Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A Review of Legend of Zelda:Skyward Sword

     I realize I might be a little late writing a review of this game that came out a while ago, but I just finished the damn thing now because I'm always too busy to play games. First off, I'm a little biased. I love Zelda games. I've played every one of them (except the horrifying CDi games). I wish I could say that I've beaten all of them, but a couple of them either gave me so much trouble that I couldn't or I thought were so weird that they didn't interest me. All this said, I'd like to propose that Skyward Sword is not the worst game in the franchise, but it's definitely nowhere near the best... and it should have been.
     To begin, I'd like to get us all on some sort of equal level here. My favorite game in the franchise is The Legend of Zelda:A Link to the Past for the SNES(or whatever other consoles they've put it on by now), but I will concede that The Legend of Zelda:The Ocarina of Time is probably the best game in the franchise. It has everything you could want out of a Zelda game (except top-down perspective). I just want to get that out of the way so we all have some even footing when thinking about a Zelda game. So, why does Skyward Sword not live up to these standards?
     It's boring. The conversational and expositional text scrolls at such a horrid pace. You can speed it up a little bit, but it's nowhere near enough. There are so many situations in the game that you will likely have to repeat, like falling off a cliff at home or talking with anyone at the Bazaar, that will give you the same canned text every time. This text becomes a grueling chore to sit through. Also, Phi, your companion for the game is made to talk like an emotionless robot. That's supposed to be her personality if you can call it one. The other companions in the history of the games have had emotions. They seem to get angry with you if you are ignoring what you should be questing for. Everyone who's played Ocarina of Time(Oot) remembers how annoying Navi's constant "Hey!" could be, but at least there seemed to be some kind of emotion behind it. The Kind of Red Lions (the boat) in Windwaker will berate you for doing something you shouldn't be. Ezlo (the bird hat) in Minish Cap is a very animated and opinionated character as is Midna in Twilight Princess. My whole point is, that no matter how annoying all those characters became you still began to care about them because they had a personality and they seemed to go through a lot with you. Phi is just annoying without many redeeming qualities. They try and get you to have an emotional moment with her at the end, but since she's so boring it's like having an emotional moment with a piece of cardboard.
     The adventure is missing. All Zelda games are a series of tasks to be carried out in a semi-ordered fashion. The thing that makes it fun is that there is a world to explore. You can travel from one part to another and see the country side along the way. You begin to notice areas that you can't get to and hope that you will receive an item, like a hookshot, that will allow you to get into those areas. You find hidden treasure or characters in unlikely places. You begin to know you're whole world by crisscrossing it multiple times. Skyward Sword breaks this up by putting you in the sky and allows you to go into each area of the surface world separately. The forest, the desert, and the volcano area are all kept separate. For example, you can't go to the forest from the desert even though they are on the same surface. They  even show up next to each other on the map! But you can't reach the other with out first returning to the sky. I found myself disinterested in visiting these areas since it forced me to return to the sky and fly over there and descend into them. I never wanted to wander around in them because it was such a chore to enter or exit them.
     It's trying to do too much. This is also why I say that it should have been the best in the series. The game tries to be a prequel to all of the games in the franchise. Therefore, they have included something from every game. You get the Gust Jar like in Minish Cap, There is a part where you sail a ship like in WindWaker and Phantom Hourglass, The Wind Fish from Link's Awakening (another one of my favorites) makes an appearance, etc... But, because it takes on so many of these elements, the game fails to do anything original and memorable. The only thing I can think of that's original is the motion controls while flying and swimming and those are more a pain in the ass than anything. Even the sky world where you live is a lot like the ocean and islands in WindWaker. All these islands with their waterfalls to nowhere as well as the story about bonding with a flying mount when you reach a certain age, just made me think that the creators had watched James Cameron's Avatar movie too many times.
   Again, this is not the worst game in the franchise. There are some truly fun moments in the game. Sometimes I even laughed out loud. I understand why it's gotten a lot of good reviews, but I think some of the nostalgia for the other games in the franchise has clouded people's vision of this game on it's own. I recommend playing it if you enjoy Zelda games, but don't expect it to top any of your favorites from the series.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Comics for this week

This week brought some really decent comics. I picked up Avengers:X-Sanction #3(of 4), X-Factor #231, Invincible #88, Clive Barker's Hellraiser #10, Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #4(of 4), and finally Sergio Aragones Funnies #7.
