Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Switch 2)

 

SAMUS! SAMUS! SAMUS!

Finally, a new Switch 2 game that I got on card for the console. Otherwise it has only been Switch 1 copies, and that's kinda interesting for a console where I prefer getting the older games. Apparently Nintendo as of writing in december 2025 is making some other game cards so that other companies actually put the f***ing game on the card to save on damn space. Hell I've ordered a Mario Kart physical copy just save in on 20 GB! Anyway, new Metroid Prime game. The remasters of 2 and 3 never appeared so wonder what happened to them. It clearly was a troubled production on this game so I wonder if they put all them to get this game out instead of giving us the other games on one console (or they thought it was better to use them on the GameCube Online thing in the future, who knows). Anyway again, back to the game.

Samus is sent to a research station that is under attack from the pirate leader Sylux that you encountered in Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS. They apparently found an ancient artifact and during the scuffle it activates teleporting Samus, some of the federation soldiers and equipment to an unknown planet, Viewrose. Traveling around you first rescue Mac, an engineer that helps you during the adventure with technical stuff. You also discovered that the planet used to hold an intelligent race of people that are no more due to the Great Tragedy, but they reward you with psychic powers to help you on your adventure.

During the adventure you meet more Federation soldiers, Sarge and Armstrong, the sniper Tokabi and a combat robot named V. They pretty much help you on each area and then they all come together for the final area where they seem to be lost until you finish up and it turns out they all survived. Your goal on the planet is to get 5 keys in order to open the central tower in the desert to get to a teleporter and get out. You also finds a motorbike to ride around in the desert collecting green crystals, finding upgrades and fight the same kind of enemies that roams the desert. After getting a mech for the robot to shatter the shield around the tower you head in and get attacked by Sylux... and here I got blasted away. I played it on normal until this fight, but I got blasted several times over... and it's not really me that get blasted. The Federation Troopers? They join you for this fight, but with that comes the fact that if they die, you lose.

And worst part is? Sylax have attacks that cover most of the arena at once, nuking them. You can heal them, but when 4 of the team is down and you can only heal one at a time and he nukes them again, you die. So I lowered difficulty to just get it over with. Of course that made me miss out on getting the hard mode, but I have a suspicion that I won't be playing that any time soon. Overall, it was a decent challenge up until the end. The only time I looked something up was where to find the final piece of the mech in the jungle and the treasure bots that makes the map show where upgrades are. Best new thing for the prime games ever. And I don't get why it took them this long since the 2D games with maps have had markers on it since the SNES. 

Apparently it's a bit of online chatter about this game, but I found it enjoyable enough. 

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2) (Switch)

 

All in time for the Galaxy-movie!

I continued with the sequel that I haven't finished on the Wii. It originally came out in 2010 which means it probably was the last game I got as a student at university, meaning I was rather depressed so didn't feel like playing anything... and then four years unemployment followed. Recalling this I actually got the version with a DVD on how to play the game. Sadly the package it all came in had been destroyed by water or corroded electronics. Great I put it on since now I can actually see that the graphics are much better on the Switch version. On the other hand the game crashed on me on the very second level so it might not be as stable.

So the story is basically a retelling on the first Galaxy-game with Bowser attacking Toad Town and getting Princess Peach, but instead of being picked up by the Cosmic Comet, you instead meet a Luma called Lubba that travels around space. It takes the shape of Mario's face for some reason. Some people on the internet speculate that had the game been released today it would just have been DLC for the original game and I can see that. Some stages are lifted directly from the first game, but Thwomps Fortress from Super Mario 64 showed up and that was nice. 

Changes to gameplay is that now, as you can see on the cover, you also can get Yoshi with you. He eat stuff and can use the flutter jump as well as using his tongue to platform even higher. In that way it feel a bit like Super Mario World with the first stage being in front of Yoshi's house and he being out. You used the wii remote pointer, but the Switch make you use the gyrocontrols instead. Seen as one of the reason why it wasn't on the All-Star 3D Collection, but since it works rather well here that can't be it. 

So did I 100%? Not as of writing, I ended up with 120 star and activated the green prankster comets that put in another 120 stars to collect which double the stars for each stage. Mostly they are hidden around the levels so you gotta find them. Not that hard since they give away the sound of a shimmering star when you get near so as long as you hear that you can deduce where they are. I got stuck at the third green star at the digging level in the first world where I found it, but couldn't get how to get to it. After some tries I gave up for another time. This is written right before Halloween 2025 which means I have four day weekend to look forward to, but Dragon Quest 1+2 comes this Friday or something like that which means the weekend is scheduled for that. 

Super Mario Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2) (Switch)

 

Lost in Space... again!

Well, I guess I'm part of the problem when I got this duology since I've already got the first game for Switch, and finished it 100% at it as well. I guess they fixed some graphics and added some story book pages, otherwise it's pretty much the same game. Used the pro-controller for this and it worked rather well. I guess this is pretty much the only way to play this game now if you didn't get a copy of Super Mario 3D-All Star (which I did). 

I finished it at 60 stars and continued a bit, but I realized pretty quickly why it was a bit of a bother to 100% it. So I haven't unlocked Super Luigi Galaxy, but I already have the picture to prove I finished that one as well on my Switch so I don't feel the need to finish it. I'm more worried by Super Mario Galaxy 2 which I haven't finished so sometime would be the first.

Things I can say is that I hate the bouncing power up, I can't get it to work all the time and I don't know why. 

Kirby and the Forgotten Land Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World (Switch 2)

 

It's Kirby... in 3D!

Well, the games don't really rain over the Switch 2 at the moment so I decided to get Kirby and the Forgotten Lands since I didn't get it for the original Switch and everyone was raving about this game when it came out. I also tried to play the NES games and such that I have for the Wii U, but I got stuck there and then the game come out. Kirby is minding his own business when a vortex appear above Popstar and drag him and the waddle-dees into it. He appears on a new world which looks a lot like our earth where he meet a flying critter called Elfilin that tags along on the adventure as the waddle-dees get kidnapped by some beasts.

Rescuing the waddle-dees allows them to gather in this town area where they set up a smith, shops and so on depending on how many you rescue. You fight through several different worlds collecting blue-prints to upgrade your copy-abilities that you collected from the enemies as well as gold and stars that you need for the upgrade. Each level have several objectives that gives you more waddle-dees and if you are thorough you can pretty much get them in one go. At the end of the levels there are bosses and they also have objectives, but they tend to be more of the variety use this ability to do this which means repalying the bosses a bunch of times. 

