As the title suggests, rupees play a very large part in the game's mechanics, so much so in fact that they also act as your health. Because of this, the standard shop system from the normal Zelda titles was removed in favor of a haggling system which punishes you for going too high or too low with your offer. An easy way to get large sums of rupees is to find a map and fill in the landmarks that are missing from it. Selling the completed map back to the old woman at the end of the town strip will net you some easy money. Extremely large sums of rupees are also needed as offerings to Uncle Rupee who will open up the way to Rupeeland and also gradually opens up the new areas of the world which contain progressively stronger and more annoying enemies and increasingly more difficult dungeons.

Now since Tingle isn't exactly a fighter (with the exception of Hyrule Warriors), he can't really defend himself effectively, so to protect his hide, you need to go to these taverns called "Salons" and hire a bodyguard to help you fight and collect treasures. Bodyguards range in 3 different sizes and 3 different AI patterns and as such, their fee for hiring them also differs significantly. Bodyguards also have unique abilities dependent on their size: Small ones can enter tight places that Tingle cannot enter, medium ones can open locked gates, and large ones can break boulders. Almost all areas that only a bodyguard can access usually guarantee a Rupee Good of which there are 30 to collect.

Now the combat system is extremely simplistic. You walk into an enemy to engage the fight and the entire ordeal is played out in a cartoon dust cloud. You can round up more enemies to fight and even your bodyguard for help while the battle is happening, but the way to win is to rapidly tap the cloud on the screen to help tip the scales in your favor. The more enemies you run into and defeat at once, the better your rewards are after the fight, many of which can be sold or used for cooking in Tingle's kitchen which in turn can be placed in empty jars for use on the field or to be sold for some extra cash later.

Now come the words of warning: This game was rated PEGI 12+ when it was released in Europe. The reasoning behind this is because of the suggestive and somewhat homosexual tone a small handful of characters emit. If this might damper your decision on getting the game, then I would suggest you watch Vinesauce's stream of the game on YouTube instead before you make a final verdict. If it is the region where it was released that is causing a problem with your decision, then I should probably note that Nintendo DS games are region free meaning they will play on any DS regardless of the country you bought it in. If it some other reason, then I honestly think you would be missing out because I had a lot of fun with this game and I think you all would have fun with it too if you gave it a chance. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Game Score:

Why are adventure games important? Because if the current state of the industry is anything to go off of, the adventure genre seems to be the only one capable of telling a story that can rival film and literature. Developed by Variable State and published by 505 Games, Virginia is an adventure mystery game with a cinematic narrative set in, you guessed it, Virginia. So does Virginia do right by the adventure genre?

In Virginia, players assume the role of Anne Tarver, a newly admitted FBI Special Agent. Anne is partnered with seasoned investigator Maria Halperin in the task of uncovering the mystery of a missing young man in the secluded, idyllic town of Kingdom, Virginia.

Unfortunately revealing anymore of the plot would be giving too much away. The story is told masterfully. Beginning fairly simple and straightforward, Virginia slowly spirals and twist into a convoluted web of intrigue. Thankfully, in this instance, "convoluted" is a positive rather than a negative. If the plot had been completely straightforward with no ambition to delve into the strange and abstract, we would be left with just another detective adventure. And when I say strange, I mean strange. Virginia's story is not for those expecting a run-of-the-mill mystery adventure or just another popcorn flick. Even Sherlock Holmes himself would be stumped by the final act.

Although the story is incredibly original, Variable State aren't afraid to admit that their narrative inspirations stem from detective television shows such as Twin Peaks and True Detective, and it shows. The Twin Peaks inspirations are front and center with Virginia's beautiful melancholy atmosphere and sprinklings of film noir. Without giving anything away, occasional surreal moments bleed into the plot that invoked happy, dark memories of NBC's recently cancelled Hannibal.

Without a doubt, the one aspect of Virginia that impressed me the most is that the entire story is told without a single utterance. This means the story is told through the environment and character reactions rather than painfully obvious dialogue. Even though the graphics are stylized like a fine painting, a character's facial expressions are detailed enough to easily observe basic emotions and thoughts. This is a narrative style I hope more developers adopt, but for now, Variable State made it work perfectly for Virginia.

Simplistic, yet beautiful, Virginia features a painterly art style steeped in an air of mystery. From the tiny details of a confidential FBI document, to the rural townscape of Kingdom, Virginia never fails to impress with its simple visuals.

To add to the cinematic feel of the story, Virginia is letterboxed like a film or a high budget T.V. show. Unlike other games that have toyed with this idea, Virginia's letterbox is never intrusive or distracting. In fact, just like a T.V. show or film, you will quickly forget that it's there. If that wasn't enough for you screen junkies, Virginia also recommends to the player that they keep the framerate locked at 30. Luckily, this is easily changeable in the options and runs just as fine at higher framerates. I replayed it at a locked 30fps, and besides some eye strain, I didn't notice any increased immersion. I do attribute the letterbox to increased immersion though, and I'm happy that it was there.

What more could be added to this mysterious world? A hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. How lucky of us then that we got exactly that. On top of providing a tone as a backdrop for a scene, the soundtrack also helps further the narrative. With the exclusion of voice acting and dialogue, the soundtrack lends a hand in telling the player what emotions Anne is feeling at a given moment. The symphony will ramp up as Anne is about to discover something or the music will slow to disheartening crawl as a situation becomes hopeless. The soundtrack for Virginia is one that I want to own.

