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Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

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Jackpaza0508

Early impressions of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PS5 Edition)
This game is incredible! You have loads of options for tricks and create a skater, you can make your own bloody parks and you can play as a skeleton! The hangar is also a really nice tribute to the original Tony Hawk devs neversoft! Easy 10/10 right out of the gate. I do hate the 2 minute time limit though.

P.S: I also have It Takes Two but have yet to play it!

He/Him

RogerRoger

@Ralizah Looking forward to your thoughts on Raging Loop, as its place in the timeline suggests it might've been the catalyst for the recent trend.

Oh, and may you continue to trigger many a vehicle identity parade!

***

@mookysam Brilliant. Simply brilliant. You've exceeded your own lofty standards with this piece, which was an absolute joy to read. I hope you're darn proud of it, because you should be!

This game falls squarely within the era where I completely lost track of the Zelda series. Any gamer has vague awareness of its success, and will understand broad references to its characters and content, but perhaps the controversy surrounding Skyward Sword kept it off my radar. I'll be playing the forthcoming remaster, for sure, and your review has (as the saying goes) generated the appropriate levels of hype. Even its linearity appeals more to me than yet another sandbox, and being able to sidestep the brave-but-awkward motion controls will increase its accessibility. There's no way I'd entertain the idea of playing the whole thing if it still demanded a wand and nunchuck input, even with the context of such a fair assessment.

Fi sounds like a nightmare, though. I'll be sure to brace myself for her particular brand of "help" and skip through anything she says, wherever possible. I'm also grateful for the mention of spiders. Knowing that they're gonna appear ahead of time is a huge help.

Sometimes it's tough to write convincingly about something you love, without coming across as overly biased or gushing, but I'd say that you've hit the balance just right here. Your passion in defence of this underdog is both palpable and infectious. Reminds me of how I feel about some of Sonic's adventures, feelings I often struggle to articulate, so I sympathise. Fantastic stuff, buddy!

***

@Jackpaza0508 Wow, a perfect score so early on? Here's hoping the game doesn't do anything to knock a few points off, and that you continue to enjoy it so much!

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

mookysam

Thank you @Ralizah. The dungeons really are sublime and overworld design is clever and thoughtful. I never really minded the vast, empty expanses of Twilight Princess, but it's nice that they so purposefully went in a different direction. It shakes the franchise up in lots of ways, which is interesting considering it's thought of as having the most rigid "Zelda formula" of the lot. For me, linearity isn't the problem, rather the pacing and repetition at certain points of the game. Personally I like linear structure, and much of the game is excellent, but it speaks volumes that Nintendo went with the polar opposite in Breath of the Wild. Nintendo are often thought of as beating to the sound of their own drum, but they can and do take on board feedback and criticism. Every home console Zelda game following The Wind Waker has taken on board player and critical reception in some way. At the same time, it's interesting just how much was carried forward or expanded in Breath of the Wild.

I'm actually not sure what they were thinking with Link's design! Maybe he went to the same clinic as Ilia from Twilight Princess. It's sure to be even more pronounced in crystal clear HD! And yeah, Twilight Princess' inbred mountain people were straight out of Deliverance. I'm sure some savvy video editor could make a "horror" trailer for that game!

It's a genuine shame that Zelda reverts to being a damsel. It's not quite as insulting to the character as Ocarina's Zelda, or as genuinely infuriating as Wind Waker. In that game not only did she go from being completely badass to meek and powerless, but they whitened her skin. The interactions between Skyward Sword's Link and Zelda are lovely though. It's very clear that they're in love and they game does a really nice job conveying their feelings for one another.

And yeah, if you already own the game on the Wii U and are happy to play it there, I'm not sure I could recommend paying $60 for the remaster. Interestingly, the gorgeous "impressionist painting" effect I talked about seems to be absent from the Switch version (at least based on the trailers), which is a shame given it was a big part of the game's visual identity.


@RogerRoger Aww, thank you, I really appreciate that. I know you and Zelda don't exactly get on, but I hope there's enough there for you to enjoy when you come to play it. It definitely lacks the getting lost factor and completely random puzzles of Link's Awakening! The game's reputation is perhaps a little unfair, as most people simply can't have played it (I believe it sold around 3 million copies, less than half what Twilight Princess managed). The upcoming Switch remaster provides the opportunity for a much deserved reappraisal, although given just how linear it is compared to Breath of the Wild, it will be interesting to see how it's received.

