[Video] Mario Kart 8 Clips (feat. eew)

Few silly clips from Mario Kart 8.

Tears of the Kingdom Is a Perfect Sequel for a Perfect Game

Most stylish hero in all of Hyrule.

I would argue that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a perfect sequel for a game that is already perfect (talking about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, of course). But why? After all it is easy to say that it is just a same game with a new story, characters and updated map. 

And that is the magic of TotK. It feels like your actions in Breath of the Wild did something in Hyrule, and world is moving on. The feeling of seeing places that were in ruins in previous game now flourishing, villages growing and people living their lives is something magical. World is familiar yet always changing, and it feeds to this story arch that is shared between these two games. And when you add in sky island, the whole new underground and cave system TotK really stands on its own. 

My first vehicle.

I would say that all of these three elements – sky, ground and underworld – are worth of three smaller games, each offering different play styles and challenges. I personally stayed out of the underworld as much as possible as navigating there in darkness was kinda spooky, but sky islands on the other hand were serene experience which felt really special. And Hyrule.... Hyrule was even more beautiful and exciting than on the previous game.

...and very useless shelter.

TotK's gameplay is on its basics similar to BotW, but new additions like fusing weapons, building and new powers give you even more flexibilty to handle different situations. Every fight can be a puzzle, or you can just start hitting enemies with long stick – it is up to you. And coming from BotW, in which at times I was so lost with fighting mechanics, it felt like everything came together now. I started to enjoy combat, which I think plays in a bigger picture – as world around you is developing, you as Link get better with time too. At the end of this game Link truly is legendary hero.

Learning is important.

And that is pretty much all I got to say right now. Breath of the Wild was a masterpiece, and Tears of the Kingdom at times is even better – and more importantly, this game existing makes both of these such a one of a kind experience. So simply put, perfect sequel for a perfect game.

[Video] Silly Breath of the Wild Moments #2

I was away for the weekend and forget to share new Zelda video on IG and blog buuut it seems to be doing pretty good anyway!

[Video] Silly Breath of the Wild Moments #1

Game is good. Enjoy these clips!

I wrote some words about Breath of the Wild a while ago: How Breath of the Wild Became One of My Favourite Games

[Video] Mario hates everything

Especially me :C

Anyway, this little video sums up my Mario Odyssey experience pretty well. Game is fun, but I am very bad at jumping.

Hopefully I get around to finish my Saints Row reboot post this week. It is pretty good if I say so myself. I also have plans to write about both The Last of Us game and TV series at some point, so stay tuned for that!

How Breath of the Wild Became One of My Favourite Games

When I finished my original playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I thought it was fine. Not the best thing I’ve played, but enjoyable. Lots of little things irritated me though, and for example bosses and combat in general was something I couldn't wrap my head around. So, I was pretty sure I wouldn't return to it, at least for a while.

Flashforward few years forward. BotW related stuff appears on videos I watch, articles I read and so on. And suddenly when hearing those awesome piano motifs I starts somehow getting…. nostalgic? In fact I realize that for some reason I miss this game that I thought was too large and unfocused. And then I decide to buy the DLC pack. I reload the save I had before entering the fight with Ganon and return to Hyrule.

And what a glorious return it was. Taking time away from BotW made me really appreciate all the thing I found messy and irritating before. Learned to enjoy the combat loop, and those bosses that I really disliked felt like a new and fresh challenges on the Champion’s Ballad DLC (except Waterblight Ganon, F that guy). And after completing that quest you get a motorbike! It’s weird thing to behold in Hyrule, but at least I don’t need to keep track off my horse who I always left in weird places.

I found out that this game became more entertaining for me after I’ve already learned most of the mechanics and didn't need to spend time finding the ”basic” items or follow the main story. I had time to explore, and soon I realized that there was so much that I’ve missed earlier - like the whole Hebra region. 

This game really grew on me. It took a long time, but now it is one of my favorite games of all time - and while some of my older favorites, like Fallout: New Vegas (which I also just played through again) may feel outdated and janky in modern standards, I feel like BotW won’t have that problem. And now that it got a sequel (which I really need to get my hands on sooner or later) it just get better. At least I hope so.

But yeah, the lesson we learned today is that in modern hectic world it’s sometimes a good idea to take some time to reflect things. Maybe you’ll find enjoyment in something that in a first glance didn’t feel your thing. Or don’t. That’s fine too.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0. Update & Happy Home Planning DLC

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was already pretty great game for what it is, but it got sometimes a little bit dull especially when playing a lot. That's why I was very interested when Nintendo announced 2.0. Update and new paid DLC for the game, both with many new features. Would these be enough to refresh Animal Crossing experience or are they just more of the same? Well, I think both answers are right.

2.0. Update

This big update came with a long changelog of stuff that's been added. For me the most interesting thing was the café, The Rooster, that was added to museum, but after about two weeks of playing it has been kinda disappointing place. Yeah, you can drink coffee, but I was waiting for more. I know that you can get villagers to visit you with Amiibo cards, but unfortunately I don't have any (yet), so I'm just sitting there, all alone, sipping my pigeon milk coffee...

Kapp'n boat tours on the other hand are a very cool addition. The islands where Kapp'n takes you are interesting, and you can find some cool stuff there. Gyroids for example are very cute and now I'm filling little forest on my island with them! It brings some liveness to the place, which I always thought that ACNH is somehow missing. I don't really know how to explain that, but sometimes it feels that you are just stuck in a loop in that game... And somehow little dancing things help. 

New home decorating options are welcomed, though I haven't yet had time to mess with them more (except on the DLC, but more about that later). Vegetables and food is fine, I guess, but I don't really want to spend my time making food in a game where it's not needed. This is not Fallout 76 where you must eat all of the time.

Harv's Island also got a lot going on now, which is probably one of the best parts of this update. Possibility have centered hub for all the shopping and other stuff is something I've been missing since I started playing this game, as Redd for example didn't seem to visit my island ever! I just want all that yummy, I mean beautiful art! (I guess I've been spending too much time with Cube cause now I want to taste everything. I mean everything.)

But the best part of this update is easily group stretching. End of discussion.

Happy Home Planning

I wasn't expecting ACNH getting any major DLC's but thankfully Nintendo proved me wrong. Happy Home Planning is probably best thing that could be added to this game because it fits the theme of faraway island life so well. I haven't yet learned or tried all the things on this DLC as I'm playing it very slowly, doing a vacation home or two in a day, but so far it has opened so much new ways to play this game. It gives you freedom to do almost anything you want without messing your own island too much - if you find out something you really like in Happy Home Planning you can recreate it on your own island without the hassle of that fear of not getting it right. This DLC is perfect dollhouse.

But it's not just a dollhouse. There's new interesting characters (I love Wardell the Walrus) and the chance to meet villagers that are not living on your island is exciting and makes the game more living experience in my opinion. Even though building up the vacation homes is the main focus, I really enjoy just running around the Paradise Planning island and see what villagers are doing. Building up cafes and restaurants are something that I missed in the main game so this addition is very welcoming.

And that's my two cents on the new ACNH content. Overall 2.0. update and DLC are great, though there are still some quality of life stuff that Nintendo should add, like a way to skip dialogs that you must repeat over and over again for just buying few things, but then again would Animal Crossing be what it is without those, however irritating they would be. I don't know, I'm just babbling.

I've been a little bit lazy with blogs lately. but there's many interesting texts waiting... I just need to finish them!