#finally playing zelda too

[morenavbby]

I recently got a Nintendo Switch and I've been playing Super Mario like I'm 8 years old again with my gameboy color

[marigoldnots]

my lovelies

[brokenstar-s]

When it's time to girlboss, gaslight and gatekeep

[art-question-mark]

riju of the gerudo🏜️⚡️

[symmetrycrypt]

thinking about how much i fucking hate totk again, like sorry, it really tainted my entire love for the series that was literally my special interest for so long growing up

[majouartings]

PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE ZELDA *inhale* PLAYABLE ZELDA PLAYABLE Z

[pluviatrix]

this has been in my drafts for a hot minute so i decided i’d post it, heres a scene from that fic im working on. idk

[fluffypichu876]

In retribution to my dear mutual @prototypelq's post, I will also be writing about my 3 favorites games of all time! Making this list was a bit easier than I expected, but because I have too many beloved games to choose from expect a lot of honorable mentions hehehe

And the first game on the list is, of course:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

It's no surprise that this game would be here. I mean, it's not like I replay it every year!

SOTN is a game of the genre "Metroidvania". You probably know this term if you have heard of games like Hollow Knight or Ori, but if you don't, basically, a Metroidvania game takes place on a huge map consisting of interconnected smaller rooms. When playing, you'll travel and explore around these rooms, defeating enemies and unlocking new abilities that allow you to acess new areas that were unaccessible before.

The OG Metroid on the NES can be considered the very first game of this genre, but Super Metroid and SOTN together were responsible for defining its standards and popularity today. Hence the term, "Metroidvania".

This game is a heck lot of fun to play. Dracula's Castle is huge and full of interesting areas to explore, filled with enemies and secrets of all kinds. SOTN is based on an RPG-like stat and level system, and you gradually grow stronger as you defeat foes, gain EXP, and level up. Weapons, armor, and other equipment are found all through the castle, further increasing your stats and other attributes.

The soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Castlevania as a franchise has some of the best OST's out there. Michiru Yamane is a great composer, and her instrumental works fit CV's themes and tone really well.

SOTN does not use MIDI samples processed by the PSX's sound chip (except for the Librarian's theme). Instead, all of the game's songs are played through audio streams, granting them CD-like quality, which is a little rare in other games on the system. Here's an example of what Yamane could do with this audio quality:

Sounds great, doesn't it?

Another aspect of SOTN that I love is of course, the visuals. To this day, I consider this game to have some of the best 2D graphics ever. The levels and backgrounds are beautiful, and every tile is filled with plenty of detail. All of Alucard's animations are fluid, graceful, and an absolute delight to watch and control. Often, the game will mix in 3D elements to enhance the beauty of an area, and it looks great.

There are so many little hidden details in the game that make you appreciate the developers's love and care even more. For example, in the Outer Wall area, a small suspended room can be found at the area map's bottom. In this room alone:

A falcon/hawk/eagle/bird of prey can be observed in her nest. As you progress through the game and return to this room, you can see the falcon coming back everytime to lay, incubate, and take care of her offspring. It's really damn cute.

A telescope can be found in the left wall. Using it allows you to see the Ferryman from the Underground Caverns.

Alucard can sit in one of the chairs. Leaving him there for a few minutes will cause him to fall asleep. Aditionally, in the Japanese version, the fairy familiar will sing him a lullaby (she can sing in any chair, in fact.)

Now, what is the purpose of this area, you ask? None. There are no items, weapons, enemies, or anything of use to the player (except for map completion). The devs just created this room to add more life and personality to the game. And this is just one example!

As much as I love this game, though, I do admit that it isn't as perfect as most people make it. It does have its flaws: the game has very bad balancing issues, and the difficulty curve is essentially non-existent.

I never liked the Inverted Castle. Not because it's just the normal castle turned 180º, but because it doesn't feel like it was coherently designed, instead just quickly put together so they could ship the game claiming it to have double the original content (Galamoth was a great addition, though. I might make a post someday on why I love this boss so damn much).

