Zelda A Link Between Worlds Review

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Review:

An eerily familiar trip to a land we dont completely know.

**I think I'll try and be as brief and direct as I can with this one, simply because it's such a famous franchise. I don't feel the need to do the whole game explaining bit to you, so with that being said, let's dive into Hyrule one more time!

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds or ALBW (god, that looks awful I'm so sorry) is the latest "portable" Zelda game up to date. It's been out for a while and I beat it some time ago. I don't really have an excuse for delaying this review so much but here it is! Everything you need to know about ALBW.

First of all, I think it's imperative that I tell you guys this game is going to be a completely different experience for those who have played the earliest Zeldas such as A Link to The Past than it is going to be for those who haven't. "What does this mean?" you might ask, well, my distinguished lady or gentleman, the thing about ZALBW is that it's an almost direct sequel to the previously mentioned Zelda game. The map is pretty similar, the gameplay is fundamentally the same, only the story, the dungeons and progression are different, which is great, trust me!

you know that top-down perspective gives you the nostalgia boner instantly dawg

It's really cool because ALTTP is one of the most beloved Zelda games up to date. Released on the SNES back in 1991 and still holding up as a brilliant work of art to this day for it's intuitive game design and compelling visuals. It's also really popular between long-time Zelda fans because it returned the franchise back to it's roots (sort of, at least) and gave the world of Hyrule a much more relatable lore and approach.

The game is essencially the same, it's just "portable" now and of course it is now running beautifully on 3DS graphics. Aside from this though, the top down perspective is still there but it has a twist put on it this time around. Very early on you'll get the ability to merge into walls and walk "inside" them. This opens up the world to a crazy amount of puzzling and instantly gives you the power to traverse Hyrule's scenery like never before! The best part about this mechanic though does not lie in it's simplicity, but it's integration. The level design, bosses and some enemies interact with this ability up to the point where it feels natural to the player and ends up being as, if not more important than your trusty sword.

depicted: becoming a graffiti for dummies

Other than this, expect a great Zelda game overall! There is another important aspect of the game to be mentioned though. This time around almost no items are found on the map or inside dungeons, you can rent or buy them from the get-go. This adds another level of planification before addressing dungeons and it adds an unprecedented value to rupees. It works splendidly and allows the player to basically tackle about 80% of the game's dungeons and caves in whichever order they want. Cool themed temples, great yet sort of easy boss fights and a compelling story that manages to be meaningful while respecting Zelda's very "retro" abscense of plot overbearing points really make it feel like Zelda is working it's way back to it's golden days.

dat nostalgic replica doe!

Gameplay: Merging into walls is implemented in a genius fashion, after a while it becomes second nature. The freedom of choice that you get from ALBW's progressive take on dungeons is great and the overall length and difficulty for an average player is well measured. It is a shame though, that the only option for more challenging gameplay comes from Hero Mode and making the decision not to pick up heart containers. 9.5/10

Visuals: The game looks great and fun. Quirky 3D graphics that somehow manage to draw back from the past make the world feel cohesive and invite the player to explore this familiar yet undiscovered land. (or should i say "lands" hehehe) 8/10

Story: The story is nice, it's nothing mind boggling or new but it is a little daring coming from a retro inspired Zelda game. It is well shaped though and it doesn't interrupt the player's adventure so it strikes a welcome balance that new games should strive to have nowadays. 7.5/10

Music: The music is excellent. There aren't many new tunes but the ones present are really cool. If there is a sore spot though is that it borrowed and completely remade (so it sounds beautifully, mind you) most of the songs from ALTTP which feels like an easy out but it brings a very genuine nostalgic value to the score. 9/10

Final Verdict:

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, is a beautiful and fun new Zelda game that brings back a lot of elements that made it's predecessor: "A Link To The Past" pretty darn good. It makes it so it's even less restricting for the player and adds a couple of new mechanics such as the "merge into walls" item and the weaponry rental that really change the way you approach it's dungeons and situations. It's funny how a new Zelda game based on the over 2 decades old ALTTP manages to feel like the most fresh Zelda experience we've had in a while.

