First Impression: Electronic Super Joy (Steam) ~ Thanks For The Gift!

Official website

In the name of all that’s good, I want to thank Justin from the Arpegians since he gifted me this game. Since this game has a soundtrack of my favorite style of music, I was hooked in an instant. He didn’t want anything in return yet, I have to return his kindness with a new article. By the way, this article is one before a huge milestone. Then I’ll have written a 100 articles on this gaming blog. Yay, for me! So a special article leading up to another special article. And that in the holidays. Aw man. Sweet deal. Anyways, let me know in the comments what you thought of this first impression and / or the game. 

Joy indeed.

This game’s story is just plain silly. And it works perfectly. This game is a platformer and in my opinion, then you are allowed to have an extremely silly story. This game has the quest to find your… well, ehrm. To keep it PG-13, your backside.

The game opens with a warning screen to warn people who can’t stand flashing lights. Yet, the presentation is in such a silly way that I actually started to laugh. It pokes fun at many things in our gaming community. I really like what they did there.

Also, there isn’t a menu screen. Well, no a “casual” one. You are directly presented with a level select and the option buttons are at the bottom. And since the neat and bones of this game are in the gameplay, the menu is actually perfect. You can easily go to the last level and replay already beaten levels. Why would you replay then? Well, to try and beat your score or try to have a lower death count.

Greatness

Is this game creative? In a way yes, since the visual aspect really plays on the music. There are games that do this (way) before this game yet, it’s not done enough.

While I disliked the black & white level, I found it pretty amusing to play through. And before you think I told a contradiction here, I mean that it’s my least favorite level.

Graphically, this game isn’t anything to write home about. But this isn’t a negative point at all. What I mean here is that there are way nicer and cooler looking platformers out there. But what this platformer does completely right is how simplistic everything looks so that a tutorial isn’t really needed. Stars are for bouncing, and up arrows to jump higher once.

When you miss a jump, you get back to the checkpoint. There are no real lives in this game. Only a time you can beat in your next run. And this game is pretty forgiving. Since the checkpoints are close to each other. And the voices used when you reach the checkpoints are just great.

One negative is actually the attack. That’s my only gripe with this game. The attack is just a b-word to execute. I reached to the point I got the smash attack. And you NEED to jump up to smash down. Honestly, this makes me feel like I’m Mario and with the sometimes tight spaces you need to execute this, it’s just plain ridiculous.

Perfectness

While one or two tracks have some dubstep elements in them, I forgive the creator. It’s not that I hate dubstep but I hate it. I love my base to be on similar level. Those base drops kill the melody for me. So, it’s more a disliking towards the genre.

Yet, to non techno and electronic music fans this soundtrack is catchy. And yes, some of the tracks are now my alarm clock, part of my message tone and my ringtone.

In this game there is a scrolling screen. And it’s pace is just excellent. This game isn’t extremely difficult. To prove my point, a platforming noob like myself can finish some levels close to record times. Oh yes, the game has leaderboards. And this ups the replay value even more.

Besides the “undeep” story and these leaderboards, the replay value is extremely high. But everything is put nicely together by some amazing controls. I haven’t played this game using a keyboard but with a controller… Holy cheese nuggets they are perfect. When you miss a jump, it’s totally your fault. The game has no real cheap tricks up it’s selves. When you missed the platform, it’s your fault.

The presentation of the dialogue is something I want to briefly talk about as well. You pass characters who’s lines of dialogue, or line rather, is simply displayed by white text above their head. This aids the game flow a lot and doesn’t make the game crawl down to a halt for dialogues.

Before I forget, I love the fact that you can use one button for instant respawning. That’s simply amazing. When you fail a jump, you can skip the teleport to checkpoint animation and save yourself some time. And the music continues to play and doesn’t restart. When that happens I get so pissed.

Oh, and about the attacking. The sound effect ruins the music a bit in my view. But I hope that I can lower the volume on it so that problem is solved.

Also, the developer updates the game quite often from the looks of the change logs. Nice job on him.

I recommend the Steam version actually. Since that one has achievements and they are pretty sweet to get. While I haven’t received one I’m so going to do my utter best to get as much I can before I get tired of the game.

And that’s about it. There isn’t anything other special I can talk about so, I think I’ll leave this first impression here. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed preparing and writing this one. Thanks again Justin for the gift and I hope this article is a great way to repay you. Next up, is a special article for my 100th article! See you guys then.

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First Impressions: Castlevania – Lords Of Shadow – Mirror Of Shadow (3DS) ~ It’s Just Fun!

