The Last Smash Bros.-specific Direct and My "Predictions"

Normally, I shy away from doing any speculation or predictions for Super Smash Bros. as I had done quite a lot of that back in 2006-2007 with Super Smash Bros. Brawl and I got really burned by that. My hype was way too out of control so since then I have made a conscious effort to stay out of these kinds of discussions with the new games.

In addition, I simply cannot stand the type of discussions these games foster now pre-release and the behavior/attitudes brought out in people. Selfishness comes full force when discussing what characters are going to be in the game and it's all about nonsense theories and rules.

Thankfully, today, I'm not going to be talking about any of that and instead I'm going to focus merely on what I think this final presentation will contain. Everyone is doing this and seeing as it's the last Smash-focused/Smash-centered one I thought I might share my own perspective as someone who is very connected to the Smash Community.

For starters, I have two plausible scenarios. This is the reason why I say "predictions" in the title of this because with two scenarios there's no way I can necessarily be wrong . . . other than what each of my scenario's details contain or list. So, with that disclaimer out of the way let's get right into what I think will happen and what may be announced.

Scenario One

The first scenario basically boils down to the idea this is literally the last amount of DLC we are getting for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS. This means, this presentation will be going over Cloud and then announcing two other characters that will be released the same day as Cloud. And those three characters will close out the DLC and be the third character bundle. Seems to make sense to me.

But if that's the case, what are the other two characters in this possible scenario? I think it'll be:

Wolf

Inkling

And with another stage coming, it would make sense if along with Inkling a stage based on Splatoon was created.

Now, why do I think it's these two characters under this scenario and not say, Wolf and Snake or Wolf and King K. Rool?

Because if this is the last DLC and another Smash Bros. won't be coming for quite some time they may want to capitalize on Splatoon's popularity now rather than miss the boat on it 3-4 years later in the next installment.

As for Wolf, it just makes sense. The character would be promoting Star Fox Zero and he is a well liked veteran despite any similarities he may share with Fox/Falco. And if they actually go the extra mile to give him a new Final Smash with his Wolfen (instead of a made-up Star Wolf-colored Landmaster) then that would do a lot good to both types of players (competitive and casual alike). Not to mention the chances of changing his looks to make him look more like his appearance in the upcoming Star Fox Zero rather than what he looked like in Command (which I believe is what Brawl based him on).

On top of that, there's always been a veteran included in the DLC thus far and it would be incredibly silly on Sakurai's part to completely ignore Wolf -- a character that would be very easy to remake in Smash 4 and maybe make some other changes to the character's specials (though I don't really expect this given one of his specials is a custom for Fox).

So, that's pretty much the first scenario. It's not surprising that it would be possible for this to be a presentation about the last DLC and said DLC is dropping after the presentation. After all, it has been since June we got any new characters.

Let's also not forget that they've technically been working on DLC for this game for a year now (work on Mewtwo, we know for a fact, started as early as October last year) so it's not surprising if this is the last batch of DLC as they can't keep the team chained up to this game for another 3-4 months in 2016.

Scenario Two

This second plausible scenario is based on the idea that what comes out after the presentation is not the final DLC but rather what they have completed to be released this year. Sakurai will go into detail about all the DLC coming after the presentation and then he will dive right into talking about the Ballot as well as elaborate on further DLC plans.

If this is what happens, then the characters that would be released after the presentation (besides Cloud) would be:

Wolf

??? (could be any of Inkling, King K. Rool, or whoever else was a very vocal popular choice since the Ballot started).

Why is the second character up in the air in this instance? Because then Inkling would still have a very good chance/possibility of being part of a different character bundle in 2016 so Inkling wouldn't be as much of a given in this second scenario where DLC is continuing until at least Spring 2016.

After revealing and talking about those characters, Sakurai will talk about the Ballot and then discuss what that means for the next wave of DLC. Here is where it is possible they will show one or two WIP character models of characters they got suggestions from the ballot. Or, maybe not show any models and just state who they are -- in either case, we will know at least one or two definitively to get us excited about the next wave of DLC in 2016.

Who would those characters be? It honestly depends on who ??? ends up being for us to download after the presentation is over.

How many characters would it be, then? I can't really predict that, to be honest. Three more additional characters for a total of six from now until Spring 2016 would seem reasonable to me. And those additional three would be pulled from the Ballot so as to actually make fans feel like they had influenced something. There has to be some kind of pay off to that Ballot now rather than in 3-4 years  (or however long) when the next Smash game starts development. I firmly believe the Ballot will be talked about in either scenario but it's much more likely in this one than the first just because of the whole "we have more DLC in store for you in 2016!"

So, that's the second scenario. Obviously, with each there will be Mii Costumes and stages but who honestly cares to predict those things? I don't.

Ultimately, Sakurai will surprise us one way or another but it's always kind of interesting to air out these kinds of thoughts -- even if they wind up being wrong in the end. I would say both my scenarios sound reasonable in their own ways but the first scenario seems the most likely from a realistic standpoint when you factor in the time Sakurai and his smaller team (remember they cut the team down after they wrapped up Smash Wii U) have been working on patches and DLC since last year.

