Nintendo Treehouse Log

Welcome to the official blog of the Nintendo of America Treehouse team. We wear a LOT of hats, but in a nutshell, we help Nintendo make great products and promote them. All day, every day, we work on video games. We LOVE what we do.

[nintendotreehouse]

Mario Tennis Aces – Are you a Speedster or a Trickster?

Hi, everyone! Roxanne from Treehouse here. This post is the final part to our character type series for Mario Tennis Aces. (You’ll find part one here, and part two here.) We will be ending this series with pizzazz by featuring the Speedy and the Tricky members of the character roster. Want to take a peek at how favorites like Toad, Yoshi, Rosalina, and Boo might play? Read on!

Speedy Characters

Speedy characters pack a lot of agility in their small bodies. They can cover the court in a very short amount of time, which helps when you are up against an opponent you aren’t used to playing, and not sure where they tend to send their shots. In a game like Mario Tennis Aces, in which there are lots of potential moves your opponent can make, a Speedy character is handy for reacting to anything your rivals might throw at you. Thanks to the new Zone Speed mechanic, which lets you expend Energy to move lightning-fast, there isn’t an area of the court that these characters can’t reach!

I can’t even think of a good caption for this… They’re just…too adorable…

Toad blasting off to tennis stardom.

Yoshi looking fly in his Winged Yoshi form.

One of the ways you can offset these characters’ speed is by nailing the timing for Nice serves (a serve hit when the ball is at its highest point in a throw) or executing a smash: these shots are able to knock their opponents back a bit, and Toad and Yoshi tend to be particularly affected by knockback due to their smaller sizes.

Tricky Characters

Tricky characters throw lots of curve balls. Literally. All of their shots have a bit of a curve to them, which makes their trajectory hard for their opponents to predict.

The cool and collected Rosalina is ready to rumble.

Boo says…boo!

Slices already are quite bendy, so if you execute slices as Tricky characters, they now have the potential to circle right around an opponent, in almost a 90-degree angle! Tricky characters are super frustrating to play against, but super fun to play as… Trip up your opponents with your unpredictable shots.

PS. Your rivals might use Trick Shots to catch up to a ball you’re hitting away from them, so be ready for anything! Also, be mindful of rallying head-to-head with other characters, as Tricky characters hit shots with slower ball speeds.

Hopefully this series has got you thinking about what sort of characters you might like to try in Mario Tennis Aces, and about possible play styles, strategies, and counters to optimize your game. But keep in mind that the roster of characters we’ve covered in this series isn’t exhaustive—you will be able to unlock even more Mushroom Kingdom favorites in the full game by participating in online tournaments. The strategic possibilities are ever expanding!  

This post is the last in this character-type series, but look out for more Mario Tennis Aces news here in the future!

—Roxanne K.

[nintendotreehouse]

Mario Tennis Aces – With Great Power Comes Great Defensibility

Hi, everyone! Roxanne from Treehouse here. This post is part two of a series focusing on the character types found in Mario Tennis Aces. (For part one, head over here.) Today we will introduce the Powerful and Defensive contenders of Mario Tennis Aces, including Chain Chomp and Waluigi.

Powerful Characters

Powerful characters can dish out shots with very high speed. Their movement may be slower than some of the other character types, but when their racket finds their target, watch out! That ball is going and gone. This character type is for you if you want to keep the pressure on your opponents with an offensive onslaught.

Flex those muscles, Wario and Donkey Kong!

Bowser, please do not burn the court down…

I wish my cat was this excited to see me when I get home.

When up against Powerful characters, exploit their slower speed by aiming your shots far away from their position, where they hopefully cannot reach… (Unless they’ve mastered the Trick Shot…)

Defensive Characters

What do these two characters have in common? That’s right… Long limbs! Waluigi and Bowser Jr. (or his Koopa Clown Car, rather) use their extendable arms to strategically block, attack, or gra—wait, sorry, wrong game. They use their long arms to return all kinds of shots! It’s tough to hit a ball out of reach for these folks.

Waluigi has a shining future in both tennis and fashion.

Is it still technically Bowser Jr. playing tennis, or…?

These characters will be very comfortable in the center of the court, where they’ll have great horizontal range to defend against balls that enter their turf. It maybe be best to try to mix up your strategy against Waluigi or Bowser Jr. by throwing in some Zone Shots or Special Shots to trip up their rhythm and displace them.

I can’t wait to get my game face on with y’all when the game drops on June 22nd.

Next up, we will take a peek at the Tricky and Speedy characters of Mario Tennis Aces. See ya next post!

—Roxanne K.

[nintendotreehouse]

Mario Tennis Aces – Technical and All-Around Awesome Characters!

Hi, everyone! Roxanne from Treehouse here. This post is part one of a series focusing on the character types found in Mario Tennis Aces. Think of it as sort of a Play Styles 101 on all the different Mushroom Kingdom favorites you can play as. Hopefully this will get you thinking about what types will fit your preferred strategy, or—if you’re a jack-of-all-trades like me—it’ll let you take a peek at the different play styles you can try out!

In this first post, I’ll briefly introduce the All-Around and Technical types. Which of your favorites fall into these categories? Find out after the jump!

All-Around Characters

All-Around characters, which include Mario, Luigi, and Daisy, have well-rounded characteristics, as the type’s name implies. This character type is a great one to start with and master, since they have no glaring weaknesses: their shots are solid and their speed is good, allowing them to traverse the court proficiently.

When in doubt, Mario is your man!

Luigi slides into the court in style.

Daisy rules the court with vigor.

Of course, this isn’t to say that all characters in the same category play the same.  Luigi, for example, has slightly weaker shots than Mario, but has phenomenal volleys and is a force to be reckoned with up at the net.

Technical Characters

Technical characters in Mario Tennis Aces include Peach and Toadette. Both of these characters have excellent ball control, are able to easily hit to the far corners of the court, have great footwork, and look fabulous in pink.

Peach boasts a very clean play style with sweeping strokes and elegant flips.

(By the way, the Toad clutching his heart in this screenshot? Totally me.)

Awesomely timed fireworks for Toadette at the night version of Marina Stadium.

Technical characters are my personal favorite characters to play as because they are great for hitting the ball juuuust out of reach of your opponents, particularly once you have gotten a read on how your opponent tends to move. Their Zone Shots and Special Shots may not be as fast as those of some other character types, but they certainly make those standard shots count! And the longer you keep a rally going, the more chances you have at storing up your Energy for some of those souped-up Special Shots.

Such adorable poses…right before these lovely ladies send a crushing Special Shot to wreck your racket in one hit!

Every character has a bit of a quirk to how they play, and some traits that fall outside of a character’s class, such as their height and weight, can affect how well they can counter a type of shot or strategy. So, start thinking about what your own play style might be, and how well these characters might complement that, but save your final picks for when you can try them out for yourself after the game launches.

Next time, we’ll cover Defensive characters and Powerful characters, which include…Chain Chomp! Hope you’re chomp-ing at the bit for the next part. See you soon!

—Roxanne K.

[nintendotreehouse]

Dragon Quest-ions Answered: Fujimoto-san Talks Dragon Quest Builders

Hi hi, everyone! Theresa from Treehouse here. Hope you’re still having fun saving the world of Alefgard, and keeping it out of the Dragonlord’s clutches.

With all of these sconces and braziers, you could say I have a thing for fire…

The Dragon Quest series is a powerful force in the world of Japanese RPGs, and Square Enix has quite literally rebuilt the experience from the ground up, creating something exciting for fans and newcomers alike. As for me, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity of working with them leading into the launch of Dragon Quest Builders on Nintendo Switch, and as a fan of the game myself, I took a moment to ask the game’s producer some burning questions…

Theresa:

This game takes place in the world of Alefgard—the setting of the very first game in the Dragon Quest series. Why did your team decide to return to this important location in the Dragon Quest franchise?

Fujimoto-san:

We felt the objectives and setting of the game would be intuitive if the world from the first Dragon Quest had fallen into ruin, and you were tasked with recreating it as you saw fit.

The final boss of the first Dragon Quest, Dragonlord, has a famous line, “I give thee now a chance to share this world and to rule half of it if thou will now stand beside me.”

If you answered “Yes,” the world would fall into darkness. Game over. But Dragon Quest Builders takes that world clad in darkness and allows you to rebuild it as you see fit. This game challenged us to create an alternative, hypothetical world, one that progressed differently in important ways.

Also, we used graph paper when we were creating the 2D pixel tiles of Alefgard’s geography in the original Dragon Quest game. So, in a way, Dragon Quest Builders revives the original game world with both 2D and 3D blocks, and we hope everyone will play this reborn vision of Dragon Quest.

It’s difficult to pull off that look and look regal in an evil throne room.

Theresa:

The cities you rebuild, like Cantlin, are from the first Dragon Quest game as well. How did the development team go about choosing which specific cities players would get to rebuild?

Fujimoto-san:

We had an idea to reverse the order in which players visited cities throughout the original Dragon Quest story. The flow we ultimately chose starts the player out near the Dragonlord’s castle, sending them off to rebuild surrounding cities and finally revive Tantegel Castle, the starting area of Dragon Quest, only to return to the Dragonlord’s castle across the sea.

Theresa:

On the subject of building, this is a pretty significant step away from Dragon Quest’s traditional gameplay style. Why did you decide to reimagine an established RPG franchise as a building game?

Fujimoto-san:

The Dragon Quest numbered series continues to be created in the tradition of classic RPGs in which the hero saves the kingdom. While we use those traditional RPG elements as the focal point for non-numbered Dragon Quest games as well, we also use those titles to experiment with other ways to play in the Dragon Quest world.

With Dragon Quest Builders, we sought to create a play experience that had never been accomplished before—a marriage of Dragon Quest RPG elements and sandbox elements that lets you freely create things.

Sandbox-style games are not something that most Japanese players are deeply familiar with, and we developed Dragon Quest Builders with this in mind.

My immediate reaction to anything that was once dead and comes back to life. *insert repeated attack button presses*

Theresa:

Looking at this game, some people might think that it’s simply a building experience, but there’s actually a really engaging story here too. Can you please tell us more about how this story was developed, and how the building elements were integrated into it?

