radioheadrule83
Banned
*adopts dubiously camp Tingle voice*
YAYYYYY!
I haven't been posting much or replying as much as I usually do because I have been totally absorbed in Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
I bought Echoes one day prior and thought that game would have the bulk of my time for at least the remainder of the month, but I was wrong. Prime 2 is awesome, make no mistake. It's a rediculously detailed world (I'm not just talking graphically) and I've been having a lot of fun in it. I'd only just beaten Amorbis and gotten the Dark Suit to make Dark Aether a little bit less daunting... when I picked up Minish Cap.
I haven't gotten very far in Echoes since.
I've just got to the final boss in the Wind Temple in the clouds... This is one of the best Zelda's ever. Flagship and Capcom deserve a lot of praise for this IMO. From what I can tell the plot is evolving as something of a Four Swords prequel.
Basic story (with spoilers)
At the beginning (as in many Zelda games of late), you are asleep. Zelda has come to your house to drag you around the Hyrule Town fait in honour of the centenarian visits of a people known as the Picori. Once upon a time, the Picori forged a blade with which the hero of men slayed evil itself, and banished it. As part of these celebrations a swordsmanship contest takes place, and this year the winner is a man called Vaati. You are present when he comes to claim his prize:- an audience with Hyrule Castle and a chance to touch the Great Blade itself. The blade is embedded into a chest. Vaati reveals his true colours, attacking the chest, unleashing monsters upon the world, breaking the blade and turning Princess Zelda to stone. As a result - it's your job to seek out the Picori, fix the blade, and deal with Vaati -
. So far, you have been running about as cute, floppy haired, bed-head Link. Until now, that is. On entering the Minish Woods, you find a rather anthropomorphised green hat screaming at you for help... you rush to his aid, discovering later that his true identity is Ezlo, and the true name of the Picori people is the Minish.
And so your adventure begins.
Impressions - Difficulty
For me, this game showcases a very new balance of things in terms of difficulty. The earlier dungeons are fairly straight foreward, and the bosses not too taxing - and you get eased into the whole Honey-I-Shrunk-The-Link business. That isn't to say either aspect is too easy, it's just that early on - you hopefully won't die very much. It's VERY well thought out. As soon as you start wandering around Hyrule Town (not far from your starting point), you can see tiny door ways, path-like flower arrangements, and tiny bridges over water, ladders up bookcases etc. But it's all laid out so that it's both realistic, and impossible to get everywhere straight away. Link has had a history of just waltzing into peoples' houses and smashing pots unannounced, but no more! As mini Link, he can't go from flat ground to a simple bit of raised concrete at the foot of a doorway. He can't tread through thick grass without trouble. Shallow waters become like Lake Hylia itself, complete with the prospect of drowning. Things are well thought out and well designed in general. There are areas of the map and certain screens that I have been going nuts trying to reach. Soon enough - albeit after some hefty journeying -- your new items, kinstones and other things will open the way for you. And in some major strokes of genius - simply pushing boulders into holes, leaping your way to once unreachable areas, or having a good old toot on an ocarina will give you a shortcut to and from your newly accessed area from then on in. Once you realise what certain things are and what they look like (ie. wind stones/tablets, flower arrangements, pots, holes in the ground) - you really get to know your limits pretty well, and for quite a large part of the first three dungeons - you progress steadily at a nice pace, with little hindrance... until wham! You're stuck.
It's really strange. At times I've been moseying on along, right as rain, actually thinking "perhaps this game is too easy?" -- and then all of a sudden I'm retreading ground in a vain attempt to figure out what I have or haven't done. Looking at the map after a couple of dungeons, you could be forgiven for thinking the game might be quite small. But in reality there are six dungeons or something like that, and getting to each one can be a dungeon in and of itself. You'll use the big key in a dungeon and only be half way to the dungeon's boss. Luckily, pressing select is akin to pressing up-C and speaking to Navi in Ocarina of Time: Ezlo (your talking hat) will give you helpful hints or tell you where you should be trying to get next. I'd be interested to see what others make of the difficulty because... basically, when I have eventually figured out where I've been going wrong, I have been tending to regard it all in hindsight like "oh my god, that was obvious". However, some of it isn't. I think there will be quite a few people out there who have the same trouble. One thing that gets your brain going quite a bit:
There are some puzzles similar in difficulty to the best ones in Four Swords adventures on the Gamecube:
If you do race through the game really quick, there's an almost solid guaruntee you won't have done everything there is to do in the game. There are items, paths and caves superfluous to your quest, full of goodies, money, pieces of heart and kinstones. The kinstones play a part in the biggest sidequest of the game, with many NPCs having half a keystone to which you can match to your own collection. Doing so makes something happen on the overworld map. One even enables you to get the light arrows, which you will not get if you race through the game. You may miss other keystone exclusive collectables, or miss new sword techniques for example. If you're not completist you likely won't care, and the game might seem quicker to finish for you than it will for other people, but for others there's a lot to do here. This is before I have even mentioned the Shells either. You find these all over the place. They can be spent in a vending machine somewhere in Hyrule Town, that will enable you to get figurines of characters and enemies in the game (not unlike the Wind Waker's figurine quest).
