Game-Breaking Character: SUPER SMASH BROS. (N64)

We've talked about clothes, we've talked about items, what if we just talk about a character? What if we just talk about one particular character in a fighting game that, frankly, is too powerful.

WHOOPS!
I forgot about the introduction! Sorry! I'm a little short this week, one behind on My Arcade and two behind on My Cinema, but I'll get it fixed, hopefully tonight and tomorrow morning.

Anyway, like I said above, we've covered two more common issues with games where items in the game were broken, but what about the characters? A common complaint in multiplayer games is that one particular character will simply be too strong, in MOBAs and MMOs, this is generally fixed on the next patch, and patches happen pretty often, but with console games, particularly older console games, there probably won't be a patch. Enter our topic.

TITLE: Super Smash Bros.


Wow! Just wow, look at that box-art. I miss this game so much! Super Smash Bros. was the first fighting game I REALLY enjoyed, and even today it dominates my opinion of fighting games. I like Dead or Alive, and I'll play Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, but Super Smash Bros. is where it's at!

And why shouldn't it be? The original game featured an all-star cast, with only two characters I had never heard of, Captain Falcon (because I didn't play a lot of racing games) and Ness (because I had never heard of Earthbound!). But that's not a negative, interesting new characters just makes the game better! I mean, we had: Mario, Luigi, Kirby, Samus, Fox McCloud, Donkey Kong, Jigglypuff, Link, Yoshi...and Pikachu. The mascot amongst mascots. Sure, Mario is Nintendo's mascot, and he's a pretty well known face, but a fat italian guy with a mustache isn't going to stand out quite as much as a yellow rat with lightning coming out of it!

All the more reason to fundamentally break, Pikachu. Pikachu has always stood out in the Smash Bros. lineup as a strong character, he's got one of the best return moves in the games, and it remains that way even in the fourth iteration. He's got a huge hit box on his (down) (B) attack, and it hits everything above him too. But, in the first game, it was a little too much. While everyone else has gotten a bit better since the first release, Pikachu has stayed basically the same, probably because he didn't need to change with the times.

This isn't exactly a story based game, but there is an arcade mode, and Pikachu does wreck it. It's not an entirely fair pick, but he is my pick, always. Actually, you can't play Pikachu with friends, they get mad about it, he's just got too good of a set of moves not to spam them, because of that, I actually stick to Wario and Ness a lot, but don't misunderstand, Pikachu will always be the best in the original.

Disagree? Think Samus could whip Pikachu any day of the week? Let me know, leave a comment on the blog or:
Tweet: @JWVincent11
Email: CWSherman93@gmail.com

Just Tear up your Deck: KINGDOM HEARTS: CoM

STRUGGLING
I didn't think I would have as much trouble with naming game-breaking abilities that I've used in the past, but apparently I haven't exploited as much in games as I thought. At the very least I don't remember it, or didn't realize how great it was. Either way, here's the idea we're still focusing on, sometimes games have one or two things intentionally included, that break the game. They're not necessarily intended to break the game (as is the case here) but ultimately they have the potential to.

So far we've covered clothes, the Hero of Kvatch's 100% Chameleon armor, and Spiderman's alternate costumes in Spiderman 64 (2000). Today, we'll actually tackle a weapon, sort of.

TITLE: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories


Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite game series of all time, and I'm really bummed out that I haven't beaten Coded, RE: Chain of Memories, or 358/2 Days, and even more so that I haven't played Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance, but Chain of Memories is part of the original three, and I kicked the crap out of it backwards and forwards. (Literally sort of, since beating the game unlocks the Rebirth mode where you play as Riku.)

So, what are we covering here? Cards. In Chain of Memories, Sora's memories have been turned into cards that he must call on to utilize his abilities. Different Keyblade cards allow him to attack with different Keyblades (the graphic doesn't change, just the damage and effects, if I recall correctly), spell cards allow him to cast various magic abilities, and items allow him to restore his deck on some level or another. So what's so game breaking about this? Nothing in itself, the cards are handed out in a balanced enough fashion to where you don't just get a full deck of 9s (the most powerful cards in the game aside from 0s, which are situational), and the bad guys always have the ability to counter-play (such as using 0s), but there's one card combination I ran from beginning to end. Omnislash.