Fujimoto-san:

From the very beginning, we decided that the overall story would be about getting caught up in the Dragonlord’s trap at the end of the first Dragon Quest game, having the world fall to ruin, and then reconstructing the world. But we knew that charting out the plot and the building gameplay elements simultaneously would result in a half-baked, non-cohesive game. So, instead, we focused on designing the gameplay first, basing the mechanics on what we wanted the user to create at various points and what tools they would use to accomplish these builds. That way, even just the simple act of playing is fun and highly motivating. Finally, we then thought up details of the plot that would work well with these mechanics as we fine-tuned the gameplay.

The goddess has spoke-eth—I shall rebuild this land and claim it my own! …Err, fine, I’ll claim it for the people, I guess.

Theresa:

Since the game’s original release, how have you seen new players, as well as Dragon Quest fans, react to this “classic RPG-meets-builder" style of gameplay?

Fujimoto-san:

It feels like we’ve allowed Dragon Quest fans who haven’t played a sandbox style of game to easily discover the fun of this play style through this carefully crafted mix of RPG and sandbox elements.

This is the same type of reaction we received when the first Dragon Quest game expanded the appeal of the RPG genre in Japan 30 years ago.

Theresa:

Since Dragon Quest is such a long-running series, there was a lot of deep lore for the development team to draw upon while working on this game. What is your favorite surprise or Easter egg hidden away for fans to find?

Fujimoto-san:

There’s a lamp that you’ll need certain building material to craft. If you make this lamp and place it in a room, some sort of change will happen to the villagers. In Dragon Quest, this is a household element and one minor, fun item.

The Slime with the little beanie hat is my personal favorite throwback in this room. Super cute!  

Theresa:

While knowing Dragon Quest lore certainly adds to the experience, players don’t need to have played previous Dragon Quest games in order to follow what’s going on and enjoy it. How did the development team ensure that this game would be so accessible for new players?

Fujimoto-san:

For Dragon Quest itself, the game designer, Mr. Horii, always chooses mechanics that the player can instinctively understand, and puts his heart into creating something that anyone can relax and play without having to look at the manual. When Mr. Horii playtests a game still under development, he always plays it as if he was a brand-new player. Then we revise all the stumbling points.

Dragon Quest Builders was developed with similar tests in mind, ensuring that even those with no knowledge of the Dragon Quest series can freely enjoy the game.

Theresa:

It’s an interesting design choice to have the player start each chapter from what is essentially square one, as they teleport to the next town with the most basic equipment and no access to their previous materials and constructions. What made the development team decide to structure the game in this way?

Fujimoto-san:

Actually, the initial plan was not to split the game into standalone chapters, but rather to have everything connect in one overarching flow. But during the development process, the director, Mr. Niinou, suggested that we make a big shift in this plan. He proposed that we split the story into more distinct chapters to address a problem that occurred when all of the pieces of the narrative were more interconnected.

To illustrate this problem, imagine that you’ve just rebuilt the town of Cantlin and moved on to the next area. If you’re still able to access the location you’ve completed, then collecting the resources you need for the work ahead will be a very simple task. And there goes the challenge of the game! We realized that it would be too easy of an exploit to harvest new materials by continuing to build up Cantlin throughout the game. For this reason, we changed direction and split the story experience into chapters, so that the player would be able to create each area with a refreshed outlook.

In making this change, there was a concern that you wouldn’t be able to revisit your experiences from chapters you already played*. So, we designed it so that, as the chapters unfold, some sort of progression occurs. It’s a spoiler, so I won’t say any more than that… (laughs).

*Spoiler-Free Note from Theresa: Discovering fun details in Story Mode is really fulfilling! Normally, sleeping in a game is a simple act to restore health, but in this game, there’s something more to uncover. Also, after completing a chapter in Story Mode, you’re able to unlock similar areas within Terra Incognita, so you can gather and build things that you’ve encountered previously.

There’s a satisfying feeling in creating so many things, and that over time, you’re able to build better and more complex creations. And in doing so, you feel this nice progression for your skills in the game, which sets you up for the ultimate challenge near the end.  

I hear the next town’s gonna be a real fixer upper…

Theresa:

Fair enough! (laughs) Let’s change topics, then… This game features music from a wide selection of Dragon Quest games. How did the team decide which tracks to include?

Fujimoto-san:

Well, to start, since the game is set in the world of Alefgard from the original Dragon Quest, we created arrangements of all of that title’s music. From there, since the game was developed with creation at its core, we pulled in songs from the numbered series that are relaxing. And for the emotional story scenes, we used stirring music from across the series.

Theresa:

What was the thought process behind adding the Great Sabrecub and Dragon Quest Game Pak as exclusives for the Nintendo Switch version?

Fujimoto-san:

Terra Incognita (free-build mode) is a vast land, so we thought it would be fun to enhance the player’s ability to move about quickly, take down monsters, and gather materials. That’s where the Great Sabrecub mount came in.

In Dragon Quest, the Great Sabrecat often appears as a mount, but in Dragon Quest Builders, its head didn’t look quite right, so we decided to use the cute Great Sabrecub for the first time.

We also have completely recreated the look of the original Dragon Quest game’s cartridge on the Famicom. We had an idea of placing it in the land of Dragon Quest Builders, and from there, thought about the possibility of creating retro Dragon Quest themed blocks and objects.

Pouncy! Pouncy! Pouncy!

Theresa:

As a follow-up question, can you tell us more about why the development team decided to make this exclusive content only accessible in Terra Incognita?

Fujimoto-san:

If you use them in the story mode, it breaks the balance of the game. Since strange blocks and objects exist in the landscape of Terra Incognita, we made sure the exclusive content was only usable there.

Theresa:

Thank you so much for your time today! As we wrap up here, do you have anything else you’d like to say to the fans?

Fujimoto-san:

We’d love it if you used the in-game feature to upload the cities and landscapes you’ve created in Terra Incognita. We are very interested in seeing what sort of world you have created in Dragon Quest Builders. I’m sure there are those who have beautifully revived the cities, or others who’ve completely destroyed their world’s mountains and cities and everything... (laughs)

We are working hard to develop Dragon Quest Builders 2, so we hope you are looking forward to it.

Also, for those of you who haven’t played Dragon Quest Builders yet, please go try the demo.

Ever feel like your day is just taking you around in circles?

Theresa:

Thank you so much to Fujimoto-san and the rest of the team at Square Enix for providing us some of the gritty details behind the development of Dragon Quest Builders. For me, this game has been a great intro piece to the Dragon Quest franchise and a comfortable gateway into building-style games. I hope you all get to experience it and share your stories—as well as your building masterpieces!

That’s it from me for now. Tune in next time, fellow gamers! ^^

—Theresa A.

[nintendotreehouse]

Kirby Star Allies Patch - Part III: Marx!

In my last two posts (here and here), I covered some of the Dream Friends that are coming to Kirby Star Allies in the patch that launches on March 28th. But we’ve still got one left to go: Marx! This jester first appeared as the final boss in Kirby Super Star, in which he tricked Kirby into (SPOILER!!!) gathering all the stars to grant his wish of controlling Planet Popstar. (END SPOILER)

Even though Marx only makes a short appearance in Kirby Super Star, he’s one of my favorite final bosses in the Kirby franchise. And he’s a lot of fun to play as in Kirby Star Allies too.

Marx has a wide range of moves based on his various attacks as a boss and his cutscenes from Kirby Super Star. Let’s begin with Marx’s famous (or infamous) jester ball. The jester ball acts like the Bomb copy ability; it can be aimed, kicked forward (Marx doesn’t have hands), and dropped, bouncing around until it blows up an enemy or eventually explodes.

The jester ball also allows Marx to move on water if he’s dashing, as well as on lava.

This is useful for quick movement when Kirby is piggybacking.

Next, let’s talk about his aerial movement, which makes use of Marx’s form from after he made the wish to Nova, the Galactic Comet.

While flying, Marx’s back wing will damage any enemy it touches, so no need to worry about a Scarfy sneaking up on you. Marx also has access to many of his boss attacks, such as Black Hole, which splits him in half to suck up or damage enemies. He can move freely in the air while charging up this attack and will remain invulnerable while using it.

Marx Flip Ultima allows him to dive into the ground, move around, and then perform his Shadow Uppercut to damage enemies by hitting them. Additionally, the shockwave from the Shadow Uppercut also damages enemies around him.

Next is Jester Ball Spit-Drop, during which he spits out jester balls. That must be how he gets so many of them… This attack allows him to strike enemies from above with a lower chance of taking damage.

Marx’s other aerial attacks are Rush, Flip Ultima Combo, and Spin Combo. Rush is a dash attack that can be combo’d into either of the others. These attacks do a good amount of damage and grant him invulnerability while they’re in use. If Marx runs into a wall when using Rush, the attack can be performed again. Watch out, Whispy Woods!

Last but not least, Marx’s Friend Abilities. These are the most stupendously amazing of them all, and are given to him by other friends sharing their elements. To start it off, we’ll take a look at [Redacted].

Some of you may know where to find some of these before the 28th :P

Thank you for reading the final preview of the Kirby Star Allies patch before it launches on March 28th! Check it out for yourself and take a look at all the [Redacted] and missing images.

—Rob W.

P.S. When playing as these new Dream Friends, a certain mode might have changes

P.P.S. Additionally, there are some new stone transformations, try turning them to see some amazing details

[nintendotreehouse]

Fire Emblem Warriors –Awakening DLC Pack

Hi, everyone! March marks the release of the third and final DLC pack for the Fire Emblem Warriors game, featuring Fire Emblem Awakening characters. Owain, Tharja, and Olivia join the fray, bringing even more play styles, skills, and strategic possibilities to the battlefield on March 28th, 5:00 PM Pacific Time. Details after the jump!

I imagine they’re having a conversation like this… Owain: We must fight, so sayeth I, the fell hero, Owain! Tharja: Hmm… I suppose death comes for us all eventually. Olivia: Um, fight? Is that like dancing?

First up in our roster is Owain. Or, as he’d put it, “Owain, the hero of an epoch, one truly without equal, steward as he is of the exalted blood of heroes.”

He goes by many names. He also names many other things. And doesn’t your army need an official Burning Lexicon of Nomenclature?

