Ocarina of Time Remake: Master Quest?

It's a question that many Zelda fans have on their mind right now: will the remake come with the Master Quest mode and dungeons? Ocarina of Time 3D did, but the Nintendo 3DS game was truly a 1:1 remake, even based on the original game's code, so they could easily duplicate the quirky ROM hack nature of the modified dungeons, where you suddenly have cows stuck in the walls of Jabu-Jabu's Belly.

This may not be the case for the remake, where they are truly redoing everything from scratch and also taking many liberties in the process, especially when it comes to the environments. The Water Temple, for example, now features a new bombable wall in of the tunnels around the middle section, as you can see above.

They could, of course, still replicate the ideas and nature of Master Quest, maybe also throwing in some spins of their own, but it would be a lot of extra work. Luckily, they haven't said much about additional features yet, other than the amiibo masks and the microphone support, where they are likely introducing some at a later point. And maybe the Master Quest mode will become a headline then, or maybe they will release it as paid DLC in the future.

If they add Master Quest, then I hope that they won't mirror the game this time. I hated it when they did this in Ocarina of Time 3D and I will always find the Wii / Hero Mode version of Twilight Princess to be utterly confusing. I'm not a fan of Mirror Modes in general, because they are just the cheapest and most literal way of putting a spin onto a game. The remade world of Ocarina of Time will be novelty enough.

Also, things like double damage should probably moved into a simple Hero Mode option, which can be chosen right from the start. It could just be a toggle like in Echoes of Wisdom, so you won't end up with four combinations of different game modes.

Nintendo Today: The Legend of Zelda Collectible Cards

Nintendo wants you to use the Nintendo Today app. They really do, and they are trying all sorts of things to motivate people to click on this app on a daily basis. One of these strategies are digital collectible cards. And I would be lying if I said that this trick didn't work on me, because I have all the ones for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

As part of the 40th Anniversary initiatives, they are now doing the same thing for The Legend of Zelda, with more than 300 cards based on the entire series. Every day you can collect one predetermined card, but there is more to this: each card you claim will come with a quiz question. And if you answer correctly, you will earn a medal. You can use these medals to obtain the cards you've previously missed.

So, if you've missed the one from yesterday, because you were too busy screaming at the Nintendo Store, then you can use the medal from today to obtain it. But this one won't give you the quiz question, so you won't be able to earn another medal from it. You can only get one medal per day.

There are also four phone wallpapers to unlock, which cost 130 medal in total, which is nearly half of what you can earn over the course of all 300+ cards. But they will add more of these wallpapers, one for each card set, where those seem to cost 10 additional medals per set. It's unclear how many sets there are in total, where in the end you should not be missing a single day if you truly want all the things. Of course, you can just get these wallpapers elsewhere, but even if you ignore them, you still need to be there every second day and get all of the quiz questions right if you want a full collection of cards. It's quite strict.

With the Super Mario Galaxy Movie this wasn't the case... I kept forgetting about it, but there weren't as many cards and the event was running for quite some time, so it had a lot of leeway.

At least, the 40th Anniversary also solves one of my biggest issues I had the with the app: the Zelda theme so far was purely based on Tears of the Kingdom, and I'm sick of seeing that game. Now the theme is based on a different Zelda game every day. Yesterday it was Oracle of Ages, today it is A Link to the Past + Four Swords. And that alone already makes a big difference. I want to see what art they are using, it's like a daily Zelda sheet calendar.

I also love Zelda quizzes, because I'm good at them. There is so much knowledge about the Zelda games stored in my brain, but it's only really useful for two things: this blog and answering questions about the games. But there is no timer there, so you can also look up the answers just in case.

Age of Calamity + Definitive Edition = Game Key Card

Nintendo has opened their pre-orders today for the Definitive Edition of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. And it's indeed going to be a Game Key Card, the first in connection to Zelda, making this as unattractive as it could possibly be.

This whole Definitive Edition thing feels like a pure scam. It is technically just one of those Nintendo Switch 2 Editions you keep seeing, like it was done for both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Normally, you can either upgrade your existing game for a small fee, or buy it all anew as a physical release (with all of it on the card).

