Now that we know I can’t stick to a system, I am still going to try and keep track of what I’m playing and planning to play on here regardless. I have beaten Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Radiant History in the past couple of months. For both I haven’t completed the post game, but I am partially through Kirby’s.
I must be honest, as much of a masochist as I am, the difficulty spike is a lot for me as someone who doesn’t play many 3d games with action elements. During the main campaign I didn’t even touch the dodge mechanic, but I find myself spamming it with the harder versions of the bosses. It’s been slow going for me, but I’ll eventually get around to finishing it.
As for Radiant Historia I only had to beat a super boss and the final boss after not playing the save file for years, so I will probably not touch the post game since I was already completely lost on the story. One day I will probably sit down and rewatch all of the cutscenes, but for now I have no context.
To give my thoughts on Kirby and the Forgotten Land, it really feels like the most natural jump to 3d and 2d series I’ve played has made. The camera cannot be moved, but there was no real need for that, this is a game that benefits from fixed angles and it gives you a good look at the scenery anyways. Speaking of which, the game looks gorgeous. I am a big fan of the cute little town for the waddle dees that acts as your hub area, Winter Horns, and the Redgar Forbidden Lands in terms of looks.
Compared to prior entries in the series, getting all the level collectibles with out looking it up is more challenging. Maybe I’m just blind, but I tended to redo levels over and over to find certain waddle dees even when the hint for it was unlocked at the end of the level. HAL really wanted you to explore every nook you could this time around. There are multiple instances where a waddle dee was “offscreen” and I just couldn’t figure how to get to it. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, I actually found the hunt very fun, I was just reminded by this that I’m very bad at these sorts of things.
I also started and completed A Short Hike during this time. It was a very relaxing experience and also satisfying to run around the mountain with no clue where to go, yet find so many secrets and finish quests without any help. The dialogue was cute and charming, and the pixelated 3d graphics gave a nostalgic vibe akin to playing a ps1 game. The whole thing was perfect for winding down and I highly recommend it. Check out the website!
As for what I’m currently playing now, I got a hold of a 4th 3ds (I’m obsessed with these things) and homebrewed it. So I’ve been enjoying the luxury of both emulation and the 3ds’s great library at the same time. If you’re interested in modding a 3ds too, it’s very simple to do, and free! Head on over to this guide!
I recently got back into Hamtaro a few months ago, and I found out that there were games on the Gameboy! They are all for kids ofcourse, but all of them are cute and cozy so who care? I wanted to start off playing Ham Ham Heartbreak ( GBA), but to my frustration when you emulate it, the game will freeze after you name Hamtaro and Bijou and becomes completely unplayable.
I decided I wanted to play the game enough to buy it, unfortunately it wasn’t going for cheap So I ended up having to hold off on it.
Ham Hams Unite! (GBC) ran perfectly through emulation, so I’ve been slowly making my way though that instead.
Another older game I’ve been playing on my breaks at work is Secret of Mana. I will be honest, when I first started playing I was not a fan of the combat system. There is a bar that has to fill up before you can attack and do decent damage. If you hit something and it’s not full, the damage will be negligible and not worth it. I believe this is to prevent button mashing, and it does that, but not without annoying me when I miss an attack or hit something while it’s invulnerable. Another gripe is that when an enemy casts a spell on you, you can’t move or dodge it.
You can imagine how this plays out in a boss fight, with the boss locking you in while spamming a spell until you die. That’s how the first couple of fights played out for me at least. I was contemplating dropping this “masterpiece” but apparently I’m through the worst of it, and the rest of the game is easy once you get magic yourself and level it up. I’ll have to play a bit more before I decide.
Lastly I decided to play through Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon for the second time, but with a twist. See with the first two generations of PMD games there was more variety in the choice of starters, but this time around we get your basic grass,water and fire trios, along with pikachu and riolu. Very boring for someone who always played as the more niche options like skitty, cubone and phanpy. So I did some digging around online and found this tool that allows you to outright mod the game and change the starters to whatever you want! Took me a moment to figure out, but it was a simple process. I changed the entire roster for myself, but ultimately I ended up with zorua for the hero and vulpix as the partner. I’m quite happy with the team and if I ever want to replay any other PMD games, I will probably change the starters there too to spice things up!