He wields the legendary Mystletai--…er, Missiletainn, which is a character-exclusive weapon you can unlock by playing through his History Map, “Scion of Legend.” (Which, incidentally, bears the same name as Owain’s recruitment paralogue in Fire Emblem Awakening. During that battle, an NPC gifts him the blade, which he mistakes for the divine blade Mystletainn that Eldigan wielded in Fire Embem: Genealogy of the Holy War, much to the poor NPC’s befuddlement.) On his new History Map, take his skill “Resonating Power” for a spin. It boosts damage dealt based on how close the unit’s Strength and Magic stats are, and… Wait a minute…

His…Strength and Magic are…identical…?! What sorcery is this??

Owain is a great swordsman, but his true strength lies in his powerful techniques, like “SACRED STONE OF STRIIIKE,” “BLAZING BLADE OF DOOM,” and “STEEL OF THE RADIANT DAWN!” (WITH CAPS!!!!)

Owain is constantly making references to other games in the Fire Emblem series. The Fire Emblem Sacred Stones game is my favorite GBA entry, actually…

Along with Owain, we have two fabulous ladies joining the fray, the first of which is Tharja, who wields the skill Vengeance.

A preview of Tharja’s Warrior and Awakening Specials.

Vengeance functions similarly to how it functioned in Fire Emblem Awakening: it increases damage inflicted in proportion to remaining HP. In Fire Emblem Warriors, however, the unit’s HP will slowly drain while they have this skill equipped, so there is a bit of a risk and reward system at play—do you want to keep the unit’s HP low, for maximum damage input, and risk losing that unit? There are some Crests that can help units become extremely powerful with this combination, e.g., the Prayer Crest that helps units survive mortal blows, or taking advantage of Dual guard from pairing up units. So, have fun strategizing how you want to put this skill to work!

You can unlock Tharja’s exclusive weapon, “Tharja’s Hex”, from her History Map, “Emmeryn.” Count your blessings, Robin…

Tharja also brings a bit of a…er…dark charm that some of our resident warriors are sure to appreciate.

Finally, we have Olivia, the ever-shy but dazzling dancer. Her skill is Galeforce, which, in Fire Emblem Warriors, fills the Warrior and Awakening gauges when defeating strong enemies. Olivia also comes with a natural “Dance” ability that you can activate with the X button, which functions much like Azura’s Song ability. Dance will fill the Warrior and Awakening gauges of allies in the vicinity, while raising Olivia’s bond points with them at the same time. Let’s fill up those gauges!

Olivia is as powerful as she is shy.

One of the rewards for Olivia’s History map, “Caravan Dancer,” is her exclusive weapon, “Olivia’s Blade.”

Xander knows a spectacular dancer himself.

Comparable to other DLC Packs for Fire Emblem Warriors, new costumes for Chrom, Lissa, and Cordelia will be available as well.

Chrom looking quite royal in his Exalt costume.

Lissa channeling Emmeryn in her Sage garb.

Cordelia rocking her Dark Flier costume. A timely addition, given that DLC 3 brings Galeforce, which is a skill that can be learned in the Dark Flier class.

Some resident Fire Emblem Awakening characters—like Robin, Lissa, Frederick, and Cordelia—will also get character-exclusive weapons. Play up those new History Maps, take a walk down memory lane with Fire Emblem Awakening inspired story scenarios, and unlock some cool weapons and costumes.

Last but not least, all Fire Emblem Awakening characters will get broken armor models. The model will differ depending on a character’s costume, so check those out if you like playing with the Armor Break status on. Below is a sneak peek at the new models.

Enjoy!

—Roxanne K.

[nintendotreehouse]

Kirby Star Allies Patch - Part II: Gooey!

Yo! Rob W. from Nintendo Treehouse here to give you another sneak peek at the upcoming Kirby Star Allies patch that launches on March 28th. As you may remember from my last post here, some new Dream Friends from past Kirby titles are being added as fully playable characters, each with their own unique set of moves taken from the games they appeared in. In the last post, we talked about Rick & Kine & Coo. 

This time, let’s talk Gooey!

Kirby’s Dream Land 2 was Gooey’s debut as a character. Well…in more of a supporting role than a fleshed-out character. When Gooey appeared, he’d help out by healing Kirby and friends.

Gooey then moved on to become Kirby’s Player 2 in Kirby’s Dream Land 3 for the Super NES. In that entry of the franchise, Gooey could use copy abilities and had many of the powers that Kirby did, but he used his tongue instead of inhaling enemies. Not the safest way to eat a Spike enemy…

Like the animal trio, Gooey in Kirby Star Allies takes a lot of inspiration from the various copy abilities he could acquire in Kirby’s Dream Land 3, and some of his moves are a bit unique. Let’s start with Gooey’s basic attack, which is his tongue. Gooey’s tongue works similarly to the Whip copy ability; it can do single strikes (Quick Lick), tons of lashes (Flicker Lick), and grab an enemy or items (Snack Lick). 

One large difference is that the tongue attacks can be shared with friends to give anyone a water-based Friend Ability.

Let’s go over the three copy ability attacks in Gooey’s repertoire of moves: Parasol Gooey, Burning Gooey, and Stone Gooey. These moves are callbacks to his use of the respective copy abilities in Kirby’s Dream Land 3!

Parasol Gooey is activated by attacking upward while on the ground and can be used to protect Gooey and share water with friends.

Burning Gooey is his dash attack, which allows for some slight invulnerability while flying. It also lights enemies and obstacles on fire, and can give your friends fire.

The final copy ability attack is Stone Gooey, which has the same properties as the Stone copy ability and can use any Friend Ability that it can.

Gooey sort of looks like a pet rock.

Next, let’s talk about Gooey’s movement in the air. Instead of having a continuous Jump, Gooey can transform into Mock Matter to fly around. 

While airborne, Gooey can [Redacted] and [Redacted]. Both attacks are useful when taking out aerial enemies or taller bosses. Check out those moves below!

(:P)

Gooey takes a cue from other friends and uses the Friend Throw Friend Ability to damage lots of enemies at one time; however, he can’t aim his throw up or down, since he only uses his tongue.

The next post will go over the menacing Jester and final boss of Kirby Super Star, Marx—one of my favorite Dream Friends in this game!

Next time: the last Dream Friend of the update!

—Rob W.

[nintendotreehouse]

Kirby Star Allies Patch - Part I: Rick & Kine & Coo!

Yo! Rob W. from Nintendo Treehouse here to give you a sneak peek at the upcoming Kirby Star Allies patch that launches on March 28th. As many of you may know, some legacy characters from past Kirby titles are being added as Dream Friends, fully playable characters, each with their own unique sets of moves that are taken from games they appeared in. 

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing some insight into each of these characters, their history, and their moves in Kirby Star Allies. Let’s get right to it by going over the history of the first character! 

…Errrrr, characters.

Animal friends Rick the hamster, Kine the fish, and Coo the owl were first introduced in Kirby’s Dream Land 2 for the Nintendo Game Boy as characters who were stuffed in bags and whom Kirby rescued throughout the game from the evil forces of Dark Matter. All three animal friends had their own unique abilities and augmented Kirby’s copy abilities to help him on his journey.

These were the first of Kirby’s animal friends, but not the last; you’ll find them playable in Kirby’s Dream Land 3, where they share the spotlight with three additional friends.

Fun Fact! The other friends from the threequel, Nago, ChuChu, and Pitch, already showed up as part of the Cleaning ability in Kirby Star Allies.

Now that we have some history behind the characters out of the way, let’s talk about some of their amazing moves and Friend Abilities, and about the unique characteristics they bring to Kirby Star Allies. 

(Heads up that these animal friends are sort of a “three-in-one” deal—they take turns appearing depending on the environment, with Rick taking the lead on land, Coo ruling the skies, and Kine appearing in water. The best Kine can do on land is sort of…splash about.)

Rick

Rick the hamster can now perform attacks based on copy abilities as they appeared in Kirby’s Dream Land 2. The most basic move is his “Continuous Fire Attack,” now known as Fire Rick, which allows him to burn enemies or obstacles. He can share his fire with friends to create fiery Friend Abilities, and protect himself with a front-facing attack.

Next, Rick’s dash attack takes the form of his Stone attack, aka Stone Rick, which allows him to roll over enemies, become temporarily invulnerable, and utilize any Friend abilities that Stone can use.

Kirby not required in Kirby Star Allies. All jokes aside, what an amazing Easter egg!

Plus, the Rick Curling Stone is so adorable!

(>’-‘)>︵ ┻━┻

Outside of the copy abilities, Rick keeps his unique traits from Kirby’s Dream Land 2 & 3: he doesn’t slip on ice...

He can stomp on enemies, and he can jump up walls...

His guard is also a reference to when he’s rescued in Kirby’s Dream Land 2...

This classic ability is very useful when carrying keys or getting past enemies.  

Coo

As the air portion of the animal trio, Coo the owl’s moves include two of the copy abilities from Kirby’s Dream Land 2. His main move is the Cutter copy ability, known here as Cutter Coo, which allows him to throw a three-feather spread at any enemies in front of him and to share wind with friends.

Coo’s dash attack takes the shape of the Parasol copy ability for Parasol Coo, which is similar to the tornado copy ability from other Kirby games. This attack gives Coo invulnerability while he’s spinning around, even when winding down. This is another move that can share wind with friends.

Unlike Rick, Coo never had a unique ability in Kirby’s Dream Land 2 or 3 aside from flight, so he now can damage enemies in the air by flapping his wings, like the Wing copy ability. This is extremely useful when trying to get past enemies quickly. Additionally, if Coo lands on an enemy, Rick will pop up to stomp on them.

Kine

This blue and yellow fish is the only animal friend who has full movement underwater and once had perhaps the oddest and most unique partnership with Kirby—back in the day, he started out by allowing Kirby to ride in his mouth! Kine’s underwater support makes him an excellent part of this animal trio.

Kine has two attacks, one that is unique to Kirby Star Allies and another taken from a copy ability that appeared in Kirby’s Dream Land 2. Flip Flop, Kine’s ground attack, can be used any time the animal trio is out of the water. This splish-splash attack can be shared with friends to create any water Friend Ability.