I'm not that thorough but I got something like 250 waddle-dees at the end out of 300 I guess. In the final stages Elfilin gets kidnapped by a brainwashed King Dedede and after Kirby beats him up ends up in a laboratory where a giant lionman have taken Elfilin in order to merge it with an dimensional hopping entity that the assumed humans captured and then experimented on to leave the planet. So the entity have controlled all the beasts and use waddle-dees to power the whole laboratory for some reason. Still, 4 or something bossfights later Kirby absorbs a truck and like Optimus Prime blasts right into this lovecraftian entity. F***ING AWESOME!

Dramatic Reenactment!

Credits roll and then you get the vision of the lionman trapped in some dimensional rift. You get back and then I finished up the new added stuff for the Switch 2 version, saving the starries to send out an evil space heart, but it fails and I fight the boss again much harder this time. This fight made me lower the difficulty to just be over it. The starries are on some of the levels that changes the level a bit with different plattforming. Anyway, credits roll and then I go and do the lionman quest. In yet another dimension you have to run through gauntles of all levels in each stage to gather the soul fragments of the lionman. Lucky enough Elfilin tells you if you get all the souls in each part so you can find them before going forward and lock you out of the stage so I did all that in one go. After gathering all souls you get a figure and then fight lionman again and the entity that possessed him again and then credits roll for a third time. 

It was a fun game. If I want I can 100 % it, but some of the challenges just feels to much to gather the waddle-dees (the starries I believe would be easier since there is no bosses to fight). There's also figurines to gather but I'm rather tired of those things after Minish Cap. Especially since I gathered most of the rewards is more figurines. That or I can probably gamble on the figurines machines. 

Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2)

 

The Journey to the Center of the Earth!

Well, it took the postal service a week to get it to my home. It arrived Friday the week after it was supposed to come out. Took me 2 weekends and two hours per day during the week, but now again I have a 100 % cleared games on the Switch 2 (no, don't look at my stack of unfinished or even played Switch 1 games). The game begins on Ingot Island where DK is mining for Golden Bananas until a meteor-looking thing crashes on the island dragging it into the depths of the earth. There he meets a talking crystal person that tries to escape from the Void Company CEO... Void Kong and his two henchmen. First time I've seen evil Kongs in a DK game, but since Metroid have already put in evil Chozos I'm already comfortable with the idea. The crystal person turns out to be Pauline that was kidnapped for her singing voice after you release her from the crystal. You meet different races on your way to the center of the earth in search of the Banandium Root for a way to get home and stop Void Kongs plans.

It's a rather fun game. You break most things and collect golden bananas in order to upgrade your abilities and then you collect gold to buy stuff and banadium chips to use to get more golden bananas or later musical discs. There are a couple of animal elders that allow you to use the Banaza that transform you into different animals, like snake, zebra, elephant, ostrich... and a gorilla. Gorilla form feels a bit weird since you already are a Kong, maybe I thought it would be a rhino as a callback to Rambi, but since there is a layer where you ride on Rambi they maybe thought it was enough. 

The final stretch of the games just ramps up the intensity. You have defeated Void Kong's henchmen and duke it out with the CEO himself, beat him and suddenly King K. Rool appears, beats up Void and get the Root for himself. That came by surprise. I gather that Cranky might imply him during the talks with him, but I didn't get it until he showed up. And now Kremlings appears and buzzaw bees so suddenly it feels like a Country game again. You corner K. Rool at the center of the earth and defeats him and your wish is about to get you back and credits roll, and it's the Kredits from Donkey Kong Country so you know the fight ain't over. K. Rool follows you with his barrel jet packs and you have to occupy him until you can reach the surface. You get to New Donk City where Pauline lives, K. Rool steals the root again and you have to platform to the boxing ring from Donkey Kong 64 and beat him again. Took me three tries, but I did it. Credits roll again and DK returns to Ingot Island while Pauline stays in NDC. 

After the credits you start at Ingot island again and reunite with Pauline that needs help finding a song she can sing. So you meet the elders again and do their rehearsal which is a gauntlet of platform challanges for each Bananza that forces you to use every power (and hopefully you upgraded every Bananza to the full). Zebra was the worst with the timed I thought, but then elephant wanted me to lure monsters into different areas to change shape and so on. After I remember to use the snake's time stop ability that one wasn't that hard. And after all that you have the Harmoneel. A true test of skills since you had to do it all in one go which I learned when I died on the very last stretch. After getting enough resources and changing outfits I went in again and cleared it. Rewarded with yet another credit scene, but I'm a bit disappointed since I thought I could get to New Donk City and just wander around, but no such luck. After that I cleared out the fossil to get every costume since you just could buy maps for those (and bananas as well, but those could be hard to get). 

So overall it was fun platformer. Some people complained that the ending was a bit to long, and if I had played it at the middle of the night before work and just wanna go to bed I might have felt the same, but instead I did it in the early afternoon so to me it was a great escalation. And here comes a reason why I prefer the Mario team to do these games, the bosses have pretty much a cycle of three which means that I can memorize the sequence within reason. Maybe the fact I played through 4 Donkey Kong Country games before I didn't have that hard of a time. Something I noticed though is that if this was Journey through the Center of the Earth and Mario Odyssey would be Around the World in 80 Days, I assume the devlopers at Nintendo seems to be on a Jules Verne binge. Gotta finish the collection of books I have at the night stand before Star Fox returns as a Captain Nemo rip-off... oh wait, that was Steel Diver for the 3DS. (And to be clear, this was written before the Star Fox game for Switch 2 was announced.)

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch)

 

And the monkey business returns.

Well, I still haven't gotten Banaza and it's been a week now. At least I had time to play through Donkey Kong Coutry Returns for the first time. I got it for the Wii, 3DS and Switch, but this is the first time I finish it. I think I played through the first two worlds on the Wii, but got stuck on the boss and then gave up. It wasn't that hard when I played it now, but that could be the Modern Mode cause I was ready to give up at some times.

Story is that one day the DK Island volcano explodes and unleashes the Tiki Tribe that begins hypnotize the animals and stealing Donkey's banans. Together with Diddy they set out to get them back and beat up the Tiki's. 8 worlds later you defeat the big boss of the Tiki and everything's great again, except it reveals the Golden Temple, yet another stage. I can't take it anymore and I really hope the new game comes tomorrow. 

I might sound irritated, but I spent 10 minutes on the final hit on the boss and I think levels like the barreljets and rickety rides just is infuriating. I used up something like 30-40 lives on two stages each trying to get through. Glad I got enough Banana coins to just buy more extra lives without problems. It was a struggle for me, and I can't see myself 100 % cause some of the feats to get some of the collectibles are beyond my abilities. I had a hard enough time getting how Rambi and the barreljets worked so I probably had more problem than necessary. Lucky I got the instruction manual from the Wii-version. Remember when games had physical manuals in the box? I do miss those.

