Hyrule Warriors: Nintendo Knows They’re Getting Some of Us To Spend More Money On This One…

Posted on September 15, 2014 by geelw

With just over a week to go before Hyrule Warriors storms store shelves, here’s a look at the TV commercial and uh-oh, trailers for DLC outfits. Yes indeed, the DLC for this game will grab you by the nostalgic hairs and yank hard on your wallet. Granted, I’d bet just about anyone who buys the game is buying at least ONE of these outfits or not buying them at all, but jamming up the eShop downloading them for free if that’s what they go for.

Oh, wait… they’re PRE-ORDER outfits and retailer specific, at that. Blech. Come on, Nintendo! Just let EVERYONE have what they want if they want it, as you KNOW the completion freaks out there who want everything but can only buy ONE copy of the game will be giving you grief deluxe. Oh well… perhaps these are timed DLC items and we’ll ALL be able to buy what we want directly from Nintendo at some point. One can only hope…

Okay, I was jesting a tiny bit. Nintendo IS smarter than the average internet troll who only skims the video before posting. They will indeed release ALL the DLC at some point via the eShop, so you don’t have to fret about missing out on anything. Like the company would pass up the chance to make some ABSOLUTE loot on those costumes in a few ways? Ha! Yeah, they’re on top of this one (for once). Yes, that’s tough love from me, ALWAYS for Nintendo!

Hyrule Warriors is out for the Wii U on September 26, 2014. Yes, it’s a must-buy game, folks.

Hey, Where’d August Go?!

Posted on September 1, 2014 by geelw

Yeah, yeah and holy crap – it’s SEPTEMBER already. Yaaaaaah! Anyway, I’ll get to updating the banners/backgrounds on both DAF sites later today or tomorrow at the latest. I’ve been catching up on some gaming and movies in the backlog this weekend, so I’ve been a bit busier than I thought I’d be. I got a nice surprise over the weekend in the form of a gift card from some contest I’d entered randomly ages back, so that’s going to go towards my pick for Game of the Month, Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U. Yeah, it’s a bit presumptuous of me to call this particular game out before it’s released, but all those videos and people who imported grooving on this latest Musou mash-up plus my own love for the two long-running series (The Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors) means this one’s a no-brainer day-one buy for me. Hey, Nintendo of America may have forgotten I exist, but I’ll still support them with a purchase when I see games I like.

Anyway, enjoy this Labor Day, anyone who’s not working out there and doing all that usual end of summer stuff.

Is there a party over there? “Yeaaaah!”
Well, there’s no party over here, tell you the truth!
‘Cause I’ve got so much stuff to do,
That if I stop to have some fun
I just might turn blue!

Or something like that… back in a bit!

Want More Hyrule Warriors? How About An Opening Movie Plus Gameplay (Some Spoilers Included!)?

Posted on August 14, 2014 by geelw

I’m pretty much going to stop following all these Hyrule Warriors videos because I don’t want to spoil the game any more than it’s been spoiled already (although I know I don’t know anything more about the story than I need to at this point, and that’s a good thing). But what the heck, here’s the opening (above), a whopping 85 minutes of gameplay from the great German site Nintendomination (thanks!) and what the heck, another Nintendo of America character trailer below:

After this, I’m sticking my head in the sand and waiting for the US release. I think Nintendo has a huge hit on their hands that may not be a system seller out of the gate, but WILL get into the hands of a great deal of the current user base still high on Mario Kart 8 fumes or looking for the next surefire hit from the company. This one’s got pure franchise potential stamped all over it in big gold letters and I’m so glad I’ve been supporting the system since day one…

Hyrule Warriors Direct: It Would Seem That The Missing Link Is MORE Action…

Posted on August 6, 2014 by geelw

Hyrule Warriors may not have BUY ME stamped on it in shiny gold letters, but based on the response to the game so far in video form, I’d say Nintendo has a hit that’s not just for Nintendo fans only. The long-running Dynasty Warriors franchise is indeed “niche”, yet it has mass appeal to action game fans who may or may not be into The Legend of Zelda games. As you can see in this Direct presentation, the gameplay is quite similar to the Dynasty Warriors games down to the packs of enemies, powerful attacks, large battle maps and multiple objectives that need to be tackled as they pop up. But seeing it all with familiar faces from the LoZ series makes me grin a lot and my wallet hurt even more.