9/10

**For the native english speakers, I apologize for the grammar errors. I'm still getting the hang of this language, it is in my best interest to write as adequately as possible but please do not let those mistakes take away from the article's meaning and objective.

Remember to follow me on Twitter at "@pegasus_boots" and Instagram account "pegasusbootsgb" hope you enjoyed the read!

Dark Souls II Review

Dark souls II Review: 

Like a moth drawn towards the flame.

Dark Souls 2 is the second entry to the Dark Souls series, but it's also the 3rd entry to the souls franchise as a whole. Taking more inspiration and guidelines from Dark Souls than Demon Souls. It attempts to merge the best of both worlds to improve upon it's own formula. It falls short though, thanks to poor planning and weak game design choices. Now, this doesn't mean the game is bad, it's just an echo of the greatness that came before it, it's not a loud or consistent one though.

Lets make our way from the most basic aspects of the game to it's most complex ones so we can see what improved and what went wrong. Souls games are about adventure, a sort of masochist journey riddled with clever level design and difficult boss battles that constantly try to wear you down as a player and as a hollow. To explain it rather quickly and waste as little time as possible, you are the chosen undead, a human who's doubtful of it's own purpose and a hollow shell only to be kept alive and sane by consuming the souls of the many other creatures in the kingdom. You must traverse the land, acquire the souls of the great ones and gain enough power to defeat it's decaying ruler and start a new era yourself.

it's also about trying not be gangbanged by stone horsehead creeps, mind you

The game tries its hardest to kill you which not only weakens your resolve as a player but also turns your character hollow. Every time you die a human you become more hollow and even when a little bit hollow, you cannot summon other players to help you and unless you get to where you died, you will also lose the souls you were carrying with you. Losing souls is a major mechanic because they serve as experience and money. So the more you die, the more difficult it gets for you.

Now, Dark Souls 2 is an improvement over the first one visually. For starters there are no poorly designed areas that will make the frame rate drop for no apparent reason. The game is lenghtier and manages to offer the player with more sights to see. But it does have it's flaws, pretty major ones too. Enemy designs, specially bosses, are repetitive and in a couple of situations feel out of place. The palette this time around is more diverse which might bother those of you who prefer the more eerie and shady looks some of the areas the first games had. Needless to say, this color palette and intriguing yet sometimes not so functional design manage to immerse you more in the lore and ambience as a result.

the game really looks gorgeous and the settings are really appealing, specially when youre not getting your butt handed to you by these huge green dudes that swing their spears at you

Music wise, it is far more varied than the first one, but it's still not a lot, which in my humble opinion has become characteristic of the series and is just fine. One of the objective improvements is the diverse boss themes which were almost non existant in the previous entry. Even though not memorable, it is far better to have variety than to hear the same tune time and time again.

As some of you should know, the story in souls games is delivered in a very unique manner, much like in the previously reviewed super mario 3d world, the biggest chunk of plot you get, comes from an opening sequence. After that, it all comes as a very cryptic, unexplicit npc dialogue and some item descriptions. This is most charming to some, but for those of you who look for a well delivered, entertaining story and didnt know of this, be warned. Dark Souls 2 is no exception and most likely won't appeal to your lore tastes at all.

let me sum it up for you: travel, die, fight, die, travel some more, die, get to this place, let it sink in and die some more

To wrap things up, lets talk about what Dark Souls 2 gets right and wrong, gameplay wise.

The Good:

Variety is the spice of life. Even though most people complete the game following the same paths in the same order, truth be told, you can actually mix it up a lot and take different approaches if you desire so. This also happens in Dark Souls 1 but there are milestones in DS that you can only overcome one way where in Dark Souls 2 you at least get a couple of choices.

The makings of a hero. There is a strong argument to be made that magic is still more powerful than any other character proficiency, yet the other choices are more much attractive and balanced now. The level design is constructed in a way that makes it so players who choose to wield a single type of weapon can beat it if they try hard enough but players who keep their arsenals wide will see themselves rewarded for it. Bows and crossbows are more comfortable to use this time around but they're still not even close to being fully viable. Dual wielding on the other hand is presented in a cool way, it works and it's balanced through a couple of rules and restrictions that ideally fit it.

