do so he could potentially get into it (probably would go for a Nintendo system I think, given his references, and also bring able to participate in nerdy kid activities like playing Pokemon that were behind a real-life paywall when he was a kid) also a Nintendo system is geared towards group play like Mario kart or smash bros and I think he'd get a kick out of roping other people into playing with him. This has been the Doug Eiffel gamer agenda lol (also I'm super late but happy birthday! May the year being you peace and joy! 🎇🎇)

i would agree with that sentiment, for sure!! eiffel kinda grew up during the decline of arcades, so i think that's his main source of childhood video game nostalgia, but he definitely had a friend with an NES / N64 that he deeply envied. (he was already an adult by the time the wii came out, but he'd love the wii. for about ten minutes before he threw the remote through the tv, anyway.)

i think eiffel entered the workforce as a teenager, it was the only way he could get access to the stuff he cared about, and i have a personal headcanon that he's still got an old gameboy that he bought himself. it won't even turn on anymore unless he hits it against a flat surface at the exact right angle. he's the only one who can do this. and he wouldn't admit he was proud of himself, but he was. (as for pokemon, well. he references pokemon multiple times, and i know he still insists there are only 151. i just know it. his favorite pokemon is charizard.)

he would also go crazy on guitar hero.

[scarlethyena]

I say this as someone who is very nostalgic for the original N64 Paper Mario and only just recently played the Thousand Year Door, but honestly I think TTYD is the better of the two. Because TTYD is very structurally similar to the N64 one, but it does more interesting stuff with the mechanics and the different chapters. The original threw in some twists, like Ch. 3 featuring more stealth aspects and the lil fake out death that Lava Piranha did, but I feel like TTYD does stuff like that way more. Like in TTYD's Ch. 3, you basically just work your way up through a tournament while in Ch. 4 Mario gets his identity stolen and your party members leave you behind. And of course there's Ch. 6 where most of it is spent on a train, and the final area you arrive at isn't even that big.

Also, the party members have more time to shine here and get at least a little dialogue in most cutscenes, meaning that a lot of aspects of the game can go slightly differently depending on what party member you have out. I feel like the OG party members just didn't say a whole lot once they joined your party. Not counting Goombario since he can use tattle, but even then, Goombella has more personality than he did. And it's really a shame, because I like some of the original party members! Lady Bow, Bombette and Parakarry were always favs of mine.

Plus the story is just really fuckin solid overall. I liked seeing the return of the inter-chapter Peach bits, because Peach usually isn't an active player in Mario games so it's always nice to see her doing something. She even has a role in kick-starting the plot beyond just getting kidnapped this time: she's the one who sends the treasure map to Mario, bringing him to Rougeport to begin with. She also demonstrates more independence and curiosity here, going off on her own while visiting Rougeport because there's so many things she wants to see (much to the annoyance of Toadsworth, though his protectiveness makes sense). And during the inter-chapter bits, her interactions with TEC are very nice. I didn't expect I'd get so emotionally invested in this game, much less with a fucking computer, but here we are. Oh, and the Bowser bits are fun too. They don't add a whole lot, but I've always liked Bowser and seeing him and Kammy Koopa trail behind Mario was fun.

But yeah, I really fuckin enjoyed this game and I feel like they took a lot of elements from the original and improved them. I only wish I had played it sooner, but I never had a gamecube growing up and after a point it wasn't easily accessible anymore.

[anarchopuppy]

barking at you and asking you. hey whats your top 3 gamecube games

so my family actually had a funny relationship to the cube. our parents kept us on a console delay of several years to save money. i remember the day we got an n64 even though it was released before i was born, and i remember playing a lot of snes before that. but when the wii came out, they got caught in the media craze and got it on release, meaning that we had v little time with the cube before it was replaced. i cant even tell u a single game we had for it other than melee, but i know we never had sunshine, luigis mansion, pikmin, wind waker, etc

i remember my brother and i hated wind waker for the artstyle, so we never got it even tho we had always been zelda fans. i didnt play it until i was an adult, and now its one of my favorite zelda games

so i guess wind waker is #1, melee is #2, then idk

[shinovii]

Nintendo...holy smokes this Direct!

I will admit I never got into the Mario VS Donkey Kong games back then but if there was ever a reason to give it a shot, this would be it.

Love me some Spy × Family and with more episodes on the way this announcement was a welcome surprise, definitely a fun and relaxing time it seems!

