#tdvgc

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 19 - PICTURE OF A GAME SETTING YOU WISH YOU LIVED IN

This one’s... not an easy entry to fill out.  Sure, there are many games I enjoy with locations and settings that’d be interesting to live in or even visit.  I’m just thinking of... you know... my health, considering most of these locations are infested with monsters!  And if not that, then perhaps bandits, man-eating plants, road hazards, among other things!  If I were to go visiting... I might want to try getting my fill from a distance!

But... if I had to pick one, how about the world of Okami?  It’s pretty dang pretty, and many of its locations I wouldn’t mind seeing up close in-person... provided a certain godly wolf acts as my tour guide in case anything happens!

Honorable mentions include the world of Eternal Sonata and possibly some of the realms in Spyro the Dragon.

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 22 - A GAME SEQUEL WHICH DISAPPOINTED YOU

I do have a couple, but I figured I’d stick with something I played recently.  Also, I’ll probably make many enemies with this post. lol

Okay, here’s the deal; about a year or two ago, I played and completed Banjo Kazooie for the first time.  And you know what?  I thought it was pretty dang good!  Definitely something I look forward to playing again one day... I might even be willing to go as far to call it one of the N64′s better games (certainly in my top ten for that console)!

Then just a few months ago, I decided to give Banjo Tooie a shot.  And you know what?  I... didn’t like it.  In fact, I’d even go as far to say I down-right hated it at times.  Sure, I did have some fun here and there, but overall... I found it to be one frustrating experience after another, and in my eyes, I don’t see it as a good game.

As for why... well, for starters, the levels were often simply too big and/or confusing, I didn’t care for the minigames (especially lazy ones that just involve you mashing A enough until you win), I didn’t mind the transformations but wished they weren’t in EVERY stage, Mumbo being a playable side character was a completely stupid idea and an utter waste of time (especially since the extent of his usefulness pretty much boils down to him just flipping a switch for you), the game goes way overboard with abilities, I really didn’t like the forced first-person segments, and because I was playing on the N64 version, it was common for the framerate to drop to single digits at times.  And don’t even get me started on some other things that frustrated me, like that dreadful Angler Fish boss fight (which sucked no matter if you were transformed or not), the game essentially forcing me to go out of my way to travel back to previous stages with a new ability just so I can usually collect... one thing (yeah, yeah, shortcuts and warp pads help make it quicker, but not by that much), among other things that made me lose my patience very quickly.

With that said, if I had to say a few good things about Tooie, I will admit it’s certainly a nice-looking game (given the console), I did like the soundtrack, I was glad to see more boss fights this time around (despite my earlier comment), and the cast of characters were certainly fun (most of them, anyway).  I’ll also admit some of the dialogue gave me a good chuckle, especially when one of Gruntilda’s sister’s gets angry and demands she stop rhyming all the time, and she’s all “Oh... if I must.” and she actually does just that!  Until the next game, where she’s back to rhyming all the time for some reason.

Sadly, these positive bits don’t even come close to saving it for me, and I can’t see myself going back to Tooie anytime soon (if at all).  Just way too many questionable decisions went into the mix for my tastes.  That’s not to say I feel everyone should look at it the way I do... if you enjoy the game, then by all means, play until your heart’s content.  We’re all entitled to like what we want, and I wouldn’t think for a moment to try and take that away from someone.  As for me... I’m going to stick with Banjo Kazooie, as I feel it’s far superior in just about every way.

And the shame of it is, I’d love to give Yooka-Laylee a shot, because in many ways it looks quite charming (and I’m really digging its cast of characters, what little I’ve seen of ‘em, anyway)... but I’ve heard that concepts and ideas from both Kazooie and Tooie went into it, and that both intrigues and worries me at the same time.  Suppose I’ll find out one day...

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 9 - SADDEST GAME SCENE

I don’t know if I’d call the Death of Sniper Wolf the saddest scene, but it’s usually one that sometimes gets to me.  If anything, it’s because of the music that plays, not to mention Sniper Wolf’s story during the whole is somewhat of a tear jerker.  And then, there’s the stuff Otacon has to go through during and after she meets her end.  It’s a pretty good scene, one that sets up just how different these enemies are compared to other games (basically, you get a real sense of humanity from them, instead of someone standing on top of a mountain while surrounded by lava with thunderstorms in the background as they proclaim just how “Evil” they are and such).

Also, keep in mind when I say all of this, I am referring to the PS1 version.  I don’t recall if the Gamecube remake is as good since I’ve never played that version.  Also also, despite what I’ve said in other entries, I didn’t pick this one in-particular because of my love for wolves... the fact she’s called “Sniper Wolf” is just a coincidence... I swear... you believe me, right?  

..........right?

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 8 - BEST SOUNDTRACK

Yet another one I barely had to give any thought to.  Say what you will about the game itself, but Chrono Cross has such a fantastic soundtrack.  Time’s Scar, Star-Stealing Girl, Dragon God, among many, many others that are simply great to listen to.  And yes, I’d even go as far to say it’s even better than the soundtrack in Chrono Trigger (which, don’t get me wrong, also has a great OST, too).

Honorable mentions include Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, SMW2: Yoshi’s Island, Final Fantasy IX, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and perhaps some others.  And yeah, I realize most of these are PS1 games... maybe it’s just me, but there’s just something about that console that allowed it to have such great music.

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 2 - YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER

I didn’t even have to think about this one.  Spyro’s pretty much always been a big favorite of mine, especially after playing his first game as a kid back in the late 90′s.  But it’s not just nostalgia; I do enjoy the character’s personality, I think he has a great design (”A Hero’s Tail” being my personal favorite), and I think he’s just so much fun to play as in most of his games.  He may not be as big nowadays, but I still go back to the classic games all the time and have such a good time with ‘em, and I dare say Spyro is one of the reasons why I enjoy them so much.

