Game Informer October 2011 Cover

Epic. I don't know if this is official artwork or not, but it certainly looks stunning. Only 71 days left.

Naturally the magazine will have a huge Skyward Sword cover story with lots of exclusive material, so be ready for a lot of new infos soon.

Source: Game Informer

3DS Expansion Slide Pad Revealed

From this week's Famitsu... omg, this looks horrific. And this will kill any current 3DS sales. This screams right into your face, that there will be a new 3DS model coming soon with the additional slide pad and shoulder buttons integrated and maybe other enhancements like longer battery life, better 3D screen, etc. It wouldn't be the first time, for example they did the same with MotionPlus, first there was the inconvenient MotionPlus add-on for Wiimotes and later Nintendo would release Wiimotes with a built-in gyrosensor. Though I admit that was not as bad as this thing. Not at all. But you don't want to hold an inferior product in your hands, especially not something where you would have to attach this cradle thing to play certain games. It's said to be an optional accessory, but I don't trust that.

I was just recently thinking about buying a 3DS, because of some rumors I've heard about the upcoming Four Swords (more about that later), but this is going to stop me.

Four Swords DSiWare and Singleplayer

This is probably the last chance to speculate about the DSiWare port of Four Swords before any news are rolling in. Well, I already talked about an online mode for Four Swords and dismissed it. And Aonuma also recently mentioned in an interview with Industry Gamers, that the game will be local play (only). So, no online. Now Nintendo is releasing this as a free game, probably because they want to make it as accessible as possible. However, though it's getting easier to set up a game and a larger number of people will own the game (who doesn't like free games?), I'd say there will be still a lot of people, who won't have the chance to play the game.

Me for example. To play the GameBoy Advance version I had to buy a second GameBoy Advance, a second copy of the game and a cable, so I could get to play this with my friends, who do not own any Nintendo hardware or games. This is not getting better with the DSiWare version. I don't have a DSi and I don't plan to buy one, maybe a 3DS at some point, but not for now. And my biggest complaint about the GBA version was, that I couldn't play this game whenever I want. I am dependent on a second player, which also wouldn't change with a simple DSiWare port. If I can't find someone, who wants to play this with me, I'm screwed. And this is sad.

The solution? A singleplayer mode.

Because a singleplayer would be the only way to ensure that this game gets enjoyed by EVERYBODY. Previously I thought, that such a thing wasn't possible. Simply because the Four Swords Adventures play style wouldn't work. But after my last alone time with the game I had some ideas.

There are many obstacles, which are impossible to overcome with the Four Swords Adventures play style. But this doesn't mean it's entirely impossible to implement a singleplayer. It should be based on the two player mode, so you only get to control two Links, anything else would be too complicated. You should be able to control them individually and switch between them at any time. But there also has to be a mode, where the other Link follows you around (so you wouldn't have to carry him all the time, lol) and "reacts" to certain situations, like an AI buddy. If you get near certain objects, puzzles, enemies or similar he should place himself in a useful way and/or perform certain auto actions. If you get near a large block, he should get to your side and push it as well. If there's one of those enemies, which need to be pulled from both sides, he should automatically start pulling one side, etc... Because of the great variety of tricky situations it would be complicated to implement, but easy and very comfortable to play.

Well, of course I doubt that Nintendo would go through the trouble of adding a singleplayer mode to a free game, where they don't make any profits, but it would be awesome and totally redeem the game. There are many people, who would get to play this game for their first time, if it features a singleplayer. Maybe let the guys, who made Four Swords Adventures (and also the Nintendo DS Zelda), do the job, it would be fitting.

Upcoming Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011

Next Tuesday Nintendo of Japan will be holding a conference about the 3DS. The Nintendo 3DS isn't performing well and Nintendo is an a hurry to change things. There are several rumors about what we can expect. For example there were rumors about a new 3DS model with a new branding, which doesn't focus on 3D, and a second slide pad. But if they really announce a new 3DS model, it would kill the current 3DS. Why should I want to buy a 3DS now, if a better model will be available next year?