The game allows you to have certain characters join you in battle. Friend cards drop throughout fights to allow you to summon Donald, Goofy, and of course some situational world characters (Aladdin and Jack are some examples). But summon cards also make a return, with a summon exclusive to Chain of Memories, Cloud. Cloud was a miniboss in the first game, serving as your first real challenge in the Olympus Colosseum, you later face him again and he utilizes the sheer might of the Omnislash against you. Don't worry, you get a bit of revenge in Chain of Memories, because chaining three Cloud cards together (called a Sleight) allows you to perform the Omnislash technique. The best part is, this ability doesn't require you to expend any level ups on additional sleights, and its powerful enough to where if you manage to pick up several Clouds, you'll never need other abilities.

This isn't necessarily a "solve all" for every single battle in the game, but boss fights are often cut short by three sky dropped whacks from the buster sword. Utilizing mega-ethers and a large collection of Clouds will allow Sora to waltz right through basically every major fight in the game, and it's not even a secret card. There are some cards that require rare key cards to obtain, but not Cloud. Seriously, best. Summon. Ever. Never underestimate the power of a big sword.

Now, of course you can be countered with 0s, and it's honestly hard to get a whole lot of Cloud cards, but it's not impossible. In fact, the best method to do this is to complete the game only to the point that you unlock Olympus Colosseum, then repeat the previous floors over and over, buying card packs from moogle shops and actively seeking Cloud cards in the scenery. Just like that, you'll be good to go.

There's a down side of course, you CAN'T afford to get a lot of Sleights or a ton of HP, because summon cards are expensive. You basically have to spend all of your level ups increasing your maximum card point capacity. What levels you have left you definitely need to invest in HP instead of Sleights, because you'll need that HP for the time you have to spend standing still trying to recycle your deck.

There are other potentially broken mechanics that can be used, and sometimes a simple deck full of 0s and 9s is all you need, but if you want to just go ham, Cloud is your man.

More Power from Clothes: SPIDERMAN (2000)

DUPLICATIONS!!!
I considered just copy and pasting my opening from My Cinema over to here today, but resolved against it because that would probably turn out to be more work anyway. So it's like this, I'm posting a little late today and need to play catch up somewhere with My Cinema because I've been kind of distracted today and yesterday. First of all, the theme for My Cinema this week is "Dystopias" and our first post is for V for Vendetta! So head over and check that out!

Secondly, I've been a little put off my game because FNaF World launched last week and the GTLive stream replay is on youtube now, so I'm kind of binging GTLive for that and Pony Island.

A side note? Sure, Blogger allowed me to sign up for AdSense finally! So there'll be ads on the side and bottom of my blog in the near future.

Most notably though, I'm kind of having some trouble with this, when I first said my theme was going to be over-powered PvE setups in video games, it sounded simple, heck, I immediately came up with chameleon armor and the cyclone mask! But now...nothing. Except Spiderman. Begin!

TITLE: Spiderman (Spiderman 64 as it is sometimes called)


So, since yesterday we were on the subject of clothes, I figured why not look at another character whose game becomes a breeze based on the clothes he's wearing. Then I thought, well, if we're gonna cover something like that, why not cover someone with a stealth suit? Boom, Spiderman was born.

Now I'm sure we could discuss Metal Gear Solid all day on the subject of stealth clothes, but...we can't, because I never unlocked the stealth suit in Metal Gear Solid 2...on the other hand, I have unlocked the Spiderman Unlimited and Symbiote Spidey costumes in Spiderman (and I cheated to obtain Universe Spidey or whatever, didn't play it much though).

