Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS replay)

Guess there have been 7 years since I played this game the last time. The game grumps replaying it made me get a craving to play it myself so I run through it again. And I gotta say, it's still really good. I notice though that it takes time getting adjusted to the wall merging idea since more often than not I could walk towards a gap and wonder how I was gonna cross it... and realise that all I needed to do was merge with the wall and go round it. Alas, I didn't get all all heart pieces since I couldn't bother with things like the octobaseball minigame.

Also, is it a remake or an actual sequel? The layouts of the overworld maps are the same, certain dungeons have the same layout, even though they changed parts to make sure the merge doesn't break the game. Similar story structure. The most notable difference being that they moved turtle rock to lake hylia and ice palace to death mountain... which make sense in certain ways. Also the fairy fountain in lake hylia in the light world is gone and replaced with a new dungeon that take the place of the desert dungeon that now merged with misery mire. The item system where you rent it and if you don't die, you can have it forever until you pay to keep it, and then upgrade it. If you go the intended path from the original, no problem.

Still fun, but I don't get the kick like playing through Link to the Past, might be due to knowing Link to the Past inside and out and never stumble upon what to do and knowing how to get all heart pieces. Might need to play it ofter than once every 7th year.

Resident Evil Zero (Switch)

ALL ABOARD THE CRAZY TRAIN!

Played through Resident Evil Zero again (or 0), but this time on the Switch and without using a guide. Same story, still found it alright. Played through the first game now and been introduced to Rebecca in that game I wonder if her portrayal is coherent. In this game she is though and focused on her mission, not flinching in taking Billy Coen into custody even though she think he killed his guards and 23 other people, in the original... she hides in rooms, almost getting killed by a hunter and starts crying (of course the stress of being in constant danger for 2 days and Richard getting killed could probably make her break down, but hunter shouldn't be a problem). 

At least the achievements are fun. I think one is even a reference to Batman the Animated Series sine its titled "On Leather Wings" which is the name of the first episode of that series. Nice. Played through the Wesker mode until Rebecca was killed by the first boss and I hadn't saved. Looks a bit fun to use Wesker with his special abilities, but it's just a reskin in the game itself. Movies it's still Billy and his voice and acting is still Billy. Shouldn't have been trying to get Rebecca's achievement for killing all the bosses. Should have used Wesker. Also, don't remember this from the Wii version, but the loading time is noticeable between rooms. And compared to RE1 that I played before I don't get why it would differ? Maybe that you can drop any item anywhere which forces the game to remember or that RE1 is stored on the system memory and the others on the MicroSD-card? Anyway, now I played through all Resident Evil-games I own. And it was all during the Corona-epidemic.

And I started to think about a fun bit about all these games: The Resident Evil Guide to survive an epidemic!

First off, Resident Evil 1... don't buy a mansion in the middle of the woods from a pharmaceutical company.

Resident Evil 0.... don't go on a train.

Resident Evil 4.... don't go to Spain.

Resident Evil 5... don't visit any African country.

Resident Evil 6... the C-virus is created in a laboratory in China... and don't take the plane.

Resident Evil Revelations... don't go on a cruise ship.

Resident Evil Revelations 2... don't go to the company party.

See, Capcom teaching social distancing and avoid public transportations since 1996.

Resident Evil HD (Switch) part 2

The one and only Chris Redfield

So, quickly replayed it as Chris Redfield and there are some changes to the story as well as adding other characters. First off, it's Chris, Jill and Wesker that arrives at the mansion. Barry is completely gone from the game, so where he fixed doors and left supplies, that role is now Wesker that done it. Giving the betrayal part even more punch really. Secondly, you meet Rebecca Chambers that starred in RE0 and she has to do things that Jill could do, but not Chris, like playing the piano... or rather that's pretty much the only thing she need doing. Overall Chris side is much more focused on action... but Jill still got the better weapons like the grenade launcher. The only thing Chris got was a flamethrower that he only could use against the spider boss. And flash grenades to shove into the mouth of zombies that grabbed him, killing them for good. 

Also, one puzzle is completely omitted, and that is the weed killer concoction to kill Plant 42. You just gotta brute force it with the shotgun. Also, Chris starts without a gun, just a knife... what kinda action path is this? And then we have the thing about inventory. Jill have 8 slots and Chris 6. Jill is more fun to play since she doesn't need to swap in and out items all the time and Barry is more useful than Rebecca. And the acting overall in this game... 4, 5 and 6 could be corny, but they were at least partially good acted, not so much in this version, and a pity they don't used the voice actor for the later games, but that might have been taking out the charm for many people about the game. It was kinda ridiculas when Richard, who survived the battle of the snake in this version thanks to Rebecca (he died shoving Jill out of the way in her part of the story) he instead got eaten by a shark shoving Chris out of the way... poor Richard. Still, this version of the game has Rebecca in a cowgirl costume on replays... gotta give me something to replay it.

Resident Evil HD (Switch)

Welcome inside!

