RiotKnight

First off, OoT begins with Link as a little boy. Know idea how old he is, but he seems to be around 7 or 8. Little fairy called Navi flies up to him and wakes him up for no reason. Apparently the world is in danger and this is just enough motivation to get the little tyke to wake up and start his day. Navi is a sort of tutorial person and she can be annoying if you already know what to do. But if you are like me and don't mind a refresher, Navi doesn't seem so obnoxious. So Link wakes up and Navi basically explains the Deku Tree (the ONLY tree I know with a mustache) needs to see him. Now I as the player begin to move him around with the little joystick and make him run outside his little tree house. Looks like we're in a forest; the Kokiri Forest to be exact. First instinct is to explore around, learn how to pick up rocks and throw them, learn to break pots, run through grass to find stray rupees, and of course find out that Mido is a real jerk. Not sure how he does this, but he slides all the way around the area he is guarding and doesn't let you in because Link is "different" somehow. By the way, Mido is the leader of the Kokiri Forest children running around. A bit peeved, I run around looking for a sword and shield just like Navi told me to do after saying 'Hello' to Mido (ironically, Link cannot speak). As I find the sword and shield buy dodging rolling boulders and cutting people's lawns for any money I found, I noticed something strange. All these kids running around... not ONE. SINGLE. ADULT!! It was like watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy and wondering the same thing: who watches these children? Does anybody care at all what happens to them!? So I get the sword and shield and shove them in Mido's face and he begrudgingly lets me pass. Off to visit the Deku Tree! Apparently this old sap was dying and I had to go inside his mouth and kill something to make him feel better. This is the first dungeon of the game. This is where the puzzle aspect comes into play. I was climbing webs, pushing blocks, looting chests, getting lost, freaking out at these huge spiders with skulls as abomens as they drop from the ceiling, and, my favorite hobby, burning things with sticks! Eventually I reached a point where I just couldn't go further. So, got lost again and bumped my head into a chest containing a slingshot. This slingshot was going to help further my progress by allowing me to shoot things from a safe distance. Finally found the last room where the apparent evil that was killing the Deku Tree was hiding and boy was it dark! Walking around cautiously I hear the same sound that the spiders made when they were moving. Of course, I look up to see if I was right... oh I was right alright. In fact, I was so right the game went widescreen, zoomed in on this spider and it reveals one big orange eye that glares at me with such contempt. The eight-legged freak drops from the ceiling and some white text appears: Parasitic Armored Arachnid GOHMA! I believed myself to be knee deep in scat at this point, so I ran around frantically hoping Navi would say something useful for once! Gohma gets close to me and stands upright, focusing a red glaring eye upon me. Navi finally uses her magical power to pause the game and hint that I should poke its eye. Really Navi? You want me to irritate this guy by poking it in the DAMN EYE!? Fine. I'll shoot a pebble in the eye and see if Gohma gets some more redness and asks Ben Stein for some eyedrops. Apparently shooting a slingshot hurt a lot more than I thought! Gohma falls down and her eye is flashing all sorts of colors. I pull out my twig-sized sword and hack away. Gohma gets back up after 4 slashes and we do this dance allover again. Run around, stand in fear as Gohma begins to stare into my soul with her crimson gaze, fling a pebble in her eye, watch her fall down, pull out twig, smack her with it, and then she dissipates. Got that out of the way, but apparently the Deku Tree's doctor only gave him so much time to live. In other words, I was too late. The tree was dying and he gives Link a Kokiri Emerald. I guess I should keep it. After all, it's a parting gift and it is shiny. But there is more to this game than just killing time in dungeons, solving puzzles, laying the smack down on spiders bigger than any boot you will ever find, and then watching the trees die! There are mini-games, sidequests, weapons galore, secrets, fairies, engrossing story developments, songs to play, adventures to be had, and NPCs who may strike you as odd, peculiar, creepy, and even pretty. The game's main mechanic has got to be the Ocarina of Time. It is used in many places to open doors, raise water levels, turn night into day, teleport Link to previous locations, and even make it rain! I would say more, but I don't want to spoil anything else. OoT is just a timeless classic that never gets old.