Kine’s second attack can only be used in water, but not for very long. Ice Kine allows him to surround himself with ice, but he eventually freezes himself and becomes stationary.

Since we just covered Kirby’s animal friends, next time we’ll talk about Gooey, the only character aside from Kirby who has teamed up with them.

 Up Next...Gooey!

—Rob W.

[nintendotreehouse]

Fire Emblem Warriors – Shadow Dragon DLC Pack

Hi everyone, it’s Roxanne from the Nintendo Treehouse, bringing you some good news about the Fire Emblem Warriors: Shadow Dragon DLC Pack for the Fire Emblem Warriors game. This DLC will go live on Valentine’s Day, 2/14 at 4 PM PT! I hope that’s a nice little surprise for everyone.

With this DLC pack, we see the addition of Navarre, Minerva, and Linde from the Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon game as playable characters. Our resident Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon characters Marth, Caeda, Tiki, and Anna (she totally counts!) get some love, too, as do Celica and Lyn. Details after the jump!

Navarre is a prickly swordsman who prefers the sole companionship of himself. Appropriately, his skill is Lone Wolf, which increases his damage output when he’s not paired up with another unit. This skill can come in handy in chapters where map control is important, and you can’t afford to pair up too many of your units for fear of bad map coverage.

One versus all.

He does have one weakness, however— if you’re a fan of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, you will know that Caeda has dirt on him.

You must have Caeda talk to Navarre to recruit him in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, which is how Caeda finds out about this. It’s good to see that continuity in Fire Emblem Warriors.

Next, with the addition of Minerva, we get another axe-wielding princess on wyvern-back. Minerva’s impact on the battlefield will be big, as her skill, Iote’s Shield, nullifies enemy effectiveness—this is a huge boon for a flying unit who would otherwise suffer a critical weakness to bows.

With enough materials to use at the Crest Shop, other characters will be able to take advantage of this skill, too, which increases the utility of your whole army. All Pegasus and Wyvern Riders, rejoice! This can also help Corrin and Tiki avoid those pesky Dracoslayer weapons and protect cavalry units from Mountslayers—you get the idea.

Finally, the third newly playable character is Linde, a bright (pardon the pun) mage who wields the Aura tome. Her skill is Quick Wit, which allows critical hits to fill the Awakening gauge regardless of weapon match up. Since magic is not included in the main weapon triangle of Sword – Axe – Lance, this skill can help mages like Linde build the Awakening gauge faster.

Each of these characters comes with a new History Map scenario, just like the Fire Emblem Warriors DLC Pack 1: “A Brush in the Teeth” featuring Navarre, “Princess Minerva” featuring Minerva, and “Knorda Market” featuring Linde. These three maps represent the three chapters during which Navarre, Minerva, and Linde could be recruited in the original game. Fans who have played through the original game might recognize some of the dialogue…

…though with in-character twists on those lines, of course.

Playing through these new History Maps will net you the character-exclusive weapons for the newly playable characters, in addition to exclusive weapons for our resident Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon characters Caeda, Tiki, and Anna.

Caeda’s Wing Spear in action.

There are some new weapon attributes that will be debuting with the DLC as well. The first of these is Statflip, which is a tricky little attribute that will flip a character’s Attack and Defense, as well as their Magic and Resistance stats. This means that tanks, who have heavy defensive stat growths, can now become powerhouse attackers. For example, the ever-adorable Elise can potentially become your strongest mage in the game with this attribute.

Notice how the Resistance stat is highlighted while a Statflip Tome is equipped.

Statflip is similar to an existing weapon attribute, Topsy-Turvy, which switches a different set of parameters: physical and magical attack power. What if you put both Statflip and Topsy-Turvy in one weapon? Can you guys guess what might happen?

Ta-da! Some fun ways to switch up your playstyle.

There are two other new weapon attributes, “Genpeer” and “Gencross.” What could these do? Find out when you try out the DLC content for yourself!

Some other goodies you can get from this DLC include the Bridegroom costume for Marth, Bride costume for Caeda, the Vibrant Dress for Tiki, and Swordmaster for Lyn. Also, all the Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon characters will also get armor-break models, as will Lyn and Celica.

Nothing beats defeating enemies in style. And with that, happy soon-to-be Valentine’s Day! Until next time.

—Roxanne K.

[nintendotreehouse]

Happy Anniversary, Summoners!

The Fire Emblem Heroes game was released one year ago today, and to celebrate the anniversary, some of the Fire Emblem Heroes team members in the Treehouse got together to reflect on the first year since the game launched. Read on to see what they had to say!

Kris: It’s amazing how much Fire Emblem Heroes has evolved since launch. Many of us on the team play the game heavily outside of work as well, so each time a new option like Inherit Skill or the Weapon Refinery is added, we’re eager to play it on our own devices with our own teams.

But first, we’ve got to localize the content and get it out there, and on the loc side of things, there are aspects of the project that haven’t changed—mainly the amount of research involved. It’s a lot of fun digging into our archives for past games. The Heroes come from every main-series title, so we’ve put together a script database of all the games, including those not released in North America, to help us keep everything aligned.

The Treehouse “Fire Emblem Shrine” is not just for decoration. It’s part of our research!

Matthew: Even the early Famicom games like Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light have scripts that were quite lengthy for the time, so it really took a lot of work to get that all organized into something we could use as a reference. I mean, there are 15 games in the main Fire Emblem series alone!

Kris: It was worth the effort, though. The database allows us to research basic things, like item names or the way a character laughs, as well as deeper references. Most Heroes reference conversations from whatever game they’re from, whether word for word or just in passing.

Frederick does his best to serve his liege…       

…and tries to help the Order, too. Sort of.

Kris: When we come across these lines, sometimes they have to be tweaked for their new context, both in Japanese and in English. A line that was once used angrily in battle might now be recast for general conversation. A critical-attack line might now be the voice used when you tap a Hero during battle. Very often, a line originally directed to a different character might now be directed to you, the Summoner. It's an interesting balance of keeping the link to the source material while fitting a new context and not confusing any players who are new to the series. I get excited when people post online about a reference they got, like the various bonus audio lines for the first round of Choose Your Legends characters.

Matthew: Yeah, it’s always great to see when people pick up on those references. As for me, while I’ve played every game in the Fire Emblem series, Genealogy of the Holy War is still my favorite. I loved how complex the world was in that game, and, of course, that complexity brought about some great drama. When we were asked to work on localizing those characters for Fire Emblem Heroes, I was honored to help out. Sigurd is a very unique lord and Arvis is a very unique villain in the Fire Emblem series. It was important for Christian and I to do their characters justice through the dialog and voice.

Sigurd professing his love to Deirdre in the Super Famicom original game.

Here they reference events from the original game in Fire Emblem Heroes.

Christian: Genealogy of the Holy War originally came out for the Super Famicom, and it was never localized into English. Given how great that game’s characters are, figuring out how to properly render their stories in English was both a challenge and an opportunity. I wanted to get things just right.

I put a lot of thought into how to portray their speech in a style that could successfully bring across the 1990s dark-fantasy style of the original writing while preserving the complexity of the storytelling and characterization for the modern era. In Fire Emblem Heroes, there’s not much dialogue for each character, but it usually cuts to the bone of what makes that character special—and there’s a lot of info that you need to understand to get it right. Matt’s insight was invaluable there.

Matthew: In one of my main teams, Sigurd and Deirdre are together and share an S rank bond. (It’s canon after all, right?) Genealogy wasn’t the first game to give bonuses to characters when they were near someone dear to them, but it expanded the concept greatly and even introduced things famous to the series, like the weapon triangle and skills! There is a lot I want to say, but…since many players have yet to experience the game, I won’t spoil anything about the story here. Let’s just say that it’s much easier to increase the bond between Seliph and Julia in Fire Emblem Heroes than it was in the original game.

(By the way, I’m definitely using these characters for the Illusory Dungeon—that’s a rhythm-based dungeon in which you tap on the screen to attack enemies. And it releases in Fire Emblem Heroes later this month!)

Christian: One thing that has made me very happy is the positive response to these characters—both from fans who played the original Super Famicom game, as well as those who never encountered these characters before they appeared in Fire Emblem Heroes but now consider them to be invaluable parts of their teams. Just a year ago, a lot of Fire Emblem players in the West had no idea who Arden was!

Here, in Genealogy of the Holy War,  Arden is about to find a special ring!

That same ring gives Arden a unique skill in Fire Emblem Heroes as well!

Tim: While I appreciate the history of the older games like Genealogy of the Holy War, the greatest joy I’ve experienced in playing Fire Emblem Heroes during its first year has been the evolution of my beloved #TeamLucina. Lucina was, luckily enough, one of my first summons when the game launched. Since then I’ve been blessed with summoning Special Hero Spring Lucina, obtaining a handful of masked Lucinas (or “Marths”) from the Tempest Trials (thusly merged into a single +4), and the Lucina I got as my Choose Your Legends free Hero.

Matthew: That’s two blues and two reds. Is that team actually any good?

Tim: Imbalanced as #TeamLucina may seem, it’s a surprisingly solid squad—and it all came down to masked Lucina, who arrived upon my shores with naught but Falchion to her name.

Number 6 in my list, but number 1 in my heart.

Kris: We’ve seen a lot of fans online create their own #Team based on a character, artist, or voice actor. Masked Lucina is a great blank slate to work with, too. What did you do with yours?

Tim: I’ve been able to utilize features such as Inherit Skill and Sacred Seals to turn her into the team medic, and a rather efficient one at that. First, I used Inherit Skill to give her Reciprocal Aid, Renewal, and Breath of Life; eventually she earned the Breath of Life Sacred Seal, so whenever she swings her mighty Falchion, adjacent allies receive a whopping 14 HP. Moreover, she’s sitting pretty at 45 HP, meaning she can heal practically any ally to full with Reciprocal Aid. And just a few turns later, or at the start of the next round in the case of a Tempest Trial, she’ll earn 20 HP back thanks to Renewal and Falchion.

Christian: What about her A Skill and Special Skill?

Tim: I gave her Death Blow and Glimmer to further bolster her already staggering attack power of 52.

Matt: You monster.

My one regret is missing the 5 ★ version from the very first Tempest Trial.

Tim: Throw Ally Support into the mix, and #TeamLucina is truly a force to be reckoned with. I pity the poor soul who encounters it in the Arena.