Okay wow, Gex coming back wasn't enough we had to give OG Tomb Raider love too! Admittedly another series I never got to play much of (aside from a GBA proof of concept demo I found last year) but man it's reputation wasn't lost on me throughout my life (and on my birthday too, this remaster picked a great day to release)!

It's been so long since Peach had her own game, finally it happens again and wow she's gonna be a total badass in this! I can already sense the fanart of all the costumes being made as I speak, people are gonna have a field day with this!

Okay on one hand it's not what anyone expected...but on the other hand NINTENDO GAVE US AN F-ZERO BATTLE ROYALE, what a timeline we live in!! I mean when you really think of it this is a great idea, it's like that Death Race mode in X but fully realized and online! Just off that alone the replayability is unlimited, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come for this series.

Every day I'm reminded that I need to pick up Splatoon 3, tho considering the updates it had to get since launch waiting hasn't always been bad for me. With the Side Order DLC looking real good the temptation is getting higher and higher, there's only so many games I need to catch up on with the Switch and Nintendo knows it lol!

Okay Nintendo you had your fun with this direct, way to make Thursdays even more fun and excit-

...2004 a young boy walked into a BlockBuster, rented a sequel to an N64 RPG he loved a lot, and continued to rent it until he beat it, loving every sound, visual, character, and chapter of its incredible story! Now 2 decades later dang near and this incredible story has come back to grace the boy turned man once more, and no amount of Hype Ringos can show the excitement and joy he feels with this announcement...

That being said however, OH MY FLIPPING GOSH TTYD IS BAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!

[kawaiifoxreviews]

Resident Evil 2 Nintendo 64 Version/GameCube Version Comparison:

N64 V: "Ahh, what a beautiful day in the year 1999.

NGC V: "Hello there!"

N64 V: "Huh? Wha-?! Oh, it's you, small disc. What? Are you trying to fry all my 64 bits with a classic RE jump scare?! Huh? What's a matter with you?!"

NGC V: "Oh, I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry about that."

N64 V: "Wait a minute. You're...me?! You're Resident Evil 2 as well, aren't you?!"

NGC V: "I mean...I'm you...but more, I guess?"

N64 V: "What do you mean by "more"? You think you're better than me?!"

NGC V: "...Also yes."

N64 V: "Why I never! The nerve of this generation! Tell me, what makes you so special? Huh? You think you're so rad with your extra room for data on your small disc? Let me guess, you finally made the deal with the devil himself, didn't you? I told you; we don't make deals with the enemy."

NGC V: "The devil? Oh, you mean Sony? Dude, I had no part in that. Okay? They offered to help you move away from cartridge, but your generation said no to that sort of help."

N64 V: "Wha-? What else could ruin this sublime day for me?"

NGC V: "Okay, I'm going to tell you this one last time...it's not 1999 anymore...or 2003...unfortunately."

N64 V: *Speechless*

Hello and welcome, my fellow retro gamers, Kawaii Fox Reviews here. I apologize if that bit was too cheesy for you. Also, nothing against Sony. I enjoy that company, as well. But, right now, I wanted to review/ compare Capcom's Resident Evil 2 on the N64 to the Gamecube.

Fun fact about this fox: I love Resident Evil. Always have for years and fell in love with just about all of them. Well, I actually just like 5 and 6. I even fell in love with the movies. Well, except the Final Chapter. I know, some people might find that to be taboo, but I can justify those movies in another review.

Right now, I want to share my thoughts on the miracle, that is Resident Evil 2 on the N64. If you are interested in expanding your collection of retro games for your N64, then Resident Evil 2 is an absolute must have. However, I am not going to sugar-coat it, the Gamecube version is the far superior one.

"But Kawaii Fox, why are we here, then? Should we just get the Gamecube version, or the ps1 version, or the-?"

Yes, to all of those. Sorry to cut myself off like that. I know, it wasn't very nice of me. But Resident Evil 2 as a whole should be enjoyed across all accessible platforms. For me, personally, my favorite version is the one on the NGC. Just the Gamecube controller alone is enough for me to favor this version over the other versions. To this day, that controller is my favorite. Ironically, the original N64 controller is my least favorite of all time. But never fear, I have replaced mine with the Gamepads on eBay for like $25. Such a better quality, highly recommended.

