After the end of the second chapter, the game opens up a bit more, where I've been busy with clearing a plethora of Challenges and recruiting a bunch of new allies, including two of the Sages: Qia and Raphica.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 11
Challenges: 32
Quests: 58
The Demon King has risen! This entry covers the rest of the second chapter, where you have to play a series of three scenarios in a row, all in the red glow of the first Blood Moon. But this is also where you can unlock three more characters to play with, so there is already quite a bit to talk about, before going into Chapter 3.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Scenarios: 8
Challenges: 6
Quests: 17
The battle continues. After some struggles, I've beaten the scenario "Growing Suspicion", which is in the middle of chapter 2 and leads to the big turning point in the early story. There I had hit my first brick wall on the Very Hard difficulty.
Let's go! Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was released today and I'm doing my usual thing on this site, because that's what it's for. I've been a huge fan of the first two Hyrule Warriors games, where I have completed them for the most part and I bet that this won't be any different.
As for now, I've only completed the first chapter, which includes the same level that was playable in the demo, which you could find in some stores in North America (and maybe elsewhere) and which was the basis for a number of previews out there. So, I think this is a good cut to give you some very early impressions.
This has arrived with the mail just now. I've ordered from the My Nintendo Store, where you get this neat, little notebook on top. It's nothing special, but better than nothing. But of course it costs full price to order it there, while the game was already considerably cheaper elsewhere.
With Age of Calamity I had actually imported the game from a different country in the EU, because I absolutely hated the German title, "Zeit der Verheerung". And it's not any better now with "Chronik der Versiegelung" (loosely translates to "Sealing Chronicle"), where I still don't understand why they felt the need to localize the subtitles of the Hyrule Warriors games. Nintendo never does this with any of their games, it's always all in English, and so far no one has complained about that... It's so weird. Also, the German age rating will ruin any good cover, which was also sometimes a reason to import certain games, but I find the Switch 2 boxes generally not all that appealing, so I probably won't care as much going forward.
But I was surprised to learn that the Switch 2 boxes are of the exact same sizes as the old ones. I expected them to be the same size as the Switch 2 itself (without Joy-Cons), simply because that's where the old size came from. But I'm not complaining, quite the opposite, because this makes them a much better fit into my current collection.
Naturally, I will do my usual blog about the game, so you can look forward to that in the upcoming days and weeks. I'm excited!
PS: I also got the first two Metroid Prime 4 amiibo. But I will show those on December 4th, once Sylux is available as well.
After exploring all the Voice Memories in Breath of the Wild over the weekend, I went on to do the same in Tears of the Kingdom. And this was arguably more important in preparation for Age of Imprisonment. It was also a bit more interesting, because you get memories from Rauru and Master Kohga in addition to Zelda's, where every character is responsible to entertain you on a different layer of the map.
Rauru's were probably the least interesting. He only got 35 of the 240 Voice Memories and they felt a bit pointless, at least most of the time. Also, with the sky islands it didn't make much sense to travel from one memory to the next, so I teleported quite a lot. And Rauru's memories were often right next to the warp point, making this quite effortless.
Well, it was interesting how Lightcast Island got used as training grounds for Rauru's (and Zelda's) light power. Maybe this will play a role in Age of Imprisonment, but it's doubtful that the Warriors engine will properly be able to implement light reflections. He also mentions that there used to be more Crystal Refineries, but the vendors are just a menu point in Hyrule Warriors anyway, so I also doubt that this will have any relevance.
Oh, and they've used Frost Emitters to create the snowy sky islands, also as a training ground, but for Constructs. Zelda mentioned something similar about Mt. Hylia in her Breath of the Wild Voice Memories, where she suspects that the snowy landscape is not a natural phenomenon, but instead was potentially created by ancient technology to provide such proving grounds for heroes.
As for Zelda's new Voice Memories, they felt a bit more lively and closer to the heart, mainly due to them happening only recently. It bridges the two games quite nicely and there is a lot in here where you'd wish that this were part of the main game.
The most important point by far is the confirmation that all the Sheikah technology has turned to dust and disappeared some time after Calamity Ganon had been defeated. I don't understand why they couldn't have mentioned this in Purah's diary as well, because this should have been the minimal effort to give the players some sort of connection to the events of Breath of the Wild.
It also gets explained that the wells were all freshly dug up in their attempts of rebuilding Hyrule. Well, it doesn't make much sense that it never occurred to anyone to do this any earlier, since water is essential to everyone's survival. But I do appreciate that they didn't ignore the fact that the wells were all buried in Breath of the Wild.
They even tried to explain how the Horned Statue moved from one place to another. When it was calling out to Zelda, trying to steal her life energy, there was some divine intervention in the form of a lightning strike. And then it toppled into the water... I don't see how it would end up beneath Hyrule Field from Hateno even if it were able to float, but anyway.
