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Tag: Zelda

Weekly Gaming: Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Review.

How does one review Zelda? The game series has been going on for so many years and has so many fans that any word said on the game is going to be scrutinised in everyway possible. It’s for good reason: The Zelda games, for a long while, pushed their respective consoles forward into the limelight of the gaming world, and even proceeded to hold games up as a legitimate art form many times when other games were content with exploding limbs and gratuitous violence.

But the series hasn’t been without it’s downfalls. Twilight Princess didn’t exactly set the world on fire, with skyward sword receiving middling to negative reviews. So does Breath of the Wild mix the formula up enough to become an instant classic once more, or is Zelda losing the power it once had?

Well you’ll be glad to know that Zelda has turned away from it’s linear formula of the last few years and has instead embraced the rogue like gameplay mannerisms of years past. After an hour of playing around within a starting area, getting you used to how the world behaves and what it does (and doesn’t) expect of you, you’re able to embark in any which way you want. Your only objective is to “Kill Ganon”. How you go about doing this main objective is completely up to you. This disregarding of a linear narrative with a specific route in which you take on dungeons is pleasing, and makes the game feel so much more special than many other open world games like Skyrim or even Horizon Zero Dawn.

This open world formula ensures that you’re constantly looking for things to do. The game never once makes you go in any one direction, you simply explore and move towards what interests you most. A typical hour in the game would comprise of me starting to walk to the other side of the map, having my other half see something in a field which looks interesting, proceeding to deviate over to the interesting ruin, and then getting muddled up in a new fight or puzzle that I never anticipated being in.

It’s invigorating, and pushes you on to explore the world as much as possible. Especially given the fact your weapons die so quickly; encouraging you to find as many useful replacements in the environment. It’s even more exciting when you make your way to the end of a cave that didn’t look interesting and find a chest which has a new powerful weapon for you to try. Yes the weapon will die quickly, but the fact you have many and they all get destroyed pushes you to experiment with your whole inventory, as well as encouraging you to explore more.

The aesthetics of the world too, are absolutely lovely. Each time breath of the wild was shown at conferences I had no interest in the graphical fidelity at all. This changed when I started to explore the world, as each and every bit of detail in the environments is meticulously detailed. I’ll never forget getting to the end of a long canyon, just to find some carvings on a wall, each of them lovingly rendering to look like they were actually etched and using polygons to do so. Nintendo really should be commended for how well they’ve done on the graphics standpoint with what limited hardware they had available to them.

This showcase of graphical prowess really stands out when it comes to the sheer size of the world. For a game all about exploring, Zelda gives you plenty of reasons to explore, as well as a lot of space in which to do so. The producer, Eiji Aonuma, made it clear that Breath of the wild was based on the freedom of exploration first invented in the original Legend of Zelda. My god have they gone above and beyond that freedom. Me and my other half put over 65 hours into the game, exploring every nook and cranny of the world until our sense of adventure had been fulfilled. It’s a marvel, to put it bluntly, and one that really will stand up to the test of time when historians look back and wonder what we were playing in 2017.

With all this exploring, you’d be forgiven for thinking the traditional Zelda tropes like dungeons are gone. Alas they are still here, although they are broken down into two distinct categories: Shrines and Guardians. Shrines can be found throughout the world, and once activated, allow you not only to fast travel between them (a god send considering the sheer size of the world) but also to embark on a mini adventure. When entering the shrines, you’ll be tasked with solving puzzles, or even taking part in combat, all to earn a spirit orb which can then be traded in for more stamina or hearts. These mini sections were a fantastic reward to finding a shrine after spending hours exploring the land, and as such, are brilliant ways of breaking up the game.

Guardians on the other hand a few, but complex and gratifying when taking them on. They’re huge structures that proceed to roam the land, cursed by Ganon into hurting the local inhabitants. Once inside these monstrosities, you’re able to use their sheer size to affect the dungeons within themselves, making for some great puzzles that had me stumped for ages. Whilst they harken back to Zeldas of yesteryear, they’re so few and far between that you can let them off for being more linear than the rest of the game.

The characters found throughout this world are just as interesting and charming as ever, making you want to talk to them more and more. I would consistently come back to villages after having done quite a few missions to get some characters take on what’s gone down, a delightful experience each and every time. Whilst the characters are great, thinly thing that could be said to let the game down is the story. Whilst I enjoyed what little was there, it certainly felt bare, pushing you to make your own stories in the journeys between locations rather than giving you a proper narrative. For some people this is fine (I for one loved it), but for others I can see this being a point of contention, especially when the triforce isn’t mentioned once in the whole game.