Gameplay definitely sits as the weakest link of this chain, but if you have played any adventure game before, you know that's a statement applicable to just about all of them. Virginia is played entirely in the first person with the ability to interact with story centric items. While the story and graphics are incredible, the gameplay is remarkably linear. You are always put on a set path that you are rarely ever allowed to deviate from. I found this to be disappointing. The world that Variable State created for Virginia just begs to be explored.

Other than some feathers and flowers, there are no bonus items or documents for you to find. A note between two characters discussing the state of the town or current events, or really anything, would have only helped to add more life into Virginia. That's not saying the town doesn't feel like a real, living breathing place, but much more could have been added. The runtime isn't all that impressive either. I played through Virginia twice and manage to clock in at just under two hours each time. The asking price isn't very high so depending on what you think, this may be easily forgivable.

So does Virginia do right by the adventure genre and storytelling at large? Absolutely, yes. Virginia is a game that can be held as literary art. With all the makings of an unforgettable experience executed nearly perfectly, Virginia is certainly worthy of you time and money. We may never get a proper Twin Peaks game, but until then, Variable State has us covered with Virginia.

Now where did this undying love begin? Well one day, whilst strolling through the Xbox Live marketplace, I stumbled upon an interesting little title that caught my eye; Mars: War Logs. The description and screenshots made it appear as a Mass Effect-esque space adventure. This was back in 2015, so I was still emotionally scarred from the utter disappointment of Mass Effect 3, and had yet to experience the human rights violating atrocity known as Mass Effect: Andromeda. I needed a worthy successor to Mass Effect, so after glancing over some reviews, I took a gamble on Mars: War Logs, and boy, did I get it.

Mars: War Logs opens on, you guessed it, Mars, in a POW camp where we are introduced to our first companion, Innocence, through a heavily implied attempted gay rape scene. If there's a better way than that to start a game, then I haven't seen it. Luckily the protagonist, Roy, intervenes just in time to prevent that from happening. What follows is a slow, yet deliberate prison break sequence reminiscent of The Great Escape that sets the tone and narrative for the rest of the game.

While some might be initially put off by the overall depressing tone of Mars: War Logs, I think it's fantastic because it illustrates a grittier depiction of war and death in a cyberpunk future. Most games with similar themes, such as Mass Effect and the latest entries in the Call of Duty series, show a much more "Hollywood-ized" version of those themes complete with huge budgets and explosion filled set pieces. Whereas Mars: War Logs drags you down into the thick of it. If that's the kind of future we have to look forward to, I'd look at Mars: War Logs to get a more accurate picture of what to expect; technomancy excluded.

"Technomancy?" What? Yes, in a way, similar to Biotics in the Mass Effect series, Mars: War Logs features "Technomancy." However, unlike Biotics, technomancy is limited to the ability to wield and control the power of electricity. Characters trained from a young age to use 'pre-Turmoil' artifacts enabling them to wield the electricity produced by the human body are called "Technomancers." Normally this would be a spoiler, but Mars: War Logs spoils itself with a locked skill tree that says "technomancy" when selected; Roy is a technomancer. The introduction of this plot point also becomes a gameplay change that was executed perfectly. Up until this point, I'd been playing for about 4 hours, so the fights had been becoming rather stale, and I can't help but feel this was intentional to make your newly acquired technomancy powers feel all the more powerful to freshen up the gameplay.

Anything beyond that actually would be a spoiler. So let's recap the story thus far: you're on Mars, it's a gritty cyberpunk future, you play as a guy named Roy, and Roy is a Technomancer. Got it? Alright, let's move on.

Mars: War Logs is not, I repeat: NOT, a shooter. Not a first person shooter. Not a third person shooter. Not a Bulgarian miak shooter. NOT a shooter. Surprising, right? Well the reason I bring this up is because, according to many reviews from both critics and users that I've come across, many people went into Mars: War logs expecting a third person shooter similar to Mass Effect. I don't know if it's because shooters were the only games being developed at the time or the fact that Mass Effect really is the only game Mars: War Logs can be compared to, but Mars: War Logs is a third person action adventure, not a shooter. However there are gun in gameplay, but they are used in a similar way to the guns in Bloodborne. Yet you wouldn't categorize Bloodborne as a third person shooter, right?

Perhaps it was just me, but I was nearly overwhelmed when first experiencing the combat Mars: War Logs had to offer. That was until I realized how simple, yet ingenious it actually was. You have basic melee combat mechanics such as attack, block, and dodge, but that won't be enough to get your through most enemy encounters. That's because enemies are actually somewhat competent and won't hesitate to murder you repeatedly if you try to spam your attacks. Since the enemies are as tough as nails, you must remain vigilant in every fight. Like I said, you have your attack, your block, and your dodge, but you must also utilize your ability to break your enemy's block, your technomancy powers, and the orders you issue to your companion.

It may sound fairly simple at first, but in practice, it can be a nightmare to get through fights if you don't know what you're doing; even on the easiest difficulty setting. This is where I discovered the one major flaw in Mars: War Logs' combat- the companions. Being able to control whether or not your companions should focus on melee attacks, dodging, or ranged attacks may sound like a blessing, but that's completely squandered once you realize that enemies will gang up almost exclusively on your companion, so unless you set them to dodge, they're going down in just a couple of hits from multiple enemies. So I devised a routine to account for this problem. Set your companion to focus on dodging, take out the out any ranged enemies, then pick off the enemies ganging up on your companion one by one. This routine makes combat a breeze, but enemy encounters begin to get stale. While not fatal, this flaw definitely does hurt an otherwise great combat system.