The general idea is that as you play through the game you unlock alternate costumes for Spiderman based on your performance. The first two costumes you unlock don't actually impact the game though, they just sort of change your appearance. On the other hand, after completing the game for the first time, you obtain the Symbiote Suit, which allows Spiderman to spin infinite webs. I don't remember how bad web management was, but I do remember that it was helpful. I also remember booting the game up the other night and having some trouble managing my webs because I love to pull thugs toward me and then web-ball them away. So, with the Symbiote suit, you have infinite webbing to do whatever you want, including rapidly incasing yourself in the web dome, releasing it, and immediately reusing the ability.

This actually wasn't as game breaking as the next suit on the line though (in my opinion), the Spiderman Unlimited costume. This costume grants Spiderman the ability to stealth, simply walking through most minor portions of the game. You still have to fight bosses and win races, but you can walk past every normal meathead, even wail on them without repercussion. I'll grant you, these don't quite touch the Captain Universe Spiderman which offers unlimited webbing, double damage, and invincibility, but I never beat the game in Hard Mode (darn you Carnage Octopus!)

Granted, these costumes aren't really "overpowered" since you have to legitimately earn them by beating the game first...but you can just beat the game twice in Kid Mode and have the second...maybe third...most powerful suit in the game. I also, sadly, never obtained all of the comic books, so I never picked up Spiderman 2099, but I think I would prefer the abilities of the others anyway.

Ridiculously Stealthy: OBLIVION

DOUBLE UPDATE...
Gotta do two posts in one day, because I said I would, not because I wanted to. Don't get me wrong, I love typing up these little blog posts and throwing them out there, it's just that when you set a goal to meet and then you don't meet it and then you HAVE to play catch up, it's not as much fun.

Anyway, that aside, last week's post focus was on masks in gaming, we hit up Majora's Mask twice (once before I set the theme and therefore I didn't actually discuss masks that much), Kid Chameleon, Dofus and Oblivion. This week we'll be looking at a new topic of course, things characters are capable of in PvE environments that take the challenge right out of the game. I'll be trying to avoid past topics throughout my blog, and for that reason Kid Chameleon's Cyclone will not be listed here (that and it doesn't actually benefit against the actual monsters, just bypassing some levels).

Today's topic will be Oblivion and stealth armor.

TITLE: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion


I also had a little game I played with myself last week where I did a subheading that was then played into my main text the next day, I've decided to drop that for the time being. So, to start with, Oblivion is an RPG where you take on the role of a hero of destiny, as is the case in all Elder Scrolls games, though you start out as little more than a prisoner with no recollection of what you did to get imprisoned. Throughout the game you are exposed to a terrific fantasy world and gain access to tons of different character options, included the ability to enchant your armor with any spell that you know. This seems like it would be pretty tame, you could enchant a sword to deal fire damage, or a bow to silence mages you shoot with it, or a shield to block magic projectiles. So on and so forth until one day you find the spell chameleon.

Now you pick up this spell anxiously and read its effect, it makes me invisible?! But only by a percentage? Why should I want this, the invisibility spells make me 100% invisible. Well...yes, but there after you cannot attack or you'll drop your guise and the invisibility doesn't hide your actions. Chameleon on the other hand makes it more difficult for people to see everything you do. Well, it still doesn't sound too advantageous, I mean, 15% total invisibility is still highly noticeable. But then you think, "I have a bunch of filled soul gems, and some old leather armor I don't wear any more...I wonder..." Then it happens, you go to the Mages' Guild, grab your gems and armor and start enchanting. Within the hour you're picking pockets right in front of people and they're none the wiser. You assassinate city guards without repercussions, and you basically just waltz through the rest of the game.

One night, you come home to find a thief sitting in your room, he says he stole all your clothes, you say, "What about my ninja gear?" He answers, "I didn't see any ninja gear." You reply "Good, then it's doing its job."

A major component of the game is the Oblivion Gates, portals to the Hellish plane of Oblivion home to Mehrunes Dagon which reveal massive towers that house stones to keep the gates open. The only way to close the gate is to clear every floor of the tower of enemies, sweep through to the very top, and grab the stone as the Daedric warlords bare down on you. Or, you know, you could just walk right past all the guards.

