FBTB

Category: Nintendo Switch

  • I love the new Splatoon amiibo so much I rank them

    I love the new Splatoon amiibo so much I rank them

    Splatoon 3 is winding down and Nintendo is sending it off with a bang with two major events. The first was this past weekend’s special Big Run event saw a brand new stage and a special twist in the form of a global egg count. Participants who contributed to the goal of 700,000,000 eggs collected would get some bonus scales as a reward because Grizz is anything but stingy. The other planned event is the final splatfest coming this weekend, the Grand Festival. The theme is Past, Present or Future, each represented by the idols from the three games: The Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie, repping Past. Off the Hook featuring Pearl and Marina are for Present. And finally Deep Cut members Shiver, Frye, and Big Man showing up for Future. There’s going to be some new music and each idol group will be rotating through the stage spotlight. As usual Nintendo sold some merch to coincide with the event, and the amiibo are just (mostly) awesome.

    #1: Callie (Alterna)

    Callie is in her agent uniform as seen in the single player Alterna world complete with her parasol. The parasol really elevates this amiibo figure to another level. Sadly, you don’t get this outfit as amiibo rewards but that would have been bonkers. I would have loved to wear the coat in game. This one is hands down the best out of the bunch.

    #2: Pearl (Side Order)

    Pearl’s comes in second. There is so much personality and attitude exuding from the pose and choice of clothes that you can’t help but think of it as just being perfect for a Pearl amiibo. It’s also great that in-game gear you get matches the outfit.

    #3: Marie (Alterna)

    Marie comes in third place. It’s fine for what it is. Like Callie, she, too, is also in her Alterna outfit and just like Callie, you don’t get this outfit either. The amiibo is just fine.

    #4: Marina (Side Order)

    Now Marina’s amiibo come’s dead last. I HATE everything about this amiibo. She looks like she is about to attend a business meeting and this is the closest thing she had to a suit. I can’t stand it. The pumps are just absolutely a bizarre foot choice too but given the attempt at wearing a business suit, I guess it makes sense. But the vibe is completely not in tune with what Pearl is wearing. Pearl is ready to hit the stage and lay down some lyrics. Marina is waiting for her Starbucks order before heading into the office. It’s really the shoes though; I just hate those pumps and wondered if it would be better if she was wearing something else. I couldn’t think of anything without getting rid of that suit too so the whole design should have just been trashed from the beginning. Just terrible.

    That’s my ranking and I’m sticking to it.

    Is it odd that my first post in a long time is about Splatoon amiibo? Probably. But I wasn’t going to just come back and not address the elephant in the room. I just gotta ease myself back into this. I often thought about writing why I’ve been MIA, but I didn’t want to do it all in one shot. I’ll probably write it all out in spurts, a little a bit here and a little bit there. I don’t feel like getting into it right now but I’ll just say this: breast cancer sucks. We’re all fine now, but that is something I wish no one ever has to go through.

  • I Used the Infinite Item Glitch In Tears of the Kingdom and Don’t Feel Bad About It

    I Used the Infinite Item Glitch In Tears of the Kingdom and Don’t Feel Bad About It

    One of the things I really enjoyed about Breath of the Wild was the myriad of outfits one can get from scanning amiibo. Thankfully, you don’t need amiibo in Tears of the Kingdom to get those same outfits since they are now embedded in base game by way of treasure chests giving everyone access without requiring the use of any amiibo (or NFC tags) to do so. Collecting was one thing, but upgrading each of the armor pieces was another. A lot of them require Star Fragments and they are one of the rarest drops in the game. It is the number one bottleneck to upgrades and requires a lot of patience and/or luck to get even just one.

    There were three ways to get them in BotW: farming White Lynels, scanning some amiibo, or running to where a falling star hit the ground. The first method was the more time consuming and a bit resource intensive. Lynels hit hard and if you aren’t prepared you’ll be burning through food, weapons, and shields in no time. Plus, there were only a handful of White Lynels in Hyrule and once they were all taken care of, you’d have to wait for the next blood moon for them to respawn. Add to that the low drop rate of Star Fragments, farming Lynels wasn’t always productive.

    The second method also had abysmal drop rates. The amiibo that dropped them were certain Zelda ones and Ganondorf from Super Smash Bros. And since amiibo can only be scanned once per day, you’d have to scrub your system clock over and over again to keep scanning in hope that you might get one.

    The third method involved keeping track of the in-game moon cycles. Towards the end of last month, I really wanted to upgrade all my armors to the max. So I wondered if there was an efficient way to get Star Fragments. I ran across this post on reddit that describes how to keep track of the moon cycles and the best place to be to spot a falling star. It worked but despite what the title says, it took more than 5-7 minutes per star. I only got handful before calling it quits because it was tedious as hell.

    Now, in TotK, Star Fragments are still in the game. And while I have yet to unlock the Great Fairies, I am assuming the upgrade path for the armor pieces is exactly the same where the Great Fairies will require certain materials such a bugs, herbs, gemstones, and, of course, Star Fragments. Why else would they be in the game? I haven’t really thought far enough ahead to see if the moon guy was still near the Dueling Peaks Stable. I assume he is but that doesn’t matter, because I randomly came across this infinite item glitch that makes farming Star Fragments a no-brainer and began duplicating in earnest.

