The NEW Game Journal

[Monsoon]

Twilight Princess isn't half bad now that it's gone beyond doing chores for village folk and jumping when Midna says jump.

[Andrew]

So I did two hours of uni work this morning and, pretty much since then, have been playing Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. I've given up on it in the past when it got too hard, but I've pushed through and (I think) have actually gotten pretty good. Just finished farming for some new armour and am continuing to tackle the village elder 4-star quests. I know I have a long way to go. :P

[Mickeymac92]

How many Stars are there? I'm on 3-star Quests in Monster Hunter Tri and it's too hard. =P

Anywho, I played Dragon Warrior I on GBC all morning and afternoon, getting to and dying on the Final Boss' final form, and this evening I decided to play some more Dragon Quest IV on DS and finally beat it. It's hard to believe I've actually been enjoying Dragon Quest these days. It gives me renewed hope for this series.

EDIT: Just beat Dragon Warrior I, too. Fun game, especially compared to the NES version.

[Andrew]

How many Stars are there? I'm on 3-star Quests in Monster Hunter Tri and it's too hard. =P

I'm playing Tri next! :D

If it's the same, Freedom Unite has low level quests at 1-5 stars and then high level quests at 6-8 or 9 (can't remember).

[Monsoon]

Unite has quests up to HR9, which I think is 11 or 12 stars. 

I've soloed every monster in Unite, but some of them are so hard and require multiple deaths that it isn't even fun to solo them (dual Rajang, the different Fatalis).  I've made all the weapons and armor I want to make, so right now if we decide to hunt me and my buds just try to collect rares for weird weapons and try goofy shit nowadays (i.e. beating dual Gold/Silver Rath with two hunting horns and a bow).  Haven't fired it up since the spring, though, and I can't use Ad-hoc Party because of the worse internet at my new place. 

[Aeolus]

Twilight Princess isn't half bad now that it's gone beyond doing chores for village folk and jumping when Midna says jump.

It does get substantially better past the midway point, especially the dungeons, some of which are probably among the best in the series.

The plot

Code:

unfortunately abandons whatever it was going with by that point in favor of more Ganon.

[Dice]

The plot

Code:

unfortunately abandons whatever it was going with by that point in favor of more Ganon.

I totally agree; but it's hard to deny him EVER looking better than in that tittle.  I loved his corn roll things and gold ornament.

I thought aesthetically, that game was the best, bar none.

[Aeolus]

The plot

Code:

unfortunately abandons whatever it was going with by that point in favor of more Ganon.

I totally agree; but it's hard to deny him EVER looking better than in that tittle.  I loved his corn roll things and gold ornament.

I thought aesthetically, that game was the best, bar none.

I liked

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him better in OoT, WW, and LttP myself. The fight against him felt like you were going through one last showcase of all the major gameplay gimmicks added for the game rather than going all knock down drag out against him. You have your Ahgahmin syndrome boss fight, followed by Giant Pig herding, then an equestrian chase making use of that one really large section of Hyrule Field, and finally topped with a basic sword fight that doesn't even compare to WW's.

At least it was far better than Spirit Track's final boss sequence. Holy crap was that one awful.

[Andrew]

Spirit Tracks was just awful across the board.

[Dice]

The dungeons had a chance to be really clever.  But yeah, everything else was just...crap.  The Locomo [?] was the most pathetic excuse for "convenient magic people" I've ever seen.

I liked the final 1-on-1 with Ganon, something about a final fight with just the basics has a touch of class to it than some odd demonic abomination.
Midna still makes for one of the more interesting, unique, takes to character companion the series has yet seen.  What the fuck were the on with Fi is a different story....

[Andrew]

Midna was an excellent companion. She didn't intrude too much and, when she did, there was real character to her snide dialogue.

And yes, the final 1v1 with Ganon in the finale is one of the standout boss fight in the series.

[Monsoon]

Yeah, now that I'm getting into the dungeon-talk-field-cave-field-dungeon-etc. rhythm of the game it's getting a lot better.  I kind of think TP lacks the balls of WW in that it's a return to more traditional Zelda when WW did so many new and interesting things, but I'm definitely having fun with it so far. 

(for the record, I played WW for the first time earlier this year and liked it a lot)

[Aeolus]

The dungeons had a chance to be really clever.  But yeah, everything else was just...crap.  The Locomo [?] was the most pathetic excuse for "convenient magic people" I've ever seen.

I liked the final 1-on-1 with Ganon, something about a final fight with just the basics has a touch of class to it than some odd demonic abomination.
Midna still makes for one of the more interesting, unique, takes to character companion the series has yet seen.  What the fuck were the on with Fi is a different story....

I'll say this in defense of ST. I liked the fact that Zelda got to tag along, the overworld theme was pretty damn good, the Sand Dungeon was a fairly good dungeon with a neat item in the sand rod (or whatever its called), and the central dungeon this time was actually not all that bad thanks to allowing you to skip the tedium of having to redo the completed parts over again.

The rest ranged from pretty lame to awful.

[Yggdrasil]

Been into FFXIII doing missions, getting trophies and messing around with weapons and accessories.

And since you guys are talking about Zelda, I have a question to ask: The hand holding in Skyward Sword was really that bad?

[GrimReality]

Been into FFXIII doing missions, getting trophies and messing around with weapons and accessories.

And since you guys are talking about Zelda, I have a question to ask: The hand holding in Skyward Sword was really that bad?

Yes. Fii was obnoxious. You would just get through a story segment that made it pretty clear where you had to go and what you had to do, when Fii would pop up to remind you of it. Or Fii would tell you to "douse" for something when it was already obvious. Multiply these x 100 and you can understand why people don't like her.