The Batlord

And I really wish I'd had an XBox controller when playing Podracer. Best racing game though.

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Key

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Alright, so I decided to take the plunge once again and attempt the final boss battle for Breath of the Wild: Calamity Ganon. This is a fight I've been waiting for since I started the game, and unlike a lot of people out there, I decided to wait until I was at the right moment in order to take on this boss battle, and holy **** it was worth it.

The fight starts out pretty much as you'd expect, a cinematic with all four divine beasts weighing in and taking down nearly half the health of the first phase of the fight, then of course you have to manage yourself very carefully in order to inflict the rest of the damage with the different powers and skills you've acquired over the course of the game. Once the first phase is done, you're met with the demonic form of Ganon. A very nice touch since this is what we came to love about Ocarina of Time. Anyway, this particular stage isn't as difficult as the first, but holy **** it's amazing. Princess Zelda calls down to you while you are horse back, and sends you a bow that can inflict a lot of damage on Ganon. Once this is done, you get the ending you've always wanted, with the shimmer of potential hope in Hyrule. Unfortunately, I did find out that once you beat the final boss, the game reverts you back to the save right before the fight, but your save file has a star icon on it showing that you did beat the final boss. That's nice I suppose. Apparently it unlocks other goodies that I've yet to explore, one of which being a percentage icon on your map. So now you can truly be the completionist you want to be. I've put around 100 hours in, and apparently I'm only 17% done with the game. So I've got a lot of work to do. Thankfully.

So what are my thoughts? Well, that final boss fight was beautifully done. I don't really know what I was expecting since I kept away from spoilers. Some reviewers said that the final boss fight was uninteresting and unoriginal, but I think it was easily the best Ganon fight I've ever had. The music of Hyrule Castle before you get to the boss is also really cool and gets you pumped for what you're about to do. And then you fight! And it's all so worth it. It's a tough fight, which is what I was expecting. However, once you figure out the moves of Ganon, it's pretty simple. I will say that my only gripe is that I had to wait a few minutes before I could do more damage on Ganon in its first stage, but I still managed it. My advice, bring a lot of food and good weapons. You can find the Hylian Shield in the castle itself but I won't tell you where. It's better to find it on your own.

So, Nintendo, I thank you once again for making the best game I have ever played. From the first minute I laid my eyes on the land of Hyrule all the way to the game credits, I can say for certain that this game is not only oozing with perfection, but my enjoyment out of it has not been stale even in the amount of time I have put in it. This is officially the best game I have ever played, and it's going to take a lot for another game to take its spot.

I'm keeping this short and sweet, but I hope you're enjoying the game as much as I have.

Key

If you're unaware or unsure of what I'm talking about, watch this trailer before you continue reading:



Now then, if you are like me and you grew up with collecting notes and puzzle pieces in Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie, well...honestly I expect you to be as excited as I am about Yookah Laylee. Apparently, a small group of ex-Rare employees decided to take their expertise to Kickstarter, and with the money they brought in, Yookah Laylee stopped being a dream, and became a reality.

On April 11th of this year, those of us that have been waiting for a true "Banjo Kazooie" reboot will be more than ready to take on this new spiritual successor. Let's get this out of the way right now: Nuts & Bolts ****ing sucks, and cannot ever be considered a Banjo Kazooie game by anybody's standards. Yookah Laylee is going to be what that game should have been, and more.

I can't wait to jump into this game when it's available. Luckily, they're releasing it for PC and many other consoles, so I'll probably be playing on PC. Makes things easier.

Anyway, be excited!

Akai

Spiritual successor to Conker?

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''To be honest, in my opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view,
but also by looking into this matter from a different perspective and by considering each and every one's valid opinion,
I do believe that I forgot what I was going to say.''


S p o t i f y

Key

No. Banjo Kazooie.

Key

Throughout the world of Hyrule, we've seen Nintendo take some interesting design choices when releasing their games. Of course, what comes along with these design choices is the differing faces of Link himself. Some of these I absolutely love...and some, eh not so much. So...let's talk about the various different ways we've seen Link.



So first and foremost, we'll talk about a Link design that I think could have really worked in the more recent rendition of Link:



As much as people **** on this game, I personally thought Twilight Princess deserves more praise than it gets. It's certainly not the best Zelda game ever made, and the story is a bit "cliche", but the dark world and Majora's Mask-esque themes worked really well in the story. Link's design is easily one of the best they've done though. He looks very crisp and mixed with the wolf design, it works really well for this game. It's unfortunate that we never really saw this design again as it really fits the dark setting very very well.