Zelda also talked about the Horned Statue in Breath of the Wild and the majority of the Voice Memories share the exact same locations, often referencing each other. For example, you can find one at the inn in Zora's Domain, in both games. First Zelda lamented how hard the beds were, suggesting that they should come up with something that feels like floating in water. And 100 years later she is rejoiced to find water beds.
But there are some new places as well, where some of the Voice Memories make you revisit the "video memory" locations from Breath of the Wild, which was a nice touch. It didn't cover absolutely all of them, however. And they make you also visit all the memorials that were placed all over Hyrule to commemorate the people fallen in the Great Calamity. This was a good detail in Tears of the Kingdom, but also something that you could just ignore completely before. And I like that this is given more significance to the Voice Memories now.
As for other details, you will learn that Misko was imprisoned in the Hyrule Castle Lockup a long time ago. And I liked the joke about Eventide Island, where Link was afraid that they might be stripped of their possessions again, so he covered his eyes when approaching the island together with Zelda... but didn't warn her beforehand.
Oh, and there was this joke about the old man's hut. In Breath of the Wild Princess Zelda absolutely trash-talks the thing, how they should have it teared down for safety concerns. And in Tears of the Kingdom she has learned by now that her father had built the thing and felt a bit sorry.
If you're looking for some comedy gold with these Voice Memories, then you want to be traveling the Depths. What Master Kohga has to say has zero value, but it is absolutely entertaining, also thanks to his fantastic English voice actor, Erik Braa.
It is very different from the rest, because it's more like an actual journal, where you can follow his steps through the Depths right from the spot where he fell down in Breath of the Wild, still cursing the cursed Link. Well, a lot of it is about his obsession with Zonai Devices, which makes sense, since effectively half of the Depths and all of the Yiga installations down there simply exist for the Autobuild stuff.
His obsession with the "Magnificent One" is equally funny, especially with how Kohga tries to not be annoyed by the Gloom, because it has to be a blessing from the Demon King. And it's irony of fate how he turned around at the Gloom's Approach, because some from the Yiga thinks they have figured out the Zonai terminals. But I like to think that Ganondorf didn't care about the Yiga at all and probably would have just killed Kohga if he came any close.
Interestingly, Master Kohga was traveling back to the surface and down into other chasms, in order to reach the Abandoned Hebra Mine and the Gloom's Approach. And no one took note... So much for the observation from Lookout Landing. Well, to be fair, the Yiga know how to be stealthy.
But what I didn't understand how Kohga knew of the "Magnificent One" in the first place. He mentions him very early, when he first ran into some hostile Bokoblins as he was still alone down there, but how did he know about Ganondorf at that point in time? After all, they were worshiping Calamity Ganon before, not the Demon King. So, that seems to be a plothole, but otherwise I liked this part quite a lot.
It also reminded me that I'd really like to learn more about the Depths in general. What is this whole place even supposed to be? Remnants of past Hyrules? What's the deal with the Bargainers? And can we have a Bargainer as a playable character in Age of Imprisonment? Maybe I can discover some answers tomorrow already...
In order to get attuned to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, I had decided to play the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. My main goal was to discover all the Voice Memories that come with the Zelda Notes app and get back into the world of these games while doing so.
Sadly, I didn't have much time during the weekend, so I'm only finished with Breath of the Wild for now and will have to rush through Tears of the Kingdom before Thursday. But I also don't want to rush, where I try to wander, glide or drive from one Voice Memory to the next, getting a good look at this Hyrule in 4K resolution and 60FPS. And it's certainly quite nice.
Funnily enough, I had originally purchased my current 50'' TV to play Breath of the Wild on it almost nine years ago. And Breath of the Wild was now the first game where I made use of its 4K resolution... Its visuals have aged well, but it's probably a good thing that its textures got updated for this.
Anyway, I'm not going into detail about the Switch 2 Edition here, since my focus was on experiencing all 125 Voice Memories. And this was more fun than I thought it would be. The problem with such recorded audio messages is that you just stand there listening, which pauses the gameplay and feels a bit awkward. It is not a good design choice, where other games are guilty of this as well (for example the Horizon series). The actual Memories, which show you a cutscene, work much better in this regard.
However, that would not have been the right format for the information conveyed here, which is about the smaller details of Hyrule, from the time before the Great Calamity. And listening to Zelda makes it feel like an audio guide for a museum or tourist attractions. You look around, while she gives you some history about it.
Since these Voice Memories were recorded after Tears of the Kingdom and during the development of Age of Imprisonment, they have used this as an opportunity to hint at certain things. For example, Zelda mentions that Mipha was rather embarrassed by how publicly they have displayed her statue at Zora's Domain, where in Tears of the Kingdom Sidon moved it to a more remote location.
