Mm, there's no really no difficulty in Firewatch. It's a plot driven experience. With a few extra things to find if you wander around when you get the opportunity.
That's not to say there isn't any tension, there is. And the story is quite enjoyable if you ask me. I loved it.
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CFFJR - Next-Gen
- Posts: 4424
- Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:51 am
- Location: Denver, CO
Re: Games Beaten 2017
GameSack wrote:That's right, only Sega had the skill to make a proper Nintendo game.
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PartridgeSenpai - Next-Gen
- Posts: 2650
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Partridge Senpai's 2017 Beaten Games:
1. Tales of Hearts R (Vita)
2. UPPERS (Vita)
3. Volume (Vita)
4. Overlord: Minions (DS)
5. Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)
6. Overlord II (PS3)
7. Overlord: Dark Legend (Wii)
8. La-Mulana (Remake) (PC)
9. Infamous: Second Son (PS4)
10. htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Vita)
11. Blood Bowl (360)
12. Dead to Rights: Retribution (360)
13. Bioshock Infinite (360)
14. Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Part 1 (360)
15. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 2 (360)
16. Singularity (360)
17. Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter X (Saturn)
The 18+ rated, Japan-only fighting game that I HAD to at least try, basically gave me what I expected and then some. There's certainly nothing pornographic, but there's definitely Ecchi up to 100 here. For the record, I'm very bad at SFII-style fighting games.
It' a fighting game with 12 characters, all of whom are varying costumes of scantily anime girls. From a sailor-uniform school girl, to an airline stewardess, to the one I chose which was a go-go dancer in body-tight clothing and really revealing cleavage. I didn't exactly muck around with EVERY character (I only ever played two or three), but once I found one whose special moves I could reliably pull off AND who had a very silly outfit, I stuck with her and pressed on. Her walk cycle backwards is absolutely ridiculous: her boobs spin in counterclockwise directions over a cycle of like 4 frames and it was always so funny. If I had the capacity to record and gif it, I totally would, as it must be seen to be believed.
As could be expected from a game with this kind of art direction, the presentation is actually quite nice. The characters are all very different looking, there are like 16 different stages with their own musical tracks (some of which I thought were quite good), and there are a good few voice samples for each character as well. Each character even has a different voice actress.
The characters are fairly SFII-ish, with holding backwards blocking, and then 3 levels of kick and 3 levels of punch. I don't think the shoulder buttons do anything, at least nothing I could discern. Juli, the character I picked, has a quarter-circle forward punch and a half-circle forward punch, one of which is a big ol' fireball and the other is a spinning-arms forward lunge, both of which are very good. I could never find out which was which, as they seemed to go off whenever they felt like it no matter what kind of circle-forwards I did, but they were enough to bullshit me to victory. Final boss was CRAZY OP, with a chip-damage fireball that took off like a third to a quarter of my health per shot. Just kinda had to hope her AI was dumb enough to not dodge my fireballs properly and eventually won Xp
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. Not really comfortable recommending games in a genre I'm so unfamiliar with, but it was silly nonsense that entertained me and gave me some good laughs for an hour, which is exactly what I wanted. Definitely something I think Exhuminator or Elkin could get a good laugh out of as well if they wanted to emulate it or something. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that it made me laugh enough that I'm considering purchasing this game to show to other friends to laugh at as well
18. Ultraman: Hikari No Kyojin Densetsu
Another Japan-only fighting game, this time centered around Ultraman. It even needs one of those expanded memory cartridges to work properly. Again, fairly good presentation, but lacking in substance.
Honestly, I could barely even figure out how to play through this. I think there are three attack buttons: A kick, a punch, and a special button. The special button would sometimes would do special moves when combined with some kind of d-pad combo, but I could never get anything to work remotely reliably. You also NEED to kill your opponent in story mode. Just running down the clock and having higher HP isn't enough. I did the whole game forward-dashing and jump-kicking, so that's a decent enough way to beat it on easy mode
In the story mode you can pick from 5 different generations of Ultraman to play as, and there are 10 or so monsters from the series to fight. Their 2D-digitized models actually look fairly nice, and actually like a guy in a suit (for better or worse). I personally would've preferred stylized animation, but this was near the age of Mortal Kombat, so digitized graphics were still popular, I guess. I never tried out the versus mode on this one, but I would assume you can play as the monsters in that bit (it would be fairly insane if you couldn't O.o). You fight in 3D battlefields with 2D buildings everywhere you destroy as you knock each other into them, which is a pretty cool effect. Some of them are very cool though. My favorite was Ace Killer's stage, where there're a bunch of crucified (yes, really) Ultramen in the background. The one where you can destroy Tokyo Tower one was pretty neat too though. The musical selection is very poor though. Only two songs ever play during story mode, one during the first 9 fights, no matter the stage, and one for the final fight against Zetton.