What the 3DS is lacking is software. I would have already bought a 3DS, if there would be any must-have can't-wait-to-play software. But all larger 3DS titles are just remakes or new versions of older games. Ocarina of Time 3D and Starfox 64 3D? I can play those already on my Nintendo 64 or my Wii Virtual Console and in case of OoT also on my GameCube. Better graphics and some Boss Gauntlet mode are fine, but not a reason to buy a 3DS. Super Street Fighter IV 3D and Dead or Alive Dimensions? Already got older versions of these games, which are still good enough. The upcoming Mario Kart? Same old, same old. All of these are nice games, I definitely will buy most of them when I get a 3DS someday (in case of Ocarina of Time 3D I already bought the game), but they are not a reason to buy the system.

So, they better should announce some new blockbuster titles.

About Zelda, I expect to get some information about the upcoming Four Swords port. The game is scheduled to be released this month and we don't know anything about it yet. And maybe they'll announce something surprising like a singleplayer. They could also announce Majora's Mask 3D, this would get some positive press, especially when they say they did it because of fan demand. I wouldn't wonder if Grezzo immediatly started to work on this project after Ocarina of Time 3D was released. Of course like Ocarina of Time 3D the game would not be a reason to buy the 3DS, unless they really add some new content this time like a Majora's Mask Master Quest. But for a brandnew Zelda title developed for the 3DS it would be too early, I'd expect such an announcement at GDC2012 the earliest. Right now the Zelda team should be still busy with polishing Skyward Sword.

Hyrule Ads

Hahaha, great stuff. These would make nice posters. The ghost guy got taller though.

Source: Dorkly (via Zelda Informer)

Beaten Vaati's Palace Alone

So, I was just playing around with Four Swords to check out some more templates. You can play this game alone by controlling two GameBoy Advance systems simultaneously. Usually I just carry the other player around with me and switch between both systems. Some stuff is quite tricky to do, for example those enemies that have to be pulled from both sides. For those I have to press the R button of the GBA system in my left hand by pushing the system against my left leg, lol... I already managed to beat both Talus Cave and Death Mountain that way (only the easiest form of Hot Head though) and just now I blasted through Vaati's Palace using the Silver Keys.

Fighting Vaati alone actually wasn't all that difficult. The form where you have to play volleyball is pretty much impossible to handle (we never even did that one in real coop), but luckily he switches forms often and you only need to do the damage on one form. And there's one where he turns into a creature similar to Patra, where eyeball creatures fly around him. You only need to hit these into him to deal some damage, which can easily be done alone. But I also managed to score some hits during his arm form by pre-placing the second player in the right spot. Though this was much more difficult to do...

Anyway, this got me yet another medal of courage. That's my 17th one.

If Manhandla wasn't such a bitch you could beat the entire game alone on the easiest difficulty level. But for most people, who only play for story or who are satisfied by seeing the credits once, that would be already enough...

Talking about credits, this game has one of the most fun credit sequences ever. All players are on a platform in the sky and fairies fly by. If you hit the fairies with your sword they drop Rupees depending on their own color and you can hit the other players into the abyss. Those Rupees count for the results at the end, so you're still competing during the credits and this can be fun. However, you don't pay much attention to the actual credits, lol.

I also experienced a cool new set-up for Talus Cave with a lot of small rooms, where you can blast the walls on all sides. This reminded me of Ancient Stone Tablets, which could have very similar structures and where you also collect tons of Rupees. But it's amazing to see that the game has still new templates to offer after all this playing time.

Four Swords, Final Round

This is it. I've fully beaten Four Swords today together with Den. We got the last Hero's Key from Death Mountain and blasted through all 12 floors of Vaati's Super Palace. After eight years I've finally got a perfectly finished save file on my GBA cartridge. If you've beaten the most difficult version of Vaati's Palace a golden Four Sword appears between Link and the Medals of Courage on your save file.

Death Mountain was a pain, we resetted the stage about four times until we finally got a set-up that wasn't brutally hazardous and which offered a lot of Rupees. Especially those annoying fire monsters that always come from the lava could easily break your Rupee Fever, so we avoided levels with those. But in the end we managed to collect more than 6000 Rupees to receive the red Hero's Key. The fairy then warns you that Vaati's Palace will have 12 floors of madness instead of the usual three.