Speaking of Sidon, they are even teasing a scenario from Age of Calamity here, by stating that little Sidon was intrigued by the Lynel at the Shatterback Point.
And even the room behind the Goddess Statue in the Forgotten Temple gets mentioned, even though this is of no significance to this game. It may even cause first time players to try and find a way in, not knowing any better.
There is also talk of how the ruins north of Gerudo Town once used to be part of the town, before a tyrant unleashed a Molduga and destroyed it. That tyrant was certainly Ganondorf and maybe we will see this happening in the new Hyrule Warriors.
But the Voice Memories also raise some questions that may get answered. For example, there are multiple theories as to how the Rauru Settlement got its name. It could have been the king's residence, Queen Sonia's birthplace, or simply the village of place of great support for Rauru. The truth might be something else entirely and maybe we are going to find out.
And then there are the Dueling Peaks, of course, where we already saw in Tears of the Kingdom how it was one mountain in the past. Maybe some event in Age of Imprisonment will cause the mountain to split. Maybe it was even Zelda herself, which would be hilarious.
I also thought it was interesting how the nearby Deya Lake got artificially created to prevent a drought of Lake Hylia, as a reservoir. So, I expect this lake to not be a thing in Age of Imprisonment.
One Voice Memory, "The Divine Beast of Lightning", even confirms the excavation site of Vah Naboris. It's a shame that they couldn't do the same for the others, because I thought this was quite interesting. In hindsight this seems like the most obvious spot for it, but I actually never took note of it.
Another very interesting reveal comes with the Springs of Power, Wisdom and Courage. Zelda explicitly states there that these were sights to worship the three Goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore. of course, this makes sense for every Zelda fan, but I don't think these Goddesses were ever mentioned by name in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
What I also liked is how the Voice Memories will take you to the locations on the map that you can potentially miss for the 100%, because there is nothing else there, just a name on the map. Those are the Shadow Hamlet Ruins, Stolok Bridge and the Gerudo Desert Gateway. Thanks to the Voice Memories there is now something else there... Well, technically.
You don't see anything in the game itself, which is probably the biggest complaint I have about this feature. It reminds me of how certain things worked in The Wind Waker. On the GameCube you had the additional secrets that you could only see via the Tingle Tuner. And on the Wii U you could use the map on the GamePad to navigate to treasure spots that you only see from a distance. In both cases you had to use a second screen to find something that you couldn't see on the TV.
However, the Zelda Notes app doesn't update in real time. It only updates your location on the map every two to three seconds. And the radius that triggers these Voice Memories is actually quite small. In some places it's obvious where you need to stand, in others you might run back and forth until you finally hit the spot...
There was also one memory that was quite difficult to find, in the throne room of Hyrule Castle's Sanctum. You can't just walk there, because it will trigger the final battle. Instead, you have to go to the room above the Sanctum and take a staircase that leads down from there. This let's you safely approach the throne without triggering anything.
This was my final memory, by the way. I started at Hateno Village, went to Lurelin Village from there, to the Faron Woods, to West Necluda and Kakariko Village, to Zora's Domain, Akkala, Death Mountain, Hyrule Forest, Mount Hebra and Tabantha, the Gerudo Region, the Great Plateau, Hyrule Field and finally Hyrule Castle.
In less than five days Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment will launch and we know very little so far. It's a very different situation from Age of Calamity, where we knew the full roster weeks in advance, due to data-mines from the playable demo. It's probably the reason why we didn't get a demo this time, at least not one in advance...
I also haven't seen any leaks yet from early copies, so the only thing that might give us more information are reviews, which probably are under an embargo until Tuesday. At that point you might as well just wait and see for yourself. And I personally prefer to go into games with as little knowledge as possible to not ruin potential surprises, like what characters might be playable in addition to the ones we know of.
Anyway, I wanted to use this situation of knowing little to sort my thoughts about what I'd like to see from the game, one last time before we find everything out. Major spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom ahead!
It is finally happening! After more than five years, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be hosting a collaboration with The Legend of Zelda. You can learn all about it in today's announcement, but let's get through everything shown. There are new furniture and clothing items, as well as Tulin and Mineru as new villagers.
Like in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you will need amiibo from the Zelda series to unlock these things. We don't know any specifics, but in the very least you should be able to use Tulin's and Mineru's. Speaking of, we don't have a release date yet for the latter, but it might be available on January 15th at the latest, which is when the 3.0.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons launches. (It's also possible that other Zelda amiibo can unlock Tulin and Mineru – we don't know yet.)