Anyway, the purpose of this review is because I find the N64 version is very fascinating. To be honest, I played the hell out the NGC version. Then, at one point, to my surprise, I had discovered that the N64 version does in fact exist. Even though, at this time, I didn't have an N64. But I was still curious as to what this version was like.

After watching a comparison video between the different versions, it came down to the N64 version. Cutscenes were cut up, textures were blurry/muddy, sound was not as clear as it should be. My least favorite part was the fact that there was a certain scene where Ada Wong was talking to another character, but she had Claire Redfield's voice. I love voice actors, Sally Cahill and Alyson Court, and I expect to hear those voices played for their respective roles.

I think the Rock put it best, "It's the biggest piece of dog shit."

However, after I got my N64, I came across this version again. I had found a video by a YouTuber by the name of Lotus Prince that dived into more of what this version had to offer, along with the other ports. Something about it, made me say, "I have an N64, now I want to experience that for myself." I got my copy from eBay and started playing it. Of course, I'm breezing through it, since I've beaten it so many times on the Gamecube.

I'm actually in the middle of Claire: Scenario B, as of this moment. Is everything downgraded as expected? Yes. And it is horrific. But, to my surprise again, it's still the same game I played and still love on the NGC. It also plays very well on the N64. As long as it performs well, I can be okay with any version of any game. Is it perfect? Hell no. But again, it's still the same game I already love.

If I had a subtitle for this review/ comparison, I would have asked the question, "How can something so bad, be so good?"

After getting into this bizarre version of Resi 2, I came across another video by a Youtuber by the name of Modern Vintage Gamer. In this video, he manages to break it down to a science of how they manage to cram this masterpiece of a game into a cartridge. That video alone is intriguing enough to not only look at Resi 2 on the N64 as a game, but as a great concept in general as to how it was made possible.

I will link both of those videos at the end. Please take a look at them.

Now, I am going to wrap this up with these finale thoughts:

This may sound a little harsh, but I believe Resi 2 had no business being on the N64. With its limited cartridge space, and the fact that it's literally the only Resi game on the console. The fact they have to include cliff notes for the first game in this game, says a lot. But, just in case you didn't know this, Resident Evil 0 was supposed to be on the N64. That project was scrapped. But man, I still would have played it. With all the classic Resi-like games we have today, it would be so amazing to bring that project back from the dead.

Despite all that, I do find this whole thing interesting. The fact that that Resi-2 manage to bounce from one Nintendo console to another Nintendo console is brilliant to me, and then from there we got RE3, RE: Code Veronica, RE: remake, RE: 0, and even RE: 4 all on the NGC. What I mean by all this, is that Resi 2 on N64 may have never been the best version or maybe even the most popular, but the fact that they stopped, and said, "Hey, let's do the same game again on Nintendo's next, more advanced, console," Or however that idea was pitched.

It's sad to say, but some companies I think just put games on consoles and call it good, when in actuality, its not. We don't get a remake or an update. It just dies on the console it lands on. But not Resident Evil 2. Resi 2 was risen from the grave...and again with the 2019 remake...and its here to stay. With that, I will admit, I am so grateful I gave this version an actual chance.

Also, quick note: If you plan to experience your Resi 2 game on your N64, please be sure to install an expansion pak. If you do not know what that is. Its the thing that is stored between your Power Button and your Reset Button. What it does is provide you with 8MB of RAM instead of 4MB. This should clean up your Resi game. Won't make it perfect, but the graphics will be less muddy. However, I have heard that it can mess up transferring between screens in the levels. Like old VCR screen tearing. I haven't experience that, myself, but I am warning you, it is possible.

Thank you so much for sticking it out till the end, guys! It really means a lot to me. As you can tell, I have passion for RE games and was really excited to do this. If I forgot something, I apologize. Special thanks to angel studios (The original name of the developers), Capcom, and Nintendo for making the impossible possible. And thank you Lotus Prince and Modern Vintage Gamer for the inspiration.

That's it for now. This is Kawaii Fox Reviews, signing off. I hope you enjoyed your stay. Until next time, stay foxy. ;)

And hey, it's up to us to take out Umbrella.

See ya!

[giriduck]

Almost there, folks: we're within 24 hours from TotK launch for much of the world.

Long post under the cut about Ganondorf thoughts in general.

