Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Review: Part 2

Hello all! This is a continuation of my first installment, which can be read here.

The GBA version made several changes to it so that it'd be easier. You know, cause videogame players are IDIOTS! In the SNES version, when you get an item, you then have to search for ammunition or magic so you can use it, not in the GBA version. You get full magic or ammunition the moment you get the item. You know, because handicaps are obviously needed for this game.

Plus, you get to keep the shovel.... which you can use again later in the game for... nothing. Besides one or two spots that holds rupee's, there is nothing you need the shovel for. That is why, in the SNES version, the flute replaces the shovel. Hammers can now destroy rocks and bushes. The save screen in the SNES version made you quit every time you saved, the GBA allows you to save and continue. In fact, there are numerous changes from the old version to the new version, many of which are redundant and pointless.

When you are getting the Zora flippers, no one ever tells you how to get them. In fact, you don't even really need to get them before the second level in the dark world. And they cost 500 fucking rupee's! Why do Zora's sell flippers anyhow? They don't need them! But on well, Zelda Logic.

On the subject of tunics, the one's in ALTTP are not half bad, given their only ability is to heighten your defense. There is the green tunic, the red tunic, and the blue tunic... always the same tunic's.

This game actually had some secrets even I did not know, and that gives it an air of mystery along with the review. There is a sprite in the game coding for an enemy that ever appears in the game. Called the Cannon Soldier.  He has full AI, graphics, attacks, and recoil. But sadly, he never made it into the game.

Now back to the review. The heart pieces are relatively easy to hard to find, depending on where you look. Many are simply placed behind a wall that has a crack in it. Some areas of the map are made specifically with this in mind. Like the hole in the clump of bushes in the forest, and the well in Kakoriko Village. This game allows for a bit of exploration, but for the most part, there is very little to find outside of heart pieces by exploring. Besides the flute.

This game does not hold death properly! Your uncle dies, and so does the king, but... maybe not. Maybe they just passed out... or got held prisoner... outside of the fact that the game's own dialog is either a death scene, or you are told the king was "eliminated." But at the end, what happens? Everyone is alive again! Yay!

I will end off with one irksome thing, the title. A Link to the Past. A Link to the... Past? This game does not incorporate time travel! You go through the light in dark worlds like Twilight Princess and their Twilight World! The game makes you think that it has something to do with the past or future, and that's simply not true.

This game is awesome! It got me playing for days and days, and the levels are pretty fun to go through. I think I will always be a fan of this game, despite the irks. It will always be my favorite game ever.

What do you think?

Ittle Dew review

Hello all. I am Alex Turner, or more commonly known as Inuyuru, a contributor for Not Another Review Blog. This will be my first ever post, so please be gentle sempai. (That wasn't in bad taste right?) Moving on.

Ittle Dew is an adventure-RPG-omg available on Steam, the earthly embodiment of Jesus for pc gamers. You play as Ittle, a spunky, adventure seeking girl garbed in green, accompanied by Tippsie a drunken dog fairy, who is also maybe a woman, who gives you tips in the form of telling you how fucking stupid you are. It's like A Link to the Past as seen through the eyes of Robert DeNiro circa Taxi Driver. You find yourself on an island after drifting on a raft for what seems like days and instead of finding help, you grab a stick and raid a castle, so basically standard vidja game lore.

The story is pretty good in the sense that it's supposed to be ironic. You find a castle, you go inside, you make fun of stuff, you find some chests. All the while trying to find a way off the island, which some smelly pirate will give you if you find something in the castle, possibly wood. The chemistry between Ittle and absolutely ANYONE she comes across, is amazing. Even the monsters she comes across have a snark prepared for them, and watching the interaction between Ittle Wittle and the Tipper is hilarious, if a little grating sometimes. The dialogue is drenched in so much irony, you can put it on a plate and make it pass for a fancy dinner that makes fun of you as you eat it.

The gameplay for Mountain Dew is as I said, very similar to Link tootie Pass, a game I very much enjoy, and you enjoyed that, you're going to fall in love with Little Moo, faster than Van Gogh and anyone in direct proportion to how many ears he had left, compared to how many he was willing to cut off. Basically what I'm saying is, it's great. It's a heavily toned down version of  Link Cables for a Gameboy, in the sense that it gives you siginificantly less items. You only get 4, and you have to go to completely separate dungeons to get them AND you have to locate the chests with the money to buy from the store to get the opportunity to - wWAAAH!

Sometimes it's a bit frustrating. There are some puzzles based around how fast you can solve them and as I said, the game isn't above mocking your dumb ass, for not being very very clever. There are times where I got angry at Littlest Pet Shop, but anger is a motivator. I'd slam the enter key and yell my way through dungeons like a boss.

The art and animation is very well done, and lovely, and quite fitting for a game of this caliber. All in all, this is a great game and worth every penny. There's a lot to complain about, but the pros out weigh the cons. If you buy anything from Steam and want to scratch that adventure itch, Little Bear is the game for you.