Wikipedia entry

So, my best wishes for the holidays. I have something special to announce. I got myself a wireless controller for my PC. That means that I can now play even more games than before. In addition to that, it’s the 50th article I publish on ButtonSmashers. Yes, 50th! And I’m nearing a big number on my personal blog as well. So, I’m extremely thrilled about that. But this is totally beside the point, I told you guys that I wouldn’t write any new article in 2013. I kinda lied. This is a new article, I guess. While I’m waiting for a download to finish to use my controller on, I played a bit of this game on my 3DS. It’s surprisingly better then I expected it in the first place. That’s why I decided to write an article about it. It would be lovely if you left a comment with your thoughts on this article and or on this game. So, let’s go. 

Story

It’s going to be a shame to admit this but I know next to nothing about the story in the Castlevania series. It’s a shame really since I quite enjoy the Castlevania games. It’s actually Castlevania game I’m waiting on downloading on Steam.

The story, for as far I can understand, is pretty thrilling. The writing is pretty neat. I think it’s brilliantly written.

While I was thrown off at first by the presentation of the cutscenes, when I placed my 3D slider to the max I actually rather enjoyed the art style.

From what I have heard, this game will take place from different points of view. You don’t have to tell that to me twice to know that I’m going to play an excellent story. I have played multiple RPG’s from Konami and I was never let down by the story.

The voice acting. Wow. I mean, it just blows my mind how good it was. And actually still it. In the cutscenes, the voices add so much to the game. Yet, I’m under the impression that the game sometimes has a bit of a slowdown in the cutscenes with the 3D slider on. But that might just be me though.

“Mash”

Let me be clear on this, I hate button mashers with a passion. It broke the shoulder buttons of my original DS and I’m still kinda pissed about that. Yet, I’m glad that I learned my lesson and I don’t have to make other devices suffer the same fate.

ButtonSmashers don’t demand skill. In a sense they do, the skill to be able to tap a button very rapidly. While this game sometimes has it quick time events and it’s “mash the attack button” moments, I never really felt that they were a “mashing fest”.

Since when you aren’t careful, you’ll die. And in typical Castlevania style, the hearts don’t give back your health. You have to find fountains. And they aren’t close together. You have to react quickly and try to save your health.

In terms of controls, it’s acceptable. It’s one of the more weaker points in the game. While there is no “tutorial”, the controls are displayed briefly on the screen. So, experienced players won’t be annoyed by them.

While researching for the article, I came across an article on this game which called the combat one of the negatives. Well, here lies a problem. Since this game is a sequel to a 3D game, the combat is, of course, less bloody and such. I give them that, yet when you look at how this game works well in terms of combat as a 2D game, I think it can be excused.

Yet, something I didn’t welcome with open hands is the fact that when you die, you can get respawned in a boss fight with full health. Yeah, when you killed the boss halfway, you will respawn there.

Verdicts

Besides the weird respawning, there is something else that bothers me. The animation isn’t that great in my opinion. And before you write angry comments, let me explain.

The animation on the characters and such is great. Yet, we can’t really enjoy it that well since it’s a bit too zoomed out. It makes the game feel unfinished and that they use this technique to hide that.

While I already said that the controls aren’t the greatest, I have to talk a bit more about them. After you got used to them, they are pretty nice quality. The big issue is the fact that you need to get used to them. I wished that special powers could be done with a touch on the touchscreen.

The game is a good challenge. It isn’t too hard to be frustrating, but it isn’t too easy. This is a pureblood action adventure game. And the adventuring is really present. While you can easily see where to go next, exploring around gives you additional content. And more monsters to fight.

Defeated monsters give you XP. And when you level up, when you have enough XP of course, you unlock new moves. You can quickly check the moves list in your inventory so you have no excuse that you forgot the controls when you didn’t play the game for a while.

Also, Konami didn’t use any excuses in the art style. The game is pretty. Too bad that the game is a bit zoomed out. Otherwise, the art would have more detail in them and shined through a bit more.

I’ll probably go more in depth with my review but I’m liking this game so far. The music is also really nice. I like the soundtrack. Such a shame that no real good quality versions are uploaded to YouTube, so I could share it with you guys. In the sound department, this game is really well put together.

So in conclusion, this game would have been a lot better with some minor tweaks at the controls and a bit more zoomed in. But I think I’m going to leave it here. When I’m reaching that milestone on my personal blog, I’ll write a long special article. Thanks for reading and have a safe Christmas.