Outside of combat, Mars: War Logs is a fairly open exploration game. While not an "open world game" per-se, Mars: War Logs' open, non-linear level design is great. You'll be able to visit multiple locations around Mars ranging from a hellish prison camp to a decaying ghetto and even a war torn city; all full of side quests with interesting characters and stories. It's clear that a monumental amount of love went into fleshing out these characters and locations to create a seemingly living breathing world. Even if that world is a sun scorched hell hole ravaged by war and human atrocities.

The side quests, and even some of the early main quests, introduce the player to Mars: War Logs' morality system. Now before you roll your eyes so far back that you snap your optic nerve, I am happy to report that Mars: War Logs is one of the few games on the market today that properly utilizes a morality system. I'm sure we're all used to morality systems in games being as simple as "be a jerk for absolutely no reason other than receiving weapon that is slightly better than the one you're using right now" or "be a goody two-shoes and get nothing other than a nice big thumbs up from the game for being a good person." While there definitely are some side quests that end like that, most of the quests in Mars: War Logs end in moral ambiguity, and it is imperative that you understand which decision will affect your moral standings with a companion and/or faction. Something you may believe to be beneficial to whomever gave you the quest may in fact cause your companion to grow suspicious of you and even eventually distrust you.

As I said before, my initial discovery of Mars: War Logs was while browsing the Xbox Live marketplace, so my first playthrough of this underrated gem was on my poor old Xbox 360. Of course, that being said, the graphical fidelity of Mars: War Logs on console was... okay. Obviously not up to par with the latest AAA or even most middle market releases at the time, but also nothing that made my eyes bleed. On PC, however, Mars: War Logs actually doesn't look half bad. Facial and clothing textures are well detailed, expansive Mars vistas are a sight for sore eyes, and all at a buttery smooth 60 frames per second on any PC built before the turn of the century with little to no dips during transitions between loading areas.

Although I was hoping for a more synthesizer heavy soundtrack in a cyberpunk game, Mars: War Logs' soundtrack is actually quite incredible. Often times I found myself in a quiet area of the map just listening to the original score Sylvain Prunier crafted for Spiders. So props to you, Mr. Prunier. Listen for yourself.

While not necessarily a masterpiece, Mars: War Logs is a testament to proper RPG and game design the likes of which we haven't seen since the original Mass Effect. Undeserved hate and criticism comes with the territory in the middle market, but Mars: War Logs is one of the most undeserving of said hate and criticism of any middle market game I've ever experienced. The combat could have done with a bit more polishing and testing, and the side quests could have been a tad bit more unique, but if you're like me and often long for a proper role-playing experience, then do yourself a favor a pick up Mars: War Logs.

First time you start up the game you are greeted with a bright light and an audible voice calling out to Link, the player. Now even though it was confirmed quite a while ago that the game would have voice acting, it still was rather jarring to hear actual spoken dialog in a main series Zelda game. You are then presented with a simple, generic tutorial of the game's controls such as movement, climbing, and jumping (yes there is a dedicated jump button in this game) so you can properly traverse the world. Then you meet an old man outside of the cave Link was sleeping in, and he gives you a general idea on how the game works, but that's it. That's right, this game gives you no more than the information you absolutely need at the beginning, and then leaves you to fend for yourself. The last time Nintendo did something this drastic in a Zelda game was during the NES era, AND I LOVE IT.

Just about everything you find in this game from food and materials to weapons needs to be found during your time exploring as shops are few and far between, and not a single one has an infinite amount of stock. And to make matters even more interesting, weapons and shields are not indestructible, and you have a finite amount of inventory space. Fortunately though, your inventory can be upgraded through the use of Korok Seeds of which there are 900 to collect. In addition to the insane number of Korok Seeds to find, there are also 120 shrines to discover and each one provides a challenge that rewards the player with a Spirit Orb which can be redeemed for a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel for every four you collect.

Now one of the biggest changes in the formula that was made to this game was the complete absence of items and tools which were used in past games to solve puzzles in dungeons and to improve Link's mobility; not so this time. Instead of collecting the items gradually throughout the course of the game, the first four shrines within the first hour or so of gameplay present you with four runes for your Sheikah Slate (Remote Bombs, Stasis, Cryonis, and Magnesis) that will be used for the entirety of the game. By giving everything that you will ever need at the beginning, it makes all of the future puzzles entirely reliant on your ability to problem-solve without hints being thrown at you every five steps you take. It forced me to experiment with what I had and I felt a much greater sense of accomplishment when I figured out the puzzle on my own.

Now my favorite thing about this game would have to be the world of Hyrule itself. From the things I've read here and there, Hyrule is roughly 360 km² (Skyrim by comparison, which is known for being quite large, is roughly 37 km²), and I believe it. The fact that Nintendo packed so much stuff into this world and put in so many collectibles and hidden stuff in it, it is rare to ever find yourself with nothing to do. You can hunt, mine for ore, do side quests, fight rare and/or giant monsters, play mini games, the list goes on. I myself have spent many an hour just walking around aimlessly and taking in the scenery. Everything is just absolutely beautiful.

