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!

Opinion: Super Smash Bros Analysis

Opinion

Nintendo's most powerful game. Has it lost it's strength or is it stronger than ever?

As many of you should know by now, the next big entry in the Super Smash series has already been announced, It's actually a 2 hit combo this time around, and their names are Super Smash Bros for Wii U and Super Smash Bros for 3DS but we'll call em "SSBW3" for short. Now, what should we be looking forward to? Well, aside from the fact that graphics and visuals have been improved, we have a very important addition to the roster who's announcement basically made the Earth itself tremble, Megaman or Rockman if you're a Japanese gal or guy. Yes, for any of you who didn't know by now The Blue Bomber joined the fray and his looks, skill set and animations are as classic and smooth as a Mozart's symphony. But we're not here to talk about internet rule 34 sensation Wii Fit trainer or "Condom over Mario's Head" Villager. We're here to talk about what exactly should we be excited about and what I think could be implemented in the new games that might freshen things up a bit. First, let's talk a little bit about what's been going in the franchise, the genre and its console, that way we can lay down a comfy, romantic, rose petal sprinkled bed of context for the incredibly provocative and luscious suggestions I'm gonna give Mr. Sakurai next. (For those of you unaware, Masahiro Sakurai is the SSB series director and the creator of Kirby)

I got this image from the Forbes magazine's website, that's how fucking epic the inclusion of Megaman is

According to the most handsome game developer of all time, SSB Melee for the Gamecube is still his baby boy, he claims it's the most balanced and well rounded entry in the series. Now, SSB Brawl actually had a bigger roster, a level editor, an amazing story mode in comparison to the previous ones and of course, revamped visuals, but many fans of the series still prefer Melee because it seemed more balanced. In Brawl, many characters were just clones of others and there were a couple of fighters who's skill set and moves either didn't work that well or dealt such a small amount of damage they just weren't viable. Let's cross our fingers and wait for the upcoming games to have less clones and a fully viable roster.

so much class and style, this man is 43 years old, 

you ladies wish chumps like Ryan Gosling or Zac Efron managed to have this silky smooth skin at their 40s

The genre itself is pretty unique in its own way, many new games have started to pop up and try to imitate it's style or put their own spin to it. Almost at the end of last year, Sony and PlayStation finally released their supposed SSB killer: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, a decent game in it's own right but ultimately a flop. The game was hyped up a lot soon after it's announcement and many Sony fans started chanting their victory anthem before the thing was even released. The trailer for the game on Youtube was constantly getting comments like: "STFU NINTENDRONES, PABR IS GONNA KICK SUPER FAG BROS A$$", "WHO WANTS TO PLAY WITH GANONDORK AND DONKEY DONG, RAIDEN AND COLE FTW" & "FAT PRINCESS IS SO MUCH SEXIER AND PRETTIER THAN PEACH OR ZELDA HAHAHA YEAH!" Well, ok, maybe not that last one, but that's pretty much how that shit went down yo! 

So where is PABR now? It's actually treated as an outcast, a disappointment like the children in Sparta who can't fend off 2 starving saber tooth tigers with a stick. The game was not only a financial failure but also a flawed production when it comes to the genre's demands, it tried to blend hardcore fighting mechanics and combos with an incredibly tedious and awkward way to defeat your opponents, aside from it's aesthetics and some of the most hilarious video game crossover encounters ever, the game landed on its belly after a 30 feet drop which led to it's paralysis, multiple rib fractures and almost absolute termination of a sequel. 

Everything hasn't been horrible though, behind this fake hero, many indie games like Gentlemen! and the upcoming JamSouls for Steam seem promising enough, so the rookies without sponsor might actually show the defeated giant a thing or two and help it get back on it's feet.

this is a screenshot of JamSouls, now awaiting its approval on Steam Greenlight, check it out!

To kind of wrap things up in this already pretty long prologue, let's talk about the consoles these twin titans are going to nest in. SSBW3 is actually holding either an amazing katana that can cut through steel and a crappy wooden shield OR a kitchen knife and a shield who can fend off death itself. What exactly do I mean with all my stupid rambling? Well, SSBW3 as it's name dictates is coming out on 2 platforms, the Wii U and the 3DS. So to start things right, let's talk about the magnificent Nintendo 3DS. This is the katana, the adamantium shield, the 3DS has had such an amazing run and many marvelous things to come, packed with a library unlike any other, features unparalleled in the industry and a price so low it's actually below sea level (this is actually a subliminal message carefully placed here so a proposition I'm gonna make later on doesn't make you go ape shit), this platform is fated to give SSB's debut into portables the show of a lifetime. As for the Nintendo Wii U goes,  things are a little bit shaky, Nintendo is treading on some thin ice here, the game pad has already proven itself a complete hindrance to some decent games. But! all hope is not lost, the Wii U could hit a home run if the ball is pitched the right way, It may not have the strongest arms or the most disgusting spit on the league but it's still powerful in it's own way.