    If you can’t be bothered to click through I’ll briefly describe the method here:

    1. Jump off something high enough so you can glide. A tree will work just fine.
    2. Pull out the paraglider.
    3. Hit + to go to inventory.
    4. Select a Materials item to hold. Hold 5 of them.
    5. Press Y+B at the same time. This will sort your inventory and close the screen.
    6. Press + again immediately afterward. If you pressed Y+B correctly, the item you selected in step 4 will have the original amount before you selected it.
    7. Repeat steps 4-6 three more times before hitting the ground.

    I’ve found that you can only glitch 20 items. Any more than that the system starts despawning some on-screen items and you won’t get all of them. So don’t go falling off Dueling Peaks hoping to get 500 items by the time you hit the ground.

    You can do this with fairies. Just start the process close to the ground and you can only do steps 4-6 twice for a maximum of 10 fairies to try and grab before they fly away. I may or may not have gotten hundreds of fairies this way.

    You can do this with Bomb Flowers as well, but I would follow the same near-the-ground approach a fairies so the bombs don’t explode from the impact of hitting the ground.

    Look, let me set the record straight in that I don’t like using cheat codes or glitches or hacks in any of the video games that I play, ever. Remember Game Genie when that was a thing? It was for losers. I like playing games the way they are presented and intended. I like playing games in hard mode. But if Nintendo is going to insist that fully upgrading an armor set is going to require Star Fragments, again I might add, then I have no problems this time speeding up the process. They’ve stuck to their guns on a lot of game play mechanics, good and bad, from BotW and carried them over to TotK. I don’t want to feel like I’m stuck in the same ruts all over again and if I can make one of those things a bit easier, then I have no problems doing that. I’ve been fortunate enough to get a handful of Fragments all by luck before discovering this method. I’ve maxed out at 999 Fragments saving countless hours of my time tracking falling stars, killing Lynels, and scrubbing the system’s calendar just to scan amiibo.

    Using this infinite item glitch is basically unlocking Easy mode. Need rupees? Duplicate Diamonds to your heart’s content. Need to light up the underground? Get as many Giant Brightbloom plants as you want. Ancient Blades, Star Fragments, Sundelions, Big Hearty Truffles, anything is fair game. Fair game, that is, until Nintendo decides to patch this glitch out. If you’re like me and don’t like cheating, I can respect that. I am like that too but like most rules there are exceptions. And I am okay with this being one of them. The idea of using a hack/glitch/cheat normally makes me ill but the whole Star Fragment requirement from BotW armor upgrades left a bad taste in my mouth. This glitch is just a palate cleanser.

    Update: This list of materials required for TotK armor upgrades is gonna help soooo much.

  • All of the Breath of the Wild Armor Sets Ranked

    All of the Breath of the Wild Armor Sets Ranked

    This is the last Breath of the Wild article until I dive deep into Tears of the Kingdom. I spent a lot of time acquiring all of the extras in the game. I wanted to get everything it had to offer. So I scanned amiibo, bought the DLC, and went about my merry way to hunt everything down. I’ve enhanced, examined, and used all the armor sets and I’m here to tell you which ones sucked and which ones rocked.  This only covers complete armors and not the one-offs like the Switch shirt or any of the masks. So here we go:

    28. Trunks

    Not really an armor set, but this is how you start the game so why not start the list off with this? This is also the outfit you change into mid- to late-game if you REALLY want a challenge.

    27. A Well-Worn Outfit

    Thankfully, the Shrine of Resurrection doesn’t want you going out half naked, so they provide a shirt and some pants right off the bat.

    26. Phantom Set

    I was not a fan of Phantom Hourglass and not a fan of this armor. With no set bonus and not enhanceable, there really is no point in wearing this.

    25. Hero of the Sky Set

    I don’t know what it is about Skyward Sword, but I have ZERO interest in playing it. I mean, I ranked Tingle’s Set ahead of this one. Kinda says something…

    24. Tingle’s Set (from Majora’s Mask)

    I never played Majora’s Mask so I have no idea who Tingle is, but I’m sure he’s the life of the party. With a set bonus of Night Speed Up, it’s marginally useful but there are a bunch of other armor sets that provide the same bonus that are also better looking so why bother.

    23. Hero of the Wild Set

    Link gets a new outfit for every game, so why should Breath of the Wild be any different? The Hero of the Wild set is the game’s custom green outfit for Link and is obtained after completing 120 shrines. I ranked this one way low because it requires you unlocking all 120 shrines to get it. It boasts having the game’s best defense rating once fully upgraded, but the sheer cost to get all three pieces fully upgraded makes it not worth it. You’ll have better armor sets with more utility by the time you’ve completed all 120 shrines making this reward one that really never gets any use. Besides, it’s not as good looking as some of the other sets.

    22. Salvager Set

    This was a weird one. It’s the Salvager costume that was patched in as collaboration with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It has increased swim speed and Swim Dash Stamina Up, but the Zora set is way more useful with additional abilities of swim attack and the ability to swim up waterfalls making this armor set a second class citizen.

    21. Desert Voe Set

    This is the male version of the Gerudo Set. Oddly enough, not only does it offer heat resistance but its set bonus is Shock Damage Resistance. Maybe this was meant to be worn while taming Divine Beast Vah Naboris? Can’t remember if I did or not but it doesn’t matter. I don’t even remember wearing this at all. And you can’t wear this to access Gerudo Town so I’m not sure why it even exists.

    20. Gerudo Clothes

    The Gerudo set is the only way you’re allowed into Gerudo Town. It offers Heat Resistance so you can cross the desert during the day. It’s not enhanceable so it’s usefulness is fairly limited. Once you’re done with the Gerudo Desert, there’s very little reason to go back and ever put this on again.