So I finally played through the first game in the series and it was for the Switch. I also have it for the Wii when they released the Resident Evil Archives. I bought that version on a whim after playing through RE4, but never finished it... or played more than maybe 10 minutes of it. It's one of the first survival horror games and was originally released on the PS1 back in the 90's. Then they remade it for the Gamecube back in the early 2000's. I saw it advertised a lot and had the intro cutscene on a DVD from Super Play, a Swedish gaming magazine. It begins with S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team searching for Bravo Team that was lost after searching for unknown assilants that had eaten some people around Raccoon City. Discovering the wreck of their helicopter Alpha Team heads out. Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, Chris Redfield, Joseph Frost and captain Albert Wesker. Joseph gets attacked and killed by zombie dogs and the others escape into an old mansion belonging to the Spencer family. And then you gotta chose if you play as Jill or Chris. Only experienced Jill playthroughs and seen her start of the game I went with that. She also had two more slots for items than Chris and a lock-pick. The drawback having less health. 

So Jill, Barry and Wesker enters the mansion and Chris have gotten lost. Barry and Jill goes and check the dining hall, but instead finds a zombie eating on Bravo Teams Kenneth. From here Jill is left alone trying to find out what went down, find any survivors and get out of the mansion. The plot is that the Spencer mansion is on top of a secret laboratory built by the Umbrella Corporation where a viral outbreak have taken place and caused the people being infected and turned to zombies. Also Albert Wesker was planted by Umbrella to keep S.T.A.R.S. away from the truth as they have been dealing in a virus to create illegal bioweapons. Barry was forced to work for Wesker with a threat against his family, but couldn't betray Jill so they ended taking down Wesker that woke a Tyrant in a tube. And I still don't get what you really are gonna get for using B.O.W.s since they have never been able to control them enough for regular battles so it basically the drawback chemical warfare had back in the first world war when it could affect your own troops as much as the enemies. Still, Weskers supposedly dead and the tyrant lies dead on the floor. As you leave the self-destruct is activated so you make a break for it to get Chris out of prison. All three escape to the helipad where you set off a charge to get Brad to land. Before that the Tyrant appears again, knock out Chris leaving Barry and Jill to deal with it. After firing some grenades at him Brad drops a rocket luncher which Jill uses to blow the tyrant to bits, Brad picks everyone up and as they fly away as the mansion explodes.

I liked it. Playing through for the first time, even on very easy, felt tense with the music, the claustrophobic inducing corridors and the constant shaking up of rooms and corridors with enemies that can walk between areas. Just that you can walk into a boss room and if you are unlucky not being fully prepared to deal with it. I was of the impression that it was unknown what caused the zombies, but very early it's established it's a viral outbreak. They hint at cult members as explanation to the killings that causes S.T.A.R.S. to intervene. It's more of a puzzle game and inventory/resource management than action. Find keys, or items to open doors and either avoid fighting or kill the monsters you encounter. At least in the easier levels, I gather the resources aren't enough to coast through to the end if you blast everything, but on the other hand, I probably could have finished with only handgun and shotgun, but the final confrontation was at least easy with bringing the magnum and grenade launcher. Still, there is another story to be told as well, from Chris's side...

Earth Atlantis (Switch)

Under the sea!

Released in the early years off the Switch I bought it when I was in a shoot'em'up phase. It looked interesting with the graphics being like old paper. It takes place in a near future when global warming has caused 90 % of the worlds surface being drowned in water and machines have been adopting traits from animals and you as a hunter must keep the sea safe. Your mission is to protect the West Sea where a lot of hunters have disappeared. The west sea I assume is the Atlantic since there is a statue of liberty in the waters as well as greek styles of ruins (which might be Atlantis?), but there is also some areas with moai heads from easter island? Doesn't really matter. You go into your sub and blasts enemies.

At first I got Empire of Steel vibes and the same as that game inspirations from Jules Verne (which I gotta read some time, I got the collection right at my sleeping table). The problem is, that instead of 6 stages there is just one stage, that you circle around and around again defeating 25 bosses. The bosses have a problem in that many are just recycled but beefed up somewhat. And in the end, it just tedious circling around the bosses avoid being hit and just hold the fire button for 1-2 minutes before they are destroyed, or it just rams right into you and pretty much insta-kills you. 

Took me 4 and a half hour to play through. And the last two hours was just a slog. Being defeated meant roaming around to power up the sub and finding sub-weapon boosters. I found the missile the best since it packed a huge punch compared to the other like homing missiles, electricity or balls. You can also unlock other subs with different stats and in the end I had 3 out of 4. The final boss though was interesting since you could see it in the background and I guessed it would be a boss and was right. The ending is a bit anticlimactic though, beat the boss and you just got a screen that the west sea is saved, but you got a distress signal that the east sea and your home base is under attack. Was it because I played it on easy or is it sequel bait? Overall, it has a novelty value and its stylised graphics is worth looking at, but its not much there. I would have loved to see it on the 3DS  with the 3D-effects since that would probably look even more fantastic. Beside the main quest mode you got hunter mode where you hunt 27 bosses on a time limit... forget it.