Without further a do, It's time to put on the baby doll, dim down the lights and pop open the bottle of champagne because it's time to reeeally show our appreciation and flexibility to Super Smash:

I`m desperately trying to get your attention

Roster

Bomberman

Hudson and Konami's beloved IP, later tarnished by some crappy decisions that are only gonna make me mad if I talk about them. The White Bomber has had it's fair share of games on Nintendo platforms, so why not? If anything, the inclusion of Megaman sets the tone and lays down the foundation for this demolition project. Bomberman would be a blast! (pun, completely intended) He could even come with a skill that uses Pommy or have it join the roster itself, it's flexible enough, it can take many forms and fight in about a dozen different ways. Megaman has already delved deep into the whole "Grab and use the weapons of your enemies" deal. Bomberman could do the same with the Aqua Bomb, the Wind Bomb, the Light Bomb and so on. He can bring some cool items and propositions into the formula, he is in my opinion one of the most plausible additions to the roster. As far as design goes, I think both the Bomberman from Second Attack or the Generations one would fit in nicely.

Link (From Majora's Mask)

Now, we can all agree Toon Link is pretty cute and all but he's one of the cloniest clones in the series, even the storm troopers get jealous. So what do I propose? Link from Majora's Mask, "Isn't that the young link we saw in Melee? stfu PB!" now, gimme a second to explain pal, we still have 3 days until the moon falls on our heads. I think it would be amazing to see this Link join the roster as a variant to Pokemon Trainer, you read that right, Pokemon Trainer, BAM! He could start as a deku, goron or zora, whichever one you like and have the B-DOWN skill make him change masks, A catapult flower as a recovery for the deku, a fiery uppercut for the goron and a water twister for the zora, many skills can be adapted to work in the battlefield, the goron's roll, the zora's shield, the deku's bubble shot and so on. He could also turn into Fierce Deity Link for his Final Smash, the point is I can assure you he will make for a great fighter and maybe he's addition and success will finally convince Nintendo to remake Majora's Mask for the 3DS!

Paper Mario

What's interesting about this addition is it's remarkable difference to its possible aesthetic clone: Mario. Paper Mario is a beloved character and series of games, he is fun, hardworking and has a heart of gold, but unlike his 3 dimensional counterpart he is far more versatile. He's been joined in his adventures by such a wide array of characters that he's overcome the most difficult, bizarre and complex challenges in all of his series. With the help of his well rounded team of partners and equipped with his hammer, star powers, badges and stickers, he would have no troubling going at it against the best of the best.

Tails/Knuckles

I don't think we'll see them added this time, and I don't even think we'll ever see them both simultaneously because Mr. Sakurai already said that he doesn't want to have third party characters overwhelming the first party ones. But, either of The Blue Blur's best friends would make for a great unique character. Tails could enter the battlefield aboard the Cyclone and Knuckles could easily match Ike or Bowser's brute force. I would love for them to be included.

Ryu

I'm not talking about Ryu from Street Fighter I'm talking about the old classic Ryu Hayabusa from the first Ninja Gaiden or Shadow Warriors games if you're an European reader (who am I kidding, only my mom and my cat read this blog). These gems for the NES are really something I think Nintendo should pursue a bit more. He would be a great addition because of his astonishingly well developed move set and animations like the ones we saw in Ninja Gaiden Sigma and his potential to up the age demographic for the possible buyers. We all love Nintendo and its IPs and that's never gonna change but including some characters that are a bit more rough looking wouldn't hurt the series. Adding Big Daddy and Cole is out of the question, those are just not classic enough and they really do mess with the whole Smash formula, but we witnessed how well our pal Snake did on Brawl, let's not be afraid to pay homage to characters from the same era and with the same amount of awesome.