On Nookipedia you can find a complete list of all the Zelda contents in past Animal Crossing games, where most of it was in New Leaf. Some of these contents will return, but not all of it. From what we could see in the footage, it's at least the following:
In addition to the returning items, you can spot a variety of new things:
Most of it is from three most recent Zelda titles on Nintendo Switch, which makes sense, but there could have been a bit more variety. At least one item from The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword would have been nice. But maybe there is more that they haven't shown...
The most important additions are the two new villagers, though. We have Tulin as a jock bird, who has "gust" as his catchphrase. And Mineru is a snooty deer saying "construct". They look both very detailed, which is also thanks to the new outfit items that come with them.
Sadly, there is no news on the four Zelda villagers from New Leaf:
There would be no overlap between the personalities of the old and new Zelda villagers, where you could cover 75% of all personality types with them, leaving only lazy and big sister. I originally had planned my island with these four characters in mind, but now I have to rethink who I'm going to keep.
And it's understandable that they wanted to replace Medli with a more recent Rito, but it's still a shame about the other three. In the very least they could have brought back Pig Ganon, since he was featured in Echoes of Wisdom. Maybe this will still happen or maybe they haven't announced all of the collaboration items yet, but I very much doubt it. I'm just happy that this collaboration is happening at all, after all hope seemed lost years ago.
The official Japanese website now has a complete list of who each amiibo will summon. The good news is that you have a lot of options for Tulin and Mineru, so you don't need to purchase their specific amiibo. The bad news is that none of the previous Zelda villagers will return, which is very disappointing.
Those have been the main reason why I wanted this collaboration to happen, but it wouldn't be Nintendo if they didn't leave something to be desired. They just can't help it.
Wow! Out of the blue Nintendo has announced some big news for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It will be getting a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, but also a major free update for both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, on January 15th. You can watch the whole announcement on Youtube.
Earlier this year, I've been speculating about Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Switch 2 and a major update for New Horizons, similar to Splatoon 3, was the likeliest candidate for the near future. After all, both games got made by the same development staff. And it looks like this was on the money!
I didn't think that they would go for a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, however, but there isn't much to it. You get the 4k upgrade and there is support for the Joy-Con mouse controls, so it's quite similar to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
The only questionable thing is the Microphone item, because calling out for your residents has been a much requested quality of life feature. Sometimes you are just looking for a specific villager and can't find them. So, to hide it behind the system's microphone is literally not a good call... Oh, and you can now play with up to 12 players at once online, for those who like online parties. The most I've ever played with was two.
But the upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition only costs five bucks, so that's fair. And all the good stuff is waiting for you in free 3.0.0 update, so you can still enjoy all that on the Nintendo Switch. The 2.0.0 update was said to be the last major one, but I'm very happy that they've changed their minds about this, because this game really needs these content additions to stay interesting.
The resort hotel seems a bit silly for multiple reasons. I always thought that it was sad how Kapp'n sings about this family and even keeps a photo of them in his boat, but always stays at your pier. The easy solution would have been to make him leave after your daily boat ride. But I suppose you can also just bring his whole family to your island...
It's funny and makes good use of the free space on the water, but the feature itself just seems like a lite version of the Happy Home Paradise DLC. It is the exact same mechanics, just without the exteriors and the resort island. It also makes the campsite feel somewhat redundant now.
The storage upgrade is a godsend. I've hit the limit of 5000 items a while ago, because I've been using it mainly for collections. I've got all Gyroids in there, all fossils, all critters and their models, all the special event items, lots of photos, and so on. And if you want an extensive wardrobe on top, then 5000 isn't enough. 9000 should do, however.
Maybe I could use the new Slumber Islands to display a part of the collection, e.g. all the models. That's also an excellent feature, which effectively lets you create a second, third and fourth island within the game, but as a blank canvas for decorations. So, you won't have the Resident Services in your way and it will be free from the game's usual mechanics. You can even freely set the time of the day and the weather. This alone is a massive feature that can be enjoyed for many hours.
This wasn't mentioned in the trailer, but shown briefly: you can now finally craft multiple copies of an item at once! This is fantastic, especially for something like fish bait.
But you already know what the most important part of the announcement was, right? Not the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, not the hotel, not the Slumber Islands, not the quality of life features... No... The LEGO! Just kidding...
But when they started talking about "collaborations", I was freaking out. Ever since I had started my own island about four years ago, I've been waiting for them to bring back the Zelda items and villagers, because I was building things with them in mind. But for some reason they never bothered... until now.
Well, at first they had talked about classic Nintendo systems. In past Animal Crossing games, you had the option to play a variety of emulated games. But here it looks like it's only one select game per system and you will need a Nintendo Switch Online membership for it, which is oddly restrictive. The LEGO stuff also seemed weird at first, but then I remembered that there are actual Animal Crossing LEGO sets, so it's nice to have this both ways.