But we will see and it should be exciting regardless. I would be happy with three characters releasing after the presentation, especially because one of them is Cloud. Exciting times ahead for us indeed!

My Top 5 Changes and Additions I want to see in Twilight Princess HD

As we all now know from the Direct from yesterday (Nov. 12, 2015) The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD was announced. Along with it an amiibo and the fact that it will also be compatible with the other Smash Zelda amiibos (Toon Link, Zelda, Link, Sheik, and Ganondorf specifically). They showed off a trailer showing the texture improvements as well as the resolution but nothing else so far. They ended it on an implication that there will be gameplay adjustments as well as other tweaks to the game similar to previous 3D Zelda game remasters (such as Ocarina of Time 3D, Wind Waker HD, and Majora's Mask 3D).

There's a lot that could be said about what to change or add to Twilight Princess so I'm keeping it to my top 5 so this doesn't go on for so long. This will include mode additions as well.

5. Faster Animations and/or quicker movement for certain actions

Twilight Princess' gameplay in dungeons and so forth suffers from being a bit slow compared to most other Zeldas because of certain actions or animations taking too long. It often feels very clunky to go back to these slower movement speeds compared to games like MM, OoT, WWHD, and the more recently released Skyward Sword. While TP's default movement speed is fine it's specific actions such as vine climbing, ladder climbing, getting up from ledges, shimmying on ledges, and so on. This is at the bottom of my list because it isn't necessarily a want but more of a requirement and something I expect to happen because WWHD saw similar changes with things like the grappling hook grappling onto ledges faster and other speedier animation changes.

What they could do to these specifically is shift the A button's "Let Go" command to B and then add a "Climb Faster" functionality to the A button. It would feel very natural and be very similar to Skyward Sword except there wouldn't be a stamina meter (which is fine because TP wouldn't be balanced with a stamina meter in mind if they attempted to add it). This would cover most of the actions related to climbing and shimmying. Other changes would likely just involve cutting down on the time it takes to complete the animation much like the grappling hook change in WWHD.

4. Hero Mode and Boss Rush Mode

This is basically another given that will happen (well, Boss Rush mode is less so a given since it has only been in one remaster and that was OoT3D). The Hero Mode would marginally address the difficulty issues players have with the original release -- mainly that TP was just far too easy. A Boss Rush mode would simply allow players to refight bosses all in a row from Diababa to Ganondorf final phase. I would love if it also included mini-bosses since some of TP's mini-bosses feel like actual bosses themselves but I don't expect it. In addition to the Rush aspect you would also be able to fight the bosses individually similar to OoT3D where you could choose to fight a boss from a menu instead of just the Rush aspect. It would be a good idea to add the Boss Rush/Boss Mode because there's no way to refight the bosses in TP without just starting a fresh save file again.

Ideally, Hero Mode would involve x4 the damage from enemies and bosses (since enemies and by extension bosses do such pitiful damage in TP) and no hearts in grass/pots. It would be even better if they completely removed fairies from pots as well but I know for a fact they won't go that far even if it would do a lot of good to force the player to actually spend ruppees. Especially since there's never really a moment in TP where you feel like you'll run out of ruppees (except for one Heart Piece in Castle Town). It would do a lot of good to make ruppees meaningful if it meant you had to buy fairies at shops instead of the easy way out of getting a fairy in a dungeon for free or right before the boss door.

In addition, it would be great if they took the Wii mirrored world and applied it to Hero Mode much like they mirrored the world in OoT3D's MQ (Master Quest). The work is already done for it so why not? If they don't, it's no great loss to me, though.

Oh and obviously Hero Mode should be available from the start like in WWHD.

3. Hyrule Field has no loading zones, completely "open world"

Nintendo touted Hyrule Field as a big world back before TP was being released. Sadly, the world didn't feel very open or connected because it was broken up into small areas by loading zones. It's understandable that areas like Lake Hylia and Kakariko Village would be broken off with loading zones because these areas are very self-contained with their own events and AI to maintain. However, Hyrule Field itself was broken up into pieces and it felt very disjointed. Going from the first part of Hyrule Field you enter into and heading to the East you would find yourself coming to an awkwardly placed loading zone -- a road going off way farther than it actually does when you pass through it on the other side. It's very jarring.

Removing the loading zones in at least Hyrule Field would make the overworld more of a joy to run around in and create a sense of a more connected world. Even if they leave places like Kakariko Village with loading zones it will still do a lot of good for the game. It will also make hunting for bugs out in the field much less of an annoyance. And it would give us a "preview" of what an open world Zelda might be like (even if it's just, like I said, Hyrule Field without any loading zones).

This is another change likely to happen because Aonuma (or Miyamoto?) commented on having done this in their early tests for a 3D Zelda game to remaster back in 2013's Direct before they went ahead and chose Wind Waker to give the HD treatment. Undoubtedly Nintendo would have this in their list of changes they gave to Tantalus. It's just a matter of making sure it works well and doesn't cause any long-term issues (which it shouldn't).

