Nocturne's Game Reviews- for when he's bored

[Dudeman]

majora-ty (heh)

please no

I stopped in the Gerudo dungeon about 18 hours in and I won't be completing it.

awwwwwwww
You really just hit the part where it picks up and stops being a tedious snore-fest. The Tears of Light are easily the worst part of the game. It's only uphill from here. You're probably set on giving up, but Imma implore you anyway to try and make it to the final dungeon. Please, it's so good.

[Olimar12345]

talk about a thread hijack lol

Also dm that's a pun I really expected from you.

[Dudeman]

People associate me with bad puns but I really haven't been that witty lately. The association should really be given to Slow, he's easily beating me.

[SlowPokemon]

Hy-rule when it comes to puns

[SlowPokemon]

And you've made a case so I may pick it back up but it's been a month so we'll see

[ThatHiddenCharacter]

Hy-rule when it comes to puns

No. Do not desecrate Zelda with such puns. Make a good one. Or I'll have to Tri-force.

[mikey]

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Expert Rock Climber, Boulderer Drowns in Foot of Water
Pathologists Baffled


Story: 2/7 (How central was the story to the game?  Was the story unique and riveting?  Did it add to overall enjoyment?)

Spoiler

The story is probably the weakest point to the game due to its convoluted nature and out-of-order flashback style.  The game has 3 stories: The superstory (the sheikah, guardians, and calamity ganon- the 10,000 year old section), the flashback story (the story contained overall in the flashbacks), and the main story (boy wakes up from 100 year nap and defeats embodiment of demise).  The main story was pretty empty to leave room for gameplay, the superstory is riveting but also isn't done enough justice- I mean, we still don't know where the game fits in the main storyline, though I'm sticking to my guns that it's downfall timeline.  The flashback story was actively bad and I wish I hadn't decided to collect all the memories.

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Character Development:4/7 (How well were the main characters exposed?  Did you feel connected to them by the end of the game?  Did they have noticeable quirks that made them unique?)

Spoiler

I'll give this one some bonus points, because even though I didn't particularly LIKE the characters, they were well developed (Robbie, Purah, the Champions...) and despite the voice acting and generally cringey dialogue I still liked certain aspects of the characters.  Mipha is waifu

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Reward Factor: 6/7 (Did getting through a certain part of the game feel rewarding?  Was the game difficult enough to enjoy a challenge?)

Spoiler

Getting off the Great Plateau was very rewarding to me.  The beginning was challenging (very much so) but as you get more powerful defeating enemies becomes tedious rather than a puzzle.  Having enemies respawn as a higher powered monster helped somewhat but silver enemies still aren't strong enough to be a difficulty, even in multiples.  Lynels, on the other hand, have entirely too much HP and take way too long to defeat a single one.  They have nice weapons though.

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Art: 6/7 (Does the art style do a good job of getting the overall vibes of the game across?  Is the art visually appealing?  Does the art match the particular mood of the game at its current time?)

Spoiler

The art aesthetic is one of the high points of the game and it's strongly suggestive of a fusion of Wind Waker and Skyward Sword.  Basically, I like.  The overworld is well done, but it loses a point because Nintendo somehow still can't draw trees in more than two dimensions.  (Confused at what I mean?  Climb an evergreen tree and look around.)

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Music: 3/7 (Does the music evoke certain emotions that are being portrayed in game?  Does the music match up well with the art?  Does the music have a tone unique to this particular area?)

Spoiler

The music is, for the most part, unmemorable, and for a game this large I expected a better soundtrack.  Haters will list all the good songs.  And I'll probably agree.

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Gameplay: 5/7 (Are the controls easy to learn but capable of multiple processes?  Is the interaction with the environment logical and natural?  Are the different areas of the game well constructed and thought out?)

Spoiler

The gameplay is supposed to be the selling point of the game and for the most part, they did a very good job.  Interaction with the environment is incredibly natural and well thought out.  If you think you can do something, you probably can, and that's a good thing.  Combat is the same way.  For example, you can cut off Guardians' legs to stop them from moving around and kiting you.  You can climb on the backs of Lynels and give them a good whipping from behind.  On the flipside, there are a few areas that feel completely opposite.  Why is Link such a weak swimmer?  My 13 year old brother can tread water longer than he does.  Weapons breaking (and having such a large multitude of weapons) makes that part of the game almost overwhelming: I want to use this really cool weapon, but it might break, so I'll save it for when I really need it.  I want to pick up this really cool weapon, but I already have other weapons that I might need, so I'll debate for 5 minutes and probably end up leaving this weapon here.  Blood moons respawning weapons helps this issue somewhat.  There are more gameplay issues that can be fixed by buying the DLC (this DLC is stuff that we deserved for the main game tbh) so with the DLC it gains 1 gameplay point and loses 1 reward factor point for being too expensive.

