[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] not so bad saints row IV video (though it's still bad)

A lazy one. More Zelda stuff next week!

[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!

[Video] 18th Century Colonial America Petting Simulator

Bamboozled! It’s Assassin’s Creed III. Honestly, as much I enjoyed first two games of this series, this one is not the same. Colonial America as a setting just is not as interesting as old Europe – old the buildings are the same and I don’t really feel like walking in the snow on forest is what made those original games so special. But at least there are animals to pet!

[Video] Skyrim Experience II

And thus silliness continues. Long awaited sequel to Skyrim Experience is here!

[Video] Borderlands 2 Co-op Madness (feat. eew)

Pew pew! Borderlands 2 is fun but it is even more fun when playing together. On Nintendo Switch. Which was meant for games like this. Oh well.

[Video] Skyrim Experience

I've bought this game only twice. And to be honest, playing it unmodded on Nintendo Switch while focusimg on everything else but the main story was probably the most fun I have ever had with Skyrim. Even with all the bugs and glitches. Those just make the experience more unique.

[Video] Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is not weird at all

Title says it all…

I played through this game a while ago, you can read some of my thoughts from this blog post. Now I am playing Hacker’s Memory DLC, which is a lot of the same stuff with terrible, terrible story and some really stupid characters. But more about that on a later date…

[Video] FIFA 20 for Nintendo Switch is a buggy mess and I love it

 

I played this game for 600 hours so you don't have to. And it is… Well, the game works. Kinda. At the times. And sometimes you are just staring at the screen as your players are slowly trying to figure how to kick the ball. 

I would say that this is terrible version of this game. And EA released this same game like 4 or 5 times for Nintendo Switch. That is the real crime here.

Not recommended. But as I said, I played this for hundreds of hours so… I might be stupid. 

[Video] In this game you mine blocks and craft tools (feat. eew)

Yes, it is Minecraft. I just didn't know how to name this video.

[Video] Very Musical Animal Crossing: New Horizons Experience (feat. eew)

Who is the best singer and why it is Cube?

I'm sharing my Youtube videos here too! Make sure to subscribe Juho's Gaming Blog :) These first videos will be ones that I've previously uploaded to Melancholic Zombie's channel but there will be brand new ones sooner and/or later!

Best Games I Played In 2023

Instead of doing your typical ”best games released in 2023” I’m doing something different - I’ll share some of the best and most memoriable games I tried this year… and maybe even talk about some that were not so good. But let’s start with the best ones.

Photo: https://www.nintendo.fi/nintendo-switch-perhe/pelit/the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom

I’m putting these two here together as they are pretty similar - after all TotK was meant to he an expansion. Both of the Switch Zeldas are great on own, but together they create one of the most fun and memoriable gaming experiences I have ever had. And I haven’t even finished TotK yet!

There is something really special about these games. It took me a while to get into BotW, but after that it’s been really hard to let go. Exploring Hyrule with both games different and unique mechanics is such a fun activity that I can spend hours just climbing walls or trying to get into weird places. And almost every time there is at least Korok waiting to reward me. 

BotW and TotK both have strong atmospheres. First one is one of a kind experience in a desolated Hyrule where people are just trying to get by while Link is trying to find out what happened while he was gone. As the story and events slowly come back to him defeating Ganon starts to feel more and more important task. TotK on the other hand builds beautifully on the foundation first game sets and it’s really fun to explore Hyrule that is being rebuild. You meet familiar faces from the first game and visit places you helped before. And I really enjoy how the Guardian technology from BotW is included in the world, not as a threat but as a helping device. 

I think BotW is a one of a kind experience with unique atmosphere, while TotK is probably the best open-world game so far - there’s so much you can do and ways to play it how you want.