Legend of Zelda, A Link To The Past Review: Part 1

I have played this game so many times, it isn't even funny. It's my all time favorite game, but despite my bias, it does in fact have some flaws. This is the first game I ever remember playing, and is probably the main game that really got me into the gaming world. This game had adventure, not bad graphics (at the time), and was just plain addicting. And it is generally hailed as one of the best Zelda games out there... but still below Ocarina of Time.

The game is fun! You start off as link waking up to Zelda's telepathic voice to find out that your uncle is leaving the house for some unknown reason. You follow her voice, which leads you to a hidden passage, one that your uncle must have also known about. You find him against the wall, apparently too aged to defeat two green guards that don't even chase you and has a broken sword... or a dagger? My hero -__-

She is my what? 

You speak to him, and he gives you the sword and sheild. They tells you that you have to save Zelda, she is your........ well, it never says. This has actually become a meme in recent months, but it has been nagging at me since the age of 5. This question is never answered. Ever. What is Zelda's relation to Link? Don't think too much into that, although that might become a topic of a future post.

Can you tell me which bush the entrance is under?
You'd never guess.

The main appeal of the beginning is pretty cool. It is raining outside, storming even. And you have a voice constantly nagging you to go to the castle. You can try to explore, but you really can't. There are these golden guards that are only there to block your path and you never fight them in the game ever. They all tell you to go back to bed. You are basically led, through no other option, to find this not-so-well hidden entrance behind a bush.

The game altogether is not bad. But it can be kinda linear. Green knights take 2 hits to kill, blue take 3, and red takes 4. None of the bosses are hard to figure out either. But the monsters do start to become more and more difficult as the game goes on. Turtles that you find in the later dark world levels need to be hit with a hammer before they can be hurt. Some enemies, like the yellow Stalfos heads in the first dungeon are invincible, and other monsters, like the Freezor in the ice dungeon, can only be killed with the fire rod.

Some of the enemies are just unimaginative, or at best, similar to other characters from games. I mean, what game wouldn't be complete without a wide selection of colored Juju's?

Look familar? They should, they are a common monster found in many games
 as a cheap attempt to not think about enemy sprite designs.

These are from BOF 3

These are from FFX

The character design could have been better, but it really wasn't that bad for what they had. And some of them really aren't half bad. But of course, no talk of ALTTP enemies would be complete without mentioning:

OMG! It's VIVI!!!

The game does not have any cross-level gameplay. While there are some areas on the map that need certain items to get to a secret heart piece, etc, once you beat a level, there is literally no reason at all to return to it later on. Something that other Zelda's accomplished well. In fact, none of the levels contain any secret heart pieces, and only a few levels award your curiosity with rupee's, such as the first level. There is very little use for many items outside of the levels, except for a few notable exceptions. And you really cannot beat any of the levels out of order. Which sucks, but oh well.

There is a ton, and I mean a TON more I can talk about this game, such as the differences between the GBA version and the SNES version, and more hidden non linear adventures, as well as other things. But I think I'll save it for another part.

Why Agahnim, Why!?!? (Game Research)

Agahnim, the dark wizard made famous by the masterpiece Super NES classic, A Link to the Past, is shrouded in mystery. What is his deal? Why is he committing these crimes?

Many believe that Agahnim is simply the "human" form of Ganon. They think this because Ganon generally takes a human form in other games, but he is always Ganodorf in those games. This would be the only time he would take the place of someone who is not Ganondorf.

When you defeat Agahnim in ALTTP for the second time, a bat flies out of his body, and leaves the mage behind. This bat is Ganon, or at least a part of Ganon. The body left behind is either the full mage, or the corpse of the mage, that he controlled to help stop Link. He could easily of just been using Agahnim as a vessel to bide his time until he became more powerful (No different than what Voldemort did in the first book). Ganon refers to him as his alter ego, but this does not mean Aganim is Ganon. As one may have forgotton, Ganon has a nack for controlling other people's bodies, including Zelda at one point. In fact, even some of Ganon's minions are keen at taking control of people, sometimes several people. So possessing someone's body in order the hinder the main protagonist is nothing new to the Zelda universe.

Now many people postulated that since Agahnim looks like Ganon, with blue skin and red clothing, that he must be the human version of Ganon. I don't think so, because whenever someone in the Zelda universe is posessed, they take on traits of the possessor. Namely, blue skin. This is seen in Zelda's posession in Twilight Princess, as well as Narue's possession in Oracle of Ages. Both obtained blue skin, and evil demeanor.

But why is Agahnim doing all this? The only logical reason with the evidence thus far, is that he was controlled by Ganon to do his bidding. Agahnim has no back story, and no, I am not going to use that horrible manga remake as evidence for the canon.

For all I can find out, there is no definitive answer. Agahnim is simply another one of those cliche' bad guys who have no real motivation. Many theories and stories can take place, but there is no true reasoning behind his attacks, unless he is simply possessed by Ganon, or Ganon's alter ego (which may be the bat, because he never again turns into a bat, ever.)

But what do you think? Mention it in the comments below!