    19. Radiant Set

    I might have put this on once right after I acquired it in Gerudo Town and never again after that. It has disguise and Bone Attack Up, but so does the Phantom Ganon set and the Phantom Ganon set looks way cooler.

    18. Phantom Ganon Set

    This is just an awesome looking set but is hampered by a few things. You can dress up as Ganon and not have Stal enemies immediately attack you which makes it kinda useful early on in the game but only at night. It’s not enhanceable so once you progress further into the game you’ll want something with more armor. Plus, the other kinds of masks you can buy can neutralize a threat from more enemies than just Stals highlighting just how limiting this set’s usefulness is. It’s only fun if you want to play BOTW dressed up as Ganon.

    17. Stealth Set

    Also known as the Sheikah Set, this is the Stealth Set. It’s quite useful to sneak around sleeping enemy camps and also to sneak up on bugs and critters you may need as materials. It’s a bit expensive to get but may be worth it in Master Mode where a stealthy approach to the game is practically required. Fully upgraded, the defense rating isn’t as high as some of the other armors, but given the stealth abilities, it’s an understandable trade-off.

    As a neat little bonus, if you have the Sheik amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate series, you have a chance of getting Sheik’s mask. It can be used as a substitute as the Stealth mask with the same bonuses. Plus, it mimics Princess Zelda’s outfit from Ocarina of Time. I might have ranked this one higher up if played Master Mode, but I rarely put this one on and the super high cost of the upgrades kept this one lower on the list.

    16. Flamebreaker Set

    I call this the Lava Beekeeper outfit. Like the Gerudo Outfit, it has limited use outside of the region you get it in, but I found myself going back to Goron City and the surrounding area more often than Gerudo Desert. So up higher on the list it goes.

    15. Hylian Set

    I do love me a hoodie. Though not as recognizable as the Champion’s Tunic that Link is seen wearing most it not all of the BOTW imagery, it is considered a set. I think this is what the Rider Link amiibo should have been wearing.

    14. Rubber Set

    This is a great set and a great looking set. Once upgraded, it gains a set bonus of Unshockable, so you can wear this during thunderstorms, get struck by lightning, and not drop all your equipped metallic gear. The same effect can be achieved by just wearing the Thunder Helm but maybe you didn’t obtain it or you just like wearing matching armor pieces like yours truly. It takes a bit of effort to get all the pieces, involving one sidequest and two shrines, but worth it in my opinion.

    13. Zora Set

    Every so often, try as you might to avoid water, you’re going to find yourself in water. Having the increased swim speed and higher Swim Dash stamina comes in real handy. Also, being able to swim up waterfalls like a Salmon headed to spawning grounds is pretty useful.

    12. Soldier’s Set

    No set bonus, nothing remarkable about this set other than it’s good looks.

    11. Hero of Time Set

    This one and the next few I kinda lumped together. They are Hero sets taken from the various games and obtained by scanning amiibo. They all offer the same set bonus (Master Sword Beam Up) when enhanced enough and are all at the same armor level of 20. The only reason to change into any of these outfits would be because you have a certain affinity to a particular game. This one is modeled after Link’s outfit from Ocarina of Time. I never played this game but it’s somewhere on my backlog list.

    10. Hero of Winds Set

    I’ve never actually played Wind Waker but I am this close >< to getting Wind Waker HD for the Wii U off of eBay. I heard it was a surprisingly good game despite its cartoonish appearance.

    9. Hero Set

    Ah the one that started it all. From the original The Legend of Zelda game, the Hero Set. It’s high up the list because of its legacy and also because I didn’t realize he wasn’t wearing any pants.

    8. Royal Guard Set

    Just a really good looking armor set. Outfitted with the Royal Guard weapons and shields, it looks really, really good. Too bad it’s not enhanceable but it does offer a Charge Attack Stamina Up as a set bonus.

    7. Climbing Set

    It looks exactly like what a mountain climber in Hyrule would wear. Or maybe even the real world. I used Revali’s Gale+ constantly, but there are times when you still need to scale a rock face. This outfit is made just for that. Just like the Zora outfit, it has a very specific use case but man are the set bonuses awesome for climbing. Plus it’s enhanceable to an armor rating of 20 per piece matching some of the other great armor sets for defense.

    6. Dark Set

    Man I love this set. The Dark Set is basically Dark Link who has appeared in a variety of games with the armor modeled after the Hero of Time set. Had it been enhanceable I would have worn this set 24×7. It has night speed up which isn’t really all that useful but I don’t care, it just looks great.

    5. Barbarian Set

    This is one of the first complete sets of armor I got in the game. Once the Barbarian set is fully upgraded, you get some awesome bonuses in the form of increased damage and reducing the stamins cost of the spin attack. It is so aptly named too. I changed into this outfit pretty often.

    4. Ancient Set

    Man, another set I just love. The Ancient set makes you look like a walking and talking Shrine, or a bipedal Guardian. And just like the Royal Guard set, you can outfit it with Ancient weaponry to really complete the look. Its bonuses work well with the Ancient weapons and is useful when fighting Guardians. Also, if you scan the Champions amiibo and get each of their respective Divine Beasts helms, they match aesthetically and you can still retain the weapon proficiency bonus if you’re okay losing the Guardian protection. And given the bonus you can get from the different helms, I’d say the bonus is worth it.

