Wakka_Menu.jpgOriginally Posted by Pumpkin
Did Wakka steal Zell's haircut?
Wakka_Menu.jpg
Did Wakka steal Zell's haircut?
My friend Delzethin is currently running a GoFundMe account to pay for some extended medical troubles he's had. He's had chronic issues and lifetime troubles that have really crippled his career opportunities, and he's trying to get enough funding to get back to a stable medical situation. If you like his content, please support his GoFundMe, or even just contribute to his Patreon.
He can really use a hand with this, and any support you can offer is appreciated.
Oh for sure, just as I have enjoyed this whole thread so far
Final Fantasy VIII is a game I find myself coming back to time and time again. It has very high replay value to me, especially compared to most other games in the series. The fact that it has bar none the best minigame in any game helps that.
Squall is my favorite FF lead character. Both in story and in gameplay. In story because I relate to him in many ways and found his actions and reactions quite understandable. In gameplay because he's just so damn strong. Perfect accuracy, 150% damage per hit and a quick and simple yet still very strong Limit Break? Yes please.
I do wonder what #2 is going to be...
Mother smurfing Spheeda!!!
It's the perfect blend of a love hate minigame. See that ring 400 yards away on the other side of several chasms? You get three strokes to make it. Don't forget the ball can't be the same color as the ring, though. If you fail that it. You'll have to reclear the whole level before you can try it again.
You know what Spheeda? Don't worry. I'll save you the trouble.
Plus it means I'll probably suffer less.
2. Majora's Mask
I'm going on an early schedule today because A) I don't have these two reviews written in advance and I don't know how long it will take and B) I has lots of stuff to do this afternoon/evening so I need to get the stuffs up earlier.
I'd also like to note that my top 3 was not hard to peg down at all. Some of the other games I had a hard time deciding between them (like Suikoden II and V, or Tales of Symphonia and Dark Cloud 2) and some of the order could change depending on my mood. But my top 3 are my top 3 and that hasn't changed at all. On top of that, my top 2 is very far ahead of the rest of the games on this list, meaning no other game even came close to knocking them off their thrones. I really love these two games and they are the reason I like games as much as I do and they're kind of the gold standard for me for gaming, the standard by which all other games are measured.
I really like them is what I'm saying.
So without further ado (and I apologize in advance for how long these next two reviews are going to be)
Majora's Mask follows our hero Link, after saving Hyrule in Ocarina of Time. He's out searching for someone when he's knocked from his horse. He awakens from this to find his horse gone and a strange skull kid wearing an even stranger mask playing with his stuff. The Skull Kid steals his Ocarina, and Link gives chase. Things go from bad to worse however when the Skull Kid turns him in to a Deku child (kind of a wood person) and he ends up in a strange world called Termina. He meets the Happy Mask Salesman who can help him become human again on the condition that he gets his Ocarina back. But he only has 3 days because after that, the world is going to end when the moon comes crashing down. The Happy Mask Salesman isn't going to heal him without asking for something back however.
Majora's Mask combat wise plays similar to most Zelda games. You go around hacking enemies with your sword, completing dungeons, and using cool gadgets like a bow and arrow. There are some differences though. In this game you can get transformation masks allowing you to transform in to some series staple races like the rock people Gorons and the fish people Zora's, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. This game puts heavy emphasis on masks, each of which will do something different for you. There are only 4 dungeons in this game but a lot of sidequests to complete. The most unique aspect of the game is the time limit. You have 3 in game days before the world ends, although once you pass the beginning section, you can rewind it and start back at the first day. Doing so allows you to keep story important items, but you lose extra stock and money (except what you put in the bank). Game time passes at about 1 second = 1 in game minute. You can get songs that allow you to slow time or to skip to the next 12 hour period. Rewinding time also serves as a way to save the game. Because of the clock, a lot of the sidequests are very dependent on what time it is in game.
General Impressions:
I'm not even sure what to write here, I could talk about this game for hours. I'd played this after Ocarina of Time with my mother, who was disgusted at it. She said it was lazy and a cheap rip off of OoT because they reused character models. I think that aside from the character models, this game is not really a rip off at all, having a whole new world and story. My favourite part of this game though is that it's something very special. This game is more than the sum of it's parts. It's deep and it's layered. This game has spawned so many theories and discussions and I've read essay after essay about what the story really means, and even if I don't agree with all of them, I think it's beautiful and magical that a game can do that. That a game can be so deep and so inspiring as to spawn all of these thoughts and ideas. It goes beyond what just in the game and that is so rare to find. I love games that can give you different interpretations and one of my favourite things to do is replay the game with the new theories in mind. What if Link is dead and he's going through the 5 stages of coping with death, for example? (Seriously look some up, there's a ton of them) It allows me to play the exact same game but get something totally different out of it. I personally find the game quite depressing, watching everyone slowly die over and over again and knowing that until you finish you can't save everyone (SPOILER)(and even after you finish, the Deku Butler's son is still dead, which horrified me when I finally realized where my Deku Mask likely came from) and the music reflects the tone pretty well. The music in this game is very beautiful but usually very sad and sombre (although it has some upbeat tracks as well). Anyways I could go on at length about this but I'll stop here. If anyone wants to discuss it with me feel free to PM me because I'm always up for a chat about this game.
