#actually because Hyrule Warriors is just built different - built better - like that

[300iqprower]

Nintendo in 2016: We can't have a game where Zelda is the main character, what would link do?

Omega Force: ....But we did exactly that 2 years ago....

Nintendo in 2018: Zelda will not be the main character of BOTW2. Fuck you.

Omega Force: FINE WE'LL FUCKING DO IT OURSELVES

[thebreathofthewild]

i very much prefer the story of breath of the wild to the alternate timeline we got in age of calamity. not because i’m a timeline purist, i don’t really care much whether it splits off or not, but what DOES matter to me in a story (next to the plot itself) is mainly characterization, relationships and theme.

my main issue with age of calamity’s story isn’t just what they changed... it’s what they DIDN’T change, which then didn’t fit with the new stuff they’d written.

breath of the wild’s story is, in my mind, far from perfect, but it has a consistent, vibe, flow, and a character arc for princess zelda that i believe. more than an individual arc, it’s also a relationship arc with link. the development of that relationship is a key driver of the plot.

in age of calamity... despite reaching the same conclusion - that zelda saves link, her love for him activates her power - that development is absent.

i rewatched all the memories from botw and its like. bro. age of calamity can't even begin to compare. their relationship in botw has an arc.

every scene they're in together serves a purpose to establish a new relationship status or milestone. zelda goes through a Bunch of emotions about link: first quiet resentment, then Louder resentment at how he’s doing better at his role than she is at hers, then full-on ANGY, then admiration, mixed with guilt and regret for having lashed out that way to someone who would save her anyway...

from then, she humbly tries to be nicer through tending link’s wounds. she allows herself to be more playful and goof off with him, then Actually Opens Up about her insecurities - displaying true vulnerability when they're caught in the rain together. we know from zelda’s diary that link also shares his own troubles with her, and that she was trying to get him to open up was well. 

then, zelda’s excitingly sharing more hobbies (ancient tech) and hoping that maybe, just maybe, her research can substitute her lack of powers. in the same scene, link gets to witness a true relationship milestone: a parent yelling at your friend/gf in front of you. then zelda shows Even More vulnerability as she has a meltdown about her fears & insecurities at the spring of power in front of him (knowing he's there & not afraid to show him). at this point, she even allows herself to be angry at her dad, instead of solely blaming herself. 

then she gains further appreciation for link teaching her how to handle horses (and says she’s trying to be a bit more empathetic to the horse, as a metaphor for her being nicer to link and more selfless in general), sharing her faint hope for mt lanayru...  then that hope is crushed, and zelda decides to stay by link’s side (instead of urbosa hiding her) regardless of danger.

the calamity strikes. they flee together - which leads to zelda having a total beakdown, as the others die and link’s the only one she has left. the mix of guilt, despair and grief becomes too much, so she leans on him, both physically and emotionally, and he is always there to comfort her. 

THEN, finally, zelda has reached a point of loving link enough to be able to save his life, knowing he will do the same someday. which he does, and in the epilogue, she acknowledges both the pain of the past and how (because him remembering her is what unlocks this ending) he is a big part of the reason why she can accept herself now, even with her power fading & her role fulfilled.

that's an ARC, baby! 

i have my problems with botw as an overall narrative (especially its muddled messaging on whether zelda should be forced to have this traditional role), but i cannot fault how carefully they built the zelink relationship step-by-step without taking shortcuts. in these brief snippets, you see just enough to understand how zelda went from almost hating link to truly loving him.

by contrast... here’s the AoC zelink arc, despite having 3x the cutscene runtime: zelda feels quietly insecure, but doesn’t take it out on link. link saves her, as a bodyguard is supposed to. they exchange glances. they don’t talk / bond. link saves zelda again. they exchange glances. they don’t talk / bond... they flee together. then she saves link out of “love.”

that’s it. that’s literally it. 

AoC-zelink go from two (2) Meaningful Glances to zelda activating her powers, because of a bodyguard she has not spent one real second bonding with. 

link saving zelda was a turning point for their relationship in botw, yes - but here’s the key difference: it was a starting point, not the end destination. it made zelda re-evaluate how she saw link, because she was a dick to him first. THAT prompts her to try to understand someone who was kind and selfless despite how poorly she treated him. which leads to many scenes of them bonding more.

so, hot take: the real, original sin here which almost all of these issues grow from, is that they didn’t let zelda be flawed in age of calamity. 

because age of calamity-zelda was never a jerk to link, she has no reason to go out of her way to be nicer and get to know him when he saves her anyway. that’s just standard bodyguard stuff, and that’s all it’s allowed to be. they don’t share private moments of vulnerability. they don’t share at all, really.

because of this, their relationship - which became its own, organic thing in botw - is never allowed to grow. it stays knight & princess without any real flavor to it. 

i think this could be avoided if age of calamity-zelda was as strong of a character as botw-zelda was. neither is like, a literary masterpiece, but there’s a clear contrast. both are insecure and want to stop ganon, but... that’s all AoC-zelda is allowed to be, until she’s suddenly a Perfect Badass Goddess with no personality other than shouting “for hyrule!”

botw zelda didn’t just have that central insecurity. she has hobbies, she goofs off, she gets angry at people, she starts out with a huge inferiority complex towards link. she can be selfish and rebellious and clearly likes research more for its own sake than its ability to stop the calamity. she becomes nicer over time and more compassionate (unlike age of calamity, which treats it as given that she was always “boundlessly” compassionate), but that’s where she got because link was nice to her, not where she started out. 

and all of this fits into theme. age of calamity is a power fantasy in a notoriously over-the-top warriors franchise. its all about self-empowerment and looking good while kicking ass. breath of the wild is about exploration, slowly piecing together what happened 100 years ago and moving past grief into hope for the future.

i’ll put it this way - botw zelda had an arc to become a better person. aoc zelda only ever became a more powerful person.

[cafecourage]

The moment they realized they loved you. (Isekai Au Edition) Part 1

Because this was my first time doing this I went a little crazy. If you want more information on this AU here is the Link!

Time:

- It had been welcomed with open arms.

- You two are literally the opposite but also very similar. Time is calm and stoic. You are chaotic and loud. But both of you are very cryptic.

- You’re the only person in the kingdom of hyrule currently that remembers what he had gone through. He feels like he can trust you with anything.

- It’s started with a slip up by wind and just spiraled out of control.

___________________________________

Time was discussing the groups inventory with Twilight and Wild when it happens. A small slip of the tongue followed by a laughter that could be mistaken as a fairy chime. He looked over to see your bright smile shining through under your hood. In front of you was the target of your amusement, the youngest link.

“That’s so cute!” You exclaimed to the horror of Wind, who was red in embarrassment. “Wait who’s dad?”

“Can we let this go?” The teen was covering his face now.

“It’s Time.” Four said without looking up from his book. Utter chaos broke loose in camp with just a few words. A chorus of any forms of agreement was making you laugh even harder. Time though covering up his true feelings about the situation was very lost. While yes, he acknowledged that he had slowly became the father figure of the group. That title didn’t involve you.

Unless…

“Time! I didn’t know we were married!” You bounced over to their leader looking at him with a playful smirk.

A life with you flashes in his head.

There could be a small cottage farm surrounded by the forest that reminding him of his old family and home. You could take care of the garden while he could take care the animals. In a few years the two of you might just have a few kids running around. Playing with each other without a care in the world. No more fighting. No more traveling. Just a simple lifestyle with a tight knit family. It looked peaceful. Everything he would want.

“You should have told me.” He was brought back to the present by your face looking up at him expectedly.

“I thought you knew.” He said super seriously. “We’ve got to raise nine children together already.”

“Hey! I raised you during the war old man!” Warriors called out from across camp.

“You’re the uncle then!” (Y/n) countered “I already say Twilight is our first born!” You declared pointing to Time’s flustered descendent. The rest of the conversation was tuned out as he went back to his thoughts once more.

Time lived longer than most of the heroes here by age 11. Yet not once did he stop to think about a future and family. He was so busy trying to keep out of hero work that it just slipped. Yet see you with the other heroes, knowing now that you were just as much a parental figure to the others as him. It made his softer just thinking about it and he welcomed that warm fuzzy feeling with open arms.

Reaching out he brush’s hair out of your face to kiss your temple. “I’ll propose to you properly later.” He said in a teasing tone to suggest he was only joking to hide the truth in that statement. Seeing your entire face flush red was really worth it.

“Gross Mom and Dad are flirting!”

___________________________________

- He’ll never once tell you straight if he liked you or was just playing along with the ongoing joke that the chain has.

- This time instead of you observing him. He wants to see how far he can go until confessing.

- It drives you crazy. Since you can’t get a read on him. You attempt to flirt back in retaliation. However, it always ends with you being the most flustered.

- Who knew the Old Man had it in him?

Twilight:

- It became a melancholic hopeless feeling that spiral out of control.

- He already had his heartbroken by someone before and he knows he shouldn’t get attached to you too.

- Yet he can’t stop himself from wanting to be near you. He heard you so clearly before.

- Now that he can actually speak to you directly, he wants to get to know his other travel companion more.

___________________________________

Being alone in the forest with you wasn’t what Twilight planned when dropped in a different Hyrule but here you two where. You offered to go on patrol with him when the others were setting up camp claiming it was too see if you could identify the era. It didn’t matter since Twilight enjoyed your company no matter what. The lack of conversation between the two of you didn’t bother him. If anything, it felt the most natural. Only a few words were needed for the two of you to understand each other. “Do you mind if I use my wolf form?” Twilight asked fiddling with the chain that attached to the shadow crystal around his neck.

You paused to think about it. “I mean you can. But be aware I will baby talk you.”

This got Twilight to stop walking. Maybe he lied. He doesn’t need a few words to understand your thought process. “Excuse me?”

“I can’t control myself around cute creatures.” You simply stated like it was the most obvious thing.

Instead, Twilight was burning up. You thought his wolf form was cute? Of all things you used that word? What did you think of human Twilight if you thought like that? Did he want to even know? He was searching for any way to take this conversation but it all lead to dead ends. “Cute?” Was all he could ask. His voice pitching up as he got flustered.

“Yeah?” You looked at him just as confused as he was. “Wolves are just like big dogs and to be honest you look more like a giant dog then a wolf.” Your explanation did not help at all with his situation. “If it makes you feel better you’re very handsome as a Hylian and also built like an go-“

Twilights brain was malfunctioning he couldn’t hear any more of what you had to say about him. He grabbed on to the shadow crystal, turning into his wolf form he ran. He didn’t hear you call out his name in surprise.

Hylia, what was wrong with him? You were just a friend. A very blunt yet gentle friend. Nothing more. Nothing less. Why was his heart racing so much? He had heard you shower him in complements before while on his first adventure. But hearing you say it to his face with no shame whatsoever was a different story.

Twilight knew what these feelings were and deep down he really wanted to act on them. But was it ok? Was his heart finally healing from his last love? Twilight was already aware this time that you had to leave at some point. He didn’t need to act on them despite wanting to. He could just be your friend and continue the relationship like that.

His heart was already breaking a second time.

Twilight was in love you and it was driving him crazy.

___________________________________

- Like Time, Twilight isn’t going to tell you about his feelings. Instead, he is going to forever pine for you.

- It’s going to be a slow process and you need to be aware that he will get hurt if you’re going to go back home.

- He’ll see you off with a smile, but as soon as your gone he will break.

Warriors:

- It was full of denial and fear.

- He went through the receiving end of someone’s obsessive love.

- And it doesn’t help that you’ve watched over their adventures. He vowed to not get that close to you.

- There was a need to destroy the endearing feeling he sees when you smile at him.

- Yet seeing you with a sad far out look on your face makes him scramble to your side to find out what’s wrong.

___________________________________

It was just the two of you. Weaving throughout the crowds of castle town. You were currently in Four’s Era and in the middle of the Picori festival. The group was long spilt up, leaving Warriors alone with the dimensional traveler. Soon even (Y/n) was walking away from him. He didn’t know why he followed, the argument in his head was telling him that it was so they didn’t get lost. Yet there was a part of him that knew that wasn’t it.