Overall, this game means a lot to me. It pretty much set up my standards and taste with video games, and it made me understand why I enjoy playing them so much. It's a great game that I recommend to pretty much everyone! It's fun and really easy to pick up, taking only about 12-18 hours to beat for the first time, at max.

Also, can we just appreciate Ayami Kojima's wonderful cover art for the game?

And now, for my second most favorite game:

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

My first (and only so far) FromSoft game, and boy did I fall in love with this game.

Well, to begin it, Sekiro has one of the best combat systems I have ever had the honor to experience. It's based primarely on player reaction, testing their ability to counter, parry, and dodge the various attacks thrown at them. Equipped with only one sword (and a few very useful prosthetic appendages), our protagonist Wolf must defeat all sorts of opponents, from respected warriors, shinobis with no honor, animals (yes I did die to a rooster. Twice), the undead, demons, and much more, all so can rescue and avenge his master.

Using your trusted katana, you have the ability to deflect enemy strikes based on your input timing, dropping their guard and allowing for attacks of your own. When fighting enemies in this game, you are not aiming for their health. Instead, you aim for their posture. As you deflect attacks with perfect timing, your enemy will slowy begin to lose posture, and once said posture breaks, you can go for a finisher attack that instantly depletes their whole health bar. It's hella satisfying to pull off. Deflecting attacks poorly can lead to your own posture breaking, though, so paying attention is essential.

There are other aspects to the game's combat, such as Perilous Attacks, which cannot be deflected. To deal with them, you must either dodge, jump, or counter, adding even more danger to a fight and demanding focus from the player. Your prosthetic can also hold a few unique abilities, such as the Firecracker, which helps stunning certain opponents. Wise usage of these Prosthetic Tools will greatly help you on the harder fights.

Oh, and there's a catch: Wolf is no mere shinobi. He was blessed (or rather cursed?) with the power of the Divine Heritage, granting him immortality and the ability to revive from the dead for all of eternity. Gameplay-wise, this means that whenever you die, you'll receive one (or two, sometimes three) chance to revive on the spot at half health, allowing you to properly finish off your opponent. But don't think this makes the game easy! Reviving in the face of a tough boss never means an immediate victory, trust me.

Unlike Dark Souls, which rewards a more defensive playstyle, in Sekiro, the player must be aggressive and constantly take risks to overtake their opponents. Dodging everything and staying away will only drag on the fight and allow the enemy to regain their posture. As a certain character would say, "Hesitation is defeat".

But the amazing combat isn't this game's only strength. Another aspect that I love is how beautiful the game looks. Everything from the lighting, the colors, the gorgeous views, and the very well designed areas come together really nicely, and exploring this rather linear game is an absolute delight.

The battles look graceful, and not just because of the combat system. The special effects look amazing, and add great beauty and danger to every strike. The Divine Dragon's bossfight is the most gorgeous part of the game. It's so cinematic and breath-taking that despite being one of From's easiest bosses, it's easily one of the most memorable ones.

The instrumental soundtrack is really nice, complementing each moment of the game pretty well. The Divine Dragon battle above has one of my tracks in the game.

And as expected, the game is tough as nails (I died like, 50 times at the first mini-boss. The Ogre has no fucking chill). One of the hardest FromSoft games, according to fans. This game demands a lot of the player's attention, skill, and mostly importantly: their knowledge of the game and how everything works. Your first few hours will be very difficult, as you slowly get an grasp on the game. But once you beat Lady Butterfly or Genichiro (two of the game's most important skill checks), everything just clicks and the rest of the game becomes a lot more doable.

Overall, this game was an blast to play, but it may not be for everyone. I recommend it for anyone who likes FromSoft's other titles, as well as for those who enjoy a good challenge. If you want to get into more difficult games, this game is not too bad of a choice, since it's extremely balanced and very skill-based, completely free of bullshit.