Sense of progression. Not only does it borrow heavily from Demon Souls's concept of the nexus, it also makes it so it really becomes a beacon of hope and a place to rest for the player. Most npcs you meet can be brought to the "nexus" to sell their items there, increase their inventory, change their dialogues, give you hints and lore oriented speeches and even change the surroundings a bit for your convenience. This makes it so you have a sort of home to be attached to, which is a nice welcome feeling.

forgot to mention, you can play sword tag with zombies too! 

The Bad:

Unimaginative enemy design. Most enemies feel like they are just remodeled or reskinned versions of ones you find early on. Movesets dont vary that much either but Dark Souls 2 biggest offense in this regard comes from bosses. At the top of my head, the amount of bosses that are just a guy with an armor is about 40% and another 20 % is just a big monster flailing his arms around which leaves only 40% to the imagination. To be fair though the other ones are pretty neat, unfortunately, they are a bit easy and quick to beat so they dont really make a lasting impression on you.

Soul memory. The decision to make it so pvp matches were actually linked on soul memory rather than soul level is a terrible one. Instead of fighting people your lvl on the pvp tier you like, it becomes a full stat brawl with people just exploiting dominant yet repetitive strategies. This is such a huge downside because this time around pvp had the chance to be a banquet of builds, flavors and weapons that the previous souls games couldn't see.

Lackluster story. Even though Dark Souls 2 makes a big effort trying to have a more compelling story, it falls flat on a washed up canvas. There is really nothing new or exciting. It feels as if the plot was just copy/pasted and then tweaked a lot. It's final delivery for the player after about 30 hours of gameplay is very tasteless to be honest.

this was supposed to excite you, now all you do is wonder about how far ahead of you down minmax road this guy is 

Visuals: A definite improvement upon it's predecessors. The game looks great and thankfully no stupid areas drop the fps for no apparent reason, movement and particles all seem more fluid and pleasant to look at. The aesthetics changed to be more colorful and varied and it's up to you to decide whether or not that's a good thing. It looks amazing, it is a shame though that most enemies disappear on death and the lighting is nothing like what was originally advertised. 8.5/10

Gameplay: The gameplay is a theorical upgrade over the previous formula. More variety, more options and a better feel to it all, its actually an outstanding feat to see such an elaborate and well polished system made even better. Unfortunately though, the reaaally stupid numeric decisions From Software took regarding soul memory and the stat point resetting option just killed both pvp and replayability for the game and this I hope someone fixes or patches up because it really hinders the game's potential to an almost incalculable degree. 6.75/10

Music: Songs that are well composed and somewhat fitting to their respective settings make the game feel more alive without risking it's previous musical identity, it all sounds nice but its ultimately nothing to write home about. 7/10

Story: This is probably the only aspect of the game that is really a downgrade compared to the previous ones, it just seems too familiar yet unpolished, like they tried to cater both new and old players to the franchise but somehow managed to dissapoint both. Better conveyance just worse ending and creativity overall. It is by no means a bad story, it just leaves a bad taste on your mouth because both newcomers and veterans can feel an enormous amount of unexploited potential. 6/10

Final Verdict:

Dark Souls 2 is sort of like a spoiled rich kid who's parents forced into soccer practice. He has a good P.E teacher, healthy food and diet, gym at home and crazy cool shoes and shirt to play soccer in. Hell! He even has the talent! Yet it seems like it's not really giving it's all. Mix that with colossal yet simple numeric decisions on it's developers that ultimately hinder the experience and you get a great game that offers a lot of cooperative goodness and solid gameplay with no replayability or fun competitive grounds to enjoy yourself in.

7/10

*Sorry for the 2 month hiatus, college is tough and all, I've also been doing a lot more reading and less gaming so that's part of it. It's also convenient DSII's DLC was recently released so you guys can read on this now if you were actually waiting for it. Thanks for reading!

**For the native english speakers, I apologize for the grammar errors. I'm still getting the hang of this language, it is in my best interest to write as adequately as possible but please do not let those mistakes take away from the article's meaning and objective.

Remember to follow me on Twitter at "@pegasus_boots" and Instagram account "pegasusbootsgb" hope you enjoyed the read!