Kris: In the meantime, I’ll just be over here working on my +10 Frederick. Leveling the duplicates to merge should go quick thanks to the Special Training maps releasing later this month, since they let you train your units based on their type for an easier way to earn Exp and SP.

That’s all for this time, but from all of us on the Fire Emblem Heroes team here in the Treehouse, we hope you all continue to enjoy the game!

Good luck, Summoners!

—Kris C., Matthew N., Christian N., Tim M.

[nintendotreehouse]

Fire Emblem Warriors – Fates DLC Pack

Hi everyone! This is Roxanne from the Nintendo Treehouse. Is everyone enjoying Fire Emblem Warriors so far? Whenever I feel stressed out from work (using “stressed out” loosely here) I love firing up Warriors and sweeping thousands of enemies to relieve stress. The good news is that there is a wealth of upcoming content that brings even more action to Warriors, and the first downloadable content pack launched on December 21st, so you can get right into the action! We’ll be covering future DLC packs as they are released, but as for the first one, it adds in Oboro, Azura and Niles as playable characters, three new History Maps, a new item Bond Charm, new costumes, new weapon attributes, and Armor Shred models for all Fates characters.

With Oboro and Azura joining the ranks, you will be able to diversify your sortie lance users, as you no longer have to rely on Pegasus Knights. These unmounted units will not have a critical weakness to bows, like Pegasus Knights do, so they may be a good go-to depending on the make up of enemy troops.  

Unmounted units cannot access flight points, so take heed to the terrain!

Oboro brings a very familiar skill from the Fire Emblem series to the table: Counter. In Fire Emblem Warriors, this skill will activate when you successfully block an enemy’s attack. Oboro will unleash a shockwave, and enemies hit with this shockwave will stagger back and show their Stun gauge.

Boom! Right in the face!

And then there is Azura. Azura’s introduction sequence shows her singing on water as an homage to her roots in Fates. She can also use her songstress powers with the X button; allies within earshot of her song will replenish some of their Awakening and Warrior meters, as well as raising their bond with Azura. This is a great support function on top of her great area coverage with her spear and water attacks.

Her attacks rely on her spear and ability to manipulate water.

Fates fans will also appreciate that Azura has two versions of her Warrior Move: one wearing her Dark Songstress outfit and the one wearing her Light Songstress outfit. Just like in Birthright and Conquest, these two versions will showcase different choreography.

Just like in Birthright and Conquest, these two versions will showcase different choreography.

Not to be missed is Niles, who starts in the Outlaw class and has access to the bow. He also brings one of my most favorite skills from the Fire Emblem series: Lethality. In Warriors, Lethality will greatly increase the damage of a critical hit on a percentage chance determined by the character’s Luck stat.

Much like in Fates and Awakening, when Lethality connects with the enemy, the screen will go red and show black splatters.

The new playable characters bring with them new types of action and new skills, but they also bring new support conversation match ups to the table. Mixing and matching characters from different Fire Emblem series creates opportunities for lots of potentially interesting scenarios. 

For example, what do Niles and Leo think of Owain, who looks, speaks, and acts exactly like Odin…? 

 Here’s a peek at some of the other potential cross-series support conversations:

The DLC also adds in a new item called the Bond Charm, which speeds up bonding for any heroes who have this item equipped. Hopefully the item proves useful in ranking up these new support conversations, so you can access those new Skills at the Crest Shop!

Oboro, Azura, and Niles will be playable immediately after purchasing and downloading this content. For Azura, her Dark Songstress costume will already be unlocked when she becomes playable.

A dark ensemble befitting a heroine of mystery.

History Mode will also receive three additional maps, which are loosely based on familiar scenarios from Fates. In the History Mode chapter “Grief,” Azura will use the power of her song in an attempt to calm Corrin, who has gone berserk and is rampaging in his dragon form. Fans of Fates will recognize the map and scenario as a critical story point…

In another new map, “Land of Gods,” Corrin will run into an adversary while searching for her siblings. And in “Cold Reception,” Corrin is joined by Leo’s retainers in a certain village of the Ice Tribe.

Corrin needs a verbal chill pill. Bad.

Some of the rewards offered in DLC Pack 1’s additional maps are materials that can be used to unlock the “Divine Favor” attribute, which greatly increases the attack power of character exclusive weapons, such as Falchion for Marth. Think of it as a souped-up version of the True Power weapon attribute: while True Power boosted the attack of specialty weapons to 240, the Divine Favor will boost it to 720! 720!!! So gather those materials and head on over to the Crest Market to unlock this coveted weapon attribute.

Quite an upgrade from the Bronze Sword some characters start with…

Other map rewards include new costumes for Camilla, Takumi, and Corrin. Camilla can gain access to the Maid outfit, while Takumi can get the Butler outfit. Plus, the Nohr Noble promoted class costume, which was originally exclusive to female Corrin, and the Hoshido Noble promoted class costume, which was previously exclusive to male Corrin, will both become available to the opposite gender.

Last but not least, an option! The appearances of all Fates characters can be altered when inflicted with Broken Armor status. Characters with the Broken Armor status will take much more damage—their armor is broken, after all! So take extra caution if you choose to play with this challenging option on.

It hurts so good!

Ta-da!

I’m not sure if Elise is taking this battle seriously…

Don’t forget: each of the upcoming paid DLC packs will contain three new playable heroes, three new History Maps, additional costumes, and additional support conversations. If you get the Season Pass, you can access to this content as it is released, along with a bridal costume for Lucina, which is exclusive to Season Pass purchasers.

Until next time!

-Roxanne K.

[nintendotreehouse]

The Doctor Is In! A [REDACTED] Discussion

On December 21st, ARMS version 5.0 arrived (full deets here), which introduces a brand-new character, Dr. Coyle! In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to lose track of time, space, ARMS updates, how many cookies you’ve eaten, etc. Maybe you haven’t played the game in a while, or maybe you just got it from Santa! Whatever the case, we here in the Nintendo Treehouse wanted to help spread the word about this new character, so we brought in Beth and Morgan (two Localization writers who’ve helped shape the game’s English text) to share a little insight into the newest fighter in the ARMS game.

Beth Hey, Morgan! Remember that time we holed up in a vacant office and played a bunch of ARMS?

Morgan I do! Like it just happened (in fact, it did just happen!). I don't remember who won, but I sure learned a lot about the game’s newest fighter, Dr. Coyle!

She's rad. ‘Nuff said!

Beth You might even call her..."the rad scientist." But yeah, I agree. I think she's a great addition to the ARMS lineup. I'm almost worried that her insane skills are too much for the other fighters.

Wait. Before we get into all the nitty gritty details, can we just talk about how cool she is? First of all, this character is a frickin’ genius. It’s nice to have the scientific community represented in ARMS (though…does Helix count?) To top it off, she’s fighting in stilettos! Those things could do some damage!

Morgan Yeah, she’s on point! Her spiked shoulder pads match her spike earrings. Her amazing green hair matches her top and boots. Never has science been so stylish!

That look says “I know science stuff, so watch out, normie!”

Beth Back to the important stuff—it’s just really fun to play as the doc. Why? She can float in the air indefinitely, she can turn invisible, and she also has that handy third ARM. (Pun not intended, but I'm going with it.)

Morgan Exactly—it's almost like she's taken a little something that each fighter does well and tweaked it to her advantage. She can hover like Mechanica (but faster, almost like the floaty quickness of Ribbon Girl), turn invisible like Ninjara (but while blocking, kinda like how Master Mummy gains an advantage while blocking), and even wield an extra appendage when charged, kinda like...Byte & Barq? (Is Barq an appendage? I guess not—sorry, little buddy.) It's like she's gaming the system!

I guess this shouldn't be a surprise, though... After all, she's the director of the in-game ARMS Labs, their top researcher, and a sponsor of the Grand Prix! Even her three default ARMS are all sort of upgraded versions of ARMS (or…mysterious alien creature things) that we've become familiar with.

More fun than a funchuk?

Beth Huh. Now that I think about it, the Lokjaw is kind of like a Megaton with a little extra bite. In this case, bite means the ability to breathe fire. Meanwhile, the Brrchuk is pretty similar to your standard Funchuk, except it freezes your opponent on contact when it's charged. The Parabola is basically an electrified Parasol that the doc made by attaching some outdated electrodes to an umbrella. You know, for the head of an entire research facility, it seems like Dr. C has a lot of time on her hands for...extracurricular activities. Rumor has it, Hedlok and Springtron are a result of her tinkering behind the scenes, too.

Morgan Right, so my sense is that she created these other fighters in the lab, sent them into the ring to learn what works best, incorporated those findings into her own fighting style, abilities, and ARMS, and now she’s entered the Grand Prix to claim ultimate glory all for herself... That's not fair! How do we stop her?! (Or rather, stop me. I can't stop playing as her!

Beth Maybe we should kidnap Helix and hold him hostage until she comes to her senses?! She's got something of a soft-spot for her gelatinous creation... Or we could just focus on improving our speed, anticipating her next moves, and incorporating more jumps into our own fighting repertoires.

Hmm… Maybe kidnapping Helix sounds easier.

Morgan We leave it to you, dear readers. Can you defeat Dr. Coyle? Or will she become your new main?

Can you believe [NAME REDACTED] is where [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]?!

Whatever the case, she's worth researching for yourself. So fire up the game and check her out!

-Beth S. and Morgan R.

[nintendotreehouse]

A New Year’s Celebration in Your Pocket

Happy New Year! 2018 dawned bright and beautiful, but I’m sad I’ll have to trade my novelty 2018 glasses and festive party hat for my work clothes (just kidding, I’m totally wearing these bad boys to the office). The fireworks and party poppers may be gone, but you can recapture some of that holiday goodness celebrating in-game by catching a few bugs, picking a few apples, and doing favors for your fellow campers in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

I’m a big fan of Jay.

If you’re enjoying this game from somewhere other than Japan, you may be wondering about the details of the New Year event—tangerines in a basket? Making mochi? Where are the fireworks and novelty glasses??