Fi is irritating. 😂 It's hard to say if she was conceived for the benefit of the "non-gamer", or if the idea of being an AI construct designed to aid the hero was simply taken a little too far. It's hard to give personality to something that logically can't have one, so she rubs a lot of people up the wrong way. Especially off the back of Midna, or even the snippy fairy Tatl from Majora's Mask. Some of the time she'll randomly bark things, while others if she has something to say an icon beeps and flashes on the screen until you hear the (likely unhelpful) information she has to share. And yeah, a couple of the dungeons are full of gargantuan spiders. They're not as scary as the ones in Twilight Princess though!

I do love the game and wanted to get that across, but also wanted to give a full and fair appraisal. I don't think I'd have done it justice otherwise; it's not perfect and its flaws are there. Some are even things that annoy me! I could have easily written several thousand more words going into almost forensic detail, but am pretty happy with the aspects I covered.

Edited on by mookysam

Black Lives Matter
Trans rights are human rights

nessisonett

@Jackpaza0508 Tony Hawk’s incredible but the PS5 version really doesn’t add much compared to the PS4 version. Although I do think split screen is in 60FPS this time.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

RogerRoger

@mookysam Well, my feelings towards the series are a result of apathy more than anything. I've had mixed feelings towards most Zelda games I've played, but I've been coming to them very late, and I haven't played them all. I still appreciate their charms, and so I'm excited to try another one!

It's funny you mention that the game had superb localisation, because Fi otherwise sounds like a classic case of something being lost in translation. Or maybe it really is just a case of trying to ensure that a drunken sealion could make it through the prologue. Ah, good to know I can simply tune out a beeping prompt, thanks. There was a similar mechanic in one of the old PSone Bond games, whereby MI6 would pester you with hints every ten paces, so it's a skill I've nurtured over the years.

I'm glad you're happy with it, because you should be. You've done the game justice!

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

mookysam

@RogerRoger It's rumoured that there'll be a Wind Waker port later this year. I actually think you might enjoy that one. The overworld is replaced with a giant sea to sail and explore, and the cel-shading is superb.

It's funny you mention that the game had superb localisation, because Fi otherwise sounds like a classic case of something being lost in translation.

Hmm, yes and no. Nintendo Treehouse's recent Zelda translations have tended to be much more poetic and lyrical than their Japanese counterparts, and this is very noticeable with Skyward Sword's villains. Otherwise, there will always be small changes here and there compared to the Japanese, particularly cultural references that wouldn't make any sense to a native English speaker. Although in some regards Fi is slightly more robotic in her English delivery (she has a habit of referencing something followed by a colon and explanation), she's otherwise pretty faithfully localised. In the Japanese original she interestingly refers to herself in the third person, which is something she doesn't do in English.

Edited on by mookysam

Black Lives Matter
Trans rights are human rights

Jackpaza0508

So I thought I'd talk about my top 4 favourite games of all time!

4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
There is so much I could say about this game that I just can't squish into a small sentence but in short, the world is massive and fun to explore, the combat is fun and easy to master and the side quests are really fun!

3. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered
I had never played this game before I got miles morales ultimate edition and let me say that this is my favourite piece of marvel media there is! The writing is sharp and witty, the combat is fun and zippy, the world is really dense but packed with content and the main quest is the perfect length! I need to write a review for this one just so I can talk about everything in this game.

2. Super Mario Galaxy
This is another game that I only played recently through a rerelease (3D all stars to be exact) and I was not expecting to adore this game as much as I do! The platforming is fun, the different gravity makes it feel different from any other mario game and the music is the best in any game in the series! However, there is another mario game that I love even more.

1. Super Mario Odyssey
Another game that I wasn't expecting to love as much as I do! The platforming is incredible, the music is fantastic, the capture mechanic is really creative (Being a goomba is so cool to me), you're actually rewarded for thinking outside the box and doing things a different way then what was intended and every world is beautiful! This game deserves to be my favourite of all time!

He/Him

Ralizah

@mookysam Nintendo responds to feedback... over time, invisibly, and often by going to extremes. BotW didn't just address issues with the growing linearity of the series', it annihilated them by making one of the most radically open-ended games ever made, lol.

I'd suggest the Switch itself was also a response to issues people had with the Wii U and 3DS in a number of ways. Especially when it comes to region locking. Also, in terms of how they localize their games. They stamped out controversies related to censorship during localization by making it where any changes that need to be made for a game to release content-complete worldwide are made in development.