“Where are you going anyway?” He thought to finally ask as you reached a quieter area. “It’s going to be hard to spend time in the festival from here.”

“Yeah, that’s the point.” You were a bit snappy today, “shouldn’t you find someone else to hang out with?” Warriors just shrugged as you slowed your pace down to pause in front of the small river that ran through castle town. The silence now filled with the rushing of water as you sat on the bridge.

Against his better judgement Warriors sat next to you. Finally, he got to talk to you one on one but the normally impulsive and excitable person Warrior’s grew to expect had changed in that moment.

You looked so tired.

“Hey Link?” You finally called out to him “I know I shouldn’t ask you this but…” hesitation was new to your character. “How do I even start?” You rake a hand through your hair. Sweeping a part of your hair out of your eyes. “Was I ever helpful during your Adventure?”

Oh… Oh he really wasn’t the right person for this talk.

You look back you and towards the festival and he followed your gaze. From where they were he could only spot a few of his party members. Wind was with Legend and Hyrule playing some of the stall games. While Four was with his Zelda holding hands as she pulled him further into the crowd. “Last time I saw this festival it ended up destroyed by Vaati.” The wind mage was only brought up a few times by Four. All Warriors really knew was that the villain was supposed to be sealed away by the Four Sword, and that his power was connected by the dark mirror. “I found myself wondering if my presence even mattered.” Your shoulder slumped in defeat as you curled into yourself.

The instant need to comfort shot through Warriors. He wanted to reach out. He fought the urge to hold you. He bites his tongue when he started to think of embellished words to make you feel better.

What was wrong with him?

Warriors had to say something though. “I don’t know about Four or the others.” He didn’t even think about your presence in his adventure too much. If anything, he actively tried not to think about it. Here you were though a person and not a figment of in his imagination. “During the war, your voice and presence is what broke the tension. The moments that could have been my lowest, you were there saying things that I wanted to repeat out loud.” There was a fondness while he was looking back at the memories. From the moment he ran on the battle field foolishly as a trainee soldier. His pride grew upon hearing your praise and surprise when seeing him fight for the first time. To your excitement while meeting his friends from the other Eras. He shared your sentiments about Mask as you cooed over the child as Warriors fought by his side. Then your anger, disgust and pity towards Cia. While on his side, your empathetic nature had you morning during her passing. These where just the tip of the iceberg.

Just having someone voice out mutual thoughts on a situation helps when you can’t do it on your own. You feel crazy thinking the way you do. “With you there it’s like you always have someone by your side cheering you on and supporting you.” He paused to look at you. Conflicting emotions clashing together. You turn to look at him, your eyes only briefly visible through your bangs. Curiosity and guilt were swarming with in them. “I’m not the person to talk to about this.” He finally admitted out loud. “But I would be lying if I said your presence wasn’t important to us.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Was that not what he was supposed to say? Warriors tried to stay calm under your gaze.

You let out a huff of laughter covering your mouth and turning away from him a bit to calm down. “I didn’t think about it like that.” There was a pause where you looked back at the festive before turning back to smiling softly at him. “Thanks Cap.”

The smile that you had on your lips had Warriors stomach do back flips. A blush decorated his face as he turns away. “It’s something that should have been said a while ago.” He manages to say without stuttering.

You were really pretty.

The sound of a picto box followed by winds snickering, was ignored when the thought had just register in his head. He finally realized how far he fell for you.

___________________________________

- one by one his defenses lowered.

- With every smiled sent his way, with every laugh that he earned. He found himself wanting more.

- He slowly opens up, a slow process but it wasn’t as scary as he thought it was going to be.

- A teasing nickname here. A gentle touch there. He realizes he has gone too far.

(Part 2)

[jinmukangwrites]

Mutual (Mis)Understandings

Summary: Wild and Zelda seem to be engaged... and Twilight like the worried mother hen of the group that he is overreacts and misunderstands greatly. 

Or, Zelda and Wild are best friends, but they’re also both arcace and the only reason they’ll ever get married is for the Hylian equivalent of tax-benefits. 

Note: this was purely self indulgent and was written instead of my actual next LU fic. In the mean time, enjoy this. From now on I only write aroace Wild and Flora and if you don’t like it then don’t talk to me lmao

-o-o-o-o- 

Twilight supposes it was only a matter of time before they ran into Wild's Zelda. Because, despite Wild's Hyrule being so much larger than it's versions before it, Zelda apparently was still a woman who could not be confined to the walls of her castle. If she wanted to explore and meet new people, then she would. According to Wild, that is.

Zelda is, at first glance, the embodiment of grace and beauty. Her hair is golden and her eyes the color of the grass that flourishes on the hills. Her lips are full, and colored not a perfect red but not a perfect pink either. Her hair, while chopped short, is braided and styled perfectly in a way that compliments her beauty even more.

But then, you look at her traveling clothes and the twigs in her hair, and you realize that Wild once told you a story about how she tried to force a frog into his mouth.

She stands in the center of Terry Town, near a beautiful fountain built around a small shrine for the goddess Hylia, and in a strange reincarnation way, a tribute for her as well. As the group walks into the town that's suspended on a circle of land that towers high over a small lake, she turns and smiles, delight sparkling in her eyes when her gaze lands on her knight. It's an unexpected reunion, one that started with Wild wanting to show them something he's proud of, and one that's turning out to be more of a treat than any of them expected. Especially, when besides Twilight, Wild lets out a happy gasp and runs ahead of the group, slamming into his princess with a tight and joy-filled hug. The moment is so touching that even Legend smiles.

The hug lasts a little longer before Zelda and Wild part, splitting to stand next to each other with shoulders brushing. They look perfect together. Like they were made for each other. Wild smiles at the group and Zelda matches his smile but in a more polite and curious way.

"I believe introductions are in order?" She asks, though it's not really a question. More like an invitation.

Twilight looks over at Wild, a matching look of awkwardness passing between them. Hyrule pulls at his collar nervously. It's always… strange to introduce themselves to people. While many people are named Link to honor heroes, it is still strange to have nine boys traveling together all introduce themselves as such. They really need to come up with better names than rancher and traveler and the old man.

Thankfully, Time is ever the wisest and the owner of the group's meager stash of brain cells. He steps forward with a respectable bow. "Princess Zelda," he says, standing up from his bow, "we have traveled with Link for a few months now and have found ourselves caught in… quite a complicated story. Perhaps, if I may be so bold, it would be wise to allow us a more private space for introductions?"

"I see," Zelda says, her polite smile turning into something a little sharper. Not in an offended way, but in a way that she knows something that they don't. Thankfully, she doesn't keep them waiting for long. "Yes, perhaps it would be wise. Though, it seems I must have to introduce myself as well before we begin. It's not princess. It's queen."

-o-o-o-o-

Twilight sometimes keeps himself up at night wondering about how his Zelda might take the news of there being eight more heroes carrying the name "Link" around. It's hard to tell with her, and it's not like they're close. Their relationship is strictly "Princess and Hero", and the most they have in common besides the whole reincarnation thing is Midna.

Which is a topic both of them tend to avoid.

So really, he cannot say for sure how she'd react. Would she believe it? Would she take it in stride? Twilight can really only imagine her taking in the information with a straight face before saying it doesn't concern her so begone.

One thing's for sure, she wouldn't react like Wild's Zelda does.

Because, well, if Twilight thought the kids at his home village were made of skin, bone, and questions, then the Zelda before him is made of questions, questions, and more questions.

"Who is the first among you? What year was it? Strange, it seems you used a different calendar than us. And it's peculiar you two have the same dates but live in completely different worlds- oh you and your Zelda were childhood friends? And you have two Zeldas'? What about you? What is your kingdom like-?

By the end of the afternoon, everyone's mouths had run dry from talking and Warriors was about to jump into the fountain at the center of town yelling about thirst before a tall Gerudo lady stopped him with a level look.

Zelda and Wild have broken off from the group; the town's people and the various guards who must be here for Zelda's protection (even though Twilight's sure she can definitely more than protect herself, it must be for their own peace of mind) have stopped giving them those you nasty foreigners looks and have actually started to seek out conversation in the form of you have money, I have things to sell, wink wink. As the sun crept closer towards the edges of Death Mountain, everyone one-by-one decided the beds promised to them at the inn sounded more interesting than sitting around and doing nothing.

Time being one of the first to retire, not that Twilight blames him. The question "Which one of you is the hero from ten thousand years ago?" weighs heavy on all their minds. The lore of that hero doesn't sound familiar to any of them, and it left the whole group wondering how many lives they have lived, and if they are destined to add more to their group of nine.

Regardless, Twilight finds himself one of the last members to head to bed, and not for the lack of trying. He had accidentally mentioned wrestling around a towering Goron and his little brother and had, in a sting of events he was entirely unwilling in, found himself wrestling Greyson with a whole crowd of townspeople watching with jeers and enthusiasm. Greyson wasn't a full grown Goron, so it was surprisingly easy to knock him out of their makeshift ring carved into the ground with a stick without the aid of his iron boots.

After winning that fight, the Gerudo lady who probably made Warriors wet his pants with her glare decided she wanted in on the action, to which Wind and Hyrule screamed out he was a coward for turning her down by saying he definitely already knows she'll win.

Because she definitely will win. He's seen fully grown pumpkins smaller than her biceps.

But, Twilight is ever the gentleman and absolutely not a coward and caved even though he knows he will walk away from this with a few new bruises.

Turns out, the kind of wrestling the Gerudo lady (who he finds out is named Rhondson judging by the "TEAR HIS ARMS OFF, RHONDSON!" that was yelled out from the crowd as she knocked his feet out from below him) was trying to do was different from goat and Goron wrestling, and he was completely unprepared for her to bring him to the ground and attempt at pinning him down like a madwoman. He's never been so terrified in his entire life.

He should have explained the rules better to more than just Greyson.

He was in the middle of trying to shove her off from him (because apparently a loss is being pinned down for three seconds as refereed by her husband and Twilight is not about to lose so easily with Wind in the sidelines laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes) when he notices Wild and his Zelda leave a building and quietly retreat towards the far cliff edges of town. Rhondson seems to notice this as well, because she pauses in her tortuous wrestling long enough to mutter under her breath "young love..."

To which. Twilight promptly short-circuits.

Young love?

Wild?

And Zelda?

HIS WILD?! AND QUEEN ZELDA?

Yeah sure, he knew Zelda and Wild were close, but Wild was the most… rowdy and dirty piece of work he's ever met. And sure, Zelda isn't exactly the most poise and elegant creature in the world—the twigs still in her hair, the mud running up her boots to her trousers, the ever slowly becoming undone braids in her hair that she doesn't seem to truly care about are all testament of that. Twilight is just… well, he didn't think Wild had it in him. To catch the attention and affection of someone like Zelda… Twilight needs to hand it to him. He guesses Wild can be romantic when he wants to be.

Unfortunately, thanks to his little brain explosion, Rhondson manages to pin him down long enough for Hudson to smack the ground three times. (Seriously, what is up with the son part of everyone's name?)

Rhondson lets him up with a triumphant smirk and Twilight lays on the ground, winded.

"Young love?" He croaks, because his brain is still trying to process. It's like adding two and two together and getting goat.

Rhondson's smirk seems to widen even more as she extends a hand, golden jewelery clinking on her toned wrists. "Don't you know? The Queen and her knight are engaged."

She says it casually like it's nothing truly new or exciting as she lifts him to his feet.

Wind's laughter from the sidelines suddenly turns into choking noises. Twilight can only short-circuit some more.

Because what.

Rhondson doesn't explain anymore as she accepts cheering from the rest of the town. No one explains as the crowd disperses, the sun fully behind Death Mountain and the moonrise breeze moving in with the smell of the ocean. Soon enough, Twilight is still standing where he's been left, Wind sitting on the ground cross-legged with his chin in his hands, and Hyrule standing besides him looking unsure if he should suggest bed or something else.