During that part I was getting a little anxious that they might be doing all sorts of weird crossovers again, like the Hello Kitty stuff, and not the one that truly matters. But there it was: contents from The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon will finally return! They do require you to scan amiibo, however, and only these two franchises are back.
A collaboration with Metroid would have been amazing as well, but maybe this will still happen and I'm just happy we're getting Zelda stuff again. I'll talk about that in a separate post, because there is a lot to cover here.
Now, I'm actually still playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons regularly, but this has changed from once per day to once per week. I had reached all my goals and finished my island to what I wanted it to be, so all that is left to do is plugging weeds, hoping for some missing crafting recipes and checking shops for items that I have yet to catalog. But these new contents will give me enough reason to start the game more often and I'm really looking forward to January 15th.
History repeats itself. Five years ago I got a plain gray Nintendo Switch, because I wanted to play Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. And now I got a plain gray Nintendo Switch 2, because I want to play Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Neither was a happy purchase, and the only difference is that I haven't waited years to buy one this time.
"What's the big deal?" you might ask. The problem are shiny Zelda-themed special editions of Nintendo hardware, which have been a cause of regret ever since I got that black Game Boy Advance SP in 2003. They are what I want to buy, not the default system, so the default systems just end up being temporary solutions. The worst was the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, where a 25th Anniversary Zelda Edition got announced shortly after I had purchased a red one to play both Ocarina of Time 3D and the Four Swords Anniversary Edition. The latter was even only available for a short time, urging you to get a system that can download it...
My temper tantrum from that day is still entertaining to read, but that situation has left its mark on me. There is this voice in my head, whispering to me that there might a 40th Anniversary Zelda Edition of the Switch 2 coming next year, together with that Ocarina of Time remake that everyone is hoping for... And maybe this will happen. But I kept thinking the same with the original Switch, where it took Nintendo six whole years before we finally got the Tears of the Kingdom Edition. And that was already the OLED model, giving you a considerable upgrade.
Speaking of, this pretty baby isn't even three years old now. It feels very wrong to leave it behind already. And it's ironic that I have to do so in order to play the Tears of the Kingdom spin-off. Think about that...! But once you have a Nintendo Switch 2, there is no real reason to go back to the Switch 1, so from now on this will be a personal museum piece.
If they had treated Age of Imprisonment like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, where the game still launches on the Switch, then I would have probably stayed with my OLED Switch for now, even if the game were to run terribly on it. But that's not happening and I'm too excited about Age of Imprisonment to skip over it for now.
I was also worried that they might announce a special edition for Metroid Prime 4, maybe a cool "Vi-o-La Edition" or so. But this would be very weird after how neither Pokémon Legends Z-A, nor Kirby Air Riders were getting something like it. And it looks the first piece of themed hardware will be a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller for Resident Evil: Requiem, which was announced today and is coming in February (see here). So, I'm hoping that Nintendo won't blindside us again.
Well, once a special edition gets released that I want to have, I won't have trouble finding someone to take my new Nintendo Switch 2 off me. The only hurdle is that there has yet to be a system transfer between Nintendo Switch 2 systems (or I couldn't find anything like it). But the Nintendo Switch also didn't have this in the beginning and there should be no reason to do one at the moment. So, this may change once Nintendo starts releasing the first special edition consoles.
At least the migration from a Nintendo Switch was effortless and worked really well, essentially like it was before with the Nintendo 3DS. You can just establish a local connection between the two consoles and it will copy everything over, including your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. When moving from one Nintendo Switch to another, this was much more complicated, where you had to use a special software tool for it. That's not required any longer, which was a relief, because I have over 1200 hours in the game and if something were to go wrong here, this would be a huge loss, especially with the new update coming in January.
It also won't factory-reset your old Nintendo Switch, so you can still use it like before. Only your island is tied to the new system after the move. But as I said, there is no real reason to keep using a Nintendo Switch, unless you prefer the smaller size.
The bigger screen size also doesn't make the process of applying a screen protector any easier. Sadly, Nintendo is holding on to the idea of selling theirs only in a bundle with a carrying case. Both are really nice and I do recommend them, but that they don't sell the screen protectors on their own is still stupid beyond any reasoning. There is so much that can go wrong and you may want to replace them after they caught some scratches.
And the measurements of the screen protector are a bit too tight. I had to reapply mine a total of three times, because each time it slightly stood over at one of the corners. Naturally, I got two pieces of dust under it while doing so, since I don't have access to some hermetically sealed room, but luckily it's only close to the edges... I might be even to fix this by slightly peeling it off. So, it could be worse, but I still hate doing this stuff every two and a half years.