Overall I can see the charm of it if you like 2D plattformers, which I do to a degree, but maybe not in 30 degrees Celsius on the first week back at my job after vacation. And a non-functioning postal service for the game I'm actually interested in playing. I find it interesting though that the game had really long load times, especially since I played it on Switch 2 since I thought the console would cut some of these, but maybe there needs to be an update for it first. Another thing I'be been thinking about it that compared to say Super Mario, Donkey Kong very often disrupts the flow in a level. Super Mario feels really great when you just enter the flow and can rush past stage after stage since it just clicks. Maybe I don't know the levels enough or the mechanics, but I just doesn't get that feeling over the game, since when it seems I'm on my way breaking the code, the game changes up and slows down the gameplay, either with the rickety rides or barreljets or something like the barrels that spin... or the bonus stages that constantly take you away from the main game. 

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (Wii U)

 

Shouldn't it be Tripple Trouble?

Well, had to continue and Bananza didn't come to me on the Monday after release so I had one more evening. Didn't feel it as much in this game. On one hand from start to finish it is very close to the second game, but there is a lot more stuff to do, getting items to trade to find your way to the Secret Area and such compared to the second game where you just needed the money to pay. But at the same time it was straightforward. 

Story is that Donkey and Diddy disappeared in this new area so Dixie sets of to find them. Funky Kong gives you vehicles to traverse the area and Dixie Kong's cousin Kiddy Kong joins her. He's a stand in for Donkey. I liked the gameplay in the second game better for some reason. Maybe due to the things they tried was a bit more obnoxious like the area where you constantly gets shoot at or an area where you swim in poison water where your controls are reversed. I also feels that the stages from Donkey Kong Land 3 is rather different which also maybe gives me a pushback (or maybe since I played that game legit on my Game Boy Pocket I replayed the stages so much that it felt like they where more stages).

Maybe I'm fatigued after playing the whole series during a weekend or maybe that review in Super Play was right, it's not that good of a series. Or the fact that temperatures are reaching 30 degrees C might effect my enjoyment of the game.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Wii U)

 

The Revenge of King K. Rool.

Continued playing the second game. Basically Donkey Kong's been kidnapped by King K. Rool so Diddy and his girlfriend Dixie Kong sets out to save him. Cranky and Funky returns with them and some new Kongs like Wrinkly and Swanky. Pretty much returning animal buddies like Rambi, Enquarde, Sqwakes and new ones like the spider and snake. And I enjoy this game much more than the first game.

I think because they made it somewhat easier (still hard levels and such), but other things that helped the enjoyment. For one, every animal buddy can attack, compared to the ostrich in the first game. They made it more obvious where secrets are, both in the levels like with banana arrows or letters indicating what ability to use or hints you can get from Cranky. The bonus stage also had a title card for what you where supposed to do so it wasn't that obtuse. This allowed me get over 60 % this time around and my lives was at a full 99 (well, using the restore point I saved up on unnecessary deaths and such, but compare it to the first game when I only ended the game with something around 50 lives, you where supposed to grind for life I assume). 

On the other hand, since I've played Donkey Kong Land 2 a lot and actually finished that one I might have already learned some of the patterns it wasn't completely new to me. Don't like that you have to pay to save at certain points. Always made me stingy with the collectibles. It could also be that the duo Dixie and Diddy actually plays better. You switch characters with select this time around and can join up for some special move with A if both are in the party. 

So this is clearly a better sequel. Or it can be that I haven't gotten to play these games as much compared to the first one and I'm not good at the first one, meaning I never get past it. But we know that can't be the case.

Donkey Kong Country (Wii U)

Time for some monkey buisness!

I was gonna play Donkey Kong Bananza during my final weekend of my vacation, but yet again the postal services have betrayed me. So it will probably come when I started work again. Thanks for that. So what can I do to occupy myself these last days? Well, I got the whole Country-series on Wii U so that could be something. I got the game on GBA, Wii Virtual Console, 3DS, Wii U and SNES Mini and technically I got the Donkey Kong Land as well, but this is the first time I actually finish it for the first time. Only around 50 % since I haven't gotten all secrets and so on and I won't get them since I really don't like the game.

Story is that King K. Rool and his kremlings have stolen Donkey Kong's banana hoard so DK and Diddy sets out to get them back. Kranky Kong, Funky Kong and Candy Kong sets out to help our primate friends as they traverse all over DK Island in search for the golden bananas. It's rather hard and maybe why I don't like it. To often there is a new gimmick for the stage and you basically have to memorize the stages in order to get past them. I remember reading a review of... maybe the GBA game for the Swedish magazine Super Play where the reviewer apologized for ever thinking this game was good so it might have colored my perception as well. 

I got past the game mostly by abusing the save state function on the Wii U and in total the gameplay ended on less than 2 hours, but I assume that it maybe would have been a couple hours added since I restarted all the time. To finish it legit? Who knows how many hours I had to spend on it. Now, if I was a kid and played it as intended on SNES I might have forced myself to learn the patterns and such and have a completely different appreciation of the game. 

But to be more positive, it looks good with the graphics and the music is really good, but it plays a bit bad in my opinion. And the game is a bit evil with enemy placement, for example there is a couple of stages where before clearing a jump from moving platforms there is a big muscle guy you only can defeat with Donkey Kong since Diddy is to small, if you hit them as Diddy, they push you back into the pit, game over. And the bosses takes a lot of beating and with only two hits it's a question of pattern recognition. So you see, I'm not that impressed by the game.

Mario Kart World (Switch 2)

 

This will not help with the tour.

So like everyone else there is basically one new game for the Switch 2 at launch and as stated, I got it at the launch bundle with my Switch 2. And it's Mario Kart. I drove through the coursers and unlocked the final Grand Prix with Rainbow Road in it. I gathered it was an unlockable course since Mario Kart needs a Rainbow Road as the final. 

Overall, it's Mario Kart and it looks and sound great. I'm not a competitive player or plays online so I don't get as much out of it. My first Mario Kart was Mario Kart 64 and I think the most enjoyment was playing with friends and my sisters. Took years until I managed to unlock mirror mode since we played it more as battle mode or two. Dubble Dash for the GameCube was better that way since we could all four play in the Grand Prix. But what I did when I played on my own was driving around the coursers looking around. The train level I followed the tracks into the tunnel or found Peaches castle at the Mario Circuit level so when this game introduced the Free Roam mode, I would have loved it as a kid. I even got vibes of Diddy Kong Racing and the adventure mode. You got to collect Peach coins, ?-panels and find missions to solve. Meanwhile you can find food that unlocks new costumes for your characters. 