My combination of enchantments for this armor? I'm glad you asked. Two rings, each granting 20% chameleon, a torso piece granting 20% chameleon, pants granting 20% chameleon, and an amulet granting 20% chameleon. Alongside this I would wear either Boots of Speed or Boots of Water-Walking, and a Helmet of Detect Life or Helmet of Water-Breathing. Depending on the situation, boots and helmets of feather were also useful so that I could carry more stolen goods. This of course did not account for a glove slot item, and that's because I don't remember a specific glove enchantment I used. No doubt weapon enhancements for whatever my preferred weapon was, but most often I found myself hanging on to the handcuffs from the beginning of the game specifically to enchant them with a unique enchantment based on my character.

So yeah, there's my over-powered Oblivion setup. Tune in later in the week for some glances at...something game-breaking!

Virtual Masks: KID CHAMELEON

LATE!!!R THAN USUAL!
Yeah, so I'm a weekend late for this last mask post, I was really struggling with this one, then decided I simply had to do Kid Chameleon, not because it's like the epitome of masks in video games or anything, more so just because this is an awesome game in theory, and I have spent quite a bit of time on it.

TITLE: Kid Chameleon


LAST ONE:
As such, we'll just be passing through the Kid Chameleon universe to take a look at what makes the kid so fantastic. Kid Chameleon was (as is evident from the art above) a Sega game that was popular enough to find itself on most Sega rereleases (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, Sega Smash Pack, Sega Genesis Collection, etc.) and boy am I glad for that?

I won't go so far as to say that Kid Chameleon formed a foundation for anything in my youth, I won't even go as far as to say it dramatically impacted me at all. It didn't, but it was a terrific way to burn time. Let's hit the high points: Kid Chameleon focuses on a character who ventures into a Virtual Reality game in order to rescue children who have been trapped in the game or some such. Along the way he picks up power-ups a la Super Mario Bros. that augment his appearance, health, and abilities. These power-ups come in the form of masks that pop out of blocks he smashes with his head (good guess Mario and Majora's Mask fans).

The best part is, like so many other games on this list, I've never legitimately completed Kid Chameleon! It's...kind of difficult, I've never been the greatest gamer of all time, but I'm generally decent at getting through games. This one though I've never even come close to. That's not what we're talking about anyway, we're talking about masks, and this one has plenty to choose from.

Notably the first mask collected is the Iron Knight mask, which gives Kid a massive increase in health and increases his weight, causing him to smash blocks he lands on. The knight can also scale walls (not clear on how that associates, but whatever.) The second is one I find more aesthetically pleasing, and I think far more useful than the knight, Red Stealth. This one allows Kid to break blocks below himself without the threat of breaking too many (as the Iron Knight can not stop), it also allows access to Red Stealth's samurai sword. I could describe every mask in the game, but really there are too many, instead, I'll tackle those two very standard masks (already done) and the so-called game breaker.

Cyclone, the most powerful and stereotypically superhero appearing mask in the game.

There he stands, gazing out across the realm, ensuring everything is well and good. Moments ago I made the statement that this was the most powerful mask in the game, but not in terms of actual power. In that fashion basically any other mask besides Iron Knight and Berserker offer greater damaging abilities, instead, Cyclone offers meta power. This is potentially the best mask for the Kid to use, as it allows him to bypass much of the game by simply flying through stages.

This mask is also essential to a...how should this be termed..."skilled player reward" known as the 100,000 point trip. Basically the player must speed run the first three levels without getting hit, and clear the first two without picking up masks, then travel to Elsewhere 1, the only location in Stage 1 of the game where Cyclone can be obtained, then collect the 40,000 points of 10k blocks Under Skull Mountain. If this is all done correctly the player is immediately teleported to Stage 3! So...yeah, I'mma have to try that later, because I have come really close to that a hundred times without knowing it.

I have also recently learned of a cheat that teleports you to the final level that I'll have to try. But that's a story for another day, anyway...

Peace out!