Now this review may seem a bit short when you consider how big the game is, I'm afraid that is all I can say on the matter as compared to past games in the series, everything about it is EXTREMELY open ended: The story is in pieces and must be found by exploring key areas in Hyrule, the map is also in pieces and fills in when the Sheikah Tower in that province is activated, almost all music in the game is of the ambient variety instead of it sounding exploratory, you can complete any dungeon and shrine what whatever order you want, all combat is very action oriented (as opposed to past games where you would just wait for an opening and then strike) with all enemies having a tell to their attacks, and the introduction of upgradable armor sets makes this game feel much more like The Elder Scrolls, The Witcher or Dark Souls lite than your standard Zelda affair. I'm not saying this is bad, I happen to like this format a lot and wish to see it as the new standard. What I'm saying is that it is different than what I (and a lot of fans) have been accustomed to for the past two decades, but this change to the formula was SORELY needed.

So needless to say, after spending roughly 100 hours in this game in such a short amount of time, this installment in the series is definitely my favorite entry thus far. While the world is quite expansive, the fact that each shrine doubles as a fast travel point is very nice, the ambient soundtrack is very soothing and exciting at the same time, the graphics are complimented by the lighting very well, the lore and societies within the kingdom of Hyrule are very interesting to learn about, and the freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want to do it is thoroughly liberating. So now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to farm for more Lynel guts so I can upgrade my barbarian armor. So until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

It's been almost exactly 3 years since the first episode of The Walking Dead: Season 2, and ever since, fans have wanted more. So Telltale Games answered that call with The Walking Dead: A New Frontier. Introducing new characters and bringing back old ones, A New Frontier serves more as an expanded narrative rather than a direct continuation of season 2. So is the first episode of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier any indication that this season has been well worth the wait?

Ties That Bind - Part 1 (episode one) begins with a surprisingly well executed prologue that introduces new characters just as the zombie outbreak has started. Shortly after, we jump forward several years after the initial outbreak with our new group. A simple task goes horribly wrong and the adventure begins. If you've played the previous seasons, there's nothing wildly different here. Since this is only the first episode, I'm not sure how much I can say before it becomes a spoiler so I'll leave it at, "It's your standard Walking Dead story."

There's been a shift in focus on this new season of The Walking Dead. We no longer get to play as Clementine. In fact, she's actually become a secondary character. This may be a disappointment or a breath of fresh air depending on how you look at it. I'd be indifferent on the matter if the new characters were even half as likable as the cast from the first two seasons. Sadly, this isn't the case.

After the aforementioned introduction, our new group is revealed: Javier, Kate, Gabe, Mariana, and eventually Clementine. Javier is so bland that it almost hurts, Kate only cares about herself. Gabe is a drama queen, and Mariana is the new innocent little girl we're supposed to care about. Clementine, on the other hand, is still a joy to be around. The natural progression of Clementine over the course of these three seasons felt natural and it's nice to see her finally adapt and accept the world she's forced to be in. While we do actually get to play as Clementine in very brief flashbacks, Javier is our new main playable character, and I can already tell that making it through each episode is going to be an absolute chore. It's common practice to have the playable character void of all personality so that the player can imprint themselves onto them, but considering Javier has a vivid backstory that the player experiences, he really should have had his own personality.

The natural response to those criticisms would be, "Well it's only the first episode. These characters might grow on you and become likable as we approach the end of the season." While that is true, it still hurts the overall narrative. In the first two seasons, the player knew who was likable and who wasn't in the very first episode. Those characters still would grow and become more or less likable as time went on. The problem with starting everybody off as unlikable just makes the player not care about anyone and have no desire to push on to the end, and that's where Clementine comes in. Perhaps it's just me, or maybe Telltale intended it this way, but Clementine is the only real reason I want to finish this season. She's just as, if not more, likable as she was in seasons one and two.

Seeing as how this is a modern point and click adventure, gameplay is the standard point and click fare. You walk around, hover your mouse cursor over an item or person, and click to interact. Quicktime events also make a return, but are a bit more in depth than they were in season 2. Although it still comes down to a variation of WASD and Q or E. If you are familiar with the combat in Telltale's Batman series, you'll see the similarities immediately.

Here's where the boring characters affect gameplay. Just like before, there are times where the action stops and you can walk around and talk to various characters that are in the area. The problem? Since the characters are so bland and uninspired, why would you want to talk to them? Giving them the time of day won't change your opinion about them. It just seems that the love and effort that went into the characters of the previous seasons is lost here. Now it seems like Telltale have adopted The Walking Dead show's formula of "little to nothing happening for the entire show then drop a crazy twist/cliffhanger at the very end so you'll have to tune into the next episode."

I know it may sound like I'm being overly harsh on The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, but overall, I actually did enjoy the first episode and look forward to the rest of the season. Perhaps the overly critical nature of this review is due to my love for The Walking Dead series, and Telltale games in general and how I don't want to see the series fizzle into mediocrity. Despite it all, I do recommend episode one of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.

With Prescott overrun, the group, now consisting of Javi, Clementine, Eleanor, Kate, Conrad, and Gabe, have to travel to another settlement in hopes of finding a doctor for a wounded member. It's hard to explain, but this episode felt more like the previous seasons than the first episode did. Some characters do a complete 180 in personality to become likable, and others just keep getting worse. We also get the introduction of quite possibly the coolest character in the series since Kenny, Jesus (or Paul Monroe if you don't want to call him that).

