Hello, Giant Bomb fam!

I haven’t posted a blog here in years, I’ve been on a pretty good gaming binge since the start of the year. I needed some place to gush about my nerdy hobby! Plus, let’s be honest, with all the news surround COVID-19, I really need an avenue to talk about something not so gutting. So, I’m going to talk a bit about the games I’ve played/been playing since the start of the year.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

I started off the year playing a remaster of a game, from one of my favourite franchises, which I’ve never really played before - The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. I say I’ve never really played it before, but that’s somewhat of a lie. I’ve played the original through the 3DS virtual console, but I never really got that far into it. The bulk of Link’s Awakening on the Nintendo Switch was a completely new experience for me, and I loved it. The abundant references to all things Nintendo, the dungeons, the music and the items you get were all on point. Plus, I really adore the visual style. It felt good playing a new 2D styled Zelda game. I really hope Nintendo continues to make new 2D Zelda games along with the new Breath of the Wild formula Zelda games for years to come.

Devil May Cry HD Collection

Yeah so, I initially intended to play through Devil May Cry 1-3 before going through DMC4 and DMC5...then I played about 20 minutes of DMC1. I quickly realized I can’t do it and skipped ahead to DMC3. I’ve heard many people say DMC2 is terrible so I just avoided it as well.

Like Link’s Awakening, I played DMC3 way back when on the PS2 but never got really far into it. The HD remaster looks quite nice overall, but the lack of certain cut scenes being remastered is super jarring. I didn’t remember the original game looking quite as bad, but I guess that’s expected jumping ahead two generations. Overall I really enjoyed DMC3, the combat is quite fun and switching between the different styles, mixed with the different weapon combinations, offered up a lot of diversity in the gameplay. The only thing I was bummed out about was the camera. It’s pretty horrendous and hasn’t aged well, so much so that I had to quit after about an hour of playing on normal difficult and restarted the game on easy difficulty.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I’m juggling my time right now between three games, I might as well call it Haz Plays: Three Games. Fire Emblem: Three Houses was the first one I started after I finished DMC3. It’s been really enjoyable, albeit having only spent a short amount of time on it thus far. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about all the classroom and stats management of all the students in the garreg mach monastery, but I’m finding that I’m really liking it. I’m still working out all the intricacies of the game’s levelling systems, students’ goals, relationship management, classroom management and obtaining certificates (reclassing). This is on top of all the battle elements that I’m refreshing on, as the last Fire Emblem game I completed was Awakening back in 2013. I played a bit of Fire Emblem Fates, but I couldn’t get into it the same way as Awakening.

Yakuza 0

Oh my goodness, I’ve been waiting FOREVER to play this series! I was so ecstatic when I saw the announcement that it was coming to Xbox One, and on Game Pass too! I’ve heard so many great things about these games and after putting some time into it, I can definitely see why people love them. The story, dialogue and voice acting are all SO great in this game. I was immediately hooked from the get go. The combat system is surprisingly deep so far, due to the different fighting styles and how you can go about upgrading them. Apart from that, the optional quests can be pretty silly to take away from the super serious mood of it all. For example, the one I just completed was about helping a punk band full of relatively harmless university kids look tough to maintain their image for their fans. You tell each of the members how they should act and watch how it unfolds, it’s quite hilarious. I’ve also been enjoying the little things around the city in the game, like seeing all the shops or the SEGA arcades. I can’t believe you can actually play Space Harrier, it’s a neat touch.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the Blind Forest is one of my favourite games of this generation, my favourite of Microsoft’s new IPs and my favourite of the Metroidvania types that have released this generation (honourable mention to Hollow Knight as a close second, though). Once Ori and the Will of the Wisps came out a few days ago, my attention immediately had to shift to it. This game is gorgeous and it’s just pure fun. It’s evident that the game borrows a lot from Hollow Knight, but all the good parts. The improvements to the combat system, coupled with the excellent level design, make the game a joy to explore and discover. My favourite part about the new abilities in the game is how easily you can string together a bunch of attacks to take on enemies. It’s just really well designed. I also really like the different upgrades you can buy to change up the combat, it ends up being pretty diverse. I’m really happy this is now a franchise for Microsoft and Moon Studios, well deserved!

Anyway, that was a lot to read through. Hopefully it was enjoyable for the community! I’m looking forward to writing more of these as the year goes on and I play through more titles!