Alright, here's the story: Long ago the world was blessed by the Celestial Gods residing on the Celestial Plain. Everything was at rest and everyone was having a good time, but then some eight-headed jerk-off of a serpent named Orochi decides to bring down the Celestial Plain and spread his darkness all over the place. Orochi eventually took over the world and started a tradition where he demands a sacrifice from a local rural village. Every month during a full moon, a silver arrow appears and flies to the house that is to provide a maiden as a sacrifice. At the same time a white wolf named Shiranui stands by and watches all of this. The villagers assume Shiranui is a familiar of Orochi's so they always try to shoo her away. After the 100th time an unfortunate mistress was called to be sacrificed, a man named Nagi boasted that he would slay Orochi. Nagi makes his way to Orochi's lair and begins to do battle with the beast! Poor Nagi... despite his self-proclaimed title of "Greatest Warrior Who Ever Lived," he just plain **** at fighting. Then Shiranui shows up and assists Nagi with a strange ancient power. After the long fight, Nagi dealt the finishing blow and sealed Orochi up in his lair forever. Shiranui was too weak to stand after the fight and eventually collapsed, drifted to sleep and never woke up. Now the whole village is sad like their dog just died and they erect a statue for Shiranui and a statue for Nagi. NOW everybody's happy again! Jump 100 years later (or in this case, 18 minutes after the introduction which CANNOT BE SKIPPED) there is a celebration for the 100th Anniversary of Orochi's defeat. The statue of Shiranui glows and the wolf comes to life! However, this wolf looks slightly different. Still white as snow, this wolf has brighter red markings and seems to be a bit clueless. This is not Shiranui, but the wolf you as the player control, the Goddess Okami Amaterasu, Mother to everything! First thing I notice is that this game plays an awful lot like Legend of Zelda. No seriously, the maps are designed similar to the ones in a Zelda game, dungeons require a bit of puzzle solving, the NPCs are memorable for having unique characteristics, you unlock new weapons, and there is even a world to save! No princess though. Main aspect of gameplay is the Celestial Brush. What is so great about a divinely named painting tool? Well, Ammy (her nickname given by her bouncing friend Issun) is a goddess over everything... including reality. This brush allows the user to alter reality. You want to make trees bloom with flower despite the poor sap being dead for a long time? Draw a circle on the branches and cherry blossoms will bloom! Turn night into day? Draw a circle in the sky and make your own sun! Wood fence in the way? Draw a line through it and slice it in two! Can't swim because you only know how to dog paddle? Draw a circle in the water and make a lily pad! Combat is a bit like Twilight Princess when Link is in wolf form. Every fight takes place in an enclosed space created by demons, but you have the option to break out if you can find a seam and rip it open. You've got three weapon groups that suit players based on their skill. Reflectors, the default weapon, do short and quick combos and do moderate damage, Rosaries dishing out quick, multi-hit attacks that do small damage, but add up considerably, and Glaives that require a charge before bringing the pain and destruction of Amaterasu's wrath! And let's not forget those boss fights. Each fight is a memorable encounter. One fight in particular has Ammy facing up against a fox. The Demon Fox Ninetails (not the Pokemon) fights aggressively, jumps allover the place, can't be hit, and can even use brush techniques just like Ammy! The music played fits the mood perfectly while still keeping the theme of the game intact. Not just some awesome track that goes with any game with a fight like this, but to this fight and this fight only! This boss gave me a run for my money, but it was worth every penny (and minute, of course). I think I'm running out of room, but I should be able to squeeze in one more paragraph. The soundtrack overall is gorgeous and the graphics are in the style of traditional Japanese paintings. Well, close to those types of paintings, but it just looks so smooth and flawless! This game captures Japanese culture so well that I can't think of any new adjectives to describe it! This is one of those games you just have to play before you die, so just stick this somewhere on your bucket list and try it out sometime. For the ultimate experience, use FAQs as little as possible. This is a game that feels just magical when you discover something by yourself.

