TotK #1 – Great Sky Island

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came out this month, and I’ve recently started my adventure. Much like I did with Breath of the Wild, I plan on posting updates on my progress. As you may know, I tend to take my time with Zelda games; I don’t rush through. Also, I’ve avoided spoilers as much as possible, including many of Nintendo’s own tweets about the game. So a lot of things that you may know, will be surprises to me. So follow along and you’ll see these things through my eyes. 👀

Story-wise, the game starts out after the end of Breath of the Wild. Link and Zelda are investigating under the castle. Even though I just defeated Ganon in BOTW and saved the world, Zelda panicked after I encountered three measly little bats. Give me at least a little credit, princess. 😛

Zelda: You're not hurt are you, Link?
Chill. They were just early Halloween decorations.

But there was real danger lurking, and Link did get hurt a bit later on (after they made an interesting discovery). Link was injured, but fortunately, a mysterious stranger was around to lend a hand.

I ended up on a tutorial-like floating island (the Great Sky Island), where I eventually met Rauru, who is apparently a goat now. Well, a goat ghost, it seems. And I was surprised at his title… 😛

Rauru: Source of the Right Arm

He told me about the shrines on the island, and I started seeking them out. Each one taught me a new ability.

Ultrahand

This is not to be confused with Nintendo’s Ultra Hand toy (which was also featured in its own Wii game). The Ultrahand ability lets me grab and move items, much like Magnesis in Breath of the Wild…but without needing the objects to be metallic.

But more importantly, Ultrahand lets you attach items together to make things. Combine logs to make a raft or a bridge, or use other items you find to make tools. By combining a hook with this plank of wood, you can slide on these railings to another sky island.

Sliding down to another island.

I also used the ability to help out my first Korok. His backpack looks like it weights about 50 times his own body weight. Not sure how he gets anywhere. (Or maybe he doesn’t; that’s why he needed my help.)

Korok: I made it, thanks to you!

Fuse

The Fuse ability lets you attach objects to your weapons or shield to make them stronger. It may look silly to walk around with a boulder fused to your sword, but it is effective.

Link carries a sword with a boulder fused to it.

I’m just worried it may end up being tedious having to look for things to attach to your weapons throughout the whole game. This may be my least favorite of the new abilities so far.

Ascend

The third shrine took me a while to find, and I think I may have gone around the island in the wrong direction. 😛 Because when I finally made my across this wide river, I found a robot guy who was telling me I could use his rafts to get to the other side…the side I had just come from. Oops. So I backtracked and found what I missed.

In the third shrine, I learned the Ascend ability. It lets you pass through solid objects directly above you, and come out on top of them. It almost looks like you’re swimming through solid rock. 😛 But it certainly comes in handy, and it’ll really help out when exploring the world!

Recall

With three shrines complete, I headed to the Temple of Time to meet up with Zelda. She shook my hand and taught me the Recall ability, which can reverse an object’s movement through time! So if a log falls from a mountain, you can reverse its movement so it goes back up! Of course, it’ll eventually fall again, but you can use this ability in some helpful ways.

An object reverses course.

I didn’t have the strength to open a large door at the temple, but Rauru told me there is a 4th shrine on this island that I needed to complete. He marked it on my map, and I headed there and quickly completed it, using my new ability.

I then returned to the Temple of Time, where I saw a brief cut scene before diving down to the mainland…Hyrule Kingdom. I explored a bit, but I’ve barely scratched the surface. (Literally, since I’ve only just landed on the surface.) 😛

First Impressions

I’m still very early into the game (about five hours), so my journey is just beginning. With the abilities being different from those in Breath of the Wild, it’s going to be fun exploring the world in completely different ways.

The Ultrahand ability is probably the most significant change so far, because creating tool (or even vehicles?) with it is going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to let us be creative in the things we make, how we use them, and how we overcome various obstacles.

I’m already enjoying the game a lot, and I’m sure my interest level will grow more. I always seem to have a “warming up” period with any new game, before I reach a point that I don’t want to stop playing. So I’m not totally addicted just yet, but that may be coming soon. I’m looking forward to exploring, making some fun machines with Ultrahand, (hopefully) getting a sailcloth, and finding some proper dungeons.

I’ll probably be playing Tears of the Kingdom for many months to come, if not years. I hope you’ll return for future updates, and future videos as well. See you next time!

Buy Tears of the Kingdom at Amazon

Final eShop Purchases (Wii U, 3DS)

The eShops on Wii U and 3DS are closing on Monday, so I wanted to pick up at least one game for each system in its last days, in preparation of the final goodbye. Here are my first impressions and other thoughts about the games I bought.

