In a bit of a metroidvania mood and played this new-to-me GBA game with Jonta Guitar's and sorrow's color hack. This is a fairly mid game more on the metroid side with dual castles and a few quirks. At one point, Juste stumbles across an empty room and decides, "This room needs decorating." The enemies pretty standard but there's a legitimately creepy "Scarecrow" that are bouncing impaled dudes.
Angel at Dusk remains trippy and incomprehensible. If you want to vibe with bodyhorror, it cannot be beat.
Decided to give Gunlocked another try. I have enjoyed some shmup survivor-likes, like Time Wasters, but the pacing on this one is off. I played a round, but it didn't grab me.
I was in a Digseum mood and ended up beating it after about 3 total hours gameplay. Lots of satisfying clicking at the end there, and it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Gave 20 Minutes to Dawn a spin. It's a twin-stick survivors-like with minimalist graphics. I enjoyed playing it, but it didn't grab me the way VS does and the twin-stick aspect created a bit more overhead than I generally want while I'm chilling with this type of game. I'm not sure if I'll play it again.
I gave Yoku's Island Express another go. On paper, this pinball metroidvania should be up my alley, but I've bounced off it twice now. There's nothing wrong with it except some minor control issues, but it fails to capture my interest again. Maybe next time it will stick.
I got my kid Cat Quest III. We played the first and second games together (the first they watched me play, the second they were old enough to play along with me in co-op). This time, they wanted to play on their own.
I liked Cat Quest II but felt it overstayed its welcome. The difficulty scaling wasn't good, and the level of grinding to 100% too much. The cat puns grated after a while. Cat Quest III is shaping up to be a really nice sequel. Firing canons from the pirate ship is fun. There are lots of small improvements, and the simple premise (You're a pirate! Yaaar!) is welcome. My kid beat it after several days, and per HowLongToBeat this one is on par with the original for length.
I don't think I've ever actually seen a satori, but I got the chance when I made an offering at a cherry blossom tree. I also unlocked the fourth fairy, and traveled up Mount Doom to get the fire armor. Unfortunately, I kind of hate the Eldin Canyon region for reasons I can't entirely articulate, but the Mount Doom areas are consistently my least favorite to explore. In this game, the roast-obsessed Gorons freak me out, and the landscape tends to be pretty desolate and unfun to traverse. It's just a big blugh all around.
I also made an armor upgrade ingredient list csv and it is quite awful. I think it encapsulates one of the problems I have with both TOTK and BOTW, which is that there is Simply Too Much Stuff. Nintendo designed a 200+ hour game and I'm not a 200+ hour game guy at all. I never have been, but my willingness to pour hours into these types of games has decreased as I get older.
Thus, my fire for Zelda wanes. According to Backloggd I've been playing about 5 weeks, and I consistently get Zelda fatigue after about a month or so, so this is more or less on schedule. I'm not sure exactly how long I played, since Nintendo refuses to be forthcoming about such things, but it's 60+ hours which tends to be the upper limit of what I'm willing to spend on an open world game. In the past, I've had difficulty returning to these games without starting fresh, but I'm hoping this here blog slaps hood will make it easier to jump back in if and when I return to it.
It's tough for me to gauge exactly how much I've accomplished, but my loading screen lists 52/152 shrines, 91/1000 koroks found, and I've got 14/40 hearts and nearly a second stamina wheel, and completed 2/4 (I think?) temples. So I've completed somewhere between a third and half of the game, which is much farther than my other playthrough. I think blogging helped me play as long as I did, because it was easier to remember where I'd been and what I'd seen.
I definitely enjoyed it more this time, but modern Zelda games are still a very mixed bag for me.
Crushed koroks: 4
I've mostly been running around taking care of business southerly as I worked my way toward Faron to complete the last Great Fairy quest. I've reached the point where I can't upgrade any of my armors (booo) so I need to get more diligent about collecting things and killing things. I want a big ole list of ingredients I need, but I don't want spoilers like armor names. Fortunately a kind Redditor has made such a list.
I'm in the process of smooshing everything together but frankly? This list is extremely rude. On the one hand, it justifies my pathological insistence on grabbing up every flint and random mushroom I see. On the other hand, how dare they. I had this idea I'd collect all the armors and upgrade them "for fun" but 665 amber total? That's a lot of rock busting. I'm just sayin.
Don't mind me, just screencapping every dialogue that confirms Sidon and Link are secretly married.
I found the greaves back at the waterworks. There's so much back and forth in this area. Evidently you can't get the greaves the first time you're in the waterworks, you have to wait until you've completed the water temple.