Top 10 games I played in 2013

Alright, let’s do this. I have my favorite music playing in the background and it’s time to write some articles. 2013 is nearly over and I need to study. A lot even. But anyways, in this top 10 I’ll write about the games I played this year. There is one catch though. I’m not allowed to list games I have played before 2012. So, games I have finished and I’m now replaying don’t count. Anyways, I want for lay-out sake that this introduction is as long as the image here. And since that’s the case already, let’s start with the list. Leave me a comment from your thoughts of the games I have choosen. And try make a list yourself. I’m quite curious. 

#10: Delver (Steam)

This game. It took me by storm. I bought it on Steam because it caught my eye. And seriously, I don’t regret it in the slightest. I even wrote a review on it. I love playing this game because it’s simple.

You can pick it up from time to time and continue where you left off. I also get the feeling of freedom I get from Minecraft. It’s just mindblowing.

There is a similar game out on Steam, called Eldrich. Yet, I think Delver is clearly the better game.

#9: Pokémon Y (3DS)

Oh yes, this might piss off some people. Why is Pokémon X & Y on such a low spot. I think I might see a rage incoming.

Yet, while I haven’t written an article about it yet, I do think that this game has some flaws that made this game not the extremely nice title it’s supposed to be.

I have to give it to Nintendo. They did a lot of things right with this game. The improvements they made are well placed and work perfectly. Yet, there are some parts I think that they should have presented differently.

I’m not really done just yet with this entry in the series but when I’m done I’ll review this game. Although that the planned co-op won’t be happening since college got in the way and I was unable to finish the article in time and I delayed it and I started to be distracted by other games…

#8: Legend Of Heroes – Trails In The Sky

This game is my favorite RPG on PSP. I’m so glad I discovered it. I’m nearly playing this game non-stop as soon as I start my PSP.

The writing in this game is excellent. The story is interesting and the gameplay is just great. The story comes close to a story I was writing on my forum in the past. I sometimes miss those days. Oh well, I’m glad I can write here on my blog and write for other things as well.

In the last months of 2013, I have been looking for games to play. And when I saw this game on the shelves, I was so glad I picked it up.

I even mentioned this game in my previous music article. The music is even worth listing to. Yet, it isn’t my favorite PSP game. I’ll talk about that one later.

It pains me to put this excellent game so low on the list, but oh well. I’m happy that I can include it. I would be ashamed if I forgot it.

#7: Broken Sword 5 – The Serpents Curse (PC – Steam)

Okay, this game was fully fan-funded. And I haven’t beaten it yet. I’ll soon though. I’m trying to finish a lot of games now. And I’m replaying a lot of games to write an article on my blog for.

This game got some recent updates as well. Yet, there are some things that should still be worked on. Like I told in my first impression.

This point and click game proves that Revolution Software has still the making of these style of games mastered. Their way of coming out to their fans is just excellent. I love how they made this game happen.

I’m enjoying this game quite a lot and I’m ashamed that I don’t give this game the love it deserves. And I secretly hope that I get the collectors edition for Christmas so that my whole collection of this series is complete.

Next year, the second episode will be posted. When I finished that, I’ll surely write a full review about it!

#6: Tomb Raider (PC)

This game. It’s the game I used to come back at the world of blogging and reviewing. Read my review about it here.

I still play the game here and there to make sure I’ll reach the 100% one day. And I’ll also replay this game next year in order to try and beat this game on hard.

This game was such a blast from start to finish and I was so sad when I had beaten it. It went by a bit too quick for me.

But thanks to this game, I have discovered my love for a bit more creepy games and I learned to play games I thought I would have hated.

Still, my urge to replay some old Tomb Raiders is big now. And I might start playing some old classic Tomb Raiders in the near future.

#5: The Legend Of Zelda – Link Between Worlds (3DS)

Wow! Hold your horses. NekoJonez is such a big Zelda fan and he doesn’t put the latest Zelda title on the number one spot?

Yes, I don’t. Since there are some games that changed my gaming life for good and this game didn’t do that.

While it’s one of the best Zelda titles to date, I have my doubts about some things in this game. And when I beat it, I’ll talk about it in my review. But I talked about my opinion already in this article.

Still, this game takes the spot for best game that didn’t change my gaming life. And congrats on winning the award of “Game Of The Year” on Gamespot guys. It was such a surprise!

#4: Phoenix Wright – Ace Attorney 5 – Dual Destinies (3DS – eShop)

This game changed my gaming life. It changed my views on DLC for good. I might have talked about it in a bad way in my review and my first impression. Shame on me for thinking all DLC is bad.

The additional case really added a nice case that makes this game worthy of a higher score. I wish there is a new case in the make for this game. One where we don’t have Simon as the opponent. Please, another one would be great!

If you haven’t played this title, it’s a great way to start the series. I restarted Miles Edgeworth actually after playing this and I might just write a review of that game soon.