Transistor "Peek"

Let's take a peek at: "Transistor"

Transistor is an action RPG made by the same guys who made the magnificent title: Bastion. It was just released yesterday and it's available now on PS4, Xbox One and Steam. And while it certainly resembles Bastion a lot, it is a very different masterpiece altogether.

As far as plot goes, the story is told in a fashion very reminiscent of its predecessor, only this time around, cut-scenes are more frequent and since they are comprised of amazing art and genius portrayal it becomes a delight to witness every single one of them. To put it bluntly and spoiler free, you assume the role of Red, a former high class member of the Cloudbank society who's now on the run after a tragic event. The only thing to keep you company is a very sci-fi looking great sword that can speak, and oh boy does it sound sexy as hell. (In the PS4 version you can have it speak through your controller)

cut-scenes riddled with this amount of detail, impressive artistic direction and totally rad script are really one of the highlights of the experience 

The game's visuals are stunning and its art style is outstandingly charming and colorful, it also does not sacrifice the slightest shred of complexity and seriousness where it is needed, and it is needed a lot, trust me. A soundtrack just as beautiful and varied as in Bastion accompanies you throughout your journey and often interacts with the way you traverse the city and battle your way through waves of evil technological monsters spawned by a phenomenon called "The Process".

It is often difficult to praise a game's design as well as its aesthetics and soundtrack when it looks and sounds as beautifully as Transistor does but it undoubtedly surpasses the latter. Transistor's strongest suit is it's refined gameplay, and here's why:

it's not only spectacular, it looks and feels frigging cool too.

Where as Bastion felt as if it was catered to a western audience, Transistor is heavily motivated to please the complicated strategist palette of the JRPG audience. Dozens if not hundreds of more numeric, priority focused and positioning tactics plague Transistor's combat system, and that's a good thing. Instead of being chained to an optimal dps model, you are given multiple choices when it's time to address your encounters. Be it through sheer fortitude, stealthy obliteration, multiple target barrages, ally recruitment subterfuge or even kiting methods. Virtually any wave can and should be addressed differently than the last and the amount of substantial change is chosen by you!

To better portray it all: You have 4 abilities that you can map to four buttons, but every ability can be turned into a passive for you, or an upgrade for another ability. The way you use these is just like you would in any action RPG game by pressing the button, duh. You also have a technique called "Turn" which stops time and allows you to program and deliver a sequence of abilities and movements in order to turn the tide of battle, dodge an obviously fatal blow or deliver the final one yourself.

this is just a sneak peek of the full ability roster but the amount of possible combinations and customizations is almost unfathomable, you'll most likely finish the game using a very different kit than any of your friends, seriously

Ultimately a story with an astonishing setting, compelling lore and characters, wonderful soundtrack and sound design, intricate strategic combat that doesn't sacrifice flow or immersion and rewards the player for learning its ropes all the while respecting his or her intelligence, cool boss battles and a nice amount of extra content. This is what makes Transistor a game very well worth it's price tag and a title you must have. Whether you're into action RPGs or not, give it a go. I promise you, you wont regret it.

come on man, what are you doing!? Red is waiting for you! hurry up!

Here`s some contact info you might like to know in case you wanna add me up and play or just have a chat with me, I must not seem like it now and I don`t think I`ll seem like it any time soon, but I`m not a company, I`m a kid who enjoys playing video games and is very excited to share them with you guys.

Steam: Bombermanganzon

Diablo III: kiwicupcake (yeah, dont ask about that one)

League of Legends: Skyward Svvord

Guild Wars 2: Vitesong

If you are looking to see If I`m available in any other game or platform such as Miiverse by example, email me at: fastpegasusboots@gmail.com

Super Mario 3D World Review

Super Mario 3D World Review:

Because jumping never gets old.

Super Mario 3D World is the latest main platformer game in the Super Mario Bros franchise. This already titanic if not god-like gaming monster, icon and ruler of its own genre just got its first 3D platformer-oriented entry on the Nintendo Wii U. Adopting a very similar approach to that of Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS but taking a bigger focus on multiplayer mechanics and a kitty cat related extravaganza that end up making it an amazing multiplayer experience. Now if we're really honest, it doesn't bring much that is new to the table, but in true Mario and Nintendo fashion it's one of the best platformers ever created when it comes to gameplay and level design.