Normally I avoid a game with dark corners and spooky creatures simply because for one, they all seem to remind me of my older brother trying to jump out and scare me and that gets tiring when you turn 10. Limbo, however, is scary for another reason: mystery. I say this game is mysterious because for starters, you are in Limbo itself! The mythological place where the most evil people are sent to live in eternal torment and are forced to watch themselves die again and again and again. That is exactly what I ended up doing in this platformer: die die die die DIE! Almost anything can kill you in this game. Bear traps, falling into a hole, drowning, getting shot by a dart, taking a light blow to the head by a falling tree, short circuiting hotel signs, spiders bigger than your house, and even buzz saws because why the hell not? This isn't a game about avoiding obstacles like in your average platformer. This is a true fight for survival! This little boy (I forget his name) finds that his sister got lost in Limbo some how on her way to the bathroom from her bedroom. Now the boy has to go get her back. Not sure if he is really brave or just as dim-witted as his sister. Anyways, he runs through the whole thing and the player has nothing to look at but a black foreground and a white background. Yet as simple as that sounds, there is a lot of stuff to push through. The object of the game is to make it to the end and find your lost sister. Seems easy, but you have to watch for danger and you also have to solve a few puzzles. Dying is very easy in this game, so there is no health bar nor lives. The game does have checkpoints that mark your progress. Simple controls: directional arrows keys to move, duck, jump and the Ctrl key to use Action. Action is typically something such as grabbing a block and using the arrow keys to move said block in the direction you like. This poor kid can't really jump that high, so the player often has to find an object to leap onto so he can jump higher. The enemies cannot be killed. That's right, they cannot die by your hand, but they can kill you! Most of the time if you run into a shadowy figure throwing rocks at you, you can make him run away by just getting close, plus they are an uncommon sight. Most of your obstacles involve things such as closed doors that need to be opened via a switch and are only open for a temporary amount of time, or possibly a machine gun that triggers when you break the laser pointer beam. I swear this game is designed to make the player die numerous times. Even after multiple playthroughs I still fell for the same traps again and again! Bear trap on the ground and a rope dangling just above it? Seems safe, but WAIT! What is that hanging above the rope? ANOTHER BEAR TRAP! AND IT FALLS JUST AS I TOUCH THE ROPE! Deaths are gruesome in Limbo, I mean you can get split apart, dismembered, break limbs and bend in really creepy positions, have your head severed, and they all end with the boy lying down, closing his eyes and accepting death. But despite the difficulty and the fact that you must use your head to solve every puzzle, Limbo is fantastic! The art is creepy and disturbing, but fits the mood of a dark underworld where the living are forbidden to roam. The animations are very smooth and polished. Even the soundtrack is amazing and it isn't even sound! It is literally called "silent" music. It seems as if you are not listening to music at all, but at the same time your spine has chills, your hairs stand up, and your heart beats incredibly fast! It isn't the difficult puzzles or the potential dangers you face that make you this tense and excited at the same time; the soundtrack is where it's at. And the finale is spectacular! This game was subtle all the way through until you solve the last puzzle. After numerous attempts of manipulating gravity and getting chewed apart by buzzsaws, you... I can't even describe what happens next, it's just too good to put into words. Just play Limbo all the way through and you will see why the finale is jaw-droppingly amazing.

First off, Ico is about a boy of the same name. First thing I noticed was that he had horns. Unusual, but I wasn't questioning where he got the horns. Apparently having horns in his village is a bad omen, so these two village elders ship the boy off to some ruins and lock him up in a prison. Ico doesn't know what is going on and neither do I! Luckily, the prison has worn away and begins to crumble when Ico tries to break free. After some struggling, the boy falls out and smacks his head on the stone floor. As he helps himself up and gathers his surroundings, I noticed that there are several of these prisons. Seems like a lot of children had horns and were forced to exile. Now this game is one of those types that has virtually no tutorials. I like these kinds of games. The player doesn't need someone telling them how to move or jump unless it is done through an unusual method such as hitting two buttons at once. The controls were pretty simple, so figuring out things as I go was a cinch. Eventually Ico stumbles across a dark and eerie room with a few cages hanging here and there. In one of them is a girl, probably older than him as she seems to be taller than Ico, and she just looks so sad. Ico calls out to her and she seems to notice, but looks so helpless as if she was completely overcome with hopelessness and dread. This girl, Yorda, just doesn't think she can escape. Fortunately, we are here to prove her wrong. Since it has been over a year since I played this I have to try and remember what happened next. I'm sure a stick was involved and some creepy shadow creatures attack you, but basically you manage to set Yorda free. This part