As a kid I would have loved it, as an adult that have a gigantic backlog it's busy work I don't really feel like going through. Meanwhile there isn't anything else to play beside older games and such so what else are you gonna do. I got it was a mirror mode you can unlock as well, but then you have to collect ten off everything in free roam and then beat all coursers in 150cc I think. Maybe I will someday, but we will see. A thing I would have wished they added from Diddy Kong Racing was a plane mode to fly around the stages instead of just gliding. 

Online I gather there is some controversy regarding the intermission tracks, instead of standard 3 laps coursers they put in Intermission tracks where you travel around the world. In one way it showcases the free roam mode, but I get it for those that want to learn the coursers since you need the repeating tracks to do it since the tracks gets long in intermission mode. Especially irritated for people was that there was a workaround, but after a patch people couldn't get past that in the same way I gathered. I can understand peoples irritation over it and maybe this is one of the times when Nintendo maybe should give the people what they want? Then on the other hand, people doesn't always know what they want or what they need? Then again I don't really care since I don't play online.

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS) (Wii U)

 

All Aboard the Crazy Train!

Thought about playing this after Phantom Hourglass, but other things got in the way and after playing through it again I can say I don't very much like the DS gameplay. Spirit Tracks is a direct sequel to Phantom Hourglass that followed Wind Waker. Story is that after getting his engineer degree to pilot a train, Zelda ask Link to take her to the Spirit Tower to investigate the disappearance of the spirit tracks across the land. Turns out that the chancellor Cole is a demon in disguise that kidnaps Zelda's body to use it for a vessel of the Demon King Malladus (meaning no Ganon in this story). Zelda's spirit follows Link around and after getting to the Spirit Tower they meet Anjean, a lokomo. Apparently the lokomos aided the spirits before the hylians arrived and trapped Malladus by using the Spirit Tracks, but after they eroded away the Chancellor saw his chance to release Malladus. So you set out to restore the spirit tracks by traversing the spirit tower itself and then finding the temples scattered around the land. 

This is the second time I play through it which makes it one of the Zelda games I've played the least. It came out in 2009 and I didn't finish it until I got a 3DS in 2011. Playing it again there is some really fun puzzles and it follows the Zelda-formula. I won't deny that it's quite interesting how they use all of the DS functions, you control Link with the stylus, you gotta use the microphone to play the pan pipes and tell this little girl if she is plain or cute... I don't have the heart to tell her she's plain so it was cute every time I interacted with her. But the stylus shows some real problems since it doesn't always correlate to what I try to do. The pan pipes is a nightmare to try to get working at times, especially the restoration song you need to time trice over each time. And it's even in the final battle with Malladus which makes it one of the harder parts. And the attacks with the stylus get's a bit weird at times when I don't draw the sword or when I try to roll but swing instead and so on. I prefer a normal control scheme thank you very much.

Also, like Phantom Hourglass you follow a set route, of course diminished in this game since you are restricted to the tracks that exists compared to the ocean, but no time limit in the main hub. Overall travel feels so slow compared to a traditional Zelda. There are teleportation points, but you have to pass through them and they are point A to point B. Wished the flute have had some teleportation songs like in the earlier games, but I assume that would be a problem with the transportation quests. Overall, it will probably still be one of the lesser played games in the series just by that. The Save Point on the Wii U at least helps with the minigames and traveling with people or transporting cargo.

On the other hand, music is a bit more distinct than Phantom Hourglass and I do like pan flute music after watching Mysterious Cities of Gold and listening to the Golden Sun Soundtrack.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD (Switch 2)

 

Love in the Crossfire!

I thought I had written about the original game since it came out in 2014, but apparently I didn't began writing my synopsis on finished game until half a year later in 2014 so I never did it. The closest when I was writing about the follow up demo for the second game, Bravely Second. Still haven't finished that main game so might continue with that, but that will be a while since the first game has a tendency to overstay it's welcome. And I had hoped just writing about the differences from the 3DS version and skip the story and such. 

So basically the story is that the great chasm swallows Norende, the pastoral town where Tiz Arrior lives together with his brother. His brother dies in the Chasm and Tiz wakes up in the nearby capital being saved from drowning in a river. He returns to the Chasm and meet Agnes Oblige, the vestal of Wind that looks into the Chasm together with Airy the Cryst-Fairy. They are being hunted by the Eternian forces that are intent on destroying any believers of the Crystal followers. They meet with Ringabel that have lost his memory and joins them after following instructions in his journal. They also meet Edea Lee, daughter of the Grand Marshal of Eternia that switches side after the cruelty shown by the Eternian forces. Together they travel to the four crystals to awaken them and banish the darkness.

The story is pretty much callbacks to Final Fantasy I-V. The order of the crystals is reversed from Final Fantasy I with wind, water, fire and earth. The class system is brought over from Final Fantasy III and V. Braev the Templar looks a bit like paladin Cecil (and Artemis looks like his dark knight version, but that looks like all dark knights in the series) from Final Fantasy IV. The other classes looks a bit like other classes from the games. The magic system is basically the same as Final Fantasy and so on. The biggest difference being the summons that are unique and looks like modern things like planes and trains, but stylised to look like summons so like the plane looks like a bird and so on. Had they done them like in Final Fantasy with Raruh, Bahamut and so on togheter with Moogles and Chocobos it would be the continued series if they hadn't done VI and so on. 

So you get the crystals awakened, fight the asterisk bearers to get the classes and some story bits. Each country is being undermined by the Eternians in different ways so you have to clean it up. You also meet the Sage Yulyana that helps you and then Lester the vampire. After defeating them all and fixing the crystals a pillar of light appears that you enter, Artemis Dim, the dark knight follows you and after defeating him his face is revealed showing Ringabels face and then you are transported back to the beginning of the game. The game is in a time loop like the original Final Fantasy as well. SO you fight the bosses again to awaken the crystals and get more story bits. You do this five times and is in one way kinda admirable for them to stick to it, but it gets repetitious since the dialog repeats as well, making you wonder do they remember what happens between each jump? Especially when the game pretty much spells out the plot for you, Airy is a lying fairy (which at the reveal shows up on the title screen as well). She pushes our heroes to go through this since she is in actuality a demon from the abyss that helps her lord Ouroboros to connect 10 000 worlds to release Ourobors from his prison and invade the celestial realm. I got it and the numbers on her wings showing how many there is left is kinda neat when you notice it, but the characters didn't seem to get it.