    Ancient Set with Vah Ruta Divine Helm

    Ancient Set with Vah Rudania Divine Helm

    Ancient Set with Vah Naboris Divine Helm

    Ancient Set with Vah Medoh Divine Helm


    3. Hero of Twilight Set

    My favorite version of Link. I loved Twilight Princess so naturally, this is the one Hero set that floats towards the top. When riding Epona with this outfit on, I sometimes pretend I’m back playing Twilight Princess again. It’s a darker green than some of the other Hero sets, a tone I find more aesthetically pleasing.

    2. Snowquill Set

    This one almost took top spot for the mere fact that I wore this outfit a lot. Unlike the heat resistant armor sets, I found myself changing into Snowquill Set quite often and you would have too if you spent a lot of time exploring. You’ll visit far more areas with a cold climate that requires the Cold Resistance bonus than hot areas. Out of all the armor sets, this one’s usefulness is unsurpassed.

    1. Fierce Deity Set

    And finally, taking the top spot is the Fierce Deity Set. I never played Majora’s Mask but I just love, love, love the way it looks. It’s bonuses are similar to the Barbarian Set and is arguably easier to get through scanning amiibo than the completing the labrynths to get the Barbarian Set. The attack bonus makes farming Lynels a breeze.

    And that’s a wrap.

  • How To Finish Breath of the Wild in an Hour

    How To Finish Breath of the Wild in an Hour

    I’ve had various conversations with people who at this point don’t feel like they would be able to finish the game before Tears of the Kingdom comes out this Friday May 12th. I’ve claimed that the final fight with Ganon was easy peasy but I was prepared with multiple Lynel shields, Lynel bows, and jacked Master Sword. I realize that not everyone can be as prepared and that there are various levels of progression. But I still believe that no matter what point of the game you’re in, you can still defeat Ganon easily. It just takes a bit of prep work and knowing what to do. There are two methods to doing this and I’ll describe both.

    Method 1: It all comes down to food

    Increasing your hearts requires four spirit orbs and you get one orb for completing shrines. It’s daunting to think about the time it would take to get just even one additional heart container. One way around this is to cook food that increases your hearts beyond your maximum. It doesn’t take a lot of ingredients either. Cooking just one Hearty Radish, for instance, will fully recover all of your hearts and, assuming you’re not maxed out, add 3 additional temporary hearts. The temporary hearts go away once you’ve taken enough damage and cannot be recovered by normal meals but if you can stock up on hearty meals, you’ll be able to keep recovering the temporary hearts. Here’s a handy list of heart foods you can make with just using a single ingredient:

    • Hearty Radish > Hearty Fried Wild Greens > Full Recovery + 3 extra hearts
    • Big Hearty Radish > Hearty Fried Wild Greens > Full Recovery + 5 extra hearts
    • Hearty Durian > Hearty Simmered Fruit > Full Recovery + 4 extra hearts
    • Hearty Truffle > Hearty Mushroom Skewer > Full Recovery + 1 extra hearts
    • Big Hearty Truffle > Hearty Mushroom Skewer > Full Recovery + 4 extra hearts
    • Hearty Bass > Hearty Fish Skewer > Full Recovery + 2 extra hearts
    • Hearty Blueshell Crab >Hearty Seafood Skewer > Full Recovery + 3 extra hearts
    • Hearty Salmon > Hearty Fish Skewer > Full Recovery + 4 extra hearts

    And again, those recovery rates are for a single ingredient. Adding an additional ingredients of the same type will scale the number of additional hearts you get. So cooking two Hearty Radishes will net you a Hearty Fried Wild Greens with full recovery and 6 extra hearts. I mixed 5 different hearty ingredients and ended up with a Hearty Seafood Skewer that provided full recovery and 13 extra hearts.

    If you’re short on the hearty ingredients, cooking just meats will give you skewers that can recover a good amount of hearts. Five different meats will net you a skewer that will recover 16 hearts.

    You can also cook foods that increase defense or attack power. You don’t need to try figure out fancy recipes like a risotto or fried rice. Just cook five of one ingredient and you’ll get a nice meal with a huge boost.

    Stock up on meals, eat them during the battle as needed, done. You just need to make it to phase two where you’re on the field.

    As far as weapons, shields, and bows go though, well you’re on your own for that one. I farmed Lynels for my arsenal. That may not be for everyone but they do drop some nice gear.

    Method 2: Watch this video

    Now, if all of that still feels like a lot of work, you can skip all that and just watch the following story recap video Nintedo put out a few days ago:

    It contains BOTW spoilers obviously but it’s a nice shortcut if you really can’t be bothered.

  • I Finally Finished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

    I Finally Finished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BOTW) is a fantastic game. An open world game that is more about exploration and discovery than it is about defeating the main boss. And that’s not really a bad thing, but it is a bit of a let down.

    Because that final boss fight against Calamity Ganon was a walk in the park. After spending hours and hours in the game, it doesn’t seem like Calamity Ganon scales with level unlike other mobs like Lynels and Bokoblins. In fact, fighting Lynels was more challenging. After spending hours to stock up on high level gear and getting past all of the Guardians, I was ready for an epic fight with multiple phases requiring varying tactics. But in the end, there were two phases that required very little thought made trivial by the Divine Beasts and Ancient Arrows. If one were to go straight to Ganon after getting off of the Great Plateau (the starting area of the game), I supposed it would be more a challenge since you’d have very few hearts and really weak weapons and armor. But doing so would rob you of a much richer experience of seeing all of what Hyrule has to offer.

