The Legend of Zelda

When Super Mario Bros. launched in 1985, it captivated a worldwide audience through subtle accessibility and an addicting idealism that made players say, "I can do that." It was a game that fed upon muscle memory via carefully crafted physics and manipulation of Mario's surrounding environment, all nuances anyone could enjoy thanks to its accessibility. It was a pick-up-and-play game of the best kind, with level design fine-tuned as subtle tutorials and music that manipulated us to try, try again.

In contrast, its wombmate The Legend of Zelda offers relatively fewer cues, doesn't involve as much exertion, and requires a dedicated commitment for full enjoyment, but it captivates us through a slightly different ideal: "I can do it this way." Its world of Hyrule entices us with an open world, one where we can explore anywhere and are rewarded for doing so. Much like Super Mario Bros. before it, it becomes "our game": Shigeru Miyamoto's personalized garden can be tackled any way we wish, even if it's not bound by a set order.

Biweekly Music Wednesday! No. 49 ~Overworld Theme~ (The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past)

Origin: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Plays In: Hyrule (Light World)
Status: Arrangement

Arranged By: Koji Kondo

Zelda.

For two months, Zelda has graced us with its glorious presence. Breath of the Wild made the gaming public fall in love with the series all over again, with an avalanche of perfect scores (including my own!) from the media and players still being overwhelmed by its massive world. I am no exception to the latter: even now, nearly two weeks later and having already beaten the final boss, I still feel like I haven't so much as scratched the game's surface.

Of course, Breath of the Wild is not without its criticisms: be it the oversights found in the "Blood Moon" mechanic, the difficulties in rain patterns, or people's woes with weapon durability, it just goes to show no game is perfect. Personally, I find the "drop and switch" nature of the weapon durability to be the most interesting gameplay Zelda's utilized in over a decade, and I find most of the voice acting complaints to be rather overblown; really, I've found the game to be a near-perfect experience.

My NYC May Haul!

Wow, to think I'd be back at New York City in only six months! It just sorta spurred from a conversation between me and Dad, and before you knew it...there we were!

Anyway, I didn't take too many pictures this time. There was a launch event at Nintendo NY for Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (which, by the way, HASN'T ARRIVED YET *cough* *cough*), but aside from a couple cosplayers there wasn't a whole lot of visual spectacle for it. I did get to play a demo, however.

Anyway, here's the two sides of a really cool Zelda display.

The Master Sword statue from the Breath of the Wild Master Edition is bigger than I thought it was! Huh, now I regret not picking that one up...

The Arwing and Ganondorf statues...I want them.

This Meta Knight one, too. This and a Cat Mario statue are on display at the Midtown Comic store as well.

I own a couple of these Game & Watches, actually: Mario's Cement Factory and Mario Bros. Will I ever scrape up the funds to own a complete collection...?

Cool box.

I've never seen a Color TV Game in my life, so this was pretty cool to see. Kudos to having Kirby's Adventure representing the NES!

Easily my best shot. Here we see Mario contemplating his downfall in relevance as everyone swarms around the Naked Cowboy. Just what is going on underneath that cost-er, I mean inside that jolly ol' head of his?

Anyway, here's my loot.

That's right: six posters! The first two are from Majora's Mask 3D and Star Fox 64 3D. Can you guess what the other four are?

Wow, how much manga is that?!? Best of all, all but two are in Japanese! For those curious, from top to bottom are Dragon Ball (Kanzenban edition), Dr. Slump, Straighten Up!, Spring Weapon Number One, Gintama, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and One Piece.

I knew I'd be pickin gup Super Bomberman R eventually, but I had such a blast playing the demo with folks at Nintendo NY that I just had to grab it! It's pretty good, but definitely hard even with the CPU.

Larry, Ludwig and Wendy. Finally, the Koopalings are complete!

Koopalings, assemble!!

Meta Knight, proud as ever.

Two Zelda puzzles. I've been picking up some gaming-related puzzles in the past several years, but I've yet to work on them...I should fix that.

 

Finally got Pink Yarn Yoshi. Now, where can I pick up a Mega one for a good price...?

AND NOW, A SCENE FROM SPRING WEAPON NUMBER ONE PRESENTED WITHOUT CONTEXT

Oh, by the way, this arrived today, too.

Wow, if it isn't Kirby as he appears in Kirby's Dream Land's promotional art! This was made to celebrate his 25th Anniversary. I wanted the Super Star variant, too, but I didn't have the funds...

In any rate, I like his whisker-esque cheeks. I also wasn't expecting him to be that fuzzy.

I wonder what I can use his bag for.

Checking In + Apologies

And just like that, two and a half weeks blazed past me. I've actually been so busy with other matters that I hadn't noticed the blog was being neglected! For those awaiting my latest pieces, you have my deepest apologies.

So, what "other matters" were these? Well, I suppose there were three:

1. Since the past month, Hey Poor Player has been pushing itself quite heavily over social media and the like in an effort to grow and raise awareness. We've made it a goal to grow into a big site by the end of the year, so naturally we've been spending much planning and the like on that.

2. My current Front End Associate job at Weis Markets seems like it'll be sticking around this time, as opposed to the temp jobs I've been taking up last year. Aside from...let's say, "rough patches" in the beginning, it's going quite well. I'm not working every day of the week, but obviously with three or four days taken up, I have to juggle my time wisely.

3. I've been rushing to complete Fire Emblem Gaiden by the time its remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, hits shelves tomorrow; as it currently stands, it seems I'll barely make it tonight, although given my trip to New York City this weekend I probably won't be playing it until Sunday or Monday.

How is Gaiden? Well, it's status as the "black sheep" of the series is...well, probably true. I've been planning finally review Fire Emblem on here by the end of the year, but in the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing how the remake improves upon it.

So there's all that. Again, sorry for the wait! To make up for it, I'll have a write-up sharing my goodies from NYC after I get home, as well as Biweekly Music Wednesday! and a new review in the next week!

Oh, and by the way, remember when I said I've been renovating my gaming basement? Progress has been quite smoothly on all that, and it's all nearly in a presentable state! As stated before, I'd love to show it off, and I'm hoping to finally do that this summer. Look forward to it!