Engaged.

Wild is seventeen (plus one hundred but that doesn’t count) years old and he's engaged.

He knows the age of adulthood changes every so often, but honestly at least wait until you're twenty before you commit! Or let Twilight be married first!

He slowly manages to crawl out from his churning thoughts back into his body, and the first thing he does is look towards where Zelda and Wild disappeared to and suddenly his brain is thinking of a whole matter of things the two of them might be doing. Alone. With no one to catch them.

He's moving to follow them before he can make himself rethink to maybe respect their choices and boundaries. Hyrule, perhaps thinking the same thing, grabs onto the tail of his wolf's pelt.

"Wait!" Hyrule says, trying to be the voice of reason, which is strange because normally that's Twilight's job, "maybe we should let them be… alone-"

"Traveler, are you a man or a mouse?!" Wind demands, catching up to the two of them, looking way too determined to intrude upon a potential make-out session.

Hyrule squeaks. "M-man!"

Twilight ignores them as he creeps towards the buildings the two love birds disappeared behind.

"Besides, the champion brought this upon himself," Wind continues. "He should have told us he was going to be the future King of Hyrule. He deserves it."

It; being a good sneaking up on. Twilight finds himself agreeing. They've known Wild for how long and he hasn't told them at all that he was engaged?

The topic of love and settling down has come up many times in their group.

"Champion, do you like anyone?" "Nah, the only thing I like is cooking." "Hey champion, after all this and settling down, what are your plans?" "To become a world renowned chef." "Cook! I saw the face you were making when Malon was talking about girls! Who were you thinking of?" "Food. Duh."

The sniveling little weasel. To think Twilight fell for it.

Twilight holds up his hand as they approach the buildings, Wind and Hyrule quiet down their conversations. It seems even though Hyrule took a rare attempt at peacekeeping, he has ultimately decided upon even though I don't like it I still want to come along. They poke their heads around the corner of the building and find…

Nothing.

No one is here.

How interesting.

Wind gives a groan of outrage and Hyrule releases a sigh of relief so powerful the grass waves a little. Twilight continues forward and looks at the soft dirt on the ground that leads to the sheer unforgiving drop of cliff. They should really fence this off, he's seen the children in the town and one of them could easily fall.

"I can't believe the cook, the sly fox," Wind was grumbling and not for the first time Twilight decides to not ask how the kid knows so much about stuff like this. Hyrule says something back about maybe there's a reason Wild's kept it secret but Twilight doesn't listen in too hard as his eyes catch on something in the ground.

There. Footsteps. Fresh. Two different sizes, one small and the other slightly larger. Could easily belong to a queen wearing muddy boots and a knight.

He follows the footsteps and his stomach jumps when he follows them to the edge of the cliff.

Did they… were they so... that they didn't notice the cliff?!

He rushes towards the quite literal edge of Terry Town and frantically looks down into the water below. It's hard to see with the light of the quarter moon creeping up behind them.

He can't see a thing, but thankfully Wind has a knack for looking into the horizon because his voice cuts through his internal panic with the pointing of a hand.

"Look!"

Twilight follows the pointing finger until his eyes land on the distant sight of two people sharing one lantern in the forest past the edge of the lake. One is vaguely femininely shaped and the other about the same height but with less curves. They're walking through the tall grass and wirey trees, past the empty husks of what Wild calls Guardians.

Until Wild points out something and they share a look before running behind one of the husks and staying there.

How… how unseemly! Didn't one of those things kill Wild?!

Twilight grabs at the grapple in his bag, thankful he decided to keep that with him instead of putting everything in the inn, and ties the end of it around one of the nearby fence posts. The shore of the lake doesn't look too far from here. He should be able to swim it. Easy.

Wind and Hyrule follow him down without complaint, as Twilight drops the other end of his grapple down with the fill length of chain extended. It takes a few minutes and a few stomach churning, chain wiggling moments with the wind for Twilight to finally find himself at the end of the line, just a short distance from the water.

He hopes there's no monsters in there.

Well. Here goes nothing.

He lets go of the chain and his stomach flips just a bit before he hits the surprisingly refreshing water. Not too cold but not worryingly warm. It's also shallow, his toes brushing the bottom for just a moment before he swims towards where he thinks the shore is and upwards until he reaches the surface with a gasp. There's two more splashes behind him and soon the three of them find themselves gasping and dripping on the muddy and rocky shore of the lake. Hyrule looks the worst out of all of them, perhaps not as used to swimming, but they at least all made it with no monster battles or near drownings. So a win.

The light of the two love bird's lantern is still a good distance away, and by the time they near most of the water has dripped away from their clothes and hair, leaving them uncomfortably damp.

And as they near closer, the louder they can hear… giggling.

Twilight puts a hand to his lips and stops Hyrule and Wind where they stand. Wind looks about ready to throw a fit with a string of embarrassing things like I know what sex is and 'm not a kid but thinks the wiser of it when Hyrule frantically makes cut throat notion, signalling yelling is not the best idea right now.

Twilight takes it upon himself to approach the husk of the Guardian himself. He feels… icky. Like he shouldn't impose. But there's such a thing as chastity and being too young to accidentally become with child. Twilight knows Wild and Zelda has been away from each other for some time, and the… urge must be strong, but he will not allow his protégé to make a mistake he might regret before he's even married.

"Oh Link, it's beautiful!" Zelda says, breathless.

Twilight takes a deep breath and walks around the Guardian with his hands on his hips. Hopefully Zelda doesn't order his death for this.

"What are you two doing?!"

And then he pauses, eyes wide as Wild jumps up from where he's been crouching, pulling out his sword and looking more angry than what Twilight's ever seen him, before shock and curiosity replaces the anger. Zelda is standing behind him, having jumped to her feet and pulling out a dagger, and behind her a green firebug flies away.

They're both fully clothed and looking at Twilight like he's grown a second head.

"Um." Twilight says smartly, his brain going back into process-mode as Zelda rolls her eyes, puts her dagger away, and looks behind her for the firebug that's flown away.

"Are they decent?" Hyrule's voice asks, which is something Wind doesn't bother to do before he steps around the Guardian to stand by Twilight with a disappointed face. Someone really needs to wash that kid's brain out with soap.

"Decent?" Wild asks, confused. Zelda doesn't say anything, she's crouched further into the forest and creeping up on another firebug.

They were… looking at bugs.

"It's okay, traveler," Twilight says, releasing a breath and thanking Hylia and all the other spirits for everything somehow being a misunderstanding. "We were wrong."

"Wrong about what?" Wild asks, sounding even more confused.

Twilight shakes his head and grabs Wind's head, wrapping his hand around the boy's mouth before he can say anything gross. Hyrule walks over, looking as relieved as he might if he were told the spirit of the demon Ganondorf was forever destroyed. Which is to say, he was looking extremely relieved.

"Oh good," Hyrule says as Wild mutters what's probably explicits behind Twilight's hand. "We thought you were having- mmph?!"

Twilight has successfully grabbed Hyrule's face with his other hand and covers his mouth too. Now, with both boys successfully gagged and pinned to his chest, Twilight gives Wild his best smile and hopes it doesn't look too conspicuous and nervous.

"We saw the light and thought you two saw something dangerous," he lies easily.

Wild gives him a slight suspicious look, his eyes flickering between Twilight's two captives and Twilight himself before shrugging and putting his sword away. Twilight had to fight to keep a straight face as Hyrule elbows his side and Wind licks his hand.

"It's Zelda's first time at Terry Town, and I wanted to show her the creatures that call this place home," Wild explains, not looking all that concerned that Twilight is still holding two of their group members captive by the faces. Hyrule is licking too now, but Twilight can't trust them not to say the sex word yet. Twilight grew up the perpetual older brother of four kids in Ordon, he's been in positions like this before with much more slobbery licking.

"Oh that's good then, no danger!" Twilight says, keeping in a gasp as Hyrule elbows his side harder and Wind makes a mad grasp for his hair.

Thankfully, Zelda speaks up in a whisper-yell from where she's crouching. "Link! There's a wolf!"

Wild gives the other heroes a wide grin before he quietly sprints towards Zelda and couches besides her. The two begin to talk to each other in hushed voices.

Twilight let's a second pass, and then he releases his captives.

Hyrule takes in a deep gasp like Twilight had been strangling him—he wasn't—and Wind spits at the ground furiously like what he licked had been poisonous—Twilight is doubtful the palm of his hand tasted that bad.

Before either of them could recover, Twilight leans down and grabs them both by the points of their ears.

"Do. Not. Say. A. Word."

Wind whacks his hand away, scowling. "Okay okay! Geez-"

Twilight gives them both level glares and eventually they both nod in agreement. Whatever misunderstanding has just happened, Wild and Zelda were to remain unaware of it. Period.

With the unspoken agreement, the three of them walk up to Wild and Zelda, of which Wild is currently in a long ramble in the differences between all the kinds of wolves in Hyrule. Apparently, wolves in Akkala have slightly shorter snouts compared to Hyrule Field Wolves even though they have the same coloring. Interesting. Kind of useless to Twilight, but he'd much rather listen to Wild explain the slight differences of wolves than… other things.

When Zelda requests to see the two kinds of wolves side-by-side, Wild promises he has pictures of both of them on his little magic box thing.

And that's... pretty much how the next few hours go. Wild and Zelda run bush to bush, talking excitedly between each other about black winged butterflies and the abilities gained from eating a golden beetle, and the three other heroes follow along like lost puppies, not able to offer a single shred of new information to the chatty environmentalists. Twilight manages to get in a small comment about the Ordon goats—and ignores the triplet groaning from Wild, Wind, and Hyrule—but after he fails to produce a picture of his favorite animal Zelda loses interest and moves on to poking the leaves of some random flower.

Twilight sighs. Someday someone will worship the Ordon goats like they deserve.

Sigh.

Someday.

Hours pass and Wind gives a huge very bored sounding yawn, which somehow earns the pity of Zelda. "You're right, small pirate Link. It is probably about time we should head back." She turns towards the Wild with a glint in her eyes. "I'm sure the guards are missing us."

Wild snickers and Twilight rolls his eyes before turning to look at where the cliffs surrounding Terry Town. Then, something occurs to him.

"Hey, you came down with your paraglider?" Twilight says and Wild nods slowly, patting the folded up contraption on his back. "How did you two plan on getting back to town?"

Matching looks of we didn't think of that flashes on Zelda and Wild's faces.

Twilight sighs, turning to Zelda. "Think you can climb a chain or do you want to walk up the long way?"

Zelda narrows her eyes and rolls up her sleeves. Her biceps, too, resemble that of a grown pumpkin. Twilight won't ask if she's sure, he bets she can take him down wrestling as well.

"Alright then," he says.

They walk back towards the lake as a group, and Twilight does his best to comfort Hyrule who's glaring at the water with resentment. It will definitely be harder getting back up than it was getting down. They'll have to swim the lake and climb up the cliffs a bit before jumping to the hanging chain and climbing the rest of the way up there. It'll be a fun workout.

As they walk, Twilight falls back to fall into step with Zelda and Wild. Wind and Hyrule continue onwards in front of them.

"So…" Twilight says under his breath, just loud enough for the two champions of this time to hear them. They both give him curious looks. "Engaged, huh?"

Twilight expected blushing or blubbering or something. What he got was a full on belly laugh from the queen and a rolling-of-the-eyes from her knight and husband-to-be.

"Who told you," Wild demands as Zelda laughs on, earning slightly concerned looks from Hyrule and Wind, "was it Rhondson? I bet it was Rhondson."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Twilight asks, ignoring Wild's (accurate) accusations towards Rhondson.

At this, a flash of guilt passes over Wild's face and Zelda quiets, looking interested. "It… never came up?"

"You forgot, didn't you?" Zelda asks. Wild gives her an apologetic look and she scoffs, looking shockingly more amused than anything.

"I didn't... forget. I was just focused on the quest!"

"It's okay, Link. I forgot too."

"Oh thank Hylia."