And now I'm gonna mention others that I believe would be good but not of the 

"AMAZINGOMFGYEAH" kind:

Chrom, Avatar (Fire Emblem Awakening), Geno, Mallow (Super Mario RPG: The legend of the Seven Stars), Chrono (Chrono Trigger), Lloyd Irving (Tales of Symphonia), Prince Fluff (Kirby's Epic Yarn), Little Mac (Punch-Out!), Kachi, Achi, Isa, Airan or Saki (Sin and Punishment).

Mechanics

Before we start, I want to make myself clear: I think the SSB has incredible combat mechanics, level design and stage layout overall. I still wish some things were added and others were changed though, and these are:

Streak Smashes

That's right, just like a predator missile but less stupid, I propose the Streak Smash, well, how does it work? If you manage to beat your opponents 3 times without dying you automatically get your Final Smash! How cool is that? It could be a feature that is configurable on the settings menu along with "stock" and items, you can even set up things like the amount of kills that will net you one or add conditions like: "Only if you kill the same person X amount of times without dying" or "Beating the same person 2 or more times in a row does not count towards the Streak Smash"

Am I the only one who thinks this is a stupid feature in a game that cod fanboys need stop bragging about?

No More Tripping

Brawl introduced tripping as a mechanic, and no, I don't mean tripping balls after you took LSD or had a party with Miley and Molly. Real falling and tripping while in combat, this happened randomly and under almost unpredictable circumstances, it left you vulnerable and just felt like you were taking a cheap hit afterwards. I propose adding an option to turn tripping ON or OFF so competitive players can have their fun and people who love tripping can do it without restraint.

yeah, umm we do not need this in Smash and yeah "We Can't Stop" making fun of you either Miley

Medal or Trinket

Nowadays companies just keep adding more and more buttons to their controllers. Half of them are not even used in some modern games and I am pretty sure they can fit another button for "Trinkets" on the next SSB. What is a "Trinket"? Well I would propose that before every match you select a sort of medal, call it Fire Emblem, Golden Banana, Gameboy Horror, whatever you like, but what these bad boys do is either have a very brief effect or boost up a stat, for example:

Palutena's Crown: Press the "X" button to set up a brief projectile shield that will block but not return any projectile damage for 2 seconds. It charges upon death, kill or every 1 minute. It can only hold 1 charge.

Link's Golden Gauntlets: Very slightly boosts your "A" moves's Knock-back.

Yoshi's Cookie: Use to recover 10% of damage received. It charges upon death, kill or every minute. It can hold up to 2 charges.

These of course are just things I pulled out the top of my head and they could be turned off in the setting menu but I do believe it would give a little bit more of customization when "maining" a character. This feature could be turned on or off and every character should add one, this way, there will be trinkets to unlock and they aren't all available from the get-go.

because I haven't seen one of this mofos since practice mode in SSB64

Underwater Combat

(this is it, the reason that subliminal message was planted inside your head like in Inception, so hang tight)

This is my weakest suggestion because I don't even know if it would work out but I would be thrilled to see stages where big bodies of water could be used as turfs of war too. in the water every attack changes ever so slightly, all recoveries can be set on course to any direction you want and knock back is reduced. I personally think it would be hard to make a new set of moves and animation for everyone underwater but I would be delighted to see people planning their strategies inside a shelter in a stage in which certain characters would excel and could find a way to turn the tide of battle (pun intended, again).

this is what pops up on google images if you type in "underwater combat"

 I am speechless I have no speech, speech is not something I possess

Features

And now, last but not least, changes in the game outside of combat. These features I'm gonna mention are in my humble opinion necessities and I hope you feel the same way.

No More Recolors!

I think we're all a bit tired of clones in SSB, in Brawl for instance we had Fox, Falco AND Wolf. You might be one of those Wolf players now all mad and flustered at me saying: "Wolf is nothing like Fox, I suck with Fox and I rock with Wolf" and I can say to you: "Well, you're not wrong  but you're not right, Wolf is different, his moves are similar but half the "B" moves change and its combos and overall speed change drastically so I'm with you bud." But if you're a Falco player and you say that shit to me, I'll tell you what the Fox says, the Fox doesn't say "Ring-e ding Ring ding a ding", he says he's identical to Falco except for the feathers and the stupid blaster. I know, I know there are some other differences but they are so insignificant when you look at the big picture. This is a game who's developer has already on numerous occasions stressed out how difficulty and mentally exhausting it is to fit in new characters and remove old ones, so your clone should be left out!