Story:
The story is pretty great, even if you don't go in to the deeper meanings and symbolism. You have 3 days to save a dying world by rewinding time over and over again. The tone is excellent and it really made me feel how desperate the situation was becoming for them, especially if you spend all 3 days in Clock Town as the music changes and people get more and more worried and depressed. But what makes this story stand out is how it's told through the NPC's. In most games the NPC's are there almost as background and here they tell the story, they show you different ways people deal with what's happening and how things are changing. I'll go in to more detail in the characters section about that, but I just think it's a really great story and it always has me invested.
Gameplay:
As far as the gameplay itself, it's very similar to the Zelda series which is kind of middle of the road for me. I don't love it or hate it. Where the gameplay excels is the sidequests. This game is actually very short and nowhere near as indepth storywise if you just do the dungeons and end the game. It barely has any dungeons at all and they're all pretty easy and quick to beat (not that I'm complaining about that part, I do enjoy the easiness), but there are so many sidequests to do and so many of them are investing and touching. It adds a whole other layer to the game itself. The time limit was at first very stressful and can still be sometimes but I've gotten used to it after the 100th playthrough (exaggeration) so I'm fine with it now. I do lime being able to switch races and I especially loved using the Zora, especially for the beaver races. I loved how quickly and gracefully I could swim in the water areas.
World:
The world is pretty good but it wouldn't rank on my top video game worlds. I like how each area brings something different with Clock Town dead center and every area is clearly divided. The areas themselves were big enough for me to enjoy exploring them. But on the downside the world did feel kind of small overall and I would have loved to see more areas.
Characters:
This is an odd case. There is one playable character (if you don't include the souls or spirits of the dead people who you wear as a mask to transform (yeah it's a creepy game)) but a ton of NPC's who are important to get the full scope of the story. As I mentioned in the Story section, this game gets a lot of its depth from the NPC's, instead of them just being there in the background. You get to see people like the man at the training school who says he's not afraid of the moon and can then be found cowering, afraid of his death. People like the Postman who want to evacuate but won't until he's officially given permission. The sad part with the ranch sisters when the older one gives the younger one some of the adult milk before they die. The young man turned in to a child and his fiancee worrying about him. The frozen goron and the dead goron hero, the zora who's eggs were stolen. It all reflects on the world, on the story, and on how everyone deals with things differently. So while there's only one playable characters, there's a large cast of characters that make the game what it is.
Overall this is an excellent game. It has spawned so many theories and discussions which I think is magnificent and the game really does manage to be more than the sum of its parts. There aren't many dungeons and there isn't much you need to do to complete it, but the amount of sidequests and just character watching adds a lot of depth to the game and makes it so much fun to replay. Just a magnificent game and some of the best storytelling and mood setting I've ever seen. This game is one of the reasons I feel confident when I say that yes, video games can be art.
In a few hours we will have my number one game!!
In the meantime
It's not number 1? I'm so confused. Up is down. Left is right. The brake and the accelerator have switched places. What world is this?
Great pick. My friend who likes Zelda way more than I do rates this as his favorite Zelda game too. I like it a lot, but it's probably my third favorite Zelda title. Maybe second.
I'm discussing my 108, er, 111 favorite games of all time in THIS THREAD so go check it out and join the conversation!
Vivi: Is it your number 1?
Ninja post by metagloria there. What are your favourite Zelda's?
Yeah I am very much the same way. On my favorite games list the first 2 or 3 are easy and obvious choices but the further down I go on the list the harder it becomes to sort the games. The first games are such obvious choices for me because, like you, I see them as being quite far ahead of the others, I like them so much that I doubt any other game will be knocking them off any time soon.
I never played this particular Zelda (my favorite is A Link To The Past), but heard it mentioned a lot when people were comparing Lighting Returns to it due to the similar time limit/mechanic.
It wouldn't be my number 1, no. But given how much I know you love it I was expecting it to be yours.
I've only ever played the first Legend of Zelda, and I quit it after completing about half the temples due to a lack of motivation to continue. If I ever try another Zelda game, it'd be this one.
I know that feeling so well. It's exactly how I feel about my Top 2 VNs. Although I can see them being dethroned someday since I only got to know both of them about a year ago. But for now, they are the best of the best for me, and no game even remotely comes close to being what these novels are for me.
Seems to be a common theme!
Stay tuned to my thread to find out
Majora's Mask and ALBW are two of my top three though.
I'm discussing my 108, er, 111 favorite games of all time in THIS THREAD so go check it out and join the conversation!
I still want to try the new one but I haven't even played LttP yet!
It is on my list of 1000 things to do though so I will play it eventually
You'll appreciate ALBW a lot more if you play ALttP first.
I'm discussing my 108, er, 111 favorite games of all time in THIS THREAD so go check it out and join the conversation!
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