But whatever... I'm ready for Age of Imprisonment and that's all that counts. This will also be my first Nintendo Switch 2 game, so I haven't purchased anything else yet. I do have access to the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, though, so that's what I will be playing this weekend in preparation, listening to the all the voice memories. More on that later. Also, I will certainly buy Mario Kart World, but I might wait for the Black Friday sales. There is no need right now, because starting next Thursday I will be mainly playing Age of Imprisonment, followed by Metroid Prime 4.
The sequel to the beloved Hollow Knight finally released on September 4th this year and took the gaming world by storm. Since its announcement in 2019, Hollow Knight: Silksong became the most anticipated game in the gerne, but can Team Cherry's second game live up to the many years of hype? Well, you already know it can... But let's discuss it anyway.
A vinyl record collection was announced today by Nintendo. Not by Nintendo Japan, mind you, but Nintendo of Europe and America, which is unusual. Well, according to Bill Trinen in an interview with Variety, this is an experiment, where they are gaging the interest in such physical soundtrack releases, while in Japan the CD has remained as a popular format.
They are probably underestimating the collector's value of these items, where I have imported some of the soundtracks from Japan, even though I rarely listen to CDs nowadays. And I know of other Zelda fans who have imported these as well. Records are much fancier, of course, where we actually have a record player at home, which we use every now and then, like for a fancy evening. So, I might be getting this.
Four different versions will be available... You can either go for a 2LP "best of" with 34 tracks, or an 8LP collection with 130 tracks. And each of these come in a standard edition with black records and a limited edition with colored records.
Update: the prices for this are quite heavy. It's 190€ or 195$ for the 8LP Limited Edition. And 60€ or 50$ for the 2LP Limited Edition. You can find full track listings in the My Nintendo Store:
Nintendo has dropped a new trailer for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. The game launches in less than two weeks, on November 6th, and it doesn't seem like Nintendo's marketing knows what to do with it...
It's like they want to throw out as many games before Christmas as possible, where there is something coming every two weeks now. But the focus is clearly on Kirby Air Riders, which has gotten two hours of Nintendo Direct content and a whole demo. Meanwhile, there is complete radio silence about Metroid Prime 4 and they are only doing some social media posts for Age of Imprisonment.
They haven't even unmasked any of the other three sages yet, only Ardi's face was revealed. What's the big deal? Who's supposed to get excited to play as those characters when we don't know anything about them? Even the cannon fodder looks more interesting so far (see down below).
Maybe Nintendo should have taken more time with this. Introduce us to the new characters one after another. Release a demo, like they did with Age of Calamity. And launch the game in January, where nothing else is coming out in that month, because it's January...
Today's trailer also seemed chaotic. There this is weird cut in the middle, where the dragon tear drops and then the tone completely shifts, almost as if those are two different trailers mashed together. I'm also sad that they are still going with the Tears of the Kingdom main theme. It's a beautiful theme, no doubt, but Age of Calamity had its own theme, which was absolutely fantastic. And that doesn't seem to be the case this time.
At least the game sets itself apart on other ends. We can see some new bosses, where one of them is a more humanoid form of the Gibdo Queen, which looks really cool. And there is an early form of Colgera, which has red hair like Ganon. We saw some similar foes in the previous trailer and maybe they are all meant to be early evolutions of the Scourges, but it still gives me hope that they will be playable eventually.
In any case, I'm really liking the new creature designs so far, that's something that goes absolutely beyond what they did with the previous games. The same goes for supporting units:
This comes from the official website, which Koei Tecmo has updated today and now features the Mysterious Construct and the Korok dude in the character sections, where the latter is called Calamo. But it doesn't stop there, we also get another entry with the above guys, labeled as "warriors of all kinds". You can also spot some of the in the trailer after the cut in the middle.
We've already seen that you can take over secondary units this time, but it looks like they are doing a great job of making them look very unique and not just something that came out of the random character generator for Breath of the Wild. I'd love to know how they get handled by the game and maybe they will drop some more info about this soon, but likely we will have to find out ourselves.
Some of their weaponry looks very similar to the save data bonus, the High Guard's Sword and Claymore. So, maybe those are for equipping these type of characters?
After Zelda II now comes Metroid II. And there isn't really much to say here. While I have a soft spot for the game, there is only one catchy tune here to listen to: the SR388 Main Theme. Most of the rest is just atmospheric noise.
The soundtrack of the remake was much better on that regard and I'm hoping they won't wait years before they add this one. Same with Metroid Dread. And now that Metroid Prime 4 is coming in less than two months, you would expect the soundtracks for Echoes and Corruption, maybe even Hunters. But maybe they are going to tie this to the corresponding Nintendo Switch Online releases, starting with Metroid Prime 2... Maybe next month?
