rynling: (Default)
June 20 is the release date
https://www.reddit.com/r/Silksong/comments/1krd9ct/june_20_is_the_release_date/

I'm 99% sure it's not, but I want to believe.

So should I buy a Switch, orrr
https://bsky.app/profile/adamtots.bsky.social/post/3lq3uk2yttk2q

This is the only discourse that matters btw.
rynling: (Gators)
I'll probably get a Switch 2 eventually, but I'm not in any rush. It doesn't mean much to me.

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TLDR: Fuck Nintendo, but Happy "Silksong Real" to all who celebrate. <3
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
Emudeck: Emulation Made Easy on steamOS
https://www.emudeck.com/

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For someone who enjoys the convenience of a Nintendo handheld system, a Steam Deck running Emudeck is a godsend. Best of all, you don't have to join a Discord server to figure any of this out; even a monkey (like me) can do it.
rynling: (Terra)
Thank you Ganondorf <3 (via the Age of Imprisonment trailer)

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I really liked Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Maybe this was because it was the pandemic, but I played that stupid game for close to two hundred hours. I'm usually the sort of person who's like, "the story and atmosphere are just as important as the gameplay," but in this case. 100% of the appeal is gameplay. The story is inconsequential; I just want to swing around a samurai sword. Hopefully while playing as Ganondorf.
rynling: (Terra Branford)
Now that I finally have time to sit down and play Echoes of Wisdom, I’m really enjoying it. It’s a cute and clever little game, and I enjoy being able to play as Little Kid Zelda exploring Hyrule.

I maintain that the first two hours of this game are rough. Zelda can’t damage enemies effectively, and she dies quickly. In addition, there are too many gameplay verbs mapped onto too many buttons, and it takes a while to get used to the constant menu scrolling. Thankfully, all of these issues disappear with time, practice, and a modest number of upgrades.

If nothing else, it’s nice to take a break from the doom and gloom of the world at large and escape into Hyrule, where problems are easily solved and everyone wants to help you succeed.
rynling: (Default)
I’ve been trying to watch more movies recently. I’m starting off easy.

The Sixth Sense


I remember this movie’s portrayal of Philadelphia making me never want to have anything to do with the city. Now that I live here, I realize that Shyamalan only shot in the super nice neighborhoods, generally around Old City. Which is fair. The interiors of those old townhouses really do have a lot of creepy elements, but the outdoor cityscape is lovely. Also, I now realize that what Shyamalan was aiming for was an ethnographic study of Philadelphia Irish Catholics, and his observations are immaculate. Even knowing the Bruce Willis twist, I really enjoyed this movie. It was originally released in 1999 but holds up remarkably well.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie


I put off watching this movie because I read a handful of very smart essays decrying it as soulless. Having now watched it myself, I understand where the essayists were coming from, but I don’t agree. This is a very commercial movie, and it’s obviously for young children, but I thought it was a lot of fun. It’s meant to be big and bright and flashy, and I enjoyed the spectacle. There was a lot of discourse around Chris Pratt voicing Mario, but he does an okay job actually! Meanwhile, every scene with Jack Black is a gift and a blessing. I was afraid that it was going to be a chore to watch this movie, but I had a great time. There’s also a scene between Bowser and Luigi that was… a special treat for the sickos in the audience, let’s say.
rynling: (Ganondorf)
Echoes of Wisdom opens up a bit after the first dungeon, but the menu tax only gets worse as new objects and enemies are introduced all at once.

Moreover, while I understand the Pokémon battle appeal of being able to choose the exact perfect monster to fight another monster, the AI of all of your summoned monsters continues to be shit. More often than not, the only viable option remains to summon a rock and toss it.

There continues to be an inappropriate density of monsters on the overworld, and my Zelda keeps getting caught in situations where she can't immediately defend herself, takes three hits, and dies. Resources are extremely limited, so you can't just spam potions. I play FromSoft games for fun, so I don't mind dying, but it's somewhat disheartening to see "Zelda is finally a playable character" getting the crap beaten out of her.

Midway through the first dungeon, Zelda unlocks a phantasmal sword fighter form, but it only last for five seconds. The worst thing is that, for those five seconds, the game is actually fun. I resent that this fun is withheld from the player, and also? I resent the implication that it's not actually Zelda wielding the sword, but rather the spirit of Link who's temporarily possessing her body.

I really want to like Echoes of Wisdom, but it's needlessly frustrating and not very enjoyable to play.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
My initial impression of Echoes of Wisdom is that it's extremely cumbersome. It's lovely in its own way, but I'm not sure I'm having a good time playing it.

Read more... )

My frustration regarding the gameplay of Echoes of Wisdom mirrors my frustration with Tears of the Kingdom. Namely, I don't appreciate how the elements of gameplay that could be interesting and special (such as Zelda being able to summon objects) are deliberately transformed into annoyances by quality-of-life issues (such as endless menus). Honestly, the gameplay is so troublesome that it's difficult to understand how Echoes of Wisdom is meant to be fun for its ostensible target audience of younger children.

And you can't even pet the dogs smh.
rynling: (Gator Strut)
I just finished the fourth panel in my "trees in video games" minicomic. This one is about the Sleeping Forest in Final Fantasy VII.

