Zeldathon day 29 – Majora’s Mask mirror shield

Played a little bit today, got through the annoying little maze to the mirror shield but ultimetly some people were over so gave up continuing. I will finish MM soon.

Okami

Well, I said opinions to follow so here they are:

I loved the visual style, that’s the first comment and I think it’s the first thing most people would comment on. As you run around the field, seeing the swirls of the wind while running past animals with flowers trailing you was a great visual experience.

My main problem with the game was that I felt the story was mildly disjointed at certain times, and that I felt forced to follow it. However, it was filled with nice characters. I was constantly being told to go here or do that, that I didn’t want to take time to explore the world. I know this is a personal thing but in a title like Zelda, I feel that there is a goal but I never feel under pressure and thus taking some time out isn’t a problem. However, if I was to play again I would willingly take time to poke around.

So, the game itself. I have to say that to start with the combat felt weak, but with additional weapons (and the sub weapon option) as well as more brush strokes which led to slightly more complicated enemies, as such the combat become something wholey enjoyable by the end, which is always nice. however, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the arena style the game had because I felt it made the enemies feel seperate from the world itself, but I lived with it.

As for the dungeons, I didn’t think they got very challenging until the last few, but they were fun. The more ‘context sensitive’ brush effects (like water, fire or lightning) made certain puzzles more obvious than they woul have been

And the boss’? Pretty good stuff overall. However, standouts include the last boss which was ace and the ninetails because it could draw as well as you meaning you felt pressured.

So did I ultimetly enjoy Okami? Yes, very much so. The story carried extremely well as a whole, the combat was fun and the dungeons were ok (but not as complex as I would have liked). In my opinion, it’s a 9.

Zeldathon day 28 – Majora’s Mask.

Not much progress, got up to Ikana and hit the owl statue. I’ve been playing Okami over the last few days, finished it today, stunning game but I’ll save the detailed opinions for another time as I’m oft out now.

-Dala

As the flower dies, the SEEDS are spread…

Taken from this article, several members of Clover have regrouped to create a new development studio called ‘SEEDS’.

Personally, this is the best news I’ve read in a while, considering I’m currently enjoying the visual delight that is Okami, I was sad that we may never see something of it’s grandeur after the closure of Clover. However, I can now hold my head high as we look forward to the future titles of this studio.

My take on platform? Well, their love for cel shading (as apparent in Joe and Okami) shows the quality of visuals they can push on PS2 hardware and as such I would love to see them develop for the Wii, but their creativity mixed with the power of either the 360 or PS3 would be simply amazing. Perhaps if one of the big three snatched up the company as publisher, they could keep the creative genius afloat.

But with a pedigree including the best in survival horror, brawler, action, adventure and big mech game (imagine those merged into one game, this development studio could be one of, if not, the worlds best.

Valentine’s Day – The best Gaming Couples.

The Best Gaming Couples.

Stuck for Valentine romance or after sharing a game with your other half? How about playing as some of gaming’s best couples, or maybe getting your other half in on the fun. So with that, I’ll take a look at some of the best couples in gaming.

Ico and Yorda:

No gaming couple are as subdued as the duo from this Playstation 2 classic. Trapped in a castle, Ico breaks free of his prison and finds the helpless Yorda trapped in a cage. Being the kind spirited youth he is, it’s up to Ico to guide Yorda out of the castle. While not the most openly romantic of companionships, the growing trust between them and the connection that grows between Ico and Yorda is more than enough to warrant them a position as one of gaming’s best couples.

 

 

 

Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen:

The duo of the Resident Evil prequel story are not the most obvious of couples, from Billy’s rude opening comments (‘been fantasising about me?’) you wouldn’t expect Rebecca to have a weak spot for the man. However, it would only be a mad person to hold a grudge after being saved from demonic leech’s and oversized insects to name but a few from the list. While Chris’ introduction may have been more fitting for a hero (blasting a Hunter away as it walks menacingly towards the damsel) Rebecca’s worried stutter at the closing moments of Resident Evil Zero suggest more than mere friendship towards the hard as nails Billy.

Anju and Kafei:

The stars of the couples mask side quest in Majora’s Mask, these two have had their love disturbed by evil magic, and Kafei has gone into hiding (not exactly the Romeo type). And so, rather than use his extensive past travelling abilities to woo Romani (being a time traveller, Link could learn all the necessary information), he sets out to bring their love together again just before the world is destroyed. Link works as a run between before adventuring to Ikana Canyon to clai back the sun mask from the thief, helping Kafei through a series of tricky puzzles on the way. Link’s reward is simply a mask, which has no real importance (apart from allowing him to obtain the Feice Deity mask later) so it’s really in the name of them being happy. Everyone together now… Aw!