#3: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon – Gates To Infinity (3DS)

This game is just worthy of a review. Oh wait, I already wrote that article. I finished this game already. And I wrote that long review off it.

Yup, this game got a more lengthy review from me and I think it was worth it. It learned me how a sequel can be both disappointing yet fun as well. There were some parts I thought they shouldn’t have cut out but hey, they gave us some great other options as well.

I still have to finish the post game. But you know me, other games that start to distract me. But what didn’t distract me was the ending of the game. I succeeded in making me cry once more.

Even when I could predict the ending of this story, I still ran into the trap of the ending being such a hit on my “FEELS”. Aw man, I wish I could restart this game without knowing what happened to experience that feeling once more.

#2: Corpse Party (PSP)

Without a doubt, this is the best PSP game ever made in my opinion. Although I might have lazily placed the box-art of the sequel here, I think it’s worthy to mention it as well.

As I’m nearly done with finishing the last chapter of the sequel, the original game made me start my first impression series. The article is here. And I reviewed it as well. That review can be found here.

This game is surely worth of a playthrough. This text adventure is actually scary. And yes, it’s even a freaking 2D game. It’s written in such a way it’s pretty scary. And I even had moments where I regretted playing this in the dark.

Even playing this game in full light, this game has the power to make people piss their pants. It once came to a close encounter for me.

But the sequel is on the list to review once I finished it. Man, I have a lot of games I want to play but I kind of refuse to play this game since I don’t want to end my adventure with this game.

#1: Alan Wake (PC)

Looking back on 2013, I have played a lot of games. 2013 was such a weird year for me. I had new experiences and learned a lot. But there was one game that made me love my passion of writing stories even more.

Alan Wake. It’s simply one of the best PC games ever made. The adventure is extremely well made and it even made me reading books again. And what a blast it is to read the novel based on this game.

It made me want to play the game without stopping. I have written two articles about it. My first impression and my review.

I’m so glad that I got this game as a gift from somebody of my forum. And yes, that’s a reason why this game might got the first spot on my list.

I’m playing the sequel now and I’m curious how the story will wrap up. I’ll keep you guys up-to-date.

Final words

This may or may not be my last article of 2013. Busy times are ahead. I’ll try to write a few new articles. I have some planned. And I hope that they get past the planning stage this time.

Anyways, I am glad that I finally was able to write this article. Since it was such a challenge to write this list. I played so many games, I didn’t want to exclude some games, but I had to not list some of my favorites.

I’m quite sure that there are a lot of games you guys haven’t played or never heard of. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much I had writing it. But before I leave, let’s list the games that just didn’t made the cut for the list.

Elebits (DS), Tales Of Monkey Island (PC), NickTunes Fight For Vulcano Island (PS2), The Stanley Parable (PC), The Novelist (PC), Animal Crossing – New Leaf (3DS), Ape Escape (PSP), Fragile Dreams (Wii) and various others.

Well, I might just wish you guys happy holidays. Since I’m sure that makes me cover everything you possibly could celebrate. And I hope to catch you in one of my further articles!

 

NekoJonez: My Favorite Game Music #3: Blasting.

Let’s blast speakers again. Well, sort of. I felt like sharing some amazing game music with you guys again. I had to open my two previous articles on my 2nd screen to make sure I didn’t duplicate a song. But I think that once I have a few of these articles I might pay a bit less attention to that. I mean, with which witchcraft is someone able to make sure he didn’t duplicate an entry in a series. If you have a tip, be sure to leave it in the comments. Anyways, feel free to leave a comment on this article with your thoughts. What do you think of my selected music and what is your favorite game music? I look forward to reading them.

#1 – The Legend Of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki FC (PSP) – Battle Theme

Link

Ah, this game is my current addiction. This PSP title is such a gem of a game. I truly enjoy the story and idea behind it. This battle theme is pretty cheery, what you normally don’t expect from an RPG. Yet, I truly think it fits in the soundtrack.

The writing and art make the game feel lighthearted. And this track truly adds to that fact. Sometimes I left battles to go on just to keep listing to this track.

I admit, with some shame, I danced one this track in my room once or twice… Maybe three times. Not more than ten times, though.

Anyways, this game feels fresh to me and hearing that there will be a sequel on Steam is making me extremely pumped. As soon as I find an entry on Steam I’ll surely put it on my wishlist and buy the sequel. Yet, this game will only be released in 2014. So, we will have to wait.

