One Piece Vol. 86 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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Wow, I way too long in posting this here, ahaha.

 

In any case, certain stuff going on behind the scenes has rendered thins a little slow here, but we'll be seeing some activity starting this weekend.

Hyrule Warriors

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).

The Nintendo Labo Beginner's Guide (Hey Poor Player)

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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.

I'm Going to E3!!!

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-depth thoughts, critiques and essays 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.)

Anyway, I'll see y'all real soon. So excited!!!

Donkey Kong Country Returns

In retrospect, perhaps Donkey Kong didn't have it that bad following Rare's departure from Nintendo. An observation that may be heresy to some, but as I recall, the following output was hardly disposable: Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat was the stellar (2D!) debut of Nintendo's famous Tokyo branch, Mario vs. Donkey Kong was born in this era (although it had admittedly grown tired), the Donkey Konga games were entertaining spin-offs in their own right -- that they remain the only Nintendo-published products you'll ever hear Rock Lobster and songs from Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo surely counts for something -- and supposedly Paon's handheld action games were pleasant enough. On the downside, you had technically-inferior Game Boy Advance ports of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy (albeit developed by Rare with new features), although only Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast drew particularly harsh ire; admittedly, having only been subjected to the abominable character designs from Super Smash Bros. Brawl's trophies, I suppose it was enough to taint the series’ image.

Regardless, fans demanded a true spiritual successor to the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, and our prayers were answered through a most unexpected savior: Retro Studios. Having wrapped up their own Metroid Prime Trilogy, transitioning from a series of highly-ambitious first-person shooters -- I'm sorry, first-person adventures – to a mere sidescroller may have seemed like a stepdown for some; true, Donkey Kong Country Returns is as much of a revival as Metroid Prime before it, but we had previously witnessed an unknown studio masterfully revive one of gaming’s most beloved franchises into practically another genre – certainly, a 2D Donkey Kong game would be beneath Retro’s talents, yes?

Kirby Fighters Deluxe

In retrospect, the absence of Kirby spin-offs following Kirby Air Ride is quite odd when considering how much of them populated the series' early life: nothing in the vein of Kirby's Dream Course, Kirby's Pinball Land or Kirby's Block Ball ever arrived in the DS era or even GBA. Perhaps HAL felt the sub-games found in Amazing Mirror and Super Star Ultra were enough, the mainline games being a priority as opposed to rebuilding a franchise empire. Whatever the reason may be, the eleven-year absence is evident, and so we must ask ourselves: what compelled HAL Laboratory to develop downloadable expansions on Kirby: Triple Deluxe's own brand of sub-games?

Thankfully, that's an easy one: because they're probably the best sub-games in series history. At the very least, Kirby Fighters Deluxe is a common-sense idea: the original Kirby Fighters was a slightly-altered tweak on Triple Deluxe's engine framed within Super Smash Bros. mechanics, complete with multiple Copy Abilities, stages, items and even its own little campaign. As opposed to the previous design rhetoric of Kirby sub-games -- little time wasters deviating our attention from the main game for just a teensy-bit -- it was the closest any mini-game had reached "game within a game" status within the series hitherto, and its addictive nature repeatedly kept fans coming back for more.

Case Closed Vol. 66 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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Annnnd Case Closed! That wraps up manga for this month, so you can expect a review or two here within the week.

By the way, through some unexpected turn of events, something unbelievably exciting is unfolding behind-the-scenes! I can't talk about it just yet, but let's just say it involves Hey Poor Player. In the meantime, I'm planning out a Nintendo Labo Beginner's Guide for release sometime next week.

My Hero Academia Vol. 12 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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Whoops, I forgot to put this one up here too, ahahaha.

Both of the My Hero Academia reviews thus far have been really tough to write. We already had the series apex last time, but the ensuing cooldown here, while hardly bad, didn't inspire too much to talk about. Thankfully, things pick up again the next volume, but I wonder if that'll be just as difficult for other reasons...?

The Promised Neverland Vol. 3 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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I am a lazy, forgetful bastard, and the proof lies in taking nearly a week to share this here. In any case, read the damn series if you haven't already!

Anyway, expect My Hero Academia to pop up later today, too.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

With Donkey Kong Country and its pre-rendered 3D taking the world by storm during 1994's holiday season, it was only natural developer Rare would get to work on a sequel, this time starring Donkey Kong's breakout sidekick: Diddy Kong. Fittingly, the game was dubbed Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, a notorious pun that slipped by young gamers and resulted in shock and awe upon sudden realization years later. Having been one of these unfortunate children, it's never ceased in irking the hell out of me, so perhaps we should not call attention to it at all? Yes, that's what we'll do.

Anyway, Donkey Kong Country 2 is often lauded as the apex of not just the Donkey Kong name but of 16-bit platforming and the Super Nintendo console, cited alongside the likes of Super Mario World and Sonic 3 & Knuckles as being the very finest the genre and/or console has to offer. This claim is not without merit: the level design is no longer basic and constructs itself around depth rather than just cheap thrills, the setting breaks free of ordinary tropes and plunges headfirst into full-on creativity, and David Wise's music is as delicious as ever, if not more so. No longer was Rare's re-imagining of Nintendo's first true gaming star a freshman effort, but a full-fledged video game that vindicated the British game developer's rise into stardom.