This blog post explains how I fell in love with BotW: How Breath of the Wild Became One of My Favourite Games

Photo: https://www.cyberpunk.net/nl/en/cyberpunk-2077

Cyberpunk 2077

For a game I had no interest in at all Cyberpunk 2077 really surprised me. Even though there are some funkyness gameplay wise and to be honest, as a video game it is not anywhere near perfect (works better than Bethesdas RPGs though), especially after doing most of the missions world starts to feel little it meaningless and empty, the story and characters really take this one tot he next level. I don’t think there have been any video game so far that really made me feel like I’m part of the world and made me care about characters like Cyberpunk did - even though some of them are just jerks. It’s a great story (and DLC is fun too) set in a beautiful world and I hope to experience something similar again. Hopefully in a Fallout-styled world…

Here's link to my more in-depth post about Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk 2077 Is Great

Photo: https://www.psu.com/wallpapers/the-last-of-us-part-1-wallpapers/

The Last of Us Part 1 

We got Playstation 4 and first game I bought was The Last of Us Part 1. I had really high expectations for this one and most of the time it delivered. It looks some time to get familiar with the Playstation way of playing – I am a long-time PC gamer after all – but it didn't stop me from enjoying the story. Writing in this game is magnificent, and both main characters are really charming in their own way. It was fun to follow their interactions and (spoiler warning?) see how they turn from complete strangers into people who deeply care about each other. Can't wait to play Part 2 and see where the story goes.

Gameplay was mostly enjoyable. Sneaking around the zombies while trying not to alarm them was at the times kinda spooky and that feeling of success after those moments was really something else. Unfortunately The Last of Us Part 1 developers thought that it would be fun to shoot other people in the post-apocalyptic world (same sin that The Walking Dead for example did), so a lots of times this game just turned into your typical cover shooter which was not what I expected or wanted. But it is what it is. The best moments in this game were enough to suffer through the shooting parts.

I'd like to write a more in-depth post about The Last of Us, but I'll probably do that after I've played the second part too.

Photo: https://laracroftonline.com/music/tomb-raider-one-soundtrack-1996.html

Tomb Raider 1

Original Tomb Raider from 1996 was really fun experience. Of course it took first some time to get it to run on Steam Deck and even then cut scenes wouldn't work so I had to check them on Youtube, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this classic game. There is something really charming about these old 90's games with their ugly character models and low detailed textures, and it's not a miracle that nowadays many indie developers are trying to replicate that. 

Controls are a relic 90's, which at the times made me question my life choices. I could have waited until February when the remastered collection is being published, but at the same time I want to experience these older Tomb Raider games as what they are – I'm just longing for some lanky controls and early 3D attempts. 

With that said, I'm planning to go through all of the Tomb Raider games – right now I'm playing the second one – and after that I'll write some kind of a longer retrospective of all of the games and my experience.

Photo: https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/27/18243404/alien-isolation-digital-series-cutscenes

Alien: Isolation

Alien movie series is my favourite in the horror/scifi genre, and Alien: Isolation is my favourite horror/survival game. Do I need to say more? Alien: Isolation is a fantastic experience which is made by people who clearly know the movies, and Alien as an enemy is perfect for game like this. This game feels like a old scifi horror movie in a best possible way. 

It's been a while since I thought about this game though so you'd be better off by reading my post from February: Alien: Isolation + Steam Deck Experience So Far

Photo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/21090/FEAR/

Honorable mentions

Let's end with some honorable mentions – every game will get a one sentence in which I'll try to capture my thoughts and experiences.

The Forest's cannibals game me chills.

F.E.A.R. was like a Half-Life 2 but from alternate dimensions.

Detroit: Become Human took narrative to the next level. 

And No Man's Sky is a perfect space sandbox for 10-20 hours.

I'd also like to mentions that I started the new Saints Row during the Holidays and it's really good. Me and my partner also started playing Beyond: Two Souls (starring Elliot Page and Willem Dafoe!) and it's been fun so far so expect some posts about those two games in the future.

That's it for 2023. Next year I'm planning to write few longer retrospectives and of course I'm gonna play more games. 

Happy New Year!