First, let’s talk about all the hammers my animal buddies keep giving me! These countdown charms are shaped to look like a lucky mallet. According to Japanese legend, the lucky mallet is believed to have the extremely useful ability to produce money when shaken or struck. As one might imagine, the lucky mallet is a popular motif around the New Year—I think everyone could use a little extra coin!

 Let’s hit it!

Fancy Kadomatsu

Fancy indeed! First of all, what does kadomatsu even mean? Kado + matsu literally means “gate pine,” and you’ll often see them displayed outside of homes and business for that very reason. In addition to pine, you’ll also see bamboo and plum tree sprigs included in the decoration. These festive bouquets serve to welcome Shinto deities to homes or businesses from mid-December through January 7th. Pro-tip: Make two and set them on either side of an entrance for double the deities!

Summon those deities with flower power!

Zodiac Dog

Where my Chinese zodiac experts at? This year, 2018, will be the Year of the Dog according to the 12-year Chinese zodiac. (In case you’re wondering, 2017 was the Year of the Rooster.) Given that, it makes sense to include a little canine decoration in your spread!

Starting the year right with an excellent selfie.

Fancy Kagamimochi

Literally “mirror mochi,” these are two large, flat rice cakes stacked on top of each other, with a Japanese orange or tangerine on top. Other decorations include dried kelp, decorative paper, and ferns. It’s recommended to put kagamimochi in every room of the house, so why not make multiples if you have extra countdown charms? Kagamimochi becomes really important on January 11th, “Kagami Biraki.” On that day, you take the mochi that has been slowly drying out on your mantle, break it apart, and eat it!

Now I’m hungry, so let’s talk snacks!

Fancy Osechi  

Ready for dinner? Tuck into the traditional New Year’s Day feast, osechi-ryori! Traditionally, cooking on New Year’s Day was a no-no, so families would prepare long-lasting food in advance (you can also life hack this by buying a prepared box instead). Things you’ll often find in a box of osechi-ryori: prawns, bitter oranges or tangerines, fish roe, black soybeans, lotus root, and much more! Each of the food items has a special significance such as luck, happiness, health, or other auspicious things you’d want to invite in the new year. The prawn, for instance, represents a wish for long life, on account of its long beard and bent back!

Basket of tangerines

Winter is harvesting season for tangerines, so it makes sense to keep a basket of freshly picked tangerines on hand! Gather ‘round the happy table with your animal friends to swap stories and enjoy fresh fruit!

Kadomatsu Screen

The folding screen itself isn’t particularly associated with New Year celebrations, but it sure looks nice, doesn’t it? The painting on the screen is seasonally appropriate, so it’s a nice backdrop for our kagamimochi and osechi!

Flowery Kotatsu

This also isn’t a New Year’s item, but rather a winter staple. In fact, you may have already made the version with a blue cloth for your campground! A kotatsu is a table with a heater attached to the underside. The tabletop is removable, so you can put a comforter underneath it, trapping the heat and keeping your tootsies toasty all winter. To maximize your kotatsu experience, I recommend the following: fluffy floor cushion, laptop, warm beverage, kitty.

It may be chilly outside, but this table is hot hot hot!

Had enough snacking and lounging under the kotatsu (can one ever really have enough lounging)? Let’s head outside for some fun New Year’s activities!

Fancy Mochi Pestle

OK, I lied. The first activity is more work than play, but the result is worth it, I promise! While nowadays people can easily throw freshly cooked rice into a mochi maker and get sticky rice cakes in minutes, the traditional method of turning rice into mochi is to throw it in a bucket and pound it with a wooden mallet. Why do we need mochi? Well, one of the other great New Year’s food items is ozoni, soup made with either dashi or miso stock, containing mochi, fish, and vegetables. As a favor to yourself, please look up a video of “mochi pounding in Nara.” You may find a classic example of pro-level mochi-making!

Make that mochi!

Isabelle Kite and OK Motors Kite

Now we can move on to the fun part. Kite flying is a New Year’s activity in Japan, so get out there with your animal buddies and fly some kites!

There’s something oddly poignant about flying a kite.

That wraps up all the things you can craft to bring the Japanese New Year experience to your campground, but did you also check my style? To complete the experience, craft the fancy mochi pestle, fancy osechi, and complete 20 requests for visiting animals to add these items to your wardrobe…

Kimono & Blue Haori

The first visit to a shrine is an important New Year’s event known as hatsumode. This generally happens between January 1st and 3rd. Folks generally want to look their best for this event (after all, you’re praying for your health and happiness in the coming year!), so they step it up with either kimono (the red outfit) or haori (the blue coat).

Kimono Sandals

My mother always told me that if you don’t have the right footwear, your outfit is only half done! So don’t forget to grab the matching sandals to wear with your New Year’s gear to complete the look!

-Lauren A.

[nintendotreehouse]

Exploring Skyrim Part VI: Tying It All Together

In our previous articles about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Nintendo Switch, we’ve talked you through the basics of Skills, Combat, Crafting, Subtle Skills, and Races.

Before we go too much deeper, it’s important to remember that your character, the Dragonborn, has distinct abilities called Dragon Shouts, which can be vocalized to affect the world around you.  “How?” you ask. Well, the “words of power” that make up each shout are unlocked through absorbed dragon souls. Self-absorbed much?

However, you choose to customize your Dragonborn character, you will always be able to leverage the Dragon Shouts you learn, so don’t be afraid to get creative. Now that you know the basics of what makes up any good Dragonborn, we’d like to share some of the cooler interactions you can take advantage of with perks and abilities.

Talk about putting your soul into character building.

Now let’s explore some interesting perks that you can also apply to your character. In Treehouse, we like to use ideas like these to theory-craft a persona before setting off into the world.

Silent but Deadly – The “Silent Casting” perk of the Illusion skill makes spellcasting silent. However, shouts are also considered “spells” and will be silent as well. And for you werewolves, this perk may help to surprise your prey… if you learn how to be quiet first.

(L: I can’t wait to try this perk on the “Sneak Tank” I want to create. I’m sure it’ll be a blast!)

A Frost shout…Shock magic…and then a sword to the face. Almost feel bad for my enemies….Almost.

Shock and Awesome – The “Augmented Flames/Shock/Frost” perks boost the effect of your Destruction magic, elemental enchantments, and certain shouts. Think of the possibilities! You could be a battle mage with an elementally enchanted weapon in one hand, crackling with magic in the other…all while breathing ice or fire into the faces of foes.

Taking out enemies can be complex, but this one just needed a suplex.

Bare the Gauntlet – Perks can also work together with racial abilities. Khajiit have an ability called “Claws” that adds damage to unarmed attacks. When combined with the Heavy Armor perk “Fists of Steel” and a sweet set of gauntlets, you can quite literally tear through enemies with your bare hands.

Golden Opportunities - Some skills work better outside of combat. The “Merchant” perk in the Speech skill tree lets you sell or buy anything from any merchant… including the clothes off their backs. When combined with a high pickpocketing skill, this perk creates lucrative opportunities that may speed up the construction of your dream home.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Better Off Undead – Warning: This takes a lot of time and effort to set up, but it has unexpected payoffs. As they are undead, vampires gain significant buffs to spells, shouts, and enchantments from the Restoration perk, “Necromage,” which increases the effectiveness of all spells for undead characters, and against undead enemies.  For example, if you choose to be an unarmed Khajiit, taking advantage of this interaction will further increase the amount of damage you can do with the “Fists of Steel” perk.

Given the suggestions above require high-level perks, you may want to experiment with them on a second playthrough. For all you power-gamers out there, this could be a great challenge.

Character to scale.

If you still aren’t sure how you’d like to create a character, here are some tips to try out.

You could start by picking an interesting interaction or theme. For example, do you want to be a barbarian oblivious to sparkly bits (magic) or a mage-turned-merchant (who helps himself to OTHER people’s pockets)? Next create a persona around your character. Spend some time on the look of your character (we spent hours trying to get the best look and name because “Prisoner” just won’t cut it). And finally, take your time exploring different paths that your character can take. You never know where your character and gameplay may lead you. (J: “It’s spider cave… every time. I hate real spiders so much.”)

nopenopenopenopenopenopenopeNOPE!

Well, it’s been fun taking a deeper look at the world, perks, and customizable experience of Skyrim with you. We hope it inspires you to get creative with your gameplay (L: and cause as much chaos as possible) once you ride the horse cart into the world.  

Hope you enjoyed this series, and check out the game when it releases November 17th on Nintendo Switch. Here’s a few gifs of the chaos you can cause with just the power of the Voice for your amusement.

This is one of the few instances where shouting at trolls is productive.

As enemies, giants can be totally stone cold.

—James M. and Lindsey N.

[nintendotreehouse]

Localizing “Jump Up, Super Star!”

Life in the Treehouse moves pretty fast, and it can be hard to remember when you did what, and sometimes even why, so I had to check my e-mail archives to figure out that we started working on the lyrics for the songs in Super Mario Odyssey back in January of this year. (…Unless it was earlier? Who knows, man.)

Faults in my memory aside, the prospect of working on some songs at work was an exciting one. As a former music and Japanese double major, the idea that I would be using BOTH my degrees at my actual job was amazing. Who does that? Besides, I mean, people who chose their majors for more practical reasons…

When I became involved, the song that would eventually become “Jump Up, Super Star!” was basically done, at least as far as the music was concerned. The song was already going to be a hit in my mind, no matter what the lyrics ended up being, and at that time, the first section already had Japanese lyrics, written by Nobuyoshi Suzuki at NCL. I translated them thusly:

The symbol of a voyage, let’s start to raise the sails A tailwind dances at our backs

Flip a coin, the goddess who’ll tell our fortune Blows a kiss

Let’s sing our love as brightly as All the lights in all the world Then jump! (JUMP SE) And grab! (COIN SE) Say yeah!!! (yeah!!!)

Let’s dream together Love together If we walk with our eyes to the sky Once all our tears have fallen We’ll get a 1UP

Let’s all Jump up high and high five Tap and dance

I’m a superstar lighting up the world Switching you on to happiness So, let’s dance the Odyssey!!!

(Chorus) Odyssey, ya see! etc.

Obviously, directly translating song lyrics leaves you with…well, something that won’t actually work as lyrics in the target language. But it’s clear that Suzuki-san and the team wanted something big and romantic. A love song of sorts. I listened to the song a few more times and set about creating a first draft of the English lyrics, taking the ideas from the above and fleshing them out so there would be enough syllables to match the rhythm and melody of the song. 