I've been modeling these illustrations on my own screenshots. The next panel is going to be about Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I played the game on my first Nintendo Switch Lite, and I actually played it so much that the left control stick stopped working. This means that, if I want to get an original screenshot to work from for the next panel, I'm going to have to download Animal Crossing onto my new Switch and start a new game...

...please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
rynling: (Gator Strut)
During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, Eiji Aonuma introduced an upcoming Legend of Zelda title, Echoes of Wisdom. In this game, you play as Princess Zelda, and your job is to rescue Link using a magic staff called the Tri Rod, which can summon various objects onto the game map. This ability allows Zelda to solve navigation puzzles by means of Animal Crossing style furniture placement. Zelda can also fight enemies by tossing these objects at them, and then she can summon defeated enemies to fight alongside her.

For reference, this is a normal reaction: Echoes of Wisdom looks like a sweet little game that might be fun to play.

This is my personal reaction: I’m a big fan of 2D Zelda games, and I loved the Link’s Awakening remake for Nintendo Switch. The dungeon-building minigame in Link’s Awakening was flawed, but it had potential. I’m very excited to see this potential realized in its own dedicated game, and I think it’s marvelous that Zelda gets to be the hero of this game. Given that the Switch is nearing the end of its lifecycle, Echoes of Wisdom seems like an interesting experiment with the series formula that might lead to even more intriguing experiments in the next mainline 3D game.

This is my after-dark reaction: So Zelda fights Ganon herself, you say. So Zelda can apparate an infinite number of beds, you say. I wonder how many beds Zelda has to go through before Ganon is defeated, if you catch my meaning.

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TLDR: I would also like monster friends and a wizard staff that magically assembles Ikea furniture.
rynling: (Ganondorf)
Yesterday afternoon I gave a short lecture at SUNY Buffalo on Nintendo's "Blue Ocean Strategy" and how industry trends and the constraints of console technology shaped the art direction of the Legend of Zelda series. Trying to summarize the stories of the games in a sentence was difficult.

For example, I couldn't say...

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rynling: (Mog Toast)
Before I write Super Mario porn, I'm going to write Super Mario fluff.

Here's the premise:

Having breezed through the platforming levels by using the hat badge that allows you to glide, Luigi arrives at the final castle early only to find that it’s not set up yet. Bowser invites him to talk, and Luigi confesses that he's disappointed that his green hat has become synonymous with easy mode. Bowser puts this into perspective, saying that he wants as many people as possible to see the work he's done. Then he makes a confession of his own, saying that he created the green hat badge because he wanted to spend more time with Luigi. I've got some good dad jokes lined up for this one.

I'm really enjoying the game, by the way. It's pure joy.
rynling: (Terra Branford)
According to my expert PhD level analysis, the themes of Super Mario Bros Wonder are:

- big
- round
- huge
- chonking
- animals

and hallucinogenic drugs. It's a fun game!

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"So Kathryn," you may be saying. "Are you going to write porn of this?" Yes of course I am, don't be silly.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
After writing a review of the book Monster Kids, I got super nostalgic for Pokémon, so I brushed off my copy of the 2018 game Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee. Along with Let's Go, Pikachu, this is a remake of the original Pokémon Red and Green with beautiful Nintendo Switch graphics in which you make use of a simple mechanic based on Pokémon Go to capture monsters.

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The Pokémon: Let's Go! games are simple and elegant, and I guess you could say that they're perfect for Pokémon fans who have outgrown the more tedious elements of the series gameplay. And honestly? In terms of graphics, this set of games looks way better than Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
rynling: (Default)
My favorite item drop in totk
https://www.instagram.com/p/CuW-mgorXqH/

The best comment: "I don’t know the lore behind the grimace shake and at this point I’m too afraid to ask."
rynling: (Terra Branford)
Have I Made The Most Of The Switch's Portability Based On Nintendo Commercials?
https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/07/09/have-i-made-the-most-of-the-switchs-portability-based-on-nintendo-commercials

But then I started wondering: after owning a Switch since 2017, playing undocked at least half the time, and traveling with it quite a bit over the years, how many of these exact scenarios have actually occurred? Am I truly getting the most out of the Switch's most appealing feature? To find out, I combed through several Switch commercials to get a tally of whether or not I've done the things that Nintendo clearly expects the average Switch owner to do on a regular basis.

I have definitely gotten weird looks while being a grown-ass human playing a Nintendo Switch on a plane, but I regret nothing. What else am I supposed to do, watch movies? Sleep? On a plane? Not happening.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
I eventually want to start writing about things I like in Tears of the Kingdom, but I have one last complaint I need to get off my chest: I do not like the weapon fusion mechanic.

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I’m playing Tears of the Kingdom as a wildlife photography simulator, so this doesn’t bother me as much as it could, but it’s still a disappointment not to be able to enjoy basic combat.
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
But Kathryn, you may be asking. If Tears of the Kingdom annoys you so much, why do you keep playing it?

The answer is that the vehicles you can build in this game are a true joy. My main hobby is making a fan-powered boat and leisurely sailing between the islands in the eastern ocean. I also enjoy making a little airplane and flying through the western mountains. When I finally get around to clearing the sandstorm, I'm looking forward to building an ATV and cruising across the desert.

And I mean listen. If you want. You can also build a tank covered in missiles and flamethrowers.

Read more... )
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
The fire temple is a minecart hell level. This is exacerbated by:

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This is what I mean when I say Tears of the Kingdom feels like homework. I don't see how this is supposed to be fun.

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