Next up we have the design for Wind Waker. A lot of people **** on Wind Waker for being too cartoonish and child friendly, but that's one of the many reasons why it was my number one Zelda game for a long time. The added benefit was of course the cute rendition of toon Link. It worked really well in this setting because everything else was so colorful and fun, and adding on a Link that gives into the absurdity as opposed to making him different made him a very memorable character. I don't know how else they could use this particular rendition of Link, but if they ever do, I hope it's for a Wink Waker II of sorts. That'd be awesome.



Skyward Sword is nowhere near one of my favorite Zelda games. The way the world worked and the controls were both just lacking. That mixed with the overall design of the game just left a bad taste in my mouth. But, the one thing that I find to be completely unforgettable is the silliness in Link's character design. Don't get me wrong, they fixed this particular style in Breath of the Wild, but Skyward Sword didn't work with it. I honestly wish they would have gone a Twilight Princess route for this one. Skyward Sword has a lot of faults, and this design is just one reason as to why.



Last and most certainly not least, we have the design for Link in Breath of the Wild. Now, here's the thing. I know this is very reminiscent of Skyward Sword Link, however this one is far more polished and less silly. No weird facial expressions, and it actually feels smooth, and non clunky. Sure, I know people would have loved a more dark theme throughout Breath of the Wild, but the art style they went with worked really well, and it was a smart move from Nintendo to continue with this one.

Key

Flinthook

Everybody at this forum knows that I'm a humongous fan of the Binding of Isaac games and roguelike games in general. Well, Flinthook just took my breath upon my first time playing it. I've been seeing this game being played by several Youtubers that I follow, and for 15$, I couldn't ask for anything better.

Flinthook is what you would get if you took Rogue Legacy, Binding of Isaac, and sometimes...Super Meat Boy, and meshed it altogether. There is randomization for the missions and stuff that you do, but the game also works in a linear fashion where the difficulty gets tougher the further along you get. It also goes by a 3 to 4 (and maybe more) level by level design with the boss at the end. They call them bounties, and they are the "big bosses" in the game. From what I've seen so far, the boss designs are amazing and really well done. Not too difficult but nothing you can just walk past.

Now, something I wasn't super expecting upon my first playthrough was both how tight the controls are, and how difficult the game is. The enemies in the game are designed to have a set pattern as opposed to just trying to kill you. So think like a Mega Man style game. The thing is, the powers you have at your arsenal can make for some cool kills, or perhaps your own demise. You're given a hookshot of sorts that you can use to...well attach to hooks and platform. It's done so well that it legitimately becomes part of the platforming. I really hope other developers are listening, because this is a really neat concept. You have other powers like freezing time, and bombs, much like Binding of Isaac. The game also runs on an xp system, and it's done really well with additional perks you can unlock by getting booster packs as you level up. Really adds to the randomization and roguelike style that the game does so well.

As for the theme, it looks like a mix of pirate and gothic, with really beautifully orchestrated music to fit the style of the gameplay.

Overall, this is a game I've been waiting for, without even realizing it. It's got the same exact charm that the Binding of Isaac has, but it's also got its own originality that really makes this a great package to behold. And for 15 bucks, you can't go wrong.

Key

20XX

I have to admit, this game did not seem like something I would like when it came out. I saw a few videos on it, and it looked really neat, but I just never bought it. It's on sale right now on Steam, and seeing as I love deals and have never played this, I figured I'd give it a shot. My impression? It's pretty ****ing good.

The developers basically took everything that people loved about the classic side scrolling Megaman games, and brought it back to life. 20XX takes the form of you as a Megaman-esque character, but there's a twist. It's a roguelike. So you basically play on a run to run basis with each level you play being different than the last one you played. It's very good with the randomization and various powers you can get that are character specific. Really gives the game some variety.

However, what I wasn't expecting at all is how tight the controls are, how unforgivably good the platforming is. Reminds me of Super Meat Boy big time. And the game is difficult. I'm always surprised with these kind of early access / indie games when they end up being so well made that they are definitely difficult. I said the same about Flinthook last time I think.

Definitely if you're a fan of Megaman and want to see the series being revived in the form of new characters? 20XX is the place to go.

The Batlord

lolwtf

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Trollheart

It's Mindfulness. Mind. Ful. Ness. Are you really surprised?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018