Summary: For any of you living under a rock, inside it or being a rock yourselves, I'm going to go out of my way to explain you guys about the most well-known video game franchise in history. Super Mario games are usually about a quirky Italian plumber who's love interest: Princess Toadstool or Peach is usually kidnapped by the king of a bunch of turtle creatures called Bowser who's always had a thing for stealing her away. In one way or another Mario has to figure out a way to reach the foul creature's lair and rescue the princess back from it's clutches. To any of you who might have only played a Mario Sport related or Party game: those are just "Super Mario" characters taking a vacation and getting fit to do more platforming when summer's over.

2 words: Cat suits

Now it just seems silly to talk about a game that is most likely already very well depicted inside your heads, so we're going to talk about the particular aspects of this entry that make it pop out from the rest.

The Multiplayer

Super Mario 3D World is a very ambitious project because it aims to give comfort and a nice cooperative yet competitive approach to multiple players when it comes to 3D platforming, something that almost no games have managed to pull off effectively up to date. The result? It works, astonishingly well, as a matter of fact. First of all, you can play the game with a single Wiimote, a Wiimote + Nunchuck, the Wii U Gamepad or the Wii U Pro Controller. All of them control beautifully and provide the player with the same amount of button input complexity, all of it. The game uses a score oriented approach to reward the best scoring player at each stage with a crown that can be fought over throughout the next level. What it does is provide the crowned player with a bonus that further ensues said player stays king or queen of the play session. I happened to play through the entire game with friends and the amazing local play feeling that comes from screwing each other, collaborating to find hidden collectibles and/or reach secluded spots is the same that you got from many other games back in the N64 or PS1 era. It is so palpable, it really makes the whole game be played in multiplayer a must.

it's this frantic race and mayhem that really evokes those amazing feelings

Another aspect that should be mentioned is the character choice the player has to make. Just like when Super Mario Bros 2 hit the shelves in North America back in 1988 you can choose to play as Mario, his younger brother Luigi, Princess Peach or Toad, and they all show the same differences they had back then, Mario is well rounded and his controls are the tightest, Luigi jumps really high, Toad is the fastest and Peach can stay afloat for a bit after she jumps. So players can develop a sort of fondness to their respective character and use their exclusive advantage to aim for the highest score.

Story, Progression and Collectibles

The story this time around is the most forward we've seen since Super Mario Bros hit the NES, you get about 15 seconds of a non-spoken and dialogue-less cinematic showing Mario, Luigi, Toad and Peach taking a stroll through mushroom kingdom when Bowser basically pops out all of a sudden and shows them he kidnapped a bunch of fairies and leaves. Afterwards, they all follow him into a pipe that leads to "Sprixie Kingdom" a place very similar to Mushroom Kingdom aside from some unique, never-before seen power-ups and a handful of newcomer enemies as well as some pretty antique ones Nintendo decided to re-visit.

this is part of that cinematic so sorry for being spoiler-y you still have 14 more seconds to discover on your own *wink*

To be bold and straight forward, the game consists of about 8 levels with a few more difficult ones to challenge yourself with once you're done. It implements the whole "hidden stars" system to collect and get rewards from. You can also scavenge for Stamps to use on Miiverse, most of the time there's one per stage and therefore a ton of them in total.

It seems kind of silly to talk about Mario power-ups as part of the review but some of them really affect the whole scheme of things this time around and do some really cool things that are worth talking about.

Cherries: The cherry power-up basically gives you one more, well... "you". As a result you can control multiple characters that all follow the same movements. This can also have synergies with every other power-up, so if you're "fire" Mario and pick up a cherry you'll control 2 "fire Marios" which is just blazing! Actually, this also offers a player who's going through the campaign in "Solo" mode the opportunity to activate multiple character switches and solve puzzles he would not be able to otherwise.

you've got to admit that looks pretty cool. Cmon.