The Strategy of Masks: DOFUS

PUT IT ON!
Here we go again, another day, another mask themed gaming post. If you're looking for even more mask posts, check out My Cinema, where I discussed the masked protagonist of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

TITLE: Dofus


Just Passing Through:
Let's get straight into it, no need to give you the full-blown backstory of Dofus. We'll just cover a few basics.

Dofus is a turn-based strategy role-playing game. TBSRPG I suppose. Every character is one of twelve (wait fourteen...no fifteen....sixteen?!) character classes (which also serve as races in some cases...I think) that determines their abilities. Some are ranged and some are melee, some perform summonings and some get in the fray themselves, some are squishy and some are beefy. And sometimes...what they do differs based on how you play them.

That's actually generally true of all of them, but one particularly notable example is the Masqueraider. The Masqueraider is one of the two classes introduced after the initial twelve, the Rogue and Masqueraider. Both the Rogue and Masqueraider naturally introduced different mechanics from the other classes (of course) and today we'll be discussing the mechanics of the Masqueraider.

Now first, according to their lore, the Masqueraiders are under the protection of the god Sadida. Oh, I didn't explain how the gods work? There are twelve Gods of Amakna (the Dofus world) and each God is represented by a class who are granted powers by that god. That is, except for the last four classes, who each get their powers from a different source, but are associated with a god. The Masqueraiders draw their power from the masks they wear, and according to legend they are immortal due to this fact. They claim the gods do not offer as much power as their masks do, but this doesn't actually play out in game (since the game is PvP, every class has to be balanced against the others, so the mask users are, theoretically, on an even playing field with the others). The masqueraiders have a set of three masks:

The classic mask, which is their standard mask they wear all the time.

The cowardly mask, which makes them better at running away and gives them access to ranged abilities.

The psychopath mask, which dramatically increases the power of the masqueraider but forces them into an aggressive playstyle.

Despite the immense power their masks grant them, masqueraiders are always very wary and not particularly trusting. According to lore this is because they are often hunted for their masks, which makes sense, but then again I probably wouldn't pursue a supposedly immortal, extremely powerful being, unless I was sure I could catch them, and do something with them there after.

As a side note their names are a combination of the word masquerade, the ball where people wear masks as they dance, and raider. I'm sure you already knew that, but if not, there ya go.

That's it for this post guys, be sure to check out my other ones if you enjoyed, leave me a comment if you like, and I'll post again tomorrow!

The Purpose of a Mask: THE ELDER SCROLLS IV- OBLIVION

LATE!!!
I'm terribly late on posting this, I struggled to get a topic for My Cinema today, eventually settled on Harlock: Space Pirate, so you can check that out if you like. This post though has actually brought me my topic for tomorrow, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion! Looking forward to writing that one actually.

TITLE: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion


STRAIGHT INTO IT:
We've not time to waste (see what I did there?), let's jump right into the premise of the post. People wear masks for reasons, different masks for different purposes sometimes, and in RPGs very often if there is one mask, there will be many. In Majora's Mask different masks give you different abilities, sometimes different masks modify your stats differently, in the real world these aren't what masks are used for. Instead, masks are used to hide one's identity, even sometimes to take on the identities of others.

This is also the premise behind the Grey Fox mask in Oblivion. SPOILER ALERT FOR THE NEXT LINE:
When you complete the thieves' guild quest, you become the guildmaster by taking on the Grey Cowl from the previous Grey Fox.
Good to go on that? Awesome. So this mask not only allows you to hide your identity, but it actually causes you to take on a different identity, much like Bruce Wayne becoming Batman, when the unnamed hero takes on the Grey Cowl, he becomes the Grey Fox, your bounty is immediately maxed out, any guards pursuing your player character will cease (but will now pursue you as the Grey Fox), any crimes you commit will be attributed to the Grey Fox, and naturally people will react differently to you (master crime lord status).