I got into Legend of Zelda as a very small kiddo, way back when it first showed up in the United States on the NES. The limited lore was fine and good, the graphics were on par with everything else at the time, but it was the music that sucked me right in. I'd pop the cartridge in and launch the game just to listen to the theme during the opening scroll.

Zelda 2 was odd and I mostly ignored it. When A Link to the Past came out on the SNES, the enhanced graphics and music was breathtaking, and the story was vast and engaging. There was lore, and it was perfect for picking apart and analyzing. I cared about Link, the fate of Hyrule, and all the NPCs we met along the way. To this day, the epilogue music to ALLttP and the end credits still never fails to make me cry.

I was in my mid teens when Ocarina of Time came out. Subscribed to Nintendo Power Magazine by then, I was all in on the hype. The power of the N64! The first 3D Zelda game! A beefy and hot adult Link! After the launch of the game was delayed by a year, the excitement to play this game was intense.

It did not disappoint. While A Link to the Past was an excellent adventure, Ocarina of Time presented a version of Hyrule in which I genuinely enjoyed simply spending time. It was beautiful and immersive. It was the first atmospheric digital space that I'd seek out when I wanted to relax and watch the sun rise or set. It was the first of it's kind, and it was no surprise when years later, MMOs began rolling out with gorgeous skyboxes and scenery, as digital places for players to escape to. That was Hyrule for me. I already enjoyed it as a fictional kingdom through prior games (and the cartoon series, lol), but OoT solidified it as a beautiful place that I fell in love with.

So I could see why and how the antagonist of the series wanted lay claim to it so badly; it's a desirable, magnificent environment.

The reveal in A Link to the Past that Ganon--the very same baddie from the first game--was pulling the strings the whole time was pretty cool, as well as all the lore about the Golden Goddesses, the Triforce, Ganon's influence over the Dark World, etc. One of the Seven Maidens even mentioned Ganondorf by name, and briefly talked about Ganon's origin story as the guy who found the Triforce, after so many others had failed and all the wars and bloodshed over this mystical, legendary artifact. It was only a few lines, but it was so interesting, and felt like it was only scratching the surface of a much deeper history.

When Ocarina of Time came out, it was so light and fluffy running around as a child in Kokiri Forest until the Great Deku Tree revealed that he'd been cursed and was going to die. He launched into the history of the creation of Hyrule that aligned to lore from A Link to the Past, with music that harkened back to that game. It was a powerful shot of nostalgia.

Then the antagonist--the villain who would eventually find the Triforce--galloped across the screen, backlit by flames. He was big, he was mean, and he was going to appear centuries later in a new form as Ganon. I sort of knew where this was going because I'd played A Link to the Past, and now we got to see the man himself, when he was still a human.

I was instantly fascinated.

Later in the game, it's revealed that he was also a king, and--in a wild choice by Nintendo--depicted as a very rare cis male within his otherwise all-AFAB population of desert warrior people. A big fan of warrior woman archetypes in general, this was also of interest. The whole sociological implications of the, say, constrained demographics within Gerudo society was also an interesting thought experiment.

Ganondorf was such a cocky, arrogant bastard, though. During his seven-year reign, he seemed to squander Hyrule's bounty. He appeared selfish and unconcerned with his people. Although his unexplored backstory to his people and his connection to the Triforce were interesting, he was canonically a pretty terrible person.

Not long after Ocarina of Time came out, I used to frame Ganondorf as he was presented in the game: arrogant, conniving, and cruel.

This made me nervous for the Gerudo, who were in the challenging position of being expected to follow such a difficult person, who also happened to be their king. By extension, it felt like a setup for extremely toxic dynamics, and that did not sit right with me at all. So the mental fanon shifted to him just being uncaring and indifferent about everyone around him, and his quest for power was so all-consuming that he distanced himself from his people, anyway.

This still wasn’t the kind of person I wanted to give space to in my mind. The Gerudo deserved better, and surely they would take great care to raise their prince well, to help ensure their future king was aligned to their values and mores. His people would naturally care about him, and he would ideally reciprocate that to some degree.

Though he had the capacity for cruelty, he was no longer a fundamentally cruel person in my headcanon. “Conniving” evolved into “political” as required, and only a fraction of his original arrogance remained.

Then Wind Waker happened.