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.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth

Digimon is probably the most dear cartoon for me from my childhood. It was different, dealt with difficult themes (though six years old me understood none of that), had great soundtrack and monsters and plots were something that I still remember after all these years. There's something special about the original anime series from the late 90's that nothing has quite captured since. Adventure Time came close, but as much I love that cartoon it doesn't have the nostalgia for me that digital monsters have. 

With that said, it's weird that I haven't ever played any Digimon games. Maybe some web ones, but I don't really remember. So when I saw Cyber Sleuth on Nintendo Store, looked at the trailer and realized how crazy it looked, I decided to give it a go. And honestly, it was time for me to complete another JRPG after Xenoblade Chronicles 2. 

I had zero expectations, and thus I got myself a pretty addictive monster collecting simulator with very stupid anime clichés everywhere. And a lot of bare skin. Digimon has sure grown adult too during these years.

Story

Well, as you may expect, the plot is crazy and goes to weird places. There is this general story of Eden syndrome, caused by this digital world where people spend times and later big bad Digimon's attack and try to destroy the world. Or at least that's what I got out of this game - to be honest, I didn't follow the story too intensively. Overall it served game well, but I would be fine with little bit less talking and more exploring. And I would love to see more of the anime style cutscenes as they were beautiful but used very sparing. 

There are lot of side missions too, but most of them don't have too interesting story lines going on. There was this one longer story line about ghost hunting and cult stuff, but I'm not still sure if that was part of the main game. I didn't do the DLC missions that were unlocked late in the game as in that point I just wanted to finish it, but might check those later.

Gameplay

Gameplay is a hybrid between adventure, visual novel, pet raising simulator and (J)RPG, having elements from all of those genres. Missions are pretty usual stuff: go to place x, fight some enemies, fetch a thing... There are some attempts to add some puzzle elements but to honest those were little bit boring. And stupid. There are so many other ways to force player spend time on game than make them run around and collect data. Main focus is clearly on the Digimon battles, and even those after a while become pretty easy, so thank Digi-gods for auto battle! That saved a lot of time - and I could play the game while watching a movie or something, 

Some boss battles required more tactical approach, but mostly it was just finding good balance with supporting and more aggressive Digimon's on your team. I played on normal difficulty, so I can't say if battles are more challenging on hard. Probably.

One thing about gameplay. In the late game dungeons became these massive mazes which I hated. I don't want to spend my time running aimlessly around the same corners. It felt like a forced attempt to lengthen the game, and to be honest, it failed. I admit that I used a guide to run through those mazes as quickly as possible.

Digimons!

I don't know if I would have played through this game if it wasn't for Digimon's. I love those silly things, and even though human characters were funny at the time, collecting Digimon's, raising and evolving them and just reading through their descriptions was something I really enjoyed. I know mostly ones from seasons 1 & 2 of anime, so there was lot of familiar faces but many new ones too, which kept game interesting for a good while. Evolving was the best part for me, and trying to get right stats for different evolutions was an interesting concept. Take away the battles and story, I would love to have a Digimon simulation game similar to Animal Crossing or The Sims. I wouldn't play anything else ever again. Well, not really, but it would take over my life for a while.

In conclusion, Digimon: Cyber Sleuth is pretty okay JRPG with some translation errors in some places. But would I recommend it to someone who has no clue about Digimon's at all or nostalgy for them? Probably not. But for everyone else, seeing your first baby Digimon's evolve is magical moment that you'll remember for some time.

Solution for Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Chapter 10 Copy/Paste Puzzle

Here’s a gaming tip for you! In Digimon: Cyber Sleuth (which I'm playing right now!) if you'll get stuck in this puzzle in Chapter 10 Valhalla server area with four copy/paste things like I did, solution is this pattern:

Green - Blue

Yellow - Green

Why, I don't know. Maybe (probably) I am just stupid and couldn't make out this from the hint boxes.

I'll credit this one to Tethealla from GameFAQs forum. 