In any case, having secured a full set of Zora armor and Sidon's undying love, it is time to move on for now. Link's lookin' good in his new duds and can swim 3 times as fast, as well as perform other aquatic operations.
I didn't have much time to play yesterday, but I managed to squeeze in a few minutes. Ending the sludge frees the Zora up to give Link quests, and I have snatched all those up, but my primary goal is completing the Zora armor. The Zora helm is hidden back at the Sky Fish, in an interior room you can't easily see unless you're bouncing around on floating rocks trying to figure out where a helm might be hidden.
Yona, kind soul that she is, is trying to give Link the armor as a gift but can't find the last part, the greaves. Link is directed to the waterworks, which is where the boss battle took place in the previous game. You're supposed to build a boat here, but I found the swim boost granted by the helm and the chest was enough to get me across the reservoir and into a cave helpfully pointed out to me by a Zora who says he found glowing blue stones there.
I was very eager to explore this cave, but my kid, who was supposed to be getting ready for bed, was understandably distracted by my adventures so I turned the game off for now. Very looking forward to exploring this area over the weekend.
The boss of the water temple, the Muckterror, is a terrorist. An absolute little shit. It was one of the most annoying boss fights I've ever dealt with in recent memory. This little bastard shoots slime all over the place, and flips and flops everywhere, and belongs in jail. I initially put a hydrant on a homing device so it would clean things up for me, but it was far more effective to strap a hydrant to my shield and charge the damn thing. I'm torn between despising what I was put through and appreciating that they did something radically different for this boss.
Liberating the water temple earns us Sidon's water bubble power, as well as his undying devotion, which I'm pretty sure Link already had... 👀
Back when BOTW came out, I heard people shipped Link/Sidon and I was like, "Ok, you kids have fun." Now, as I explore the Zora's domain in TOTK, I increasingly 👀 have Thoughts.
When you initially arrive at the domain and talk to Yona, she's like, "Surprise, I'm your best friend's fiance!" and -- knowing very little about any of this -- I truly had a moment, because there's so much you can do with a setup like that.
Anyway, my point is I get it now. The youth were correct, as usual.
Turns out the Zora water dungeon is very fun. Unfortunately, Sidon scampers off early on, but the gravity change and water bubble navigation keep things interesting. Clearing out sludge is satisfying, as is swimming up waterfalls. Considering how epic the arc was, I expect there to be something equally epic when Sidon and I rejoin forces. Hopefully I will remember to take screenshots that next time.
Crushed koroks: 2.
After some much needed armor blessings I got into the Zora sky dungeon. There is a lot of back and forth at the beginning as Link ping-pongs between various NPCs, doing whatever needs to be done to unlock access, and the dialogue is fairly tedious, as has been typical with this game. But from the start this temple is already different (there is a gravity change, and you use water bubbles to navigate between platforms), and I'm hoping fighting alongside Sidon, the Zora prince who is evidently Link's Official BFF, will help pick up the pace.
Yesterday I ventured into South Tabantha seeking the next member of the musician troupe, so I can entice yet another great fairy out of her bud. Getting this guy out of a pit is always a hot mess, but I managed it. I figured out you can cut the grasses here to find wheat (and lots of hot-footed frogs). I don't think I explored this area very thoroughly the last time I played, which is a shame, because the landscape is cool.
I farted around a bit with that giant labyrinth outside the snowfields and concluded I need to be stronger. While I was in the area, I hit up the Sky Tower at Thyphlo Ruins. I think I've had my fill of wandering and exploring for now.
I've actually really enjoyed having the little bird dude's spirit alongside me. I think he scares away bugs sometimes (?), but it's good to have a friend. Zelda games can be a little lonely. Next on the agenda is to head back to Zora territory to see if I can help with the sludge crisis, so I can have a second friend.
A while back I set up a poor man's arcade with RetroAchievements for the family. My kid is currently interested in speed running SMB, so we fired it up for the evening. The achievements were a fun addition. I played this game a lot back in the 80s, but I haven't played it recently and I was impressed by my memory was for little details. I accidentally grabbed the second level warp in 4-2, thinking the vine led to a cloud level, and my Mario World tour ended shortly after that at 8-2, where I died repeatedly. I don't remember if I ever actually beat this one (probably not) but I may explore it a bit more. Truly wonderful level design.