    BOTW was one of those games that I played heavily for the first few months after getting the game. Once I got past the starting area, all I wanted to do was unlock the map. Whatever tower I saw off in the distance, I was determined to go there, climb it, and see more and more of the map. Along the way I’d fight Bokoblins, sometimes avoid encampments, fight off Keeses, find treasures, discover an occasional Korok hiding, and gather herbs, mushrooms and anything else that can be picked up. It was fun. I had a blast. I completed side quests, freed the Divine Beasts, did just about everything I could do before entering the castle and fighting the final fight.

    And then I stopped playing for about 5+ years. It became one of those games that I started and never finished. I’m fairly certain Splatoon 2 had something to do with it, then other games came along and then the probability of actually finishing BOTW seemed like it was getting smaller and smaller. Then along game Tears of the Kingdom and I didn’t want to leave BOTW unfinished anymore.

    Getting back into the game was an adventure itself. I kept hitting L3 to try and run, a habit I picked up from God of War. Instead of running, I’d find Link crouching not getting away from the danger I was trying to escape nor sprinting towards the enemy that was stunned. It took a bit but I got all the kinks worked out and I was playing like a pro an above average gamer again.

    There were a handful of things I wanted to complete before retiring from the game completely: get every amiibo costume from the various Legend of Zelda amiibo, get every Korok poop so I can get the larger, smellier, giant Korok poop, finish the Master Sword Trials, and then finally beat Ganon.

    The costumes task was completed easily enough. You can manipulate the system clock and advance it a day to keep scanning amiibo. I was already pretty lucky from before having obtained most of the pieces. I was only missing two pieces from the Hero of the Sky set, and one piece from the Hero of Winds set. I thought about upgrading all of them to max level too but that would have taken way more time and resources so I nixed that idea.

    The Korok poop unofficial side quest was tedious but fun. I visited nooks and crannies all over Hyrule that I would never have otherwise discovered. Had this been one of my main goals from the get go alongside unlocking every tower, I think I would have found it a bit more enjoyable.

    The large Korok poop you get for finding all 900 smaller poops is funny if you think about the Zelda devs giving you a dumb prize for doing a dumb thing. But I don’t think it’s dumb. You do get at least something. And if anyone reading feels like going for the giant poop trophy, I would suggest using the interactive guide over at ZeldaDungeon.net.

    The Master Sword Trials were not as difficult as I thought they would be. There are three trials, Beginner, Middle, and Final. I played the first two very conservatively using bombs the majority of the time. By the end of each Trial, I’d have an arsenal of weapons and arrows that went unused that would have made each level far easier if I had just used them. Weapon durability had me scared. I felt like I needed to save the best weapons for later, for when I really needed them to bring down a tough enemy not realizing that every enemy was a tough enemy. In the main game, I had trained myself to use the weakest weapons first but that strategy was the wrong strategy for the Trials. It should have been the other way around and used the strongest weapons first. For the Final trial, I tried doing just that and breezed through it. I did save my Ancient Arrows I picked up. Knowing they were scattered throughout the levels told me that I’d be going up against some tough enemies and they came in the form of Guardians and Lynels.

    And finally, with the Master Sword’s power fully unlocked, I went to go fight Ganon. Like I said, it was a bit of a let down because of how easy it was. The Divine Beasts knocked his health down by half. After that, there were two phases. Beat him down enough inside the castle, and you enter the second phase outside in a field where you’re given the Bow of Light. Hit these ridiculously large targets on Raging Bull Ganon with some light arrows and he’s defeated. It sounds simple because it was!

    Something something joke about the journey along the way and when I look back at my time with BOTW, it really was about the exploration, the perils, side quests, and characters you meet more than anything else. Fighting Calamity Ganon may have been a cake walk but it really wasn’t about that. I suppose after playing the game for so many hours, having an easy fight to finish the game isn’t so bad. You can breeze through it and close that chapter of your life.

    Things I liked:

    • Seeing some thing in the far off distance and being able to travel to it.
    • Cooking was surprisingly engaging.
    • Travel medallion is extremely useful. It was locked behind the DLC so I’m glad to see it as part of the main game in TOTK.
    • Last minute dodges and parries. It was extremely satisfying being to able to trigger a flurry rush and even more satisfying when you can parry a Guardian laser right back to its face.

    Things I disliked:

    • Weapon durability.
    • The Hylian shield was subject to weapon durability and can still break
    • Drop rates for some of the amiibo exclusive items (specifically, the Fierce Diety sword that I never got)
    • Final damage rating for the Master Sword was not that high at just 60 damage. It did last longer but was still not high enough. And the fact that even unlocking its full power it can still lose energy. I mean come on.
    • Final fight with Ganon
    • Zelda’s voice

    Final Score

    It gets a 5 out of 5 stars. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild converted a very linear game into an open world masterpiece. It may follow a similar formula of other open world games for better or for worse, but I found it to be so engaging and fun that it outshines the main goal of the game. Fighting Ganon is literally the cherry on top of a rich dessert, the rich dessert being everything else you can do. I really wanted to get everything out of the game that the game had to offer. Hence my obsession with scanning amiibo to get every outfit, finding every Korok poop, and completing every mission. The only thing I didn’t do was play the game a second time in Master Mode. Maybe someday I’ll go back and do that. The game is supposed to be much harder, but I kind of doubt Ganon will be any more difficult than he already is, or isn’t.

    It’s a wonderful sense of closure I’m feeling right now, the kind that can only be felt from completing a long game, especially one in preparation for a sequel. Tears of the Kingdom comes out this Friday. My body is ready.