#2: The Legend Of Zelda – Link’s Awakening (DX) (GB – GBC) – Ballad Of The Windfish

Link

Although this might be a short track, the rewarding feeling is why this track is so special. Imagine that you go in several dungeons collecting these instruments and hearing bad things left and right.

Trying to defeat the monsters that stop you in your path. It’s a huge task.

This game is also full of references to other Nintendo games. It’s a unique game and I’m curious what the DX version is going to give me. I bought it a while ago on the eShop and I’m ready to play it.

The clip might not be of excellent quality yet, I play the song quite nice. And the remixes of this song are really neat as well.

#3: Tomb Raider: Underworld (PC) – God Of Thunder

Link

So, the DS version of this game had its flaws. And in general, this Tomb Raider game had its flaws. Yet, I enjoyed it an awful lot myself. I think that this is a great entry in the series.

I was bumped out that we couldn’t explore the mansion at all. But the story covers the reason why.

Anyways, this song has been stuck in my head whenever I replay the game. It’s a great tune. The tense feeling I get when playing the game and hearing this song is the perfect mood set.

The length is the only issue I have with the track. I wish it would have been a bit longer since after a short while of looping this track gets somewhat annoying to some people. At least not to me, I take this track as one of my favorite tracks in the whole series.

So, what’s next Jonezy?

#4: Tomb Raider (PC) – Suite One, Level Three

 

Tomb Raider Survivor Box-Art.

Link

Call me cheaty with this one, but I won’t care. Two tracks from the same series on the last in one article. I honestly think it’s worth it.

Tomb Raider is an extremely tense game. And playing it with the amazing soundtrack this game has makes this game such a joy to play. It was also the game I reviewed to restart my career as a game reviewer.

This track makes me feel tense in a tense game. My heart got pumping and I was at the edge of my seat while playing this section of the game. I have to admit that I don’t exactly remember which part of the game this track played on. But it’s by far one of my favorite pieces in the whole soundtrack.

The orchestra that created this amazing piece of music really did amazing work and I’m hunting down a copy of the soundtrack album. If that even exists.

#5: Fragile Dreams (Wii) – A dedication to… everyone

Link

This game is simply amazing. While the writing might be the weakest in the game. It isn’t bad by any means. I’m currently playing through the 3rd chapter of this game and the relaxing soundtrack is something that draws me in.

I really advise you guys to play this tale. I have discovered it through one of my favorite YouTubers. And the full soundtrack is something I have yet to comment on. And I won’t comment on it in this article since I haven’t fully played the game.

Yet, I sometimes let the title screen just play the music. It’s that great in my … ears, I guess.

I hope this game is a rather lengthy game. The idea behind it is simply amazing. I can’t wait to see in which directions this game is going to take me. While I do admit that the inventory system is kind of a pain. But find me one game that’s perfect.

Closing words

And with these 5 tracks, I think I’m going to end this article. I have a few great upcoming articles in mind but before I can write those I’ll have to finish some games and do some research. But like I said in my previous update blog, I’m quite busy with college work and various other side projects.

So, I hope you enjoyed the music and maybe you discovered a new game to play. Anyways, I have some work to do. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you at a next time here!

First Impression: Broken Sword 5 – The Serpents Curse (PC – Steam) ~ Fan Funded!

Official website

Gorge and Nico are back baby! In the full 2(.5)D glory. When I saw this game being created by a Kickstarter I was hyped. And the big surprise is that the studio’s budget was as big as the money donated by the fans. Sadly, I wasn’t in time to donate. But I think some promotion like this will pay my debt back. If you wonder what I’m talking about, let me explain to you. I’m a big fan of this series. It’s the best point and click adventure game build in Europe. This game actually made me enjoy this genre of gaming, and it stuck with me ever since. For my Christmas present I actually asked to get the collectors’ edition of this series. And recently, this game popped up on Steam. Also, this game is only 20 bucks! And in addition to that, the big finale, which is going to be released at the start of next year, is going to be free if you bought the first episode. Anyway, enough introduction! Let me know in the comments what you think of this game and / or my article. 

Story, not perfect.

In terms of story, this game is neat. A story in this series starts with a big problem and then through-out your adventure you start to learn what has been going on. And some conspiracy is always the outcome.

The writing is again brilliant, yet it’s a bit weaker this time around. Don’t get me wrong, I think some moments are hilarious and some thrilling. Yet, it doesn’t have the right power to be as good as the previous stories. Lots of critics complain about it. But it’s something different that destroys the story for me.

It’s the presentation of the story that’s flawed. I’ll talk about the graphics later. Just to be clear, I’m talking how the story is being told to us. One thing that bothers me is that the dialogue isn’t fluid. The next line waits until the animation is done. This makes for sometimes short and awkward pauses in a conversation and that breaks the immersion a bit.