evidence, your honor

But! I'm here to offer an alternative, we've already seen Wii Fit Trainer (Male) is in the game but he wasn't announced as a new character, which means that there are skins  that actually change the character model! So what I propose is having this skin ordeal take over almost every character. Want to play as the last generation of Pokemon instead of the first? go ahead, Froakie, Quilladin and Delphox will be there instead of Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. Would you prefer to use the Link from Skyward Sword instead of the Twilight Princess's one? be my guest. Do you dislike using Ike because spiky hair is no longer cool since we're not in the 90's anymore? Pick Chrom Instead.

more evidence your honor, in the 90s spiked hair was a thing indeed

This would completely freshen up the experience and solve most of the "I want my clone to be included" charade. This, ladies and gentlemen, would make us happy.

No More Story, What Now?

SSBW3 will probably lack a story mode, Nintendo and Sakurai already said in a bi-weekly column on the renown Japanese magazine Famitsu that things would go this way. This isn't bad, necessarily, as cool and exciting as the CG cut scenes on the Subspace Emissary (Brawl's Story Mode) were, It took away a big part of the disc's space and the development team's time. Let's be honest here, We all play the Smash games for its awesome gameplay and the opportunity to see King Dedede hit and fuse Samus and Captain Falcon using the force. So this shouldn't sting that much.

Oh you weren't buying it? well here it is chump

The suggestion here is quite ambiguous, I propose more game modes, VS or Co-op oriented ones. Here are a few examples:

Battle for Ylisse

Something like the "100 man melee" but maybe Fire Emblem themed, a mode in which 4 players try to fend of entire Plegian armies that try to invade Ylisse. The objective here is to find out how long you can manage to hold your ground. This could be turned into a competitive mode by splitting the screen and having items that buff your opponent's enemies, boost up your defenses or damage your opponent's fortress itself so the plegians manage to break his castle's doors and make him lose the match.

Bounty Hunters

A Co-op only experience in which the screen is split and every player has access to a mini-map similar to that of Super Metroid. The layout of the levels are just like the ones in the game and everyone must explore, find a number of keys equal to the number of players and head for the main boss's room where you will finish of Kraig or maybe Metroid Prime. The idea is to do it as fast as possible with a minimal amount of casualties. There could be 3 possible levels each with it's own boss and it is randomly selected each time you begin the hunt.

Pandora's Vengeance:

A VS only scenario in which  2 players battle at a coliseum while Pandora sends in her minions to invade the town. You can't deal damage directly to your opponent but you can kill and evade the minions the goddess of destruction is sending in, they are the only ones that can harm you. Your attacks to the other player will only fill a "stagger bar" that stuns your opponent if you manage to fill it up. Ballistas, spike traps, hot oil traps and the such can be triggered with the previously mentioned "Trinket" button if you're standing next to them and these can only hurt your opponent. (I know this mode seems like a stretch but I've seen worse ideas turn into something awesome)

Game Master

Now this is a new game mode but it is so different I would announce it as a completely new feature. It would be up to the the game devs to create a sort of arena in which many traps and contraptions could be triggered by a player using the game pad, he or she could also send in a boss at some point, maybe Ridley or K. Rool I believe this game mode is something Wii U users would have a blast with.

you guys want to see this funky guy join the fun too, admit it

Now I know this has been a very opinionated article, filled with a bunch of nonsense, it's almost like a  Baz Luhrmann movie, am I right? but I wanna end on a more serious note.

SSBW3 is not coming out anytime soon as far as we all know but there is a problem I'm having with it. I'm not getting excited enough, as soon as I heard of Brawl's announcement I went bananas, maybe it's because I've gotten older but It doesn't feel like that's the reason behind by limp situation. Believe me! I want to be excited, I want to go crazy in bed with this thing, but I just don't have that same eagerness I had when the Smash Dojo was live here on the internet. I've given it much thought and I believe it's lack of innovation that's holding these series back, the game is gonna be amazing no matter what, but I want it to be the game of the decade even when there will probably still be 6 more years until the decade ends upon it's release, So just like a Youtube celebrity would express himself: I approve this message. Wait, no. I want to ask you guys to really share what you thought about my article, my suggestions and add some suggestion and input of your own. Please go nuts in the comments section below.

I'm so good with the whole image puns and references, you've gotta admit that too

**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!

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y Review

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y review: 
A faulty step in the rightest of directions.

