Metroid Prime: Federation Force Announced

Outside TriForce Heroes the whole Nintendo Digital event can be summed up for me with one word: underwhelming. Star Fox Zero didn't look all that great, other games already have been shown last year and then there was Metroid Prime: Federation Force...

Well, I was right about that Blast Ball looked like from a Metroid Prime Hunters sequel, but overall it's very underwhelming. This is the first new Metroid title in FIVE years. They cancelled a 2,5D Metroid on the 3DS and decided to give us this instead? It's even from the same developer, Next Level Games, who released this concept art from their original proposal:

It got ditched in favor of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and now this? Instead of playing Samus Aran and other cool space bounty hunters, you're going to play as federation troops? Those are cannon fodder! This is a massive step back from Metroid Prime Hunters and not very exciting.

I probably wouldn't mind as much, if they had announced Metroid Prime 4 for Wii U along with it, but they didn't. There weren't any news about Retro Studios or an actual new Metroid game. Very disappointing...

Metroid Prime 4 is the one big title the Wii U really needs next to Zelda U, in order to become a solid Nintendo system with a good library. Kensuke Tanabe is even actively talking about the game. Of course he makes it sound like nothing is in development so far, but he sounds quite similar to how Aonuma always denied Majora's Mask 3D happening. This and the fact that Retro Studios is working on something, still makes me hopeful for Metroid Prime 4 on Wii U. It needs to happen, the GamePad is simply too perfect for a new Metroid Prime.

TriForce Heroes Announced

Called it!

Well, I didn't make any super accurate predictions, but I did predict a new Four Swords game on the Nintendo 3DS with the graphic engine of A Link Between Worlds, the energy bar and online multiplayer, coming this year instead of Zelda U. The main difference is that instead of a Four Swords game, we got a "Three Swords" game. And you probably could have predicted this by putting more thought into the depth system of A Link Between Worlds, but anyway... I'm still proud of this prediction, especially since I didn't see anyone else predicting anything similar, not even a new 3DS Zelda, let alone a multiplayer title.

So, overall I'm quite excited to see this happening. It's something I wanted and it's something that has potential. Though the full potential might not be met, because I noticed several issues with TriForce Heroes. While there's a singleplayer mode (which they haven't shown yet), it just seems to be playing the multiplayer alone with two dummies. So, this is a pure Four Swords game, there's no singleplayer Zelda like The Minish Cap behind it. It also seems to be very linear, which it doesn't have to be. For example the first Four Swords let all the players roam freely around the current level. And they took away the competition in favor of a more puzzle heavy gameplay. The "Totem Time" looks annoying and it seems to be the most dominant mechanic, probably replacing the wall merge from A Link Between Worlds. But only cooperating without any real reason to screw each other doesn't seem like as much fun, it was what made Four Swords really unique in the first place.

I do like the costume concept, where different outfits offer different abilities. It's somewhat similar to the Magic Rings in Oracles, with the main difference that there are big visual clues to what player has what abilities, so this is nice. However, I didn't like Link in Zelda's dress or in the cheetah suit, which is illustrated in one of the artworks:

It's too much androgyny for my taste. And this leads to my main question: why three Links? Why not have Link, Zelda and a third character, each representing a part of the Triforce, each with their own abilities and unique costumes? (Somewhat similar to Trine.) The cheetah dress could be for Toon Zelda for example. Hyrule Warriors demonstrated that Zelda can easily participate in all the action and this would have added more depth to the game. On the other hand you probably would miss the Four Swords humor with multiple Links screwing each other... but it would have been nice to have Zelda and Link work together again like in Spirit Tracks and they might even could have achieved the same humor.

Still... I'm excited here and it honestly looks like Nintendo's best offering at this year's E3. I also hope that this time we get the StreetPass Shadow Battles from A Link Between Worlds as an actual online multiplayer component. This feature was a lot fun, but you could only fight bots. So, I really hope that TriForce Heroes comes with a good Battle Mode, like Four Swords Adventures did back in the day.

