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!