For some reason they didn't want to offer this for Age of Calamity. Instead, you will have to buy the whole game again. Sure, there is a 50% discount for those who already own the Nintendo Switch version, where even your physical copy can be registered for it. But this discount doesn't take into consideration whether you have already purchased the DLC or not. You will have to pay 30 bucks either way, which is unfair. And that's three times as much as you normally have to pay for a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade.

Plus, with how little this upgrade is offering, it really should be just five bucks. All it has – in addition to the performance and resolution boost – is more monsters on screen (which were there before, but couldn't get rendered at the same time), and a new difficulty mode absolutely nobody asked for.

Well, the pricing of the upgrade wouldn't really have mattered for me personally, because I was going for the physical edition anyway. I like to have as much on cartridge as I possibly can. But now it turns out that I can't have any of it on card. In fact, when upgrading to the Definitive Edition, I will have to get the whole game digitally now, whether I like it or not.

Game Key Cards are a Nintendo Switch 2-specific topic that I have yet to discuss, mainly because it didn't affect me so far. In general, I think they can be a good compromise for games that are simply too large to put them on a card. If you want the option to easily lend your games to friends, or to resell them, or if you still want something haptical for your collection, then the Game Key Cards will be better than nothing at all.

However, otherwise they are basically the worst of both worlds. The games will take up space on your Nintendo Switch 2 system, forcing you to eventually buy a large Express MicroSD card, but you still lack the convenience of going digital-only, because you will have to change cartridges whenever you swap between games.

So, in the end it won't make much sense for me to buy the physical release, but I'd love to have it all on card. It wasn't an issue for Age of Imprisonment, so what has changed here? It can't possibly be larger than its much prettier sequel. It's really just to reduce production costs and increase margins.

Of course, Koei Tecmo is known to be one of the greediest and scummiest publishers in the history of video game publishers. Their collection of DLC for Dead or Alive 6 costs more than the entire Zelda series combined. And it's not even close. I love the Hyrule Warriors games, but Koei Tecmo can be awful and very anti-consumer.

Up until now this got contained by Nintendo, who has done the publishing of Hyrule Warriors in the west. But it looks like they had to strike a shitty deal to make this upgrade happen, which is the only explanation for this "Definitive Edition" nonsense and them using Game Key Cards, even though the game shouldn't be as big in size. As much as I love Hyrule Warriors and want the series to be a success, I very much hope that this release will get a ton of backlash and sale like stale onions. They need to learn.

It's a real shame, because this upgrade for Age of Calamity is something I really, really wanted and where I was looking forward to returning to the game. And now this has completely killed my excitement from yesterday.

Nintendo Switch 2 System Transfers Now Possible

Today the Nintendo Switch 2 received a system update to version 23.0.0, which – among other things – now also lets you do a system transfer between two Nintendo Switch 2 systems, which previously wasn't possible.

Well, Nintendo knows what they are doing. They know that some Zelda fans are going to double-dip for the 40th Anniversary Edition console, and then potentially sell their old Switch 2. So, this is an important step for next month. You can even do one of these server-based transfers, where you can sell your Switch 2 already and then complete the transfer on October 29th.

Anyway, I hope this will be as easy as it was with moving from a Nintendo Switch in regards to your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. You didn't need any additional transfer software or whatever, it was very convenient.

 

Source: @OatmealDome

Mario Kart World: SNES Courses

Yesterday Nintendo has released version 1.8.0 of Mario Kart World, right after the Nintendo Direct. And it comes with another neat feature: VS Mode and Time Trials will now treat the ten classic SNES courses that you can find in the open world, which sometimes were used as roads, as individual courses for you to play on.

• SNES Mario Circuit 1
• SNES Mario Circuit 2
• SNES Mario Circuit 3
• SNES Ghost Valley 1
• SNES Ghost Valley 2
• SNES Ghost Valley 3
• SNES Choco Island 1
• SNES Choco Island 2
• SNES Koopa Beach 1
• SNES Vanilla Lake 1 

You can select these via Mario Circuit, Boo Cinema, Choco Mountain, Koopa Troopa Beach, and Sky-High Sundae. Unlike the normal courses, they retain the SNES prefix. It will also play music from Super Mario Kart and the item boxes are replaced with question mark panels, which makes this a true celebration of the first game.