This item was a favorite of mine in this game, partially because it's an awesome item for a thief, but also because it played into basically any roleplay style. I ran a character for an extended period of time who was, according to my own themes set in the privacy of my mind, a scholar, studying Daedric Artifacts. By the end of the game he had collected every artifact associated with Daedra except one. Because I forgot the Grey Cowl had its origins with Nocturnal. So, of course, my character set out on the rigorous task of obtaining the Grey Cowl by gaining the trust of its bearer. Learning that it was cursed and could not be removed he sought to break the curse, and of course eventually succeeded. So there you have it, just one character of many who owned the Cowl.

This didn't just play into the thief role though, an assassin might obtain the cowl in order to have his crimes attributed to a different power. A rival of the thieves' guild might seek out the Cowl to blaspheme their great leader. There are really any number of reasons from a role-playing perspective to own the Grey Cowl. But it had terrific mechanics as well. The cowl allows you to detect lifeforms nearby, carry additional inventory, and of course makes you better at moving undetected. (100% Chameleon armor also has that effect, just sayin'.)

So yeah, probably one of the coolest masks in gaming, and one of those really great games anyway. Loved Oblivion, and we'll probably revisit it in the future. Maybe even next week if no other ideas crop up (they probably will, but who knows.)

Yo-ho yo-ho, the Grey Fox' life for me!

Hope everyone enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow!

Who is that Masked Man?: MAJORA'S MASK

Continuing a Trend
Onward and upward as they say. "Who's they?" you ask. Well, that's for you to find out. I say it enough for they to be me though, so "Onward and upward," as I say.

Last week on My Cinema I had a sort of horror movie theme going on, this week I have a science fiction theme going. Naturally, I follow all of that up with My Arcade having some kind of theme this week, and we're making it masks. No not just Majora's Mask, although that is what today will focus on, primarily.

TITLE: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask


NO TIME TO WASTE:
I won't regale you with information like the premise of this game, I posted on it just yesterday! And I can't really break this down into the same sections as that one, because I don't have another theory to theorize about. No, I just kind of felt like talking about the Mask some more. Call it laziness, call in unoriginality, call it an obsession if you must.

I just really like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Don't get me wrong, I loved Ocarina of Time too, but this installment in the Zelda series calls out to me, like the darkness in Majora's Mask calls out to this guy:

But maybe it's an infatuation with masks, and not the game itself. I mean, Code Geass is probably my favorite anime series, and it focuses on a masked protagonist. Gundam is potentially my favorite anime franchise, and it stars masked antagonists all the time. My favorite recent movies have all been superhero movies, but my least favorite superhero is Superman, a.k.a. the maskless one.

All of that can be explained away in other manners though, except for one of those, the first one, the one before Code Geass, Zelda. Because this game is basically reviled as the unwanted offspring of Ocarina of Time, why shouldn't it be? The game is built using almost entirely rehashed characters from Ocarina of Time, it's entitled the Legend of Zelda, but the titular character appears during one, maybe two, flashbacks. It doesn't even take place in Hyrule, it takes place in some distant land called Termina. In reality, I spent more time playing Ocarina of Time as a child than I ever did Majora's Mask. So why?

Well, I like to blame it on the masks, the game focuses on a mechanic all its own, the main character gaining special abilities from his headgear. Now, this isn't new, even in the franchise, because it's based on the same complaint many people have, the characters are just rehashed from the previous game. Right down to the happy mask salesman, from whom Link receives several of the same masks that appear in Majora's Mask. But, that's a side quest, there's no necessity to obtain those masks, although they are necessary for 100% completion, of course. Majora's Mask centers on you needing to collect masks to progress, particularly the three transformation masks: Deku, Goron and Zora.

Each of these transformation masks changes Link's shape, giving him new abilities and varying limitations. Most notably the Deku form and Goron form are unable to swim, drowning if they enter deep water. Through the three primary transformation masks Link inhabits the body of a deceased member of the race, taking on their spirits' burdens or some such.

But besides those three transformation masks, there is the issue of the game being themed around masks. There are 24 masks that Link can wear in the game, 20 of them not being transformative, and an additional six that are collected through the duration of the game, four of them being the remains of bosses and two acting as side quest items. Collecting all 20 non-transformative masks will allow you to obtain the 24th mask at the end of the game, the Fierce Deity mask, which is the most powerful transformation in the game, but can only be used in the final boss fight. But never mind that.