Verdict: Not Recommended. Unless you're a BIG Ultraman fan, there's really no reason to play this. If you can get it for a buck or two, it's a neat enough toy to muck around with, but as a fighting game it's much more style than actual substance.
1. Tales of Hearts R (Vita)
2. UPPERS (Vita)
3. Volume (Vita)
4. Overlord: Minions (DS)
5. Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)
6. Overlord II (PS3)
7. Overlord: Dark Legend (Wii)
8. La-Mulana (Remake) (PC)
9. Infamous: Second Son (PS4)
10. htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Vita)
11. Blood Bowl (360)
12. Dead to Rights: Retribution (360)
13. Bioshock Infinite (360)
14. Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Part 1 (360)
15. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 2 (360)
16. Singularity (360)
17. Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter X (Saturn)
The 18+ rated, Japan-only fighting game that I HAD to at least try, basically gave me what I expected and then some. There's certainly nothing pornographic, but there's definitely Ecchi up to 100 here. For the record, I'm very bad at SFII-style fighting games.
It' a fighting game with 12 characters, all of whom are varying costumes of scantily anime girls. From a sailor-uniform school girl, to an airline stewardess, to the one I chose which was a go-go dancer in body-tight clothing and really revealing cleavage. I didn't exactly muck around with EVERY character (I only ever played two or three), but once I found one whose special moves I could reliably pull off AND who had a very silly outfit, I stuck with her and pressed on. Her walk cycle backwards is absolutely ridiculous: her boobs spin in counterclockwise directions over a cycle of like 4 frames and it was always so funny. If I had the capacity to record and gif it, I totally would, as it must be seen to be believed.
As could be expected from a game with this kind of art direction, the presentation is actually quite nice. The characters are all very different looking, there are like 16 different stages with their own musical tracks (some of which I thought were quite good), and there are a good few voice samples for each character as well. Each character even has a different voice actress.
The characters are fairly SFII-ish, with holding backwards blocking, and then 3 levels of kick and 3 levels of punch. I don't think the shoulder buttons do anything, at least nothing I could discern. Juli, the character I picked, has a quarter-circle forward punch and a half-circle forward punch, one of which is a big ol' fireball and the other is a spinning-arms forward lunge, both of which are very good. I could never find out which was which, as they seemed to go off whenever they felt like it no matter what kind of circle-forwards I did, but they were enough to bullshit me to victory. Final boss was CRAZY OP, with a chip-damage fireball that took off like a third to a quarter of my health per shot. Just kinda had to hope her AI was dumb enough to not dodge my fireballs properly and eventually won Xp
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. Not really comfortable recommending games in a genre I'm so unfamiliar with, but it was silly nonsense that entertained me and gave me some good laughs for an hour, which is exactly what I wanted. Definitely something I think Exhuminator or Elkin could get a good laugh out of as well if they wanted to emulate it or something. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that it made me laugh enough that I'm considering purchasing this game to show to other friends to laugh at as well
18. Ultraman: Hikari No Kyojin Densetsu
Another Japan-only fighting game, this time centered around Ultraman. It even needs one of those expanded memory cartridges to work properly. Again, fairly good presentation, but lacking in substance.
Honestly, I could barely even figure out how to play through this. I think there are three attack buttons: A kick, a punch, and a special button. The special button would sometimes would do special moves when combined with some kind of d-pad combo, but I could never get anything to work remotely reliably. You also NEED to kill your opponent in story mode. Just running down the clock and having higher HP isn't enough. I did the whole game forward-dashing and jump-kicking, so that's a decent enough way to beat it on easy mode
In the story mode you can pick from 5 different generations of Ultraman to play as, and there are 10 or so monsters from the series to fight. Their 2D-digitized models actually look fairly nice, and actually like a guy in a suit (for better or worse). I personally would've preferred stylized animation, but this was near the age of Mortal Kombat, so digitized graphics were still popular, I guess. I never tried out the versus mode on this one, but I would assume you can play as the monsters in that bit (it would be fairly insane if you couldn't O.o). You fight in 3D battlefields with 2D buildings everywhere you destroy as you knock each other into them, which is a pretty cool effect. Some of them are very cool though. My favorite was Ace Killer's stage, where there're a bunch of crucified (yes, really) Ultramen in the background. The one where you can destroy Tokyo Tower one was pretty neat too though. The musical selection is very poor though. Only two songs ever play during story mode, one during the first 9 fights, no matter the stage, and one for the final fight against Zetton.