Mayor Pauline is a fantastic vocalist, so we had to make sure she had an equally fantastic song to sing.

Here’s what I ended up with:

Oh we're ta- / -king a trip / Here we go it's time to raise the sails The wind is dancing at our backs

Flip a coin / Make a wish / and the goddess might just blow a kiss Boy I'd say your fortune's looking good

Le-et your love shine as bright as the lights in this whole wide wonderful world Jump with me / (grab) coins with me / Oh yeah!

Together we can live our dreams / This love is what it seems / So keep your chin up as you trek alone/ And when the tears they start to fall / There'll be no need to fear 'cause / I'll be your 1UP girl

So let's all jump up super high / and high five in the sky / There's no power-up like da-a-ncing / You know that I'm the superstar / No one else can take you this far / I'm flipping the switch / are you ready for this / Oh, let's do the Odyssey

Odyssey, ya see!

As you can see, a lot of that first draft did survive through to the final version of the lyrics. At this point, Rob Heiret (main English writer on Super Mario Odyssey) and I passed the lyrics back and forth a few times, until we had the following:

This time we're / off the rails / Here we go let's raise our sails It’s freedom like you never knew

Grab a coin / Make a wish / and the goddess might just blow a kiss You could say my hat is off to you.

We-e can zoom all the way to the moon from this great wide wacky world Jump with me / (grab) coins with me / Oh yeah!

Together we can live our dreams / This love is what it seems / So keep your chin up as you trek alone/ And when we’re underground in gloom, / Don’t fear, don’t shed a tear, 'cause / I'll be your 1UP shroom

So let's all jump up super high / high up in the sky / There's no power-up like da-a-ncing / You know that you’re my superstar / No one else can take me this far / I'm flipping the switch / are you ready for this / Oh, let's do the Odyssey

Odyssey, ya see!

We now felt like what we had was worth sharing with the folks on the Japan side, so I went into my home studio (living room) and whipped up a demo version. I’m not sure if it is fortunate or embarrassing that I didn’t delete these demos once the project was done, but here’s what that sounded like:

Too bad it couldn’t have been “Mayor Paul.” If you’re curious, I’m singing the song down a 6th in Eb because singing in the original key of C was not going to happen for me.

After we sent off the demo, the first round of feedback we got from NCL was really illuminating. They liked a lot of what we’d done, but also wanted a lot of it to change. For one thing, we’d leaned a little hard on the Mario references.

Through conversations with Suzuki-san, Naoto Kubo (the composer), and Shigetoshi Gohara (the overall sound producer), we learned more about their vision for the song: that it should be a fun, bombastic jazz number you could enjoy even if you had no connection or familiarity with Mario, but that would reward you even more, with little allusions to the Mario universe, if you were a Mario fan.

The same can be said of the music video that was produced to help promote the game as well—it’s fun to watch no matter who you are, but Mario fans will catch little details like Mario’s classic block-punch in the choreography.

The Mario references had to be at such a level that if you knew, then you knew, but if you didn’t, you wouldn’t really notice.

Another big goal from the dev team was to make the chorus as catchy as possible—simple and repetitive so even people who don’t speak English might be able to pick up on the lyrics and sing along. So, we had our work cut out for us.

Over the next couple of months, I settled into a pattern of adjusting and rewriting the lyrics, sending those around internally at NOA for more feedback, recording a demo, sending that to NCL, getting more feedback, rewriting, and then doing all of that again.

More than a few times, we even had video conferences with Gohara-san, Kubo-san, and Suzuki-san at NCL headquarters, where we would come up with new ideas on the fly that I would sing back to them then and there. I wonder what that sounded like outside the room…

At the end of that long (but fun) process, we had the lyrics for the first verse nailed down and realized that we were going to need two more verses. Oh, and we realized we had to record the song in about three weeks’ time. So, yeah… Things were going to need to speed up.

And they did! Here’s the first draft of the second verse:

Spin the wheel / take a chance/ every journey starts a new romance A new world’s calling out to you

Take a turn / off the path / find a new addition to the cast You know that any captain needs a crew

You can play it in 3D or 8-bit they’re just different points of view Down the pipe / there’s an extra life / oh yeah!

(Come on and) Jump up in the air / Jump without a care Jump up ‘cause you know that I’ll be there And if you find you’re short on joy Don’t fret, just don’t forget that You’re still our 1UP boy.

So go on straighten up your cap / let your toes begin to tap This rhythm is a power shroom / Don’t forget you’re the superstar / No one else could make it this far / Put a comb through that ‘stache / you’ve got panache

Oh, let’s do the Odyssey

Except for the “3D or 8-bit” line, and the “down the pipe” stuff, that’s pretty much what the final lyrics ended up being.

One thing Gohara-san and company really focused on was making sure that the lyrics felt good to sing, and that’s always been something I’ve really focused on in my own songwriting over the years as well. Aside from the actual meaning of the words, lyrics should have an intrinsic aesthetic appeal.

Gotta get those toes tapping, after all, right?

Which isn’t to say that meaning isn’t important, or wasn’t important when working on these lyrics. That said, I’ve found the various interpretations I’ve seen of our final lyrics to be way more thoughtful than my own.

A lot of people think there’s a deliberate “sails/sales” pun in the first line, as in: “Here we go, it’s time to raise our sales!” Sadly, I’m not that clever.

The best interpretation I’ve heard seems to have come out of Japan. I heard about it during the height of E3, when the song debuted. See, people read a lot into the idea that Pauline (in their eyes, Mario’s ex-girlfriend, though I’d never really thought of her that way) was singing a song to cheer him on as he undertakes an epic journey to rescue his current girlfriend (again, feels weird to type that out, but who am I to argue with other people’s headcanons?).

Kinda makes you think about Pauline differently, doesn’t it? Especially when you take a shot of her in Snapshot Mode and the moment you caught the fireworks almost makes them look like tears. I’m sorry, Pauline!

Viewed through that prism, the song becomes—while still joyful and upbeat—incredibly bittersweet at the same time. Again, I’d love to take credit for that, but I know I at least wasn’t cognizant of any of that stuff, really. I just wanted the song to feel good when you sing it.

And from the very humbling reception the song has gotten, it seems like it does! So thanks for listening, singing, and reading.

—Rob T.

[nintendotreehouse]

Exploring Skyrim Part V: Khajiit, Bretons, and Orcs, Oh My!  A Character Primer for Adventurers of All Ages

Hi! This is Tim O. from the Treehouse. When I’m not helping our multilingual teams localize games I sometimes enjoy stealing mammoth cheese bowls and collecting Dragon Priest masks, which is to say I enjoy playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

This open-world game was created for exploration. From snow-capped peaks and thundering waterfalls to rugged highlands and fast-flowing rivers, the world calls out to adventurers, enticing them and encouraging them to take roads less traveled, or throw caution to the wind and abandon roads altogether.

In our last few posts, Lindsey and James provided some background on character archetypes, skills, and skill trees, and that’s all sure to come in handy. Before you pack up your broadswords and spell tomes, however, you need to decide which race you want your character to be, because who you are will impact how you play.

Races and Playstyle

There are ten playable races in Skyrim. Each race has its own history, culture, and origin within the continent of Tamriel. The race you choose may influence how NPC characters throughout the land interact with you. Additionally, each race has its own natural aptitudes, initial bonuses, and abilities to boost your chances of survival. When creating your character, the skill statistics of each race are something to be considered as they lend themselves to certain playstyles. That being said, all of the skills in the game can be developed over time, so the most important thing to do is to create the character you want—the race you choose does not lock you into a specific playstyle. So, while Argonians make great thieves because they are naturally-gifted at opening locks and picking pockets, and Bosmer get a jump-start on becoming elite archers due to their affinity for bows, you still have all the freedom in the world to choose whatever combination of race and playstyle your heart desires. If you’re bound and determined to be a Khajiit magic-user, there’s nothing stopping you. You may need to work a bit harder in the beginning, but if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.

The Playable Races

High Elves (Altmer) – High Elves hail from the Summerset Isles located off the southwestern coast of the main continent. High elves are one of the oldest races of Tamriel and are as proud of their heritage as they are of their distinct physiology. They are the tallest of the playable races in Skyrim, they’re slender in build, and they have golden-hued skin and prominently pointed ears. High Elves are a very precise people and have rules for just about everything including marriage, architecture, and even table manners. When it comes to the arcane arts, high elves are unparalleled, being the most skilled of all the races of Tamriel. They are born with magical abilities outstripping other races and can even regenerate Magicka, the energy used to cast spells, at an accelerated pace once per day.

Argonians – Argonians are a reptilian race originating from the southeastern swampland rainforest of Black Marsh, which boasts great inland waterways and impenetrable swamps. This province also is subjected to a unique weather pattern that some have described as “an inferno of foul-smelling brown rain,” often accompanied by heavy thunder and fog. Secretive and intelligent, the Argonians are excellent at guerrilla tactics, unsurprising given their swampy homeland. Argonians are the most skilled race at lockpicking, though they also excel in other stealth and thief-based skills as well. Argonian racial abilities include rapid health regeneration, which can be used once per day, and resistance to disease. Their ability to breathe underwater also offers a natural advantage in watery terrain.

Wood Elves (Bosmer) – The Wood Elves of Tamriel call the mangrove swamps and semi-tropical rainforests of Valenwood home. Wood Elves prefer simple lives in the heart of nature, eschewing over-developed cities and living in accordance with their Green Pact, which prohibits the use of wood as a building material and restricts them to a meat-based diet. They are famed for their skill with bows and are known as the best archers in the land. Their natural stealth also gives them skill bonuses excellent for thieving. Wood Elves are resistant to disease and poison, and they have the ability to command a wild creature once per day.

Bretons – The northwest province of High Rock is the homeland of the Bretons, who claim both human and elven ancestry. While the Bretons get their physical appearance from their human forefathers, they have inherited their affinity for magic from their elven progenitors. Bretons are known to be passionate, intelligent and possess a seemingly instinctive bond with magic. It is this bond which accounts for their ability to resist magic that would devastate most races, and even absorb Magicka from hostile spells once per day.

