Game of the Year 2011

The time has come for everyone to take all the experience of the last twelve months, bundle them up and file them away. While doing so, consider the videogames you have played this year. For most Americans it was probably something on Facebook or maybe angry birds. Limit that group to console gamers and it was most likely a shooter (call of duty, battlefield), skyrim or batman. While my pick isn't completely out of left field, it may be considered somewhat electic since I am a hardcore gamer.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

It may be necessary to preface this statement by saying that I have yet to play Batman: Arkham City, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (all of which may be contenders on people’s GoTY lists) though I am confident my opinion will remain unchanged when I finally get around to playing them. I hope that talking about a Wii game doesn’t put most people off the subject. I know many people ‘hate’ the Wii and would be reluctant to check out any game on it for a variety of personal prejudices. The same could be true of the Zelda series, many people feel that it is the same game so why give it the time of day. For the latest entry, this is definitely not the case.

Nintendo has truly outdone themselves this time. I have played the main entries in the Zelda franchise and honestly believe that Skyward Sword outdoes all of them. To give you a little background I would say that Twilight Princess was disappointing at best and I really enjoyed Wind Waker. Skyward Sword manages to forge a bond between the two taking the style driven vision of WW and combining it with the modern sensibilities of TP. One huge boon in its favor is that SS has fantastic controls. The game requires the motion plus attachment, but offers a previously unheard of level of enjoyment for the commitment of a new peripheral. All the promises that were made when the Wii was first released control-wise have finally come to fruition in this game. The sword combat feels great; if you waggle and flail your arms like you were playing TP for the Wii, Link will respond likewise. This means you have to make deliberate motions that feel much more natural and accurate to the action on screen. I never really believed this would be fun after playing several years of Wii motion titles, but it is. If the control design wasn’t enough, Nintendo up the ante of the game content itself.

Not only will hardcore fans see subtle nods to their previous entries but the game contains elements that keep it relevant with many of today’s more traditional RPGs. Random loot drops, being able to make decisions to affect side quests, forging equipment, complex yet intuitive inventory management round out several of the changes that are new to the franchise. These come with a new round of dungeons, over-world and transversal methods which always remind us why the franchise is still amazingly fun. It is really amazing to see how Nintendo took all the successful elements of a dozen previous titles and combined them in snippets here. Without spoiling anything, I will say it has been fun to see how they adapted things from other successful games (even non-Nintendo titles GASP) into this one. Give it a shot, alright?

On a side note, why are there so many female Link cosplayers? Maybe this should be explored in the next Zelda game.

Old New Stylo - Gorillaz

Zelda II: Link's Adventure (into Mario territory)

Until the end of civilization, Nintendo is releasing a new Zelda game. Luckily this time it will be a proper sequel on a platform that has had almost every previous Zelda game ported to it, yet hasn't hosted a true sequel (Twilight Princess doesn't count). Many people will probably feel indifferent to another Zelda title, but having been a fan from that one time in the past, I can't resist the temptation to see what Nintendo has cooked up.

As a lead-in to the new game, I have been revisiting geriatric Zeldas to catch up with my favorite adventurer and try to psych myself up for the next installment. I played through Majora's Mask (on the N64 of course, no emulation!), then I played a bit of the original NES Legend of Zelda. After a few dungeons I decided to switch to Twilight Princess (Wii Version). I never actually beat the game. After almost a dozen hours on the Wii, I decided to revisit what I remember as the most difficult Zelda game I had ever played: Zelda II: Link's Adventure. I don't think I even know anyone who has actually beat the game so I figured I should be the one to put ol' yeller down.

This title is a little different. First of all it isn't "The Legend of Zelda", it's Zelda 2. Though you always play as Link, this is the first one which is specifically designated as an adventure involving Link (F*CK THAT 'HERO OF TIME' BULL). The premise behind Zelda 2 is the same, but the execution is vastly different. First of all, you need skillz to play it. Most of the other Zelda games are a nice conversation followed by session of hand holding. Also the game doesn't have any money. What??? No rupees???

How about a little back story? In Zelda 2 you play Picklesniffer the elf (Link for short). Link's girlfriend is suffering from a constant migraine and won't get out of bed until Link leaves their apartment. It is Link's job to go pay the bills and return to his girlfriend with her dry cleaning.

So in reality, Link was feeling self conscious because Mario, Nintendo's other man, was more popular. To combat this, Link went through an 'exploritory phase' where he tried emulating Mario in several ways. First there was the red clothing trading in his typical green duds for 'stronger' red clothing. Next, Link gains the ability to jump much higher than the average Joe, much like Mario. All in all Link gains most of Mario's signature traits: jumping on enemies' heads to do damage, busting blocks, red clothes, super jumping, shooting fireballs, etc.

Needless to say this is a grueling experience and I believed I wouldn't be able to complete the game... several times. In the end I persevered and was able to win after around 30 attempts. The game tracks your deaths so it is easy to gauge what kind of failure you are. All in all your girlfriend wakes up and no one cares that you beat the toughest entry in the Zelda Franchise. I still can't wait to check out Skyward Sword.

Welcome Back

Ironic, but I am actually welcoming myself back to my blog. Anyway... I will try to post regularly... blog. Like Don Draper I love beginnings, but it is tough to follow through. Recently I have taken to painting Warhammer 40K minitures and repainting some of my heroclix. Here's a picture of what I am talking about:

These are the first two I have finished and I am working on a BloodCrusher!!! which I hope to post up soon.

Gorillaz

My favorite band, Gorillaz, will be coming to town next week and I got tickets! I am really psyched to see this show. Here is a sample of what I have in store...

StarCraft II - Wings of Liberty

Even though I was a fan of StarCraft, I decided not to purchase SCII. After all Blizzard was trying to screw me out of my easy-earned dollars by chopping the sequel up into 3 parts and selling each at full retail value.

I told myself (and those around me) this for months leading up to it's release. The game came out and I managed to avoid looking it directly in the eyes. Blizzard is a devious lot mind you. They knew that there might be some resistance, so they formulated a counter strategy. Each copy comes with several 'trial' codes. I was given one and since I could justify playing it if it was free, I installed.

You got me Blizzard! A short 7 hours later I was down at my local software flea market shoving my entire wallet into the gullet of an unfortunate clerk who happened to be standing between myself and a small pyramid constructed out of copies of StarCraft.

In short this game is amazing.

In the game you get to play an alien race known as the Zerg. The Zerg are awesome because they are just as technologically advanced as anything in the universe, yet they construct everything out of living tissue. So the core concept is to bang your way up to a small army (you have to breed basically to spawn new units) and then send those things over there to die. Sweet.

I have been told you can play as some other races, but who cares. Also there may be a single player campaign, but once again who cares. The Zerg are where it is at and if you don't believe that, come get your face ripped off on Battle.net, the online system used by the game.

Battle net works alright. I say alright because I had to link up a facebook account to find my friends playing the game... sigh... Anyway it has all the basic features including achievements, leader boards, party system, match making and chat.

The game itself features robust graphics and a decent interface. Also the graphics scale well, so your 5 year old computer will still probably be able to play it fairly well. If you have played any real time strategy games in the last decade, you know what to expect, and it is basically the first game with a shiny new coat (which isn't necessarily bad considering the amount of polish Blizzard puts into their games).

See if you can root out one of those trial codes and give the game a shot, even if you don't like RTS games. You might just find that you have Korean tendencies.

Space Jesus is badass

Can you imagine this guy next time you are at a low and praying for some divine guidance? I am pretty sure Space Jesus on a white stallion will be able to give you guidance and could possibly serve as the best wing man ever!!!