20 masks that do not transform you, but add other abilities to the character, some of them completely useless outside of obtaining more masks, like the Bremen Mask, which just lets you lead animals around while playing the ocarina, or Kamaro's Mask, which is just used to dance so you can obtain a piece of heart. This sounds like a drawback to the game, but I love it! Maybe that's because I love side-questing in video games though. (Seriously, I played the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion [also has a magical mask in it, which I love] for months on end and only completed the main storyline after completing every major side-quest line in the game, and a lot of the not so major ones.) Then there are more practical masks like the Bunny Hood (obtained using the Bremen Mask),  which lets you run twice as fast, not only does this let you get around more easily, but it is the key to some side-quests, or the Blast Mask, which serves as a bomb in case you run out, or just don't want to buy any!

On my current play through, which I started about four nights ago (I don't play much, but when I do I try to accomplish something) I have really only acquired the masks above and one or two more. Because that's kind of what I love about the game, collecting masks, side-questing. If there was a game where the main quest centered around completing side-quests, that would probably be my favorite game. Don't worry, I realize that's an oxymoron, and I don't care. It's not that Ocarina of Time doesn't have side-quests either, it's just that I prefer the mechanics of Majora's Masks rewards.

I realize of course that this was basically a huge mess of rambling, and it didn't serve to reinforce all of the good things about Majora's Mask, in fact I really only talked about the masks, not the atmosphere or quality controls or whatever. Just masks. But that was kind of my point wasn't it? Anyway, be looking out for my posts later this week, they'll probably deal with Dofus and the Masqueraider, Oblivion and the Grey Fox, and more than likely some classic masks in games!

Day 4, Everybody Disappeared: MAJORA'S MASK

FIRST REAL POST HERE!
Okay, so, if you read my first post, the introductory post, you will have seen that I enjoy Action-Adventure games, and right out beside that, you'll notice I found it worthwhile to present boxart for a game that was neither the first, nor most iconic in its series (to most). Well that's because I have a bit of an obsession with that game, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The reason? I'm not quite sure, I just really enjoyed a lot about the game, even compared to Ocarina of Time, and to this day I enjoy it (as I recently acquired a copy of it at the local Replays).

But there's a little glitch basically everyone who has looked the game up knows about: the fourth day glitch.

TITLE: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask


PREMISE: 
After the events of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link (Young Link from the First Timeline) sets out on a quest to find a friend (presumably Navi?). On his journey he is intercepted by the troublesome Skull Kid who steals his magic ocarina. Now Link has three days to obtain the Ocarina to restore his natural form in a strange world. Oh, did I mention he's been turned into a Deku Scrub? Also, Skull Kid has this mask made of Phlebotinum used by ancient aliens on the moon or something that he's using to destroy the world in three days.

The game functions on a resetting world, wherein Link can retain any magical items (mainly masks) when he travels back in time, the time travel feature serves both as a core mechanic to making the game world feasible, and the only way to save your game!

THEORY:
The fourth day is the true ending to Majora's Mask, the "good ending" or whatever.

For clarity, the game follows a three day cycle: go to clock town, adventure for three days, before the end of the third day reset time with the Song of Time. It is possible to access a New Day (introduced as Dawn of a New Day) in which most of Clocktown's citizens have left, the moon that was going to crash into Termina is now gone (or rather, very far away like it should be), and time is no longer limited (every dusk is unmarked and every dawn is the Dawn of a New Day). This is done by going to the observatory (a necessary feature in your first three days), peering through the telescope, and remaining in telescope view until just before the moon crashes into Termina, at which point you back out and the new day begins.

BASIS:
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is about Link coping with the grief of death, potentially his own death, go ahead, google it, I'll give you a moment...

Back? Cool, maybe that's not the official story, but there's so much information to support it, why not assume that's right?