Playing a Detective in The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos

The Outer Worlds is one of my favourite games from recent years. It has that very familiar Obsidian dark humor going on and it was set on the space - what more could you wish from an open-world RPG? Well, a murder mystery DLC, of course.

I've always been a fan of murder mysteries in Fallout-styled games. Why, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with searching for the clues in a clunky game world with mechanics that are not meant to be used for that kind of gameplay, maybe I just happen to like the humor these missions have. Whatever the reason is, Murder on Eridanos delivers that experience.

Plot is very simple: famous actor has been murdered and you have been asked to find the murderer. You go through this whole new playable area with a hotel, a factory that remains a lot of Nuka-Cola factories from Fallout games, and a little town for an example. There's a lot to see and many secrets to be found, and the main plot takes you through the all main areas so you'll get pretty familiar with them. And as good detective story should have, there's plot twists! Which you certainly didn't expect!

Snek.

Most of the missions are searching for clues with your new weapon Discrepancy Amplifier, which is this ''thing'' that analyzes and comments your actions in funny ways. Other missions are mostly shoot the bad guys or animals in the face or search for items. Nothing fancy, but they work and to be honest, I never got bored. That's a good sign, right?

Characters are pretty memorable, especially all the actors you meet though there could have been more interactions with many of them. With most you just speak once or twice and then they start repeating themselves. That's the problem with The Outer Worlds in a big picture, and I'm hoping that the upcoming sequel changes that. My favourite NPC was this little bit crazy medical professional, Dr. Goodnight. They made me giggle a lot with all the weird and fucked up things they kept saying.

And that's my thoughts on The Outer Worlds' second DLC. It was fun, and I can't wait to continue my adventure on Peril on Gorgon! What might that mysterious package be that's waiting on my ship? 

Some Thoughts on Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

Image: Steam

Open-world Adventure Time game starring characters from the TV-series? Sign me up!

Well, let's start from the positive things. Most of the time I really liked Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion. It had some great moments, good jokes and familiar faces. Battles are easy yet still have some deepness, and sailing on OOo which is underwater is fun. Unfortunately game also has a lot of problems, like bad framerates while sailing, lots of bugs and some weird design choices. As much I liked Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, at the times this game was a chore to get through. 

I played Nintendo Switch version which, as stated, had some problems with framerates. Loading times, for example when entering to battle, where long which got a bit irritating when I got to the point where many enemies could be defeated with one or two hits. At one point game got stuck after defeating a boss and I had to restart that particular battle two or three times. Not fun.

Image: Steam

World was enjoyable. You'll go through some familiar places like Candy Kingdom, and running around Adventure Time's world is something that I enjoyed, especially after Jake learned to turn into a bike. Yes. Sailing part was also fun (when the frames were not freezing) though I would love to have more interactions on the sea. Now there's only some junk to collect and pirate ships to defeat.

Story and missions are not anything special, but it was nice to hear familiar voice actors delivering dialogue. Unfortunately sound mixing was weird at times and volume levels didn't make sense - sometimes when character spoke you hear it very silently while everything else is loud. Side missions were... Well, I completed all of them though mostly you just need to find a thing or destroy a thing. Can't see a reason for completing those unless you are a big Adventure Time fan like me. There was also an interrogation minigame which seemed promising but was forgotten pretty soon - it didn't really have anything to add to game.

Image: Steam

Mostly Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion made me want a good, polished open-world Adventure Time game. There's so much potential for something like that and it makes me a little bit angry that this game is so rushed and buggy. It could have been so much more! Would I recommend it? For Adventure Time fans, maybe - if you have patience to deal with all the broken things (thanks to Fallout-series I see bugs almost as a feature at this point!). For anyone else? I don't know. It's a great first turn-based RPG if you never have played one as it teaches all the important mechanics, but I guess there are more polished games that do the same thing better. I guess?

Anyway, that's what I thought about Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion. Not the best game, but I till enjoyed some of it.