Nintendo's Online Shooters: Splatrophy & Blast Ball

Last night Nintendo streamed the Nintendo World Championships 2015, which had its ups and downs. But in general I like that Nintendo is trying to do something with multiplayer shooters

Splatoon immediately caught my "splattention" at last year's E3 and it seemed like a fresh concept, Nintendo's unique take on the multiplayer shooter genre. However, down the road they made so many mistakes with this game that I won't buy it, until there have been some improvements. It does look like a lot of fun and I want to play it, but Nintendo made some choices here that for me personally are inacceptable and are an absolute no-go, especially for a full priced game.

When it comes to online shooters I'm kind of old school, my favorite always has been Unreal Tournament, which I play up to this day. For me this first person shooter game has been unmatched in terms of content, gameplay, weapons, environments and fun. With Unreal Tournament you usually get around six gametypes and 60 to 80 maps, as well as ten very different and unique weapons. And they're currently making a new one, which is looking very promising.

But if you're used to the standards of the old school PC shooters, something like Splatoon is hard to swallow. Only seven different stages at this moment? And you can only play two at a time online? Who thought, this was a good idea? A shooter lives from the variety, even though some fan favorite maps will be played all the time, variety is what keeps the game interesting. At least it's good that they're releasing additional stages for free and don't let you charge 3€ per stage like some other overhyped Nintendo game... But some of the DLC seems to be on-disc-content, where it's really silly that it wasn't available from the start with this little content.

And they're releasing content on a regular basis, which can be very important for a game like Splatoon. Trying new maps is usually what kept me playing Unreal Tournament for years, so it's a good thing that Nintendo has realized this principle. However, as of now there is just not enough content to justify a purchase.

I also don't like the amiibo practices... it seems like a good chunk of the singleplayer options is locked behind three different Splatoon amiibo, which just sucks and is very expansive for the players, who only want to play and get the locked content, but not the figurines. Especially the squid amiibo from the Special Edition is very expansive right now. Nintendo at the moment has a huge problem with creating these bubbles, where the supply absolutely doesn't meet the demand, which then results in these awful markets of highly limited products, where some people try to earn money with the desperation of some fans. (With Majora's Mask 3D Nintendo got the numbers right, at least here in Germany the special editions are nearly sold out, but you can still get them for the original price.)

The only solution for me here would be amiibo cards. If they were cheap and available enough (including the squid), I might give Splatoon a chance. And the amiibo cards would fully unravel the true nature of amiibo: they are just special keys that you have to buy to unlock content. An unnecessary hassle and even a step back from DLC.


I'm also interested in Blast Ball, which got shown for the first time at the Nintendo World Championships last night. It looks like a mix of Metroid Prime Hunters and the Death Ball modification of Unreal Tournament 2003 or Frag Ball in Xonotic. It really, really smelt like a new first person handheld Metroid, from the logo over the visual design. And there was also the fact that they coupled it with Super Metroid. Maybe it's a minigame in a new Metroid. Maybe it spawned from a handheld Metroid title that then got turned into its own game and franchise. We'll see.

However, as of now the game itself didn't seem to offer too much, it seemed more like a small eShop title. Even Death Ball from Unreal Tournament didn't offer that much, it was just a fun, small mod. But it's not like you can do any complex stages with a game like this... Well, right now I just want to now what its relation with Metroid is. Because just look at the logo:

This was taken straight from Metroid...


Talking about Metroid, for me the best multiplayer shooter Nintendo could make is a new Metroid Hunters on the Wii U. Metroid Prime Hunters was an excellent first person multiplayer shooter (the singleplayer was garbage, but the multiplayer was great), however, the Nintendo DS wasn't really the best platform for it. It lacked the good graphics and controls. But if they made something like this one Wii U, it could have great potential.

Hyrule Warriors for Nintendo 3DS Trailer Leaked

Watch it here, before it's down.

I'm not a fan. Actually earlier this year I was confronted with rumors about a 3DS port of Hyrule Warriors and I couldn't imagine it. The 3DS is simply not powerful enough and the game just doesn't look and play as good. You don't even have enough buttons on the normal 3DS (which will support the port). But I guess, it's nice for everybody, who doesn't have a Wii U...

However, what's Tetra doing in this game? I already had problems with Tingle visually, but she's just completely out of place. I thought they would avoid Toon Zelda characters, unless they could make them fit visually, like for example Cole and Byrne. Even the Red King of Lions isn't tooo bad, because he has normal human proportions and a normal face. But Tetra is just weird. Originally Hyrule Warriors looked very cohesive, especially since they made their own designs for the main characters, but now it's starting to become this ugly hotchpotch without any rules.