2. Streamlining the Tears of Light Sections

This really should be my number one but you'll see why it isn't in a moment. The Tears of Light portions of Twilight Princess are infamously bad. They are a complete slog and not fun the first time through the game and they're not fun on replays (even if they are shorter because you know where they all are located). However, the Tears of Light sections are deeply rooted into the game's narrative so it's hard to say if they will actually touch them at all -- quite a few of the Tears are attached to scripted sequences and one of them is even a boss! So, obviously they couldn't remove those parts of the Tears.

However, I am a firm believer they could streamline these so the player isn't spending as much time as many commonly did in the original release. Probably the best way to accomplish this is simply cutting down the sections by a few tears. Remove some of the extraneous tears, the ones that aren't attached to scripted sequences. Of course, they have to keep some of the non-scripted ones but there's enough of them in each section where they could remove like three or four and the game would be all the better for it. These sections really stay far longer than they are welcome, especially because these sections comprise at least 3-4 hours of the beginning of the game! In fact, it's because of the first Tears of Light collecting you don't even get to the first dungeon until at least well into the first 2-3 hours of the game.

These sections are extremely similar to the Triforce Quest in Wind Waker. They pad the game out for the first three dungeons and they are not fun. Playing as Wolf Link in other parts of the game is more enjoyable but during these parts he is not fun -- it makes returning to TP dreadful and I hope Nintendo was aware enough to jot down some ideas on how to streamline these sections for Tantalus. Otherwise, slogging through these again will just be a solid reminder that the beginning of TP (the first 8 hours) is just a mess.

1. Streamline the Introduction (aka from Ordon Village to Obtaining the Sword)

What most people remember the most from Twilight Princess is not the final boss. No, what people remember the most (in a not so fond way) is the beginning first two hours of it -- from when Link starts in Ordon Village to obtaining his sword (some people even consider up to when you get to the first dungeon as well). The beginning is terribly notorious for being overloaded with unnecessary tutorials, hand-holding the player, and particularly bloated with story (though you can skip cutscenes as you wish, but that still doesn't cut down the beginning very much). Yes, it makes sense for the beginning of the game to establish characters and story but this is Zelda and an introduction in Zelda should take no more than 10 minutes -- hell, even less than that if A Link to the Past is anything to go by.

Twilight Princess' beginning introduces a ton of characters that have no plot relevancy the moment you leave Ordon Village. You spend time with these characters through the course of "3 days" (as denoted by the game, not real life 3 days time) and help them with various boring chores. The chores are meant to act as tutorials but. . . unfortunately these chores barely reflect what you will actually be doing inside dungeons and in Hyrule Field.

You have to rescue a baby from a monkey, fish for a cat to get some food (you get the slingshot for doing this if I remember correctly, either that or it's a free bottle), you use a hawk to knock down a bee hive for a man who wants the honey, herd goats (twice!), "show off your skills" to some random kids (where only one of them has any plot relevancy later in the game), and rescue one of the kids which acts as a combat tutorial with your sword.

A majority of these chores, no, 90% of these tutorials are completely irrelevant to the game after Ordon. You never interact with these characters again (save for a few) and what they teach you can already be figured out on your own or don't teach you anything (such as the hawk nonsense). Most of these tutorials have no application in the game anywhere after you have completed them -- they are only there to blurt out story and try to give us a reason or motivation to go after Illia. Which, frankly, in a Zelda game the player barely needs any reason/motivation to rescue anyone.

Anyway, my suggestion for streamlining the introduction is simply this: in the dialogue tree of any of the villagers you have to help, at the end, they need to ask "Will you do this for me?" And you will be given a Yes/No option. If you pick No, you will skip the chore entirely and continue onto the next story beat/tutorial. The player misses nothing important to the narrative, only skipping the completely unnecessary tutorial. The only thing this would not apply to would be the second time you have to herd Goats as it is essentially a requirement because story happens during it if I recall correctly. But you could absolutely apply it to the first time you have to herd goats.

If you pick Yes, you will obviously have to do the chore/tutorial for the person. Anything that has a "reward" attached to it for doing it would either be required (so you may have to still do the fishing) or something the player can return to do before leaving Ordon on the 3rd day.

If they do not touch the introduction to the game at all, this HD remaster was a completely missed opportunity to remove some of TP's blemishes and frankly would be extremely disappointing. But unlike the Tears of Light sections, I have some optimism for this to be altered in the way I want as Nintendo is keenly aware TP had pacing issues at the beginning of the game and they have long since trying to get away from long introduction sequences in Zelda games (see: A Link Between Worlds and even to some extent Skyward Sword, though its intro is still one of the longer ones but not as egregious as TP).

Honorable Mention

Yes I have an honorable mention and it's more of a personal desire than something I expect them to do and I'm sure I'm the only person who really wants this...

Unlockable Ordon Clothes Upon Save File Completion

You read that correctly. I want the clothes Link wears while in Ordon Village at the beginning of the game to be obtainable in the same way Link in Wind Waker wears his pajamas after you've beaten the game once and save to a new save file slot. Just imagine the hilarity of seeing Ordon clothed Link in cutscenes and especially in serious ones or vs Ganondorf! It would be great and give a reason to play TP a second time. I thought for sure they would do this in the original release but alas they did not.

It would be even more amazing if they gave you the shirtless option as well (the version of the outfit Link wears in the wrestling mini-game vs the villager Bo to obtain the Iron Boots). It would be a great combination of fan service and add comedic value.