Oh well, time for my last but not least favorite!:

Devil May Cry 5

This shouldn't come off as a huge surprise xD

I might have only gotten into this game earlier this year, but the 160 hours I currently have on it speaks more than enough. I LOVE this game and don't plan on dropping it anytime soon!

It's rare for me to hyperfixate on one specific game and play it for hours and hours without tiring like this, and DMC5 is currently my second worst case of this xD (the first one being Castlevania of course, in which I have 100%'d like 4 games :P).

DMC's combat system is simply too much fun. You have lots of moves at your disposal, and using them creatively and with as much style as possible adds so much depth to the game that beating the heck out of demons never stops being fun and rewarding.

It's also very skill-based, adding another layer of satisfaction to everything. Building up the skill to perform a new combo, finally managing to use Royal Guard with consistency, defeating that one difficult enemy/boss with an SSS rank, or just beating the higher difficulties is absolutely worth it. And even if you don't have much skill with the game, nothing is ever stopping you from bullying enemies in your favorite ways.

The dynamic soundtrack fits the combat really well and gives you the right ammount of adrenaline and motivation to slash through hordes and hordes of enemies. Also thank you Capcom for adding the Jukebox. I can finally listen to Devils Never Cry during an actual battle (and not just the DMC3 credits one!)

The characters are another great strength for me. The DMC Crew is so unique and fun to watch, and the Spardas in particular have a lot of depth to them, keeping the mind of fans very busy thinking about them xD.

So yeah, this game is way too fun for my own good, aparently. Never saw such a powerful brainrot coming. Absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone who likes some good video-gamey time!

And now, time to cast the spotlight to a few games that I love, but not enough to consider them my top 3 favorites:

Honorable Mentions

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Dawn of Sorrow

My second favorite CV games. Aria of Sorrow picked everything that was good about SOTN and polished it to perfection, creating one of the best metroidvanias out there. Dawn of Sorrow may not be as good, but it has a very special place in my heart.

Final Fantasy IX

One of my favorite JRPGs ever. This game is so charming, but under it's seemingly light appearance is a great story about the meaning of life, and about coming in terms with your own mortality. The battle system is fun and the music is as good as ever. The characters are wonderful and I cherish them to this day.

Final Fantasy X

One of the best games I have ever played. Of all the (4) Final Fantasy games that I've played so far, this one has the best battle system and some of the best enemy/boss design in the series. Alongside the gameplay, the story is the game's second biggest strength, and it has a very high chance to make you cry. The soundtrack is one of Nobue Uematsu's best works for this franchise, making you feel all sorts of emotions. Can't recommend this game enough.

The Legend of the Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This is the only Zelda game that I've ever played (please don't kill me), but boy is it a good one. The land of Hyrule is vast and very fun to explore. The game has such a relaxing vibe: sometimes I would just ride my horse, let it follow a road automatically, and just chill to the music watching the beautiful landscape. I put 170 hours in this game and didn't even realize it until I beat Ganon xD

Devil May Cry 3

Second favorite DMC game! This game is surprisingly polished for its time, and it barely feels dated at all! I personally prefer DMC3's DMD mode over 5's, as I find it more fleshed out, but it sure is a LOT harder.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

My first Metal Gear game. It may be short and relatively simple in terms of combat depth, but it's a lot of fun, the soundtrack is a BANGER, and the cutscenes are a joy to watch. The memes just never end, do they?

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Quite possibly Kojima's craziest game to date, but also one of the most fun ones! Not as good as MGS3, but there's something about the old-school MGS gameplay that I absolutely adore. Also the dialogue and plot are so batshit insane that you end up enjoying it despite not understanding a single thing xD

Castlevania: Bloodlines

Most underrated CV game ever, and my favorite old-fashioned Castlevania game. It stands up to SCIV, its SNES counterpart, really well. In fact, I personally enjoyed this game's gameplay and level design more than the latter.

