New Nintendo 3DS

 

So I got myself the New Nintendo 3DS, how could I say no? Well, mostly I got it due to my original 3DS lacking memory and I thought that upgrading was a decent solution. A bit pricey, but what the hell! Got the regular size black version since I prefer my portable system to fit in my pocket. It even fitted into the old 3DS protective case (even though it might need a little added force behind it). The old model I gave away to my dad with my copy of Ocarina of Time 3D to keep him busy... sadly it appears it's me that are busy trying to teach him the controls. Anyway, back to the new one. I didn't get any face plates, because I like the black one. A good thing is that it isn't... shiny? Whatever the word it doesn't collect my fingerprints all over the surface like the old model or even the Wii U. Already a plus. 

Then the changes to the layout on the console. First of the console itself is a bit bigger with a larger screen. Start and select moved to the side of the screen below the buttons and given real buttons compared to the old model where I hardly got feedback by pressing it making pausing some games rather hard. The home button has been redesigned and the volume slide has been moved to the top screen. Both the volume and 3D slide have been given a stop setting so if you want to mute or turn the 3D of just slide it to the bottom and you hear a click and that's it. The old version could be a bit fickle when it comes to the 3D as I had to push it down to turn it off even at the bottom since it didn't quite now if it was off or slightly on. The ABXY buttons are color coded as the SNES controller and you got extra L and R buttons on the back. They also introduced the C-stick... or rather C-bump. At first it feels rather incomprehensible since it actually don't move or give any feedback, but while playing games it work rather well, surprised me. Things they taken away are the wifi-slider and you access it through the menu instead. Probably better so you don't turn it of by accident in a multiplayer match. The only thing I think they made worse is the stylus. I liked the metal retractable pen, but instead we are back to plastic which is smaller, but take more space on the console itself since it can't retract. Also the cartridge slot has been moved from the top to the bottom. Feels rather weird, but I haven't pushed out a game by accident yet so it works. Presumably it was to put ZR and ZL on top instead. The on/off button have been moved as well and at the same time making it harder to randomly push it, but at the same time needs a longer push to start up.

The interior then. It starts up faster, the wifi is stronger and you have a 3D tracking camera that follows you around while moving the console during gameplay. Works rather fine, but I noticed that you need to keep the game at the right distance from your face otherwise it doesn't quite get how to adjust your 3D experience for you. The transfer seemed to be a hassle since they recommended a PC-transfer, but I opted for the wireless and it worked fine (of course I removed most of the games on my 2GB SD card so it would go faster and had to re-download everything again). Also, I switched out the 4GB Micro SD card with a 32 GB since I feel the extra memory would work better (hopefully they don't change from Micro SD to another sort of memory card for the next 1-2 generations so I don't have to transfer everything again like this). All in all it took around 6 hours to complete the transfer and re-download all games (it might have gone faster if I let it transfer everything from the system, but I wasn't sure if it was locally transferred or over the net and the net is rather unstable around here so, and the answer is it does it locally so that was totally unnecessary, but hey, better safe than sorry. I haven't played it all that much, but the Ambassador GBA games seems to work better than in the old 3DS since it hasn't shut down or turned it self of during intense play. A bit annoying especially if you didn't quit the game from time to time since a shut down erased everything until the previous point you started it up, but as I said, I haven't played those games to long on the New 3DS.

Sadly, there will probably be an announcement in 1-2 years of a brand new Nintendo portable console, but until then it will work rather fine. A warning first though, if you are gonna transfer from an old 3DS, 2DS or 3DS XL don't write in your NNID until you do the transfer. Lastly, the console doesn't come with a charger so you either have to have one or buy a new one, which is rather stingy on Nintendo's side, but if they want to keep the cost down that is one way to do it. Also, the name. At least it works in Sweden and all non-English speaking countries and I get that it works well with the Japanese, but really, couldn't the English name have been Super Nintendo 3DS? Really, it would have been an easy sell with the button color scheme and such. Makes me wonder what they will call the next system? Maybe that will be the Super N3DS? Anyway, beyond that there isn't much to say, it play DS and 3DS games. I might update this (probably not) when they release exclusive games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (at the moment the only known game that must have the New 3DS to play) to see if the hardware handles it well, Then again, since I'm not the technical wizard my parents believe me to be I will not know if it was necessary or not to release that game on this updated console.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