There are strange changes that come out of nowhere. For instance, after an altercation that ends in murder, the character Tripp tells Javi and Clem to leave his town and never come back. Tripp is clearly angry and serious, but Javi and Clem do eventually come back and Tripp welcomes them with open arms. He even offers Javi an invitation to stay. From then on, Tripp becomes a good guy and reliable ally. Then his town gets overrun by the New Frontier. What is left of the group survive and escape. So clearly Tripp, the obviously capable leader, becomes the leader of the group, right? Wrong. He hands all reins of leadership onto Javi, a man he did not trust and possibly hated a couple of hours ago. While it is nice to see Tripp as a friend, this change did not make sense.

Some characters are growing, but not always in the right ways. Javi, for example, is becoming more likable, but only because you are tailoring him to your personality rather than him having his own. Lee and Clementine in seasons one and two had their own personalities, but exhibited some of your own through the choices you made. Javi, on the other hand, is essentially a blank slate to draw yourself onto. I have no doubts that he will be 100% likable at the end of the season, but only because he's 100% me. The opposite is happening for problem child Gabe. He's still whiny and complains about everything, but now he has a gun. It also seems that Gabe is going to be a potential love interest for Clementine. Clem clearly doesn't want to get attached to anyone, but do any of us? Honestly Clem, you can do much better.

Ties That Bind Part 2 also solidifies the problem with simplified dialogue choices. If you remember the "Glass Him" option in The Wolf Among Us, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The dialogue choice in the picture provided forced me to restart the episode twice because you don't know what each choice is going to make Javi say. "Tell him off" should be renamed "Destroy his entire marriage and family" and "Break down" should be changed to "Defend Kate and yourself, but in an incredibly insecure way." Thankfully this happened at the start of the episode so I only lost about 10 minutes of playtime having to restart. There have already been other players complaining about this one choice in particular, so hopefully we won't run into something similar again.

There was also a pretty serious issue with performance during one section of episode two. As you and your group escape from the now overrun Prescott, you come to a tunnel that has been blocked with cars. You have to get out and find a way to move the cars to press on. Sounds simple enough, but the area is a bit more open than usual. Stuttering is common in Telltale games, but this particular section was almost unplayable. Every 5 seconds or so, the game would stutter for a brief moment all the way to a complete stop and do this repeatedly until you finished moving the cars. A simple annoyance at first, but then walkers show up and you are forced to perform quick time events with the stuttering at full effect. I haven't ruled out that it may have just been my PC having issues with this part, but I've never had anything of this caliber occur with other Telltale games or even the first episode of the season.

All in all, Ties That Bind Part 2 was a much better return to form while also remaining fresh. For better or for worse, the cast of characters are becoming more human and more fleshed out. While I won't spoil this episode's crazy cliffhanger, it's definitely cheap, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me excited for episode three. After a bit of a rocky start, it seems A New Frontier is coming into its own and shaping into an enjoyable experience.

1. Stealth is your best friend. The enemies you face may be powerful, but they're dumber than a sack of hammers and are as attentive as deer in the headlights. Be as quiet as possible when approaching from behind and you might be lucky enough to deal a critical strike on them or even steal one of their weapons before they realize you're there, but if you accidentally alert a hoard of them just run away and hide; they'll eventually lose interest.
2. Stalfos are extremely frail. Despite their intimidating nature and powerful weaponry, stalfos of all kinds can be easily dispatched with a headshot from your bow. Be true with your aim and they'll topple like a house of cards.
   
3. Fight smart, not hard. In many cases it much easier to have the environment do your fighting for you. Keep a look out for boulders to push off a cliff into a small gathering of enemies below or something hanging near campsites that will cause some chaos if it is severed from its tether.
   
4. Find the DLC Equipment. The Phantom Armor and Majora's Mask are invaluable very early in your adventure as the Phantom Armor has a combined defense of 24 and each piece in the set raises your attack power by one level, and Majora's Mask makes most monster types ignore you unless they are threatened. Be extremely careful when procuring these pieces of equipment though as they are all found in enemy territory.
   
5. Be confident in your abilities. Unless you are absolutely certain in your skill level and equipment, DO NOT engage a lynel. Early in the game these monsters are death incarnate and many will be equipped with bomb arrows.
   
6. If you own amiibo, use them. No matter what the amiibo is, scanning one will give you a small handful of food or materials that will definitely help later. Even better, if one of the amiibo that you own is Wolf Link, then you have a partner that will help you fight the many beasts that stand between you and your ultimate goal.
   
7. Study your cookbook. Remember when cooking meals or mixing potions that the right ingredients can make all the difference. Combining ingredients with different attributes will cancel them out so be sure to use like-named foodstuffs like "mighty" or "armored." Also, dragon parts are not classified as alchemy ingredients; they're considered seasoning, so be sure to use them in food instead of potions with their horns having the best effect.
   
8. Ancient arrows = death from above. If you happen to find a few ancient arrows on your quest, save them for when you are REALLY in a pinch. With perfect aim and the right bow equipped, these arrows are strong enough to one-shot a silver lynel. However, enemies are instantly vaporized when shot with these arrows so you won't be getting any spoils from them. Plus getting this ammo replaced is a rather expensive endeavor so only use them if you have no other choice.
   
9. Be a shutterbug. After you get the camera rune, take pictures of everything the next time you come across it. If you are having trouble finding ingredients and materials for armor or stealth potions, you can set them to the sheikah slate's sensor so it will ping when you get close.
   