You defeat Airy and then fights Ouroboros on a stage that looks like the battle with Chaos from Final Fantasy I and he begins destroying world after world (if you where a bit more social on the 3DS or Switch I have the feeling they would have named the worlds after that compared to "Someone World". Our heroes almost gives up, but then heroes from other worlds helps out (named after my AI buddies since I'm a very anti-social person). Our heroes stand up for a final battle and the background have my mii in the background (Ouroboros hints that a celestial is in Tiz and on the 3DS they used the camera to show the players face making it kinda obvious that the celestial realm is our own). You defeat Ouroboros, everyone returns to their own world (meaning Ringabel went back to the world prior to the starting world).

It's a fun game, but the endgame really drags. In both versions I maxed all jobs and levels. It doesn't make you overpowered, you still need to figure out how to break the game and I don't know if I did it on normal on the 3DS, but I got to the final subplot battles in chapter 8 and tried to go directly to Airy but got beat up so bad. That's when I needed a break with Minish Cap, but after that I just lowered the difficulty to easy and ran through the game as quickly I could. On the 3DS I spent over 100 hours and on this I was something like 90 hours and it's to much. The classic games take something like 20-30 hours and at the 40 hour mark you enter the pillar of light for the first time and would have been better if you maybe had done 2 passes, but no, 5.

What did they add then? Since it's a launch game for the Switch 2 they added things to show the systems functions. They added two minigames that is mouse based. One is a rhythm game and the other is a game where you pilot the airship. By playing you unlock entries in the journal about people you meet and you also get flower points which you can use to get equipments and items. Played mostly Love on the Battlefield-theme, and by looking at the whole Linked Horizon concert the sound was taken from I learned that Motoi Sakuraba was the man playing the synths, you know, the Golden Sun music guy. Best song ever! I spent a couple of hours playing the rhythm game with the song the singer sings. It's rather good so that wasn't a problem, but I thought I could get several ribbons so I grinded up to over 150 points and turned out I could only got 1 of them from the store. There is another in the game, but that was the moment my carefully thought out plan went away and I stuck with easy mode instead. Still, I got a silver sword as fast I got to the mini games and that was useful at the very next part of the game since it was great against undead that was all over the next area. 

So, buy it if you are interested. I got it as a game key card and I wonder if it will be the only one I got like this. As I said, haven't finished the direct sequel and haven't started Bravely Default 2 either even though I have it for Switch. Will take some time before I play it though. The new Donkey Kong game comes out next week (in 2025 when I write this) so I will play something short in between.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Wii U)

 

The smallest of Links.

Thought I had written about this game, but apparently not. Been playing Bravely Default for the Switch 2, but just don't feel like finishing the end game and everyone that have played it knows what it is. So I watched Game Grumps playing the Minish Cap so just felt that it would be a nice break. Originally for the GBA and made by Capcom that also did the Oracle-games. I got it for the GBA, the 3DS ambassador program and the Wii U that I played here. Seems like I hadn't finished it before since the only save on the console was from even before Link leaves Hyrule town with the princess. Probably was bored at the time.

Story is that Link is the grandson to the smith and it's the Picori Festival when Hyrule celebrates the picori, pretty much gnomes that are really small and lives in peoples houses or in the forest. At the price ceremony the winner Vaati goes haywire and turns Zelda to stone, breaks the picori blade and releases evil upon the world. Link gets the mission to find the picori since he is a child and they only show themselves to children. On his way through the Minish Woods he finds a talking hat that is being attacked. He helps it and it tells him that he is Ezlo, a minish sage that was turned into a hat by his apprentice Vaati that stole the minish cap from Ezlo and intended to rule the world. So Ezlo joins Link and this is the origin of Link's green hat.

You need to find the four elements and fix the broken picori blade. Ezlo helps you by being able to shrink yourself to minish height. It is a fun concept especially when they take normal enemies and turn them into bosses, because now they are massive. The picori blade then turns into the four-sword that was introduced in the side-quest for the Link to the Past remake for the GBA (where Vaati also was the end boss). So it's a lot of origins here.

I finished it before, but the memory was that it was hard to fight the end boss. And it is, but I guess 20 years of video games actually improved my thinking. I never 100 % it though and as I played it I began to see why. You have the kinstone fusions where you fuse kinstones with people that you get in chest, or get from grass or enemies and so on. Which is fun since you get chests or enemies or open paths and so on. But several of the fusions are random, and people can be really picky on if they want to due a fusion or not. I actually was able to get all those, but the last one was a pain. Apparently a deku scrub that had it. And then it was the figurines. You collect shells (which I assume is a nod back to Link's Awakening) that you can gamble to get figurines of characters or enemies. There is 136 total and I got to something like 100, and I got that by abusing the save state while playing the rupee game to max the winnings. Maybe I should have bought more shells than kinstones. Too late now. And you need to get all figurines if you want to get all heart pieces. God dammit.

Overall, a fun game and I like the concept of the minish and such (having watched Gnomes as a kid). End boss was hard though and took me a minute to remember how to beat Vaati and there is three phases of the boss. Don't like that, especially when I'm forced to fight off 3 darknuts under a time limit. And then I spent 2 hours to get enough rupees to buy the shells to gamble on the figurens. All to get the final heart piece and 3 chests with 200 rupees each... what am I supposed to spend it on, the game is over?

Nintendo Switch 2

 

Can it get any more black? Well, yeah obviously, but you know what I mean.

So it has finally arrived, 8 years after the original Switch I now have the Switch 2. Got it delivered and could pick it up on release day 5th of June 2025. A pity I had a political meeting until 20:30, but the store was at least still open so I could get my hands on it. Spent the rest of the night to install and update it. Getting a bit crowded in the console area so I had to get power from where I have the window lamps plugged in. Need more outlets I gather. 

A bit of a hassle to order. I got a preorder in at the same day they allowed it, but got the Mario Kart World bundle. I thought I would get it physical, but when I learned about the download code it was already sold out from my regular supplier. I did look around to see if I could find a non-Nordic version since I could save something like 150 $ or €, but the only places I found didn't export to Sweden so that a no. So stuck with my first order. Still a bit cheaper than other suppliers in Sweden so at least that was a plus.

And then followed bad news after bad news. The game key card debacle, the prices, the micro sd express memory cards and so on (some caused by the tariff war currently going on due to the US). I got one game key card and that was Bravely Default since I liked that game. Got the Zelda-duology as well so I can give my dad the Switch versions and save memory for me plus being up to date with patches and such. Turns out the Switch 2 versions work on the Switch 1 without hassle so that was an unexpected plus (even though I probably won't use it).