Oh yeah, and Gannon(dorf*) pops up as a playable character (oh, this should be interesting, folks):

As I’ve said previously… SOLD. Hell, this was sold from the first moment I heard it was being made. Anyway, I’m betting Nintendo gets a nice surprise once this ships and they see it sell faster than even they anticipated. If it does, Team Ninja and Omega Force will have to probably hire a semi-permanent HW team for the inevitable sequel and perhaps even consider a 3DS version that’s some sort of side story, as that handheld certainly isn’t outputting HD visuals anytime soon.

*I tend to call Gannondof “gannon” as that’s the name I first encountered him under and “dorf” makes me think of the always hilarious Tim Conway because I’m as old as the hills and not one of you under a certain age will get that reference at all unless I clue you all in. Get it? Got it? Good. Now you can call him Gannon as well…

Hyrule Warriors: One Of Nintendo’s Not So Secret Weapons This Year…

Posted on July 26, 2014 by geelw

I’ll admit to grinning a wee bit too much when I heard about Hyrule Warriors, the latest mash-up of Koei’s fan favorite Dynasty Warriors series with an even more popular Zelda franchise and based on these videos, I’m betting Nintendo sees this one exceed their expectations. The pick up and play simplicity, hefty amount of playable characters and longevity of the DW series crossed with the massive appeal of the Legend of Zelda universe is pretty much a license to print money and I’m surprised that this hasn’t been done previously. Then again, the Wii U absolutely NEEDS an unbroken string of flat out hits and surprising sleepers in order to survive and it sure looks as if Nintendo is finally getting more consistent in terms of delivering better games for the console.

If this game is anything like the DW series (and it sure likes it’s going to be), there’s NO way anyone will blow through ALL the content on a rainy weekend. Sure, you MAY complete the game with one character by playing through for a few straight hours or breaking up gameplay sessions over that weekend, but you won’t have seen everything the game has to offer at all. It generally takes me a few months of playing to get as much out of a DW game and even then, I’m back for more if it’s a slow week and I have some free time… Continue reading →

Hyrule Warriors Trailers: Four Times The “You Need To Buy This Game!” Courtesy of Nintendo…

Posted on July 1, 2014 by geelw

As a longtime fan of the Dynasty Warriors franchise and its odd and always interesting offshoots, Hyrule Warriors is going to not only be a must buy game for me, I predict it may move a few Wii U’s if it’s got the same sort of longevity the other games based on the Musou engine have. One thing the DW franchise has done perfectly over the years is give players way too many characters and so much action that every entry is an exercise in joyous overkill some love. Granted, the repetition tends to set in after a while and yes, can get to be tedious is you’re sucked in for too many hours. On the other hand, the land of Hyrule in the hands of veteran developers Omega Force and Team Ninja will no doubt make for such a brilliant teaming that this one will be nearly impossible to dislike.

On the other hand, I may have a slight gripe with the game if it’s just a series of battles and very little plot. I’m sure we’ll get cut scenes and a general plot working away here, but I’m hoping for something that does a good job of showing why Princess Zelda finally gets to kick a bunch of butt after all these years of needing Link to get her out of harm’s way. Actually, I hope that the game does well so we can see some sort of follow up that’s less a Dynasty Warriors re-skin, but something more akin to the highly underrated PS3 exclusive Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll. Take that game, add the ability for local co-op play (and perhaps online if the frame rate can be kept stable) and you have an even more excellent game that bridges a few genres and franchises… Continue reading →