     Avengers:X-Sanction continues our fight between Cable and Red Hulk. After a couple of funny bits courtesy of Blaquesmith we get a flashback that sheds some light on why Cable is so gung-ho against the Avengers. We see that (in the future) the Avengers have lots of tech that would be used to take down the X-Men. Cable blasts Rulk out the side of the ship, but it isn't enough. Rulk gets the upper hand and makes some vague threats until Cable lashes out and infects him with the Techno-Organic Virus. Cable then notices his virus receding in response, but no time to dwell on that because Hope and Cyclops show up to have words. This too is cut short because we need Spider-Man and Wolverine to show up and say something dumb. This book is pretty standard Event-fare. I'm just surprised that they are using Blaquesmith. A character that could have only come out of the 1990s and one that has largely been ignored ever since.
     X-Factor continues it's "they keep killing Madrox" story. I love this book. It doesn't always have the best art, but it's an incredibly fun read. I genuinely have no idea what's going to happen next from issue to issue. Right now, since MadroxPrime was killed, Jamie is jumping into the dead bodies of himself from other timelines. It's the same kind of thing we've seen recently in Batman books and Captain America books, but this time we get to see how Peter David would handle this type of story. This issue has Jamie stuck in a world where instead of saying "no more mutants", the Scarlet Witch said "no more humans." Tony Stark was in space when it happened, so he became one of the only humans to survive. He fought and killed nearly all the mutants using his technology and giant sentinel-like robot iron men. A Deathlok version of Captain America shows up and starts a battle with Iron Man. Jamie gets caught in the middle while trying to find out what's going on from the mysterious Mr. Tryp. Jamie almost gets flown to safety by one of his dupes and then dies in a humorous fashion only to wake up in the body of another Madrox. This time he's been killed by what looks to be Dormammu:the Sorcerer Supreme! I know all of that sounds confusing as hell, but it's such a fun book.
     Invincible brings us back to the stand-off between Alan and Invincible. Thragg shows up and tries to reason with Alan about why he shouldn't try to kill off all of the Viltrumites with his new virus. Some interesting dialogue happens and Alan is swayed by what Thragg has to say. Invincible's brother Oliver is not so easily swayed. Robot and some Gaurdians show up and a fight starts. Invincible tries desperately to control the situation and keep Thragg from killing all of them. In the confusion Oliver grabs the gun containing the virus and flies to Earth to finish what they came to do. Invincible flies after him and the two struggle over control of the virus until Oliver accidentally shoots Invincible in the face with the virus. Alan helps and tries to explain how the virus is spread to which Invincible just replies that he feels fine and his virus must not work very well, but we get a reveal at the end that it may be working better than he thinks. Bum bum bum. This book is consistently good every month. I love this book and implore everyone to read it.
     Hellraiser is like everything Clive Barker writes; some cool stuff happens and some incredibly confusing stuff happens. Kirsty has traded places with Pinhead. She believes that she can fight the good fight from within Hell. she, of course is finding that it's a little harder than she anticipated. Meanwhile, human Pinhead has been trying to remember who he is until Kirsty decides to let him have all his memories back. Human pinhead is flooded with all his memories of Hell. This book is strange. I love Hellraiser and having Clive Barker writing it makes this a must-have for me, but it's not the most exciting read every month. I would suggest waiting for a collections to read this book.
     Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes shows us why Dr. Zaius went from a human sympathizer to a human hater. This has been a good read and leads into another upcoming mini series. If you like the old films, you'd like this book. Get the collection when it comes out.
     Sergio Aragones Funnies delivers another fantastic issue. Aragones is one of the greatest cartoonists to have ever lived and this book is always full of poignant, touching, hilarious, and fun stories. Not to mention puzzles and fun stuff for kids. This book is a must-have for adults and children alike.
     This week delivered some good books. They aren't all the best that they can be, but I'll take it over the quality I sometimes get out of comics. Till next time, Taa Taa!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Comics I bought this week

This week was another slow week for me. I tried looking around for anything that might catch my eye, but the only thing that ever does are large hardcover collections and I don't have the money or time for those right now. This week I purchases Godzilla:Kingdom of Monsters #11, Daken:Dark Wolverine #20, X-Men Legacy #261, and The Walking Dead #93.