Pushmo World (Wii U)

In this cute puzzle game, you play as a sumo wrestler who rescues children who have been (somehow) trapped in blocks at the park. By pulling and pushing blocks, you can create steps to ascend each puzzle.

Pushmo World for Wii U.

Each block can only be extended up to three spaces away from the back “wall,” so you may have to make an indirect route to the top. Go up, around, pull one block out, push another in, jump across a gap, and so on. After the initial (easy) tutorial levels, the puzzles will really make you think. But fortunately, there is no time limit…so you never feel rushed.

Even though the original Pushmo, and its sequel Crashmo, are in the 3DS eShop, I opted for the Wii U game simply because I enjoy playing on the bigger screen of a TV. (Besides, it interested me most of the Wii U eShop games I didn’t already own.)

It’s published by Nintendo themselves, and some of the later puzzles resemble Nintendo characters. The game is a lot of fun, and I’m enjoying it even more than I expected. It’s a very welcome addition to my Wii U collection.

View Pushmo World trailer

Tappingo (3DS)

This 3DS puzzle game resembles Picross at first glance, but it’s actually quite different. There is a grid of block pieces that will ultimately form a picture, and many empty spaces. Some blocks will have numbers on them, and you must slide those blocks to extend their color in the direction of your slide.

Tappingo (3DS) screenshot.
Screenshot courtesy of Goodbye Galaxy Games.

However, the color will keep sliding until it hits something else (or the edge of the screen). So if it’s not exactly the right number of squares shown on the block, that means something else needs to be in place first. So some parts can only be done in sequence for the pieces to fit just right. It’s a nice twist on logic games.

The game itself isn’t very polished. The menu is bland, you can’t use the control pad/stick in menus (even though you can during gameplay), and there aren’t always sound effects when you’d expect to hear them. You can’t even use the start button to pause the game! So there are some curious aspects to the presentation, but the gameplay is enjoyable. It’ll be good for a quick puzzle here and there.

View Tappingo trailer

Donkey Kong 64 (Wii U)

I actually bought this Virtual Console game in January, knowing that the eShop was on its way out. I’m already quite familiar with Donkey Kong 64 (a 3D platformer/collect-a-thon), as I’ve fully completed it seven times on N64. It’s one of my favorite games of all-time, in fact, despite some camera/control issues. The game is still as fun as a barrel of monkeys on Wii U, but there are some irritating problems with this version.

Diddy Kong climbs a tree in Donkey Kong 64.

Switch controllers don’t have six face buttons on the right side like the N64 controller does, so it uses the right stick to function as four of those buttons. Unfortunately, that makes it far too easy to accidentally hit a diagonal and trigger the wrong button. I often end up locked in first-person view when I was just trying to rotate the camera. Quite frustrating if you’re racing towards a timed goal!

Also, some parts seem to have been sped up (presumably to help the frame rate). But that makes certain parts of the game move too quickly. In particular, there’s (at least) one stage of the Krazy Kong Klamour mini-game that’s nearly unplayable. You have to shoot at targets before the light dims…but now the light dims quicker than it takes for your ammo (melons) to fly through the air. The game was very easy on N64, but now it’s almost impossible (unless you resort to quickly pausing and un-pausing the game, which I regretfully had to do).

Even though I love Donkey Kong 64, I still recommend playing it on an actual N64 system instead, if you can.

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (Wii U)

Update: On Monday evening (March 27th), the eShop was still open in the evening. So I took another look, and I decided to buy Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. It was on sale for $5.99, (and yet it’s still $39.99 on Switch). I’ve heard a lot about Shovel Knight, although I’ve never tried it before now. And when I realized I had just barely enough money remaining in my account, I decided to spring for it.

Gameplay screenshot of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove on Nintendo Wii U.

Shovel Knight is an old-school, NES style action/platformer in which you use a shovel to attack enemies. You also battle bosses, collect treasure, and visit towns. While I’m not very far into the game just yet, I am absolutely digging it. It’s nice to add a quality 2D platformer to my collection, and I feel like I definitely picked some winners with my last-minute purchases. 👍

Saying Goodbye

Late on Monday night, the eShops officially closed. Or at least, games can no longer be purchased. But even though the Wii U and 3DS eShops are now gone, online play for those systems is still with us…for now, at least. I may make a similar post about the end of online play as well, whenever that happens. They’ll probably give us a few months’ notice, but I’m hoping it won’t happen this year.

Did you all pick up any last minute eShop games for either system? Leave a comment below!

Ranking Toy Day Events in Animal Crossing

Toy Day is a festive celebration occurring on Christmas Eve throughout the Animal Crossing series; only Wild World lacks the event. Although initially untitled, the event has been called Toy Day since New Leaf.