Crushed koroks: 1
I was mucking around the plateau area minding my own damn business when gloom came at me and scared the bejeezus out of me. I fought to get to the safety of water... and it still came at me! I finally broke free and swam far enough where it couldn't reach me. 1) Need to figure out how to fight that, 2) it left these weird little... gloom clumps... behind, which I stuffed in my pocket for safekeeping, as adventurers do.
I'm thinking the Temple of Time area is probably a higher-level place, but I explored long enough to find a statue making weird requests about hidden eyeballs lost in chasms (totally not creepy) and decided to nope out for now. I did improve my tree-killing ability, since I was attacked by every damn tree in the forest up there.
I discovered a new cut scene, in which Zelda warns Rauru he will not defeat Ganon, who she has seen in her own future time. Sophia is apparently dead (!! 😔) and Rauru indicates he must atone for some mistake he's made. So I'll have to track down more geoglyphs to learn more. The geoglyphs is an optional side quest, so I'm assuming these cut scenes are extra details layered on what Link will learn from the Sages as he helps liberate the various kingdoms.
I encountered the first bubbul gem cave I could not lick in Pikida Stonegrove Northwest Cave so I looked it up. The frog is hidden in an air-gust corridor with a Like-like, behind a rock wall. It's a good hiding place, because I couldn't hear it at all. I guess I gotta go back for it (boo).
Was too busy and tired to play Zelda, so I poked at Digseum since I didn't have the capacity for anything more. I'm on my second (soon to be third) prestige and using the upgraded shovel to clear an area in one pass can be satisfying for a bit.
The things I do for Hyrule.
Yesterday was a continuation of foot-loose and fancy-free exploring. I forgot to take screenshots, but the highlights include a piece of rubber armor and misadventures with Zonai time bombs. Turns out they explode pretty fast. Just in case you were curious.
Crushed koroks: 1. Fucking finally. Spent the day traipsing about and saw a new cutscene. Who is that hot dude? jk I know who!
My plan to go fishing with a topaz scepter works great when I aim correctly, but hitting the water at the right angle usually takes a few tries, so I'll continue exploring different ways to electrocute fish.
I discovered the Zonai canon after I enticed a group of Zonai to attack a group of moblins to great effect. I also discovered the spring shield. I'm not sure why I keep getting surprised by Zonai item + shield combinations but each discovery has been a delight.
I still don't really get the whole food-poisoning quest, but I committed to the bit. It was raining, so I built a horrible shelter just so I could cook up some meat and rice.
Finally, I've been studiously marking giant enemies on my map as I avoid them. I tried to take on a Talos, but it almost killed me in one hit so clearly we're not there yet. I did resolve to start killing more common monsters, now that I have decent weapons, because I know some upgrades require guts and other monster parts.
I really need to get back to crushing koroks. I've found plenty, just not conveniently located near rocks.
I continued to active Skytowers even though I'm allegedly not doing that, and I found another shrine I really enjoyed (rollercoaster action). I'm going to turn my exploration northerly, focus on foraging ingredients, and avoid the tropical southern areas for now.
"There is no shame in not knowing, for beyond that lies the joy of knowing. Tonight, I am the candlelight." Chef Aurie Taamu is a poet. I continue to be a big fan of this mysterious individual, who is referencing the glow properties of brightcaps and glowfish.
Finally wandered over to the Zora to get the much-needed Zora armor, which lets me travel up waterfalls. The setup is kind of weird if you do this differently than the devs anticipated. I spoke to Sidon, he sends me to Yona. Yona's like, why did he send you here? And sends me back to Sidon. Then Sidon sends me back to Yona.
Now that I can travel waterfalls, I'm able to better explore certain areas. I actually found a shrine I enjoyed, which is something. I also witnessed more Koltin despair. I will eventually wander back over to the Zora but for now I'm content to wander aimlessly picking mushrooms as God intended.
Many adventures were had in Zelda. I found the bubbul gem freaks, coaxed a giant fairy out of her bud and got some much-needed upgrades, gained another Horsey but had to abandon her by the road with apples for her trouble, and activated 2 sky towers. I was trying to avoid activating these too quickly, because last playthrough I got confusing regarding where I'd explored, but I think it will be okay. After activating the Eldin tower, it's easy to hit the sky islands followed by the Lanayru tower.
Anyway, along the way I acquired a new zonai tech, the hydrant, so landing in the slime-ridden Lanayru mountain area right after seemed serendipitous, even though there are plenty of splash fruits around.
Jirutagumac shrine, which centers around the worst zonai tech in the game, the glider, is a terrorist act. I finally got it but why can't the sky island shrines be sorry shrines? It's not like I didn't work to get there. Weh weh. So far, I've managed to beat every shrine I've encountered. As much as I hate to admit it, they have taught me some things about the game's mechanics. I still mostly hate them.