So, those are my Top 5 changes and additions I want to see in Twilight Princess HD. Do you agree with my list? Is there something you think is more deserving instead? What are your top 5 changes or additions? Sound off in the comments! (If you want...)

Reflecting on Satoru Iwata - A Legend in the Video Game Industry

As reported yesterday Satoru Iwata, the CEO of Nintendo, passed away on July 11, 2015. Most people knew he was having health problems and he had not participated at E3 to have surgery for his bile duct growth. Unfortunately, while it was reported the surgery was a success it seems the unpredictable happened and it took his life regardless. The magnitude of his death is still being felt today.

Personally, Iwata was a big part of my childhood growing up and even now. I still play video games, I still play the ones he had a huge part in (Super Smash Bros., Kirby, Pokemon, Mario, and so on), and I still cherish all the smiles and laughs his contributions brought me. It's extremely depressing to know the man who played a role in how you grew up is now gone -- he didn't even get to live life to the fullest.

While I did, for part of my childhood, play SEGA games it was when I moved onto the N64 I discovered Nintendo's franchises and loved them. From Super Mario 64 to Mario Kart 64 to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I was mystified and couldn't pull myself away from them for hours at a time. Those were the years I played video games every day.

The first game I can recall where Iwata had directly contributed to that I played was Kirby's Adventure. I remember my parents having bought a used NES sometime after we had a 64 and we eventually went out to buy a couple of NES games for it. Things like Baseball, Mega Man 3, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Kirby's Adventure. The last game of the bunch is the one I remember the most fondly.

Kirby's Adventure was a game which I felt so accomplished for playing through it, I specifically remember smiling the whole time I was playing it. My memory is fuzzy on my entire playthrough but I will never forget towards the end of the game.  I struggled with the end of the game and when I finally beat King DeDeDe I thought that was it but then . . . the game surprised me! I had another boss and then another to beat! Needless to say, the final, final boss gave me the most trouble.

At the time, I thought the final boss was "dracula" (since back then, I didn't have the manual for Kirby's Adventure -- I know now it's Nightmare) or something. And it legitimately kind of frightened me -- however, when the music kicked in I knew I had to beat him. As a kid, this boss was no joke -- Kirby games have always been considered relatively easy but when you're young, they can actually be pretty difficult. I remember Nightmare took me several tries to beat and when I finally did it, I jumped up triumphantly and smiled. I felt so accomplished that day . . . like I could do anything if I put my mind to it. It was one of the first few games I ever completed on my own without any help from anyone.

It's moments like that Iwata created. Even if he wasn't the one behind Nightmare itself, he was part of that project and if it weren't for him Kirby's Adventure probably wouldn't have been what it was -- what it became (became as in a long-standing franchise following the same theme of just plain old fun). I'm sure without Iwata, Earthbound wouldn't have ever touched the hearts of thousands of people because it wouldn't have ever come out. His work as a programmer has touched the lives of many.

Moments like when you first beat the Pokemon League in Pokemon Gold/Silver and go back to Prof. Elm only to be told you can visit Kanto -- for the first time -- were only possible because of Iwata. Pokemon Stadium was only possible because of Iwata. These games would have either been completely different or not even existed without him. And it's because these games existed and we played them . . . he partially shaped who we are today.

That's all I wanted to say on this -- may you rest in peace, Satoru Iwata. You will always be remembered for the smiles and fun you've given everyone.

Don't just Spectate, become a Player (Super Smash Bros. Competitive Community)

In the ever growing Super Smash Bros. tournament community there's a large amount of spectators on live streams. As stream production quality goes up and numbers continue to rise it becomes harder to get said spectators to participate at in-person tournaments. In other words, they are less willing to go when they feel they have a "front-row seat" so to speak.

However, from the perspective of someone who was a player for a time and is now more of a spectator I will tell you upfront: spectating doesn't come close to the magic of being in-person at these tournaments. Tournaments aren't just a place for you to enter, go 0-2, and then leave. No, tournaments are more than that.

Tournaments are a social gathering where people of all races, genders, and ages can get together and play Smash -- like a family. That essence of family hasn't been lost with the growth spurt the community has had in the last two years. You can, if you go to a tournament, still walk up to someone like Mang0 and say "Hello, I'm so and so, want to play some friendlies?" and he will more than likely say yes if he's not busy or anything. That's how tight-knit the community is, you won't get turned down just because you're new.

Additionally, tournaments are a place for you to have fun. Fun should be your number one priority when you go to a tournament. Don't be so concerned with how you do, that's often what discourages you from going to another one. In other words, don't focus on results and you will both learn something and have fun in the process.

For me, I didn't start going to tournaments until I was around 17. I had been a casual observer of the competitive community for quite awhile until Brawl dropped. Then, when Brawl dropped, I was one of those new players that wanted to get in through Brawl. I lucked out in how I became a player because I was able to connect with someone who lived in my area via Smashboards and carpool with him to a tournament.

My first tournament is very fuzzy but I wasn't focused on my results when I went. I went to play the best I could, meet some new people, and have a good time. I don't remember what my singles placing was (shows how much I cared about it) but my teams placing was 2nd place. I had teamed with the person I carpooled with and we were up against Overswarm and someone else. I haven't forgotten what that set was like -- the thrill of playing against someone who was pretty notable all the while making a surprising splash in the local scene was something else. I walked away feeling really good and wanted to go again -- thankfully, the tournament was a series and would happen again a few months later.

While locals are definitely easier to go to and should be your first tournament, a major isn't bad to attend if you live right near it. I only went to one major before I had to focus on college and that was FC-Legacy in 2012. Majors are where the magic and feeling of family really takes place, to be honest. The atmosphere is completely different from a local because you have the chance of meeting people you see all the time on streams. And it feels like you know them even though you haven't spoken to them once.

When I attended FC-Legacy I met and spoke to the following people (at some point): Mang0, Axe, Samox, Strong Bad, VaNz, Chillindude, and a few others. Each of them had zero issues with speaking to me, wanting to play friendlies, or give me advice on how I played. It really felt like we had been friends for years. If there's one thing I truly regret about my time at FC-Legacy, it was the fact that I could have also spoken to people like Kage, Hungrybox, Juggleguy, GimR, and Darkrain. At the time I was still a little nervous even though I had no issues with someone like Mang0. I didn't take advantage of the opportunity and it's something I'll likely always regret until I get a chance to go to another major and finally meet them. Basically, don't waste your opportunity if you go to a major with people you want to meet -- talk to them! It's part of the magic of being a player at a tournament.

All in all, FC-Legacy is a tournament I haven't forgotten either because it was really well ran. I entered the Project M event there (it was one of the first big tournaments for it) and decided not to enter Melee because I had issues playing it at the time. Seeing players like Axe, Darkrain, Mang0, and even Chillin play in person is way different from just watching them on a computer screen. It feels more personal and you feel way more strongly attached to what's happening both in-game and in front of you. Since I got knocked out early I got to watch a very large portion of matches and play a lot of friendlies. This let me connect with other Smashers when I otherwise wouldn't have if I hadn't gone to FC-Legacy and I'll never forget it.

To wrap this up, what I'm suggesting spectators should do is to become a player. If you have the ability to do it, do it. If you are younger and don't have a means of transportation, talk to someone on Smashboards or in your local Facebook group. If your parents are a blockade, well... lie a little if you must. Say you know the person driving you from school, say the tournament is hosted by a bunch of friends. Or, you can go the extra mile and try to have the Tournament Organizer (TO) talk to your parents -- TOs are no stranger to having to do that at some point. Do whatever it takes to go out to a tournament at least once. You won't regret it and it will be something you'll remember forever. Provided, you properly take advantage of your time there. If all you do is walk around, watch, and say nothing to anyone you won't remember it fondly and it will have been a wasted opportunity. Get out there! It doesn't matter how good you are, everyone is willing and able to help you improve and it's all a very positive atmosphere. Become a player... just once.

Mario Party 10 - The Car Needs to Go

Normally, I'm not one to talk about a game I haven't played but in this particular instance I feel I have an obligation to talk about it. The main reason why is because Mario Party is a series I grew up with and is a series I still play whenever I get friends together to do so (though we're always playing the Nintendo 64 ones for the most part). It is still a series I'd like to see continue but only if they removed the car from the regular Mario Party mode.

Why the Car is Bad

Let's get this out of the way first. The car is bad for the following reasons:

• Removes strategy to a significant degree.
• Loss of player control, everyone moves together.
• Less choices to make.
• Board design suffers.
• Economic system (mini-stars instead of coins/stars) completely changed to accommodate for everyone being together.
• Shorter overall game time.

I will go over each of those reasons more in-depth.

Removes strategy to a significant degree

This one is what will take the longest to explain. Everyone who has played Mario Party (MP) before likely believes that it is entirely luck based to begin with and that there's very little or no strategy anyway This could not be further from the truth. Mario Party has a surprising amount of depth to it if you make yourself familiar with a particular MP. I have played Mario Party 2, 3, and 5 the most out of any of them and every time I play any of those entries in the series with friends the amount of choices I can make for each one to accomplish what I want in order to win is insane. You have to not just think about your current move but also 5 turns ahead -- planning for bonus stars at the end (like intentionally landing on Happening Spaces) or planning on going to Boo to steal coins from your friends. There's so many options I can't begin to list them all.

The car reduces the strategy because you're all together, you can't possibly go on your own path because the next person in line will want to go somewhere else and has other goals. It doesn't help that the boards are linear anyway (which I will talk about later). You're limited to just hitting the dice block aiming for a 5 or a 6 roll to get the car moving somewhere. And frankly, just hitting the dice block to land on a space to cause something bad to happen isn't very strategic in the first place. It's watered down strategy -- what does that mean? It means that the strategy has been simplified. They've made it so hitting the dice block is the most important strategy, the focus, of the board game instead of having all these external factors laid out on the boards like in the previous games in the series. Or, even having different items to use. They purposely made it focused on the dice block and by putting the players together it compacts the amount of decision-making you have. It means the choice you make on your turn can be overruled by the next person in line and that's simply not okay. It effectively removes the person's strategy and it means any strategy you make has to be on your turn rather than making plans for the future like in previous Mario Party games.

Loss of Player Control

This ties into the above in that now you can't move on your own, you only have two choices: hit the dice block or pick a dice block item and hit that dice block instead. Yeah, sometimes you might come to a fork in the road and have to choose which path to go but that gives the illusion of choice and lack of board linearity. Ultimately, the decision doesn't change anything significantly and it once again is simplifying strategy -- go the bad path and bad things will happen to your other members in the vehicle. Go the good path and good things will happen to your other members in the vehicle. Instead of the more complex thought processes you had to make in previous Mario Party games to be successful in the long-run because not a single path was simply defined as "good" or "bad", every path had different colored spaces and event-like spaces (Bowser space, Chance time, etc).

In other words, the player has way less control over not just themselves but also what happens to them. In previous Mario Party entries, it was chaos but controlled chaos -- if you knew the game well enough and were skilled at the mini-games you could control your fate towards the end of the game. The only way your fate could be changed is by another player, which is what made the previous games so good. You had the choice to dick over your friends. Whereas in this game (and 9) you have less control over being able to dick over your friends and your decision can even dick yourself over. You're not safe in being able to dick over your friends and that's part of this player control aspect that the previous entries had for the board games. When separated it allowed you to be safe to do whatever you wanted but now that you're together it's impossible to do what you actually want to do.

Less Choices to Make

This was covered very briefly in the above section. Basically, you only really have the choice to hit the dice block. There's no items besides just different dice blocks and the spaces you land on there's only about 3 to 4 different types of spaces: the typical red and blue spaces, the VS. space (mini-games), and one other event-space that I can't recall off the top of my head (because I haven't played MP10). Anyway, because there's less unique spaces overall there's less chances for you to even use the dice block to land on a space that will negatively affect the next person in line. You might as well just blindfold yourself, hit the dice block and see what happens on every turn. There's literally not much decision making in this game and Mario Party 9.

Board Design Suffers

This one is going to be extremely quick and straight to the point: the boards are all linear. This is because everyone is in a vehicle and they want everyone to go the same path so they don't waste time going in circles or the game goes on for too long etc etc. They are trying to merge the regular Mario titles' overworld themes with Mario Party which also includes throwing in mini-bosses and Bowser Castles to simulate like you're playing New Super Mario Bros. Basically, they want the board game to be more streamlined so you don't spend over an hour or two playing the board game.

But here's the thing: no one complained about how long the board games lasted. If anything, people hate how they've completely gutted mini-games from the board mode (making them spaces rather than happening every turn). This makes it so you rarely get mini-games which means the board game becomes way more about luck than skill. It heavily weighs on it because then at that point you only get mini-stars from the board rather than the skill-based mini-games. Which I don't even need to say it's bad for you to know it's bad.

As a result of the boards being linear, there's less choices to make, less time spent playing the board game, and you're always doing the same thing for the same board. In previous MP games, if you picked a board it was for its hazards or gimmicks or what have you and those parts of the board not only changed how every board game played out but because the boards weren't linear you never went the same path or made the same decisions. Why? Because there's a wide array of choices you can make in a non-linear Mario Party board.

Basically, linear boards = less player choice.

Economic System

The economic system in the most recent Mario Party's (9 and 10) is just awful. It's built this way because they didn't want the players to try and get a star together -- it simply wouldn't work with the car. Coins and stars can only work when the players are separated because then getting to the star isn't luck based where if they tried to put the coins and stars system for the car mode it would be all up to luck who had enough coins and then who gets the star (because the player has to land on the space for the star).

However, the mini-stars are not a good solution either. They're not a good solution because they're just as easy to accumulate as coins were in previous Mario Party's which means it's more likely for someone to catch up based on pure luck. Nothing bad happening to a player means they will soon catch up with their mini-star count. Again, 9 and 10 are focused more on watering down strategy and putting it all up to luck to streamline the board game experience (when the series didn't need streamlining to begin with).

Shorter Overall Game Time

This doesn't need to be explained extensively. By making linear boards and everyone is together there's less time spent doing other things and more time spent everyone being pushed along to reach the end goal of the board. They've cut mini-games from happening every turn, they removed external factors like Boo and other NPCs, they've cut down on the amount of event-spaces (things like Bowser Spaces, Chance Time, Happening Spaces, etc.) As a result, a board game can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 45 compared to previous Mario Party's where a board game could last anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half (depending on the amount of turns). That isn't bad at all and I'm not sure why the developers felt the need to make the board games shorter but that's what their goal was with this car, I guess.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the car is bad and needs to go. It needs to go because in order for it to work they had to basically gut everything that was good about Mario Party to make it happen. Mini-games happen less, there's less decision-making, boards are more boring, there's less control over what happens, there's more luck involved, and the most fun experience of Mario Party: dicking over your friends is more difficult. Luck dicks over your friends more than you do in Mario Party 9 and 10.