Talking about the animation, it’s pretty well. They are pretty realistic and well-made. Each character has its own set of animation like his or her own personality. With the brilliant voice acting, the animation is top-notch. If you ignore one thing though. The lips. I don’t know how, yet sometimes when a character speaks their lips don’t seem to move. As if they were thinking. And that’s the second issue with the story for me. I start to notice that and the charm of the story goes lost.

New and better!

Apart from the issues with the story’s presentation I have one other complaint with this game. And that’s the movement. For one, there isn’t a run button. And secondly, you can’t really walk freely around without having to click on things. That’s what I dislike the most about this game.

Yet, the game is more newcomer friendly. With a great tutorial, that’s optional (take notes devs!), you get introduced to the game’s mechanics really easily.

Also, the fact that hints now unlock way easier is a big plus! In addition, the presentation of the hints is just amazing. It’s the question people ask when they are stuck. Like “I can’t get the door to open. What should I do?” And while I love to find out everything by myself, I sometimes can’t resist clicking the hint button to enjoy the writing.

Now about the graphics. They are mind-blowing. If you look at screenshots and such, the characters might not really fit in. I give you that. But keep in mind that apart from that, everything is hand drawn. And I get a realistic feel. Like real characters sat in front of a green screen. And I do think that this style fits the series extremely well.

The puzzles itself are again incredible.  Some make you truly think, and I honestly missed that. Also, the style of achievements like in Alan Wake to take your progress is just a neat idea. That way you have a nice list of how far you are in the game. Yet, I do find it extremely silly that every achievement displays “100%”. Almost like they are somewhere visible. Yet, I do think, while it’s neat and all that, this makes for spoilers. As the achievements give some spoilers if you would display them on the steam page.

Just exploring.

The music of Broken Sword was never really my favorite to listen to. And please, don’t get me wrong. I don’t turn it off or anything, it builds the atmosphere really well. Yet, I enjoy more melodic pieces of music instead of the music of Broken Sword. So, what I say is that this game has as a critic’s standpoint, great music. Yet, it’s out of my interest zone.

What could have used some polishing work is the sounds. I feel like the music is there to “cover up” the lack of sound effects. There were many moments where my mind added sound effects. Like in dialogue or walking sounds. That would have been amazing.

The story has been cut into two. I’m really curious to the rest of the story. Since this time it’s more than just a murder. It’s also a theft. And you are a prime suspect. Also, you can see that the characters moved with time. Some characters return, and they are as great as ever.

I have only finished 19% according to the achievement list, so I have a lot of left to play. And in my full review when I full beat this game, I’ll also talk about the options and more in depth of every aspect of this game. So, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this article. And now I’m going to enjoy myself a bit of Broken Sword 5! I have been waiting on it.

First Impression: The Legend Of Zelda – A Link Between Worlds (3DS) ~ The Future Of Zelda

Official website

Well, some of you guys might have already finished this game. Yet, I have not. There are a few games I’m playing during my free time so this one I play in parts. I have also a link to another world. It’s called real life. College is bothering me as well. Read as, giving me loads of work. Yet, I enjoy it. I would love to succeed in my future profession as a teacher. Anyways, enough about that. I got with the pre-order a special bonus. A chest that could open and close at will. And when you open it, the melody plays. You all know what it’s. It’s the chest opening sound. Anyways, this game is highly praised. Will this first impression add to the praise or will I rip this one apart? Of course not that last one since I’m such a Zelda fan. But I have some issues with the game. Oh yeah, I nearly always forget to add this part. But leave a comment with what you think of this game and / or my article. Thanks in advance. 

Graphics?

To be honest, when I saw the original teaser trailer, I was put off from playing this game. The graphics looked so ugly. Thankfully the finished product looks a lot better. Yet, I don’t think this is a graphic style for on portable devices. It more reminds me of games on the Gamecube then on games on the 3DS.

To be fair and objective for a second, the graphics are amazing. But like I already mentioned they aren’t my cup of tea. At least, not on the Nintendo 3DS. I’m a bigger fan of the design of the previous games. But I give credit where credit is due. The design of the enemies are similar to the previous game. I’m talking about A Link To The Past here, since this game is a sequel.

Fans of my blog know that I normally write about the story first. But I wanted to tackle this graphics part first. Since I honestly don’t care that much about graphics. Yet, I think some things in this game don’t look like they should. They don’t blend in with the rest of the look of the game too well for my taste.

Anyways, enough about the graphics. The animation of this game is well done. It looks alive. Also, the throwing of the spears from the enemies is perfect. You see a downwards motion and that’s just mind blowing.

