What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Avaitor]

Midna's one of my favorite parts of Twilight Princess, and she's the primary reason that I'm interested in finally getting to Hyrule Warriors soon. That, and I want to knock it out before the BOTW prequel from next year arrives.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, I almost forgot that companion characters were a series tradition for 3D Zelda games until Breath of the Wild did away with the concept. While I understand why it wasn't utilized in that game, it's a fun gimmick when done well, especially since Midna easily has far more personality than any of the preceding side-kicks for Link.

[Mustang]

I wanted to like Twilight Princess because that tone was screaming my name, but I gave up on it midway. By the time I even got to the game I was bored of that OoT style of gameplay which is unfortunate because I found the scale of the game to be awesome. I'd love revisit the game to see if I'd still feel the same way now since that was back in 2008ish where you couldn't talk to me about Nintendo let alone find me buying a Nintendo console.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It really depends on your personal preferences. This is VERY much following the OoT formula for 3D Zelda games, but in this day and age where every big game is seemingly trying to be huge and open world, the more straightforward design is enjoyable for me. That said, there definitely is some padding here. At over 8 hours into the game I have only just reached the Goron Mines, and some of collecting the tear drops of light in wolf form in the Twilight Realm for each new area kind of feels a bit tedious after the first time you do it. That said, the core experience is still fun for me, overall.

[Avaitor]

I think time's becoming increasingly kind to Twilight Princess, as we've gotten further away from the OOT format. I could see why it was tiresome to some at the time, but it's quaint in the best possible away compared to BOTW's scope, and better constructed than Skyward Sword on every level.

I do agree that it's a bit padded, but it's otherwise a lot of fun.

[Mustang]

It really depends on your personal preferences. This is VERY much following the OoT formula for 3D Zelda games, but in this day and age where every big game is seemingly trying to be huge and open world, the more straightforward design is enjoyable for me. That said, there definitely is some padding here. At over 8 hours into the game I have only just reached the Goron Mines, and some of collecting the tear drops of light in wolf form in the Twilight Realm for each new area kind of feels a bit tedious after the first time you do it. That said, the core experience is still fun for me, overall.

Agreed. I would probably be more open to Twilight Princess now compared to back then because I was definitely burnt out at the time. And while I haven't played nearly as much open world games that I thought I did, I will also agree that there are quite a bit of them (I don't really have a problem with it even though only 3 of them truly satisfied me)

And when it comes to padding, man, from what I can remember of that first temple (I think the one where you get the boomerang) felt like a chore to get through until I got that boomerang and afterwards it opened up. I think that was the case in a lot of those dungeons in that game.

[Mustang]

Not playing anything. Just watching random people play Among Us. It looks like a good party game that can ruin friendships lol. Some of these have been really funny. Some have been awful because people tend to be too honest for their own good. I've seen a couple videos where they got the imposter figured out, but the imposter just sit their and don't say nothing or say something along the lines of "I hope you're right". That kills the game. I don't play these type of games but it is something I could play with a bunch of random people sort of like an ice breaker.

Edit

I take it back. It's great to play during the 1st hour, but bail afterwards because it is very toxic. Watched 2 streams go south very fast after the 1st hour lol.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

After looking on and off for a matter of several months for a complete copy of Viewtiful Joe for the Gamecube, I finally managed to get one at a reasonable price. It just arrived in the mail today and is in excellent physical condition so I'm definitely happy about that. I'm currently playing through Twilight Princess and just started my Hard Mode run of The Wonderful 101, so I won't be getting to this right away, but I am excited to play this game after clearing my current Kamiya fixation.

[Mustang]

Ghost of Tsushima
Yeah, I'm done. I've had enough of the forced stealth. It's not a bad game by any means. I've had my fill, I can move on.

I downloaded Genshin Impact but haven't tried it out yet. It may be a while before I even get to it too. Getting back into USF4, 3rd Strike and perhaps some DBFZ. Very skeptical because of the pandemic, but my brother-in-law will be coming to town soon along with my cousin. We usually do this around the holiday's and every Evo, but, well, yeah, you know what happened.

I need to look into this Parsec thing people have been raving about as well. I know fightcade 2 is up and there's been nothing but praise for it so I want to look into that as well.

Edit:

I might've lied about Ghost of Tsushima. I saw a trailer that kind of motivated me to keep going lol. 

[Avaitor]

I didn't ask for much for my birthday this year, especially since I'm in the process of moving. I did get a memory card for my Switch, and $60 in credit for Nintendo's eShop. I'll keep an eye on games I want from the shop, but I am hoping to use the card to finally play The Witcher 3 on it, although I might still do Xenoblade Chronicles first.

But only after I finish Tropical Freeze. Which is still fun af, but damn is it hard.

[Avaitor]

Still not sure if I can get a PS5 by the end of the year, but just in case, I took advantage of GameStop's buy 2/get 2 used deal and ordered the following:

-Bloodborne
-The Last of Us Remastered
-Hitman Season 1
-Resident Evil 2

I thought about ordering Control, but decided against it since apparently there's a PS5 version with all of the expansions coming up, so I may just do that instead.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I would also recommend Nioh 2 if you ever get it for a good deal (but you have enough on your plate as it is, lol), in which case the first game is great as well, but I consider 2 to be mechanically superior to the point of being the better game by the slightest of margins.