The sequel has arrived on the Wii U virtual console and I finished it in 3-4 days. It took me like a year the first time. And that was just to get the middle ending. Anyway, this game didn't mash with me when it was out. I thought the music was awful, the colorful graphics missed out on the spooky dreaded feeling and so on. Basically, it wasn't Circle of the Moon. Playing again though, I find it rather enjoying. Probably cause they fixed the gameplay problems I had with the first game. I have a monster encyclopedia making it easier keeping tracks on where to farm for stuff and such if need be. The magic is a bit simplified and is tied to your sub-weapon so depending on which weapon you have and which magic book you have equipped it causes different attacks and such. The complexity of the original is missed, but here you can easily discover what each combo does. Another great thing that held the magic system back in the former game was that you could only equip one magic ability and when you have to choose between poison or curse resistance it takes away some of the fun. Here they solved it by finding certain relics that gave you the permanent effect, rewarding discovering them. Also, they have stores all around the castle giving you much relief if you, like me, suck at the game and need some extra potion. Also, I apparently misremember the amount you could carry, since I could buy 99 of the things on sale. Great!

The story then. You play as Juste Belmont who meet his best friend Maxim that have been away for a while, telling you that Dracula's Castle has returned and your girlfriend (?) Lydia has been kidnapped so you set out looking for her while searching for the evil in this castle. The spoiler here is that it is actually 2 castles and Maxim, due to exposure to Dracula's remains, have a split personality. The evil one being possessed by Dracula kidnapped Lydia and prepares a resurrection. To stop this (and get the best ending) you need to gather Dracula's five remains and his ring. Then take everything to Castle B, equip Maxim and Juste's bracelets and defeat evil Maxim so that he can expel Dracula's evil spirit and being reanimated by his remains and then you put him to rest... again. Really, Castlevania is worse than Legend of Zelda with Ganon being the final boss. Castlevania always ends with Dracula as the final boss (well, maybe with exception of Lords of Shadow since, well, spoiler, you become Dracula). Had I played Castlevania II: Simon's Quest I might have appreciated the nods to that game at the time... or even played Symphony of the Night with the two castle system.

So all in all, I liked the game. It was more fun than I remember (or maybe forgot how fun it was). The music while definitely lowered quality had some nice tunes (not as good as the previous game, but anyway). The castle itself looked amazing and the psychedelic backgrounds was amazing to look at and that you could use the environment to solve certain puzzles was really fun. You have the guardian you push into a meat grinder, the pinball machine and so on. A more lively castle that is. Less hidden rooms, but more puzzles works fine. Also, after beating the game you can play a boss rush mode or even play the game as Maxim. A bit better than Circle of the Moon when you just replayed the game with a code changing stats and how you played the game like a magician, shooter or thief. Sadly the only time you played as a Belmont as the main character in the portable Castlevania games for GBA or DS. 

Doin the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '15 (6)

So it's finally over. Pretty much the only viable option with Måns Zelmerlöv winning the whole shebang. Nice background animation and the song isn't that bad to listen to. And both the jury and the people was on the same side this year, so maybe it will do fine... why do I try hype us up for the big show? I hate this show. Lets talk about something else instead, the deplorable middle act. A cover song of last years winner. And it began so good. Green lights everywhere and zoom in on a keyboard... thing. All right, will we get a Manfred Mann Earth band like cover of this ballad? Of course not. The singer leaves the keyboard, sings awful and the others are drowned out. If you want good cover music get Manfred Mann's Earth Band, preferably covering either Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen (I will even curse in this Boss obsessed country and say Manfred Mann is better than Springsteen).