  • Save $30 on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

    Save $30 on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

    Have you watched the Nintendo Direct video of Tears of the Kingdom gameplay? If you haven’t watched it yet, you should do that now. And if you have, it’s worth watching again. I’ll embed it here:

    It looks absolutely bonkers, in a good way. I can’t wait to try a meat arrow fused with a leaf.

    Tears of the Kingdom is not only notable for being the sequel to one of the greatest Legend of Zelda games of all time, but it also mark the first $70 dollar Nintendo Switch game ($69.99 to be exact) that isn’t some fancy special edition. But you can save $30 dollars off that price with two steps.

    Step 1: Right nw, Costco is offering an additional $10 in-store discount off a four-pack of $25 dollar gift cards to the Nintendo eShop. They are normally $89.99 but this week only they are offering that additional discount in-store bringing the total down to $79.99. Getting $100 in eShop credit for just $80 is an automatic 20% discount on all your eShop purchases.

    Step 2: Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can purchase two game vouchers for for $99.98. You can use a game voucher to redeem a full-priced digital title. The eligible game list is pretty extensive, and featured right at the top of that list is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

    This is probably the best deal to get this game. The only challenge is if you don’t live near a Costco. Even if you can’t do Step 1, the game vouchers are still a great deal (assuming you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber, and if you’re not what exactly are you doing with your life?) netting you a $20 discount for Tears of the Kingdom, and a $10 discount for most other games.  Me personally, I’m eyeing Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp for my other voucher.

    Side note: PlayStation and Xbox game cards are also on sale for the same discount: $100 worth of cards for $79.99. I need to re-up my PS Plus sub soon so this deal is coming at the perfect time.

  • PokéMondays: Shiny Hunting in Sword and Shield Sucks

    PokéMondays: Shiny Hunting in Sword and Shield Sucks

    I decided to go back to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield to do some shiny hunting. And I gotta say, it’s probably the worst shiny hunting mechanic since the dawn of mankind. Granted, my experience across the many games is pretty limited since I started to seriously hunt in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. And my God was I spoiled. SOS hunting is by far the best method. With just a little prep work, SOS hunting doesn’t require a lot of attention, meaning pokémon can be hunted passively. And the odds are great up until 256 ally pokemon are seen then the odds reset. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon saw a slight tweak in the mechanic to make things even easier by getting rid of the 256 cap.

    Sword and Shield, however, has a shiny hunting mechanic where you have to battle hundreds of the particular pokémon you are shiny hunting for the best odds. Ideally, you’ll have the shiny charm and battle a pokémon at least a 100 times. That’s the magic threshold where you have the maximum chance, 3%, for a pokémon to spawn as brilliant. And brilliant pokemon, where a pokémon has a yellow aura around it, has the best chances hitting a shiny and get better the more you kill capping at 600 encounters.

    It sounds ridiculous right? Feint hundreds of pokémon to increase your shiny odds? it sounds ridiculous because it is! Hundreds! And it just sucks because it’s not passive, the brilliant spawn rate is abysmal. It’s stupid and I hate it. That being said, I tortured myself through a couple of hunts. My latest acquisition is this here shiny Frosmoth:

    I have a couple of others from Sword/Shield but I’ll save those for another time.

  • All The News From Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct (February 8th, 2023)

    All The News From Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct (February 8th, 2023)

    Nintendo presented a Direct today with news about games coming out during the first half of 2023. There’s a ton of release dates, some vague, some specific, some even coming out today. You can watch the whole thing here or by watching the video above. I’ve listed most of the announcements below, my commentary is inline and boy do I have a lot of comments.

    Pikmin 4

    Pikmin 4 comes out July 21, 2023.

    Xenoblade Chronicles DLC Volume 3

    The DLC introduces a new character and will be released February 15th. Volume 4 will be released later this year.

    Samba de Amigo: Party Central

    You shake the joy-con controllers like they’re maracas. There’s a “love checker” mode to check compatibility between two players. There’s a “world party mode” that is basically last man standing wins. Samba de Amigo: Party Central will include 40 songs at launch and comes out this summer.

    Fashion Dreamer

    Okay, this has got to be the worst game I’ve ever heard of. In Fashion Dreamer, your goal is to become a stylish influencer and grow your brand. I vomited a little bit in my mouth just saying that. You go around and if you see an NPC with an outfit you like, you can rate it. You can go online and see what your friends or other people around the world dressed up as and rate their outfits. And of course, you can create your own outfits and hope to get likes as well. Essentially, this is gamified social media. I wouldn’t touch this game with a 10-foot pole and would not recommend it to anyone. There should not be a game about getting likes. It normalizes all the bad things that social media is about. It’s the same reason I hated the game play of Pokémon Snap.

    Dead Cells: Return to Castelvania

    Okay, this has me super excited. Konami… is whole other topic but more or less abandoned making video games in favor pachinko machines. They seem to have revived their video game department with the announcement of all the Silent Hill projects. Castlevania kinda recently got a little bit of love with the Castlevania Advance Collection released a year and a half ago (a collection which is totally worth getting and an absolute steal at just $19.99). But this, a DLC pack of what looks like a full blown Castlevania game? Count me in. I’ve never played Dead Cells but I may have to now. Pre-orders start today.

    Tron: Identity

    This is a timed exclusive for Switch and will be released in April.

    Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

    Summer release.

    DecaPolice

    This looks like a fun anime-inspired RPG. Game date is set for 2023.

    Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the last Demon

    Bayonetta is an interesting set of games. Despite owning them, I’ve never played them. This prequel is a radical departure from its hack’n’slash formula. You play as Cereza before she became known as Bayonetta, and partner up with a demon known as Cheshire. As Cereza you can’t attack and instead provide support for Cheshire by locking down enemies. You use the left joy-con to control her and the right one to control Cheshire. Not only does the gameplay offer up something different in the series, but the art style is pretty nice too in my opinion. The game comes out on March 17th with pre-orders open right now.

    Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass

    Okay this is a biggie. An Expansion Pass was announced for Splatoon 3 consisting of two waves. Wave 1 is bringing Inkopolis back from Splatoon 1 as a destination in the game. New shopkeepers, the return of Spike, and Squid Sisters performances during Splatfests are the main draw here.

    Wave 2, called “Side Order”, is a single-player campaign. Apparently, something has happened to Inkopolis Square from Splatoon 2. Perhaps the completion of the campaign will unlock Inkopolis Square and bring it into the fold of Splatoon 3 in the same way that Wave 1 brought in Inkopolis from Splatoon 1.

    Purchasing the Expansion Pass will net you some bonus items in the game: currency, and food and drink tickets. There is no shortage of food and drink tickets let me tell you so this bonus doesn’t really feel like a bonus.

    Wave 1 releases in Spring of 2023. Wave 2 launches sometime later than that. You can purchase the Expansion Pass today. I cannot wait!

    Disney Illusion Island

    This one caught me by suprised. The art style is utterly charming. Each character has its own personality. A 2D plaformer that features 4-player local co-op, Disney Illusion Island will be available July 28th with pre-orders starting today.

    Fire Emblem Engage Expansion Pass

    An update on the upcoming waves. If I’m understanding it correctly, wave 2 and 3 will feature new Emblems / characters and wave 4 will have a new Xenologue story. Wave 2 is available today.

    Harmony: The Fall of Reverie

    The biggest draw for Harmony seems to be the branching story paths. It’s a timed exclusive and will come out in June.

    Octopath Traveler II

    Another game to add to my backlog! There is a demo available on eShop right now. The demo for the first game allowed you to carry your save data over to the full game. Not sure if that’s the case with II. The full game comes out February 24th.

    We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie

    Play as King of the Cosmos. There’s a selfie mode. I think there’s a demo available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers but I haven’t had a chance to verify that. Meh. Comes out sometime this year.

    Sea of Stars

    Sea of Stars look like an old-school SNES-era pixelated RPG. The game launches on August 29th with a demo available on the eShop today!

    Omega Strikers

    Yet another free-to-play battle royale game. This one comes out on April 27th.

    Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection

    This collection collects Etrian Odysseys I, II, and III remastered in HD. You can also buy each individual game by itself. There’s a new automapping function which sounds like a huge quality of life upgrade from the original releases. The games launch June 1 with pre-orders open today.

    Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

    This game was delayed from last year due to the conflict happening in Europe but I guess Nintendo has feels like it’s okay to relesae now. The release date is April 21 with pre-orders open today.

    Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe

    This is a remake of the Wii game with with a new Magolor epilogue. The epilogue is locked behind the story mode, so clear that and you’ll be able to play this new chapter. The game features 4 player local co-op. The demo even features a special 4-player vs. mode with select stages and games. Launch is set for February 24th.

    Game Boy and Game Boy Advance Games for Nintendo Switch Online

    Hot off the “it’s about freakin’ time!” desk comes this small tidbit. Nintendo will be releasing Game Boy games on Nintendo Switch Online. Games available at launch will be Tetris, Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, Gargoyle’s Quest, Game & Watch Gallery 3, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Metroid II – Return of Samus, Wario Land 3, Kirby’s Dream Land. You can choose Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket color filters. You can play 2 player games either locally or online. More games will be drip-fed in the future.

    Game Boy Advance games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass. Launch ames include Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (will include 38 extra levels that were available from the e-reader accessory), Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Kuru Kuru Kururin, Mario Kart Super Circuit, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Local and onlnie play for up to 4 players is available for supported games. More games will be added in the future like Metroid Fusion (!) and Golden Sun (!!).

    The Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games are available to play today assuming you have the appropriate subscription level. I’m not on the “Expansion Pass” level subscription. Up until now it didn’t seem worth it. But that all changed with the addition of the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games library. That, and since it includes DLC content for games at no extra cost, the value is definitely there now.

    Metroid Prime Remastered

    I nearly hyperventilated when this came up. It is only the first game which is slightly disappointing but I am holding out hope that the other two games will be remastered and released in the second half of the year and/or next year. The game’s controls have been updated to include dual stick controls or you can opt for the original control mode. It’s available digitally in the eShop right now with a physical version releasing on February 22nd. Hype!

    After Metroid, there were bunch of games that were announced that I kind of wasn’t really paying attention to due to the fact that I was in the Metroid Prime Remastered afterglow, up until this next one came up:

    Professor Layton and The New World of Steam

    No date or anything but it’s gotta be soon right? Why else would it be included in the Direct?

    Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass – Wave 4

    Wave 4 will include a ew course, Yoshi’s Island, and a new selectable character, Birdo. Comes out this spring.

    More titles I kind of was half paying attention to like Minecraft Legends, Blanc (February 14), Mega Man Battle Network, Have A Nice Death (March 22nd), some kind of baseball game, Disney Dreamlight Valley (April), and Tales of Symphonia Remastered (February 23).