10. The best offense is a good defense. Good shields are a commodity early in the game so mastering the perfect guard is a must. Even a pot lid won't lose any durability if you manage to successfully parry a guardian's energy beam. Also, shield surfing will wear your shield down faster than any form of combat; avoid being Legolas until you can easily get more shields. If you're brave enough, a good strategy would be to sneak into Hyrule Castle while wearing Majora's Mask so you can more easily obtain the Hylian Shield from the Stalnox in the castle's dungeon keep. That shield can last for an absurdly long time, but once it breaks you won't be able to replace it until the Tarrey Town side quest is finished.
    
11. Elemental weapons: Your own personal climate controller. Flame and frost weaponry are not just effective in combat, but when sheathed on your back they can keep you warm in cold climates and cool in hot ones. This is important to know if you run out of meals and potions that give you those benefits.
    
12. Take advantage of weather conditions. While it may be dangerous to travel out into a thunderstorm with a bunch of metal equipment, it may be a good idea to take at least one rusty weapon with you. Since the lightning will be attracted to the metal, you can use this to your benefit by throwing the blade at your victim's feet at the last second and have the gods smite your foes for you. Just be sure you don't get electrocuted in the process.
    
13. Gotta go fast. Even if you aren't going to do the trial the moment you arrive there, activate the shrine anyway. The more fast travel points you have, the better.
14. Ration your weaponry. Never, EVER, throw a weapon at an enemy unless it is a boomerang or it is already getting ready to break. Once a weapon is thrown at your foe, it instantly shatters meaning you now have one less pointy stick to defend yourself with. Also, some enemies like ice wizzrobes and fire lizalfos have elemental weaknesses, so you can prevent a lot of unnecessary weapon damage if you slay these fiends with the blade or arrow that has the element containing the polar opposite of the monster's name.
    
15. Full body baptism. With the exception of lizalfos and octoroks, most enemies cannot swim. If you can somehow lure them to deep water and knock them in, they will drown and die instantly. This feat can be achieved much more easily if you have Kilton's spring hammer.
16. A link to the past. And last but not least, if you've already played through the game on the normal difficulty setting, great! Use your memories of your previous playthrough to breeze though the side quests with ease.

Well that's all the info I can summon from my research so I certainly hope it helps. If you're still having trouble, then I have no idea what else you can do but to start farming for fairies; they might be able to keep you alive for a little while longer. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

As I hope you can tell from that lengthy introduction, Life is Strange: Before the Storm centers around Chloe Price, as well as her unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber. All is not right in Chloe and Rachel's worlds, though. With Chloe still dealing with the death of her father and Rachel discovering a devastating secret about her family, the two must confide in each other and face their demons together. Immediately I found the premise to be much more enthralling than the original, but after completing Episode 1: Awake, I knew with absolute certainty that developer Deck Nine were the right choice to create this prequel.

Anyone that experienced the original is familiar with Chloe's rebellious personality, but Before the Storm allows the player to understand why Chloe has this attitude. This is mainly due to Chloe's friendship with Rachel. We see much more sensitive side of Chloe that is brought out by her feelings for Rachel. While the interactions between Chloe and Rachel feel genuine, the speed at which their friendship progresses seems unnaturally hasty. By the end of this episode, their friendship has only lasted for about a day, and they're already much closer with one another than I've ever been with my any of my friends. Surely Chloe and Rachel's friendship will have its ups and downs over the course of these next few episodes, but it would have been nice to see a more realistic path from strangers to best friends.

The scenic little town of Arcadia Bay returns in Before the Storm and is either paradise or perdition depending on whether or not you're a student at Blackwell Academy. The stylized graphics and modern point and click gameplay popularized by Telltale's The Walking Dead also make their return from the original Life is Strange. And while Before the Storm doesn't add anything new to this recent sub-genre of games, it never really had to. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Everything you've come to expect from this type of game is here: explore an environment, examine and interact with objects, then speak to a character or exit said environment to continue the story. It's understandable that some people have become fatigued by this style of gameplay, but they're missing out on an exceptional story with Before the Storm.

Player choice was a major narrative and gameplay mechanic in the original that makes a return in Before the Storm. Whether it's something seemingly minor or something blatantly obvious, the choices you make in Life is Strange: Before the Storm all have consequences. Of course, since this a prequel, Max Caulfield is not in the picture and there are no time altering powers for the player to utilize, but Chloe has a power of her own; her attitude. 'Backtalk' allows the player to turn Chloe into the rudest 16 year old imaginable to verbally force her way through specific encounters.

Backtalk is used as both a narrative and gameplay mechanic. In a narrative sense, Backtalk plays a large role in player choice and consequence. And in terms of gameplay, you can use Backtalk to easily bypass potentially longer sections of the episode. You may find that someone you were rude to in order to get through a section of the episode easier is someone you really shouldn't have been rude to later on. There's only a few moments in Episode 1 that allow you to use Backtalk, but it's clear that there will be repercussions in the following episodes for using it. The exclusion of time altering abilities elevates the feeling of needing to face reality and consequences to heights not seen in the original Life is Strange, and that's crucial for any "coming of age" story.

Perhaps it's just me, but I found a large amount of the dialogue in Before the Storm to be painfully cringeworthy. I like to think that I'm 'hip' and 'with it,' but I've never met another human being in my life that spoke even remotely similar to how characters in Before the Storm speak to one another, and I live in California; the birthplace of all popular slang words. To blame Deck Nine for this would be misguided. Lest we forget that the original Life is Strange developers, DONTNOD Entertainment, sewed these cringe seeds hella deep.