They are also played in five laps each, and some of them feel like Baby Park with how short they are. But if you enjoy short courses, where you can potentially lap the opponents in the back, then this update will be a blast.

Technically, none of this is new. The courses have been already part of the world and you could even race on them via the P-Switch missions in Free Roam mode, though it wasn't exactly the same. And whoever is still developing Mario Kart World has proven to be very resourceful. They are making the most of what the game already has to offer. This is true for the Bob-Omb Blast mode added in 1.6.0, using stickers for the photo mode in the previous update, and of course also the new Knockout Tour Rallies.

Speaking of, two more of these got added, the Propeller Rally going from Acorn Heights to Airship Fortress, and the Turnip Rally, going from DK Pass to Shy Guy Bazaar. 

So, two of these updates are going to follow and the last one will likely add 200cc. Would be awesome if they made this version 2.0.0 at the same time, as in version 200. It's the perfect conclusion for this line of updates that have mainly utilized what's in the game already. 200cc will make everything in the game fresh again.

However, they could go a step further and add more Kamek transformations, which become playable drivers. There are a variety of different enemies and animals they haven't use for this yet, e.g. the Buffalo, the Bully, the Camel, the Crocodile, the Hermity Cone, the Ostrich, the Skeeter, Spike, and more. All of these could become new drivers, where the game already has the models for them. People absolutely loved playing as a cow or whatever, so adding more of the same will certainly be received well.

But this would be more work than what has been done so far, because all these additional drivers would require new animations and such. And it looks like Mario Kart World is getting updated by a skeleton crew, where the main resources of the development team are going elsewhere... Maybe they are making ARMS 2?

Metroid Ravenous: Special Edition and amiibo

Oh, no, not again... It's already on the North American Nintendo Store, so this will likely follow tomorrow in Europe. And we're still dealing with waiting queues there!

Anywayyyyy... Metroid Ravenous will launch on Januar 28th with a Special Edition. And it's a special Special Edition, because it's really just the game (potentially with a clean cover), a steelbook, and an amiibo. Which is kind of odd. For the Wii U they had several of these bundles of games and an amiibo. Twilight Princess HD was one of them, remember? But I don't think we have seen anything like this for the Switch and Switch 2 generation yet.

amiibo can be hard enough to find enough as it is, so they don't really need to put them into a Special Edition to make things even rarer. There will be three amiibo for the game in total:

Samus, a Chozo Statue, and the Metroid Suit. The latter is totally rad, but that's the one you'll only get from the Special Edition. So, good luck with that. You'll need it.

We don't know yet what they will do in the game, but it will probably be something like an extra Energy Tank or more gallery images, while every Metroid amiibo before this will do nothing. 

Metroid Ravenous Announced

Easily the best announcement in today's Nintendo Direct was Metroid Ravenous, even if it wasn't a huge surprise. Well, the game got leaked back in July. And this was not from some leaker, who is sometimes right and sometimes wrong, but from a public authority in Brazil, so this was simply a fumble. In any case, I'm very happy that the cat is out of the bag and that the cat looks really badass.

In fact, this is the most badass we've ever seen Samus, while this is also the most unhinged Metroid game so far. What in the world is this? You have Samus fighting "Space Ninjas" (official wording from Nintendo) and a cover art that looks like an 80s parody à la Blood Dragon. It's crazy and I love it.

I also love how they just continue to evolve the story after Metroid Dread right away. This is fantastic. Metroid really needs this after the 19 year break between Fusion and Dread. Expand the universe. Expand the lore. Samus is now the last living Metroid in the galaxy and she will have to use her new siphoning ability and the crazy power of the Metroid Suit in order to survive. "Eat or be eaten."

The military Chozo faction led by Raven Beak also still seems to play a role in this, where a lot could be coming together here again, just like it did in Metroid Dread. And Dread currently is my favorite Metroid game.

But just from judging from the game's trailer, it looks very much like Metroid Dread. Same engine, same graphics, just a straight sequel. And that's totally fine, but it raises the question why this is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive? Wouldn't it have been better if the game was also available for the Nintendo Switch? Metroid isn't exactly known to be a best seller... But it probably will still do better than Metroid Prime 4 did.

Anyway, great news! Game will be released at the end of January 2027, the 28th to be exact. And time will fly until then.