     I'll start with Godzilla:Kingdom of Monsters because this seems to be the penultimate issue in a series that has quickly gone downhill. The first few issues seemed to have a direct purpose and an interconnected story between numerous characters. This issue is nearly incoherent. A huge battle has happened between our strongest monsters and now a couple of the lesser monsters have come to try and control Godzilla while he is weakened. They charge him up with a nuclear explosion, but instead of being grateful he takes them out and we end almost where we began: with a bunch of monsters knocked out and lying around. It's pretty lame. The fight scenes don't make much sense thanks to Victor Santos' rushed looking art. Victor Santos has been a poor choice of artist on this book. It just doesn't play to his strengths at all. I'm very ready for this title to end. It's too bad really because the other miniseries that have spun off from it, gangsters and goliaths and legends, have been strong stories and fun to read. OH, and Eric Powell, the guy who was the selling point of the series, didn't even write this issue. Lame
     Daken:Dark Wolverine #20 is the final issue of this series. I feel ok knowing that this was it. I know some people don't like the character for numerous reasons, but I thought he was very intriguing. However, this series has gone a direction that didn't much interest me for the last 10 issues. This issue finishes that up and gets the character ready to be put on the shelf for a while; ready to make cameo appearances whenever needed(or not needed). Writer Rob Williams has tried to further our sociopathic lead by making him mortal(getting rid of his healing factor at least for the time being) and having him (basically) fall in love with someone. Sadly, the love story was very rushed (due, in part, to the books cancellation) and we can already tell that his healing factor will be back. This doesn't do much to make him a stronger character because he gets his heart(?) broken and becomes a grumpy thug again by the last page. Sad. This series could have been so much better.
     X-Men Legacy #261 brings back the villain Exodus in a story that seems organic. It's a decent story with good characterization. Exodus has come back to reunify the X-Men one way or another. He wants Mutants to survive and thinks Wolverine's team made a mistake leaving Utopia. They battle and Rogue gets to have a stand out moment by taking Kid Gladiator's powers so she can throw down with Exodus on his level. They stop and finally talk about it and Exodus reads everyone's minds and notices their motivations for leaving Cyclops. Exodus agrees that they did the right thing. Then he says something about knowing what he must do and flies away. Rogue looks at Wolverine and asks "um... Did we just get Cyclops killed?" Wolverine replies "Damn it" as they all charge off together after Exodus. It's a truly funny moment that feels right for the book. This issue is a good mix of fun, excitement with a good amount of drama and tension. A really good read.
     finally, The Walking Dead #93. This is the first part in the "A Larger World" story arc that will likely lead us to whatever huge event Robert Kirkman has planned for issue #100. This book is always good. You should read it regardless of what I say about it. A man has shown up explaining that he comes from a large group that trades and barters with other large groups. He offers Rick and our group a chance to join up with them as another part of a large community. Rick, of course, ties him up and puts everyone on alert that someone might invade. He then goes in search of this group believing the worst about them. Given his history with other groups of people we are sympathetic to his point of view. However, Andrea, believes that this might not be bad. She challenges Rick (nicely) and gets him thinking. By the end of the issue Rick is pontificating about a larger world that maybe they should be a part of...or at least take everything from this world and leave them for dead. It's a truly chilling moment. Partly because you almost thought Rick had turned back into old Rick in a moment that seemed a lot like the hope he saw in the Prison when they found it, but then we quickly see the Rick he's become since losing most of his family and friends to murderers and zombies. Again, it's good stuff, you should read it.
     That's it for this week. Let me know if you agree or disagree or if you have no idea what i'm talking about. Later!
PS don't forget to support your local comic shop. Go inside, look around, buy some stuff, you might be happy you did.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

New Comics that I bought

     Lately I've been trying to make good decisions on what comics to buy. I tend to buy Marvel comics and some independents. I had started to buy DC comics, but then they did their "New 52" and I bailed. I've always been an X-Men fan because it's how I got into comics, but after the recent "Schism" I've had to muddle through a slew of first issues as they restart all the X-Titles. Ughh... I've finally decided which titles to drop and which to keep up with just in time for a new crossover event to (maybe) pull me back.