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Overall: 26/42
I was expecting it to get a higher score than this, because despite its flaws it still has reasons to come back and play it.  As a bonus I'm giving you the revamped Zelda Power Rankings with BotW included:

Spoiler

1. Wind Waker
Needs no explanation.

2. A Link to the Past
The SNES is fortunate in that its games all tend to age incredibly well.  ALttP is no exception.

3. Skyward Sword
Sure, this game is linear almost to a fault, but if it wasn't, it would surpass ALttP.  It plays with the environment and map layouts in ways that make going back to old places exciting.  Replaying it only increases my enjoyment of it.

4. Link's Awakening
No explanation needed ;_;

5. Majora's Mask
Again, probably doesn't need explanation.

6. Minish Cap
This game was in my top 5 until it got knocked off by LA.  MC has some of the best dungeons in the series.  The game was limited by its overcrowdedness.  Rewards just weren't that valuable since they required little effort.

7. A Link Between Worlds
If you make a game this similar to ALttP, it can't be terrible.

8. Ocarina of Time
OoT is typical.  Games better than it are awesome, and games worse than it are still good, but these games just don't hold up to the shining examples above.

9. Legend of Zelda
Really, go play this, it's a great game.

10. Breath of the Wild
I just reviewed it.

11. Oracle of Ages
The oracle games are so similar from a gameplay perspective that it's hard to put one over the other.  That being said...

11 +1/2. Oracle of Seasons
Nayru is hotter.

12. Triforce Heroes
Despite being such an odd game, it still carries a distinct zelda charm that saves it from being lower on this list.

13. Twilight Princess
An otherwise boring game is raised up by an epic dragon fight and Wolf Link.

14. Spirit Tracks
Despite its childish appearance, this game is difficult.  I still haven't beaten Malladus.  Most of the game's difficulty stems from the lack of a targeting system.

15. Phantom Hourglass
See above but in 240p.

16. Adventure of Link
This game is fun if you're into sadism, but for most of us the game is just obnoxious and repetitive.  The downward stab is fantastic though.

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[mikey]

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
20% Bigger



Story: 6/7 (How central was the story to the game?  Was the story unique and riveting?  Did it add to overall enjoyment?)

Spoiler

While the main story only takes up 15-20 hours of gameplay, it's 15-20 of the best hours I spend.  I've now replayed through the main story for the seventh time as of a couple days ago and while it's lost a lot of the original draw it's still a great story that I enjoy running through perpetually.  For once I finally wish I could unplay a game to get that experience back the first time I played it.  At times the dialogue was way too cheesy to handle, which brings it down a bit, but for the most part it's well done.

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Character Development: 5/7 (How well were the main characters exposed?  Did you feel connected to them by the end of the game?  Did they have noticeable quirks that made them unique?)

Spoiler

The character development is mostly relegated to the partner player, but throughout the course of the story, your partner really grows up and matures.  When we first meet them they're an off-the-walls prankster who's always rushing headfirst into trouble, but after spending so much time with us the partner finally starts to slow down and make mature decisions.  From the part where Beheeyem leads us to the Prehistoric Ruins to saving Nuzleaf and Yveltal, your partner makes difficult decisions without any help from Ampharos etc.

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Reward Factor: 5/7 (Did getting through a certain part of the game feel rewarding?  Was the game difficult enough to enjoy a challenge?)

Spoiler

SO GOOD ENDING
Game isn't super difficult and I've always found PMD gameplay to be too tedious to be fun, so it's nice that you can cruise through the boring parts.

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Art: 6/7 (Does the art style do a good job of getting the overall vibes of the game across?  Is the art visually appealing?  Does the art match the particular mood of the game at its current time?)

Spoiler

I've never played GTI, but I think they re-used everything from that.  It looks pretty good though.  There are some spots where the 3D doesn't line up quite right, but overall the 3D effect adds a lot to the cutscenes.

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Music: 6/7 (Does the music evoke certain emotions that are being portrayed in game?  Does the music match up well with the art?  Does the music have a tone unique to this particular area?)