Dark Elves (Dunmer) – Dark Elves come from Morrowind in the northeast corner of Tamriel. Morrowind is a harsh and strange land, its flora and fauna having evolved to survive the ash storms generated by the Red Mountain, the largest volcano on Tamriel. Dark Elves have glowing red eyes and grayish skin. They are taller than their Wood Elf cousins but shorter than the high elves. Their abilities also land in the middle-ground between their kin – they’re better magic users than Wood Elves, and stealthier than High Elves. Dark Elves are particularly adept at destructive magic, possessing a natural resistance to fire, and can invoke a special ability which inflicts damage to all nearby opponents once per day.

Imperial – Imperials are the ruling race of the powerful province of Cyrodiil located in the heart of Tamriel. Imperials are among the wealthiest and most highly educated of races, and are also known for their military discipline. They are of typical height for humans and have a complexion somewhere between Nords and Redguards. Imperials are skilled at both combat and magic, making them ideally suited for hybrid playstyles. It’s easy to imagine an Imperial casting destructive magic with one hand while the other wields a longsword. They also have the ability to calm human characters once a day through the power of their voices.

Khajiit – The cat-like Khajiit inhabit the province of Elsweyr on the southern central coast of Tamriel. Khajiit are the most agile of all the races on the continent, but as they are one of only two “beast races,” they are often treated with distrust and derision. It is perhaps their position as second-class citizens along with their natural stealth and superior unarmed combat skills that lead many of them to become thieves and assassins. Khajiit also possess enhanced night vision, which they can use an unlimited number of times each day.

Nord – Nords are the dominant human race of Skryim, the northernmost province of Tamriel. Nords are the tallest and most powerfully built of the human races, and are typically fair in complexion. Family, honor, and glory are valued above all else in Nord culture. They are natural warriors adept at wielding both one- and two-handed weapons. As you might expect given their frigid homeland, Nords are resistant to frost. They also have the ability to drive away enemies for short periods of time with a fierce battle cry once per day.

Orc (Orsimer) – Orcs are native to mountain ranges in both High Rock and Hammerfell. Orc strongholds are scattered across Skyrim, but only those who have become “blood-kin” are welcome inside. Orcs have a complexion that ranges from light green to dark brown, possess heavily muscled frames, and are second only to the High Elves in height. They are also the only race to have tusks. Orcs are famed throughout Tamriel as warriors and blacksmiths, and have a natural affinity for one- and two-handed weapon wielding, as well as smithing and enchanting. Orcs have the ability to send themselves into a fierce rage that increases the damage they inflict and decreases the damage they take for a short period of time each day.

Redguard – Redguards are the main inhabitant of the northwest province of Hammerfell, an arid land dominated by deserts and rough mountains. Redguards have darker complexions, are of medium height, and possess sturdy builds. They are known for their skill and versatility as warriors and are exceptional at combining one-handed weapons with shields. In keeping with their rugged homeland, Redguards have a strong constitution, which manifests itself in a resistance to poison. They are able to regenerate stamina at an incredible rate once per day, allowing them to attack with great ferocity.

More than Human

In addition to the playable races of Skyrim, you can also become more than human by contracting diseases, which transform you into a vampire or werewolf. Each of these conditions has advantages and disadvantages, so you’ll want to weigh them before allowing yourself to be seduced by the music of the children of the night.

Vampires – To become a vampire the player must acquire the disease “Sanguinare Vampiris” and stay infected for longer than three in-game days. There are four stages of severity to the disease, though drinking blood can keep the curse at bay. However, the more severe the disease becomes, the more spells and abilities become available to the player. Vampires suffer from a weakness to sunlight, but are fully resistant to disease and poison, harder to detect when sneaking, and  more powerful at casting illusion magic. Vampirism has its own skill tree and perks, which include things like detecting all creatures, transforming into an invulnerable mist, and conjuring a gargoyle to fight for you. Vampirism can be cured and contracted multiple times.

Werewolves –  A player can become a werewolf by contracting the disease “Lycanthropy”, which grants the ability to transform into a monstrous and powerful wolf-like beast for a limited time once per day, which can be extended by feeding off corpses. There are cures for Lycanthropy, but many are costly (unless you want to become a vampire), and once cured, it cannot be contracted again. Lycanthropy also has its own skill tree and perks, from increased damage to an extended howl range. Spoiler Alert: those who want to become werewolves best look to the Companions of Whiterun for guidance.

Skyrim is a game filled with choices; what to do, where to go, how many mammoth cheese bowls to collect. It’s all up to you. The first, and perhaps most important choice you’ll make is how you want to play. Are you a straight-up brawler? A long-distance sniper? Do you prefer magic or heavy armor and cold hard steel? Think about the playstyle that suits you best and then choose your character’s race. That choice may make the beginning of your adventure a bit easier or it may not, and it doesn’t have to. The important thing is to be you. Now lace up your boots and grab your supplies. Skyrim awaits!

—Tim O.

[nintendotreehouse]

Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Hey fight fans,

I’ve been spending some time in the ARMS lab, and I thought it’d be a good time to write about our newest fighter, Misango, who’ll be coming to the game as part of the 4.0 update that’s launching today!

Popular guy!

Taking a closer look at him, he’s got this friendship bracelet thing on lock. There’s some braided patterns within his ARMS, and if you peep his garments, there’s a thick cloth on top of other woven material. If you look at his stage, Temple Grounds, there are tons of friendship bracelets tied around pillars and hanging from the walls of the arena. Even though his scowl’s a little serious, he probably makes a lot of friends when he isn’t climbing the ranks of the ARMS League.

That spirit above him is a mysterious entity that follows Misango wherever he goes, and more importantly, grants him some pretty awesome abilities when he’s gotta throw down in the ring. He’s also bringing three new ARMS into the game as his default options. If you can unlock those for the rest of the cast, they can have some serious fun with them, too!

After a bit of hands-on sleuthing, I uncovered quite a few interesting tidbits about Misango and his spirit companion that you might find handy as you start planning new combat strategies.

Misango can absorb the power of the spirit in two ways:

The first is by fully charging via a dash or jump, which allows Misango to immediately absorb the spirit in its current state. The second is by charging via a guard; after a guard is held long enough, the spirit transforms into a small pillar of spiritual energy in front of him that Misango can walk into and absorb or hide behind for deflecting cover. (Important detail: the pillar has collision, so it’s great at blocking incoming attacks!)

I’m sure the spirit is fine, it…maybe doesn’t feel pain?

Absorbing the spirit is where things get a bit more complicated: see, the spirit rotates through three different colors in order—red, yellow, and blue—and which ability Misango obtains from the spirit depends on what color the spirit is at the time it’s absorbed.

If Misango absorbs the red spirit, he’ll don a mask with a small set of horns, which gives him the ability to resist flinching like Mechanica or Master Mummy. If he absorbs while it’s blue, he’ll get a mask with some wings, which gives him better mobility. And this one’s my favorite: if he absorbs the yellow spirit, he gets this spiky-looking mask and the ability to automatically block all incoming blows for a short period of time upon activating his rush combo (yeah, it’s hecka buff.)

*Note that any charged ARM will still knock him down and thereby remove the spirit buff, though.

Moving onto his ARMS:

Aww, look at those happiness bubbles!

Scorpio: The Scorpio is a cute little poison-injecting arachnid that will crawl on the ground, hop when it reaches its target, and stab them with PURPLE LOVE!!! What’s even better is if you use it in the air, it transforms into a fast-moving disc that can fly in a straight or wide arc, making it really hard to stop! I’m not the biggest fan of anything from the arachnid family, but man, do I love this thing!

*Note that poison damage can stack over time. The first time a target is hit with poison, it’ll take off about 1 point of health per second, but hit the opponent with it twice more and you can inflict up to 3 points per second. The poison itself doesn’t last forever, so it’s probably a good idea to mix-and-match the timings of tossing a charged Scorpio on the ground and from the air to get at least one hit to connect often throughout the course of a match.

I also wonder what these taste like….

Glusher: This is a heavy ARM that’s imbued with poison as well. Much like the Blorb, this one bounces once or twice before nailing your opponent. If you arc your punches correctly, Glushers can sail over ARMS that travel in a direct line. The arc is also very useful for tossing ARMS over everyday objects…like Limos.

What’s that thing inside its mouth? On second thought, don’t tell me.

Skully: One of the fastest ARMS in the game…which also has the ability to poison! These ARMS are great at getting an attack right in an opponent’s face as soon as possible. However, their light nature means that if a multi-shot Tribolt or Retorcher were to be fired and collide with a Skully, the other two shots of the Tribolt or Retorcher would continue to sail toward your grill. So, use it to pester and interrupt, but don’t count on it winning in a head-on ARMS collision!

“I feel the need for speed.” *high-five*

Playing as Misango: Set up your spirits as fast as possible! Depending on your opponent, different approaches may be needed. Some of you will find success with setting up your defense first by placing your spirit and using it as a shield, then carefully picking your times to attack. Others may find success in full “Rush-down” mode, getting right in your opponent’s kitchen and constantly attacking. No matter which way you decide to go, try different combinations of ARMS and defensive/aggressive playstyles, and find out what’s most effective against your opponent and their ARMS selection.

Playing against Misango: Know which spirit the opponent likes to use and try to be pro-active in countering their selection. In other words, don’t let him set up his spirits! If Misango sets up, knock him down so he loses the spirit. If the opponent can’t set up their strategy and line up the right spirit at the right time, it’ll be easier to get them into more disadvantageous positions where they either won’t have a spirit for support or where they’ll have the wrong spirit up for the situation.

I think I made him angry.

With all that being said, Misango will likely take some time to get used to and either way, don’t feel bad about crushing his spirit—it’s a medium-high difficulty curve. The most dangerous players to use Misango will be the ones who can alternate often between attacking and defending with the spirit and without hesitation. Remember, if something works against your opponent, keep doing it until they figure it out … Don’t give me that look, it’s a fair strategy! (Real talk, though—nothing is “cheap.”)

I’m sure you all will find even more high-level tech than I have, but I hope this gives you a good starting point with Misango.

Oh, and one more thing—do some of those markings in his stage look weirdly similar to another ARMS character, or is it just me?

—JC R.