(just three more games I promise)

Pokémon: Black and White (and their sequels)

These games are the most fun i've ever had with Pokémon. They're really good. They've got the best plot of any Pokémon game, and the first BW games actually made me question the morality of keeping these creatures and leading them into battles.

The Great Ace Attorney

My favorite Ace Attorney game. Great story with lovely characters. The cases were a lot of fun, and I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes nerd, so it's only natural that this game appealed to me, I guess xD. I still have to play the sequel, tho.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

This game might be technically unfinished, but it has some of the best gameplay in the series. The filler side-missions get repetitive but they're oddly fun to finish. It's my second most played MG game, right behind MGRR.

[lulu2992]

I want to explain why I said The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was “the most rewarding gaming experience I’ve had in my life” because I’ve been meaning to put that into words for years but could never properly organize my thoughts. Let me try again.

So, Breath of the Wild was always called The Legend of Zelda, and it was always good, but for a while, it didn’t feel as great as I expected it to be, or even like a “true” Zelda game. It was only after I completed all the Shrines and received the “Gift from the Monks” (I won’t spoil what is) that everything changed. Suddenly, it all felt right. It all made sense.

Most Shrines are optional, so you can reach the ending without completing all of them, but if you do that, you may miss what I think is the real experience the game has to offer. The name Breath of the Wild might seem vague compared to other, more concrete ones such as Ocarina of Time (a crucial item) or Twilight Princess (a crucial character), but when you think about it, it’s not. The most important thing in Breath of the Wild, in my opinion, isn’t an object, a person, or even the scenario; it’s the world and how you, the player, interact with it.

The game is about you playing, exploring, and investing time in it so you can reveal its true potential, and I think the story reflects this too: although they were born for greatness, Link and the Princess could only fulfill their destiny through love and hard work. Even if your name is Zelda and people expect you to be inherently amazing, becoming what you’re supposed to be still requires patience and dedication. In the end, it’s only if you really play Breath of the Wild, if you put effort into it, that it can become the great “Zelda” it was destined to be.

The “Gift from the Monks” is simple, and it’s something that we, players, tended to take for granted because it was “normal” to have it. This time, however, I didn’t just obtain it because Link is Link (and it’s interesting that you can’t change his name, for once); I got it because I earned and deserved it, and that also fully restored its meaning. The game told me that, because of my commitment and perseverance, I was “the true hero”.

This might sound stupid, but I had never felt more recognized and gratified as a player than in that moment, and even though it’s been years, talking about this still moves me.

Again, Happy Anniversary, Breath of the Wild. And thank you.

[anarchopuppy]

After all these years, the Zelda series has reached its full potential

[summertimemusician]

Sleep Deprived Linked Universe Au concept that I think could be neat, everything is the same but the Chain or a Chain Member (Wild, Sky or otherwise) is like the Sky Children/Moths in Sky Children of the Light. Or where we drop one of the children of light or a moth with the Chain as a substitute for therapy which I really think they could use.

Or secondary Sleep Deprived LoZ/LU Au concept: everything is the same, but either one of the Chain members is like the Vessels in HK, or we straight up drop the Pure Vessel in BOTW when Link/Wild emerges from his 100 year power nap (goodness I wish that were me) after having his brain scrambled like an omelette and they and Link unwittingly imprint on each other and adopt one another as found family, which helps them deal with their respective traumas, bonus points if Wolfie/Twilight/TP Link is also there and unwittingly part of the found family, and if it bleeds over into LU the Chain has to suddenly cope with the fact this eldritch bug being from another world entirely meant to be a vessel for a maddened deity basically adopted one o their own as a sibling. Could also somehow throw Ghost or Hornet in there later on.

I will not elaborate further.