 

Jonathan and Charlotte:

The vampire slaying duo from portrait of ruin on the DS, their awkward relationship is viewed as purely professional but, as with Rebecca and Billy, when you see someone kill Death with a whip, I’m sure it would give you butterflies. Try playing with the two characters on the screen at once for as long as possible, busting out combo moves all over the castle and it will be obvious that these two make a dynamic couple. You can even play through the co op stages with that special someone. Nothing like some vicious monster slaying to set the mood…

Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago:

Come on, if these two are not gay then I don’t know what. The stars of Gear of War only ever separate on about three occasions, and even then they are no more than ten meters from each other and they frequently share in Locust chainsaw massacres by the moonlight. Not even that, the only female character in the game (Anya) never has a pass made to her from any of the male characters. And who else would break you out of jail personally but your gay lover. Just don’t tell a friend why you want to play co-op if it’s after reading this, he might get the wrong impression. And don’t get me started on Baird and Cole.

So, any others to add?

Zeldaton day 27 – Majora’s Mask dungeon three.

I managed to play enough today to clear dungeon three, it’s a good water temple with some nice water direction changing and what not, and the two sub boss’ are very fun (and hard in comparison to other boss’). So, it’s onward to Ikana Canyon tomorrow!

Oh and a thank you to my sister again, who visited me here in Staffs yesterday and left today, twas fun.

Do you take this koopa to be your lawful wedded husband!?

I’m of course referring to the, rather unusual, press release concerning Super Paper Mario:

“Nintendo of America Requests the Pleasure of Your Company at the Marriage of

Peach
to
Bowser

on the 9th Day of April 2007

The nuptials will take place at the beginning of Super Paper Mario, which will be available for Nintendo’s hot new Wii home video game system. Those who wish to attend – or thwart – the ceremony will need to switch between 2-D and 3-D.”

Taken from this thread, it’s a very interesting press release which throws up several ideas of the game, as well as proving that the quirky humour of the RPG games is thankfully intact. The first ‘must buy’ for the Wii since Zelda? I think it may well be (unless Sonic is really, really good).

Zeldathon day 26 – Majora’s Mask, swimming.

Didn’t do much today, but what I did took quite a while! Rescuing the eggs from the pirates and the rock out to sea, couldn’t remember most of it so it took a while, and it is a fairly beafy mid dungeon section.

I also picked up Okami today, I’ yet to start it but it should be good… At least I’ve read that it is…

Zeldathon day 25 – Majora’s Mask day 2.

What did I spend my second day with Majora’s Mask doing? Side quests and the second dungeon, that’s what.

I can’t play Majora’s Mask without falling prey of the distractions around Link, the bustling Clock Town with it’s many locales to add to the Bombers notebook, and subsequently help is a brilliant task, so I did some of them before getting back on track and traveersing Snowpeak.

Dungeon 2 – after getting into this dungeon, it kept me occupied for a further hour, it’s small but brilliantly designed with some lovely puzzle, especially the ‘pillar’ in the middle room. And the boss, Ghot, is fantastic as you speed after him as a Goron ramming him while grabbing magic and avoiding attacks is an extreme rush. A very solid Dungeon.

Here’s another point I think is brilliant about Majora, the streamlined collection tasks. The stray fairies are kept to the dungeons, and this is a much better design choice than the Gold Skulltula’s of OoT in my opinion, as the fifteen fairies per dungeon are in that dungeon, it means that it is easily achieveable without a guide. Jut one thing I prefer about MM.

Zeldathon day 24 – Majora’s Mask.

Now, this game is an odd one. Just playing through the dungeons may not be enough because the sidequests are the true meat of this game (although the main quest is sizeable) so I will probably take time out of the quest a lot. Anyway, on with the show.

The thing I like about this Zelda, is that is throws you in at the deep end, Tatl isn’t as obtrusive as Navi and the story is genuinly wierd and quirky. Take, for example, the overly bright observatory, colourful and joy filled areas like this perfectly contrast the massive evil moon that is looming over you head, from a design standpoint this game is a different breed to other Zelda games, maybe with the exception of LA.

So, once Link takes huan form again, the adventure truly starts and initial thoughts are how bustling and life filled Clock town is, the more cluttered field design is more akin to the 2D games and the feel has a great ‘familiar but different’ feel, such as the mountain which you have never seen before but through the use of the Death Mountain cloud, it seems familiar.

Once I had rescued the witch and stealthed my way to the monkey, I got to the first dungeon proper and again, there is no messing around really. From the dungeon you have to tackle sub boss’ that require deku scrub to Link switches, arrows through flame puzzles and a fairly vicious boss. All this and Tatl feels more natural than Navi, beautiful.