Spoiler

I still can't decide if Explorers or PSMD has a better soundtrack because for all the greatness that is the Explorers soundtrack there are quite a few gems from PSMD.  Just head over to Bespinben's arrangement thread for a small sample of the soundtrack.  There are also a few key tracks that play during important story moments that bring the atmosphere to the perfect setting.

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Gameplay: 3/7 (Are the controls easy to learn but capable of multiple processes?  Is the interaction with the environment logical and natural?  Are the different areas of the game well constructed and thought out?)

Spoiler

As I've already said, I find this kind of gameplay tedious.  Mostly because of having to constantly fight through waves of enemies who are, on average, stronger than you.  If it wasn't for AI stupidity some parts of the game would be impossible (I'm looking at you, Ominous Wind Unburden Drifblim.)  PSMD fixes a lot of the gameplay issues that were present in Explorers- as Nitro put it, you had to "unlock common sense" in Explorers, which often put your team in bad situations.  I'm assuming a lot of these issues were also fixed in GTI though.

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Overall: 31/42

Despite having a great soundtrack and greater story, everything beyond that final battle is more of the same PMD stuff, which I'm not too interested in.  Explorers took its postgame more seriously and that made it a lot more palatable.  Still, PSMD was good enough to get me to buy Explorers of Sky on the eShop, and I'm considering purchasing Red Rescue Team and Gates to Infinity as well thanks to Altissimo's fine let's play of the former.

[mikey]

Top 8 Zelda Villians

Legend of Zelda has a lot of villains, antagonists, all around bad dudes (or dudettes), and terrors.  So I'm going to share the 8 best and why they're the 8 best.

#8

Ganondorf [twilight princess, ocarina of time, wind waker]

Ganondorf is the leader of the Gerudo, and has had many incarnations throughout the series.  Ocarina of Time is his origin, while his personality is greatly fleshed out in Wind Waker.  He's ruthless, cunning, and holds the triforce of power.  If you're looking for a classic fantasy villain, look no further.

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#7

Agahnim [a link to the past]

Agahnim is the mysterious wizard who attempts to revive ganon.  While he doesn't share much of his personal life, he's crazy strong and link has one heck of a time trying to defeat him.

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#6

Yuga [a link between worlds]

Yuga is such a hilarious enemy.  While his motivations are a bit obscured at first, getting through the game reveals his true colors...

And he's aware of his own theme song, that's ganondorf-tier.

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#5

Shopkeeper [link's awakening]

He taught me a valuable lesson as a kid.

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#4

Dark Link [adventure of link, ocarina of time, twilight princess, a link between worlds, four swords (or fsa, one of them has a dark link)]

Dark Link is a manifestation of Link's own negative side, meaning he literally has to defeat the evil within himself.  If that's not enough to put dark link on this list, I don't know what is.

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#3

Ghirahim [skyward sword]

Honestly, ghirahim hits all the high notes.  He's like a fabulous fusion of ganondorf and yuga.  Without spoiling anything, the end is a letdown, but man!  Constantly underestimating link, overconfident, creepy, cold, ruthless, and prone to outbursts of anger.  It's apparent his pride is his fatal flaw and that ironically makes this demon one of the most human villains in the series.

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#2

Byrne [spirit tracks]

If you didn't expect Byrne to be on this list you should be ashamed of yourself.  I don't think I have to say anything here except GO BYRNE!

And maybe what did you think was going to happen working with a demon chancellor?

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#1

Vaati [minish cap, four swords/ adventures]
Vaati is in my opinion the second most iconic villain of the Zelda series, and the most underrated.  I'd argue he's more powerful than ganon, and we get to see his origins in Minish Cap.  I might get criticism for putting him at number 1, but I think he deserves it.

What do you think of this list?  Ganondorf too low?  Byrne too high?  Suspicious lack of bellum?  I screwed up dark link and shadow link? (Don't think I did) 

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[Olimar12345]

Um, oot was not Ganondorf's origin.

[mikey]

Was he in fsa or something before oot?  That'd be weird, but I haven't played either fs/a so I really couldn't say

[Olimar12345]

...um try a link to the past?

[mikey]

I'm speaking canonically
Like oot was developed as a prequel to alttp
And then only ganon actually appears in alttp anyway

[Olimar12345]

Canonically the story of Ganondorf Dragmire was told first in alttp though.

[mikey]

Canonically oot comes before alttp
And you're right that dialogue talks about ganondorf, but do we really count that as appearing?