If NDCube (the developers) want to keep the car somehow then I recommend putting Bowser Party in every Mario Party from now on. The reason is because that mode at least works with it and is actually fun (from what I've seen). I mean, I would be interested in a Bowser Party where people are separated but I'd rather the regular mode be that than Bowser Party. Hopefully, from the much more negative and vocal response to Mario Party 10 NDCube (if they do Mario Party 11) will take the hint and ditch the car for the regular mode and go back to how Mario Party's 4-7 were done -- no car, no linear boards, and no mini-stars. If they did that, I would come back to it. Until then, I will keep playing Mario Party 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7.

The Satisfaction of Majora's Mask's Time System (3-Day Cycle)

Majora's Mask in 2000

Over 15 years ago, the original Majora's Mask launched on the Nintendo 64. It was met with mixed reception, many fans liked it while many others disliked it. Back then, people had high expectations for the next Zelda game -- who didn't? The follow-up to Ocarina of Time had to be something amazing, right? Well, instead we got this weird and quirky game in Majora's Mask.

I remember when it came out and my brother wanted to get it as soon as possible. We got it as soon as it launched as the copy of the game we have is the gold cart with the holographic imagery that changed what the characters were doing when you moved the cart at certain angles. Of course, I was much younger than my brother at the time and only watched him play it for awhile before I decided to mess around with the game.

When I played Majora's Mask, I actually never set out to do anything in my brother's save file. I didn't want to mess anything up so all I did was goof around. Whether that was just getting him ruppees and storing them in the bank, running around Termina Field, swimming in the Great Bay as a Zora (probably one of my fondest times with the game back then), or even messing around with the masks he had. I wondered how he got so many masks but I never dared to do anything to progress in the game because it was his save file.

In other words, in 2000, I never actually played Majora's Mask properly. Instead, I played it in a way where I made my own fun with it. Thus, the time system never really bothered me but I definitely remember not liking it that much. And it was because of me goofing around in my brother's save file I never bothered to actually... start my own save file and play -- I think part of me was intimidated by the time system and everything so I just stuck to my brother's save file and goofed around where I could save whenever I wanted without any worry.

Unfortunately, this meant that I would never see the ending of the game, how the temples were completed, how to get masks, etc etc. And not just that, but my brother never even finished the game back then either (to my recollection). Other games came out and took priority. Of course, he revisited the game at some point and finished it but ... me? Nope, I didn't. I never went back to it. That was until now.

Revisiting Majora's Mask 15 Years Later

With the 3DS release of Majora's Mask officially announced in December I knew I had to play it. I had been holding off on going back to the N64 original in the hopes a 3DS release (like OoT3D) would happen. And it did! I bought it day 1 and have been playing it on my Majora's Mask 3DSXL I bought from Best Buy. Currently, I've completed three of the four major temples and I'm on my way to the fourth temple at the moment.

That said, let me talk about Majora's Mask itself coming from a player who never actually played it beyond goofing around in the game world. The 3DS version has made some significant changes to it that certainly help people like myself get into the game but it's not enough to the point where I feel I am being told I'm too stupid to know where to go or what to do. Figuring out stuff on my own in this game feels so rewarding, especially with respect to side quests.

However, I should mention that by watching speedrunners go through the game I have already spoiled the game significantly for myself over the years. But playing through this, there are definitely things I have gotten stuck on despite that -- likely because speedrunners tend to skip large portions of MM by doing bomb hovers and the like. There are certainly instances where I've thought back to a speedrun and it helped me remember what to do but there are also instances where I actually can't rely on that and have to figure it out for myself.

Therefore, this is the case with many of the side quests and also managing my time. The 3-Day Cycle is something that gives the player so much satisfaction it's unreal -- at least, for me. You have to plan your cycle ahead of time, almost like what you do in the real world when you're planning your week or a single day. In 3-Days, I want to accomplish this, this, and this -- do I have enough time to do all of that? And you'll say, yes, and then you'll think on it some more and wonder if you can add more to it. And as you complete the first three tasks you soon realize you still have a bit of time left in this cycle so why not go do this next or this next or this or etc etc.

The time system in Majora's Mask gives you satisfaction that you won't feel in any other game. To be able to accomplish so many things in the allotted time is a feeling you won't get in another game because MM is the only game that has a system like this. To be able to complete, say, three or four different side quests of varying length in a single cycle is really satisfying. You get the mask or heart piece you wanted and you look at the time and decide you want to do something else so you go back to your Bomber's Notebook and see what else you might be able to do. It's a brilliant system.

Heck, you can even probably squeeze in opening up a temple after you've done some side quests. I've done that multiple times throughout my playthrough of the game so far. It's really great to do it because that way if you feel you want to tackle the temple next you can then just reset the cycle and start the temple on Day 1 at 6 AM and have tons of time to finish the temple.

So, after revisiting Majora's Mask I have to say that the 3-Day Cycle really isn't as intimidating as I thought it was 15 years ago. I think, back then, I was so young that the timer just scared me. I didn't like the thought of getting a Game Over from the time running out and I'm sure many other people felt the same way. However, what I didn't realize as a kid was that you needed to apply thinking skills and strategy to the game -- you have to approach it way differently. Plan out the cycle and then follow the plan to a T. Don't waste any time dawdling about or else you will lose out precious time you find you might have needed later on in the cycle.