Story

The story in portable Zelda games is never deep as in the console games. But this game actually challenges my statement. It builds on the previous story unlike the sequel of Ocarina of Time, which is Majora’s Mask. Also, the story is what YOU make of it. And now even more then before.

Out of order dungeons. They are finally back! One of the last times I can remember that you could do that was in Zelda I. The very original. In all other games you have to go from one dungeon to the next since you needed a certain item. But about that more later.

The story is played out nicely. Ganon returns but not on the way I suspected it to be. Also, the other world isn’t the past. It’s a mirror version of Hyrule. And thank the triforce for that. Nintendo really knew that they should make the other world something different.

But I can’t give my full opinion about the story yet since I haven’t finished it. But I promised to talk about the items later. And now is the time. You can buy and rent nearly every item in the game from the get-go. While this has me still mixed, the mechanic actually works and provides additional challenge. Renting an item costs you 50 rupees.  And buying, well at this point in the game, 800. While it’s true that you can farm out rupees, it makes you think about spending them when you don’t farm them.

This makes the dungeons not having an item in them. So, it’s basically a rush to the boss. Is the game easier then? Well no. Some dungeons are extremely challenging. And some puzzles are as well. Thinking out of the box with the mechanic that you can merge into walls is just great. First I thought that it would make the game easier and give you the ability to skip puzzles due to being able to go over holes. Yet, with some well placed design, this isn’t possible.

New and old?

So, I’ll go more in depth in my review. But because this is my first impression, I’m going to try and keep it short. So next up is the music. And holy smokes is it beautiful. It might happen that the music makes it on my favorite game music lists. Yeah, those articles. For some reason, I really enjoy writing those. And this music truly inspires me to write more. Many Zelda tunes are in this game. New music as well. Also, the themes are recognizable from the older games while it still manages to keep fresh.

Also, when you merge into the wall, the music sounds like you outside of the game area. Like you are approaching the game world. And that you hear the music. Lovely touch.

While I hate the save points, it provides a nice challenge. They went from the ability to save everywhere to save statues like in the previous Wii title.

Backtracking is thankfully a thing of the past! You have now a bell for calling a witch that will drop you off at any activated save point.

Wait, I’m nearing the end of the article and I haven’t talked about the controls and the new inventory system. I try to keep these kind of articles at the same length and now I’m really nearing the end. So, I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. When I’m finished with this game, I’ll surely write a review about it. So, keep your eyes open for that. But until then, let’s save Hyrule!

Game Music Favorites #2: Bigger Sequel.

As I’m The Legend Of Zelda, Link Between Worlds and the Special Case of Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies along with Age Of Empires II HD on Steam and Corpse Party – Book Of Shadows on PSP, I don’t have a lot of games to review or make a first impression about. Surely I can write two about Age Of Empires and Zelda, but I need to play a bit more of them first. But before that, I liked my previous article enough to already make a new, possibly more lengthy, article. Let’s dive into a load of amazing music that I found during my adventures in game. Feel free to leave yours in the comment section down below. Or your opinions on my selections. I love hearing feedback. Anyways, orchestra is ready to go, so yeah.

#1: Alan Wake (DLC) –  Old Gods Of Asgard – Children of the Elder God

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Alan Wake is an amazing game. And various others told me that the soundtrack is amazing. And I totally agree. The music makes the game more tense.

At the end of each chapter, they have placed an amazing song. This is one of my  favorite tracks in game. The atmosphere is tense and I enjoyed it an awful lot. The other songs aren’t really my cup of tea. Honestly I don’t like game music where there is lyrics. Expect when it’s on important moments.

But the DLC has the best music! The fighting scenes are tense. And the music makes you sit at the edge of your seat. Totally wonderful.

I wish I could find time to finish the DLC’s. I started to write this article ten days ago and I finally finished this part of it. Yup, like I said in my previous article, I’m that busy.

Anyways, on the the next track!

#2: Corpse Party: Blood Covered OST  – Chapter 5’s Main Building Theme 2 (PSP Version)

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I have talked a lot about Corpse Party. I love the game to death. It’s near perfection in my eyes in the visual novel horror genre. I applaud the creators of the game like a mad man.

I’ll probably choose a lot of tracks in this series with my favorite game music in it, so stay tuned. I talked about the music in my review. And since I haven’t finished Corpse Party – Book Of Shadows, I think it would be silly to put a track on here of that game.

But the last chapter’s music is just amazing. I even had it as my ringtone for quite some time. It’s upbeat and it makes you want to finish the story. It motivates you to fight on and solve the final riddles that the game presents to you.

