28 – Golden Sun

The first thing that I thought when I read about Golden Sun was that it was really beautiful. I remember seeing the screenshot of a battle scene in a magazine and being wowed by the possibility of a handheld with those graphics. Certainly, the artistic design of Golden Sun was nice and the effects that took place during the battle were impressive, but beyond its graphics the game is great.

Golden Sun development is that of a classic JRPG: turn-based battles, experience points, equipment that increase your attack or defense and classic items like curative herbs that can be found in chests or bought in towns, temples where the player can save and inns where the party can sleep and restore its health points… You’ve probably seen this many times in every JRPG since Dragon Quest I. But there’s an aspect where Golden Sun deviates from the standard JRPG, and it shines at it: dungeon design is closer to Zelda than to other JRPGs, being filled with puzzles that the player has to solve in order to advance. The use of magic (here called psinergy) outside the battles allows imaginative puzzles and the djinn system (special creatures that you can capture and allocate to each member of your team, modifying the magic techniques and attacks they can use) works really well, adding another layer of deep to the use of magic.

The only problem with this game is that it is seems too short and ends without closing the plot. Fortunately both points would be fixed in the sequel…

I've been slacking off on this for a few days. Time to catch up

28 - You're in a foreign land with strange new systems you're not familiar with, and already your help is needed. However, in order to help, you need to put your life on the line. Are you up to the task? Use the dance of the dead to find the truth, also, a new friend returns.

27 - You're back to a beloved old land where everything is updated to much nicer visuals, however, your character's looking a little flat this time...

26 - Two sides join together to make something no one could have expected. How did pop idols get into this mix?

25 - A short lived RPG series with a unique battle mechanic, take your army on to the map, travel around battling enemy groups, exchanging blows, and parting ways. Liberate or capture towns, it's up to you. Also, despite being in the title, you don't fight these giant monsters

24 - Quickly take a good shot of these enemies with your unlikely weapon, or else they will kill you. The closer, the better.

Bully?

24 - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I should finish that game. And all the other games in my backlog.

I think I may have caught up with tomorrow's double word wall? My last final (and officially no longer in high school) is tomorrow!

28 - TLoZ: Wind Waker HD

My favourite 3D Zelda. Usually, I complain a lot on 3D Zelda games, and this one is not much different... If I were to talk about the original release. At its core, WW is a great game, with very tedious and slow movement. The remake solved that, gave it a beatiful graphics rework to show that cartoony Zelda does matter, and cut out unnecessary and long "exploration" for the triforce hunt. I still find the game getting undeserved praise (as most 3D Zeldas), mostly for its combat, but it's still a mighty good game. Traveling *cough* quickly through the ocean has a simple feeling of a real adventure; finding random boats or islands is the game in itself, and the cast is pretty good. Zelda herself is a plot twist which I wouldn't have figured out, and this "Zelda" is also a cool pirate! Btw, pirates are cool. The dungeons are fine, not very memorable in my eyes. Well okay, while you're playing they are pretty cool, but I don't remember any dungeon I loved. And the ghost ship was a huge dissapointment (specially since I played Phantom Hourglass before WW. Which btw is an awesome and super underrated game. But since it has touch controls it's apparently a disgrace to the glorious name of "Zelda"). But overall, it's a great game, and it feels like a real adventure.

27 - Pokemon Platinum

Now we're getting to the good stuff. Remember what I said about Emerald? Probably not. Who even reads these? Anyway, it's the same as Emerald, but without many Internet roumors, and more self-made theories. Good times. This also has, hands down, the best Pokemon post-story (You know. Excluding the one with another region). It also has so many Pokemon to catch. Pretty fun stuff. But personally, this game holds a special place in my heart. This was the game that really made me go hardcore into gaming. I showed my first interest into competitive Pokemon here, and while I didn't enter the competitive scene until XY (cause it was much harder back then), this is the point when gaming took a part of my life, rather than just a hobby.

About the game itself, it's great. The story is pretty good, Giratina is THE BOMB, catching all the legendaries is fun, transfering Pokemon from Emerald/FireRed was great, online? Hell yeah. Cynthia is great, and the differences between Diamond/Pearl and Platinum were orgasmic (for a ten year old, I guess). I also like the Gen 4 pokemon the most. Spooky places, fan theories, Mystery Gifts, best region (not really)? Pretty good game.

26- Majora's Mask


25- Earthbound


Hint 24- Looks like an innocent game at first glance, but it's anything but that.

Second hint time. Finally after a couple games that you guys guessed in minutes, somehow feels satisfying if it's harder lol.

#24:Like the other games in this series, the individual numbers of the year adds up to '9'. Not the first game developed nor is any game related to another in story, but by year you could technically consider it the first one in the series chronologically.

Hint 2: The series is mostly about trading and colonizing, and since every game is set in a different time, there's a different overarching theme in each. In this particular game, the theme concerns the relationship between the west and (near) east; the occident and orient and pleasing the unnamed Emperor who, considering the timeframe is probably supposed to be the Holy Roman Emperor.

I read, I like the reading...

Nobody's even tried to guess this one yet, so here's the hint again for #24:

The DS version of this Japanese RPG on the PS3 is called Dominion of the Dark Djinn. A sequel is set for release in 2017.

Ni No Kuni