[skyplayssplatoon3]

Man idk what it is about 3 specifically that makes me feel like not only I -lost- skill in the game but that I'm just generally having less fun overall save for Splatfests and things 😔

I just can't keep up like I used to, Splatoon 2 is where I peaked and since then it feels like I'll never get back up to where I was

I'm really resonating with the folks who are bailing out some days

(Don't worry, I 100% plan on taking a good break away from it, I know my limits, it's just a little sad)

[clownowo]

Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom or as i like to call it: Repeatedly-Falling-To-Your-Death-Because-You-Forgot-You-Don't-Have-A-Paraglider-Yet Simulator

[phoenixcatch7]

Brooooo I'm having so much fun doing fic research why did I ever stop (<- falls ill on a clockwork schedule).

Swear even though I hate using detailed plans I almost have a better time making them than I do the actual fic lmao.

Anyway for that time travel fic I'm going to write now I finished totk I'm trying to get a better idea of the pre calamity hyrule, which is so fun because it's entirely fictional, right? But one can INFER. One can IMPLY.

One can watch all the botw memories again and realise how dirty they did my boy link with his animations boy has the expression of a doormat. Like I'm squinting and I have no idea what he's supposed to be projecting. He seems like such a passive observer in his own memories :(.

But also the excuse to run around hyrule poking through broken down cabins and jumping off walls is great XD. I've always loved archaeology and this gives me the perfect outlet!

Like, did you know there was a big cathedral in the east side of castle town? Now there's not so much as a wall, there's no signifier at all, but that's what it's labelled as! I believe it faced south, so you would pass by it on your way out the east gate. Kind of crazy that's the original temple of time. Never seen it mentioned anywhere. It's potentially in the right place for oot, relative to the castle? I'd have to check.

Presumably it's where most ceremonies took place rather than the plateau - weddings, funerals and the like. (Coronations were almost certainly at the plateau.) Maybe it was part of a religious district? It's probably where Zelda prayed every day or every Sunday at least. Somewhere nice and public so people can see the princess being pious and filial and hard working etc etc. Poor girl.

On the opposite side, just outside the gates, is the prison, which has its own island in the moat and a little dock to fast track of the dungeons. I can imagine a lot of shiekah worked there, and it's interestingly (slightly worryingly) just across the moat from the ancient tech lab! That thing was a whole complex, it's ginormous! And razed to the foundation in a way you don't really get outside of castle town :/.

Anyway what's the point of having a whole moat if you don't even finish it off with a drawbridge?!? Seal the deal!

I'm going to have to get back to botw if I want to examine the castle proper though, totk has kinda done a number on it. Not sure how we're going to get it back down.

[baenyth]

Me: I need to stay up until night to reset my sleep schedule, so how do I keep myself awake?

The concept of making my own Zelda series with a more grounded and reasonable plot, canon, and especially geography:

[mishkakagehishka]

wait nono you're so right abt the charm of older games. i actually find myself disliking many games that are realistic for what... just the sake of looking realistic? like i like a realistic-cartoony vibe (smth like more modern zelda games, where there's realism but it's still stylized) but hell i am such a sucker for like, p2-era graphics. pixel art games<3 just stylized art in general ! augh.

realism just makes games all look same-y and makes them so unnecessarily large... gimmie the silly clunky polygons of older zelda titles or persona 3 or the older smt games...

anyway i feel like i had a point here but i lost it. tl;dr photorealism dumb gimmie fun stylized graphics

No but right that's my issue with it. Video games and animation - i like when it's stylised and not photorealistic. The technological marvels of "you can see every individual pore on this character" is great and all, but~ it loses uniqueness (and charm through that).

Another problem, and maybe this is just the RE engine i have an issue with, is that it can also often seem uncanny. I played Devil May Cry 5 and I watched playthroughs of the Resident Evil remakes, and ... they have their Moments where i think it just looks a bit off.

Zelda is stylised, so no matter what happens, nothing looks off. Final fantasy is stylised so even when the hair physics are off, you don't really notice it (hair physics are what throw me off the most with the RE engine). But when a style tries to look photorealistic, especially when it's animated and moving, the most minor flaws can just make it look too off, uncanny even.

Besides, graphics are like the last on the priority list for me. They just end up slowing down your console, but don't really add much to the story or gameplay, do they?