While it’s upbeat and very melodic, the creepiness of the game doesn’t go lost. The track makes you feel tense while ready to dive head on in the action. This track is proof how music in a horror game doesn’t always need to be scary.

#3: Rise & Fall: Civilizations At War – Main Theme

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Let’s fight aside famous hero’s of Rome, Greece or Egyptian wars. Much to my disliking, the in game music is extremely short. With each track being just a minute long, the music just loops too much.

Yet, it isn’t bad music. It’s tough to find it online though. Maybe Midway hunts down uploaders and stops them from uploading the music. Yet, the main theme is uploaded several times.

Truth to be told, I haven’t come near completing this game. I just like the mechanic of having a RTS game and where you can see the battles in 3D. And control the movement of your hero. But I was a bit too young when trying to take on the campaign.

This music is so lovely, the creators even made it that you can’t tell when you loop it where it ends and where it starts. I wish this style of music was in every adventure game. This track, I see it used in more then only this style of game.

#4: Lux Pain – Pumpkin Pon

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Pumpkin Pon, is such a bright and relaxing place in Lux-Pain. In this visual novel, some darkness has taken over a town. You can see the darkness and how it eats away at people.

While trying to hide your special powers, you go undercover. This game is long, dark, gloomy and sometimes hard. But when this track starts playing, it always puts a smile to my face. Upbeat and melodic. Fun and inviting. Just like the bar it’s named after.

The game is underrated, but it isn’t for everybody. When I ever have time to replay it, I’ll surely review it.

#5: Time Hollow – Opening

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Oh. My. Lords. This theme song. It’s the definition of amazing openings. If you can, go find a version of the intro and watch it. And then tell me, you aren’t curious to play this game.

While the Japanese version is totally different, I prefer the English version of this one. I sing along with it every time I hear it. And yes, it even puts a tear to my eye thinking how well written this game is and what impact it has on me.

This game is way to short and I wish Konami made a sequel on this one. Where the game is longer. Since there are so many unexplained things left. And Konami, if you are reading, please make the sequel just a bit longer? Okay? Please?

#6: Monster Tale – Pressure’s On.

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There is a lot of good music in this Metroid-vania game. But this is one of my favorite tracks in-game. The music that plays with this boss battle is just so tense, that I was easily distracted by the music.

And when I finally could concentrate on the battle, the music helped me through the battle. I admit that I download music of games for tracks like this. Electronic rock. Sadly enough that this video cuts of the music midway. That, or YouTube must be glitching on me. Oh well.

This game is one I want to review. Yet, I has been some time since I played this game so I can’t give it a fair judgement. So, keep your eye out on a review of this pearl.

#7: The Last Remnant – Press to Victory

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Only recently I started playing The Last Remnant. I bought Broken Sword 5 – The Serpents Curse and I saw that this game was on sale. To make a nice round amount to pay at the check out, I bought it. I thought I earned some great games after doing some hard work in college.

And I heard some amazing music in this game. It blew me off my socks and I will surely play this game a lot more. It’s interesting and it got a story I can relate to. Well, relate as in, I saw it in different games as well and I wanted more of that style of story!

This music truly sets the right tone on the battlefield and I’m curious when it will be used again in the game. I have only played it for like a hour and I am attached to it. So, probably for Christmas I’m going to ask Santa to give me a bit more hours in a day since I want to play so many games besides studying and this is surely one of them.

I advice to get this game. It’s a cheap one and it’s made by Square Enix. Yeah, good stuff!

#8: Phoenix Wright – Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies – Pursuit: Ambushed

The Japanese box-art because we only got an eShop release.

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Objection! This music is totally awesome. It’s the best pursuit music I have heard in years. In all the series, this music is my favorite track in the game. It’s the moment you finally crack the case and place the suspect under high stress.

Ace Attorney looses a lot of it’s charm if you play it without the music. I mean, a big orchestra even played the music of this game. Think about it, people who care so much about a simple text based game on the Nintendo DS. It even started on the Gameboy Advance in Japan!

All the songs, and all the remixes of this series are worth listing to. Yet, this is my number one track in the whole series. Thanks for uploading the extended version!

Closure

So, I think I’ll leave this article here. I’m finishing up DLC of Ace Attorney 5 and Alan Wake. While I’m beating also games I have nearly completed. So, expect new articles in the future. While I try to fight through college as well.

I hope you enjoyed reading through this article and you enjoyed the music tracks I picked this time. I’m nearing the 100th article I publish on my personal blog. So, I’m truly excited. Anyways, back to Broken Sword 5. The update downloaded. 🙂