The final phase of the grieving process is acceptance. Now, don't get me wrong, there's already some degree of acceptance that goes on during the process of the game, but maybe Link is supposed to accept something, maybe there's a reason Navi (if that is who he is seeking) is gone. What's the reason? He's already the hero. He's done his job and restored peace to the land. There's nothing else he, as the Hero of Time, is supposed to do. Yet he insists on seeking out his dispersed aid (Navi), denying that he's fulfilled his purpose. Is...that the first phase? Awesome. Now, here's how the rest of the idea plays out:

Link Denies his role as hero is complete.
Link Angrily seeks out a new adventure (never mind that he seems so sad at first, he gets angry).
Link Bargains with the Mask Salesman so he can go on one more adventure.
Link becomes Depressed, and this is where we start the 'glitch,' in the process of looking up at the Skull Kid on that clock tower, he realizes he may never see Navi again, he may never start another grand adventure.
Link Accepts that his role is played out...and at the last second, right before the moon crashes down into Clocktown, he looks away.

That's when the 'glitch' happens, Link accepts that he's not responsible for those people in Clocktown. He's not responsible for saving yet another world from fate. He accepts that you can't constantly fight, and some things have to happen. Granted, it's not the most heroic story, but maybe it is his story. Link lives out the rest of his life in the abandoned Clocktown, not as a hero, performing quests and vanquishing monsters, but as the boy who had been the Hero of Time. This may even potentially be Link's afterlife, and the 'bad ending' is when he completes the quest and finds himself unable to rest, but the 'good ending' is when he remains in Clocktown, eternally young, enjoying himself.

Is that, too far-fetched? Maybe so, none the less, it's a possibility, and I rather like the idea! It's not more fun than actually playing through the game, but it does create a reason for such a strange glitch to exist.

Get Digitized

Hello denizens of the internet, and welcome, to my arcade! If you're reading this, there's a chance you will have already read some posts from My Cinema, (just click that little hyperlink there if you haven't!) but if not, that's alright, because you're not missing anything as far as gaming is concerned. Which brings us to our topic doesn't it?

My Cinema is an outlet for me that lets me talk about movies and relieve my desire to write, while informing the world that they're wrong about movies and my viewpoint is the only one that matters, of course! So, as you can guess, My Arcade serves a similar purpose, allowing me to write about video games instead of movies though. Which is probably better anyway since I can indulge myself a bit more greatly in gaming. The problem being, I don't game as much as I used to, I mean, I probably spend the same percentage of my personal time gaming, maybe a little less, but it's not as diverse as I would like for it to be, don't worry, material can be drudged up from anywhere.

Speaking of material being drudged up from anywhere, aside from the simple difference between video games and movies, I suppose I should note a distinctive difference between the two blogs. My Cinema finds itself in a sort of critiquing niche, having single page reviews of movies posted (optimally) every day. My Arcade should instead be filled with not just reviews, but various sorts of materials, and for that reason I'll start with this opening, and a little slice of information: I love gaming, and my favorite genres are:

Action-Adventure: 
Role-Playing Games:
Real-Time Strategy: 

That about covers the genres, and for clarity's sake, almost all of these are games I have played extensively (the only exceptions being Assassin's Creed and what you consider extensive in Final Fantasy), but these aren't the only genres I play, just my favorites, and these aren't the only games in those genres I play, just notable examples. We could post a hundred pictures here and it still wouldn't cover all the games I enjoy playing. Oh wait...there's one example I left out...

MOBA:

 

Because seriously, MOBAs take up most of my gaming time, those and MOBILE games. MOBAs (for those unaware) are Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas, and basically consist of gameplay centered around short 30-45 minute sessions and team-based gameplay. Pick a character, enter a battle, win/lose, repeat. Yes, I only posted the League of Legends emblem, no that's not the only MOBA I play, that's just the only one I play consistently, I also hop on Smite and Heroes of the Storm occasionally, and every now and then I'm foolish enough to jump into DOTA 2, but I leave shortly after.

Everything make sense so far? Awesome, onward and upward!