It features Jingle, the “black-nosed reindeer” in one of two basic roles. In the earlier games, your job is to find Jingle around town repeatedly to acquire exclusive Jingle furniture. In later games, Jingle asks you to deliver presents to each of your villagers.

Jingle: Happy holidays! I'm Jingle, the black-nosed reindeer!

Even though I’ll be ranking my favorite versions of the event from best to worst, I should mention that I love the atmosphere in all four games. The snow, the music, and the festive lights on trees combine to make it a memorable session that almost feels magical. If this event doesn’t get you into the Christmas spirit, then nothing will. 🎄

1. City Folk

Much like the GameCube event, City Folk requires you to find Jingle repeatedly to obtain Jingle furniture. But here, the event is greatly improved over its original incarnation. You have to trick Jingle by wearing a different hat each time. But fortunately, each of your patterns (worn as a hat) can be used to trick Jingle repeatedly.

Jingle isn’t as stingy in this game as he is on GameCube, plus there’s the novelty of being able to go inside animals’ houses when they’re not home!

Jingle, in a villager's house: Oh, ho ho ho...hey.

It can still be a time-consuming event, but it’s possible to rack up a lot of bells. More than any of the other games, in fact. It’s also a lot of fun, and it’s my favorite Christmas Eve event in the series.

Video of Christmas Eve in City Folk

2. New Leaf

New Leaf introduced a completely different objective for the event: Jingle gives you a sack of gifts to deliver to your villagers, and you have to dress up as Santa and give the correct gift to each animal. So how do you know who gets what? You have to speak to your villagers in the weeks before Toy Day and take notes of their hints.

Rolf: You know, I just really want an orange gift from Jingle this year. That simple!

So this event does require more preparation than the others, and you’ll probably want to buy a Santa suit ahead of time, too. But if you’ve been a studious note-taker, Toy Day itself is quick and satisfying. In fact, it’s the fastest Toy Day on this list. So you can get a taste of the festivities, make your villagers happy, and then carry on with your holiday.

But if you didn’t prepare for the event, then you’re really out of luck. Your villagers are going to be disappointed in you, and so will Jingle.

Jingle: I mean, I probably would have been more careful to give the right gifts to the right people, but oh well.

3. New Horizons

The New Horizons event is a gift-delivering event, much like the one in New Leaf. But there are extra tasks required here: You have to craft special wrapping paper, which requires ornaments that are shaken down from festive trees.

While the crafting may be tedious (especially if you don’t have ornaments stockpiled already), the gift-giving is easier than New Leaf. You don’t have to keep track of their wish lists ahead of time, and you don’t need to be wearing a Santa suit. So the deliveries are pretty easy.

Jingle: All you have to do is visit each resident, magic bag in hand, and deliver Toy Day gifts!

But there is an additional component to the event that is optional: Once you’ve given all of your villagers their gifts from Santa, they want gifts from you too. So if you’re a completionist, or just feel obligated to help your villagers, this additional gift exchange really turns the event into something quite long and tedious.

You can give them whatever gifts you want, but they must be wrapped or they won’t accept them. And tracking down all of your villagers for a second time (essentially making 20 deliveries in a row) probably isn’t the way you want to spend your limited, valuable time on Christmas Eve.

Video of Toy Day in New Horizons

4. GameCube

The original Christmas Eve event is also my least favorite. While it still has a festive feeling with the snow and Christmas lights, it’s also quite a pain. You have to track down Jingle repeatedly (as in City Folk), but here you must fool him by changing into a different shirt each time. (And you can’t keep using different patterns like you can in City Folk.) So if you didn’t stockpile a bunch of clothes, you’re not going to get very far.

Jingle: I think you'll find that it's something you like!

But the worst part is that you have find Jingle five times before he’ll even give you the first item! Considering GameCube towns are among the biggest in the series, this is no small task. He can’t hide indoors in this game, but that’s not much of a consolation. I’m generally tired of the event by the time I get the first few items.

Another thing I hate about this event is that Jingle eventually cuts you off, even if you have more clothing to change into. So you can’t complete the set in a single year! It’s a lot of work for just a partial set of furniture. While I may occasionally check this event out just for the atmosphere, this is not a version I spend much time in any more.

Video of Christmas Eve on GameCube

When is a Toy Day not a Toy Day?

Note: The GameCube version of Animal Crossing also has a separate event called Toy Day, on December 23rd. However, there’s not much to it: Tortimer will give you a gift (a miniature car for boys, or a dolly for girls), and that’s it. Since this is not the full Christmas Eve event featuring Jingle, I did not include it in the rankings above.

Tortimer: For Toy Day, I'd like to give you this miniature car.

What’s your favorite Christmas Eve/Toy Day event in the series? Leave a comment below! And Happy Holidays! 🦌❄️🎅🎁