Elliot's Quest (Switch)

Two white clad archer games?

Picked this up a while ago and thought it was interesting with something similar to Zelda 2. And that is pretty much what you get. You are Elliot who is on a quest to gather the powers of the four guardians in order to defeat the Satar since he has chosen you to be his vessel. Meanwhile Elliot's wife Cara is missing. All this you get by conquering one of the four temples as a bit of flashback to what happened. Being chosen apparently means you can't die with explains why you respawns instantly loosing all life or falling into a pit. So dying isn't that much of a problem. The problem is that the game is mostly running around trying to get what to do. Not much trouble until after the second temple. In comparison Zelda 2 never forced you to do a stage over and over again to use a new ability to get to a secret room or get a hidden treasure, but this game does. And it don't tell you what your abilities can do so you gotta try. I got stuck trying to climb the mountain to get to the stone temple because I first of all didn't have the right abilities that where hidden in places on the world map and one ability I did have, I didn't get could be used to set wooden boxes on fire all at once.

So I was a bit frustrated with the game. It also incorporated a moral system in where your actions affects what ending you get, good, evil or neutral. Now, I played it like a normal Zelda game so I saved every kid and gave back treasures to the people that asked for it, but I opened treasure chests at people's house. I assume that was enough to pidgenholed me into the neutral type and nothing with that, but I think something was odd with the ending. Mostly because ended without me hitting the last boss. I wonder if that is due to not having found all 11 crystals across the map, missing 2 of them. It just ends with Elliot using the guardians powers destroying Satar and with it the island. Everyone escapes on a boat and the credits roll. I must have missed something?

Will I play it again? No not really, I don't feel like. I might, and having played through it might make the second run more fun. It biggest flaws it was to cryptic, the map needed more detailed like how each room is connected, and mark out locked doors, and power-ups and treasures not grabbed so I don't have to check each area again and again. Like Metroid. Most fun actually was being stuck with this walkthrough I found. Problem is that the mountain slope area isn't described much in detail except the save stone with the floating cloud platform. But I couldn't get there. So I looked on youtube and grabbed the first playthrough I could find and skipped to the area I was at... and he couldn't get it either, but he then started saying "what save stone and cloud platform? This is why you need pictures!" and I believe he used the same walkthrough as I. I figured the puzzle out after looking some more, but in another area and that showed that wooden boxes burns allthogheter if standing besides each other.

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition (Switch)

An archer heroine... not that common

Ara Fell is a game I just picked up because it looked nice, a 16-bit looking rpg. It's about the girl Lita who finds a ring while falling into a ruin in the world of Ara Fell. Ara Fell is some floating islands in the sky due to the magic of the sunstone that the goddess gave the elves. The ring is Dian's Ring, the elven hero of old and it curses all humans to stone. Apparently the elves was losing a battle against the vampires and came up with the idea to turn themselves into stone and all other living creatures to starve the vampires and then uncurse themselves. Took them 2 000 years so playing the long game.

On this journey you have the help of the sorceress Seri Kesu, the bard Doren and the warrior Adrian, Lita's friend and companion in the adventure that found her finding the ring. You gather these 6 artifacts of power in order to uncurse the elves so that they can bring forth the sunstone so that Ara Fell won't fall out of the sky and into the abyss. Against them stands Baramon, the first vampire that intends to kill all elves and use the power of the sunstone to become a god. Took me 20 hours and I believe I 100 % it (besides grinding to level 99 or whatever the level cap is). 

Short and sweet. Having an archer girl instead of sword wielding boy was kinda interesting. She is also apparently rather short so a large portion of the dialog is short jokes on her expense. Adrian is the childhood friend that have a crush on her, Doren is a wandering bard that is in actuality an elf that fled the last battle since he didn't believe in the method to gamble all life for the chance of success. Seri is just described as the most powerful sorceress in the land. Graphics are nice and every major character have a portrait and the main once even different expressions as they react to certain event in the story (the portraits remind me of the portraits of Heroine's Quest), the music is really beautiful and the gameplay is fun in the beginning, but in the end turned rather repetitive. 

Some negatives is that the ending boss is a bit weird, I brought it down to 1 HP, but he wouldn't die. The trick is at that point you are supposed to be defeated to trigger a cutscene that ends the life of the big bad, and to do that he uses a powerful attack that should one hit kill all characters... except that I used Adrian's reflect spell that withstand that attack. A bit poorly designed since I had to check up so it wasn't a glitch or special trick to finish of the boss (except dying) since I didn't want to redo the battle if I was wrong. Turned out to be by design. Which is really weird since that means I actually lost the last battle. Which probably explain why the sunstone is destroyed and Ara Fell plunges to the Abyss. The epilog shows the survivors gather at a new village trying to fend for themselves in this new world. A short distractions that is enjoyable for most of the journey.