But what needs to be added first and foremost is Super Metroid. I can't believe that this isn't part of the library yet...
Imagine that the next big Zelda game for the Nintendo Switch 2 releases. You've been looking forward to it for years and while it may have some rough edges, it's a fun and innovative title overall, a strong contender for game of the year... But months after release Nintendo announces paid DLC for the game, which costs as much as Hollow Knight: Silksong and doesn't really add any substantial content. Instead, it's a simple game mode, where your goal is to collect as many Rupees as possible within a time limit.
That mode is fun in theory, but not really worth the additional price point. But to add some incentive to play (and buy) it, there will be time-limited events, which can score you exclusive armor pieces, which you can't get otherwise. It's a practice used by many mobile and free-to-play games to create "FOMO" and incentivize player retention, except that this won't be for some mobile game, like Super Mario Run, but for a full-priced title, which requires an arguably overpriced DLC on top.
Sounds like something that Nintendo would never do? Well, they are doing it right now, with Donkey Kong Bananza:
To be fair, the DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC from the latest Nintendo Direct looks quite neat, but it is something that you would expect from a free update, similar to Luigi's Balloon World in Super Mario Odyssey, not something that costs an extra 20 bucks. And to make things worse they have also announced time-limited events for it, which is the only way of getting certain statues (and potentially even certain outfits in the future). The first of those "Chip Fevers" will happen between October 28th and November 4th, so only for a week.
I don't have a Nintendo Switch 2 yet, but I've planned on getting one soon for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. And Donkey Kong Bananza has been on the top of my list of other games to buy for the system, even above Mario Kart World. Now... I'm not so sure about that anymore, because I'm absolutely sick of such event nonsense, where you're obliged to play the game on certain dates. "Play the game now or miss out later!" At the same time I like my games to be "whole", so it's hard for me to ignore.
This is a singleplayer game first and foremost. And with those there should be no such obligations. You should be able to buy and play all of it whenever you want, without potentially missing out. And maybe they will repeat these events. Maybe they will update the DLC in a couple of years, so that you can still get the exclusive rewards after the events are over. If that happens, I won't have much of an issue with it. But as of now this is looking scummy.
Next they'll add a monetized gacha system to Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, since this has been working out nicely for Fire Emblem Heroes...
Team Cherry isn't done with Hollow Knight: Silksong. In their interview with Bloomberg, they've stated that they already have ambitious plans to add more to the game. The original Hollow Knight also got four content updates, where the Godmaster expansion effectively became a whole boss rush game within the game.
After completing Silksong, here are some ideas of how the new title could be expanded in various ways. Beware of spoilers for the late game!
My first journey through Pharloom has come to a closure. I've collected the last missing things for the 100%, completed the Hunter's Journal, gotten all mementos, and then faced the final final boss... very often. Needless to say that this post will contain spoilers for all that, so read at your own risk!
Slowly but surely, I'm nearing the end of the game, where I've been diving into Pharloom's past to collect all four old hearts, filling out the Hunter's Journal, and returning to some of the mini-game activities. So, I'm technically ready for the final final boss, but I'm also somewhat stuck at 99%.
Just like its development, Hollow Knight: Silksong doesn't want to end. But I mean this in a good way, where this is by far one of most extensive Metroidvanias so far. The third act really turns everything on its head, making it feel like a whole new game has started. Combine this with having obtained the last ability needed to reach places, it gave me reason to re-explore all of Pharloom, where there truly was something new to discover everywhere.
My goal was to get most of the optional content done, where I have arrived at 96%. I've fought a number bosses, followed a familiar face all over the map, did some deliveries to the farthest corners of the world, searched for the last fleas, participated in a variety of mini-games, found the missing Crest and silk skills, and upgraded my needle one last time.
In one month Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment will see its release already and they haven't really shown that much of the game yet. Well, there was a demo at the Tokyo Game Show and maybe we will also see a public demo on Nintendo Switch 2 this month, like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity did before...
But today there was an update to the official website with new screenshots and character art. The big reveal were the names of the four sages, where we don't have the official localization yet, they roughly translate to the following:
Update: by now we also have the official translations from Nintendo of America:
For the latter they have added an artwork with her mask off, but the other three still remain as we know them from Tears of the Kingdom, where I suppose that this will change eventually.
Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't go with the sage names from Ocarina of Time (and The Wind Waker) – Darunia, Ruto and Nabooru, as well as Medli / Medlo. After all, this is an Imprisoning War and we have Rauru as well. But I suppose they didn't want to create more confusion and make it perfectly clear that this isn't to portray the era of Ocarina of Time in any way or form. And of course it helps to make these characters feel distinguished. On the other hand it would have been nice if the Divine Beasts were named after them, since their designs came from the sage helmets.