The Legend of Zelda

The very first Legend of Zelda-game released in 1986 in gold cartridge form indicating it's saving features. Best innovation ever for a video game. Other than that one of the best game series ever created and it began here. We got it as all other NES games in the early 90's and played it. But since I sucked (and due to me being the best gamer in the family) we didn't get further than the first dungeon. That is until the 2000's when I actually found and conquered the second dungeon. That was still on the old NES cartridge. Then we got the Zelda compilation on the GameCube and I actually got to dungeon 4-5. Without cheating I might add. But since it was on the current console and needed the TV to play I couldn't properly delve into it. Not until I got the 3DS and the 20 Ambassador games, where the original Zelda was one of them. I believe I didn't finish the game until the save state feature was updated and then of course with maps to show me where to go, find all heart pieces and such.

Of course, there's still the second quest to finish. That one I might actually try without a guide after getting a cleared file on the Wii U. Rather unique thing to relive the exploration part of a game almost 30 years old and it be completely new to me. It really brings me back to the old childhood days. Beginning the game and entering the first cave for the wooden sword and then go around looking for the first dungeon. Usually I gathered enough rupees to buy shield and candles since it was so scary to go into the dungeon... or even walk around the Overworld beyond the forest area. Really, walking around the first dungeon was so scary and when you go near the boss room the sudden roar that the NES could muster would scare me and then the wallmasters appearing dragging you back to the entrance. Really thinking about it makes me wonder how I even dared leave the house as a kid.

Maybe playing this over and over actually made me stronger cause I remember when I discovered the letter the old man had in a cave far to the north and then used it to get red or blue potions. And this with very limited knowledge of English. Or when I stumbled upon the stair case below the statue warrior leading to a shop with the blue ring and meat. The last great discovery I think I made on my own was finding the blue sword above the waterfall guarded by this centaur creature that killed me hard. Sadly the old man wouldn't give it to me, I didn't know why then, but now I know it was due to having to few hearts. Which led to the strategy of gathering all hearts on the overworld and then get the blue sword together with the blue ring making the first part of the game relatively easy.

There's really nothing else to say, it's one of the great video game masterpieces and the most annoying things one can say about it is the translation at times really makes it harder for you and that sometimes the enemies are rather obnoxious. For example Dodonga who dislikes smoke, his pattern is rather random and you need to put a bomb in his mouth. Problem is that the computer believes that swearing of right before my bomb is the best action, depleting all my bombs making me have to leave, buy or grind for more and come back. One is manageable, but when they throw 3 at you it can go on your nerves, especially if you haven't upgraded the maximum bomb-bag since leaving the room resets the damage done to them and leaving the dungeon resets the enemies. Other enemies that really gets on my nerve is the darknut that must be attacked from behind or the side, but they rather like going right at you draining your health. Especially in groups of 5-10. God I hate them. And lastly it's the Like-like, the shield-eating bastards of Hyrule. 120 rupees for each encounter, with a maximum wallet-size of 255. Really, best advice is to get good at the game... or heavy use of the save feature. There we have the latest great innovation of video games, save states so you actually can finish them.

Doin' the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '15 (5)

Didn't watch this weekend since I sat in a car on my way back home after a day in Örebro watching a murder mystery comedy in the spirit of Clue and Murdered by Death. Of course since I've been playing a lot of Ace Attorney I clearly deduced who the real killer was even before the second act. I was also impressed by the the improv skills of the cast since it didn't start out that good. The main storyteller lost his mic in the first song so a stage hand run across with a new mic, a prop mirror cracked behind a sofa so they had to get a replacement, clean all glass splinters away since several of the cast would end up behind it during the play. All this in the first 5 minutes. At least it was a more pleasing murder than what possibly could have occurred on the public channel when they destroyed all of Swedens ears. Even worse the damn groupie song made it back to the finals. I mean come on, how could you let it hang around for it's third week? Damn you people... Damn you all to HELL!!! Of course I will most likely join you there this weekend so we can end this first phase and get a 1-2 month respite before the big show circus starts.