Disclaimer: this review is written under the assumption the reader has some basic knowledge of both the Pokemon universe and the monster raising RPG Pokemon games. However, it is in my best interest to review it in a way that compels to the taste of both newcomers and veterans to the franchise.

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y are the latest twin entries to the Pokemon monster raising game series. This specific couple was a long awaited one for a few reasons: it is the first entry of the franchise to be released globally on the same date, it makes a huge change in its almost iconic aesthetics of 2D pixelated sprites, it introduces 2 complex or relevant new mechanics called Pokemon-Amie and mega evolutions and it also brilliantly takes full advantage of the 3DS's capabilities.

Summary: the Pokemon monster raising series are the main product of The Pokemon Company in conjunction with game developers Gamefreak and Nintendo. They consist of monster collection and training, engaging in turn-based battles against other Pokemon trainers and gym leaders. This is all done in order to raise the best Pokemon team and conquer the Pokemon league of a determined geographic region. There are other types of Pokemon games like the Pokemon rangers and Pokemon mystery dungeon franchises but this article is about the main series. (e.g: Blue, Red, Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl, Diamond, etc)

After you catch one, you register it on your Samsung Galaxy S4 as shown.

This time around, your journey takes place in the Kalos region. You are just moving in to the town you're going to start your travels from and you have no troubles making friends that will accompany you throughout the majority of your adventure. You must explore this beautiful France-inspired land, learn of its culture, its people, its touristic landmarks but most importantly its Pokemon and its legends.

Oui Oui! Le France Reference! (I know nothing about french I`m so sorry)

If you've ever gotten your hands on a Pokemon game you already know you usually pick out one of three starting Pokemon to help you make the foundation of a soon to be EliteFour-beating team. This time around the possible choices you can make are raising either Chespin (grass type), Froakie (water type) or Fennekin (fire type). But soon after you`ll be able to pick another starter! Beloved Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander are back from generation one and you get to choose one of them to raise it and have it help you become a Pokemon master.

Top row: New Generation Pokemon Bottom Row: 1st Generation Pokemon

(See? not all my image captions are going to be brimming with brilliant jokes)

The main change to the franchise in this entry as mentioned before are its visuals. The game got a full makeover with 3D models, 1st or 3rd person landscape influenced views and just an amazing upgrade to its graphical aspect overall.

To avoid giving out an excessive amount of data. (not because I`m lazy but because I do not wish accidentally spoil the game for anyone, obviously) Here`s a couple of things you should know right from the get-go:

-There are new Pokemon included, but not as many as what usually come along on a new generation.

-There are new Legendary Pokemon, but just a few, like mentioned before, not as many as you would normally expect to be included with a new generation. But it's important to know some old ones are there for you to catch and some even get a mega evolution this time around!

-These games are the most accessible and user friendly Pokemon games to date. Almost everything from story progression to competitive breeding is a lot easier and less time consuming.

-Even though mega evolutions are of course more powerful forms of already very powerful Pokemon, they are well balanced as far as I know. All the competitive aspects of the series is still there and working.*

-There is a new type of Pokemon: Fairy-type, it is super effective against Dragon-Type Pokemon for example. Some old Pokemon were either turned into fairy types or received it as an extra type, but some of the more interesting ones are from this generation.

-The Pokemon-Amie feature is a friendly tamagotchi-y or nintendogs-like feature that enables you to pet, feed, mimic through the 3DS`s camera or play mini games with your Pokemon. It is not necessary for story progression whatsoever but it does reward the player in certain ways for using it. Making it an excellent addition since it doesn't force you to make use of it if you dislike it. (Any Pokemon is compatible with the Pokemon-Amie)

Every Pokemon is compatible! Like this intimidating fellow who might just bite your hand off any time now.

And now, sadly, it`s time to talk about the immense flaw this game has going against it. Don't get me wrong, please, this doesn't make the game terribly bad or boring, but it does take away from the experience as it eliminates one of the things that made past Pokemon so fun to play for both newbies and pros, it's difficulty.