As for me I am about three-quarters of the way through Twilight Princess and I think at this point it's safe to call it a really good Zelda game but not necessarily a great one. Unlike some people I don't mind a more linear story progression if it leads to tighter game design for the core mechanics. In certain regards, that is the case for Twilight Princess. However, it also ends up feeling somewhat disjointed as an overall experience. What I mean is that different aspects of the game feel mostly inconsequential of each other. For example, Link's Wolf form is very contextual in nature only being utilized in specific story segments and occasionally in a puzzle or two that makes it very clear that you need to use the Wolf form. However, very rarely is it used in conjunction with Link's human form to get you thinking about both in the context of a greater whole. The Arbiter's Grounds so far is the only dungeon to really do that which initially got me excited for future possibilities, but as of yet the game has yet to match that attempt. Likewise, the dungeons themselves feel great on their own but have little connection with the world around them. Items you attain and/or put to use in the dungeons rarely ever have any application in the overworld, and the overworld itself mainly just feels like a place to get some collectibles and get you to the next dungeon.

The thing is, Twilight Princess (at least so far) is actually pretty great at the moment-to-moment game design. The dungeons themselves, even the weakest of them, are far superior to BotW's Divine Beasts, IMO (not that those were badly designed for what that game was trying to achieve). The game also has some great and memorable set-piece moments. That said, all of the in-between stuff, in actually trying to get from one segment to the other, does tend to follow a check-list sort of approach, in which you fulfill a bunch of pre-requisites and objectives to gain access to the next dungeon. In that regard it can come off feeling like mostly filler.

Still, I'm mostly happy with what I've played of the game so far, even the lesser aspects of it. Classic formulaic Zelda holds it's appeal for me, after all, but I do see where the series could absolutely flourish if it combined the best of what the older style had to offer with Breath of the Wild's more open-ended approach. Easier said than done, obviously, but the potential is absolutely there.

[Avaitor]

I forgot about Nioh. The first one would have been applicable for the sale, but not the second, since it's over $30.

[Mustang]

Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3
I'm 50+ hours in and just finished chapter 2. I haven't ran into too much to dislike but the dislikes standout quite a bit. For one, it looks like the attacks that I used (I guess most people used in previous games) have been nerfed; cost more CP to use Rean's Gale. I get it, change up how one played or took advantage of the previous game so that's no biggie. The problem I'm having is feeling less rewarded. The treasure chests that I've been coming across so far, has had garbage in them. Money/Sepith is a lot more scarce this time around so I have to be cautious on what I use on what. In a sense, I'm underwhelmed from what I've seen of this game so far when comparing it to 1 and 2. I'm seeing that chapter 3 is suppose to ramp up big time so hopefully the payoff is worth the wait.

I saw Nioh was brought up. Man I need to get back to that game. I also have Final Fantasy 7 Remake that I need to get to as well. My backlog is dwindling due to losing interest in most, but it's still fairly large.

[talonmalon333]

Not playing anything. Just watching random people play Among Us. It looks like a good party game that can ruin friendships lol. Some of these have been really funny. Some have been awful because people tend to be too honest for their own good. I've seen a couple videos where they got the imposter figured out, but the imposter just sit their and don't say nothing or say something along the lines of "I hope you're right". That kills the game. I don't play these type of games but it is something I could play with a bunch of random people sort of like an ice breaker.

Edit

I take it back. It's great to play during the 1st hour, but bail afterwards because it is very toxic. Watched 2 streams go south very fast after the 1st hour lol.

I've enjoyed Among Us most in my private groups with friends who are generally on the same wavelength. We've had a blast with it even if I always kind of want to be the impostor. It's especially nice during these times, as we'll sometimes have a few rounds of it on Zoom when we can't see each other in-person.

-The Last of Us Remastered

Have you played that one, yet? Or will this be your first time? I recently finished Part II. It's not quite as good as the first game in some ways (the length, mainly), but in other ways I like it more. It has its flaws, but unfortunately it's gotten slammed hard by bigots.

So I'm still playing Animal Crossing every day. It's a nice, calming way to help ease some of the tensions brought on by COVID, and it's just a lot of fun to fish.

But I do agree with the criticism that it's not really finished. I don't even mind that some features are deliberately missing when you time jump, like holiday specials, since it encourages keeping up year round. What bugs me is how the building system and furniture collections feel incomplete. On the former, there are a lot of items that are available in different colors, yet you're not able to change the color yourself even if you have paint. The inability to make more than one item at a time also stings. As for the latter, it seems like I've seen every item I can buy thus far, since looking online, it doesn't seem like I'm missing much. I like to collect musical instruments and clocks for my house, but I think that I have everything I need there.

What really hurts is the villagers, and their dialogue. A big part of the franchise's charm is how you're able to build connections with your neighbors, and have fun conversations with them. Here, whenever I try to talk to my villagers, I seldom get more from them than a "it's nice of you to check up on me!" They'll still ask me to run errands for them occasionally, and I understand that it's a badge of honor to receive a portrait of them, which has happened once so far, but they're hardly distinguishable at this point beyond their species and the handful of personality types scattered around the characters.

Ah well, I'm still having fun with the game. It does make me want to find my copy of the original GCN version and dust it off for old times sake. We'll see if I do.

I'm in a place with Animal Crossing in that, after consistently playing it, I fell out of it for a month and don't know how the villagers will respond to my absence.