    The final segment of the Direct was this:

    The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

    The release date is May 12. Pre-orders are open today for the regular edition, a Collector’s Edition featuring the game, a SteelBook, a poster, a pin set, and an art book:

    and a new Link amiibo:

    Pre-orders start today. Good luck getting the Collector’s Edition. You can check out the official site for more information.

    Man, what a doozy of a Direct. Lots of good stuff. Straight 🔥

  • Friday at SDCC 2022

    Friday at SDCC 2022

    Some updates to yesterday’ post.

    The LEGO Booth

    There were a couple of things I forgot to report. But first, the GWP today is now Electro at the same purchase threshold. TC-14 is done as they ran out of them yesterday. At least that’s what the nice man behind the counter told me. It could be a red herring or it could be true. Could be a completely different set of polybags for the rest of the weekend.

    There’s a red confessional booth where you and / or your child can enter. A screen will show a random question and your answer will be video recorded. At the end the LEGO group may or may not use your footage in a montage. Questions range from what your favorite LEGO set was to what your fondest LEGO-based memory is. And since you entered the booth you automatically gave consent for LEGO to use your likeness in marketing materials.

    The vending machine gives a random set at the end of your game. There’s no list of possible sets but think small and boxed. After you play you’ll be promoted to enter your email address. If you have the high score at the end of the day you’ll win a $100 gift card, presumably to LEGO.com.

    There was a glass case tucked away in the corner where three more avatar sets were on display / revealed. I’ll be making a separate post for the official pic that were sent to me this morning, but here’s a list of the set names with prices:

    • 75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch $39.99
    • 75572 Jake & Neytiri’s First Banshee Flight $59.99
    • 75573 Floating Mountains: Site 26 & RDA Samson $89.99
    • 40554 Jake Sully & his Avatar $19.99

    The Nintendo Booth

    As I reported yesterday the bowser statue moves. When it’s your turn for your video opp, you can choose one of three sound and movement sequences. The audio from the videos may be difficult to make out; I blame the con attendees. The red button plays classic 8-but super Mario music and sound and looks like this:

    The yellow button has no music but a series of sound effects and looks like this:

    This is the green button sequence. I was lucky enough to witness this father son core memory-making moment:

    It’s impressive that the eyes and eyebrows move as well as everything else of course.

    Once the button is pressed you have a few seconds to do an animation. Most people do a running away skit:

    Nintendo at Petco Park

    The parking lot just off of Petco Park is turned into an interactive zone for SDCC. Rather than renting out a dedicated exhibit hall they instead opted to have their Nintendo Switch Road Trip tour of games make a scheduled stop in San Diego.

    There are three games you can play for a few minutes at a time: Mario Strikers: Battle League, Nintendo Switch Sports, Kirby and the Forgotten Land. You can try and pre-register and get a ticket for the event on their events page. Saturday is already sold out but you can try and register for a Sunday slot starting at 12noon on Saturday. If you strike out, there are limited walk-ups available each day. Bring sunscreen.

    There are dedicated photo opps at each station and you get this fancy swag bag at the end of it all:

    The bag has a random small Nintendo toy by Jakk’s Pacific and an activity book.

    And that’s it from today.

  • PokéMondays: Pokémon Day Was Yesterday, GameFreak Made Some Announcements

    PokéMondays: Pokémon Day Was Yesterday, GameFreak Made Some Announcements

    Apparently, yesterday was Pokémon Day, the day that Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green was released in Japan eons ago. So GameFreak put out a Pokémon Presents video, their version of a Nintendo Direct. You can watch it above or read the Cliffs Notes below:

    • Pokémon GO: Alola region Pokemon from the Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon games will be appearing starting March 1.
    • Pokémon Masters Ex celebrates its 2.5 anniversary. We’re celebrating half years now? There’s something about trainers and sync pairs. I don’t know. You’ll also get a bunch of gems I think. It might have been this game.
    • Pokémon Cafe Remix will have a new delivery feature. Pelipper will deliver items so you can meet new Pokémon.
      • Victini will appear for the first time in early 2022.
      • Three special events: Bulbasaur Happy Pokémon day, will have a 7 day login bonus
      • Increased chance of Shiny Piplup
      • You can try the Express Delivery feature 11x at no cost. Sounds like a try before you buy kind of thing.
      • 2nd anniversary ill be this June
    • Pokémon Unite: the pay-to-win game features new full fury battles which was added yesterday.
      • Hoopa is now available, available for everyone to try. You can complete special missions to obtain the Hoopa license.
      • Free new gear for your trainer.
      • Duraludon will join the game.
    • Pokémon Brilliant Diamond / Pokémon Shining Pearl: Shaymin is now obtainable via Oak’s Letter, an item you get through the Mystery Gift function.
    • Pokémon Legends: Arceus got a free content update today. The content update features new mass outbreaks, new training battles, and new quests. You can also get 30 each of Ultra Balls, Gigaton Balls, and Jet Balls for free using the password ARCEUSADVENTURE. Also, there’ll be an online animated series based on the Hisui region launching later this year.
    • Pokémon Scarlet / Pokémon Violet: This was the big reveal, the next gen Pokémon game. It looks like it takes the open world approach from PL:A and applies it to the same stale formula of a regular Pokémon game. The big shocker is that this game will be releasing late 2022. I’m betting money on a November time frame. It seems so soon to be releasing another Pokémon mainline game but I guess that’s easy to do once the PL:A engine got finished. They showed the starters and here they are:

    The duck looks absolutely stupid.