The game is incredibly easy, and its not because I have played the other ones in the series, its irrefutable badly measured. It amazes me how this could go by unnoticed on a game with such a long development period, an amazingly talented developer and a formula over a decade old that never had this problem before. After about 25% of the story, you start to widen a level gap between your Pokemon and those you encounter in the wild, the ones Pokemon trainer have and even the gym leaders`s parties. So at this point in the game, the difference in your weakest Pokemon and the gym leader`s strongest is clear. Yours is about 1 or 2 levels higher, YOUR WEAKEST. By the end of the game your weakest Pokemon will most likely be about 7-9 levels above the leaders`s toughest. For anyone new to the series: THIS IS CRAZY, IT HAS NEVER BEEN LIKE THIS, YOU USUALLY GRIND TO GET ON PAR WITH THOSE GUYS NOT OVERLEVEL THEM ACCIDENTALLY.

Don't tell me this creature doesn't look overpowered and devastatingly strong to you.

So to kind of wrap things up, the games are not bad, at all. It's just something that in my opinion takes away so much from the experience, to kind of go through the motions because things come out so easily and Pokemon battles are almost never a challenge. I'm striving to make an honest critic out of myself and I have to say this game is worth it's tag price. But! if it wasn't for such a huge upgrade aesthetically and all the cool features and tools added to the game. In addition to these entries getting the closest to perfection we've ever been to the ultimate Pokemon formula, this game would be a bad one. No one wants to play a game that offers no challenge whatsoever, and even though one eventually rises in Pokemon X and Pokemon Y it is on rare occasions. Without further a due, here is the scoring for the latest animals in this already beastly franchise:

Visuals: the game looks amazing! this is the best looking Pokemon game up to date and one of the best looking games for the 3DS and that's no exaggeration. There is one tiny little detail, the 3D feature drops the frame rate at times and it's not enabled for all the zones and events in the game. But the game received such a beautiful upgrade and change to its graphical design without altering its functionality that it is truly something to praise Gamefreak for. 9.5/10

Gameplay: everything control-wise is as tight and flawless as ever. Like I said before, most mechanics have been made easier and less time consuming which is great, but since the challenge is almost completely removed from the game and just because it was truly staple of the series it does negatively affect the experience. 6.5/10

Story: this is neither the worst or the best story in a Pokemon game, we've definitely seen better and we've most definitely seen worse. It is an okay plot with an O.K ending but the game does deserve its praise when it comes to the setting and the huge amount of cultural reference and homage it pays to the country it is inspired by. 7.5/10

Music: the music is very nice, it is as you'd expect from a Pokemon game and even if you've never heard any of it before, you'll be humming some of the tunes in no time. Some pieces were beautiful, trendy and just really fun to hear but most were great, nothing more than that. 8/10

Final Verdict:

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y are great games, it is a shame something like its iconic decent-to-hard difficulty was lost somewhere in the process of development. Despite this evident mishap, Pokemon X and Pokemon Y have so many cool new features like mega evolutions, Pokemon-Amie, wonder trade and game chat that make them a truly wonderful experience, a flawed one, but also worth playing.

7.9/10


*I am not a competitive player, I do not know if the competitive aspects of the game have been heavily affected or not "hands-on" but I did my research so that veteran competitive players could actually get an idea from this review, from everything I read and investigated: this game did not damage the competitive play.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Review

Animal crossing: New Leaf review: 

Hard work & commitment = serene relaxation.

Animal crossing: New Leaf is the latest entry to the animal crossing series, whether you're here to read about it because you've been a long time fan of the series or because thanks to the Villager's announcement as a playable character for the all new super smash bros. game caught your attention, look no further, here you'll find out everything you need to know about it.

Summary: the Animal Crossing series are simple, delicate, but very rewarding life simulators. In this specific entry, you begin your journey into a new fulfilling life aboard a bus, in which a friendly cat named Rover starts helping you sketch out the details about yourself, the name of the town you're off to making your life in and even helps you pick out the landscape it`ll have. Once you arrive you are ambushed by friendly folks that reveal to you, you're bound to be the town's new mayor and that there are lots of things to do.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a real time life sim, filled with a staggering amount of things to do and discover but an even gargantuanly larger amount of things to collect. it's an amazing experience, but it is far more relaxing than it is exciting or challenging, it acts as a sort of analogy for real life itself. There are tons of fun to be had catching bugs, fishing, digging up fossils, buying works of art, planting and re-arranging trees and foliage, decorating and expanding your house, among many other things, but there is also an intricate time consuming way to keep it all in check.

Just LOOK at the decoration in that room, isn`t it beautiful? Don't get distracted by the mario-mustache rabbit, look at the room decor! Gosh!