Transferred the saves and such things. Had to stop the console from downloading all my digital games since that goes around 600-700 GB and I have no extra micro sd Express card. I try to wait until they hopefully get cheaper and larger. I probably need 1,5 - 2 TB to be satisfied. And still only downloading things from physical editions I got left me with something like 60-70 GB out of 256 GB (mostly due to Konami's Metal Gear Solid collection that seems like a proto-game key card in hindsight since there isn't much on the card). I also already noticed that if I'm going to only go physical I would need to get Switch versions since of course the other companies go for game key cards on things like Dragon Quest I+II HD Remake and Final Fantasy Tactics (I getting a bad feel from you Square Enix). Well, apparently scratch that number since after some updates I pretty much hit the ceiling so I had to get rid of some software, like the Metal Gear Extra section that took over 20 GB of memory. I really need an Express Card.

Now for some positive, I really love how fast the eshop is now. No stagger crashes and restarts it feels quick this time. I can actually browse it and my wishlist without having to start over all the time. The console also feels very nice in my hand, I especially love the pro-controller even if the d-pad doesn't work as good. Not only does it feel great, but the earphone jack in it makes it really great to play at night to not disturb neighbors (or family or others if you don't live alone). A bit low on the sound until I found out how to adjust it to max. Bravely Default had some mini-games that used mouse support and I tried it. One was a music game where you has to use the mouse to align with bars or music notes to get a high score, the other game being a airship minigame where you control the airship with all bells and whistles to find a boss and then fight it. You use the mouse in order to steer and activate all the things in the cockpit like radio, fireworks and so on. Works rather well. The only issue I had was the music game when the pointers ende up on the wrong side which disoriented me, but that was it. Played it on my living room table in front of the TV and it worked as advertised. Tried it on my legs as well just to test it and it was responsive enough, but I didn't try any of the minigames so don't know how prolonged play would affect me. I haven't gotten Welcome Tour and due to that a couple of features will be unknown for me. Agree with others it should have been free with the console since it's a techdemo on the console, but here we are. 

Lunar: Silver Star Story (Lunar Remastered Collection) (Switch)

 

I mean, look at the helmet!

A remaster of the first game in the Lunar-series. Originally for the Sega CD (and was released on the Sega Mega Drive Mini II in Japan, but due to disagreement on payment it didn't follow with the western releases), later ported for Playstation 1 and Sega Saturn and then remade for the modern consoles. Fun with some old-school JRPG. Tells the story of Alex that wants to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Dyne the Dragonmaster. Together with Luna sets out on an adventure, first helping their friend Remus get a diamond from the White Dragon that lives in a cave near by and then taking it to the closest town to sell it. The story balloon from there where you meet Jessica, the daughter of the beastman hero Mel and her on and off boyfriend Kyle the bandit. You also meet Nash that takes you to Vane, the town of magicians. There you meet Mia and are set out to look into the fake Dragonmaster... and then it turns out that the magicians leader have been usurped by an imposter that have you arrested. Mia breaks you out and you unveils this conspiracy. Ghaleon, one of the four heroes joins you towards the white dragon to ask for help.

Well, turns out Ghaleon is the real mastermind behind it and captures the white dragon, kidnaps Luna (over the course of the game singers have been kidnapped so one would assume that's why they got Luna since her singing have magical effects). Alex is saved from the cave by Laike, a friend Alex and Luna met while leaving their town of Burg. Setting off with the other friends Alex looks to complete the trails set by the other dragons in order to become the Dragonmaster and stop Ghaleon. Turns out that Luna is the reincarnated goddess Althena who gave up her life to ensure that humans had free will and stood on their own legs and didn't depend on her. Ghaleon was a bit more cynical and believed humans needed a strong leader and if Althena wouldn't do it he was the one to carry the mantle. And Laike is Dyna and the world is probably our moon and the blue star they have as a moon is probably our earth they escaped from in ancient times when humans almost destroyed themselves. 

It's a standard JRPG, I think they modeled it after Final Fantasy IV since Alex turning into the Dragonmaster feels like Cecil becoming a paladin. Nash betrays you like Kain and Ghaleons armor looks  a bit like Gobbels. And their is 5 playable characters at the most! Well, it was fun. One town was the frontier town of Pao where people got sick as the evil songstress sang a song. I think that part is inspired by the Song of Hiawatha or one of the stories based on Hiawatha's life since after watching the feature on Disney's Pocahontas where they described how they tried to adopt it since Walt Disney's days (beside the kid Hiawatha short that spanned a lot of comics) and then ended with Pocahontas... would have preferred the supernatural Hiawatha than Pocahontas to be honest.

It was fun. Music was good and the remastered wide-screen graphics looks good. They have a lot of animated scenes introducing characters and pivotal moments in the story and they due their job, but at times the designs feel a bit generic... and the Dragonmaster armor looks kinda goofy. What is that helmet? It's just a cap! Voice acted and I get it's a new dub to avoid the problems the Sega Mega Drive Mini II had. The ending focused a lot on Alex and Luna's love for each other's and it's sappy, but I'm weak for this romantic moments. As Alex said, the human spirit will prevail. And for future me, remember that when you get into the thieves guild to return and get the locked chests since when I recalled it in this playthrough, two of them was locked out.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (Switch)

 

Don't worry about the future
It's all right
Because a better picture we can't find
Just like our dreams
They've got to be free
So, Anyway, Let's move on

Finally it arrived, the remaster of the best Xenoblade Chronicles-game! 150 hours later and I can say I pretty much say I did a whole lot better this time around. I checked my old save and realized I only finished something like 65 % of Mira, but in this version I reached 97-99 % (pretty much only super-bosses and conditional Tyrants that I at the moment just doesn't care about right now... or rather, I can't get a one-shot build on my skells to work). Now, why did it work better? Mostly since I knew FrontierNav and could place the probes a lot faster. I saw myself boasting about 6-7 million credits on the Wii U, I reached almost 90 million this time around. Also, 100 000 Miranium and constantly 350 000 credits on each tick (I might have looked up a more efficient way to place the probes, but I fixed 100 000 credits and 30 000 miranium on my own). I also noticed I didn't fix the missions I thought I had, like Blood Lobster. I'm a bit more thorough this time around overall it seems. 

Changes then? Well, for one the gamepad wasn't here so they put it all on a button to bring up the map. Felt like second nature the first time I tried it so it worked beautifully. They added 4 characters and allowed you to change them from a menu instead of finding them in their habitat. Which allowed me to actually get Lao to the max with affinity. They also put away a lot of the restrictions on who to bring on certain missions and made sure all characters leveled at the same time so no need to grind each and everyone. On one hand, makes the game a lot faster, but I kinda feels it destroys the narrative a bit since they don't actually need to be there (still shows up in the cutscene) and since you don't need to put in the time with the characters I didn't get to know them as much this time around. 