The current boss I am fighting is kicking my ass even when I have two fairies captured in bottles. I must be doing something wrong :lol
Impressions - what's new?
The first original 2d Zelda on GBA has me clamouring for more. I want a new 2d Mario even more now too. It's clear that gameplay is still and can still carry on evolving in 2d. There's a lot of new things for Zelda fans here: new tools at your disposal
and additionally you now learn your swordplay in a dojo not unlike that in Wind Waker. Techniques range from learning how to smash pots/rocks to the dash attack, the spin attack to the "peril beam" and more. You have to find your tutors for some of these in new areas. Having said that this game comes with a lot of fresh goodness, it also comes with a hefty dose of familiarity. If you didn't like Zelda (particularly 2d Zelda) before, then maybe this familiarity will only breed contempt. But those who look back fondly will be amazed by the new stuff thats included and the subtle ques and homages to old games. Fans of a Link to the Past will remember Blind, and letting light through several levels by opening holes above you by whatever means. There's a tricky homage to the obtaining of the book of Mudura. There are friends and foe from Zelda bestieries old and new: Moblins, Octoroks, Chu Chus, Gorons, Deku Scrubs etc. As part of the excellent soundtrack there are remixes from Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past and one very cool remix of an original Legend of Zelda dungeon theme.
Impressions - Graphics and sound
The normal world/shrunken world dychotomy is an excellent way of showing off the GBA too. Normal enemies become giant bosses thanks to the GBAs sprite capabilities. A key advantage in those battles is of course that you already know some of their behaviours. The giant Chu Chu and Octorok creatures leap about, or spit rocks at you respectively for example. However, to dispose of them as such a little guy will take new methods. The scaling/stretching and rotating is put to use in elements of the world and your inventory. The game just looks beautiful. There's nice use of low opacity sprites, parallax scenery, giant objects and slick animation. Jumping into a whirlwind will make you use your cap like the Leaf item from the Wind Waker and float about.. and that's done nicely too.
The graphics and sound in this game are some of the best I've seen and heard on GBA barre none.
Initially I ummed and ahh'd over buying this one. I saw the box sitting there on store shelves for days, and thought of Christmas approaching and how there are still Gamecube and Xbox games I don't own yet. But once in a while you gotta endulge yourself and take a stab at something even if you might regret it. Which incidentally, as if it wasn't already obvious, I don't. If you're thinking of buying a Nintendo DS, this would be a worthy launch title. If you have a GBA and you're a Zelda fan you owe it to yourself to play this game. It's a great game.
Thom
YAYYYYY!
I haven't been posting much or replying as much as I usually do because I have been totally absorbed in Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
I bought Echoes one day prior and thought that game would have the bulk of my time for at least the remainder of the month, but I was wrong. Prime 2 is awesome, make no mistake. It's a rediculously detailed world (I'm not just talking graphically) and I've been having a lot of fun in it. I'd only just beaten Amorbis and gotten the Dark Suit to make Dark Aether a little bit less daunting... when I picked up Minish Cap.
I haven't gotten very far in Echoes since.
I've just got to the final boss in the Wind Temple in the clouds... This is one of the best Zelda's ever. Flagship and Capcom deserve a lot of praise for this IMO. From what I can tell the plot is evolving as something of a Four Swords prequel.
Basic story (with spoilers)
The origins of Vaati and the Four Sword.
At the beginning (as in many Zelda games of late), you are asleep. Zelda has come to your house to drag you around the Hyrule Town fait in honour of the centenarian visits of a people known as the Picori. Once upon a time, the Picori forged a blade with which the hero of men slayed evil itself, and banished it. As part of these celebrations a swordsmanship contest takes place, and this year the winner is a man called Vaati. You are present when he comes to claim his prize:- an audience with Hyrule Castle and a chance to touch the Great Blade itself. The blade is embedded into a chest. Vaati reveals his true colours, attacking the chest, unleashing monsters upon the world, breaking the blade and turning Princess Zelda to stone. As a result - it's your job to seek out the Picori, fix the blade, and deal with Vaati -
who soon starts a search for something called the 'Light Force'
Ezlo, in a Star Wars-esque Master-Padawan type scenario, has unfinished business with Vaati.