Other favorites I could’ve easily put here as well include Amaterasu (Okami), Mile Tails Prower, Iggy Koopa (NSMBwii design), and Daxter (Jak and Daxter).  

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 30 - YOUR FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME

Well, I’m sure this ain’t surprising in the least bit, ehh?  Considering the number of times I’ve brought up both the character and his games throughout this whole 30 Day Challenge, I’m sure it was easy to guess that at least one of his titles would be on my favorite list.  

And wouldn’t you know it, my #1 favorite game of all time just so happens to be the one that started it all for the feisty purple dragon.

To tell you the truth, I like pretty much everything about this game.  Its graphics are quite nice (for the system it’s on), I love its soundtrack (it’s my personal favorite out of the three PS1 titles), I think the gameplay is very spot on (albeit with a few minor quirks), I think the level design does a great job of keeping things fresh and interesting yet never gives you anything too confusing or frustrating, the environments are quite nice to look at, among other things.  And naturally, I’m a big fan of Spyro, himself... and say what you will, but I still think Carlos Alazraqui is the best Spyro, despite Tom Kenny’s solid performances in the sequels.

Plus, it’s the kind of game that’s right up my alley.  For starters, it’s a 3D Platformer, and as I’ve admitted before, that’s one of my favorite genres.  Secondly, it’s a game that doesn’t try to over-complicate things by stuffing in a bunch of minigames, extra playable characters, and/or a ton of new abilities to learn, which are often pet-peeves of mine depending on how how carried away some games can get with them (like YotD and Tooie.........).  And finally, it uses my always-preferred system of allowing you to enter into a stage, collect everything and do whatever it wants you to do, and then get out and move on to the next stage in order to keep things going at a great and fun pace.  Basically, there’s no having to return to previous stages because the game forced you to leave and come back later with a new ability, no interference from the plot to prevent you from doing something or going somewhere, etc.... and I’m always grateful whenever developers avoid that kind of design.

I suppose if I had to nitpick about one small thing, it’s that the controls could’ve used some slight tweaking... and said tweaks actually made it into the two sequels.  I wish it were possible to include those improvements into the first game, but... meh, that’s a minor complaint.

At this point, what else is there to talk about?  Needless to say, I think the game is pretty dang great, and I simply adore it.  It’s the kind of game I can play all at once (and that’s even getting 100%) or break it up into chunks in order to enjoy during some free time.  It’s something that’s pretty special to me, and I imagine I’ll probably never find a game that’ll dethrone it as my #1 favorite game of all time.

So..... thanks, Insomniac!

(And contrary to what it must sound like, I actually do like Ripto’s Rage as well, despite it containing some design decisions I don’t care for.  I don’t like it as well as the first game, but it’s still pretty solid overall.  Year of the Dragon, on the other hand... ugh, don’t even get me started).

And because why not, here are some other games that are on my favorites list.

- Rocket Knight Adventures - Yoshi’s Island - Bubble Bobble (NES) - Tails Adventure - Daxter - Croc: Legend of the Gobbos - Okami - Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap

As well as some others that aren’t quite on my favorites list, but still ones I really enjoy quite a lot as well.

- Rayman: Origins - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Mega Man 3 -  Rainbow Islands (NES) - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - Metroid: Zero Mission - Banjo Kazooie - Ty the Tasmaian Tiger - Gex: Enter the Gecko

And... I suppose that concludes this 30 Day Video Game Challenge!  I hope you guys had fun reading everything I put down, and thanks for tolerating my goofy standards! ;P

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 29 - A GAME YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULDN’T LIKE, BUT ENDED UP LOVING

I never had a Sega Master System growing up, though that’s mostly because I never even knew the thing existed until much, much later.  Obviously, I missed out on whatever it had to offer.  Jump ahead a couple of decades, and a remake of one of its supposed “best” games, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, gets released on Steam.

When I first bought this, I wasn’t sure what to expect... in fact, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to like it.  I bought it because of one single reason; I fell in love with its hand-drawn graphics, which pretty much made me unable to resist the game for long.  As someone who’d love to get into animation myself, the whole look and feel of the game is something I’d love to do one day... or at the very least, I hope my skills can produce something that looks so wonderful one day, too.  So in a sense, getting to play this remake in action was somewhat of a dream brought to reality.  That’s a cheesy thing for me to say, but it really was.

As for the game itself... well, at first I didn’t love it, as I felt the gameplay simply wasn’t all that great.  Overtime, however, I really started to warm up to it, and now I find myself playing it quite a lot.  Heck, I bought the game not even a month ago, and I’ve already completed it more than five times already.  Maybe my love for its graphics (and my desire for my own skills to be comparable to them one day) makes me love the game more than I should... but I honestly find plenty of enjoyment out of the game, and at the end of the day, that’s all I really care about.  

Also, controversial opinion time: Lizard Man’s the best out of all the transformations, and I shall stand by that ‘till my dying days. *crosses arms*

...And yes, I’m also really looking forward to Cuphead, too.  These games and their hand-drawn goodness... I’ve died and gone to gaming heaven. :) 

[freezingicekirby]

DAY 28 - FAVORITE GAME DEVELOPER

I think Nintendo certainly qualifies as one of my favorites.  Sure, they’ve done some really goofy things within recent years, and I’m not too surprised to hear some folks have lost patience with them... but for me, they still make many games that I simply love playing, I always enjoy their latest consoles no matter how questionable others find them, and I love the cast of characters under their name.  They’re a company with plenty of charm, which is probably why they’ve managed to stay afloat after all these years... and I hope they continue making games for many more years to come.