They also added some story chapters after the final of the original game. Another phenomena happens that seems to destroy the planet and as Team Elma tries to figure it out a skell shows up that is the original Ares Prime that the other skells are based on. It was thought destroyed in the intro cutscene from the original game, but apparently it ended up between dimensions together with its pilot Al. Al is the last human since he needed a real body to pilot the Ares that Elma had brought from her planet as it also was destroyed by the ganglions and ghosts, the two warring sides that ended up destroying Earth. The ghosts reappears here led by the Old One, the ganglions god. He is named Void and captures the Ares Prime and steals it's power core. Al and Team Elma prepares the humans and allies to evacuate Mira since Void is destroying the whole planet. They still need the cores for the Ares to make a dimensional jump since that what happened. As Earth was destroyed the whole universe followed, but the White Whale made a dimensional jump by mistake and that is why Mira doesn't exists on a star map. Al figured it out trapped between dimensions and is the shadowy figure that found Lao after the original game, apparently in-between dimensions include the after life. Anyway, they learn that Void created the ganglions... and since then they fight each other? I think the plot starts to loose me.

They finish preparing the escape so all evacuate on the redesigned Ma-Non ship and flies toward Void and his continent to get the power core. Team Elma is scattered so you have to collect them all, get six spears that are used to bind Void's power... you know, it sounds a bit like the final battle against Vecna in season one of Critical Role? Kinda fun then that Matt Mercer is Lao, and Doug is... Dogi. And isn't H.B. Albert Wesker? A pity that the new voice actor for Vandham doesn't really match him. Anyway, do all this and fight Void who seeks death since he was a Samarian that was punished to eternal slumber for... some crime. He dies, the orbs are returned and Al in the Ares Prime take his place on the ship to make the jump. Team Elma buy him time to gather enough energy. Your avatar is furthest away destroying the ghosts while the order to retreat before the jump is told. It's really intense if the avatar is going to make it or not, but it does and we're off, ending up in another dimension.

On one hand I kinda dislike this since it means Mira gets totalled and nothing really mattered. I can't wrap my head around why the Ganglions fought the Ghosts or why Void fought the Ganglions. I expected Lao to return and it feels a bit like a cop out that the post-credit scene of the original just was the after-life and such. On the other hand, if this sets up for a sequel I'm all for it. They ended up on another planet and the most fun of the original game was running around and exploring this unknown world and setting up probes to gather resources. You need another planet and it felt big back in 2015 (or 2017 when I played it), but with the open world games of Zelda and other things you need to go bigger and Mira only had those five continents... well, I know we have 5 continents as well, but still. A lot of water on it as well. If they build on that I can see it working out, but if this is it, I'm not gonna lie, feels a bit underwhelmed for waiting 8 years for a continuation. Especially since my interpretation was that they built up the planet to be something akin to a living organism that caused all this, but no answers there, and we didn't get why the mimeosons survived or who Cross (our avatar) exist. I mean, our avatar can pretty much be another being that happened to take over a mim for all I know.

Final part, it was fun to replay it and see the allusions to the twists and I actually double taked on some conversations when they mentioned the mims and such before the "reveal" and I can se how I didn't caught this before. I also played it as a woman this time around (I actually restarted since I played the first 4 hours as a guy again, but that would have been boring, besides she looked a lot better in the bikini, a damn shame about the boob slider... I mean... let's move on). Knowing some of the deaths and how to avoid them is kinda fun and now we have three save files compared to the original one. And the online, since you have to pay for it now they changed it radically. You get reward tickets every day meaning you can play it offline from start to finish. They added missions that reward you with miranium, battle points, affinity and so on so no need to fear. This is the ultimate version of this game. I still recommend it since it still felt awesome, although can't beat the highs from the first time playthrough.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES Classic Edition)

Always loved this sword.

So I'm waiting on Dragon Quest III: 2D-HD Remake to be released in November 2024 so I prefer playing shorter easier games and the NES is perfect for it so played through Zelda II again on the NES Classic Edition. So long I got a save state function I can fix it meaning the last versions I have on the Wii Virtual Console and Zelda Game & Watch I probably won't be able to finish. I can probably get to the great palace, but since extra lives don't stack I've have a hard time both getting there as well as getting through the palace with the jumping chozo warriors they seem to populate the palace with. And the damn Thunderbird ain't no pushover either.

Up until that point it's a great game, the only other faults of the game would be finding the hidden town and realizing the flute open the way to the hidden palace. Otherwise everything works rather well. Went and got the magic jar and the first heart container as well as the jump spell without the candle, being the only sequence break I could do. It's a very linear game really since there's hardly any point going different palaces since you need the things in them up until the next palace, and going in there to snatch items and go to a different palace feels rather redundant.

I still find the game fun to play, but get a guide with maps for palace 4-6 and the great palace. I finished the game below 6 hours and with only 007 continues. Fun number, but I find the time interesting since I feel like as a kid I could spend 5 hours before even entering the first palace.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch)

Girl Power!

So this game came late to me. Damn postal service couldn't get in on Thursday so it didn't come round to Monday the week after. Made it hard avoiding spoilers since many channels I follow on Youtube decided this is the game to stream. Tough luck for you, I won't watch it until I finished the game, which took me to Saturday the same week. Gonna be interesting to see things I missed.

So the big thing about this game, that was spoiled at the release so nothing missed there is that the first 5-15 minutes you start at Link fully decked out and after fighting Gannon Link gets trapped in a rift and Zelda has to step up to fight for Hyrule. On her journey she has the spirit Tri that helps her mend the rifts and create echoes that she can use to traverse the world, fight monsters and solve puzzles. During the adventure you get Links items, sword, bow and bombs that you can use during a fighter mode that you can use to fight of monsters and such for a short time. 

So arriving back at Hyrule castle Zelda tells her father that gets swallowed up by a rift and out comes an imposter that sends the guards after Zelda. Escaping with the help of Tri and Impa Zelda ends up in Suthorn village, the home of Link. From there you mends the rift near you, then either Gerudo desert or Zora river. I choose Zora first and then Gerudo. After that I traversed the world to get heart pieces, stamps and smoothie ingredients before tackling Hyrule Castle again, rescuing the King. 

After that three more rifts appear, Eldin Volcano, the Wetlands and Lanurya mountain. Went into the wetlands first being locked up by Deku Scrubs and destroying Ghoma from creating cotton candy webs for the scrubs so that they get swallowed up by the rifts. After that Eldin volcano and their new Goron Elder that need your help. After that Lanurya mountain where I meet this snowman Condé that looks like the snowmen in the DS Zelda games or Twilight Princess. And I never felt this bad for the snowman that only want's to do good so that his big brother returns from his hot air ballon adventure after their father died. Damn! It was also this boss that gave me the most trouble, Schorchill. You're supposed to use fire attacks on his helmet when theres ice and ice attacks when theres fire. Now, I used the wizrobes, but they didn't seem to hit so I ran around a bit until I looked it up. After that they worked rather well. Miss that Tri doesn't give you a hint or something like the companions in the 3D Zelda games. 