But during playing Death Mountain we really noticed that the biggest strength of Four Swords is also its biggest weakness. The random level design. It's a double edged sword. It really adds to the replay value and it will take you many play sessions to experience all possible layouts. I probably haven't seen all of it yet and I will continue to check out the dungeons. However, in some set-ups it is very hard if not impossible to meet the 5000 Rupees requirement for the Hero's Keys. Even with Rupee Fever. So, all you can do is try again after a failed attempt, which can be frustrating, or to reset the stage until you finally get a set-up which looks promising, like we did. Luckily this is not a problem in the final dungeon, Vaati's Palace

In the final version of Vaati's Palace every third floor featured one of the game's four bosses, their order seemed to be chosen randomly except for Vaati of course, who always appears on the 12th floor. But you battle all four bosses again in this stage and the length of this dungeon is equal to playing all four normal dungeons in a row. The other floors with no bosses on them got random settings and layouts, anything could happen. I usually enjoy the forest stages the most. But after the trouble of Death Mountain, where we really struggled to get enough Rupees, Vaati's Palace felt like a relief. There's no Rupee Limit at the end here, you only collect Rupees to revive fallen players. We didn't die a single time, so we basically didn't have to collect a single Rupee. But we are so drilled to collect Rupees by now, that we still got more than 27000 Rupees at the end, which is a tremendous amount.

Overall I have to say that Four Swords is an amazing little game. You have to consider that this was just a bonus, something tacked to an already established main game, A Link to the Past. Normally a game like this would use the main game's engine, you would expect the looks and sounds of A Link to the Past. However, Capcom made their own artstyle - a 2D version of The Wind Waker's artstyle -, sprites, new items, enemies and music all for this little bonus game. Of course all of it would be later reused for The Minish Cap, but at that time this was a remarkable effort. (Ironically Four Swords Adventures then would just copy everything from A Link to the Past, lol. You would it expect to be the other way around.)

And overall I would say that this is the best multiplayer experience of Zelda there is. It got this exciting mix of cooperating and competing, because you really want to be the one who gets all the Rupees, Four Swords Adventures doesn't have that, it doesn't really matter who collects the most Force Gems. And Four Swords sometimes even encourages the competition with special set-ups. The multiplayer puzzles are far more clever, everything in Four Swords Adventures can be solved using the single player formations, which doesn't allow more complex challenges, where a good player coordination is required. And collecting enough Rupees is far more challenging than collecting the 2000 Force Gems in each level. The only thing that's missing are the really awesome mass fights from FSA, where you hack yourself through dozens of enemies. The GameBoy Advance isn't capable of that. But overall I'd say that Four Swords is a much more clever multiplayer game than Four Swords Adventures.

But this comes with a price. While the multiplayer is more interesting, there's no singleplayer mode. Let's say they add the controls and formations of Four Swords Adventures to the port, then it would be still impossible to play the game because of certain obstacles like enemies that have to be pulled from two sides. You really need at least a second player to join. And because of this you can't play and enjoy this game whenever you want. But I really enjoyed the randomisation of the levels and the idea of collecting a lot of Rupees as a goal. And I wish I could play this game in singleplayer...

Well, this is a historic day in my life as a Zelda fan. It's not only that I finally managed to conquer this game after eight years, but from now on I can finally claim that I've completely beaten all Zelda games for 100%. Oh, wait, I still can't do that, because I haven't played Ocarina of Time 3D yet, but Four Swords was always the one big obstacle in my way to an 100% completion of the entire series and now this is gone. (I somehow hope that they don't change anything in the DSiWare vesion save for the necessary separation from A Link to the Past, because otherwise I would have to face the same obstacle again. :D Or at least add a singleplayer...) Thousands of thanks to my buddies Den and Rob for making my dream come true. It wouldn't have been possible without the two of you. (I doubt they'll ever read this blog, but I leave my thanks just in case.)