     Anyway, This week didn't offer me much in terms of worthy titles for reading. Uncanny X-Force #20, New Mutants #36, and Generation Hope #15. After the decent first 19 issues of UXF I've found my interest in the title waining. It's truly solidified itself as essentially a Fantomex solo book. That's all this title has been from the start with lots of recurring guests. This week Fantomex finds himself on trial by the Captain Britain Corps. Ugh... I've never been interested in Captain Britain and any of the characters that showed up in Excalibur back in the day. The only thing that is remotely interesting is the fact that we are trying to deal with the repercussions of Fantomex's decision to kill the En Sabah Nur child 17 issues ago. However, that's what the entire book has been about this whole time. So, we aren't exactly breaking new ground here. Meanwhile Captain Britain's Magic Land is at war with itself and X-Force fall head first into the battle. Yawn...
     Generation Hope #15 found the team back on Utopia with a Mindwiped Sebastian Shaw in tow only to find out that Cyclops (and others) are less than happy to see him again. This title has been very interesting to me from the beginning. I especially enjoyed the title when it steers clear of the rest of the X-Men and does it's own thing. However, since the title has introduced Shaw into the mix and moved more into continuity I'm finding myself cringe. This issue Hope challenges Scott (again) and shows off a bit more power than she's ever shown before. Of course, this is only to tease the Phoenix force storyline coming up entitled Avengers vs. X-Men. Ugh...  The thing I don't understand is why the Phoenix force would even be interested in Hope in the first place. So far, all we've ever seen the Phoenix want out of a mutant is for it to be telepathic. Hope isn't telepathic or even all that powerful. The only reason I can see them doing this is because she has red hair and looks like Jean Grey. Ugh...
     New Mutants #36 finishes up the search for Blink storyline(thank god). This title has been limping along since the beginning. There hasn't been much to make this title stand out and I think it's been coasting on the nostalgia of people who grew up with these characters in the late 80s, but I think recently with the titles new direction that it's really settling into something that could be good. The characters are solidifying and it's tangential role to the other X-Titles is a good thing. I hope it can steer clear of too much continuity and do it's own thing for a while.
     I also picked up Ultimate Comics All-New Spider-Man #6. What a terrible title. Ultimate Spider-Man was such a better title for the book. So, six issues into Miles Morales taking over the title from Peter Parker and we finally have an issue where he actually fights some bad guys! In costume! Hooray! Bendis Ultimate Spider-Man(under any title) has been very consistently good. I've enjoyed every issue of this book. Every single one (i'm counting the almost a hundred and fifty issues preceding this restart), but it's been lagging recently for me. The Miles Morales storyline seems to be taking it's  time getting anywhere. I think it's because we don't know enough about the character yet (not nearly as much as we knew about Peter) and we don't yet see the point of the title. It doesn't have a direction yet. No main antagonist(like green goblin was for Peter) or even a sub-antagonist(like Doctor Octopus was for Peter). I'm sure we'll be introduced to these elements soon, but it needs to hurry if it has any hope of keeping new readers.
     Rounding out my week is Planet of the Apes #10(BOOM! Studios). This title has been so good from the start. The art is great the story is interesting and each issue keeps me wanting to read more. It's weird. This title should have been terrible. It's supposed to fit into the old Planet of the Apes movies continuity. As hokey as those films became this title manages to keep all the good elements of those films while setting itself apart. We don't have the Star Wars Prequel problems of having to show the origin of every main character from the films. Instead we are given a whole new set of characters that we get to know and like. We get invested in these characters even though they aren't familiar at all. This issue gives us flashbacks from three of our main characters: Sully, Alaya, and Nix. We see how their paths first cross at a definitive moment in history. Our other main character, Bako, is absent until the end. A battle is fought between the White Troop and the Ghost Battalion that is very well presented. Just a great title overall. I highly recommend picking it up even if you don't know much about the movie continuity. If you can't find the issues, get the volume 1 TPB.
     I suppose I might start doing this weekly now that I have a little more time to devote to it, but I can't guarantee that will last. So, until next time!