On top of well written characters, Deck Nine also did an incredible job with Before the Storm's soundtrack. Had they gone with only melancholic tunes to match the depressing tone of Chloe and Rachel's stories, it would completely negate their punk, rebellious personalities, and if they had gone completely with a punk rock soundtrack, it would take away from many of the somber moments found in just this one episode alone. Luckily Before the Storm has a perfect combination of chilling melodies and rocking tracks to properly convey the appropriate emotions for each scene.

Returning to Arcadia Bay with a 16 year old Chloe Price as our hero was a great idea, and if the quality of this first episode is any indication, Deck Nine were the perfect choice to take the reigns of the Life is Strange series. Working in tandem with a beautiful location and a properly utilized soundtrack, Life is Strange: Before the Storm is perfectly capable of eliciting the emotions applicable to any given situation. While the unnatural speed at which Chloe and Rachel's friendship progressed at was a tad bit off putting, I'm still very much excited to see how their relationship will play out, and how they both deal with the curveballs life threw at them. If you've played through the original Life is Strange, you know where both of these characters end up, but it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

First of all, once the game is started it just throws you right into it without pomp and circumstance. You are introduced to a cutscene of Mario engaging in fisticuffs with a sharply dressed King Bowser Koopa as he is abducting Princess Peach in order to force her to marry him. Mario loses and lands unconscious in the monochrome town of Bonneton in the Cap Kingdom and is greeted by a ghostly being resembling a white top hat named Cappy who is in a similar predicament in which someone he cares for, his sister Tiara, was kidnapped by Bowser to be used for his sham of wedding to Peach. He and Mario team up, which grants Mario the ability to possess certain objects, animals and enemies with an action known in-game as "capturing," so they can find a working airship that can chase after Bowser, defeat the wedding planners that Bowser hired known as the Broodals, and rescue Peach from his clutches as he commits grand larceny in several kingdoms so he can obtain only the best quality items to be used in the ceremony. Seems like a lot to take in all at once right here, but trust me it is much easier to follow the plot in the game than from reading my explanation here.

Now as to be expected from a 3D Mario game, Mario has a ton of movement options, but with the addition to his normal running and jumping techniques that have been a staple since Super Mario 64, Mario can also roll into a continuous somersault which can be linked into a long jump and back again, and he can throw his hat to be used as a temporary platform that can be jumped on. All of these movement options coupled with such fluid and responsive controls makes it feel REALLY good traversing the massive kingdoms that Mario must explore in order to find Power Moons, the game's chief collectible and fuel source for the Odyssey, Mario's top hat-shaped airship, and he will need a lot of these moons to power his ship so it can get to new kingdoms. Luckily each major kingdom has more then enough moons to find usually having around 30-50 moons each. In addition to the sheer number of moons, each main kingdom also has either 50 or 100 regional purple coins to collect that can be spent in a Crazy Cap store for special costumes or souvenirs for your ship. Not necessary for finishing the game, but needed for 100% completion.

Compared to some of the other 3D Mario games, this one has one major change that completely changes how the game is approached; There are no more 1-up mushrooms. Instead, every time you die you lose 10 coins and considering that coins are much more important in this game than in previous entries, those unnecessary deaths are much more of a problem now. Luckily though you will never see a game over screen no matter how long you've been playing; no 1-ups means no way that you can run out of lives. In addition to this, coins no longer restore health. Instead, if you are low on health then you will need to find and collect a heart to restore one portion of his 3-HP meter. These new mechanics make the game feel more modern and makes collecting coins fun again without devaluing them considering they are no longer a source of health.

Now my biggest fear before I started the game was thinking that a good chunk of the kingdoms would just once again be rehashed ideas that have been used in many Mario games before. Thankfully, Odyssey only follows this trend to a bare minimum instead using those old design tropes as merely guidelines and greatly expanding on those and turning them into their own thing. Instead of a regular water-themed area, you have Lake Lamode of the Lake Kingdom which is heavily inspired by Greek architecture and French fashion designs; instead of plain lava area, you have Mount Volbono of the Luncheon Kingdom which is all bright colors and low polygonal models; and my personal favorite and what could possibly be considered a fresh twist on the jungle-level trope, New Donk City of the Metro Kingdom: a vertically impressive urban jungle modeled after what could possibly be Times Square of New York City and the classic arcade game, Donkey Kong. Needless to say, I never found myself bored from exploring as there is so much detail in even the smallest things and there is a lot of stuff to do, and it is all condensed into an impressively small 6gb package.

There are just too many good things that can be said about this game. The music is fantastic, it feels really good to collect all of those power moons, the 8-bit 2D segments are a great nostalgic change of pace and don't break up the flow of the game too much, the capture mechanic is ingenious, and the worlds are so unique despite them mostly being the same old stage tropes from past entries. I only have one real gripe about the game, but I'll save that for another article; let's call that one part 2, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

First off let's recap the lore of the game: Samus is a bounty hunter well known for her heroic exploits against a massive group of interstellar terrorists known as Space Pirates who in turn were most well known for using an alien species known as Metroids as both a bio-weapon and organic energy source. After her climactic battle with them and Mother Brain on the planet Zebes, she became the one the Galactic Federation turned to when things started to become too difficult to control; Think along the lines of a one man SWAT team. After a botched recon mission to the planet SR388 in order to collect a living Metroid sample, the federation concluded that the Metroids were too dangerous to be left alive and called for Samus to commit mass genocide against the entire species. Not overly complicated and just interesting enough to keep your attention.