Verdict: Not Recommended. Unless you're a BIG Ultraman fan, there's really no reason to play this. If you can get it for a buck or two, it's a neat enough toy to muck around with, but as a fighting game it's much more style than actual substance.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
- Flake
- Moderator
- Posts: 8008
- Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:27 pm
- Location: San Antonio, TX
Re: Games Beaten 2017
January:
March:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Oh wow. This game was amazing. It not only is squeezing out Wind Waker as my favorite Zelda game, it may end up being my favorite game period. The lavish praise this game is receiving is completely earned and I can only imagine how influential BotW will end up being for Japanese (and hopefully Western) game development moving forward.
It's also the first game I have played/finished on the Nintendo Switch and it has been an absolute joy. Small things like the quick loading or the comfort of the pro controller were nice. Big things like power going out in my house during the last fight and having the console continue on battery power saving me having to start over are even better.
This game is a great start to Nintendo's new system.
March:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Oh wow. This game was amazing. It not only is squeezing out Wind Waker as my favorite Zelda game, it may end up being my favorite game period. The lavish praise this game is receiving is completely earned and I can only imagine how influential BotW will end up being for Japanese (and hopefully Western) game development moving forward.
It's also the first game I have played/finished on the Nintendo Switch and it has been an absolute joy. Small things like the quick loading or the comfort of the pro controller were nice. Big things like power going out in my house during the last fight and having the console continue on battery power saving me having to start over are even better.
This game is a great start to Nintendo's new system.
The PSTV is amazing.
---------------
Nintendo ID: Mecha_Flake
PS Network: jace-flake
---------------
Nintendo ID: Mecha_Flake
PS Network: jace-flake
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BogusMeatFactory - Next-Gen
- Posts: 6770
- Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:16 pm
- Location: Farmington Hills, MI
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Flake wrote:January:
March:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Oh wow. This game was amazing. It not only is squeezing out Wind Waker as my favorite Zelda game, it may end up being my favorite game period. The lavish praise this game is receiving is completely earned and I can only imagine how influential BotW will end up being for Japanese (and hopefully Western) game development moving forward.
It's also the first game I have played/finished on the Nintendo Switch and it has been an absolute joy. Small things like the quick loading or the comfort of the pro controller were nice. Big things like power going out in my house during the last fight and having the console continue on battery power saving me having to start over are even better.
This game is a great start to Nintendo's new system.
Oh yeah the power outage is a big thing. We had crazy wind that was causing off again on again power outages in our apartment for an entire day and the system Powered through.
Ack wrote:I don't know, chief, the haunting feeling of lust I feel whenever I look at your avatar makes me think it's real.
-I am the idiot that likes to have fun and be happy.
-
ElkinFencer10 - Next-Gen
- Posts: 7684
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 25
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (3 Games Beaten)
25. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch - March 18
Unless you've been making a point of avoiding any gaming-related news, you've undoubtedly heard that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has made quite a splash since its release on March 3. It's broken Metacritic's record for the most perfect scores, and its average Metacritic score is a 97 (for reference, the highest average rating for a game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's 99). All of this is despite the fact that it's running on either sub-par or extremely outdated hardware in terms of graphical power (depending on if you're playing on Switch or Wii U, respectively). Does it live up to that hype, though? Does it really deserve its spot as - based on number of perfect scores from critics, at least - the greatest video game of all time? I offer here my as-objective-as-possible-for-a-long-time-Zelda-fan opinion.
Let us begin with a brief synopsis of the game's story. Being a Zelda game, the basic plot is obviously "Ganon has returned to conquer Hyrule, and it's up to Link to wield the Master Sword and save both Princess Zelda and the world." This game is the same...but at the same time very different. Link begins this journey awaking in a sarcophagus filled with a pool of some sort of ethereal water inside some manner of underground shrine. As he gets his bearings, he hears a voice, faint yet distinct. "Link..." the voice calls. "Link...." a bit louder. The disembodied voice beckons to Link, ushering him to a terminal in the corner that holds an ancient Shieka tablet - an obvious nod to the game's origins as a Wii U exclusive.
When you leave the Shrine of Resurrection, you find yourself in a clearing high atop a plateau overlooking the realm of Hyrule. For any player, the view and sheer vastness is breath-taking; for a veteran Zelda fans, it's downright emotional. Very quickly you realize that this is no ordinary entry in the Zelda series. This is the fulfillment of the promise made by Ocarina of Time - a vast Hyrule filled with unique fauna and flora, rich lore, and vibrant landscapes begging to be explored. You see what appears to be an old hermit and, with no other direction with regards of what to do next, you approach him and encounter the next drastic change to the Zelda formula - actual legitimate voice acting. There's no Bethesda level of voice acting here, though; Nintendo chose to use voice acting as one would use paprika. There's enough to accentuate the mood and add a feeling of life and vibrancy to the game, but there's never enough for it to take center stage.