So, if I haven’t made it clear enough yet, Zelda Breath of the Wild is an absolutely phenomenal game. It’s mechanics, from the gigantic world where you actually feel like an adventurer, to it’s new fighting mechanics, and even charming characters make it easily one of the best gaming experiences you can have in 2017. Screw Game of the Year, Breath of the Wild manages to rate so highly on my list that I believe it may even be my game of the generation.

5/5

05/05/2017
Weekly Gaming: Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS)

I’m sure that when I say that I haven’t played a Dynasty Warriors game since I was a kid there’s going to be many of you who relate. It’s not that we didn’t enjoy the games when they were released, and god only knows there are still people out there buying the games (otherwise they wouldn’t continue to be made), it’s just that the formula is stale and the gameplay repetitive. Suffice to say that after 15-odd years, I finally felt in the mood for a hack-and-slash-defeat-thousands-of-enemies title, and what better game to play than Nintendo’s Hyrule Warriors for the 3DS.

Why the 3DS version? I hear you ask when the HD version is so much prettier on Wii U:

Portability.

I wanted to play this game wherever I was, including but not limited to when I was on my lunch at work, or out and about travelling to site installs during my day job. I also feel that in getting the game for 3DS, I justified my purchase in the NEW 3DS XL even more (as reports suggest the fidelity of the non-new 3DS’ is atrocious and barely playable).

Speaking of presentation, you can definitely tell the game’s been scaled back massively, both in terms of gameplay (how many enemies on screen at any one time) and graphical fidelity. In order to make the game playable at all on portable consoles the graphics has been scaled back to a presentation that reminds me of the N64. Yes, the polygonal enemies and low resolution textures are seriously that limited. Due to the lack of processing power, this has also affected the gameplay, as the limited amount of units that can be rendered on-screen at any one time is hugely limited.

Whilst I haven’t played the original Wii U version to compare the difference, the game certainly feels lacking when it comes to combat due to the consoles restraints. There would be many times where my mini-map would be fairly red from the amount of enemies surrounding me, yet on screen there were barely 50. Activating a special ability would only kill at maximum 44 enemies, with more suddenly appearing on screen the second their comrades are defeated (in the very same place you just annihilated I might add!). It detracted from the enjoyability of the game at times; here you are, a seemingly powerful Hyrulian who is able to defeat Gods, yet not able to kill everything on screen because said enemies haven’t even appeared.

Regardless of the nuisances the lack of processing power brings with it, the rest of Hyrule Warriors Legends holds up extremely well. The story brings together multiple familiar faces from across all the Zelda franchise, tying them together through a witch who is able to observe and manipulate all of time. In loving Link too much, and knowing she will never get close to him (since he is destined for Zelda) Cia (the main protagonist) succumbs to Gannondorf’s evil, starting the end of the world, and with it, the merging of different timelines and characters.

This fantastic way of both bringing in new characters into the fray, whilst also narratively keeping the world consistent helps to keep Hyrule Warriors campaign hugely engaging, even when you constantly have to change characters and play as someone new. In fact, in making you constantly switch up and play as new characters, Hyrule Warriors pushes you to learn more attacks, and more information about each of the characters, ensuring you get as much from the game and it’s hugely expanded lore as possible. Whilst the campaign ends in a relatively predictable manner, the story as a whole was enjoyable, and explored both new and old characters in ways I wouldn’t have thought before.

As per all hack and slash games, Hyrule Warriors requires little strategy, but a lot of repetitive enemy slaying. Things constantly change of the battlefield, with new enemies appearing at a drop of the hat, and in doing so, partially changing the tide of the battle, but overall the whole game makes you feel “reactionary” rather than a strategist who plans out who to attack and when. You may have an idea of what you want to do throughout a playthrough, but until boss drop happen or new objectives are thrown at you, you cannot possibly hope to properly plan out a level.

Not that the hacking and slashing is a bad thing, not by any stretch of the imagination, you just best know what you’re getting into before delving into Hyrule Warriors 10-12 hour campaign. Most enemies are easy to kill and so generic you can go about ignoring them; they aren’t going to have any effect on the tide of the battle, and if anything, they’re merely cannon fodder for you to build up your special attacks. It’s once you get used to the mechanics of how the stages play out that you realise that you can indeed ignore most of these enemies and concentrate on the true challenge of the game: the mini-bosses and enemy captains.

You see, these enemies change things up on the battlefield, and actually require skill rather than button mashing to conquer. They’ll ignore some of your attacks, and will proceed to leave themselves with openings should you evade their attacks for long enough. I especially found the final few bosses nice to take on, as in doing so you feel a real sense on accomplishment when an boss is downed.

Outside of the main game you also have a weirdly addictive meta game of upgrading allies skills using rupees and materials picked up in levels, and also managing and creating weapons. All of this adds an extra layer of complexity to an otherwise simplistic game that kept me coming back to levels time and time again just to ensure I unlocked more. It’s weird, but hey, if it kept me hooked, it’s sure to make many fans happy.

