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Post by Moulinoski on Feb 10, 2023 11:56:09 GMT -5
The thing I've observed with Zelda is that it will often get great reviews, but there's always a chorus that grows that says, "well, ackshually the previous game wasn't very good". I think there's a sort of contrarian reaction to games that are overwhelmingly popular, and I won't even lie and say I've not been subject to it. Heck, I just experienced it with Dark Souls. The constant drumbeat of that community bordered on irritating, but it's a legit great game. (I just wish they'd stop insisting everything needs to be like Dark Souls, including Zelda.) I think I'm just wired to enjoy all of Zelda more than most. Honestly, the only one that comes to mind that I truly didn't care for was Majora's Mask. And even that one, I understand the appeal. I absolutely remember how much Wind Waker got shredded by gamers at the time. And it probably didn't help that it fed into Nintendo's "kiddy" image. Twilight Princess almost felt like an apology for that. Yeah, I really don’t want Zelda to become like Dark Souls. Both have their own unique set of controls and themes that set them apart. It’s like how people describe any action adventure / action RPG as being a Zelda clone despite being more dissimilar than similar (and this goes for Dark Souls- it is NOT a Zelda clone; perhaps an evolution of the Metroidvania genre at best). I remember how Windwaker got shredded to pieces at launch. I was one of the few people who thought it looked amazing but I’ve always liked animation so I guess that’s why it appealed to me. Honestly, I felt like I was often the only one who liked the new Zeldas at launch. I guess I wasn’t reading or watching the right reviews at the time, though. Or maybe I’m over exaggerating the effect of the memes. Oh, I remember Twilight Princess being criticized for being too brown! I think people were actually excited for Skyward Sword before launch, though? But then people realized how linear it is (except it’s not 100% linear) and decided that linear = bad. I think people have fond memories of the parts when Zelda games open up and only remember that whenever they start a new Zelda. Each game since Ocarina of Time has had a longer and longer intro with some exceptions (primarily on the 2D side which tended to jump into the action sooner).
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Post by Ex on Feb 13, 2023 10:46:56 GMT -5
Well Kazin may indeed be looking forward to this: www.gematsu.com/2023/02/pikmin-4-launches-july-21- My experience with Pikmin is limited to the GameCube original. I played it briefly years ago. It seemed intriguing, but I wasn't a fan of the "you only have X amount of days to beat the game" angle. Still, looking through my library, it turns out I do own the first three games. I've got Pikmin on GC, Pikmin 2 on Wii, and Pikmin 3 on Wii U. Those may not be the best way to play the games now that the Switch versions exist, I dunno.
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Post by Kazin on Feb 13, 2023 11:02:56 GMT -5
Ex Pikmin 3 probably plays well on Wii U, I used the map a lot and on Switch that takes up the whole screen, where presumably on Wii U it's just on your gamepad all the time (dunno, haven't played it there). I think there's some DLC you have to buy separately on Wii U when it all comes with the game on Switch, but it's mission mode/timed stuff that I'm a little meh on tbh anyway. Pikmin is pretty generous with time, imo - you get the "normal" ending if you don't beat the final boss, who is pretty tough, but getting to him only took me 24 days on my initial playthrough. I ended up finishing at 27 because the final level took me a while to figure out how to get through and then beat the thing (I really could have beat it on 26 days, but I wanted the whole day to fight the final boss so once I got to his room I ended the day). Pikmin 2 might be a better place to start, only because you're not timed in that game - though I wouldn't say to go for 100%, because MAN does that game get difficult in the postgame - easily the most difficult game in the series. Pikmin 3 nominally has a time limit, but it's so easy to absolutely balloon how much time left you have so long as you're not playing EXTREMELY poorly, so I wouldn't worry about time too much in that game. And yeah... I'm looking forward to Pikmin 4, as you could imagine lol -- I started a new game in Pikmin 1 last night to see if all the experience I had playing the later games (mostly Pikmin 2, sheesh) translated to better play in the first game. Turns out it does! I'm on the penultimate level with 9 pieces total to go on day 12 of 30. Unless I massively screw up the this level (which is possible, there's a lot going on in it), I should beat the game by day 16 or so, I'd think, depending on that freaking final boss. I can't remember if the first game tells you how long in terms of hours it took you to play at the ending stats screen, but I hope it does, because I think I'll have beaten the game in three or four hours?
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Post by Ex on Feb 13, 2023 11:28:29 GMT -5
Kazin - Thanks for the breakdown and info. I know who to come to for protips whenever I get around to Pikmin on GC again. I will say this is a very unique series if nothing else. I like the miniature world aesthetic.
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Post by Kazin on Feb 13, 2023 11:55:23 GMT -5
Kazin - Thanks for the breakdown and info. I know who to come to for protips whenever I get around to Pikmin on GC again. Absolutely wild sentence for me to read, because prior to February 4th, 2023, I had little to no experience with the series lol. But yeah, I love it now! Yeah, the aesthetic has always intrigued me - I love tiny world stuff, I was a big Chibi-Robo fan on Gamecube too (and I really enjoyed the DS one, as well, though it's not quite as good as Gamecube, though it's been a long time so I can't exactly remember why lol). Something about the cave level always turned me off, though - it's a bit of a sharp difficulty jump after the first two areas, and that's where I'd usually quit in frustration back in the day, worried I'd run out of time. The approach I took last week (lol) was just to try my best to get two ship pieces per day, to give me a time buffer in case I needed it later on. I was able to do so a few times, so I ended up beating the game. If you ever do give it a shot, I hope you like it!
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Post by Ex on Feb 13, 2023 12:11:37 GMT -5
I was a big Chibi-Robo fan on Gamecube too (and I really enjoyed the DS one, as well Just in case you didn't know, there's actually two Chibi-Robo games on DS. One of them we didn't get officially, Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! Happy Richie Oosouji, but a full English translation released for it: www.romhacking.net/translations/2626/There's also a Chibi-Robo! release on 3DS:
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Post by Kazin on Feb 13, 2023 12:48:11 GMT -5
Yeah, I have the fantranslation of the third loaded on my DS but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'd heard Zip Lash was bad, too, so I haven't played that, either.
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Post by Ex on Feb 13, 2023 12:57:31 GMT -5
I think Zip Lash's negativity was more based on it became a platformer, rather than being another simulation, as the series traditionally is. I can see how fans of the series didn't appreciate that, but I bought a copy because I like platformers. I've not played it yet, though.
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Post by Kazin on Feb 13, 2023 13:02:54 GMT -5
Oh. Huh. Maybe I should give it a shot - Pikmin worked surprisingly well as a (puzzle) platformer, even if I vastly prefer the mainline games lol
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Post by Ex on Feb 13, 2023 13:10:32 GMT -5
Pikmin worked surprisingly well as a (puzzle) platformer, even if I vastly prefer the mainline games lol Are you talking about Tinykin?
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