Well, it might fit with the 3DS version, because the heavily downgraded graphics look more cartoony, but overall I would have preferred, if they made something like a "Toon Hyrule Warriors" for 3DS and keep it separate from the more realistic main game, instead of mixing everything. And you can actually transfer the characters to the Wii U version as well, so they will invade the more realistic looks of the main game:

I also wonder, how they will deal with all the DLC characters in the 3DS version. For the Wii U version it's clear that Tetra and the Red King of Lions will simply function as the other DLC characters, but on the 3DS they're not really DLC and they could give them missions. Will Wii U players miss out here? The trailer even showed a new golden Ocarina collectible.

I really wonder, what they will do here... I haven't even completed the Wii U version yet after hundreds of hours and I wouldn't really want to go through all the efforts again on the 3DS, especially all of Adventure Mode. If the 3DS version was "lighter", I might go for it... Maybe it has different modes next to Legend Mode or different Adventure Maps (maybe one based on Link's Awakening). Or if they let you share savegames between versions - that would work as well. But I can't imagine that they could just port all Adventure and Challenge Mode missions over, especially those with tons of enemies and giant bosses. There have to be some limitations to this, where they need to design new missions.

On the bright side: they will still update Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U. Maybe there are even more amiibo weapons (Ganondorf). Maybe they will improve some other things I criticized in the past. They also made a lot better use of the touchscreen in the 3DS version, maybe they won't copy over the character swapping feature, but I'd like to see the map on the Wii U GamePad, instead of the text messages.

Update:
You can also spot Linkle's Crossbow in the trailer:

I hope so much that they actually add Linkle and don't just give the weapon for Link or somebody else... but my feelings tell me that I will be disappointed. :D

Four Swords Online @ E3 2015?

E3 is coming and for Zelda fans it's probably the least anticipated E3 in a long time, after Nintendo announced that they decided not to have Zelda Wii U at the convention. Of course they always could change their mind to "surprise" us and maybe at least give another demonstration, but you shouldn't get your hopes up. Still, this doesn't have to mean that there won't be any Zelda news at E3. This brings me back to an idea I had in the past: Four Swords Online.

I believe that they have been working on a successor to A Link Between Worlds ever since the game was released. The engine is simply way too good not be used on another handheld Zelda game. They were also interested to try the Four Swords concept again for a long time, where they now have the perfect opportunity with the right engine, online multiplayer and fitting gameplay elements like the stamina bar.

Of course a sole multiplayer experience would disappoint many Zelda fans, which is why there also should be a fully fledged singleplayer Zelda experience with a Four Swords story, similar to The Minish Cap. For me the game would have three components:

• Singleplayer Zelda game
• Level-based Four Swords game
• Shadow Battles

Everything can be played alone, so the Four Swords levels can be solved by controlling multiple Links at once, similar to how it's done in Four Swords Adventures and the Four Swords Anniversary Edition. And for the Shadow Battles they can re-use the bots they used for the StreetPass Shadow Link feature in A Link Between Worlds, so you can practice.

Since the engine was finished with A Link Between Worlds, it's entirely possible that a game like this could be released this year or early next year and take the spot that Zelda Wii U was going to have originally. We'll see about that... see you at E3!

PS: What I want the most from the upcoming E3 are news about Metroid.

Hyrule Warriors: Weapon Building

After some time out I'm finally back at playing Hyrule Warriors. I've already clocked 600+ hours and I'm still not done with this baby yet. And there's still lots to do. I've fully completed all Adventure Maps, except the Termina map. There I'm around 50%, but before I return there, I want to get every main character above Level 200. After completing the Termina Map I will focus on Challenge Mode, my goal there would be A ranking all challenges with each character. And for this I want every character to be on Level 255 and have at least one powerful weapon.