The two of them fall into some strange companionable understanding silence and Twilight is left completely and frustratingly out of an apparent inside joke or some sort.

He sighs. "Look, I know this might sound weird, coming from me," Zelda and Wild give him their attention with matching expressions of curiosity, "but I know you're both young and probably haven't been taught very well about… adult matters, so…" oh this is so awkward, they're looking confused, "if you have any questions about… um… urges or desires-"

"Oh!" Zelda says, clapping her hands together in front of her. "You mean sex!"

Twilight chokes on his words and Wild nearly trips into the dirt. Zelda looks like she hasn't said anything strange at all.

"Don't worry, Mr Goat Farmer Link. Link and I know all about sex and we decided we will not being doing it," Zelda says as if she's reassuring a worried soldier or something similar. Indifferent. Straight faced.

"Y-yeah," Wild says after he had refound his footing. "Strictly business. Our marriage."

"I was tired of Impa asking when I'll get married and produce an heir," Zelda explains easily, though she gave a slight disgusted tone at the word produce. "I am much more interested in so many other things, but Impa was getting insistent." Zelda rolls her eyes.

"So Zelda decided to ask me to marry her," Wild puts in quietly, "and I told her that um… I'm not interested in her or in anyone that way, but she said the same thing and then told me that it would benefit us both to marry anyway and so… yeah."

"Impa would stop bugging me about getting married and Link would have unlimited access to the castle kitchens once it's fully repaired. I can continue my journey to study and rebuilt this country in peace and Link can continue his dreams of cooking."

Twilight finds himself nodding, because it makes just as much sense as it doesn't make sense. Which means he doesn't get it but they do so he won't argue on it. "But what about… continuing the royal line?"

"The line will die with me," Zelda says. Like that wasn't a royal bombchu-shell . "Because I will not be bearing any children. We will adopt or I will choose someone I trust to take the throne when the time is right. We will decide when the time comes." She grabs Wild's hand and he squeezes in reply. "Together."

Twilight nods again, deciding against arguing that too.

"Is that what you thought we were doing, rancher?" Wild asks. "Having…"

Twilight's cheeks heat up. "Nope. Not at all."

"Oh, okay…"

Wild definitely doesn't believe it, and he's smirking, but it seems he will save Twilight from embarrassment for the rest of the night. No promises tomorrow though, Twilight's sure.

Turns out, Zelda can absolutely crush them all at swimming and scaling a cliff with a hanging chain. She is hardly even winded when they all reach the top. She bids them all farewell and heads towards the home that has graciously lended her a guest room for her stay. The guards all look extremely relieved to see her, and they disappear into the home with a final wave from Zelda towards their direction.

"I can't believe you're engaged, gremlin," Wind says through a yawn and Wild laughs.

"We're just really good friends," he replies, and Twilight smiles. The trust between the two of them must be so strong regardless of physical desire. He still doesn't understand it, but Wild looks happy and Zelda looks happy and they both clearly love each other.

In their own way.

And Twilight can respect that.

[poppopopopopi]

Settos GOTY 2020

2020 was a hell world and life is dogshit now. Also I only browse tumblr these days but I like keeping track of this stuff so!...yay.

I’m gonna be honest even I’m not sure what order I should put these games in.

I think I’m done with ordering by top 10 and just gonna put all 10 here equally.

I’ll also show some games I liked for specific reasons but didn’t put in the top 10.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Probably my second favourite Yakuza game ever, Like a Dragon introduces Ichiban as a new protagonist and boy is he a keeper. This keeps that classic Yakuza charm and good writing along with a new gameplay style of JRPG turn based combat. It’s fun, engaging and genuinely full of a love for the genre. I can’t wait to see the future of Ichibans adventures.

Nioh 2

I genuinely love this game. The soulslike genre has been all over the place the last few years but this one deserves the award for the most complex and well done entry in the genre. Everything about Nioh 2 kept me playing through the game multiple times. It truly is a game where you can build your character in so many different ways that you won’t ever play the same way twice.

Animal Crossing New Horizons

I’ll always love AC. New Horizons has a load of new wonderful features but is lacking a lot of what made previous entries so wonderful. I’m kinda tired of being drip fed content that was just in New Leaf from the get go. Other than that I enjoy the time I spend wandering around my island and customizing it to my liking. A very comfortable experience, that was well needed.

Disaster Report 4

Honestly one of the most endearing games I played this year. You can tell the developers had a lot of passion and despite the unbelievable jank, it shines in many places. This game had so many memorable moments and characters that overall I just fell in love with it. It really drives home the feeling of being in a natural disaster and seeing the cataclysmic destruction it leaves on not only the country but also peoples lives.

Sakura Wars

I’m probably bias because I’ve never played the RPG entries in this series. However I loved the character driven story and general way the game played out. I can’t really say much else, I just adored being in this world and seeing these characters grow together. The gameplay is alright, it’s basic mech based action combat, but I don’t think that’s the big draw here. Azami best girl.

Pokemon SWSH DLC

Can you spot the Galarian Moltres in the above picture?.

I actually loved SWSH, it’s got a load of problems but the overworld and raid dungeons made me play for far longer than I ever thought I would. Honestly the DLC just made the region even better designed and felt like a breathing Pokemon world. I’ll still buy new Pokemon games constantly because I adore their designs and the characters and just everything about the series.

Hades

I liked Greek mythology before it was cool.

Hades really drives home the narrative between these famous chracters of Greek mythos. It’s got such good writing with almost always new things to say every time you do anything in game.

The gameplay is a lot of fun and honestly it’s more of a bridge to progressing your dynamic with everyone. I couldn’t be happier it’s getting the recognition it deserves.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

A genuinely fun game that builds on the musou style combat in massive ways. Every character feels incredibly unique and the gameplay loop keeps remaining fun. Honestly I can’t say much else. It’s a fun Musou game built on a familiar franchise. If you like them, you probably already own it.

Clubhouse Games 51

I mean it’s 51 board games with online play, designed by Nintendo.

It’s fun as hell and has Koi Koi, Of course I bought this.

If you like board games, you probably bought this too. It’s good, get it.

MOON

MOON was never translated upon its original release on PS1. It was a game a younger me looked at and it really set in my mind what I love about videogames.

Designed by the same team as things like Chulip, it takes a familiar formula and turns it on its head. MOON out of all games i’ve mentioned here, really set in stone the idea of what an RPG could be about and how characters could be developed through the game design. 

Playing it fully translated, it’s really clear to me how much of an inspiration this game probably was for a lot of more indie based developers and their games.

MOON makes me feel something I don’t feel often in games and that’s that something like this is so special it only comes around every now and then.

This game means a lot to me and really is a seal of actual wonder that I wish I could see more often. A message of Love and care and just genuine passion seeps through the entire thing.

If I was gonna give GOTY to a game it’d probably be this but I feel it’s worth more than that. MOON really establishes what I feel is a high point for all videogames.

Anyway here’s some other games I really enjoyed. I won’t talk about them much but i’ll put them here

Immortals: Fenyx Rising just came out and is...just a lot of fun. Buy it.

Kamen Rider: Memory of Heroez is a decent low budget action game with a lot of fanservice for toku fans.

No Straight Roads isn’t.....the best as a videogame. But it’s gorgeous to look at and genuinely funny and creative.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is lovely and well worth playing if you wanna farm rice and fight demons as a small angry goddess.

The Pathless is a very nice game that reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus a lot. It’s a lot of fun to explore and solve puzzles, while keeping a good flow with movement and ....may be connected to Abzu which is cool. It’s also very pretty.

A final game that hasn’t even come out yet but I know I will love is

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2.....I mean It’s Puyo Tetris so ...yeah it’s good.

I hope you all have a good 2021 and a good holiday season. 2020 was awful but you hang in there, okay?.

[repentantsky]

My Top 5 Games of 2020

As we are about to move on to 2021, thank gawd, there are many things to reflect on, but my content is escapism, so I’m not about to get all deep in that right now. Instead let’s talk about the thing that probably helped millions of people survive 2020, video games! Here are my Top 5, and oh boy, I wouldn’t be surprised if I got some hate for this. Minor rules for this, no remasters, definitive editions, ports to other systems or anything of that sort will be on this list, because they deserve their own lists. whether or not I write them. No PS5 games will be here, and I mean anything that’s on PS5, because I didn’t get one, and I didn’t play anything that’s on PS5 either, even if it had a PS4 version, so I can’t count those on this list, because that would be cheating. Oh and, if you’re wondering why it’s only a top 5, it’s because I spent more time playing older games and growing my games collection this year, than actually playing new games. So, yeah let’s get into it. 

5. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

I am honestly shocked this is here, but whatever reason, I love this game. Everything from the visual style, to the combat, to even exploring the semi-open world is great. One thing that really shocked me about this game, was the sidequests. Not all of them were great, and of course there were fetch quests all over the place in this game, but the ones I really enjoyed, were the quests where they went into the characters depths of the characters from the anime, by having quests themed around things they would do. Even if they were sometimes joke storylines like Yamcha getting into trouble with girls because that’s something he would do. I even liked the car driving quests, even if I think the stats were maxed out a little too easily. The main story is of course, pretty typical because it’s one we’ve seen a thousand times before, but even then, if it’s a story you like, it can be enjoyed because it’s more in depth there than any games in the series has been in the past. DBZ Kakarot does everything with the story that the Legacy of Goku games did back on the Gameboy Advance, but for the modern era, and I loved every second of it. 

4. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. 

Another shocker for me personally, because I’m not the biggest fan of...Breath of the Wild (not what you were expecting to hear was it?) but I really liked Age of Calamity. One thing that can often feel daunting in Warriors games, is the branching paths system that some of them use, and also, surprisingly, how much levels can matter in them. In Age of Calamity, the branching paths were not there, at least not in the typical sense, avoiding that problem for me, and if levels do matter, they managed to avoid that one by having several smaller missions for characters to do that were great for leveling them up without you having to spend all your rupees to catch them up, which also meant not having to spend as much time grinding for money as some warriors games have you do. The story of Age of Calamity is also fantastic, doing a much better job of making players care about the champions, and their closet friends and allies than Breath of the Wild did. Zelda isn’t always that focused on story in it’s games, despite having some good ones in the past, but Age of Calamity, really did a good job of it, and is probably the first game in the series to make me actually get emotional. It’s an impressive feat through and through, and it makes the warriors format work for it, by having everything take place during a war. It’s a complete package of a game, that is a thrilling and unique experience, never really seen in a warriors type game. 

3. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV. 

If you know me, you might be shocked to hear that this game is only number three for me, but it is. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not fantastic! The culmination of over a decade of games, met an amazing conclusion in this final instalment of the Cold Steel arc. I know this game has it’s detractors, but I don’t see why. The story is fantastic, the character moments are numerous yet not overwhelming or pushy, as they just make sense within the story itself. The combat is as good as always, and despite the change in VA’s for the English release, the acting is as good as it’s always been. To finally see a story come to a conclusion that is built up so well, that has spent so much time making sure it gets everything as right as it possibly can, is a reward all it’s own, and there’s something to be said about finally seeing some characters get what’s coming to them, after years of feeling like it was so close, but never happened. Characters like Juna, Kurt, Rean, Lloyd, Estelle, and so many others, working together was a fantastic sight, and if you’re wondering why I’m focusing in on characters so much, it’s because they are what make The Legend of Heroes what it is, and they are the reason this series is so engaging. I loved every minute of this experience, and the only reason it’s not number one, is because somehow, two games came out this year, that shocked me to my core. Make no mistake though, any of these top three games could have ended up as number one. 

2. The Last of Us Part II

And here is where the controversy really starts. The Last of Us Part II needs no defense, because those that have an issue with it, seemingly either didn’t finish the game, or were spoiled on it, and couldn’t look past what they heard, instead of what they could have felt playing it. The Last of Us Part II is a masterpiece. It tells a special kind of story that really only works in the world it exists in, it has some of the best written characters ever, new or old, it has some of the most wonderful levels ever created in gaming, and unlike the first game, is truly a horror experience. I wouldn’t by any means say it’s better than the original, I think that would be foolish to say, but it stands as one of the greats not only in this generation, but in gaming in general. The deaths in the game are done in a way that makes sense, that adds to the plot in a way that helps you feel the sense of loss that the characters feel. Yes, there is one death in it that will forever leave many people upset, but how it’s explained, how it makes sense that it happens, is nothing short of amazing. The Last of Us Part II, is nothing short of amazing, and I loved every second of it. I do wish that Naughty Dog had managed the game better, and it’s going to be hard to enjoy anything from them in the future if they don’t, but I can’t deny, that the game that actually had me sobbing through the credits, isn’t one of the best games ever made, because it is, and I feel sorry for anyone who didn’t understand that. 

1. Ghost of Tsushima. 

I. Loved. This. Game. It may not have the best story of any game on this list, in fact, I think the ending actually takes away from the real life event that it’s based on, but everything else about it is as close to perfect as you can get. The beautiful world, the fact that you can really tell that culture was priority number one when building the world this game has, just sets it apart from everything else. The fact that the combat is the most engaging combat of this year, is almost just a plus, because everything else was just so perfect. Ghost of Tsushima is a reminder that sometimes, gaming can really surpass just being a form of entertainment, but also a fun way to learn about culture. The beautiful world of Tsushima, is something that cannot be properly explained, but that has to be experienced. The fact that I played the game, and at times only felt like I was playing a game, instead of living in a world different from my own, when certain missions would come up that reminded me of that fact, the engagement was just that intense. I was absorbed into the world that Sucker Punch created, and I enjoyed every last second of it. The characters that were there, the deaths that happened, everything that was experienced in Ghost of Tsushima was to me, absolutely perfect, and for that, it wins my top spot, as my personal game of the year. I said earlier that any of the top three could change places, but honestly, that isn’t really true. Nothing comes close to GoT, and who knows when something ever will again. 

And that’s my list, did I leave out any of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below, try not to hate me too much for leaving out Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and leave me a note with your opinions. Have a fantastic day.    

[zaggitz]

Top Ten Games of 2020

This year being the shitshow that it was, I ended up playing quite a few games I missed out on last year! First though, my lists from the previous years:

2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019

I like having my actual top ten being games that came out the year of but here's a few games that would have been on my list last year if I had played them:

Control

Really fun gameplay and a great weird world to play around in that scratched that weird cryptid/scp itch in a really satisfying way. I still have the final DLC left but I'm excited to do a full replay of the game at some point down the line

Outer Wilds

This game was worthy of all the praise it got last year and more. Amazingly crafted clockwork world with great lore and characters and an absolute blast to explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and oh damn is that a singularity cool I wonder what happens if I- and then explore and get lost WOAH there's two of me now!

I wish I could forget this game and play it for the first time all over again.

Honorable Mention:

Ghost of Tsushima

This game is an absolute blast to play and has some of the best seamless open world navigation I’ve experienced in the genre. How much I love playing the game is however at odds with how much I LOATHE its absolute horseshit main story. Might check out the multiplayer mode some time since it’s all the stuff I liked and none of the bad stuff.

Now for the actual list:

10. Man Eater

This game scratched a deep PS2/PS3 B game itch that I've had since probably the last Saint's Row game came out. It's nothing special but I had a really fun time with this weird, bite-sized(heh) comedy game.

9. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori 2 is in every way a massive improvement from the first game. The mechanics feel tighter, the level design is a lot more open and freeform, the writing feels sharper and the addition of tons of new characters with lots of dialogue helps flesh out this very beautiful world the designers at Moon Studio have crafted. I played this game on Switch and it played pretty smoothly though it was extremely jarring seeing XBOX GAME STUDIOS upon loading the game up on a Nintendo console.

8. The House in Fata Morgana: Reincarnation

This epilogue to the previous two visual novels did a fantastic job of closing out all the characters personal arcs and rounded out the story in a really good way that didn't choke me up at all, shut up.

7. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Now here's one I didn't expect to get sucked into as much as I did. There are a lot of plot expectations coming into this game from Breath of the Wild and it takes no time at all for HW2 to subvert the shit out of them. It toes the line really well between being both a prequel and a pseudo sequel really well and the combat is that good chunky big musou stuff I love. It also doesn't have any Imprisoned fights so it's immediately better than HW1.

6. Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Speaking of pseudo sequels... This game was just an absolute blast. The combat is hectic and strategic in a really satisfying way. The way it fleshes out all the characters from the early parts of FF7 while also having kicking rad world building and a few(not enough) new areas entirely ruled and much like HW2 it absolutely loves to set up expectations from the original game and flip them on their heads. I can't wait to see this shit go off the rails in the eventual sequel.

5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

I have like 300 hours logged into this game at this point. I've never been much of an AC guy but boy did this game luck out by coming out just in time for me quarantining at home for 7 weeks. I don't really have a lot to say about the game itself, I'm just glad I had it to occupy my time during the start of this hellshow.

4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4

This game has some of the highest highs in the Trails series along with some of the absolute lowest lows. It's an absolute mess especially on the romance side of things but CS4 also wraps up longstanding plot threads from like 7 games prior with surprising amounts of finesse so the pros ended up outweighing the cons for me overall. This series was a core example of scope getting out of hand over and over. In a world where these games are tighter paced and end up being the 2 games they planned instead of 4 I could see this being a top contender. Sadly that wasn't the case. 

Now that the arc of these games is over I'm excited to see if they can return to form with the next one.

3. Hades

Amazing combat, amazing writing, well integrated roguelite elements and plot, dope ass music, this game's got it all baby. The amount of variety and build potential on hand makes me constantly excited to hit up a new run.

2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero

Take all my complaints out of the CS4 blurb and this (finally) fan-translated version of the first game in the second Trails arc is what you get. This game had some of the best worldbuilding in the series due to it taking place entirely in one huge Hong Kong style city. It closed out a major and extremely emotionally satisfying plot thread from the first 3 games and ends on such a fantastic high note of a finale. Trails fans who haven't touched Crossbell yet, don't miss out!

1. Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Why is Yakuza 7 my favorite game of the year? It’s not the brand new, huge city to explore filled with stuff to do. It’s not the shift to JRPG combat that works extremely well in context and gets really fun by the end of the game. It’s not the fact that this is easily the funniest game I’ve played all year, and hell, maybe ever. It’s also not the way the game perfectly closes out the Era of the last seven games while ushering in a new, extremely exciting one.

It’s because the new protagonist, Kasuga Ichiban, is not Kazuma Kiryu.

Let me back-up for a sec. This game’s biggest change above all else is the shift to a new protagonist. Now, for a Yakuza game, having a different protagonist isn’t normally a huge deal; we had new guys in 4, 5 and Judgement. But they all functioned within the narrative framework established by Kiryu.

Kiryu is a character whose core philosophy I feel can be broken down into one sentence: Don’t let anyone stand in the way of you living your life the way you want to live it. Every main story in Yakuza 0-6 revolves around this philosophy, as do most of the substories. Kiryu only gets involved in a game’s main story when he has no choice, because something is threatening the life he wishes he could be living. Hell, if anything, you could argue his ending in 6 is him finally accepting he can’t have the life he wants if he wants the people in it to be safe.

So when RGG studios created a new protagonist, built around a whole new combat style, they also had to change the philosophy behind their storytelling.

Kasuga Ichiban is a character who, after this first game at least, to me has a core philosophy of: Everybody deserves to be alive, to be seen, to be helped and to be understood. The changes this brings to the story are incredible and lead to one of the most emotionally satisfying games I’ve ever played. 

Sure, this is a Yakuza game, with it’s typical conspiracies and crime melodrama, but it’s also a game about the dehumanization of homeless people and sex workers. A game about the rampat mistreatment of immigrants and elderly people. A game about the dangers of rampant puritanical nationalism.

That it manages to be all those things so loudly and proudly is something that could only happen with a loud, rambunctious, heart on his sleeve type of guy like Kasuga Ichiban driving it.

Also the reason it’s a JRPG now is because he’s a huge Dragon Quest nerd, and you get to summon a crawfish named Nancy to kill people. Game of the Year.

[vgwriter]

Breath of the Wild: A Review

A Little History

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out in 2017 to universal acclaim and helped to successfully launch the Nintendo Switch. While that is far from a surprise, (the Zelda series is one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful franchises of all time) Breath of the Wild does take the series in a much different direction. It's focus is almost completely on exploration and is the most nonlinear of the series. It is the second biggest jump the series has made outside of going 3D. So, does it work? Well, the rest of the world and their mother seem to think so but here's my take on this game.

What I Loved

*SPOILERS*

#1-A Story to Remember

It seems odd to focus on the story when the game doesn't but behind the vast world and great characters is a subtle yet amazingly well executed story. The player finds Link in a DBZ healing pod after he is just awakened from a hundred year slumber of healing. He is told by the disembodied voice of British Zelda to defeat Calamity Ganon but wait, there's more! Turns out Link has amnesia from the fight he had 100 years ago trying to protect Zelda. After obtaining the Sheikah Slate (the games multi-tool), the player discovers there are photos Zelda locked in the Slate to help Link recover his memory. This is how the story is unfolded for the player. The struggles of the Five Champions and Princess Zelda are seen through flashbacks that explain how Hyrule went to sh*t. It is a simple and traditional method but it is effective when coupled with the games minimalist piano soundtrack and isolated atmosphere. It gives a heartbreaking insight into just how lonely and broken this version of Hyrule is and how much Link and the others lost.

#2-The Puzzles

The games dungeons are split up into two catagories: shrine and divine beasts. The shrines are smaller and have a variety of challenges in their 120 locations while the devine beasts are 4 large challenges with several moving parts. Most shrines are designed to be easy to follow but still make the player feel creative. This feeling of creativity stems from the developers themselves that made each level doable in multiple ways. Each dungeon is designed to test the players use of the games mechanics, the player can play it how it was designed or try to tackle it from another angle. One example from my personal playthrough was using a bomb arrow to light fire because I couldn't figure out how to light a torch through a gate. It worked but probably not the way it was designed to. While not every shrine has a variety of ways to solve them (mostly the trial by combat shrines), they are all intriguing challenges designed with fun in mind and feel rewarding when completed. The divine beasts are a similar story with a few minor details. The player must first find the map of the dungeon and then go about reclaiming terminals to free the divine. The map is a 3D rendering of the dungeon with an interactive portion that moves key parts of the beast around. This was a great design choice because it challenges the player to think of the dungeon as a moving puzzle and to consider how moving the pieces will help them advance to the boss.

#3-The World and Character Design

To say the world is stunning is an understatement. The design of the enviroment feels so natural to explore and interact with that finding Koroks is like spoting cognitive distortion in a high school drop outs racist rant on Facebook. I usually find map towers annoying in games like Assassin's Creed but in BOTW they are better integrated into the games exploration. Some towers are actually challenging to climb if Link doesn't have enough stamina or if the player just throws him onto a tower without looking for enemies first. They are like little challenges all their own and it is a great take on something that has been bland and stale since it was first introduced (to me at least) in AC1. Outside of the towers is the vast world that pulls the player into it with rewarding exploration in cute and helpful ways. The shrines are an obvious reason to explore but there are also Koroks, fun and unique side quests, and just cool stuff to find as well. The variety and density of things to do justifies the games gigantic map. It is one of the few games to live up to the idea of an open-world and keep it interesting throughout a 100 hour playthrough.

The art design, oh my cel shaded god, it's amazing. I'm not gonna pretend like I'm some art history major but the regional designs do some pretty interesting things with the enviroment. The five peoples in Hyrule have all appeared in previous titles but have been tweaked in some way for BOTW. The Gorons have a theme of raw strength throughout their entire section of the map, from their weapons to the steel planks on the streets of Goron City. The Rito's design is more centered on their freedom and ability to fly with the entire settlement resembling a nest. Seriously, everything has feathers. The Zora have an elegance in everything they own from the large city built from one large carving to the silver weapons. The Gerudo seem to be a shell of their former selves like the Hylians with ruins surrounding their two settlements. Their quality in construction and bejewelment of everything that shines shows what matters most to them, beauty and effectiveness. The Hylian design is European with a mix of far east in certain pockets. Hyrule castle is a great dungeon that actually lives up to the title of castle. Kakariko village is a weird area that doesn't fit into the Hylian design but c'mon, you can't go wrong with far eastern architecture. Each region has its own design that both fit its surroundings and its people and feels natural, like the people and land are truly living together. It's impressive that Nintendo was able to pull that off because it is not easy to do.

The characters are simply iconic, mostly. The four champions don't get a lot of screen time but they use what they have effectively. Daruk is a stubborn strong man with a great admiration for strength and brotherhood. Mipha is the white mage of the group with a thing for Link (which I prefer to Zelda). Revali is the arrogent prick of the group that comes around eventually. Urbosa is basically the group mom, being the most mature out of everyone. Each of these characters are simple but fill their role effectively and are all quite likeable (even Rivali). Their present day counterparts aren't as memorable though. I mean, outside of Sidon. Sidon makes me feel like I can do anything just by smiling. But everyone else I had to look up for this review. Yunobo is some shy kid that finally lives up to his potential. Teba is a proud warrior but really not that memorable. Riju comes close to being memorable but I still had to look her up. Outside of the champions and their descendents, Kilton made an impression on me. The Bolson company had one of my favorite quests and some of the funnier cutscenes. Each side quest character has that quaint old fashioned rpg vacuum writing. They all live in their own world and interact with Link for one reason.

Overall, the characters and how they interact with the enviroment are what make this game a masterpiece. The mechanics and story are what make it a great game but the world design is that extra step where most great games stumble to me.

#4-The Combat

The combat is simple but has a multitude of uses against the games enemies. Link has three moves: attack, shield, and shoot. Everything beyond this simple moveset depends on how the player equips Link or uses the Slate Ruins. If an enemy is mostly ice, fire weapons are super effective and vice versa. Thunder disarms anyone, including Link. It gets better than simple elemental weapons. If you bring a cucco to a battle and an enemy hits that cucco, a swarm of bird will rain hell on that unassuming bokoblin. Seriously, that alone gives this a 5/5! Also, the enviroment can be used as a weapon if it's set up correctly. If Link fells a tree and lines up the path right, it will attack the enemies. There is just so much to do in this game and it all works off of three simple actions. Perfect.

#5-Misc.

Some other things that stood out enough to mention but not enough to make a paragraph. The crafting is useful and not intrusive. Link can buy a house, which is always fun. The outfits are all great designs and useful in their respective enviroment. There are throwback outfits from previous titles (mostly through amiibos) and that is always cool. Zelda became a scholar and that was a great take, not just on Zelda but on the idea of fictional princesses in general. Link can cut grass. The variety of weapons is astounding. Oh, and uh, all this fits on a small little card no bigger then the last knuckle of my thumb.

What I Didn't Like

#1-The Weapons Fragile Weaponinity

The weapons break way too easy. That's it. That is the only thing I have to complain about this game. That shouldn't be all I have to complain about. I should have two more points to make at least but I don't. Nintendo has made a masterpiece.

The Score

This game shouldn't exsist, it's too good. The gameplay is simple but versatile. The enviroment is peaceful and relaxing while also being desolate and dangerous and this makes it fun to explore. The story and the enviroment fit so well together and compliment each other every time they connect. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a 5/5 and the definitive way to make open-ended games.

[heartofhryule]

Breath of the Wild: Captured Memories - Chapter 7

Preface and Disclaimer; First and foremost; SPOILER WARNINGS. If you have not played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or completed the Captured Memories Quest and want to stay unspoilered for it, DO NOT READ. Keep Reading link provided for that reason. 

So I am writing these as I play through BotW for the first time - which means they probably won’t be ‘one-a-day’ consistent - I have finally gotten all of the memories, but not yet gone for the final fight at Hyrule Castle. #Soon. I will post them as I can though! Promise! I also plan to include links to the cutscene for you to watch at the bottom, if so desired - at least for the ones I can find. Any other warnings that become necessary, I will add for content as I go. For now, enjoy! [All Chapters here for your reading enjoyment.]

Y’all… Dammit Salty Bird. I got irritated all over again rewatching the scenes to get the dialog for Revali’s scenes. He’s SUCH a well written character... and I hate him. Well, hate is strong. But I really, really dislike him a lot. Even when he “gets better” he’s still a !@#%%^&^er. But, I like this chapter, and I hope you will too. Chapter 7 - Revali’s Flap

The Rito Village, and land surrounding, was genuinely breathtaking. The wood and canvas huts that served as both homes and shops were built around the landscape’s large peaks of sandstone. This design allowed wind to blow through the village unhindered without disrupting structural integrity. At this altitude and in the region, Link was chilled. Pretty much constantly. But, he’d bought some new armor from the nice Rito vendor in trade for some amber and a few sapphires he’d found. Now he was nice and toasty warm.

Sitting by the cooking pot inside a part of the village’s inn, Link stared into the fire as his dinner marinated. He’d been here before. He could feel it, and this was not a place soon forgotten. It might have been if it was the first place he’d come, but even then the striking beauty of the land, difference in architecture, and the colorful individuality of its inhabitants were like nothing else in all of Hyrule.

Maybe that was the opinion of an ignorant Hylian child that he had once been. He had grown up in and around the Zora Domain in the Lanayru Province. This knowledge was coming back to him slowly, and explained why he’d gone there first. It also meant the Zora had never seemed odd to him, though consequently neither had they seemed particularly awe inspiring in a long, long while. The Rito however, were a different story.

Ladelling out his dinner from the pot, simmered fruit for the moment as he was cold, tired and in need of foraging for some supplies, Link leaned back against the solid wood support beam of the hut. Simmered fruit made him think of his mother - now that he remembered her face. She made the best, and had taught him long ago. It always made him feel better.

He needed that right now. There was a long way to go for him to find all the locations in Zelda’s album, and take back control of two more Divine Beasts from Ganon. He was tired, and had only arrived less than an hour before, deciding that he was going to eat something before speaking with the Tribe Chief. In the sky overhead, Vah Medoh let out a shrill and bone chilling cry. The enormous ancient technology flew overhead in the shape of a bird, stone and metal kept aloft by gigantic propellers and magic. Glancing up, and giving a good, long look at the Calamitous energies pulsing through the construct, Link ate his simmered fruit quickly.

No rest for the weary, as it were.

After eating, he asked directions to speak with the Rito Chief and had the oddest interaction. It was as though the Chief could tell he was the fallen hero, but couldn’t accept it. Link had stopped bothering to try and explain it to people months ago at this point. He was told of Teba, and that perhaps the warrior could help him, if nothing else the Chief was worried.

But it was the following conversation with Teba’s wife that ignited something in Link. She showed him Revali’s Landing, a flight platform just outside her home named for the Champion of the Rito from a century ago. Looking at it, Link was taken by a memory.

***

Standing out on the center of the flight platform, Link craned his neck and shielded his eyes to look up at the impressive Vah Medoh high above him. It truly was an impressive piece of ancient technology, and he’d listened intently to Zelda lament at great length that she would never be able to set foot on such a marvel. The sky was the clearest blue surrounding the Divine Beast, and wind cool despite the sun’s warmth. But then, it was always cool in the Hebra region.

Just as Link had the thought he should probably go find the Rito Champion, as that was whom he had climbed the peaks to see on behalf of Zelda, the wind picked up. At first it was small, but it rapidly build to a steady cyclonic breeze that seemed to come from beneath the platform.

In the blink of an eye and the flash of dark grey feathers, the Rito Champion appeared from below. Shooting up into the air high above, Revali spread his charcoal and white feathered wings, gliding down to a light and graceful landing before Link.

“Impressive, I know,” the Rito archer said in his normal, smug tenor. “Very few can achieve mastery of the sky. Yet I have made an art of creating an updraft that allows me to soar. It’s considered to be quite the masterpiece of aerial techniques, even among the Rito.” Revali turned to pose dramatically, one wing lifted where he was backlit by the sun in the beautiful day.

Link managed to not roll his eyes at Revali’s grandiloquence, giving him a tight-lipped smile. Revali didn’t like him - Link knew this. The Rito felt within his superior self image that he should have been the Princess’s appointed knight as he was clearly the most capable and worthy of the Champions. Clearly.

Though the Rito had never said those words exactly, it was the undertone of every word, sneer, snort and action the Champion took while in Link’s presence to date. Somehow the Hylian knight had a feeling this interaction would be no different.

Link found Revali cutting him a sharp look, speaking again before the knight could give a syllable of proper greeting. “With the proper utilization of my superior skills, I see no reason why we couldn’t easily dispense with Ganon,” be boasted with a bow. Hopping down from the railing on which he’d perched, Revali tucked his wings behind his back as if about to give a dissertation (which Link had no doubt he was going to do just that). Strolling forward, Revali’s expression was one of barely contained detestation. “Now then, my ability to explored the firmament is certainly of note… But let’s not- and pardon me for being so blunt-” he said as his tone changed from fairly condescending to outright patronizing, “Let’s not forget the fact that I am the most skilled archer of all the Rito.”

“Oh here we go,” Link muttered to himself into the wind.

“Yet despite these truths, it seems I have been tapped to merely assist  you. All because you happen to have that little darkness sealing sword on your back. I mean, it’s just… asinine.” The only thing that prevented Link from drawing his sword then and there and teaching this megalomaniac of a Rito a lesson, was self control. As Revali’s red-feather rimmed, green eyes cut snidely to him, Link crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. The absurdity of this entire monologue was as laughable as it was insulting. Clearly, Revali liked hear the sound of his own voice.

“Unless,” the Rito Champion added after a moment, “You think you can prove me wrong?” He took one large step closer to Link. The bird man who was a good head taller than the Hylian leaned in, beak to nose and invading Link’s personal space aggressively. “Maybe, we should just settle this one on one.”

Link opened his mouth to say that he had no problem with Revali… not until this conversation at least, but the archer turned away and continued his drama. “But where?” he asked the wind, one wing crossed his chest as the other pretended to stroke his beak in thought. “Oh, I know! How’bout up there?!”

With a grand sweep of one wing, Revali motioned to the sky, where Vah Medoh was soaring past, making its rounds. “Oh! You must  pardon me,” Revali chuckled, his tone even more supercilious than before, “I forgot you have no way of making it up to that Divine Beast on your own.” The last words were spoken with actual open aggression as the Champion spread his wings sharply, and took to the skies, leaving Link behind on the platform.

As Revali grew smaller towards Vah Medoh, and the vision began to fade, the Rito’s parting jab echoed the skies. “Good luck sealing the Darkness!”

***

As he came back to himself, Link was being stared at oddly by Teba’s concerned wife. Apparently she’d asked if he was alright, while he’d been lost to the past. “Oh, I’m sorry, yes - thank you ma’am.”

Giving him an uncertain look, she touched a delicate wing to her beak. “If you’re sure… you seemed… angry? Irritated at least. Are you well?”

Cracking his neck at the legitimate frustration Revali’s personality had left him with, he nodded. “It was… just not a pleasant memory, ma’am. Sorry to space out like that- but I promise, I will find your husband, and bring him back alive.

“Oh thank you!” she said sincerely. “Please… be safe.”

---

The knight held his shoulder and looked around the topside of Vah Medoh. The Windblight Ganon creature that had held control of Vah Medoh for so long was gone, fallen to the Master Sword. Well the Master Sword, and a not insignificant amount of bomb arrows.

Staring at the Main Control panel ten yards from where he stood, injured and exhausted, Link smirked to himself. He should just sit down, right here, and bake some apples to eat so he could regain a bit of his strength. It had been a hard fight! It had taken a lot out of him! And Revali could sit around and complain all he wanted, since there wasn’t anything the spirit of the Rito Champion could do about it.