Oh yeah, I forgot "Zelda" lost her tan in that game after the big reveal. I don't actually have an issue with her portrayal in Ocarina, though: it was the first game to give her a proactive role in the plot (even if it was as an alter-ego), after all.

In reference to your other discussion: it's a little mind-boggling how Nintendo went from one of the most interesting and fully-realized side characters in series history (Midna) to an obnoxious, personality-less talking statue thing. I get the character badgering you because Nintendo thought its Wii playerbase was full of casual players who are lost without mama Nintendo holding their hand the entire way, but why nuke the personality, too? It seems like a really hard backpeddle. Navi gets a pass since she was SUCH an early side character in the medium, and by the sound of it, even she was far more loveable.

@Jackpaza0508 You definitely don't need to squish down your assessment of BotW into a sentence. Feel free to expand it as much as possible and explore your feelings about the game in explicit detail.

And yes, Galaxy has wonderful music. Some of the best in the medium. I've probably listen to enough of it that I should be forever sick of it, but that particular OST never gets old.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

mookysam

@Ralizah I've grown to absolutely adore Breath of the Wild, but would argue that Nintendo perhaps went a little too far in places. It'll be curious to see where the series goes in the sequel. The open world and its exceptional design, particularly in how it encourages, teases and rewards exploration, is a breath of fresh air. Not just for the series, but for gaming as a whole. Four years on and Ubisoft still haven't taken notes! Other aspects arguably didn't need changing. The wholesale removal of traditional themed dungeons was unnecessary, in my view. It's also a shame that after years of increasingly developing their storytelling, the plot in BotW is a little thin and mostly told through optional flashbacks. I get why it's done that way, but don't think that open-world necessarily needs to equate to thinner plot.

Region locking in the 3DS was one of the most baffling things Nintendo's ever done. I think the DSi was region locked for downloaded games, but otherwise the 3DS was the first Nintendo handheld to be fully region locked. It's great that the Switch isn't. I don't have much of a view on their modern censorship policies, or lack thereof. The Nintendo of the '90s would have censored anything with religious symbolism or shrouded partially-exposed characters in layers of cloth, and we've come a long way from that!

Going from Midna to Fi is certainly jarring. Even computers can have personality; did Nintendo not play Portal? Navi's reputation is also quite funny in a post-Fi world! In the context of the time Ocarina released, it made sense to have a nudge here and there. I remember getting lost before the second dungeon as I didn't know wtf Darunia wanted, so Navi's interruption was actually helpful. It's only on my many repeat playthroughs that I've wanted to rip the fairy's wings off and throw her in a fire!

Edited on by mookysam

Black Lives Matter
Trans rights are human rights

RogerRoger

@mookysam You're right, Wind Waker would definitely interest me. My partner has a plushie of Link from that game (same design as the DS games, right?) so I'd finally get some context!

And boy, RogerRoger is glad that Fi's third-person habits didn't survive the translation process. RogerRoger can't stand folks who speak that way, so RogerRoger would've had a real problem if he was forced to engage with that particular personality quirk throughout the game.

RogerRoger thinks he's made his point. RogerRoger is gonna move swiftly on.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Jackpaza0508

Game: Super Mario 3D world
Played on: Wii U

I wasn't really interested in gaming back in 2013 but I can guess that people were mad when the big new 3D mario on the wii u was a sequel to a 3DS game. That was until the game released and people saw how good of a game this would end up being.