Now the gameplay is easy to pick up, but difficult to master. You have your usual move, jump and shoot actions plus Samus's unique ability to curl into a ball, but in this entry you have three new abilities that alter the feel of the game quite significantly: free aiming in full 360 degrees, a melee counter-attack, and the brand new Aeion abilities. Aeion let Samus perform special skills like revealing breakable blocks or slowing down time. All of these new abilities are just what the series needed to evolve the gameplay of the 2D entries further. Plus once you get the hang of the melee counter, you feel like a real bad-ass, especially against the larger enemies.

As for everything else in this game, it hits all of the marks I was hoping for a remake of game that did not age well. The music is fantastic and captures the atmosphere of the world extremely well, the gameplay and exploration is top notch and incredibly responsive and I love how many classic abilities make a return with brand new functions like the Spider-Spark and Grapple Lasso, and as for the ultimate goal in the game, it is exactly the same as what it was in the original; slay every metroid on the planet. This can range from relatively easy to quite a hefty challenge, but if you're having trouble you can scan a compatible amiibo to give you reserve tanks or the location of the metroid nearest to you.

Overall, I was initially skeptical about Mercury Steam developing a game in one of my favorite game series, especially after the lukewarm reception that Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate got from the fans. But my fears were eased when I played the game to 100% completion as this was probably one of the best 2D Metroid games I've played since I first experienced Super Metroid. Nintendo has successfully revived a series I long thought might be forever dormant and I can't wait for more in the coming years. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

The game evolved with every opening of a chest. From getting basic functions as being able to move to the graphics, colors, layers, and sound design updating in real time. I was so surprised this game was on my phone. Though it took me a while to beat it due to phones being stolen or broke. I finally beat the game.

While doing some research for this review I found out that Evoland was made during the Ludum Dare game jam, an online contest where developers attempt to build a game around a particular theme in just 48 hours. Ludum Dare 24’s theme was evolution. "Instead of doing a game where players can make things evolve, we thought that having the game itself evolve as you played would be a far more original approach," Shiro Games CEO Sebastien Vidal stated to The Verge back in 2013 about the idea behind the game that came from Shiro Games co-founder Nicolas Cannasse.

Evoland Classic ended up winning the competition (out of 1400 games) and quickly gathered a very dedicated and enthusiastic fan base, reaching over 300,000 players in the first few months after its release as a flash game. The success led the Shiro team to make a full game which doubled their dev team and took four months to finish something they could be proud of.

It was a true love letter to the RPG genre. Though it's short, 4-6 hours of gameplay. It made us fans want more, and in 2015 we got Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum Disorder. Then last year we finally got it for mobile in 2018. (I'm not sure why it took a whole year to get the game to the Nintendo Switch. I would have figured they would have just ported the PC/OS X version over to the Switch for their birthday last year.) The game promises over 20 hours of gameplay I have put in just over 12 hours and am on level 20. This time around the game does a tutorial in Game Boy green then goes into a Game Boy Color. The game’s story starts out in a similar storyline to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Where you are found by a villager in the woods and woken up by his daughter with no memory of who you are.

The story is an extension of the Evoland humans versus demons. In our second story we find that there has been a great war between the two. You find yourself saving the villager's daughter in the forest where you were found. After you save the daughter she joins you on your journey to find out who you are. This gives you a special ability where she uses her super sword move.

As you journey through the forest you stumble across three demons who are trying to activate an ancient artifact called the Magilith. The only way to activate the Magilith is to summon the forest guardian and harness it's Magi energy. Though the demons find out the guardian is more power than they thought, so it's up to you to defeat it before it makes its way to the village. Though after your victory the Magilith activates and sends you back time during the great war. This leads you on a whole other adventure of trying to get back to your original time. Though as you find out the Magilith always just sends you to another time. In each timeline you become friends with someone new that gives you a new special move. Even though this is a review I don't want to give away the plot to the whole story. I'll tell you this, you become friends with next to the demon thrown and an archaeologist who helps you along the way.

With each timeline comes a different graphics style. The time you start your adventure in is a classic 16-bits over the top layout, the past is an 8-bits over the top layout, and the future is 128-bits (PS 2) angled down layout. As the game goes on it becomes more then a love letter to RPGs. To get from a mountain top to the top of a pyramid the game becomes a top down airplane shooter. Once you get to the pyramid the boss fight is a tribute to Street Fighter II where you have the same moves as Ryu or Ken. In one level you have to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Snake to name a few that opens the doors to the next room.

The controls are simple. There are only three buttons: action, jump, and special character swap. The physical buttons are way more intuitive than the touch screen ones. Though you can't remap them, but it still works play with one hand. The layout feel natural and I got through game faster by dying less.

If you can't wait for Link's Awakening and Dragon Quest XI S, or you just want something different in your RPG, give Evoland a try. It just might be the game that holds you over till the one you're waiting for comes out later this year.

You can scavenge buildings for supplies and hunt animals such as deer for meat. This is essential because you can eat things such as candy bars and cans of beans the survive, but your dogs can't. They can only eat meat. You or the dogs can eat the meat raw or cooked and, just like real life, cooked meat is better for you.

The developer is also going to create a 4 player Co-Op mode later down the line. Finally, the game is currently on sale for $5.99, lowered from $9.99 until March 1st. (today being February 26th, 2015)