In that way, Majora's Mask was a game ahead of its time. The time system was far too innovative and advanced for most people at the time. It was different but different in a good way (but some people fail to recognize this and instead bash it for being different). It's a different time period now and the game is well liked by most because more people understood the game better as time has passed. It is unfortunate most games don't or haven't tried replicating this time system as it's really quite special and makes the world feel alive. It also gives the player a satisfaction that no other game can make a claim to -- satisfaction in time management. Everything just comes together so well in MM and I can't wait to finish it!

Dragon Ball Xenoverse - The Fanbase that Expects too Much

I'm not a hardcore Dragon Ball Z fan, I enjoy the series and buy any games that are good (like the Budokai HD Collection, Raging Blast 1, or Burst Limit) but I've been following Xenoverse's pre-release discussion and what not since at least November. They revealed a lot more about the game over the last few months (maybe even a little too much in terms of story spoilers) and it looks like it might be a return to form for Dragon Ball games. I mean, it has to be, right? Dimps is making it!

Even though Dimps is making it, which is what the fanbase has wanted since Raging Blast 2 (or you could even argue since Ultimate Tenkaichi), the fanbase for these games is still extremely displeased with some of the decisions the developers made for the game. I've been trawling/lurking boards like Kanzenshuu and the GameFAQs Xenoverse PS4 board and there's tons of nitpicking going on with the game. The nitpicking has showed up since it was revealed that the roster only had 47 characters, excluding Mira, Towa, and Demigra (the new characters in the game that the story centers around), and after it was discovered only one stage (the World Tournament stage) is available for local multiplayer.

Basically, after people came to terms with the above flaws with the game (the roster size is debatable as an actual flaw given the fact that each character is mostly unique and Dimps isn't known for making large rosters) more smaller issues started to get pointed out. These issues don't even impact the quality of the game but just nag at people who are, by and large, trying to have their cake and eat it too.  An example of this is: a full roster that focuses on just Z with every major or supporting character playable, a deep custom character creator, and a well balanced game. You can't have all of those whatsoever, character creators in fighting games wind up making the game imbalanced because everyone wants to just use their overpowered custom character and online, typically, doesn't restrict those in ranked. Something has to give, in terms of its breadth and depth.

That's what's happened with this game, Dimps chose to focus on creating a new story that involved our created characters -- something fans have been pleading and begging for... for years -- and Dimps' priority was rightly focused on those two aspects primarily. Those were the aspects of the game they're selling people on, not the combat, not the graphics, not the online multiplayer (though co-op is something they've been advertising, not so much PvP), and so on. Yet the fanbase wants everything to be just as polished and good as everything else for a game that likely wasn't given the budget or time to do that. It's fine to want it but to expect it is the issue and these people cry "lazy developers!" for it when that's farrrr and away from the truth.

The fact is, developers are given a certain amount of money and time to work on and make a game for a publisher. They do not have infinite time and money to do everything correctly for a single game, that's why sequels exist. Bandai Namco is, essentially, taking a big risk with this game because they've allotted Dimps more time than most DBZ games are given -- one can assume that also means they gave them more money to accomplish their goals for it. This means if this game doesn't meet their expectations then they won't budget the developers to do a sequel for next year or in 2017.

While the fanbase/community might be sick of not getting the full Z cast for a roster for any DBZ game since Budokai Tenkaichi 3, this is the way game development works. A first game is not going to get the full Z roster.

That also applies to the issue with respect to how local multiplayer has been handled in this game. My theory is that due to the backlash of Battle of Z last year Bandai Namco pushed/pressured Dimps to put in local multiplayer so they have that checked off -- even if it meant only one stage was possible for use. They didn't design the game for local multiplayer in the beginning, it clearly wasn't in their plans as evidenced by how the other stages are designed. Their priority had always been the story, online (co-op Parallel Quests and PvP), and the custom character system. So they did a half-baked local multiplayer to try and please/attract the players who only play or who do play local multiplayer. Unfortunately, it's not enough and is a legitimate flaw with the game.

What isn't a legitimate flaw, however, are things like Saiyans lacking fully animated tails as customizable options, Another nitpick that isn't an issue is lack of customizing auras (Dimps isn't known for allowing players to do this). The lack of beam struggles or "larger explosions" are also among the smaller issues with the game that, in the long-run, don't even matter and have legitimate reasons for their exclusion for this first game. They can figure out how to do beam struggles in a sequel and "larger explosions" can be put in when the game is solely on current gen consoles.

At the end of the day, the fanbase is far too divided and expects too much from game developers for DBZ games, which are basically low-budget games to begin with. They're not AAA games therefore to expect AAA polish is kind of ridiculous. The only way a DBZ game would get that is if DBZ games sold a lot more than they do now which... they won't. The pinnacle for DBZ will always be Budokai Tenkaichi 3 because of the PS2 and Wii's install bases allowing them to sell 4 million copies.

Again, this game was focusing on new things therefore features fans come to expect had to take a backseat (it's really clear if you just look at the game and see how much was put into the custom character stuff versus other aspects of the game).

Regardless of the pre-release circus and nonsense that's been going on since the Japanese release of the game, I am looking forward to picking it up next week and enjoying the new features that haven't been done in a DBZ game before in this way as well as the fighting engine Dimps has crafted.