Which probably brings us to the mechanics of the games. The echoes are fun for puzzle solving. Getting too high ledges or using the abilities to get a monster behind the bars in order to hit a switch is rather interesting. Battle on the other hand is either so simple you steamroll them, or it's a drag as the specific monster needs to do certain things in order to defeat the enemy, usually elemental monsters. Bosses is elevated by using the fighter mode, but take the final boss, Null. If you have enough smoothies you only have to run around so that Link can fight him off together with an echo of moblin level 3 or the lizard enemy level 3. So I spent most time running around since you can't attack directly anymore since you have given Link his items back and there isn't much puzzles in the boss fight more than recognizing patterns and avoid damage.

Null is also an interesting boss concept. He is a creature of the void that want everything to be nothing, but the goddesses appears and create the world to contain him and he in retaliation creates the rifts, but the goddesses sends spirits like Tri to contain them. And apparently Gannon is an echo from Null. His plan is forcing Zelda to get the Prime Energies (which is the Triforce, or the Golden Power or whatever they call it) so that he can steal it and therefore destroy the whole Universe. Which you and Link stops when you rescue Link.

It was a great game. Didn't have to much trouble, there's one chest I haven't figured out how to get and I'm missing like 5 heart pieces, 8 echoes and something like 9-10 might crystals that you use to upgrade Link's weapons. Somehow the short horse race gives me more trouble than the others. And there is some challenges left in the slumber dojo. The graphics looks like the Link's Awakening remake and that looks rather well. Music is ok. I can hear the melodies that they are going for like Zelda's lullaby and such, but I can't say that any track stands out for me. A bit short, it only took me something like 27 hours to get through and there is like 6 main temples, plus Hyrule Castle and the starter and final area. So 7-9 dungeons depending on how you see it. Link to the Past at least had 10 main dungeons, Hyrule Castle and Gannon's Tower. That is 12 dungeons to explore. Or maybe the Ship in the bay and Eastern Palace counts as well... have to think about that. Speaking of Link to the Past, the map is taken from that game and expanded so you go beyond what could see in that game explaining thinks like Gerudo, Gorons and Sea Zoras not existing in that game, as well as Deku Scrubs. Although the Deku Tree is not in the Wetlands with the Scrubs, but in the Lost Forest to the north. 

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (Castlevania Dominus Collection) (Switch)

 

The moon rises yet again!

The final of the three DS games on the collection. And I've played it not that long ago after playing through the Advance Collection since I just wanted to continue the stories. Pretty much the same as last time, except that I actually had to play the game legit from beginning to end. And I recalled that in a normal play, the game is hard. Went through a lot of potions and meals I tell you. 

Overall, it get's better as the game went on, but it's a bit obnoxious. A lot of item and glyph grinding to finish quests or even get enough levels to stand a chance. Cause you gotta do the quest of the villagers to get useful items like the more effective potions and armors. At least the castle actually feels like fully explored compared to Portrait of Ruin. Nice with a lot of voice clips, both the intro scene, all the villagers and a lot more monsters having voices beyond the succubus.

So of the three, I actually end up with Portrait of Ruin the best. Didn't think that back in the day. It's more fun to play through and the choices of weapons and such is more interesting. 

The Dominus Collection then. It was really good. The main three games are good either way, I've only played around the Haunted Castle bonuses on there since it's bit much for me with the arcade feeling of it. One thing I was bothered with was that the three main games wasn't in release order of Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order Ecclesia. No they put it in Order of Ecclesia, Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow. I get that they where going for in-game chronology order since Order of Ecclesia is 1888, Portrait of Ruin 1944 and Dawn of Sorrow something like 2036. You get art and music so it's all nice. Some people wished for Symhony of the Night and Rondo of Blood, and I would like that too, but hopefully there will be another collection... and I would like the 64-games as well to see if with a better controller I might get around it. Or Konami can give me a Mystical Ninja collection so that I can have Mystical Ninja 64 Starring Goemon at home.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Castlevania Dominus Collection) (Switch)

Time to break out the whip again!

Well, continued with the other game in the series, Portrait of Ruin. Nothing much to add from the last time I played it. I somehow enjoy this game a bit more than Dawn of Sorrow this time around. I actually almost 100 % the main game by grinding all items from the monsters and such, I got through the Nest of Evil around level 65 compared to the level 80 I was on my first playthrough. Probably got lucky since the Castlevania III cameos got into a loop where I could stand in a corner and whip Trevor until he died, beat Grant after that and Sylpha was rather easy after that moment. Didn't take 8 hours this time, but it was enjoyable enough. It might have to be due to the music, I prefer the music in this game than Dawn of Sorrow, it is more "forceful" here compared to the other game. 

That and the customisation of the main characters. It's fun to change sub-weapons and such compared to the soul system of the last game. The only one that would probably need some work though is Charlotte since it's a lot of changing around spells and such for her being good in special situations. Jonathan is a lot better. Maybe it's the fact it's a whip-wielding hero with options. Or that the quest system is actually rewarding in revisiting area beside grinding. Although, one quest I realised doesn't jive with modern life and that was to talk with Wind when it's between 12 and 1 (am or pm). I work or sleep at that point, I had to do that at midnight between Friday and Saturday pretty much expanding the game for a couple of days. My whole weekend was off after that... god I'm getting old! 

Some things I realised I like less with the game is the map, the castle map is so small, hardly any secret rooms and the left side of the castle map is empty. Usually the map covers the whole screen. And the paintings are pretty much a straight line with a loop back to the beginning. And the fact that the second half of the painting is just the same first maps again is rather boring. But it's a solid game, and there is no touch screen shenanigans that hold Dawn of Sorrow back... at least in the main game.

There is the sisters mode that exclusively plays with the touch controls on the DS. They did the stick option like the in Dawn of Sorrow for the ice breaking ability. It works rather well, I find that Loretta's Ice magic being the best option to traverse the castle since you only need to aim direction. compared to Stella's slash attacks where you need to mov the cursor back and forth. Didn't finish it, I thought I just needed to reach Brauner to finish the mode, forgot you needed to defeat the bosses in each painting in order to get near Brauners sanctum. Maybe I will play the alternate modes some other time when I play through all the games. Less grinding for most of them since there is no items to get.