Doin' the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '15 (4)

Finally, all so called contributions have been shown. And in a small moment of hope at the first song I actually thought we would get something good. And it was only because the artist looked like Dave Lee Roth from Van Halen with leatherpants and an unbuttoned red shirt and long blond hair. Worthless stage name, Midnight Boy, I mean come on. And then he says who his influences are and we get Madonna, Prince and so on. Why does he then look like Van Halen? To be fair it wasn't that bad of a song with 80's electric disco sound, but I was expecting Jump, Unchained or something else heavy. The rest... I have completely forgotten, I can't even remember who won. Not good, more Van Halen:

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: The Adventures of Link, a game I've played back and forth since the early 90's. Of course, I didn't get further than the first temple until the mid 2000's and didn't finish until last year (2014) when it was released on the 3DS virtual console with save state making it a bit easier to traverse one hit kills and pitfalls. A fun game if you have the intelligence to keep pen and paper by your side to write down the temple maps... until easy access to the internet when you just look up a map on your phone taking away the more frustrating parts, although exploration gets a bit lost. An Action-RPG many seems to have some problems with today, but I like it. Nice music, the RPG elements are fun and interesting, questionable why 8 is the maximum level, 9-10 would feel more symmetrical (and probably make some of the end game a bit easier), and now that I'm a bit older I actually like walking around and exploring and finding new spells and hearts or magic... with a bit of help here and there (*cough* walk through *cough*). Story wise it's as simple as it got around that time. Link, a couple of years after the first game turns 16 and gets a mark on his hand and Impa tells him of the Triforce of Courage and the Zelda put a sleep in one of the towers of the North Palace. You get 6 crystals that are needed to be placed in each temple to unlock the final temple were your hardest challenge await. All the while the soldiers of Ganon are hunting you down to perform some sacrifice to resurrect him. Rather interesting story points. So you traverse the lands, beat some temples, reach the inner sanctum of the Great Palace and fight your own shadow for control of the Triforce of Courage. With it you awakens Zelda, curtains fall The End.

The difficulty is pretty much the one thing most people complain about and it exist mostly for the 3 lives and continue system. Dying with lives just let you restart the room pretty much, but a continue takes you all the way back to the North Palace, meaning every single pit fall is spelling death. You can't afford to fall since you at least need one extra life for the boss in the temple so that you don't have to navigate the temple again. Doesn't help that the only way to get life is using magic and due to the cap at 8 levels makes the magic meter drain insanely fast and it doesn't fill the health meter all the way. Then you pray to god the enemies drop a red magic bottle so that it fills the whole meter. It's probably this reason why enemies both drops health and magic in later games, especially since you need magic like jump and fairy to traverse some places which puts a real strain on how good you as a player need to be to finish of enemies that throws daggers and jump like crazy over the screen. It can even be multiple enemies and each one drain your health like crazy (some even dare drain magic or experience). Also something I thought about as well is how to get to the very first temple. You need to cross a cave, but due to not owning the lamp it's pitch black. I know they fixed it with all other caves having either pits making it impossible to see or a high cliff you need the jump spell to traverse that you get after exploring another cave which leaves only one cave to cross that is plausible. Still, couldn't the cave with the idol switch place with the temple so you can get the candle before traveling through dark caves? Or is that to force you to at least level up a bit? Then we have cheap enemies like the rock throwing wall or speedy birds or those sword resistant enemies you need the magic fire for (which, if I remember correctly, wasn't impervious to any other damage in the Japanese version). That's something you really need more of, enemies you need magic to kill with.

So yes, I cheated like hell to finish the game by almost save scumming each cave, room or battle to avoid unnecessary damage or instant death by a wrong turn or something like that. I even managed a non-death run which is kinda remarkable cause you are expected to die once or twice... or a hundred times to reach the end. Otherwise, the only way to do it legit I believe is to survive until you reach the other continent and there grind the fire-killed monsters who give you 50 or 200 exp until you have enough lives (if you max out your stat levels each new 9000 exp gives you an extra life and refills either life or magic so you can probably use that as well) since that is the simplest way for extra lives. Another tip is to save the extra lives you can find on the overworld until you are ready to go to the hidden palace since that trek alone will at least cost you 2-3 lives, but once you reach it you don't need to travel there again (if you finish all the temples that is). Finish the games allow you to play it again, but this time you are maxed out meaning every crystal placed nets you an extra life making it on paper a lot easier. If it does anything else like the second quest on the first game I don't know. It's rather fun though to run through the first half of the game like a god, even the infamous death mountain maze is bearable. And yeah, grind like hell for that your first time through, tough as nails otherwise, but getting the hammer is worth is so you don't have to travel the bog again.