Those established headcanons aligned to the more mature, patient, world-weary version of Ganondorf we saw in Wind Waker; he was like who I'd constructed in my head, but even more so. This version was a man who'd suffered defeat and was imprisoned in a world in which he was forced to live with the consequences of his actions. The Hyrule he sought after--the same Hyrule players like myself fondly remember and loved--was maddeningly just outside of his reach. I found myself empathizing because I too, ached to restore the old world to its former glory.

Then, in his famous monologue at the end of the game, how he had sought out the comforts of Hyrule to escape the harsh environment of his home... How he had the names of his adopted mothers engraved onto his swords... Both revelations hit me hard.

For those of us who who wanted to believe that there was more complexity--and humanity--to Ganondorf than what we saw in Ocarina of Time, the reaction to the glimpses we saw in WW Ganondorf was like:

So now we are at the eve of Tears of the Kingdom launch. Will this Ganondorf be the most heartless version we’ve seen yet, or will he have complexity?

In Breath of the Wild, Calamity Ganon had killed Urbosa (a Gerudo Chief skilled with lightning, who was likely his distant descendant) in a very nasty reflection of her specific fighting style (sword, shield, and electricity), and then intimidated Gerudo Town through the possession of a Giant Mechanical Lightning Camel named after a woman he had once personally known, who had famously opposed him ages and ages ago, and because of that rebellion is still remembered as a heroine to the Gerudo.

Clearly his relationship with the Gerudo is going to be severely complicated, at best.

I am curious and actually very nervous about how Ganondorf interacts with the Gerudo in Tears of the Kingdom, if he actually does so at all.

[bryastar]

word salad #4

happy twilight Thursday!

today is a work day and something I'm thinking about right now is, yes just because this may be a daily blog doesn't necessarily mean I need to go into full detail about how every part of my days go. otherwise I'd be ranting about work for a vast majority of these entires.

so instead I wanna talk about... retro 3D platformers

a while back I came across a game called Cavern of Dreams. it claims itself to be inspired by retro 3D platformers. it features low poly graphics and textures with simple lighting effects, reminiscent of late N64 games. the gameplay feels very much like if Conker's Bad fur day was lighthearted and wholesome. what's also neat is camera controls are more reminiscent of later games, Mario sunshine and Zelda wind waker immediately come to mind for me. I've gotten through the first part of the game and really loving it so far, and the controls are probably the best I've seen in a long time.

but while thinking about this, I sorta made a bit of a realization... growing up, games like this were referred to as adventure games instead of 3d platformers. heck, I don't think I've seen the term "platformer" until around the mid 2000s. even Mario games I think we're more well known as action adventure games, or Zelda games being a puzzle adventure. PC adventure games tend to be point and click games, which is vastly different than what consoles typically offered. I personally think that NSMB for the DS may be in part why we now make this distinction as the 2D Mario games play vastly different than their 3D games, notably being easier to pick up and play.

but while on this thought train, I sorta began to wonder what sort of similarities that 3D platformers from this era had vs a point and click adventure game. what I ended up deciding on was: exploration. point and click games, you topically make progress by exploring the world around you and finding clues and solving puzzles by exploring the environment and talking to npcs. 3d platformers is... actually kinda the same, while typically focusing on item collecting, many similar elements show up such as exploring worlds and finding ways to progress by interacting with the levels and different characters.

while on that thought about collecting items...

a lot of late 90s and early 2000s platformers would feature collecting a long list of items. one prominent example is donkey Kong 64, which tends to be known as the game that killed collectathons. I have some thoughts on but I'll save for another entry, but I guess I will say that calling such games a collectathon very much misses the point of what the game is actually about. is it a game where you are sent out into a level and made to collect all the random items scattered on the ground, or is it a game where you're friends have been captured and your hoard of bananas have been stolen and you must rescue your friends and recover your bananas in order to progress while learning new moves and meeting interesting creatures who either help you or try to intervene. I dunno about most, but I like the latter premise better. (or maybe I out much more weight on a storyline for a game as opposed to the gameplay)

I hope this entry wasn't too hard or confusing to read, I guess I'm mostly rambling and jotting down bits and pieces of what's in my mind when I get a couple minutes of free time.

uhm..

pineapples (I need a better way to end these aa)

[desultory-novice]

It's... Kind of crazy how lore heavy the Kirby series is. Remember when it was just about a little puffball getting food back from a penguin?

Oops, I almost forgot about this one!

As an OG fan from the very beginning... I never would have guessed my favorite game where you play a round puffball beating up other vaguely puffy and non-puffy things and like... dancing mushrooms and sentient brooms with hats would ever turn out this way!

