Here's something a little different: a rerelease of a classic I never got into! What do I think of a series I waited fourteen years to dive into...?
In any case, I've finally got around to not only fixing up the The Archives, but have provided a Manga Reviews page. It's hardly as elaborate as my Reviews pages, but such a collection remained necessary, so please take a look.
Next month will be a juicy month for manga fans, as I have four reviews planned (including another favorite ongoing series making its first appearance: Vinland Saga!); however, E3 season will likely push most, if not all, of those reviews towards the month's end, so keep that in mind.
Speaking of E3, there's some INCREDIBLY EXCITING NEWS I can't quite share at the moment, but certainly will when I'm given the all-clear. Stay tuned!
While we're questioning the eleven-year absence of Kirby spin-offs,
we must also ask: why did it take it so long for King Dedede to get his
own game? I mean, really, who doesn't love the gluttonous, self-proclaimed king
of Dream Land? His plush design, self-centered antics, not-quite-a-good-guy but
not-quite-a-villain morality and penchant for bugged-out eyes have won over
many a Kirby fan, myself included, and it is simply ridiculous HAL
Laboratory has not granted his own Popstar-trotting adventure to the gaming
populace. No matter how you look at it, a downloadable rhythm game ain't gonna
cut it!
Still, you could do with a lot worse than Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe. Like
its brother Kirby Fighters Deluxe, this spin-off is also based on a Kirby:
Triple Deluxe sub-game by the name of Dedede's Drum Dash, wherein
the penguin king hopped along on giant drums to reach the goal all the while
clapping and bouncing to the beat of classic Kirby tunes (or perhaps not
so classic: not many may recognize the secret Extra song was from Kirby's
Dream Collection: Special Edition) Requiring careful precision of jumping,
clapping, and navigating obstacles, these four levels were not only among some
of the most difficult of Triple Deluxe’s trials, but introduced a welcome
dosage of variety hardly explored in the series hitherto (that’s to say, rhythm;
only one of Mass Attack’s mini-games
springs to mind)
Koei-Tecmo’s brand of Warriors games – hack-and-slash spectacles wherein one character
takes on entire armies – are, to my mind, excellent stress-relievers. They are
not the most polished or ambitious on the market, but their elaborate power
fantasies are instant addictions, the thrill of smashing through endless
platoons and capturing bases instilling a bountiful catharsis. This isn’t to
say the games are doormats – the various missions and down-to-the-wire missions
engage us to the point of anxiety, but overcoming such odds is what makes them
constantly satisfying to play.
I confess my experience with Warriors is limited – while I’ve played the entire One Piece: Pirate Warriors trilogy and
extensively played both Nintendo-themed offerings (Hyrule Warriors, the game we’re reviewing today, and Fire Emblem Warriors), my experience
with series progenitor Dynasty Warriors is
limited only to the aged Dynasty Warriors
2. A mistake I aim to rectify in the future, but the point is, it is not
uncommon at all for fans to claim Hyrule
Warriors – a Nintendo and Koei-Tecmo collaboration based on The Legend of Zelda – is the best of
them all. Even putting aside the celebrated mechanical improvements, the Wii U
game is an insane labor of love and passion from developers clearly enamored
with Nintendo’s famous fantasy series, with two years’ worth of DLC culminating
with a boatload of content, a 3DS version with exclusive features (Hyrule Warriors Legends), and a Switch
version collectively including all aforementioned content (Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition).
My third guide dives into the basics of Nintendo Labo! I still need to figure out how to properly insert playtime with Nintendo's cardboard invention into my own schedule, but in the meantime, I painstakingly devised this guide. It's mainly for the use of parents, but anyone curious about Labo can learn something, too.
Today, a childhood dream comes true. For nearly 20 years, I've followed an annual gaming trade event from the pages of Nintendo Power, the webpages of Nintendojo and IGN, and real-time streams on YouTube and Nintendo's official site. Like every other gamer, I awaited it like a three-day Christmas, absorbing and obsessing over every announcement, every trailer, every interview, every screenshot, any scrap of information to satisfy my craving. Some years came up short, others wildly surpassed my expectations, but regardless of the highs and lows, it remains an uninterrupted ritual.
Next month, the process will be hands-on: I'm beyond thrilled to announce I'll be heading to E3 as a representative of Hey Poor Player! In June, I'll be heading down to LA with my editor Francis and a couple other folks to cover the show, and you better believe I'll be providing write-ups like mad! Currently, I'm planning an emphasis on Nintendo games (naturally!), but I'll be expanding playtime/analyses on PlayStation 4 games as well (Kingdom Hearts III being a top priority, and it seems like Wattam is on-track to arrive as well).
This has been processing behind the scenes for the past couple weeks -- certain circumstances brought up this opportunity, and I had to keep quiet until I got a confirmation (readers may also recall I almost went two years ago, which made this confidentiality even more vital) -- but needless to say, I'm on Cloud Nine. Just knowing I'll be in the same building with the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto and Masahiro Sakurai is...well, obviously, I'm not expecting to run into them or anything (much less stalk them, heh), but just that very privilege is a step closer to my dream.
And this is to say nothing of the blog! My amazement in what started out as an experimental platform leading me into gaming journalism has been well-documented, but it's particularly amazing when considering this particular subject: for five consecutive years, I produced in-depththoughts, critiquesandessays on my feelings regarding each show, and now I'll be providing impressions right from the show floor! Truly, I've come full-circle, but naturally you can expect links to my Hey Poor Player write-ups from here. Given the insane workload involved, I don't think you can expect anything unique for the blog, but said previews and whatnot should surely make up for the lack of E3 content around these parts, eh?
Although, it may be fun to showcase pictures/videos I'll be taking around the showfloor? Hmm...I'll think about it!
I may provide more details as E3 Week nears, but in the meantime, it shouldn't take too much effort to guess what my most anticipated game to play is...
Hehehe, how jealous are you:?!? Actually, this won't be the first time I played a Smash game pre-launch -- I did the same for Super Smash Bros. 3DS and Wii U during the Best Buy demo sessions -- but given I'll have exponentially more time, I highly suspect it'll suck up most of my first day. (Unless, of course, Nintendo finally gets off their lazy butts and reveals Pikmin 4; seriously, if that becomes a Pikmin 3-esque wait again, I'm calling shenanigans.)