Cat-Suit: For many, this upgrade seemed childish and unnecessary, thankfully it was one of the main focuses for the game's level design. It is pretty much the most powerful and versatile power-up in a platforming Mario game ever and that's including the Invincibility Star. Simply because it allows you to damage most enemies from a safe distance and traverse virtually any obstacle that might come your way.

depicted: Mario's most powerful, agile and brutal form

There are of course a couple more power-ups to be mentioned but they're worth finding out for yourselves and are very stage specific.

As for progression, the game seems hectic and way too open for a platformer at first. But when all the players get accustomed to the controls and pacing, the game brilliantly makes them each plan their own fastest, most efficient routes and every level is basically turned into a flashy race full of opportunities to show off and get ahead of the competition. Difficulty-wise, it takes it's time to demand anything big from the player for a while but after about 50% of the game is done, the players who've been paying attention and learning the ropes really start to shine. At the end of the game it really gets as hardcore and unforgiving as a 3D platformer can get.

believe me, when you get to this stage you'll throw your controller to the ground because its so hard omfg sh- *grunt* f-ck!

So no more beating around the bush or should I say "jumping over" it? haha lame joke I know. Let's rate this thing:

Visuals: Super Mario 3D World looks beautiful and runs smoother than a F1 race car. At no point during my 4 player campaign did a screen filled with cats, goombas, fireballs and the like stutter for even a second. The Sprixie Kingdom while very similar to the Mushroom one has its own unique feel and makes the game feel like a very beautiful, simple, yet stylized new Mario game and not a "New Super Mario Bros" aesthetic-wise. 8.7/10

Gameplay: Mario games are sort of confined to the very old traditions they set for themselves throughout the years and therefore lack their previous potential to innovate. Despite this evident obstacle, the game managed to feel fresh thanks to its absolutely perfect and "over the years" polished controls, the exciting multiple routed layout of the levels and the very minor yet effective mechanics mentioned earlier such as the cat suit integration and focus and the character-specific player choice. 9.5/10

Story: Most Mario games that exist make a mild effort to set a story in motion and make the player feel at least slightly engaged with the situation at hand. Be it through the centuries old "Damsel in Distress" plots or just a plain old hero's quest, but Super Mario 3D World cuts out even the slightest of those tropes and uses an extremely short cinematic intro to get your game on, which is welcome. Let's be honest, no one cares why Bowser is being evil this time around or how Princess Peach got kidnapped. 6.3/10

Music: This game's soundtrack is just amazing, maybe it's strongest point if you're really sensitive and caring about a game's score. There are simply too many well composed catchy and moody tunes that vary almost endlessly and fit the diverse scenery of Sprixie Kingdom. It's just too cool and a blast to listen to even when you're not playing the game. 9.8/10

Final Verdict:

Super Mario 3D World just exists to show off Mario and Nintendo's seemingly unreachable mastery at making platformer games. It brilliantly takes on a multiplayer concept that is pretty much impossible to execute perfectly and SM3DW just falls short on very scarce occasions camera-wise, nothing else. Other than that, it is a wonderful multiplayer and high score single player experience that makes you get those pleasant nostalgic local multiplayer chills down your spine. You know, the ones you got many years ago on the N64 and PS1 era when most of us were so young and so cheerful. Super Mario 3D World can make you feel that way again which is rare, powerful and very difficult to pull off, so it earns a:

8.5/10

*Hey guys, sorry I was away for so long and didn't post anything in a while, college got tough and a lot of things happened, mainly I was running low on time and games to play, I hope to get back on the horse pretty soon and keep up the reviews.

**Also, I'd like any of you that actually read this far please inform yourselves about the situation we are currently living in Venezuela, it is a tragedy and we really need the global eye staring at us and supporting us even if its just wishes and good intentions from afar, thank you very much for reading and have a good day.

Pikmin 3 Review

Pikmin 3 Review:

Making an already great game even greater 101

Pikmin 3 is the third game in the amazing game trilogy "Pikmin" which has already spanned across 3 Nintendo console generations. It is, if I do say so myself (which isn't worth much... YET) one of the greatest accomplishments in the modern video game industry. Pikmin 3 sets out to and accomplishes to do something not many third entries on a series manage to pull off, and that is, improving it's heritage and making the overall quality and significance of their carried legacy superior. Not many games manage to get better and better exponentially from the get-go all the way to their third installment. So cheers to Pikmin 3 for being such a prowess!

