Author: Clark

If you’re anything like me and are constantly craving more co-op tower defense games, then Toy Soldiers: Complete should be right up your alley. The “Complete” version is required, though, since Toy Soldiers 1 didn’t originally have co-op and has been reconfigured here to support it. But that also means this version of the game ended up being a somewhat crummy port. Enemies are constantly falling through the map and dying on their own or failing to reveal themselves, making it impossible to finish the level. I had to re-attempt one map 3-4 times before the game finally “clicked.”

Fortunately, once you get into the Cold War levels, the bugs go away for the most part. And Cold War is a more challenging and intense campaign, anyway. But both campaigns are fun, especially when tackled co-op. One player can focus on keeping the towers upgraded and repaired while another player can hop in a tank to attack the enemies head-on. That’s the best part about Toy Soldiers: being able to directly control a tower or vehicle. It’s not as hands on as, say, Dungeon Defenders, but it does make the tower defense gameplay that much more action-oriented.

Breath of the Wild is such a huge shift from the typical Nintendo formula that it doesn’t even feel like a Zelda game anymore. There are a few familiar jingles and the same goofy character designs for NPCs, but that’s about it. The gameplay is something else entirely. I wouldn’t necessarily call it original, though, because even the Wii U’s previous Xenoblade Chronicles X accomplished a lot of the same sense of exploration and adventure. But, man, I’m a sucker for adventure, and I had a lot of fun exploring such a huge map. It’s nice to be rewarded for veering off the main path. It’s not like you’re under any kind of pressure to find and beat the dungeons, either. There’s not even much guidance on which order to do them in, which is great.

That does mean the story plays out in very disjointed parts, though. But the story’s pretty lame, anyway. How many times now has a hero emerged 100 years later to defeat Ganon? I promise, if you only focus on the story-related missions, you’re gonna be disappointed. Breath of the Wild has so much more to offer. I just wish they’d found a better way to balance the difficulty with the openness. In order to keep the game from suddenly becoming too easy, most enemies do a huge amount of damage. I friggin’ hated how many monsters had that stupid laser lock-on attack. Combined with the fact that swords and shields can break and disappear forever, it was often easier to just run past enemies than stop and fight.

This isn’t a perfect game, then, so I’m surprised by all of the 10/10 love. Maybe critics have been so eager for Nintendo to make a game like this that they’re much more willing to overlook its flaws than I am. Hell, the controls alone knocked it down several pegs for me. I struggled with the button mapping for the entirety of the game. Nintendo invented the concept of “press A to jump,” so why the hell is the A button not the jump button here?! Certain areas in the game also suffer from noticeable framerate drops, and the stamina meter can be annoyingly limiting in the first few hours. I definitely hold Xenoblade Chronicles X more dear to my heart, but Breath of the Wild was still a great follow-up and the perfect way to say goodbye to the Wii U (or say hello to the Nintendo Switch, I guess).

This game was incredibly frustrating for the first few chapters, because typical JRPG tactics no longer worked. You can’t just grind, level up, and power your way through battles anymore. You really have to be aware of your characters’ strengths and weaknesses and frequently use buffs and debuffs. Otherwise, enemies will wipe you out in two hits. But once I understood that, the game became really fun. I didn’t think Tokyo Mirage Sessions would be that strategic, though, based on how cheesy and silly the story is.

I normally don’t care for JRPG stories, anyway, but this one in particular is pretty hokey. Your characters are all TV/music idols with the most superficial problems in the world… except when monsters periodically attack the city. Even in battle, the cheesiness is ever present, as characters will sometimes perform “ad-lib” attacks that involve singing, dancing, and dressing up in cat costumes. If you’re easily embarrassed by cutesy stuff, you may have a hard time getting through this game without some serious cringing.

Thankfully, special attack animations can be skipped, and you can fast-forward through every cutscene. I appreciate the fast-forward option over outright skipping scenes, because it allows me to still get a sense of what’s going on. I do feel bad about ignoring the hours of Japanese voice acting it took to make this game, though. The production value here is impressive. But when it comes to RPGs, I’m in it more for the dungeons, and the dungeon designs and intense battles are some of the most fun I’ve had in any JRPG to date.