just gets me every time: to progress through this game you must hold Yorda's hand and guide her through the entire castle and break free of the time-weathered walls. Sure, she could just follow you, but sometimes you just have to hold her hand so she can keep up. It's just so touching. It's the little things like this that make gamers grow attached to the characters. Trust me, the rest of the game is puzzles that require both people to solve, shady creatures to fight, and moments that tug at your heart strings and make you weep! Difficult? Maybe if you rely on tutorials a lot. Fun? Loads of fun. Aesthetically pleasing to the eye? I see nothing that comes close to this game. The graphics aren't meant to be realistic. The game has it's own art style and everything just looks so smooth. Imagine this: there is a painting before you and you think "What if I could interact with this painting?" Ico feels just like that. A beautiful series of paintings that makes the player feel enlightened, calm, and just so happy. And that's just the first game. The spiritual successor to Ico, Shadow of the Colossus delivers so much more! SoTC, as some call it, lives up to Team Ico's expectations. Graphics are in a similar style, controls are simple, the goal is pretty apparent, and the story grabs the player and doesn't let them go for even a moment. SoTC starts off with a young man named Wander. He's just minding his own business (as I am lead to believe) and some voice from above tells him to kill some Colossi running around. Seems legit. Wander takes his sword and his faithful horse Agro. Now as a player, Agro is going to be very helpful in taking down these Colossi as the horse is useful for travel, moving and shooting arrows, and excellent for reaching certain areas. The game has nothing else in between the Colossi. No other enemies, no mini dungeons, no puzzles. Just a starting point and the expansive land surrounding it. Wander uses his sword to reflect the sun's light and this somehow shows the way to the Colossi that needs to die next. Never have I seen gameplay like this. Pure boss fights that are amazing, exciting, and filled with sheer, epic combat. Wander must climb the Colossi, find a glowing symbol, hold his sword ready, and thrust it deep within the creature's flesh! Of course the Colossus isn't going to just let you kill it. They shake, they swipe, they run, they do all they can just to make Wander fall off. Keeping a good grip is necessary to winning the fight. Each fight is different, too. Yes, they all require the player to climb, but bringing the Colossus down requires strategy. I will never forget each and every fight I had with these things. Sometimes I got a vague hint when fighting, but figuring it all out for yourself is the most rewarding feeling in the world. I think that just about sums up the two games without spoiling anything critical. Both show emphasis on companionship and look amazing to boot! I highly recommend anyone reading this to try out these revived classics sometime. It will be worth every minute of your time.

Radiata Stories is a game made by Tri-Ace (the same people who made Star Ocean, Infinite Undiscovery, and Valkyrie Profile) that takes place in a land called Tottaus. The kingdom of Radiata rules just about every corner of this land and everybody is just so freaking happy all the time. Classic! That was my first impression... until I saw the opening cinematic. That scene alone made my jaw drop! It shows a story book opening up (like a Disney movie or something) and the pages flip through a bit and stop on one picture: a two headed Water Dragon towering over a lone knight named Sir Cairn Russel. Then with the turn of the next page comes the Dragon itself staring you right in the face with all four of its eyes as it breathes mist out its mouths. Then, the music begins to build up into a more suitable rhythm. It turns from a calm melody to a "fight to the death" kind of sound. Cairn is seen breathing heavily trying to catch his breath as he readies to attack the Dragon. You can see the fog forming under his nose and mouth. And as Cairn finally stands up and takes his sword, he stands ready. The Dragon then breathes in and fires a storm of razor icicles, but these are no match for Cairn, for he takes one wide-arcing swing of his sword and everything turns to mist. By this point you realize Cairn isn't messing around. His eyes glow crimson red, filled with determination and his brow furrowed with fearlessness and concentration. A gleam in his eye, Cairn rushes the Dragon and leaps into the air ready to strike a deathblow! The Dragon spews frigid ice from its right head at the ground right before Cairn leaps and spews a vortex of frost and freezing water from the left head directly at the knight. Cairn musters all of his power to pierce through the vortex and penetrate the Dragon's skull. He successfully slays the Dragon and the cutscene ends. Pretty epic opening, but this game isn't just about looking good. It also has some humorous moments as well. Sixteen years after the events from the cinematic the player is shown a little house with two of Cairn's children. His daughter Adele is awake and ready to start her day and she looks at her father's portrait as he is seen standing next to a short and stout red haired man presumed to be a close friend. She whispers "The day has come for Jack to become a Knight and follow in your footsteps." Makes Jack sound like an awesome guy, right? Not even close. In comes Jack with a slouched posture, messy hair, backwards pajamas, eyes half open, and a somewhat careless attitude. His first question is "Hey, Sis. When's breakfast?" Apparently he forgot that today was really