EARTHBOUND IS FINALLY COMING OUT ON THE WII U VIRTUAL CONSOLE!
This game has been long sought after. The quirky SNES game was released earlier this year or last year in Japan on their Wii U virtual console, but possible legal issues kept this game from America... for now.
Anyway, it's coming out, but there is no word on what has or will be changed for the legal US release.
The Oracle series from The Legend of Zelda will also arrive in the US for the first time. While the originals were available separately on the Gameboy Color (I actually almost beat Oracle of Seasons, I got stuck on the final boss, and I made it about half way through Oracle of Ages at one point) this time the two will be linked together, getting rid of the password system the original used.
Speaking of that,
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2 is coming to the 3DS! I never played the first, but it should be available on the 3DS VC. Or the Wii VC. Either way, I should play it soon. Did you ever play it?
Level 5 is releasing 4 games. So far, no word on Phoenix Wright vs Professor Layton (BRING IT OVER PLEASE!!!!) but Guild 02, among others, will arrive in the US. As will the LAST Professor Layton game ever. (barring Wright vs Layton) I don't know if I can handle that. I'll miss that gentleman.
((I believe I read it will be released in the US Next year, so we will have hope!))
SMT 4 also has a release date
((The function on this blog is keeping me from finding the English trailer) It comes out July 16th.
A lot of people are excited about this one:
Most people thought this game would go the way of Type-0
Where despite it's heavy lauds in Japan, it wouldn't come over here. Happily, Square Enix proved everyone wrong and we'll receive it soon... in 2014. It's kind of a sequel to Four Heroes of Light so pick that up if you haven't already.
On the Mario side of things, there is a new Yoshi's Island, Super Luigi U DLC (to continue the Year of Luigi), and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team is coming to the US and Europe.
There where others, but these are the ones I'm most excited about. (Though I am debating on Animal Crossing, I've never played one before.)
1) FREAKING EARTHBOUND, THE HOLY GRAIL OF VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAMES, WILL BE AVAILABLE. We'll see what and how much gets changed, but this should be great.
2) I adore Legend of Zelda games. This should be a lot of fun. The game has a simple formula, but it's very concise, the worlds are fleshed out, and it always works.
3) The Professor Layton games are great challenges, but more importantly we grow to care about each of these characters. Plus, in a world of violent anti heroes, to have such a gentleman like Hershel Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, is so refreshing.
4) While I have played one SMT game (Devil Survivor 1... I still haven't beaten it) I know a lot of people are interested and I DO want to give it a try.
5) Bravely Default is a Square Enix RPG... I'm a total sucker for those games.
6) I'm most excited from Dream Team. It focuses quite a bit on Luigi and it's an RPG.
So, all in all, a very successful Nintendo Direct conference.
Digging into the code and connecting some dots has revealed a few things about Ocarina of Time.
Such as, there may have been 3 more dungeons.
Looking into the code of Legend of Zelda, the forest medallion and the water medallion are listed as "Wind Medallion" and "Ice Medallion" respectively. In addition, the ice in the Zora's domain was never properly cleaned up, there is an odd ice mini dungeon in the game, and the respective mini dungeons in Ganon's Castle are wind and ice themed.
Okay, that's two dungeons. What's the third?
The third is a light temple. You see, the Spirit Temple has light based puzzles, but the light symbol, light arrows, windows, and the "Prelude of Light" all link back to the Temple of Time.
Connecting the dots, it appears that a "Temple of Light" Did indeed get partially programmed and themed but for some reason was scrapped. As a result, and to gain the light arrows, the assets were split between the spirit temple (to provide extra puzzles and the mirror shield in addition to the gloves) and the Temple of Time (To meet Zelda on an important ground and to gain the Light Arrows.)
The dungeons were not re added in Ocarina of Time: 3D. But, how do you think the game would have gone if the dungeons/temples were kept in the game?
I WAS going to talk about the Half Life Source and the reason why it is what it is. There's a lot of legal and technical reasons why and it's fascinating.
Then Nintendo Direct had their conference and everyone starts talking about this:
They are remaking The Wind Waker in HD for the Wii U. To compare, here is Wind Waker run in HD on the Dolphin Emulator (this is NOT mine)
Yep, it's being entirely remade. New models, new backgrounds. There's not much done in the way of programming or models yet. (The woman with the jar is from Outset Island, but the location is Windfall. We also never see Link, Tetra, or Jar girl move) but the little we can see is beautiful.
Now, why are they remaking it and what is the minor controversy?
The official explanation for remaking the Wind Waker is that they are working on the next proper Zelda title, but they are reevaluating what makes the series "The Legend of Zelda" and so the next game will take a long time to make. (One of the things they are reevaluating is the game progressing in a linear order, the other is if it needs to be single player. Personally, I love linear games since it allows for characterization to grow (though I will say FFXIII was a bit TOO linear. I would like to go back and look at things, listen to things, pick up items I have missed) and single player games are a necessity in this day and age. People do want to play by themselves sometimes. Mandating multiplayer might dissuade players from buying it. Now, if it's optional like Journey, that would be okay.)
So, in the mean time, they are giving us this game. There's probably another reason.
They want to get familiar with the Wii U software and programming.
When new software comes out, the games fall one of three ways. Very original games, remakes, (Practically) Simultaneous releases, and sometimes new sequels.
Okay, that sounds like every game ever. Sorry. But with a new system, everyone has to relearn how to program. So, they either make a completely different game that will let them figure out how to program without dramatically hurting their brand (See Catherine, The World Ends with You, Devil May Cry, etc) or a remake/sequel where they already have at least some art and assets that they can reuse. And, even if they don't, they know what things will look like anyway. This allows them to focus on the ins and outs of the programming without worrying too much about other art and assets unless they conflict with the programming.
End result, they know more about the programming as they go onward.
That's not always the reason for remakes though.
As should be obvious by now, I'm a Kingdom Hearts fan. Kingdom Hearts celebrated it's tenth anniversary last year and it's gotten REALLY confusing. (Time Travel has been added to the series. The rules make very little sense. It turned a few minor things into major plot points. Other things got MUCH more confusing) Sly Cooper has also celebrated it's tenth anniversary, but all of the games were on the PS2 and no game has come out for a while.
How does Kingdom Hearts put all the information in one place while Sly Cooper boosts awareness for the (at that point) unannouced fourth game?
Remake time!
The Sly Cooper Collection was released a while ago and gave the new series creators a chance to go over the games, art, and gameplay on the PS3. The Kingdom Hearts 1.5 (a 2.5 is presumed to come out) Covers Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Re:Chain of Memories, and a movie of 358/2 (It was to be the full game, but they didn't have time to program it.) While Square has worked with the PS3 before, they haven't used it for Kingdom Hearts, and the series needs a refresher anyway.
Team Ico?
The Last Guardian will be completely different from the first two, but the first two games are hard to come by, and practice for the PS3.
Devil May Cry Collection?
Most of the games were on the PS2, and a new game is coming out.
However, most of these games are reusing a lot of assets from the original games and just upgrading the textures. As you can tell from the Wind Waker Wii U games, it's a complete upgrade. New models, new backgrounds, new programming (otherwise they would have more people around and more action)
The minor controversy around the Wind Waker remake is... why wasn't it Majora's Mask? My best guess is that either they didn't want too many remakes and Majora's works better for the 3DS. They already have the assets from Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask in the Nintendo 64 reused most of those assets. Since they already have the work done from Ocarina 3D, it would fit there.
Wind Waker had a different art style, was one of the debut gamecube games, and did a lot of for the series. Wii U would be a different fit. It would make a great impression.
Besides, the Cell Shading is always timeless, but improving it makes a GREAT impression.
Yes, Nintendo finally bowed to pressure and released the Zelda timeline.
(Spoilers for Ocarina of Time below)
While the debate over the Zelda timeline most likely had existed before Ocarina of Time, but not to the extent that it does/did now. At the end of "Ocarina of Time" Zelda (and Nintendo) splits the timeline into two. In one, Link lives as an adult in the land he freed. In the other, he returns to being a kid and stops Ganondorf by warning the king of Ganondorf's treachery.
The timeline was thrown into utter confusion. It did not help that the subsequent games (Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess) offered confusing takes on the timeline, and then what about A Link to the Past and the Oracle series? Where did they fit in now?
Nintendo explained they had a timeline already set, and games were added as they were made. Arguments were made, confusion was rampant, then Nintendo relented and released the official timeline. One part threw the fandom for a loop.
In one scenario, Link fails. A Link to the Past, Oracles, even the first game! They all fit into this timeline. While we still don't know what will happen in future games, we now have a baseline. The fandom needs to work out HOW exactly Link fails, we know that he does. He is human.
But, we still have issues. We don't know what happened before Windwaker. All we know is for some reason Link didn't rescue the country and Hyrule was buried under water. The Zora (a water species) evolved into a bird species for some unknown reason and the Deku tree is trying to bring land back to Hyrule. While it has been hundreds of years between Ocarina and Windwaker, it does leave questions. We know Link failed before, did he fail then? (It would be an interesting game, to play as Link fails in his quest). Majora's mask was previously considered as the reason why Link didn't save Hyrule, but Marjora's Mask is in a different timeline so that can't be the reasons. And with the separate timelines, what about Termina? Does it differ because of the different timelines? Is it destroyed in the Adult and failure timelines, or does it exist somehow? We also don't know where the Twili from Twilight Princess enter into the story. We just know they revolted at some point before Twilight Princess and were punished.
And, we must ask, was the Timeline even necessary? Couldn't Twilight Princess fit between Ocarina and Wind Waker? And maybe Ocarina be a bit of a remake of A Link to the Past? But, when dealing with a game with a Time Travel mechanic, there must be repercussions. All magic has a price, Time Travel even more so. By splitting the games into separate timelines, they not only explain the absence of Ganon in some games, but allow themselves some room to grow. While it gets rid of speculation, it is nice to have a base to work with when figuring out continuity for a series.
The first game I ever rented was Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I chose it because it had a golden cartridge. (I was new to gaming and our Nintendo 64. Don't judge me)
It was amazing. I only managed to beat the first dungeon and I had fallen in love with the game. I preordered Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker specifically to be able to own a copy of Ocarina of Time.
Over time, I've played the other Legend of Zelda's. While (unfortunately) I've only beaten a few (I seem to have developed a mental block on beating games) I've grown to really like the music. And this piece is particularly awesome.
I know, 8 bit music but this really helps it get across. You just want to charge and fight and get to the next dungeon. I'm really glad it stuck with the series for so long (But for some reason, it wasn't in Ocarina of Time)
At some point I'll probably analyze music, but that's not for today or this piece. Just enjoy it!
The Legend of Zelda series is known for many thing. It's known for challenging dungeons, a timeline that people have yet to figure out, unique characters and fantastic gameplay.
But these characters rarely evolve.
(Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess spoilers below)
When we meet Midna, she inspires fear, not confidence. Link has been captured, turned into a wolf, and is trapped inside a cell. When he wakes up, the first creature he (and the player) sees is Midna and her slasher smile waiting outside the cell. And that chain Link was having trouble with? She snaps it quickly. She very quickly makes it clear that she just wants some power that was taken from her and while she doesn't want to annihilate everything, if they lose some humans she's fine with that.
Plot goes on and we see her do something unknown to the Zelda series. Character Development.
By the time the third piece of fused shadow rolls around, she's seen enough of Link and his world to feel a bit sorry for him. When she is dying due to Zant, she begs Zelda to help Link and to ignore the fact she's dying. When they arrive at the desert, she openly shows affection for Link. (Which Link pays back later when he takes care of a fainted Midna after she used her abilities to open a pathway to Ganon)
In her world, Link is openly treated as an Equal. They now work as a team, not her ordering him around (though there is some of that, but it's due more towards Link ignorance then Midna exerting control)
When the time comes to take on Ganon, they are not only equals but a team tied together by hard work, sacrifice, and friendship. They know they could not do this on their own, and they embrace how they work much better as a team then on their own.
So, how does this come about? It's really simple. Human interaction.
Or, rather, Midna watching human interaction. She does most of the talking in the pair, but she spends her time watching Link interact with other people from the shadows. We know she's paying attention since she frequently comments on conversations and interactions. She sees how the humans are sincerely just trying to live their lives and how the Twili are manipulated by Zant. She knew of it to some extent before, she was banished from her rightful role as leader after all, but she does not allow revenge to consume her. This may be because she and Zelda have also known eachother for a while. Zelda, bearing the Triforce of Wisdom, assuredly must have talked to Midna about life and self sacrifice. We also see people sacrifice themselves for her. Link takes on Zant to save her, and Zelda transfers her triforce powers to Midna to save her life, even though she knows that she (Zelda) will probably die. While she okay with humans before Zelda's sacrifice, she is much more "human" after it... even if she doesn't lose her trademark snark.
Midna is easily my favorite Legend of Zelda character. I hope she can return some day.