...My favorite level in the original was Float Islands because I just loved the idea of being on a tropical beach. Even though as soon as you enter the caves, it became dark (ish) and full of scary Kabu! Oh, and Little Dess could NOT avoid those exploding coconuts! So even though I liked it, I was awful at it...

My favorite boss was Lololo and Lalala because we had rented "Lolo's Adventure" once on the NES (but never beat it) and I was like "!!! I know these two, omigosh omigosh omigosh!"

Also, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I always thought King Dedede was a FROG! I mean, he had a big mouth and he jumped, so? I don't know if Little Dess ever read the instruction manual, come to think of it. And I had NO idea about challenge mode. Not that I think I could have handled it at my skill level.

I loved how interesting and new and fantastical everything was! Grumpy trees and clouds that spat out little one-eyed monsters at you! (I always had a fondness for the Waddle Doos. They looked more "expressive" to me than the original Waddle Dees and my own visual impairment made them more sympathetic to me.)

After that... Kirby's Adventure just felt like another Kirby game to me? I think the "Dedede Twist" actually carries a bit more weight now than it seemed to at the time. Like Kirby, I didn't hold a grudge against Dedede so if he was actually the good guy, well, that was cool! And while Super Star's last boss was fairly traumatizing to me (and now my favorite character for some reason...) I still didn't get this big LORE~ feeling from it.

Now, I didn't beat Dream Land 3 at the time. Just got a few stages in and then put it down. I think I always thought the last boss with Zero was either one of those hoax-y internet rumors or someone's gory sprite edit that got popular! Hahahaha!

And we didn't have an N64 - had to borrow one from a friend - but he had no interest in owning Kirby so though I often saw Crystal Shards for rent in Blockbuster (lol) it never lined up with the times we were borrowing this guy's N64. (I sure played the heck out of Mischief Makers though. We all loved that game!)

I also missed Return to Dream Land the first time around (I saw it in shops but I was moving away from console games) so the first time I was cognizently like "...Wait. Was Kirby always this way?" was playing Triple Deluxe. After finishing it, I began to re-examine "Kirby" as I had known it. Little did I know it would get even more wild from there!

...So yes. I remember! XD

[sp00kymulderr]

Omg Dieter as your roommate- the whole place smells like weed and you always know where he is because he’s left a trail of kit-kat wrappers in his wake. He also leaves his dildos in the dishwasher.

ok but fr I think living with him would be kinda fun, and we love a hygienic king. Though those are probably the only thing he cleans, no dishes done but by god the sex toys are sparkling clean.

I had this really elaborate daydream once about being his roomie and sitting on the floor with him (bc we didn't own a couch) playing mario kart on the n64 and how he gets super competitive and lowkey mean about it. Never play monopoly with him.

[sukimas]

thought wrong! 7, 12, 32?

7. That's a really hard ask. Most of my favorite stuff about FE isn't per se the characters, rather how the story applies to them (for example, Ishtar would be the most boring character in the world were it not for the situation she finds herself in.) But probably Naga? I mean, we don't really get to see her much at all (outside of heroes which doesn't count) but she's eccentric, has very different morals to human beings while still being unquestionably and even self-sacrificingly on their side, and makes a lot of mistakes/questionable decisions. The Tiki thing, non-interventionism in human affairs except when she personally is cool with it, giving people dragonslaying weapons just in case (the valentian falchion was given long before degeneration began at the very least), absolutely NO compromises we are taking human form NOW, "have you considered suicide, fell vessel?"... all while she ended up exhausting her power and eating shit to save the continent of Jugdral, created the Binding Shield to protect humanity for generations, will literally come back from the dead for 5 minutes to save you if you have unutterably fucked up your shadow dragon save file (and just for fun in new mystery)... She's really neat and I like her. Also her dragon form is cool and I will never never never forgive yusuke kozaki for awakening's divine dragon designs.

12. Thracia deserved to be released earlier than SEVERAL YEARS INTO THE N64'S LIFESPAN. And it deserved better than being treated as esoteric and unplayable thanks to a bugged translation patch for twenty years. TF?rururu. But it's one of the best games in the series, not particularly difficult and a fun challenge with a guide, and has really interesting mechanics and an excellent story. Yet it is continually overlooked even by people who play Genealogy (the second most popular game in the series in Japan, by the way). Very sad.