He deserved as much for the prickly and haughty manner in which he’d been speaking while Link tried to subvert Ganon’s corruption. Though the change in tone as the hylian’s repeated successes went on had not gone unnoticed by the knight.

No, No Link wouldn’t keep him waiting… that would have been cruel. With a sigh, Link closed the distance between himself and the Main Controls, setting the Shiekah slate on the tablet as he had so many times elsewhere. The bulb, large as a room and intricate with ancient energy, changed from orange to blue, and pulsed once… twice… three times as Vah Medoh was not returned to control of the Champions.

“Well I’ll be plucked,” Revali’s echoic, ethereal voice said from behind him, “You defeated him, eh?” Link cut his eyes over his shoulder and turned around, braced for a potentially long and self absorbed speech. There Revali stood, incorporeal as both Daruk and Mipha had been, green spirit fire dancing around him where he had just landed. Spreading his wings wide, Revali seemed reserved… for Revali. “Who would have thought?”

Looking at each other a long moment, Link felt… differently than he had before. Mipha and Daruk had been his friends, people he cared a great deal for. Revali and he had not been friend, and even actively disliked one another a century ago. And yet, there was still a sadness in Link’s heart, seeing the Rito Champion’s spirit.

Noting that the archer dropped his gaze and looked away before he spoke, the Rito’s next words were surprising to the hylian. “Well done.”

But Revali continued, and the moment was over. “I suppose I should thank you now that my spirit is free. This returns Medoh to its rightful owner.” With a grand gesture to the sky of one wing, Revali straightened, clearly meaning himself. “Hmph,” he added with a callous expression. “Don’t preen yourself just for doing our job.”

Link pressed his lips together and raised one eyebrow. “Oh yes. We could never have that from any Champion,” he mumbled sardonically. If Revali heard, he didn’t show it.

“I do suppose you’ve proven your value as a warrior. A warrior worthy of my unique ability. The sacred skill that I have dubbed Revali’s Gale!” Despite the posing and flapping of wings, Link forgave the Champion’s drama in the face of the nicest thing  Revali had ever said about or to him.

With yet another set of dramatic movements, Revali’s spirit summoned and sent an orb of green spirit energy hurtling at Link, and as it entered him body, a familiar, strong whirlwind kicked up, lifting Link from his feet and tossing him into the air quite unexpectedly. With a flip and twist, Link landed without injury on one knee, and looked back up to the Rito… in gratitude.

“It’s now time to move on and start making preparations for Medoh’s strike on Ganon. But,” Rivalli gave a small smirk, “Only if you think you’ll still need my help while fighting inside Hyrule Castle.” It wasn’t an apology, but even a small admission that he’d been wrong so long ago was enough to inspire forgiveness entirely in Link’s heart. Revali quickly ruined the moment again by added, “Feel free to thank me now.”

Rolling his eyes, Link noticed the now familiar gold light that meant his time on the Divine Beast was over, and was shocked to hear Revali say, “Or.. .nevermind. Just go. Your job is far from finished you know.” The Rito Champion was glancing at him sidelong. Finally turning away and lifting his beak to the sun, Link was fading away already when he heard the final words of his old self appointed rival.

“The Princess has been waiting an awful long time.” Revali’s Flap - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doMVZikgnNE Freeing Vah Medoh - https://youtu.be/uxP8BqemAvc?t=1413

[8bitsupervillain]

End of the Year 2018 (I’m a few days late)

Hello ladies and gentlemen, it's that lovely time of the year again. The holiday season is past, the year is winding down and there's a new year on the horizon. As is traditional at this time of year I feel the need to force upon you my thoughts and feelings about the best things and the worst things I personally have endured this year. Once again, I can't really bring myself to do a best film of the year because honestly I don't recall seeing a movie that really stood out as particularly good this year. Some films I only saw because it was something to get me out of the house for a few hours, and honestly the only movies I can really remember seeing in the theaters were: Solo A Star Wars Story, Slender-Man, and Avengers Infinity War. 

Anyway, my Games of the Year 2018 edition. I decided to do something a bit different with this particular list, even though I played quite a number of games this year I didn't really play many that come out this, just a lot of older stuff. You may notice some glaring omissions from the games I did play this year, some of the big titles that came out I simply didn't play. So, you fine people are going to get a double list this year. I will have a top five for games that came out pre-2018 that I played this year, and one for games that did come out this year.

Honorable mentions:

HM: Call of Duty Black Ops IIII. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this game. I haven't really played many shooters in the past couple of years, but I greatly enjoyed my time with Black Ops 4. The base multiplayer plays pretty decently these days, and it reminds me a lot of Counter-Strike for reasons I can't really explain. Like so many of my friends though I really liked the time I spent in Blackout, I don't really play these battle royale games, but I enjoyed the time I put into this one.

HM: Mega Man 11. This was a very fun game, and I liked it quite a lot. Some of the pixel perfect jumps the game requires of you are a fair bit irritating though. I freely admit, I may have liked this a lot more than I may have otherwise because of the fact that I played Mighty No. 9 a couple months before the games release.

HM: Elder Scrolls Legends. I played this game a lot over the year, and I'd probably still be playing it if they didn't make the game unplayable on mobile and completely uninteresting to play on PC.

HM: SoulCalibur VI. I was really looking forward to this game, and I was so happy that the game came out as good as it did. It's a delight to play, and I really want to get back into playing more of it. Geralt was an interesting addition to the game that I'm really glad made it, he's quite fun to play as, and I can't wait to try out 2B.

HM: Deltarune. I'll admit that when I started playing this I wasn't really feeling it, I thought that the game was going to be trying too hard to recapture what made Undertale good. But it's a surprisingly enjoyable game, can't wait for the rest of it to come out eventually.

HM: Faith. A retro-style horror game, done in vector graphics. I like this game, granted some aspects of the boss fight, and the events just prior to this fight are somewhat annoying.

HM: King's Field (and King's Field 2). I played these in about mid-January, shortly after playing Persona 5. It was a nice little palette cleanser because it was a change going from a big story RPG to a game with a barebones plot. I played the Sword of Moonlight version of King's Field, and I had fun with it. King's Field 2 was also fun, I could not play these games without a guide though.

Game of the Year: Pre-2018

5. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

I played the 3DS version of this game, and honestly I loved just about every minute of it. The storyline was actually very well done, and I liked basically every character in this game. I was a bit unsure of how the game would play on the 3DS but it ran really well, and actually holds up great in the visuals. This is going to sound silly but I really like it when games include outfits that actually change the look of your character, it's a real treat. I really wish I had actually played this one when I got a PS2 copy years ago, but at least I finally got the chance to play this one.

4. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight

I'm very slowly going through my backlog of 3DS/DS games that I've built up over the past five years or so. I played through this game back in March, and honestly I keep having a desire to go back through the game again just for the fun of it. The game becomes a bit of a bastard to go through towards the end, but I found it to be a greatly rewarding experience to play through. Also unlike Untold 1, the story mode in this game isn't a complete mess! So that's nice, a shame there will probably never be an Untold 3.

3. Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild

Briefly alluded to as "a game I'd probably really like if I played more than an hour" on last year's list I found that to be the case entirely. Breath of the Wild was a really great game that I found myself loving from top to bottom. This is another game that I completed fairly early in the year that I find myself wanting to replay again because I enjoyed it that much. Even when I played other games that are entirely different from it I found myself trying to pull off some of the moves and abilities you get in Breath of the Wild. Maybe I wouldn't have found this game to be so great had I played any of the newer Zelda titles (the last one I played was Wind Waker), but I found this game to be an absolute joy to play. I admit that the announcement of it being an open-world game filled me with dread, but I was so pleased to find out my fears were entirely unfounded. It's just really remarkable how much stuff they were able to put in this game, I wonder how the Wii U version fairs in comparison?

2. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (and the DLC)

This is quite possibly the best version of Dragon Quest V I have ever played! I don't really know why it took me so long to get to this game, but for whatever it's worth the slightly over one hundred hours I've sunk into the game was a trip entirely worth taking. A bad habit I have when playing RPGs is sometimes near the end I start wishing it would wrap up, I never had this thought while playing through the Witcher's length. Even when I played the DLC almost immediately upon completing the primary story I didn't want my time in this world to end. This was an unexpected treat, after having played the first two Witchers I didn't in my wildest dreams think the third one would be this good. I absolutely adore this game, it has some of the best writing I've seen in an RPG, the characters are great, and I really like the villains. They feel like a very real, tangible threat as opposed to a vague evil sitting just beyond the horizon. Add to that the inclusion of Gwent and you have a game that holds its value really well. It must be said that Blood and Wine has what might be one of the most affecting endings I have ever seen in ages.

1. Fire Emblem Warriors

Surely I'm out of my mind, you must be thinking. After the words I said about Breath of the Wild, and Witcher III, how could a Musou game be the best of the pre-2018 games I played this year? Particularly in a year where Hyrule Warriors got a re-release? It's simple, I didn't really play Hyrule Warriors, and I played through Fire Emblem Warriors three times. While Breath of the Wild, and Witcher III have story, waifus, and better looks and feel about them, Fire Emblem Warriors has gameplay working in its favor. The gameplay in Fire Emblem Warriors is quite possibly some of the best Musou gameplay I've seen in a long while. Sure I might have issues with the fact that this is primarily an Awakening/Fates show I'm able to get over it because of how good the game plays. I earnestly hope for a sequel, I know it's a long-shot that any of the older Fire Emblem heroes would get in, but I would love it. Also this game does the impossible and makes the cast and story beats of Fates tolerable and decent.

Games of the Year 2018

5.  Detroit: Become Human

This game should count itself lucky I didn't play anything slightly more substantive. If I had played anything better than this I don't honestly think Detroit would have gotten any more than an honorable mention. That's not to say I didn't like the game, I enjoyed it greatly in fact, I just am surprised this game managed to be one of the better games I've played this year. The story really isn't the greatest around, but it did have moments that I liked a whole lot. Like so many others I think I liked the stuff with Connor and Hank the best. If this game had focused more on the "android cop" idea I might have liked it more, but I do want to reiterate I do think this was a good game. As by the numbers as Markus's story may have been, and some really hamfisted story beats that occur toward the end of the game it was a really solid game overall. I kind of feel like the game also played its hand regarding some of the characters a bit too early, and as such it kind of fumbled the reveal when it happens. It is pretty interesting seeing some of the variations between being peaceful Markus versus violent Markus, also the endgame variations of Connor's arc are pretty intriguing. Sadly Kara kind of gets the short end of the stick when it comes to characterization. Despite the game not quite sticking the landing when it approaches the ending it was still a good game to play through.

4. The Banner Saga Trilogy

This might be a bit of a cheat, but the console versions of the trilogy came out this year, so I'm counting it. It might not have the deepest strategy gameplay around, but this series is so much more than just the combat encounters. Some of the choices you're forced to make as the series advances are actually pretty difficult to deal with, but for its credit the game never really goes out of its way to chastise you for the decisions. I enjoyed the setting of these games a lot, Viking stuff is very interesting to me, and I absolutely adore the art style these games use. It reminded me a whole lot of the animated Hobbit movie that was out in the early 80s that I remember my dad having. I adore pretty much the whole cast that is in this trilogy, some of the characters fall flat, but when the cast is as large as the one in this series it's to be expected. This series also reminded me a lot of the early Fire Emblem games (specifically the ones on the GBA), in that your characters can permanently die as the story progresses. I played through this entire series over the course of a month because I was that engrossed in the world and story this series takes place in. I like how the threat in the series becomes much larger and grander as the games go on, and it never really feels entirely out of left field. The story does take a bit of a dive towards the end of the third game, but it was never really a deal breaker for me. If you like turn-based tactical combat, vaguely Norse mythology, or just a compelling story I really can't recommend this enough.

3. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

Perhaps they should have done the Kiwami games prior to making this, since they seem to have had some issues with the engine. That said however I really enjoyed this one a whole lot. I don't really have a lot to say about the gameplay for this game, it is still some of the best combat you can experience in most modern games these days. Style switching from 0 is gone, but that's alright. Most heat moves seem to boil down to mashing the button a whole lot to make the impact greater, but none of the gameplay changes were a deal breaker for me. I don't really want to talk about the story in the game because I feel that the story is really the game's greatest aspect. The story has some major gut punch moments, it still has its more outlandish moments (it is Yakuza after all), but the story overall is a very satisfying very moving finale for Kiryu's story. I desperately want more people to play these games because the ending was perhaps one of the most emotionally satisfying things I have ever experienced with a video game.

2. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Elusive Age

I adore this game. When it came out in September I played nothing but Dragon Quest XI until I completed the game. It's rare these days that something I look forward to actually lives up to my expectations, but Dragon Quest XI hit the mark and then some. I love just about every single member of the party in this game, I don't think there's a single weak link to be found in the cast. Sure the villain of the game lacks a bit of oomph despite the build-up, but I was still really digging the final villain by the time the game was approaching its end. Normally when I play an RPG by the end I start to drift away from it a bit, but I was thoroughly enjoying my time with it. I do have some complaints with the narrative towards the end, some minor complaints I have with certain characters and their characterizations near the end. The game is absolutely worth playing, it is just sheer classic role playing joy from beginning to end. Plus if you play it on PC you can mod in the orchestral soundtrack which is nice.

1. Monster Hunter: World

I sunk a lot of time into this game over the year. Two hundred and twenty-five hours to be precise (on one character at least). Granted that might be small potatoes compared to the time others have sunk into this I think that is quite a large amount. There's just something about this game that keeps calling me back to it. It might not be the most narratively rich game, but quite frankly I love this game to pieces. It's very cathartic hunting down these big behemoths. To be honest though I was kind of split between declaring this or Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate my favorite of the year. They both do something that I love so much about these games. It might be shallow to say but I probably like World more due to the graphical polish that the game possesses over Generations Ultimate. I love the inclusion of the cosmetic add-ons that are in World, it amuses me greatly to run around dressed up like Ryu from Street Fighter, or Dante from Devil May Cry, I also like the Aloy costume from Horizon: Zero Dawn. However I kind of prefer the greater amount of monsters that are available in Generations Ultimate. The sheer volume of monsters in the game is kind of ridiculous, but some of them are just tremendously fun to fight and I wish they could be in World. Generations Ultimate I kind of feel like I might be cheating by including it here, since it was an import copy for the Switch I played a lot. Honestly though, Monster Hunter World and Generations Ultimate I spent an absurd amount of time with during the year. In World's case at least I imagine I'll play a lot more during this year simply because of the inclusion of multiple crossover events that will no doubt be happening over the year. There's also the fact that Iceborne is coming out later this year, and I really can't wait to get my hands on that.

The honest truth is every single game that make up my best of list are all games that I really want to replay because I enjoyed them so much. Also just for fun here's the order the list would go in if I combined the two lists:

10. Detroit Become Human 09. Dragon Quest VIII 08. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold 07. The Banner Saga Trilogy 06. Yakuza 6 05. Breath of the Wild 04. The Witcher 3 03. Dragon Quest XI 02. Fire Emblem Warriors 01. Monster Hunter World/Generations Ultimate

Here’s to 2019, and the very many games that are coming out that I am really looking forward to! Thank you for reading, and until next time farewell.

[bensopinionsonvariousthingsblr]

So what are my favorite games Part 1

So just to make things clear i haven been writing 1.because this is actually my second attempt at writing this i accidentally closed the tab the first time, uh and i only lost a few hours of work. and 2.because I’ve been working at my job a lot more frequently as of late. anyway, i could probably write an entire full length essay on all of these games but I’ll try to shorten things up, oh yeah uh some games on the list might not be that good, as I may include a game from my childhood that i have fond memories of, but maybe wasn’t as good as i remembered it, anyway its a top 10 so lets begin.

First of all id love to start with some outside looking in, all these games are incredible to me and i would love to put them in the top 10 but i couldn’t, if you want to hear my opinions on them (wow thanks, you actually care) you can ask me on twitter and ill do my best!

15.Sonic Generations                                                                                              14.Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege                                                                      13.Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Platinum (Waterpark&Zoo DLC is amazing)                12.Splatoon 2 (specifically the Octo Expansion, that was really good)                    11.Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition (Def. edition because its portable with good FPS and the extra 3DS content)

OK then Ill get started now :3 Thanks a TON (and I mean it I appreciate amy support i get or constructive criticism) for reading it!

Number 10: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess                                              Developer and Release year: Nintendo, 2006/2016 remaster                                What it can be played on: Gamecube/Wii/Wii U                                                                                                                                                                                              The Legend of Zelda is my favorite game series of all time, thats obvious if you know anything about me, and twilight princess is one I’ve played more recently, and from the start you notice Twilight Princess is definitely going for that early 2000′s edgy tone (is that a coincidence or an actual trend, i dunno i was really young in 06 so...) which works fine, and its a really long game, I mean I spent a week or two beating it, that being said i had work and other things going on at the time, but any way it has been said by many more before me, that it is basically an edgy, long,Ocarina of Time remake with motion controls....and they aren’t wrong, though i have called it edgy but i think its more...dark i guess? any way i actually like this better than Ocarina of Time, before you assault me i loved Ocarina of Time, i just tried to put as few Zelda games on the list as i could, and i just enjoyed the Twilight Princess story, characters, and length a bit more, but back to the remake opinion, i sort of agree yeah, but i thought the mystery around Midna and Zant and the Twilight realm, and the mirror, were all something that sets it apart, so in the end i enjoyed it a lot.                                                                                                                                                                    Favorite Part(s)? Arbiters Grounds. AW MAN, I love the Arbiters grounds, the sneaking, the spinner, the boss, the setting, all of it is on point, even the wolf part is unique with the poe chasing, and also the Final Ganon boss I liked all of it, though his appearance is a bit late i thought it was a fun, long, and intense fight

Number 9: Lego Universe                                                                                      Developer and Release Year: NetDevil and Lego, 2010-2012                                What it COULD ( :( ) be played on: PC                                                                                                                                                                                                              IM GONNA GO AHEAD AND SAY IT THIS IS A PICK COMPLETELY ON NOSTALGIA. Yes, this is one of my favorite games of my childhood and since i cant go back and re-evaluate the game because it’s closed unfortunately (except for some server projects that are happening) I’m talking about it completely based on my memories. One reason I love it is, the game’s story and lore at the time captivated me so much that i decided to write stories about stuff my character(s) did, which basically kick-started my interest in writing, as bad as those stories were, I loved the game, I had it’s official LEGO set (Still do it’s a nice little orange rocket ship that could be used in-game) and convinced my cousins to play it too, and we all enjoyed it, now of course i was an MLGPROBOI at the game so I had rare pets and the best weapons and a RED PARROT GUYS (I believe it was super rare and a big deal) so I loved being really cool n’ stuff, people would ask me to help them take out Butterscorch (that was the hardest boss in the game, a purple dragon, BUT SINCE I WAS AN MLGPROBOI I COULD DO IT MYSELF BUT I WAS NICE SO I HELPED) and even sell them secrets on how to do stuff, yeah i was a cool guy, cant relate now, I’ll never be as cool as my alter-alias Square Von Pancake :(                                                                                                                                                                Favorite Part(s): Me and my brother played i t together all the time and we loved the combat at crux prime the most, Crux Prime was the place with the hardest enemies and bosses and it was really fun to be challenged for a while. plus though it was out for only a year we still have countless memories of it, and they added Ninjago in it which I was SUPER into at the time and enjoyed having my character do Ninjago stuff...  

Number 8: Mount and Blade: Warband                                                                    Developer and Release Year: Taleworlds, 2010                                                      What it can be played on: PC, PS4, XB1                                                                                                                                                                                                      Mount and Blade Warband and its expansion Mount and Blade Napoleonic Wars, is one of my favorite multiplayer, and story games, the story mode is fun because you can do what you want, YOU choose the faction you fight with or not to at all, your class, your stats, and you can make some uh *beautiful* characters, the main story, i believe the objective is to become the emperor of Calradia, and rule the dang place and be rich and cool and have people like you, but I dont usually do that i just fight for factions, make money in the arena and at tournaments, and hire mercenaries and win against armies of 200 with like 30 people, its fun, now second talking point for me is the multiplayer, this is where Napoleonic Wars comes in, it is a fun shooter with muskets , or swords....or screw it you can play the bagpipes, that last one is totally not something me and my friends would do late at night. The Maps are super well designed as well and each look nice, and are usually not unbalanced. The third thing is the modding community, if you have this game, and don’t have the Anglo-Zulu war mod, that is just wrong, I mean it is so fun to get your friends and survive against large waves of zulu, or have some friends with the Zulu, it is just a unique experience for me, and other mods are cool to like the Civil War mod.                                                                                                                                                                    Favorite part(s): The Story mode is awesome in the way that it was a time in m life where i was without internet for a good month or two, but i had my laptop and the story mode kept me entertained for basically the whole time, also there are so many fun memories of the AZW mod and late night spent surviving waves.  

Number 7: Lego Battles                                                                                          Developer and Release Year: Warner Bros., Hellbent and Lego, 2009                  What it can be played on: DS                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Lego Battles is also a nostalgia pick, and also happens to be a Lego game, but the difference is it still holds up to me today, and i can still play it today...any way I love the gameplay, it’s a basic RTS but with fun themes like Wizards and Knights and Pirates and Aliens vs Humans, and each has a different play style, but not too different that it didn’t confuse me as a kid, I always liked the pirates and the aliens, I dont know why, but uh a drawback is that it can be too easy, at the time I wasnt fast or good enough to beat the AI with my first base, but i quickly learned if i just escaped after the destruction of the first one and just built a stronger second one, i would have more time because the AI couldnt find me and i would win pretty much every time, but despite that I enjoyed all the campaigns and loved the cutscenes and the extra characters like Santa and the Skeleton Guy (tm) and the Conquistador and the Alien Queen etc. and the way to unlock them was to find red bricks in the campaign levels, and/or collect studs which i thought was a fun challenge at the time, and today i sometimes like to go back to it for some casual RTS action                                                                                                                                                                                                     Favorite Part: The Gameplay, it’s simple, fun, and  doesn’t take too long, so if i just want to pick up a short game of the RTS genre I usually spring for this

Number 6: Star Wars Battlefront 2 Classic                                                              Developer and Release Year: Pandemic Studios, LucasArts , 2005                      What it can be played on: PC/PS2/XBOX                                                                                                                                                                                                      The fact that this comes in at number 6 on my list really doesn’t tell how much I love and appreciate this game, this is probably THE game I played the most in my childhood, and even still I play it online with the new servers (I disagree with you sometimes Disney, but thanks for those) This game is so replayable and I haven’t even played through the campaign yet, yeah, what I have done though is beaten all the Galactic Conquest stories, probably more than once. So for those of you that don’t know Galactic Conquest is a mode where each team starts with one ship and one type of troop and you fly around a map of the galaxy and take over enemy planets and defend yours and buy troops with the money you earn from the battles, and if the two ships run in to each others then they do a space battle, and Im gonna say it now i grew up playing the PS2 version with my cousins, but now I play the PC version and when we play with our cousins they play the XBOX version on Xbox One, any way the PC version is the best in terms of FPS and general gameplay smoothness, but the console versions have Galactic Conquest multiplayer which is something that we have spent countless hours playing, and in the end Battlefront 2 will be one of the best shooters of all time, and better than the new Battlefront 2 because that one is no where near good enough to share a name with the classic one, any way, i will always love Battlefront 2                                                                                                                                                                  Favorite part(s): Galactic Conquest and shout out to the maps Kashyyyk and Tantine IV, they’re the best

Hey thanks for reading through this whole thing, uh as you can tell this was super long, i planned to do all ten in this one but i figure it’s gettimg pretty long and I’ll just stop here and I’ll have 5 through 1 tomorrow, Thank you so much!                                                                                                                -Ben :3