The Plot
Like every other Mario game, this is pretty light in the plot department. Bowser has stolen these little fairies called the Sprixie Princesses. Blah blah blah, rescue them, blah blah blah. Hey, at least Bowser hasn't stolen Peach for the gazillionth time!
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The Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, this is pretty similar to 3D Land on the 3DS, however, there are a few differences. You can play with up to 4 players with a different character assigned to each. There's Mario, the all-rounder, Luigi, the high jumper, Toad, the speed freak and Peach who can float in the air like Mario 2. There is also a brand new power-up that is front and centre on the box art, the super bell. This turns Mario into a furry. This gives Mario and friends a cat suit that allows them to climb up walls and pounce at enemies. There are also boxes you can wear like a light box that can kill Boos and Peepas, a cannon box that shoots cannonballs automatically and a Goomba mask that makes you unnoticed by enemies. All of these power-ups are a fun time but other than the cat suit, don't expect to be using them a lot as they only appear in certain levels.
Untitled
The Music
Oh my giddy aunt, the music is incredible in this game! Every song was recorded live and it is mainly jazz tunes which fits Mario so damn well that it's scary! From Super Bell Hill to Double Cherry Pass, every song absolutely slaps! Please listen to this ost! I'd say it's my favourite game ost next to Astro's Playroom (Yes, it's as good as Astro's playroom so that means you have to listen to it!).
Untitled
The Graphics
I have to say that this game looks pretty normal for a Mario game. That doesn't mean that some of the levels look stunning! Sprawling Savanna with its sunset background, the World-Bowser map with all the colours and lights! Some of these levels are absolute stunners and you need to see them!
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Things I don't like
First, this is a pretty basic 3D Mario game. Every level is very linear except for sprawling savanna which has a segment where you chase bunnies in an open field. This is the only thing I dislike about this game.
Untitled
Conclusion
Overall, this is a game that is totally worth being on your switch/Wii U. The multiplayer is completely chaotic, the graphics are really good, if a bit basic, the cat suit is probably the best Mario power-up (Yeah, I said it) and it's the second best linear Mario (1st place goes to Galaxy).

Pros
-Gorgeous, if a bit basic at points graphics
-Fun Gameplay
-The best power-ups in any Mario game
-Also the best ost in any mario game

Cons
-Gimmicks that are picked up and dropped as faster than nintendo dropped the virtual boy
-Very linear gameplay
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐✩
9/10 Excellent

Edited on by Jackpaza0508

He/Him

RR529

@Ralizah, cool Gnosia review. Doesn't really sound like it's for me, but it does sound creative at least.

@mookysam, fantabulous Skyward Sword review! One of the best I've read on the forum. Looking forward to trying it myself whenever it lands on Switch.

@Jackpaza0508, nice SM3DW review! Those have been starting to pile up, and we now even have a Wii U one, lol!

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

Jackpaza0508

@RR529 I'm gonna review Bowser's Fury on the weekend and I personally think that that game is even better than 3D world!

He/Him

RogerRoger

Jackpaza0508 wrote:

Cons
-Gimmicks that are picked up and dropped as faster than nintendo dropped the virtual boy

@Jackpaza0508 Harsh, but true!

Also, I'd have to agree with your assessment of the Cat Suit. The little meow Mario gives if he completes a level wearing one annoys the heck out of me, but it's a small price to pay for the suit's functionality. I always seek one out where possible.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Ralizah

@Jackpaza0508 Glad to hear you enjoyed SM3DW!

As someone engaged with the Nintendo fan community when this game came out, I can confirm that people were initially extremely annoyed that the new home console 3D Mario looked like an "HD 3DS game." Although that was mainly after the first trailer. The second trailer showed off some of the game's more creative aspects and helped quiet a bit of discontent from the community. But there were still a lot of people who felt quite bitter that it was taking the place of a "proper" sandbox Mario game.

As such, I think, post-Odyssey, people are able to appreciate this title's charms a lot more. Particularly with the snappier Switch version of the game.

And yeah, the cat suit is, indeed, a wonderful power-up, even if I like the tanooki suit slightly more.

Nice screenshots, btw.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

nessisonett

@Ralizah I honestly think that’s why I still haven’t fully warmed to SM3DW even now. The Wii U really really could have done with an Odyssey-type shift. I liked 3D Land on 3DS but it was an early game on that console and in a sense, you don’t really expect huge innovations. 3D World has always felt a little antiquated to me. It’s fun enough and I do like the faster pace on Switch but it still washes over me and fails to really grab me in the way that even 64 with all its many issues does. Then again, I still fail to see why Super Mario Bros 3 is often considered better than Super Mario World so perhaps Mario isn’t a series that I can speak much about.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

Ralizah

@nessisonett 3D World felt like a Switch game before the system even existed. A sequel to a handheld-only game, but bigger and better and with HD visuals? Very much hybrid game design.

As for why SMB3 is better than World? For me:

  • SMB3's overworld is more fun and full of things to do (like that fun little card minigame)
  • Has fun power-ups that aren't trash.
  • Better bosses.
  • Better music.
  • I prefer SMB3's visual design.
  • I prefer SMB3's world themes and level design overall.

I've NEVER understood the love for World. It feels like a downgrade from SMB3 to me. And what's particularly damning is how much more powerful the SNES was than the NES. There was no excuse for SMW to be as mediocre as it was. Other franchises like Metroid and Zelda properly evolved on the platform.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

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