The latter is probably the most interesting part, where I currently spent the most time with. I found a reliable way of collecting 5 star, 8 slot weapons: play "Divisive Plan 9" with the three Dark Ganondorfs on the Twilight Map, while using a Slot II Mixture and possibly a weapon with a Stars+ skill. This works best with characters using Light weapons, however, you can always be lucky and receive good weapons for other characters. This mission is also one of the best for leveling up, so I use this to hit two birds with one stone. Here you can easily level up Zelda, Fi, Agitha or Link and farm good weapons at the same time.

By now I got several weapons, which I consider to be perfect: a Rapier, a pair of Great Swords and a Scepter. They all offer the following:

• Legendary
• Hasty Attacks
• Normal Attacks+
• Element+
• Favorite Strength skills

I know that "Legendary" is a waste on a tier 3 weapon, I only apply it, because I unlocked several Legendary skills in the past and I like to have the maximum damage of 450 for the aesthetics. "Hasty Attacks" is my new favorite skill and I want it on every weapon, there's no going back, once you had it. It also helps with missions, where you have a significant damage gap. There your damage output per attack will hit a limit, but with Hasty Attacks you can double the number of attacks for the same time window. Applying "Normal Attacks+" also seems like a good choice for most weapons, can't do much wrong with that, as well as powering your favorite combos. I'm not a fan of the Versus or Special skills, because either they are not always useful (all VS skills, Compatriot, Adversity) or they come with a disadvantage (No Healing, Defenseless), so I'm not applying them on my allrounder attack weapon, even though they can be useful for specific missions. "No Healing" is great for Adventure Mode, but not so good for Hero and Challenge Mode, so you might want to keep a second attack weapon with that skill just for Adventure Mode and some of its sturdier missions there.

Of course the choice of attack skills also depends on the character. With Agitha you might prefer Special Attack+ over Normal Attacks+. Or with Fierce Deity Link you might prefer Magic+ over Hasty Attacks+. Fierce Deity Link is also the only character, where I'd opt for Special+, just to get as much SP as possible for converting it into magic.

I also like to have the element skills Fire+, Water+, Lightning+, Light+ and Darkness+. Especially Darkness+ and Fire+ are really useful. Light+ on the other hand is negligible and with Water+ and Lighting+ you might argue that they can disrupt your attacks more than they are helpful. But I still like to have these skills, because they are the only skills next to "Hasty Attacks", which offer a noticeable functional upgrade for your weapon, instead of just increasing your damage output or luck.

I decided to drop Bombs+ and Bow+ from my main weapon, because you can always use the Item Power-Up Mixture from the 1.4 update. But I still like to have them for my secondary looting weapon. For these I use the 8-Bit weapons, if they are available, e.g. I got an 8-Bit White Sword and an 8-Bit Candle, both with 5 stars and 8 slots each. They look something like this:

• Materials+
• Rupees+
• Stars+
• Slots+
• Element+
• Hasty Attacks
• Bombs+ or Bow+
• (Legendary)

"Legendary" isn't a must here, but for some weapon types I unlocked two or even more Legendary Skills, which I will use. And then it simple has the Looting skills: Materials+, Rupees+, Stars+, Slots+. Experience+ is not there, because it becomes obsolete, whenever you hit Level 255. Of course all of the Looting skills become obsolete at some point. Materials+ used to be one of my favorites in the past, but after he Twilight Map and completing all badges, it's the least important Looting skill for me. Rupees+ is obsolete, if you abuse the Rupee glitch. And Stars+ and Slots+ will become obsolete eventually, as soon as I've completed my weapon collection. Not that they are terribly effective...

But for the most part it just seems like a good scheme for 8-Bit weapons and I will probably not bother with creating looting weapons for weapon types, which don't have an 8-Bit variant. Only the ones, I really like, e.g. the Scepter.

Got Majora's Mask Light

This was a recent item in the European Club Nintendo. It cost 6000 stars and I got exactly 6050 stars left, so I ordered it to be finally done with Club Nintendo, which gets closed later this year.

The Majora's Mask Light is a nice decorative item and emits a warm light from the eyes of the mask. However, it gets powered by two button cell batteries (AG13), so I'm afraid that you will have to change batteries quite often. And from the overall quality it's just cheap plastic, nothing compared to the nice Mario Kart 7 trophies, where I got the Green Shell two years ago. Probably not worth the 6000 stars.

In the dark:

With package:

Backside:

Size comparison with the Link amiibo: