Nocturne's Game Reviews- for when he's bored

[mikey]

Wii U.  Although I don't know if there are actually any differences aside from save states

[mikey]

Everything is wrong about this statement.

RIP Cashwarrior
Pokemon Sun
Guys' Fashion Doesn't Matter

Story: 2/7

Spoiler

I admit, I rushed through the game way too quickly for me to give an unbiased analysis of the story, but my main beef with it was its childish labeling of right and wrong and how the entire thing feels more like an NBC drama than a video game.  The fact that the story is obvious doesn't really make it lose points here.  I thought it was fine, and 2/7 is a reflection of how good of a story I think it was rather than how much I enjoyed it.  Lusamine wasn't necessarily in the right, but I don't really see Lillie and Gladion being in the right here either.  Overall the lack of clear motivation, antagonists, and an opposition to the protagonist's goals (in fact Lusamine herself brought up the similarities between the protagonist and herself, and I agreed with her quite a bit.) made the story seem lackluster in comparison to, say, DPPt, whose antagonist is basically the best in the entire Pokemon series.

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Character Development: 6/7

Spoiler

Yeah, they got me here.  Not necessarily that I was a fan of Lillie undergoing such a radical change, but the way the story WAS set up left a lot of room for character development of the Aether (pronounced EE-thur for those of you wondering) family, which they definitely did a good job on delivering.  The characters were pretty great too (shoutout to ya boy Guzma) and I can honestly say I understood where each character's motivations were coming from, even if they were unfocused and/or I didn't necessarily agree with their point of view.

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Reward Factor: 3/7

Spoiler

This one is almost entirely my fault, since I was 100% expecting to be able to go to Kanto after the main game was over.  The game was also pretty easy, meaning that beating the Totem beasts and the Captains wasn't necessarily as rewarding as it could have been, especially since they were a lot weaker than Gym Leaders.  On the other hand, the Kahuna battles were quite fun.  I also have an issue with Lusamine's battles, since I was REALLY REALLY REALLY expecting her Clefable to be a major headache but she was quite easy for me to take out.

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Art: 3/7

Spoiler

It's 2016, you guys can do better.  Not that I mind, but...

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Music: 4/7

Spoiler

The battle themes are definitely catchy, but Pokemon music is generally outside of my taste.  With that in mind, this is a pretty good score.  I also played in the middle of the night, so I didn't get a chance to enjoy the full soundtrack.  I think my favorite background music in the game is Royal Avenue.  Why?  I'm not sure.

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Gameplay: 6/7

Spoiler

It's Pokemon man, tried and true formula.  Plus they gave you cheats this time so I didn't have to agonize over whether or not my move was half effective.

[close]

Overall: 24/42

Granted, a majority of the reason why I picked up this game was the PokeBank/RBY compatibility, which I greatly look forward to experimenting with in the next few months.  I wouldn't recommend this game if you're looking for a very story driven time intensive game (I beat the story in 20 hours man), but for a casual time passer it hits the spot.

[SlowPokemon]

I very much enjoyed reading it. It's weird how two people can take away such different experiences from Pokémon. I finished the game at about 80 hours. Though I'm not sure taking away points because you expected to go to Kanto is really fair xD I'm also kind of getting the impression you just mashed A through all of the story cutscenes

[mikey]

Nooo
I only mashed a through the executor island cutscene because c'mon who didn't

[FireArrow]

yeah that part was kind of dumb

[cashwarrior1]

I only mashed a through the executor island cutscene because c'mon who didn't

What?!?!? Honestly, that was my favorite part. In moon, the shooting stars was awesome.
I enjoyed the story even though there wasn't really a motive, it was just interesting
Also, I hate that Lillie didn't just keep Nebby, what the heck?

RIP Cashwarrior

I'll go die again ;-;

[mikey]

The shooting stars occured at night.  The same cutscene during the day caused a rainbow to appear.  But the entire thing was just cinematic drama fluff that I didn't really care about

[mikey]

I'm going to rank all the zelda games on some arbitrary scale based on how good of a game it is, how Ocarina of Time-y it is, and how much I like it.  This means some games are better than ones below them, and the same with other metrics, with the exception of FS/FSA.  Sometimes I'll explain my reasoning.

1. Wind Waker
Needs no explanation.

2. A Link to the Past
The SNES is fortunate in that its games all tend to age incredibly well.  ALttP is no exception.

3. Skyward Sword
Sure, this game is linear almost to a fault, but if it wasn't, it would surpass ALttP.  It plays with the environment and map layouts in ways that make going back to old places exciting.  Replaying it only increases my enjoyment of it.

4. Link's Awakening
No explanation needed ;_;

5. Majora's Mask
Again, probably doesn't need explanation.

6. Minish Cap
This game was in my top 5 until it got knocked off by LA.  MC has some of the best dungeons in the series.  The game was limited by its overcrowdedness.  Rewards just weren't that valuable since they required little effort.

7. A Link Between Worlds
If you make a game this similar to ALttP, it can't be terrible.

8. Ocarina of Time
OoT is typical.  Games better than it are awesome, and games worse than it are still good, but these games just don't hold up to the shining examples above.

9. Legend of Zelda
Really, go play this, it's a great game.

10. Oracle of Ages
The oracle games are so similar from a gameplay perspective that it's hard to put one over the other.  That being said...

10 +1/2. Oracle of Seasons
Nayru is hotter.

11. Triforce Heroes
Despite being such an odd game, it still carries a distinct zelda charm that saves it from being lower on this list.

12. Twilight Princess
An otherwise boring game is raised up by an epic dragon fight and Wolf Link.

13. Spirit Tracks
Despite its childish appearance, this game is difficult.  I still haven't beaten Malladus.  Most of the game's difficulty stems from the lack of a targeting system.

14. Phantom Hourglass
See above but in 240p.

15. Adventure of Link
This game is fun if you're into sadism, but for most of us the game is just obnoxious and repetitive.  The downward stab is fantastic though.

[Olimar12345]

so it's basically a list of easy to hard huh jk sort of

[mikey]

I resent that
especially since PH is second to last and that's probably the easiest game in the series

[Olimar12345]

Yeah, PH was pretty easy. Also, how have you not beaten ST yet? I legitimately do not remember having any difficulty defeating the final boss. Iirc, it was just tedious collecting all of the train cars.

[Dudeman]

I agree with Olimar, there's really nothing very difficult about Malladus...

[Lkjhgfdsa_77]

how Ocarina of Time-y it is

[...]

8. Ocarina of Time

I SMELL A CONTRADICTION!!!

Can confirm about Zelda I though. It's especially fun if you make a map (and it helps with gameplay because many rooms / regions look the same) and when you're done with the game you're left with an entire map.

[mikey]

people need to stop using that quote.  I explained why oot is where it is and it's a good benchmark for your "average" zelda game, making it a useful measurement tool

[SlowPokemon]

Of the Zelda games I've played:

1. Majora's Mask -- everything Ocarina was, but twice as clever, twice as quirky, twice as grotesque, and twice as challenging.
2. Ocarina of Time -- a masterclass in video game design. I played the majora-ty (heh) of it for the first time in 2016 and it felt spectacularly modern and new and fun and epic. Elitists can hate, but it's fun as hell. Even in 2017.
3. A Link to the Past -- Not as fun as the 3D ones, but again shockingly modern for its time and very engrossing in its winking puzzles and bosses.
4. Wind Waker -- cute art style but frustrating and obnoxious gameplay, without any fun to be had in the dungeons I made it to.
5. The Legend of Zelda -- Hard but still maybe kinda fun to explore and power through.
6. Twilight Princess -- possibly the most tedious and frustrating game I've ever played. It's so bad. I get actively annoyed every time I play it. Dungeon design is good but the overworld sections are so boring, tear-inducing, and maddening that they completely spoil the entire experience. I stopped in the Gerudo dungeon about 18 hours in and I won't be completing it.