ARMS Review (Hey Poor Player)

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ARMS is pretty neat, although its flaws are more evident than Nintendo's other recent debuts. We'll see how Nintendo's future support improves the game, but as it stands, it's still worthwhile.

As far as other blog-related stuff goes...since I had most of my week off from work, I did want to use it to write out a review I've wanted to do since forever, but this article and other priorities overtook it; actually, I still haven't even done my E3 impressions yet! At this rate, that may not become a reality... I'll give it my all this weekend!

Oh, and I've been neglecting to update my game journalism section in The Archives, haven't I? I'll get right on that.

Metroid Prime 4 and Metroid: Samus Returns: What They Mean (Hey Poor Player)

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This took longer than I expected! I had a crazy busy weekend, and I was only able to squeeze out this just last night...oh well.

Anyway, this contains pretty much all my thoughts on the Metroid games announced at E3. I'll go in-depth into everything else this weekend instead, but before that, you can expect a Hey Poor Player review this week!

Biweekly Music Wednesday! No. 50 ~Main Tunnel~ (Metroid II: Return of Samus)

Origin: Metroid II: Return of Samus
Plays In: Main Tunnel
Status: Original Composition
Composed By: Ryoji Yoshitomi

Where do I even begin with this E3? The pseudo-3D sequel to Yoshi's Woolly World? The "best-of" approach to the new Kirby Switch game? The remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga that comes packed with a hilarious sidestory? The genuine, infectious passion behind Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, which is as unpredictable as the concept itself? The DLC for Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which I desire to play this very instant? The explosion of ideas, presentation and joy that is Super Mario Odyssey, which I believe without a doubt will be GOTY?

Well, I think my selection for today speaks for itself. Out of all the wonderful announcements and previews from yesterday, there was nothing more exciting, blissful and cathartic than the news of not one, but TWO new Metroid titles: Metroid Prime 4 and Metroid: Samus Returns. As a fan of the original Prime trilogy, I let out something resembling an inhuman scream of joy upon the announcement for the former, so that should tell you how excited I am for that.

Worldly Weekend: Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

Note: Please excuse the imbalance of quality for screenshots here; for whatever reason, viable screenshots of earlier PS2 game are especially hard to find. 

Dear readers not familiar with Kingdom Hearts, I implore you to look, just look, at the cover above. Yes, that is Goofy and Donald Duck of Disney fame chilling in the moody, moonlit sky alongside three anime teenagers. Their normally-cheery faces are now solemn, decorated with such wistful melancholy that does away with their kid-friendly personas, evoking an aura of maturity never before displayed to the public eye.

Needless to say, Kingdom Hearts was one of the most bizarre debuts of the PS2/GC/Xbox era, and yet somehow it ended up being one of the most beloved. A collaboration between Disney and famed RPG developer Squaresoft (now Square-Enix), the 2002 action-RPG's outlandish concept of pitting Disney icons and zipper-laden, key-wielding adolescents against Disney villains in command of heart-harvesting shadows--a tale bookended by Hikaru Utada pop songs, mind--is so uniquely ludicrous that it demands your attention. But why?

My theory? By framing itself as a "darker" take on Disney, Kingdom Hearts ropes in the nostalgic RPG player who once associated with their films in early youth. I am no exception to this: the game was responsible for restarting my fervent following in Disney animation, the soundtrack never left my CD player and I clocked out the "Hours Played" stat in the course of a year. Since then, my association with Kingdom Hearts has floundered over the years: it birthed as an obsession that required a near-intervention, followed by a burning hate that wanted nothing more to do with the series, and am now settled as a casual fan who partakes in it like the finest of junk food.

Ten Weird Nintendo Commercials (Hey Poor Player)

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As you may expect, this was a real fun piece to write. If you're acquainted with other similar lists, you may spot several commonly-cited examples, but I made sure to include some...let's say, "unique" commercials I don't see mentioned often. 

At the very least, the first one's certainly a bit scary, eh? Ah, Japan!

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!

The Best 15 Mario Kart 8 Tracks (Hey Poor Player)

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Woops, I've been having so much fun with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that I forgot to link my OTHER Mario Kart 8-related article from Hey Poor Player! Overall, I've written up more than 5000 words for two separate pieces on the game; naturally, since they were created concurrently, there is some overlap between the articles. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

Believe it or not, the courses chosen kept shifting even when I was writing this article! Big Blue and Dragon Driftway were this close to making the cut alongside the likes of Shy Guy Falls and Excitbike Arena, but they just missed out on the fun. Of course, the track order was prone to change as well, so it was rather tough.

Everyone, let's all what's possibly the best Mario Kart yet!