To lay it out simple and clean, you first need to thoroughly understand what playing a real-time life simulator really means. Animal Crossing has never been a series where the hardships of life are portrayed and you need to worry sick about what's going on when you're not around. But it is your duty as a mayor and the only working townsfolk to chat and interact with the people around your town or they'll move out. You need to water the plants, chop down the undesired trees, collect a huge amount of items to donate to the town's museum (to help with your town`s cultural education), among several other activities. these are just the main chores and responsibilities of a mayor. And they need to be done daily. You are encouraged to strive for making your town beautiful, well developed, its citizen happy and its businesses prosper.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf sees many welcome additions to the series, it is quite impressive how much the game developers managed to pack into the 3DS cartridge, specially considering this is a game that simulates the passing of years thoroughly. The cloth designing and sharing feature is tons of fun and easy to use, whether it appeals to you or not I can almost guarantee you'll be eager to give it a spin and you won't resist picking up some of the other user created content. There are tons of cool things the fabulous Animal Crossing community shares. Along with more customization options for your character than we've ever seen before and some other cool things to unlock which I wont spoil for discovery-reward's sake, this game is well worth its price and its release as a new, full fledged sequel to this long lived franchise.

You`ve got to admit it... that girl looks FABULOUS!

There are 2 ways of going around animal crossing, time traveling or just plain old jolly living, the first may sound very cheat-like but its actually very well acknowledged by the game's developers and how most hardcore fans of the series go about the game. Like I said, this game really delivers when it comes to simulation, seasons pass, day and night come by just as they would in real life, holidays get celebrated and for goodness sake even astronomical events are well depicted! So you are given the choice of going about the birth, development and blossoming of your town at the pace you choose via time traveling or at the slow, breezy, pace of life itself.

No matter which road you take, don't be afraid, everything is explained through some of the quirkiest, cutest, easy to read and understand dialogue you've ever seen. The game does an amazing job of making you feel both qualified for the task and excited to do so. Mix the daily easy to do but repetitive tasks, the exploration and collection of a wide variety of items that come with their own educational facts and cheerful puns, a high reward for you that expresses itself in the form of a sincere gratitude from the cute animals you live with and a continuous but slow paced barrage of new things to do to personalize your house, town and persona. And there you have it, Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

EVIDENCE: Overly cute hedgehog fashion designer having a quirky conversation with you.

Visuals: the game looks pretty but not outstandingly so, the art style allows for a very pretty but also simple looking characters and settings. Yes, they are very colorful and pleasant to look at and you'll be doing a lot of looking, so its just like it needs to be. It is also important to note the 3D feature is very eye friendly, it doesn't feel overloaded, it didn't make me feel sick at all like in other games and it doesn't drop the frame-rate. 8.5/10

Gameplay: the controls are easy to learn, everything is well explained and your inventory which is opened and closed a lot is easy to manage. Like I said: there are lots of things to do, some easier to get a hold of than others but nothing difficult. You'll find yourself auto-piloting through most of the tasks in a little while and eager to make use of the many customization options for your character, town and house. 7.75/10

Story: there is not much of a story to tell, and that`s fine. The focus of these type of games and this series in particular is not the departure or the destination. Its the journey itself, which sometimes may come out a bit simple and vague and sometimes relaxing and joyful, the only minor concern here is that if you don't time-travel, you will have many empty, repetitive, chore feeling days in between exciting or interesting holidays and events and that can be frustrating. 7/10

Music: this time around many many old good tunes make an appearance, some of them even sound better than what I recall. The new tunes are up to the standard and good to hear included into an already great soundtrack. You need to remember that in a game not filled with combo sound effects, announcers, and voice acting that doesn't sound like a really sped up squirrel voice, pleasant music is a must and Animal Crossing: New Leaf is full of it. 9.5/10

Final verdict:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf, is worth every penny, In its core, all the single player experience is very time consuming but very fun in its own way, this game is not for everybody, but that's just because of its genre, If I have something to confess its: these are not my type of games, yet I thoroughly enjoyed playing it. I spent at least 50 hours going at it daily over the course of 3 weeks and strongly recommend this amazing piece of work. It`s lots of fun to play either alone or with pals, with constant StreetPass feedback, online connectivity with friends and strangers alike, mini-games that are fun, competitive and rewarding. This Animal Crossing entry gets a:

8.6/10

Last, but not least, this an image courtesy of Kotaku.com that shows how some well known video game magazines and sites rated the game:

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