Am I glad I came back to a genre I had all but forgotten about? Yes. The simplistic rhythm of bashing out combos and barely thinking, only reacting, on a battlefield was enjoyable and weirdly relaxing, so much so that I was able to watch videos or listen to music in the background whilst still enjoying my time. Hyrule Warriors Legends isn’t a taxing affair, but is certainly enjoyable to take out and about should you own a 3DS. Weirdly enough, on completing the game I’m kind of eager to buy the Wii U version, just to compare the differences and maybe get a better playtime. Regardless, I think Hyrule Warriors Legends is a good buy, and a good match for 3DS – should you own the NEW 3DS and are looking for software to play on it, look no further.

4/5

22/07/2016
Weekly Gaming: Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)

Set hundreds of years after the events of a link to the past, A Link Between Worlds gives you the gorgeous world of Hyrule in stunning 3D.

A Link Between Worlds was announced rather unexpectedly last summer, as Nintendo showed of a line up of 3DS title after 3DS title. As much as it was a surprise, it was certainly welcome, with Skyward Sword not getting the same scores or sales numbers of Zelda titles of the past Nintendo needed a hit to ensure that Zelda was still known and remembered for being one of the best action/adventure games of all time.

You start A Link Between Worlds in Links house, just the same as the original A Link To the Past. Having slept in and late for work, a friend comes in and wakes you up, setting you on course to get to the blacksmiths house as you (Link) are his apprentice. From here, you are set with delivering a new sword to a knight at the sanctuary, where your true adventure will start. It’s at the sanctuary that a new villain is found, someone who is imprisoning seemingly ordinary people in the world in paintings, making them 2D and not able to move. It’s here that you are able to use the sword you were tasked with delivering, and its here that the adventure truly starts.

You’re able to explore most of the world of Hyrule from the offset as soon as you get the sword, with only a few areas being locked until you receive the appropriate item to bypass the obstacles in your path. Link doesn’t level up, but you can find rupees and items in the world before progressing through the story and going to hyrule castle to meet Princess Zelda.

The Land of Hyrule is fantastically detailed, with Nintendo easily toying with your nostalgia of the original by making most things the same, but others tweaked for better replayability and interaction. Dungeons are similar, whilst also taking advantage of your new unique abilities and items to give a interesting puzzle to pass. The world feels alive at the start of the game, but as it progresses you’ll start to get the same conversations happening time and time again. It feels fantastic when you find a new secret or person to talk to after accidentally wondering down a new path that you haven’t seen before.

Like the previous Zelda for the Snes, you’re able to travel between two worlds, one which is lovely and normal (Hyrule), and another that is destroyed and the opposite of Hyrule: Lorule. You travel to this new location by using one of Link’s new control mechanics, which turns Link 2D against any flat walls or surfaces as a drawing/painting. This allows you to navigate pass boulders or enemies without getting hurt, or allows or very clever puzzles.

Lorule is like the dark parts of a Link to the Past, and takes all the enemies that were easy to kill, making them stronger and harder to beat. Lorule is also hard to navigate, with huge swaths of land missing so you have to teleport between worlds in order to get the the correct location. It makes navigating a puzzle in itself, which certainly adds extra hours of gameplay to your experience.

One of the biggest talking points of A Link Between Worlds was the way you got your new equipment. Traditionally, you’d have to navigate dungeons and defeat bosses in a set pattern, always giving you new equipment which helps you unlock the next dungeon along your quest. (E.g. in one dungeon you’ll unlock the ability to throw bombs, then the next dungeon will require this to enter the dungeon itself, allowing nintendo to set you down a one way path through completing the game). In a Link Between Worlds though, you have access to almost all of the equipment throughout the whole game from the offset, for a small fee of renting the items. You keep these items until the next time you die or fall, meaning you could potentially never have to buy out the items throughout the whole campaign. It’s certainly a nice feature, and makes the game more accessible to those who haven’t played Zelda games before, but not a feature I’d recommend for hardcore players, as items that are bought can then be upgraded to become more powerful and devastating to enemies. To also buck trends in this long running franchise, Nintendo have also allowed you to upgrade the master sword, something that has never been done before. By the end of the game, I was killing most enemies in one hit, and felt truly over-powered.

A Link Between Worlds is one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had in recent memory. Nintendo managed to take my nostalgia for the original, put it into a machine, mess around with it, and spit it back out shinier than ever. Everything in the game feels refreshingly original, whilst you know it’s all based on a template so tried and tested. I played the game to completion, collecting every collectible in the game and upgrading everything I possibly could, just to treasure every moment I could. Nintendo has made yet another classic, and you owe it to yourself to play it. I look forward to the next time I start this adventure again.

5/5

04/04/2014