important. Adele proceeds to smack Jack and reminds him that today is the day he becomes a Knight. So they begin sparring for a bit and after that Adele gives Jack his father's sword, The Arbitrator. Now Jack is officially off to become a Knight just like Cairn. Almost anyone you talk to in this game, human or non-human, is recruitable as a party member. The grand total of people you can have is 177! That's the most I've seen in any game! Even Chrono Cross can't top that. Now the only person you can upgrade with weapons and armor is Jack, but you can see these party members can hold their own in a fight. Recruiting these people isn't that easy. Some you can just talk to and they just hop right in. Other may require you to fight them, pay them, catch them doing something secret, or some of the best party members, like Elwen, require you to recruit tons of other people before they will join you. Battles in this game are like your normal RPGs that let characters move around as opposed to standing there playing "swap licks" with each other. You can attack with combos, block, counter, charge, and even command other party members to attack a specific enemy or use a healing item or even support someone in need of help. The AI used for these members are phenomenal! They never do anything stupid to the player such as run away when they are critically needed. My favorite part of the battles is Linking. You take your entire four person party and make a formation and attack in this formation. Some help for surrounding the enemy, others help keep the party alive, and some are just insanely powerful! Attack Link, I just run in and attack one enemy with a swing of a weapon and the other three rush in and hit as hard as they can! Nothing stands in your way with the right Link. Sadly, this only exists on the PS2 and I have never seen nor heard of any other ports for it. As for negative remarks, I can only think of a few problems with the plot. Exactly who is Elwen? What were the Fairy Wars? Which ending is the true ending? This game really deserves a sequel (or possibly a prequel) to help explain all of this.

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is the only game I've played out of the entire Oddworld franchise. This is one of the greatest shooters I have experienced. Stranger is on a mission to collect bounties and cash them in so he can pay for a mysterious surgical procedure. This medical condition of his isn't revealed until a crucial part of the game, so in the meantime you just run around and shoot stuff with non-traditional ammunition. You are not firing bullets or rockets or special darts. You shoot out critters such as Bolamites or Sparkflies. Each ammo servers a unique purpose such as Chipmunks attract enemies and Bolamites are used to entangle outlaws so you can bag'em up real good! Your primary weapon is a crossbow that fires two types of ammo at a time. This allows for combination of certain critters such as Stunkz and Boombats. I would use the Upgraded Stunkz to **** enemies into a spot and immediately fire Boombats to make them all explode! There was blood, spit, and ass everywhere in this game! Killing an outlaw or bounty target isn't preferred because you make less money this way. To get in the most Moolah (yes, that is the currency), the best method is to trap or incapacitate your foes and then bag them. Now shooting is fun and all, but the more memorable moments of the game are the NPCs. Everyone talks like a hick. Being from Arkansas, I can say their accents and vocabulary are quite accurate to that of a redneck. Trust me, I am surrounded by them! The things these anthropomorphic chickens say are downright hilarious. They just act so rude, especially if you attack them. I just run into one of them, (charging at full force I might add), send him flying across the town and the whole place is just gathered around me yelling things like "Now cut that out, ya crazy varmit!" or "Settle down now, ya stinky turd!" Only one risk comes with messing with the Clackerz (as they are so called) and that is dealing with a gun turret that continuously fires until you get out of their range. Those little feathered cowards run indoors and open fire! Eventually they forgive you and come back outside, but if they didn't carry extra Moolah on them, I wouldn't mess with them anyway. You don't have to play in first-person mode the entire time. Just when you shoot. The game allows you to swap to a third person perspective for easier movement. You run a lot faster when you aren't holding a crossbow in front of your face. As for things that can kill you, falling isn't one of them. So long as the bottom is visible, Stranger cannot die from free falling. Should he get hurt by other means, he can just shake off the pain and bullets stuck in his skin. That's pretty hardcore. However, there are some buggy things about this game, at least for the PC port. Most of these things are not game breaking, but two of which annoyed me. The first was during the last level. If you die and hit try again, the client crashes. This could just be Steam not optimizing this game enough, but it's still frustrating having to close the game, re-open, reload, and retry everything again. The second bug was beating the game. I KNOW I was playing on Normal, but Steam gave me the achievement for Easy. Again, likely an error on Steam's part, but just thought I would mention it. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is an awesome shooter. It has an intuitive mechanic built around ammunition, a lively world with innocents and brigands, and many a dark secret to be discovered on Stranger's quest to get some surgery done.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]