They've also introduced a new character, Ranaria / Lenalia, who acts as Zelda's maid and is wearing the same dress as her, though it's probably not as flattering... This maid reminds me of Impa from Oracle of Ages & Seasons. You can already see how this is meant to be a kind-hearted comic relief character, but probably won't end up on the playable roster. But it's nice to see the distant past fleshed out like this.
Overall, it feels like they were really trying to make this title stand on its own legs. While it's still derived from Tears of the Kingdom, there is so much new material here that this has the potential to truly become its own story and to be recognized a such, unlike the Hyrule Warriors games before it. And that's exciting.
After aimlessly wandering through all of Pharloom without knowing what to do, the game eventually had mercy and offered me a different path for its supposed ending, one that involves something a little too close to Hornet's former home. Thus, I was able to enter the game's third act, which lets you experience the kingdom of Pharloom in a different state. Here I saw parts of the Citadel, went back to Bone Bottom, the Wormways, the Deep Docks and even further below...
Last time I have beaten the game... But following in the footsteps of its predecessor, there is more to the world of Silksong than it appears, and I was now trying to find out what needs to be done to potentially experience a different ending. This journey of self discovery brought me into the Putrified Ducts and into the Slab. I also settled a score at Bilewater, fought some of my comrades, and found a new home for the fleas.
Back to a big screen, I've completed the Threefold Melody quest and reached the top of the Citadel. This means I've explored the rest of the Whispering Vaults and the Cogwork Core, as well as the High Halls and finally the Cradle, with a detour into the Wisp Thicket in between. And technically I have now beaten the game, but as with the first Hollow Knight it's rather questionable and there is still more to discover.
This week I was visiting a Zelda community gathering, so my progress is rather limited, but here and there I'm using a quiet hour to play some more Silksong. The screenshots in this post will have a different format than usual because of this.
Another ramification is that I mainly focused on side quests, so the only new area that I have explored is the Memorium. The main goal was finally upgrading my needle a second (and third) time, however. For this I had to complete the "Great Taste of Pharloom" quest, where to delicacies were still missing.
Usually, I'm not much into ROM hacks and randomizer stuff, because I hardly can keep up with the official releases, but this week I'm on a Zelda community gathering. And here I could witness this absolutely marvelous crossover between The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Ace Attorney.
It was made by Newer Team and you can find everything you need to know on the game's website. I can only advise to give it a try, where it's a short game and you will be in a for a fun evening.
Talon got killed and Princess Zelda found him on a visit of the Lon Lon Ranch, where it looks like Malon did it with a Poacher's Saw. Link in his finest Zora Suit becomes her defense, while Ganondorf Dragmire poses as the prosecution, which is absolutely hilarious.
Any fan of Ocarina of Time will immediately know who actually did it, but of course it's about delivering proof by using evidence and all given statements. Like in your regular Ace Attorney game. It's a bit weird to have Link talk as much, but he also often just delivers his thoughts, where a lot of it is funny.
Overall, this ROM hack is absolutely impressive. The soundtrack is also a banger. If nothing else, go download it for a treat, also on the Hero of Law website.
They've skipped August for their not-so-monthly Zelda soundtrack addition in Nintendo Music, but we've gotten Zelda II - The Adventure of Link today. While this game is among the least popular from the Zelda series, its soundtrack always has been awesome with some very catchy tunes, like the Palace theme, which has been prominently featured in all Super Smash Bros. games since Melee.
It's also worth checking out the Famicom Disk version, because there are some notable differences, starting with the title theme, which makes better use of the soundchip. The Battle song is also completely unique, where it may sound strangely familiar to you. That's because it was later remixed as the mini-boss battle theme in The Minish Cap.
Next on my list of detours was Mount Fay. Once you have the Clawline, you can reach this icy area from the Slab. And I climbed the whole thing for my biggest achievement in the game so far. Spoilers for this whole area ahead. In addition, I visited the Sands of Karak and finally challenged an old advisory.
Oh, behold the glory of the glorious Citadel! After getting to the second act of Hollow Knight: Silksong, I've had some of my best times with the game so far, but also some of my most frustrating ones. By now I have reached a certain point right at the center of the Citadel and explored most of the Choral Chambers before that, with detours into the Underworks, the Slab, and the Whiteward. I also got caught up in a variety of distractions all around Pharloom, where I have been playing courier quite a bit...
After running a number of errands all around Pharloom, it was now time to reach Hornet's initial goal: the Citadel. There are two major options for you to get there, the path of the pilgrim and the path of the sinner, where I've been trying my luck with both, starting with the former on the Blasted Steps. But eventually I also ended up in the Bilewaters and the Mist. Spoilers for all these areas ahead!