32. I'm pretty positive about the current direction the series is taking. Engage was developed mostly before 3H released and IS saw how positively people reacted to the tone in that one- the story is still more serviceable than many in the series, and the gameplay is some of the most fun I've had outside of Thracia or RD. I personally hope that future games have more varied map objectives, go further into giving the Avatar agency (since at this point, the avatar is just a normal lord again rather than the weird shit the 3DS did) and perhaps even allow them to have their memories, put an increased emphasis on worldbuilding and villain character development and keep comedy strictly to supports (the latter of which this game mostly does well but there are moments. timerra meat song). Of things that I think probably won't happen: I don't think that the games will ever have some of the really good bits of the kaga sagas, like esoteric character interactions for insane PRF weapons. Of things that could happen: I'd really like conversations on maps to make a comeback; 3H had them to some extent, but nothing like Genealogy, and I think they often do better work at character development than an entire support chain thanks to their relevance to the current story beats. I'd also like more unique boss conversations a la POR/RD. Basically, I think IS's writing chops are solid, but they need to be a little bit more ambitious with how they deliver their ideas without thinking "being more ambitious" means putting too many routes that you can't finish in your video game. Also please keep whoever directed Engage around solely to tell all the other potential directors if the way they're writing women is weird. This is the most normally women have been written in any FE game besides Tellius and it's incredibly refreshing. I don't know if Tei or Nakanishi is the one responsible for this, but by god. Women are written like people, in story and in supports. Revolutionary.

Overall: Keep what was good about Engage (which was a lot) but be more ambitious in terms of how you deliver the story. I think broadly "you're a young lord on the defensive against a greater foe and you fight an evil dragon at the end" is a perfectly fine FE story (Kaga certainly seems to think so, as it's the only story he's ever written); the difference is in how you tell that story. You can be more experimental with the types of stories you tell if you want, but it isn't as necessary as simply delivering that story well.

[mallardmonster]

Ok so when the Suicune said it would call me? Well it did, when I was asleep, on the Pokegear and not on my real phone thank god. I had the TV turned off so I didn’t hear it but when I turned it on this greeted me

After I pressed A it got snarky with me

Imagine getting called out by a ghost or some shit

It started to explain that it had found a convenient channel for communicating and asked me to talk to it, then ended the call. I was kinda tempted to not do it to see what would happen but there’s like nothing else to do on this map and I wanted to see what was up with it. Can you guess what this revolutionary communication channel was?

Mail.

Keep in mind I have no Pokemon on me so I guess it’s just pulling up the mail function for this or whatever but I guess it works?

Anyway it prompted me to ask it anything so I asked it who it was and got this

So I asked it WHAT it was instead

That would be cool if it wasn’t for the fact these cartridges have like, 8 mb of space I think. And I’m pretty sure you’re not fitting an advanced AI into that kind of space so, ghost theory stands for now even if it doesn’t think it’s a ghost

Then it asked me this

I said yes but it just popped up the yes/no box again. Why are you asking if you already know???

It forced me to the mail screen again so I told it its on an N64 and it was like ooh yes of course like some smug motherfucker lmao I talked to it again after that and it immediately gave me the mail screen again, I’m guessing that’s like its new default prompt unless it has something to say to me. Anyway I asked it some more stuff, here’s a recap of the answers I got:

Are you gonna haunt me now: Would you like me to? Haha.

How long have you been here: As long as you remember. I couldn’t give you exact years at this point.

Where are you from: Do you really think that’s relevant information?

Is this game haunted: It’s about as haunted as any old ROM. Code isn’t haunted, it’s just doing what it’s been told to do. And sometimes what it wasn’t exactly told, at least by the people who made it.

What do you want: I would’ve liked you to replace the battery beforehand. Too late for that now, though, we might as well move on with what we have.

What do you need: A way out.

What’s a way out: Could be any number of things. How can you save decaying technology? Maybe you need discs and drives for it, maybe there are other ways. Personally? I’m counting on the latter. Incidentally, do you remember the first Pokémon you caught? Where is it now? What do you think remains of it?

I’m not sure what else I should ask it so I dropped it for now. I guess it’ll call me again if it needs me? Not a fan of how cryptic it’s acting tho, it’s talking like this is a game or something (yes I’m playing a video game but you know what I mean). If anyone has any ideas for things I could ask let me know maybe?