Impressions - Difficulty
For me, this game showcases a very new balance of things in terms of difficulty. The earlier dungeons are fairly straight foreward, and the bosses not too taxing - and you get eased into the whole Honey-I-Shrunk-The-Link business. That isn't to say either aspect is too easy, it's just that early on - you hopefully won't die very much. It's VERY well thought out. As soon as you start wandering around Hyrule Town (not far from your starting point), you can see tiny door ways, path-like flower arrangements, and tiny bridges over water, ladders up bookcases etc. But it's all laid out so that it's both realistic, and impossible to get everywhere straight away. Link has had a history of just waltzing into peoples' houses and smashing pots unannounced, but no more! As mini Link, he can't go from flat ground to a simple bit of raised concrete at the foot of a doorway. He can't tread through thick grass without trouble. Shallow waters become like Lake Hylia itself, complete with the prospect of drowning. Things are well thought out and well designed in general. There are areas of the map and certain screens that I have been going nuts trying to reach. Soon enough - albeit after some hefty journeying -- your new items, kinstones and other things will open the way for you. And in some major strokes of genius - simply pushing boulders into holes, leaping your way to once unreachable areas, or having a good old toot on an ocarina will give you a shortcut to and from your newly accessed area from then on in. Once you realise what certain things are and what they look like (ie. wind stones/tablets, flower arrangements, pots, holes in the ground) - you really get to know your limits pretty well, and for quite a large part of the first three dungeons - you progress steadily at a nice pace, with little hindrance... until wham! You're stuck.
It's really strange. At times I've been moseying on along, right as rain, actually thinking "perhaps this game is too easy?" -- and then all of a sudden I'm retreading ground in a vain attempt to figure out what I have or haven't done. Looking at the map after a couple of dungeons, you could be forgiven for thinking the game might be quite small. But in reality there are six dungeons or something like that, and getting to each one can be a dungeon in and of itself. You'll use the big key in a dungeon and only be half way to the dungeon's boss. Luckily, pressing select is akin to pressing up-C and speaking to Navi in Ocarina of Time: Ezlo (your talking hat) will give you helpful hints or tell you where you should be trying to get next. I'd be interested to see what others make of the difficulty because... basically, when I have eventually figured out where I've been going wrong, I have been tending to regard it all in hindsight like "oh my god, that was obvious". However, some of it isn't. I think there will be quite a few people out there who have the same trouble. One thing that gets your brain going quite a bit:
There are some puzzles similar in difficulty to the best ones in Four Swords adventures on the Gamecube:
as you progress, you will infuse your sword with more and more power - enabling you to split into 2, 3, then 4 Links by standing on upto 4 glowing blocks and charging your sword. The abilities it gives you and the challenge therein is just like Four Swords! Where it's different in this game is that you can't control each Link seperately or change formation. So if the glowing blocks are in a certain unusual formation, once you transform, you are locked into that formation. If one of your clones walks into a wall or walks through a block or an enemy/projectile - it's curtains for your identikit brethren. This is frustrating when you've gotta walk them all through a veritable gauntlet just to get them all to stand on some buttons or stab switches... but it's fun!
If you do race through the game really quick, there's an almost solid guaruntee you won't have done everything there is to do in the game. There are items, paths and caves superfluous to your quest, full of goodies, money, pieces of heart and kinstones. The kinstones play a part in the biggest sidequest of the game, with many NPCs having half a keystone to which you can match to your own collection. Doing so makes something happen on the overworld map. One even enables you to get the light arrows, which you will not get if you race through the game. You may miss other keystone exclusive collectables, or miss new sword techniques for example. If you're not completist you likely won't care, and the game might seem quicker to finish for you than it will for other people, but for others there's a lot to do here. This is before I have even mentioned the Shells either. You find these all over the place. They can be spent in a vending machine somewhere in Hyrule Town, that will enable you to get figurines of characters and enemies in the game (not unlike the Wind Waker's figurine quest).
The current boss I am fighting is kicking my ass even when I have two fairies captured in bottles. I must be doing something wrong :lol
Impressions - what's new?
The first original 2d Zelda on GBA has me clamouring for more. I want a new 2d Mario even more now too. It's clear that gameplay is still and can still carry on evolving in 2d. There's a lot of new things for Zelda fans here: new tools at your disposal
There are mushrooms you can pull and stretch, to catapult yourself across chasms. There's a new lantern, a cane that can flip things over or propel you to new heights, mole mitts that allow you to tunnel through rubble, a roc's cape with the appearance of wings that lets you jump and fly (superman-style) for a limited time.
Impressions - Graphics and sound
The normal world/shrunken world dychotomy is an excellent way of showing off the GBA too. Normal enemies become giant bosses thanks to the GBAs sprite capabilities. A key advantage in those battles is of course that you already know some of their behaviours. The giant Chu Chu and Octorok creatures leap about, or spit rocks at you respectively for example. However, to dispose of them as such a little guy will take new methods. The scaling/stretching and rotating is put to use in elements of the world and your inventory. The game just looks beautiful. There's nice use of low opacity sprites, parallax scenery, giant objects and slick animation. Jumping into a whirlwind will make you use your cap like the Leaf item from the Wind Waker and float about.. and that's done nicely too.
The graphics and sound in this game are some of the best I've seen and heard on GBA barre none.
Initially I ummed and ahh'd over buying this one. I saw the box sitting there on store shelves for days, and thought of Christmas approaching and how there are still Gamecube and Xbox games I don't own yet. But once in a while you gotta endulge yourself and take a stab at something even if you might regret it. Which incidentally, as if it wasn't already obvious, I don't. If you're thinking of buying a Nintendo DS, this would be a worthy launch title. If you have a GBA and you're a Zelda fan you owe it to yourself to play this game. It's a great game.
Thom