I found an item called Sage's Will I've never encountered before. I'm intrigued by it.
I also continued plugging away at Illusion of Gaia. The translation is definitely eccentric but I'm enjoying it. I reached the first boss, but got killed, so that was a good stopping point. There were a few sound-based puzzles and for some reason the sound wasn't coming through on my emulator, so I'm grateful to the Heroes at GameFAQs for explaining what section of the wall I needed to bash.
Each night, I watch TV with my family. They've recently become obsessed with this god-awful realty show about an asshole collectible auctioneer guy (Gold something) and the crass materialism makes my head explode, but I like hanging out with my family, so my compromise is to play on my handheld while I half-absorb information about a sports jersey some boring-ass millionaire collector paid 12 lifetime salaries for because boring-ass millionaires are like that. Sports memorabilia collectors truly are the worst. The guy who has a 20,000-title retro games collection gets a pass. The dude who bought cloth an athlete touched once? Loser, uncool. Get bent. Delete your account and donate to charity.
Anyway, that's how I started playing a old favorite, Illusion of Gaia. I was inspired by Gaia Lab's recent re-translation of the game but it looks like they're actively working on it so I snagged the sprint romhack for now.
I enjoyed this game many years ago (still have the complete box, though I can't imagine playing these games on original hardware again), and it's crazy how much I remember of the weird localization and red gem locations. This game will always have a special place in my heart, if only for Hamlet the pig, who is a true hero. The game grapples tough subjects, like starvation and slavery, and it feels very unique to similar games of the time.
Adventures in Zelda continue. I came to Hateno, I saw the fancy hat, I got the fancy hat. The Hateno mayoral race questline is pretty silly but in addition to the hat you get access to milk and cheese. As an aside, I really can't get over how weird Sophie looks and I'm glad I don't need to talk to her anymore. I've had a good time discovering all the Cece decor in various houses, but after I wrap up a few more quests I'm going to move on from Hateno. Cece sells guard armor that is currently to expensive for me, so I'll come back when I'm ready to buy it.
Everyone in this game is obsessed with Link and won't shut up about how hot he is, and I've decided to document this phenomenon. I'm not disputing it, but the constant commentary is a bit much. I headcanon Link as completely indifferent to sex. All he cares about is food, brushing Zelda's hair and watching her sleep, breaking pots, and horses. Canon backs me up 100%.
Dipped back into Digseum for a bit and purchased my first prestige upgrades. Digging with upgraded tools is satisfying, but the gameplay is still too shallow for me to get obsessive over. I'll continue to poke at it from time to time.
Zelda was a series of nopes yesterday. Constructed items despawn, so I lost my boat and ended up crawling around in the tundra dying for a bit. I experimented with a double-fire emitter balloon platform with 2 rockets. Unfortunately, all it did was set me on fire, I didn't even go that high. Did you know there are Lynels in marshes? 😬 Surprise! While I was there I met a young lady who beats dubious food into submission. I'm not sure the resulting Monster Stew is really worth the hassle of trekking out there, but it looks like I can make my own with monster elixirs, too.
After I n a r r o w ly escaped some Surprise! Gloom! (Failed to catch a screenshot of the gloom hand just barely missing Link as he dove off the edge of the cliff to escape) I decided to go back to Hateno and fiddle with quests there for a bit.
Crushed Koroks: 1. I had a blast with this game over the past couple of days and it was a nice way to start my gaming new year. I wandered out of Hateno and found some cool caves, a really enjoyable message-in-a-bottle rescue mission, barbarian leggings, and bunch more koroks. The boat I built for the mission continued to serve me well as I explored the coast, and I found a few more caves as well as a bit of Zonai tech, frost emitters, which I'd completely forgotten about.
For some reason, it's very satisfying to don several layers of cold protection armor when it's extremely cold. Between purchased and found pieces, I have plenty to choose from.
I'm actually getting pretty good at killing Like-likes and avoiding getting electrocuted or frozen by keeses and other elemental types, but I continue to shy away from the "Big Chungus" Bobokins as my kid calls them. The memory of being murdered in one hit like 5 times in a row is still with me.
The coastal areas are among my favorites in this game. Soon-ish, I'll hopefully find the Zora kingdom and snag some swimming-boost armor so I can swim more freely. I've also got a decent stockpile of bubbul gems I'd like to spend whenever I find that guy.