We've recently discussed how some very promising series can sometimes make some horrible mistakes that ultimately tarnish their past accomplishments or worse, ruin their respective franchise's. So in this article I plan on explaining you guys how this game managed to not only dodge the bullet but backfire and hit the bullseye unlike many others in the past few years. So no more beating around the bush, here's what you need to know about Pikmin 3:

yes, yes, I know you're all dying to see this review now, calm down

Summary: The Pikmin games are Real Time Strategy games in which you raise, command and take care of a bunch of super cute and ultra cooperative creatures called "Pikmin". These little fellas are not only the main mechanic by which you complete all of the games in the series but they're also part of a much larger ecosystem that is extremely entertaining to explore in which you, the player, as Captain Olimar have to learn the ropes of treasure hunting and figure out a way to not only survive but prosper too! In Pikmin 3 there are a couple of differences that have a direct influence on the main mechanics of the game. Number 1: You're in a charge of a whole crew of Space Explorers this time around, Captain Olimar is no longer here! You are tasked with managing and exploring as Alph, a Space Engineer, Brittany, the crew's Botanical Researcher and Charlie, their captain! and Number 2: You're no longer on a mission to look for treasure. You're now desperately gathering food for your home planet and your crew, so learning how to effectively micro-manage your crew members with the GamePad is crucial to your survival and success. 

For any of you who are not familiar with the Pikmin games: Just because they are "RTSs" it doesn't mean the games play out like Age of Empires or Warcraft III do. Instead of gathering resources to fuel your "civilization's growth", you just raise Pikmin. These are the heart and soul of your society, they are your army, scout troops and heavy lifters. There are no buildings or "Eras" involved. This is a game about exploration, quick thinking, battles and resourcefulness.
 

 

As you can see they clearly need your help, just look at the face of  complete and utter terror the blue one in that crab's claw has

Now, Pikmin 3 is made up of a combination of factors that just flesh out a perfect recipe for video game genius. It does what every sequel should. It adds more content without changing it's franchise's true essence in the slightest and improves upon all that preceded it. It also takes full advantage and smart use of the Wii U's GamePad. So with it and a truly simple but effective way of story narration and development, it manages to tell the most compelling story about the most interesting Pikmin characters up to date.

The game is now based on the management of 3 leaders at the same time, which may sound complicated at first but it takes no longer than a couple of stages to get used to. Pikmin 3 also does a beautiful job easing you into the process. It's genius level design and a slow paced introduction of the many minor game mechanics and techniques, help you teach yourself the masterful art of divided exploration and food collection. You can use a leader at a time which can throw Pikmin and other leaders around in order to reach secluded spots or uncover another route to explore. You can use your GamePad at any time to send a specific party member along with his/her own Pikmin squad to investigate a specific spot on the map. For those of you who might be worried about the controls and preferred the WiiMote's precision from the Pikmin 2's Wii version: Do not fret, you can use the WiiMote too! And only consult your GamePad's screen in order to send out your unoccupied leaders.

you get to boss these 3 little fellas around, tell me their chubby little cheeks don't make your brain explode from the cuteness and anticipation

Enemy variety, boss battles, level design, visuals, new content and difficulty are all top notch. Not once does this game made me feel like it's stuck on a pattern or it's not constantly opening up. Every stage offers a new mechanic, new Pikmin or tool and adds a more challenging difficulty level than the previous one. Keeping the game fresh, rewarding and ultimately fun to play. The visuals of both landscapes and creatures are just excellent and I certainly cannot stress this enough. There's some of the most beautiful and realistic places in gaming for you to explore and a good number of magnificently designed enemies that can range from cute and creative to sheer creepy and cool looking.

