Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Thoughts on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

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Sep 092020
 

Nintendo is still dropping surprise announcements (by now we’ve probably had enough to fill a Direct), and yesterday’s was something no one saw coming: a new Hyrule Warriors game that is a canon prequel to Breath of the Wild.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is set 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild, during the battles leading up to the Great Calamity.

These events are discussed and briefly glimpsed during Breath of the Wild, but never in much detail. Now we’ll be able to play through those events as Link, Zelda, the four Champions, and probably several other characters as well.

Now, I never finished Breath of the Wild. I tried it, and I enjoyed parts of it, but the open world format just didn’t work for me. I took a break from it and never felt the urge to return. This prequel sounds like it could be interesting, though, and it looks great!

It’s a Musou game, so it’ll be a lot more focused on action than regular Legend of Zelda games are, but the official press release says “players will also solve environmental puzzles, unlock weapons and skills, craft materials, visit shops to obtain items and use the power of the Sheikah Slate,” so that sounds cool.

Maybe I should play my copy of the first Hyrule Warriors before getting this (although I have the Wii U version, much to my dismay since I never got around to it before the Switch version came out with more content).

And since more information about Age of Calamity will be revealed on September 26, I can’t help but hope for a Koei Tecmo partner showcase with details about that and a release date for Persona 5 Scramble.

Anyway, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is due out on November 20. Are you interested in it?

New Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory Details

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Sep 072020
 

With Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory on the horizon, Square Enix recently answered questions in several interviews about what fans can expect.

First up, let’s take a look at the interview with Game Informer. In it, the Melody of Memory team explains how the game came to be, the number of songs that will appear in the game (140), and how you’ll level up despite it being a rhythm game.

Nomura then explains some of the story details. Most of the narrative will be a trip through past events in the series, with Kairi acting as storyteller.

Kairi is the central character here, and she “is relevant to a very big part of the plot.” Nomura also goes on to say that Melody of Memory will not have as much story content as other Kingdom Hearts games, but will provide a glimpse of Kairi’s childhood as well as where the future of the series is going.

An interview with IGN mostly covers the same ground, but co-director Masanobu Suzui adds that the team was “very excited, very surprised” by the new story scenario.

Ever since the game was announced, some fans have complained about the next part of the story being put in a rhythm game, while others expect it will only have a short snippet of story at the very end. From the recent interviews, it sounds like it might be somewhere in between those two. Nomura reiterated in a PlayStation Japan interview, translated here, that it does not have a “great volume” of story, but that a new story was written for it. Apparently the rhythm gameplay specifically connects to the story in some way, too.

Meanwhile, he confirmed in that same interview that Melody of Memory and Master of Masters having the same acronym is intentional (as theorized back when the title was first revealed).

So it sounds like we’ll have two general story threads, one dealing with Kairi’s childhood and the other involving the Master of Masters and the future of the series. It will probably be a minor part of the game’s content, with most of Melody of Memory being focused on the rhythm gameplay and the music, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it has an unexpected twist judging by that quote about the team being “surprised.”

And in a Famitsu interview, translated here, Nomura mentioned that 2022 is the anniversary of Kingdom Hearts, the next game is already in development, and upcoming announcements will surprise us.

Personally, I can’t wait!

Mixed news for fans hoping for Kingdom Hearts on the Switch, though – the question came up in an interview with Nintendo Enthusiast, and Nomura said porting Kingdom Hearts games to the Switch would be “technologically difficult,” but that he likes the Switch and “another game of his” could potentially come to it.

What games could he have in mind? If Kingdom Hearts is is a challenge to port to the Switch, I can’t imagine he means the Final Fantasy VII Remake… so I’ll go back to hoping for a The World Ends With You 2 announcement.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is being set up as the game that will bridge the Dark Seeker Saga to the next saga. I’m looking forward to playing it when it comes out this November. How do you feel about Melody of Memory?

Mixed Feelings on Super Mario 3D All-Stars

 Video games  7 Responses »  Tagged with:
Sep 042020
 

Instead of holding a big Nintendo Direct, Nintendo’s strategy lately has been to release smaller presentations like the partner showcases.

Yesterday, they continued the trend by dropping a surprise Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct.

The Direct was full of Mario announcements, including a new Mario Kart entry that uses real toy karts racing around your house as you play the game (which I probably won’t get, but absolutely would have wanted as a kid), and the much-rumored Switch ports of the 3D Mario games.

Super Mario 3D World is getting its own separate Switch release with new content called Bowser’s Fury, but the announcement I was most interested in was Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection of Super Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy, plus an in-game music collection.

(But not Super Mario Galaxy 2. It didn’t even show up in the montage of Mario games at the end!)

I wasn’t surprised that all three games look pretty much like straight ports. I wasn’t surprised by the $60 price tag, either. I could see them easily pricing Super Mario Galaxy at $30 or $40 if it was a standalone release, for example.

And when they said the physical edition would be limited, I was disappointed but not surprised… until I realized they also said the digital version is limited. Super Mario 3D All-Stars will be out on September 18, but it will only be sold up through March 31, 2021.

Why?

Why make even the digital release limited?

A moment later, I had my answer, because I immediately went from, “I’ve played the originals, so I don’t know if I really want this,” to, “But I only have until March to decide, so maybe I’d better get them!” Being available for a limited amount of time might make people more inclined to buy them who would have otherwise waited.

My other theory is that after March 31, all three will appear as individual purchases on the eShop at a higher price all together. Since they haven’t announced that, however, the “fear of missing out” theory still applies even if they do release them separately.

Some fans have defended the decision, saying it’s supposed to be limited since it’s an anniversary celebration and past All-Stars releases were like this, but I still don’t like it.

This has left me conflicted. On one hand, I don’t know if I want to re-buy slightly three games I already have just because they’re on a newer console. On the other hand, I feel I should buy them just in case I do decide I want to replay them. But then, that makes me feel like I’m being manipulated into buying them, and then I don’t want to.

At least I have until March to decide. How do you feel about the Super Mario 3D All-Stars Collection?

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