Here, while still on the Great Plateau, you will encounter the only remotely "linear" thing about this game. Whereas other Zelda games have a distinct "this dungeon, then this dungeon, then this dungeon" direction to them, the closest you get to that in Breath of the Wild is the pseudo-tutorial at the start. After that, it's up to you if you want rush straight to Hyrule Castle and defeat Ganon with three hearts and a stick or choose to spend the next 50 to 100 hours exploring Hyrule, conquering shrines, earning heart upgrades, and building an arsenal of weapons to make Hannibal Barca tremble in fear. Even within the latter option, do you go from one Divine Beast to the next - the game's primary "dungeons" - and then straight to Ganon, or do you take your time, wander aimlessly, and let Hyrule take you wherever the pleases? That's what makes this so different from any other Zelda game - the freedom to do - or not do - whatever the hell you damn well please on your journey to seal Ganon and restore peace to Hyrule.
Do not, however, approach this game expecting Skyrim. This is no RPG. There's no experience, and defeating enemies earns you nothing save for the materials they drop. Completing quests rarely provides you with any substantial reward save a feeling of satisfaction, and the only crafting of any sort in this game is cooking. This is very much an adventure game, not a role playing game. The only way to "strengthen" Link is to equip him with better weapons, better armor, and trade Spirit Orbs for stamina upgrades or heart containers. This game is not about building a character and becoming a mighty warrior to make gods cower. This game is about exploration. This game is about immersion. This game is about experiencing Hyrule and the realization of our childhood fantasies about that magical land when all we had were 8 or 16-bit sprites. While games like Skyrim, Dragon Age, and Far Cry certainly include several of those things, they make up the core essence of what this game is.
Let's take a break from my abandonment of objectivity and look at some more quantifiable aspects of the game. Visually, Breath of Wild isn't Skyrim Remastered or Far Cry Primal. The hardware just can't support the kind of cutting edge graphics some people have come to expect. It does, however, look absolutely beautiful nonetheless. Yes, if you slam your face up against a rock, you'll see the lower quality textures. The game lacks the degree of anti-aliasing that open world games on stronger hardware feature. Enemies and environmental models don't appear until you're within a certain distance. These are undeniable, and if what you want is a photo realistic experience, then this game might not be for you. What it does do, however, is take Skyward Sword's blend of realism and cel shading and perfect it. There's a distinct cartoony hue to the world, but it's subtle, as if viewing the world through a cartoon filter. While not striving for the realism that Fallout and Elder Scrolls attempt, Breath of the Wild does capture an artistic beauty that - in my opinion - those games fail to achieve.
Truthfully, the only area about which I can really levy true complaints is performance. While I've only played on Switch, from what I understand, both the Wii U version and the Switch port suffer from occasional and at times severe frame rate drops. Almost never does this truly interrupt the game, but they are noticeable. Were I to hazard a guess, I would wager that these issues occur for different reasons on each system - the Wii U is being taxed to its limits, and the Switch is running a port of a game that was designed for a system with a totally different architecture running on an engine designed for a system with a totally different architecture. The important thing, however, is that while these performance drops are indeed irksome, they do not hinder gameplay in any real way, and I encountered no bugs of any kind outside of those occasional frame rate drops during my roughly 90 hour playthrough.
Another thing that long-time Zelda players will notice about this game that is extremely different from previous entries in the series is the relative lack of music. The Legend of Zelda has long been known for its outstanding music - among the best in the entire gaming industry. The worldwide tours of the Symphony of the Goddess can attest to that. Breath of the Wild certainly has music, but it's very light and subdued for the most part. Certain parts or battles have some nice fight music, but by and large, the sound design puts the focus on the ambient sounds of the world, not a musical score. At first, I found this disappointing, but the more I played the more I really got sucked into the open world of Hyrule, the more fitting it began to seem.
With regards to combat, the game leaves it very much up to you how you want to approach that. With the exception of one quest, stealth is never forced (and really, if you want to Rambo it, you can technically get through that dungeon without steal; it's hard af, but I managed it). If you sneak up behind an enemy unnoticed - aided by crouching and either wearing stealth armor or using a stealth elixir - you can perform a sneak strike, dealing massive damage and often instantly killing your foe. You could also choose to fight from range, learning your bow's arrow drop and raining death on your enemies from above. Headshots deal massive damage and stun, so that's an attractive option. If your targets are at the bottom of a cliff or ravine, you can stand at the top and just drop bombs on them. Since bombs are unlimited, that's an option I chose more than a couple times with particularly powerful and well-placed foes. You can, of course, choose my method of choice - run in screaming with a sword and massacre everything breathing.
While there aren't levels, per se, in Breath of the Wild, some enemies are DEFINITELY more powerful than others, and you'll quickly learn which enemies you can rush and which need either careful planning or to be avoided entirely. Some random field enemies will prove much more difficult than bosses - including, in one or two instances, Ganon itself. If you want to get your favorite armor set fully upgraded and take advantage of that set bonus, however, these enemies are going to need to be farmed for drops. Some also have certain weaknesses; some may be especially vulnerable to arrows aimed at a particular weak spot or a certain type of arrow like ice or fire. Learning what tactic and what weapons to employ against each enemy is critical for success.
Within the world of Hyrule, literally over a thousand secrets await you. There are 120 shrines hidden throughout the game, 900 Koroks hidden for you to find, and at least four secret or otherwise hidden mounts. There are hidden easter eggs, special items, and references to past games for those willing to put in the time and effort to seek them out. If you have amiibos or a friend with them, then there are whole sets of armor and weapons that are exclusive amiibo unlocks including Epona herself. This is a game that definitely encourage exploration and reward thoroughness.
ughout the game, you will find memories of Link from 100 years in the past when he, Princess Zelda, and the other four Champions first did battle with Calamity Ganon before his near-fatal wounding and memory loss. These memories are fully voice acted cut scenes, and they enhance the story telling and character development in this game in a way that has never been seen before in The Legend of Zelda. Zelda herself has her character developed wonderfully and in such a way that will likely leave most players wanting to know more of this brilliant and anguished princess. It is my hope that this level of character development is the start of a new norm for the series as it truly elevates the experience to something that's always eluded the series in my opinion.
There is no such thing as a perfect game; even the most rigorously tested and painstakingly developed game will have SOMETHING that could be improved. The Legend of Zeda: Breath of the Wild is no different, especially with regards to the aforementioned frame rate drops. Despite that, however, it truly is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. This game is not a yearly cash grab for which Activision and Ubisoft are infamous, nor is it a wonderful but bug-ridden game as Bethesda is known for releasing. This is a true work of art with a visual style gorgeous but well away from the Uncanny Valley, a narrative that is beautifully written and characters purposefully developed, and a musical score that does only what it needs to do in order to underscore the mood and tone of the game. As with any product of human effort, there are flaws, but this game perfectly captures what Shigeru Miyamoto meant when he said "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." Breath of the Wild faced MANY delays, resulting in leaving the Wii U the dubious "honor" of being Nintendo's only home console (and only its second dedicated platform in general after the Virtual Boy) without an exclusive Legend of Zelda game, but now that the game finally has been released, it was well worth the four year wait and then some.
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (3 Games Beaten)
25. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch - March 18
Unless you've been making a point of avoiding any gaming-related news, you've undoubtedly heard that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has made quite a splash since its release on March 3. It's broken Metacritic's record for the most perfect scores, and its average Metacritic score is a 97 (for reference, the highest average rating for a game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's 99). All of this is despite the fact that it's running on either sub-par or extremely outdated hardware in terms of graphical power (depending on if you're playing on Switch or Wii U, respectively). Does it live up to that hype, though? Does it really deserve its spot as - based on number of perfect scores from critics, at least - the greatest video game of all time? I offer here my as-objective-as-possible-for-a-long-time-Zelda-fan opinion.
Let us begin with a brief synopsis of the game's story. Being a Zelda game, the basic plot is obviously "Ganon has returned to conquer Hyrule, and it's up to Link to wield the Master Sword and save both Princess Zelda and the world." This game is the same...but at the same time very different. Link begins this journey awaking in a sarcophagus filled with a pool of some sort of ethereal water inside some manner of underground shrine. As he gets his bearings, he hears a voice, faint yet distinct. "Link..." the voice calls. "Link...." a bit louder. The disembodied voice beckons to Link, ushering him to a terminal in the corner that holds an ancient Shieka tablet - an obvious nod to the game's origins as a Wii U exclusive.
When you leave the Shrine of Resurrection, you find yourself in a clearing high atop a plateau overlooking the realm of Hyrule. For any player, the view and sheer vastness is breath-taking; for a veteran Zelda fans, it's downright emotional. Very quickly you realize that this is no ordinary entry in the Zelda series. This is the fulfillment of the promise made by Ocarina of Time - a vast Hyrule filled with unique fauna and flora, rich lore, and vibrant landscapes begging to be explored. You see what appears to be an old hermit and, with no other direction with regards of what to do next, you approach him and encounter the next drastic change to the Zelda formula - actual legitimate voice acting. There's no Bethesda level of voice acting here, though; Nintendo chose to use voice acting as one would use paprika. There's enough to accentuate the mood and add a feeling of life and vibrancy to the game, but there's never enough for it to take center stage.
Here, while still on the Great Plateau, you will encounter the only remotely "linear" thing about this game. Whereas other Zelda games have a distinct "this dungeon, then this dungeon, then this dungeon" direction to them, the closest you get to that in Breath of the Wild is the pseudo-tutorial at the start. After that, it's up to you if you want rush straight to Hyrule Castle and defeat Ganon with three hearts and a stick or choose to spend the next 50 to 100 hours exploring Hyrule, conquering shrines, earning heart upgrades, and building an arsenal of weapons to make Hannibal Barca tremble in fear. Even within the latter option, do you go from one Divine Beast to the next - the game's primary "dungeons" - and then straight to Ganon, or do you take your time, wander aimlessly, and let Hyrule take you wherever the pleases? That's what makes this so different from any other Zelda game - the freedom to do - or not do - whatever the hell you damn well please on your journey to seal Ganon and restore peace to Hyrule.
Do not, however, approach this game expecting Skyrim. This is no RPG. There's no experience, and defeating enemies earns you nothing save for the materials they drop. Completing quests rarely provides you with any substantial reward save a feeling of satisfaction, and the only crafting of any sort in this game is cooking. This is very much an adventure game, not a role playing game. The only way to "strengthen" Link is to equip him with better weapons, better armor, and trade Spirit Orbs for stamina upgrades or heart containers. This game is not about building a character and becoming a mighty warrior to make gods cower. This game is about exploration. This game is about immersion. This game is about experiencing Hyrule and the realization of our childhood fantasies about that magical land when all we had were 8 or 16-bit sprites. While games like Skyrim, Dragon Age, and Far Cry certainly include several of those things, they make up the core essence of what this game is.
Let's take a break from my abandonment of objectivity and look at some more quantifiable aspects of the game. Visually, Breath of Wild isn't Skyrim Remastered or Far Cry Primal. The hardware just can't support the kind of cutting edge graphics some people have come to expect. It does, however, look absolutely beautiful nonetheless. Yes, if you slam your face up against a rock, you'll see the lower quality textures. The game lacks the degree of anti-aliasing that open world games on stronger hardware feature. Enemies and environmental models don't appear until you're within a certain distance. These are undeniable, and if what you want is a photo realistic experience, then this game might not be for you. What it does do, however, is take Skyward Sword's blend of realism and cel shading and perfect it. There's a distinct cartoony hue to the world, but it's subtle, as if viewing the world through a cartoon filter. While not striving for the realism that Fallout and Elder Scrolls attempt, Breath of the Wild does capture an artistic beauty that - in my opinion - those games fail to achieve.
Truthfully, the only area about which I can really levy true complaints is performance. While I've only played on Switch, from what I understand, both the Wii U version and the Switch port suffer from occasional and at times severe frame rate drops. Almost never does this truly interrupt the game, but they are noticeable. Were I to hazard a guess, I would wager that these issues occur for different reasons on each system - the Wii U is being taxed to its limits, and the Switch is running a port of a game that was designed for a system with a totally different architecture running on an engine designed for a system with a totally different architecture. The important thing, however, is that while these performance drops are indeed irksome, they do not hinder gameplay in any real way, and I encountered no bugs of any kind outside of those occasional frame rate drops during my roughly 90 hour playthrough.
Another thing that long-time Zelda players will notice about this game that is extremely different from previous entries in the series is the relative lack of music. The Legend of Zelda has long been known for its outstanding music - among the best in the entire gaming industry. The worldwide tours of the Symphony of the Goddess can attest to that. Breath of the Wild certainly has music, but it's very light and subdued for the most part. Certain parts or battles have some nice fight music, but by and large, the sound design puts the focus on the ambient sounds of the world, not a musical score. At first, I found this disappointing, but the more I played the more I really got sucked into the open world of Hyrule, the more fitting it began to seem.
With regards to combat, the game leaves it very much up to you how you want to approach that. With the exception of one quest, stealth is never forced (and really, if you want to Rambo it, you can technically get through that dungeon without steal; it's hard af, but I managed it). If you sneak up behind an enemy unnoticed - aided by crouching and either wearing stealth armor or using a stealth elixir - you can perform a sneak strike, dealing massive damage and often instantly killing your foe. You could also choose to fight from range, learning your bow's arrow drop and raining death on your enemies from above. Headshots deal massive damage and stun, so that's an attractive option. If your targets are at the bottom of a cliff or ravine, you can stand at the top and just drop bombs on them. Since bombs are unlimited, that's an option I chose more than a couple times with particularly powerful and well-placed foes. You can, of course, choose my method of choice - run in screaming with a sword and massacre everything breathing.
While there aren't levels, per se, in Breath of the Wild, some enemies are DEFINITELY more powerful than others, and you'll quickly learn which enemies you can rush and which need either careful planning or to be avoided entirely. Some random field enemies will prove much more difficult than bosses - including, in one or two instances, Ganon itself. If you want to get your favorite armor set fully upgraded and take advantage of that set bonus, however, these enemies are going to need to be farmed for drops. Some also have certain weaknesses; some may be especially vulnerable to arrows aimed at a particular weak spot or a certain type of arrow like ice or fire. Learning what tactic and what weapons to employ against each enemy is critical for success.
Within the world of Hyrule, literally over a thousand secrets await you. There are 120 shrines hidden throughout the game, 900 Koroks hidden for you to find, and at least four secret or otherwise hidden mounts. There are hidden easter eggs, special items, and references to past games for those willing to put in the time and effort to seek them out. If you have amiibos or a friend with them, then there are whole sets of armor and weapons that are exclusive amiibo unlocks including Epona herself. This is a game that definitely encourage exploration and reward thoroughness.
ughout the game, you will find memories of Link from 100 years in the past when he, Princess Zelda, and the other four Champions first did battle with Calamity Ganon before his near-fatal wounding and memory loss. These memories are fully voice acted cut scenes, and they enhance the story telling and character development in this game in a way that has never been seen before in The Legend of Zelda. Zelda herself has her character developed wonderfully and in such a way that will likely leave most players wanting to know more of this brilliant and anguished princess. It is my hope that this level of character development is the start of a new norm for the series as it truly elevates the experience to something that's always eluded the series in my opinion.
There is no such thing as a perfect game; even the most rigorously tested and painstakingly developed game will have SOMETHING that could be improved. The Legend of Zeda: Breath of the Wild is no different, especially with regards to the aforementioned frame rate drops. Despite that, however, it truly is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. This game is not a yearly cash grab for which Activision and Ubisoft are infamous, nor is it a wonderful but bug-ridden game as Bethesda is known for releasing. This is a true work of art with a visual style gorgeous but well away from the Uncanny Valley, a narrative that is beautifully written and characters purposefully developed, and a musical score that does only what it needs to do in order to underscore the mood and tone of the game. As with any product of human effort, there are flaws, but this game perfectly captures what Shigeru Miyamoto meant when he said "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." Breath of the Wild faced MANY delays, resulting in leaving the Wii U the dubious "honor" of being Nintendo's only home console (and only its second dedicated platform in general after the Virtual Boy) without an exclusive Legend of Zelda game, but now that the game finally has been released, it was well worth the four year wait and then some.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.
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BoneSnapDeez - Next-Gen
- Posts: 19653
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2017
PartridgeSenpai wrote:17. Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter X (Saturn)
Ya know what..... eff it, I'm gonna try this one out. Looks like it has a Asuka 120% Burning Fest vibe. Seems like there's a Super Famicom installment too!
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Markies - Next-Gen
- Posts: 1056
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:29 pm
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Re: Games Beaten 2017
prfsnl_gmr wrote:Markies...I salute your commitment to vintage video games. You "games beaten" list displays an impressive range of retro game genres across a wide array of vintage gaming consoles. Keep up the good work!
Wow! Thank you very much!!
In 2017, I have beaten a game for NES, GEN, PS1, PS2, GCN & XBOX.
I am working on Conker for the N64 and then all I have left is SNES & DC. I like to keep working through all of my consoles, playing no favorites whatsoever.
Also, RPG's are my favorite genre, but I still like to play anything. I will play any game as long as I like it and as long as it is good. And I will make sure to keep the retro gaming going for as long as possible.
But, thank you for the kind words. That brought a big smile to my face.
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MrPopo - Moderator
- Posts: 23152
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:01 pm
- Location: Orange County, CA
Re: Games Beaten 2017
1. Pokémon Moon - 3DS
2. Tony Hawk's Underground - GCN
3. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising - PC
4. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Retribution - PC
5. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness - PSP
6. X-Wing: Imperial Pursuit - PC
7. Star Wars Republic Commando - PC
8. X-Wing: B-Wing - PC
9. Blazing Lazers - TG-16
10. Tales of Xillia 2 - PS3
11. Shining Force CD: Shining Force Gaiden - Sega CD
12. MUSHA - Genesis
13. Sonic CD - Sega CD
14. Final Fantasy Legend III - GB
15. Tales of Zestiria - PS3
16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
17. Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4
18. Tales of Berseria - PS4
19. Battlefield 1 - PC
I've been saying for years that we need a World War 1 video game. And Battlefield 1's single player campaign definitely delivers. I cannot comment on the multiplayer as I never intended to try that aspect of it out. But the single player definitely takes some cues from Band of Brothers in terms of giving appropriate gravitas to the subject matter as it follows around five protagonists. There's technically six chapters, but the first one is a sort of intro where you get killed several times to lay in that so many people were statistics. There isn't an overriding protagonist like the other five.
The five real chapters each have a particular focus to them. The first is a British tank crew trying to break through to retake an occupied French town, and you split your time between driving the tank and doing some reconnoitering outside; these parts encourage you to make use of the stealth features a bit. The second follows an American volunteer in the air war before the US formally joined the war effort and has you attacking both ground an air targets. One nice thing they did was removing stalling as a concept (as far as I could tell); this could have been intensely frustrating otherwise. The third follows an Italian commando during fighting in the Alps; this one is the trenchiest of the battles. The fourth follows an Australian old vet (unlike the rest who are in their early 20's he's over 50) during the attempted assault on Gallipoli. The last has you take command of a female Bedouin nomad as you strike at the Ottomans in the desert, culminating with destroying an armored train full of guns. Each gives you a different view of the war and helps show that it wasn't just faceoffs across miles of trenches.
The weaponry is a mix of bolt action stuff and some automatic weapons. The automatics are not the nice automatics we've gotten used to in our modern games; these have ridiculous amounts of climb and half the time can't even be iron signed well. The missions end up being about half solo and half with other soldiers, and in the latter case they managed to do a good job of making you feel like part of a larger conflict, rather than you being Rambo taking down everyone on your own.
The experience is short but varied, and they resisted the temptation to put in "boss" enemies. The closest you get are the heavily armored flamethrower and machine gun troops; the former can be quickly taken out by a shot to the gas tank and the latter fold to a couple grenades or a Lewis gun of your own. The flamethrower is appropriately "oh shit" when one starts to lay on you.
Definitely worth the $30 I spent when it was on sale. I'd probably feel a little let down if I had purchased it full price since I have no plans to touch the multiplayer.
2. Tony Hawk's Underground - GCN
3. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising - PC
4. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Retribution - PC
5. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness - PSP
6. X-Wing: Imperial Pursuit - PC
7. Star Wars Republic Commando - PC
8. X-Wing: B-Wing - PC
9. Blazing Lazers - TG-16
10. Tales of Xillia 2 - PS3
11. Shining Force CD: Shining Force Gaiden - Sega CD
12. MUSHA - Genesis
13. Sonic CD - Sega CD
14. Final Fantasy Legend III - GB
15. Tales of Zestiria - PS3
16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
17. Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4
18. Tales of Berseria - PS4
19. Battlefield 1 - PC
I've been saying for years that we need a World War 1 video game. And Battlefield 1's single player campaign definitely delivers. I cannot comment on the multiplayer as I never intended to try that aspect of it out. But the single player definitely takes some cues from Band of Brothers in terms of giving appropriate gravitas to the subject matter as it follows around five protagonists. There's technically six chapters, but the first one is a sort of intro where you get killed several times to lay in that so many people were statistics. There isn't an overriding protagonist like the other five.
The five real chapters each have a particular focus to them. The first is a British tank crew trying to break through to retake an occupied French town, and you split your time between driving the tank and doing some reconnoitering outside; these parts encourage you to make use of the stealth features a bit. The second follows an American volunteer in the air war before the US formally joined the war effort and has you attacking both ground an air targets. One nice thing they did was removing stalling as a concept (as far as I could tell); this could have been intensely frustrating otherwise. The third follows an Italian commando during fighting in the Alps; this one is the trenchiest of the battles. The fourth follows an Australian old vet (unlike the rest who are in their early 20's he's over 50) during the attempted assault on Gallipoli. The last has you take command of a female Bedouin nomad as you strike at the Ottomans in the desert, culminating with destroying an armored train full of guns. Each gives you a different view of the war and helps show that it wasn't just faceoffs across miles of trenches.
The weaponry is a mix of bolt action stuff and some automatic weapons. The automatics are not the nice automatics we've gotten used to in our modern games; these have ridiculous amounts of climb and half the time can't even be iron signed well. The missions end up being about half solo and half with other soldiers, and in the latter case they managed to do a good job of making you feel like part of a larger conflict, rather than you being Rambo taking down everyone on your own.
The experience is short but varied, and they resisted the temptation to put in "boss" enemies. The closest you get are the heavily armored flamethrower and machine gun troops; the former can be quickly taken out by a shot to the gas tank and the latter fold to a couple grenades or a Lewis gun of your own. The flamethrower is appropriately "oh shit" when one starts to lay on you.
Definitely worth the $30 I spent when it was on sale. I'd probably feel a little let down if I had purchased it full price since I have no plans to touch the multiplayer.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
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Xeogred - Next-Gen
- Posts: 14385
- Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:49 pm
- Location: KC
Re: Games Beaten 2017
I still haven't touched that because Titanfall 2 was too good.
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dsheinem - Next-Gen
- Posts: 23156
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:56 pm
- Location: Northeast Pennsylvania
Re: Games Beaten 2017
I enjoyed the first part of the campaign in BF1 but hated the flying tutorial that was forced on me (about an hour or two in) and skipped going back to it...
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