There is a downside to this game though. It's a tad short, it does, as mentioned earlier, a terrific job constantly rewarding the player with new content and more challenging situations, but there's a downside to that. If you guarantee the player new content and just excellent progression with every single stage, your game becomes shorter. Yet this is one of the few games I've played in recent years in which I've craved for a "filler" level. You know, one of those stages that is just a redesign of a previous one or an extra stage that doesn't necessarily offer anything new or necessary for the story's progression. Simply because I had so much fun with the gameplay. On the bright side, the game really does offer a lot of alternatives and lengthier gameplay in the form of competitive play. There's missions you can take on solo or co-op to reach high scores, play boss battles again, finish the game in 100% completion in the least amount of time and a 2 player VS mode that is accessible and a whole lot of fun to dive into.

this is VS mode, it's split screen and 2 players compete in order to collect the items shown in their bingo cards to collect 4 in a row and win!

Another mishap happens to be the game's story. Even if it is in my opinion the best in the franchise, it builds up a little bit too relaxed and then takes you on an amazing roller coaster ride that doesn't last very long and this discrepancy just feels a little bit forced. Pikmin 3's plot is also an amazing one because for the first time in this series's history and in many modern video games, you are introduced to 3 characters very rapidly and they all earn your respect and love without cheap pop-culture references or super cool over-designed cut-scenes. Through sheer dialogue and emotions you care for these 3 and genuinely engage in their journey to save their planet.

There is simply not much else to say, other than mentioning the game only gets more entertaining the more you play it. I'd also like to let you guys know that it finishes beautifully, making you fully understand and effectively use it's new very well polished and introduced mechanics. Pikmin 3 not only has more Pikmins, it's also a game that just seems to have had more love put into it than the vast majority of triple A games today. 

this guy has one of the coolest boss battles ever, and there is a reason for that... try to figure it out just by looking at the picture!

Visuals: Pikmin 3 has nothing to fear from other current-gen games in terms of graphics and artistic design. Not even from some of the more graphically stylized games on more "powerful" consoles out now. And that's nothing to sneeze at. Like mentioned before, enemy and landscape design that should be taken as an example and inspiration for years to come make Pikmin 3's visuals excellent if not completely flawless. 10/10

Gameplay: Easy to learn, difficult to master and flexible controls, GENIUS level and boss battle design, the addition of great non-disruptive new mechanics that come with a brilliantly planned difficulty curve and excellent effort/reward approach on the game's progression, make Pikmin 3's gameplay excellent. If there is one downside though, is it's shortness. Unless you're willing to competitively play against other people online for highscores or have friends who can aid or challenge you in the Co-op and VS modes. 9.5/10

Story: Pikmin 3 offers the best story in a Pikmin game, period. But, that is not such a big prowess to be honest, Pikmin games are not known for their stories, but their gameplays. There is still an outstandingly well executed story here that manages to genuinely make you care for it's characters without resorting to overproduced cut-scenes or pop-culture references which is a trend nowadays. It feels disruptive at one point which damages it's overall value but it is great nonetheless. 8/10

Music: The music in Pikmin games has always been very characteristic. No other game franchise has music like it to my knowledge, yet it manages to feel familiar and unique at the same time. Tunes that immerse you in the heat and pressure of battle, extremely fitting boss battle themes and melodies that only encourage you to explore even more. Define this game's soundtrack which is great but I do believe there is some room for improvement. 8.5/10

Final Verdict:

Pikmin 3 is one of my top 3 games of 2013 if not the game of the year. The amount of fun and challenge it offers is just top notch. It's redundant to mention it's worth every single penny, with loads of content, multiplayer modes, DLCs for those who are left unsatisfied by this game's incredibly excellent shortness and competitive play for hours upon hours of self-improvement. Pikmin 3 does what almost no new games do, and that is helping the player teach his or herself and respecting their intelligence. It's also an astonishing feat it managed to improve even further on a formula that seemed close to perfection since Pikmin came out on the Gamecube back in 2001. So Pikmin 3 deserves a:

9.2/10

*I'm sorry I wasn't here to properly wish you guys a merry christmas and a happy new year, I was away with my friends and family, I hoped you all had wonderful holidays and expect 2014 has great things in store for all of us.

**For the native english speakers, I apologize for the grammar errors. I'm still getting the hang of this language, it is in my best interest to write as adequately as possible but please do not let those mistakes take away from the article's meaning and objective.

Remember to follow me on Twitter at "@pegasus_boots" and my new Instagram account "pegasusbootsgb" hope you enjoyed the read!