Grazza

Yep! GameCube was such a fantastic console, I kept everything to do with it. Got one official controller and three unofficial. Of course, this bodes well for GameCube Virtual Console, but if Nintendo lets me play Zelda Wii U with this, I'll love them even more.

So, got mixed feelings about this game now. I wanted to see how far you can take Story Mode without switching to Classic. Let me be clear - Story Mode is an accomplished remake of the original, with likeable characters, good voice acting and two useful new classes (which you can only use in Story Mode). It does lose a certain amount of subtlety, but it also fills in blanks that I for one didn't fully understand previously. The graphics and remixed music are superb, and it generally retains or exceeds the appeal of the original. The problem started when I moved to post-game (the 6th Stratum). These are designed for completionists and are always arduous. However, I would actually say it's more frustrating than it used to be. In the original, the level cap was 70. You'd probably want to Retire and grind to 70 again when you met the Primeval, but you'd generally be able to get through the last 5 floors at level 70 (unretired). In the remake, however, the level cap can be raised to 99, and it's as though the difficulty has also been stretched over this range. Even playing on Normal difficulty (Expert would be a thankless task), it's tougher than it used to be. Floors 28 and 30 have FOEs that spawn and dash at you, and if they catch you off-guard it's no fun at all. Regardless, if you do get to level 99, with a bit of luck you can blast through and draw every map, get every treasure, obtain every item and fill in the Monster Codex. This brings me to the one thing I always hated about the original game - Primevil. As I say, I wanted to see how far you could take Story Mode on Normal. Whilst I'm sure it's possible to beat Primeval (now called Yggdrasil Core) with this set-up, I tried so many times, and found it so frustrating, I gave up. It's just so darn random - if you guess the wrong element you're toast. With a certain amount of shame, I set the difficulty to Picnic and beat him that way just to get the drop. So, just like the original game, I felt I needed a party full of Retired characters, with the stat boosts that brings. The problem? You can't Retire your Story team (or create new characters in Story Mode). The overwhelming thing about this game is that Story Mode and Classic Mode are just so clumsily linked. In frustration, I switched the Classic Mode, and whilst I can still access the Story Mode characters if I want, I still can't Retire the Protector (Raquna) into my own Protector. I'm faced with going through the whole game again, levelling my new team to 99 (if that's possible), Retiring them, then getting them to 99 again. It was fine doing that in IV (the more I played the post-game, the more I loved it), but that was because you'd been in control of your party from the beginning. Furthermore, my Guild Card has disappeared for now. I'm sure I'll get it back sometime, but don't know if all the achievements will still be on it when I do. As it is, I think I need to put the cartridge back in its box for a while, and forget about it. Etrian Odyssey Untold is a good remake, but I don't know if I can justify all the work needed to get anything more out of it. Trouble is, if I don't, it's going to bug me.

Exactly. Link is a reincarnation, not an actual person. It's like Blackadder. The cooler they try to make "Link" as a character, the naffer it gets (even though I can see why they do it). The Zelda games that really work are the ones where you play an unremarkable-seeming boy, even though it goes against every instinct. Players want to control a "cool" avatar - it's why OOT works so well when Link grows up, and why there was so much hype for TP, but it doesn't always equate to a better game. I've always quite wanted a Zelda where you play as a large, brown-haired lad, whose job it is to support an elfin, blond-haired chap who everyone assumes is the Hero of Time. As the game goes on, it turns out that the Ganondorf-looking bloke isn't actually Ganondorf, the attractive female isn't actually Zelda and the blond lad isn't actually the Hero of Time (obviously that's you), etc, etc. If nothing else, it would emphasise the reincarnation theme and challenge stereotypical, superficial judgements.

Get 'em on the Xbox/PS4/Wii U eShops, that's what I say. HD with proper controls.

It could mean the opposite of that - ie. they've decided Link should be depicted somewhat realistically from now on, and Hyrule Warriors is the start of reclaiming that style. Also, I still think the 2011 demo was too good to believe Nintendo has no interest in that style, even if it was only one room and one enemy (not counting the bats). On the other hand, the biggest clue that it'd be more like Wind Waker is of course WW HD. They have said something along the lines of that style transferring into HD well... although personally I don't take this too seriously, to be honest. So, could go either way. I wouldn't be surprised at either the WW or TP style, but I would expect it to loosely follow one of those rather than being very experimental.

Yes, but I'd recommend completing the main game (25 floors + 5 new maps) in Story Mode before you switch to Classic, as there are unique enemies/drops in the new areas (numbered I-V). In fact you might have to do that, as I don't remember getting the New Game + option until I'd seen the credits. Personally, I'm down to Floor 30 and have completed the Monster Codex, and I'm still in Story Mode. I just need to beat the post-game boss. Also, I see you there, @darksnowman - the man who got me into this series!

They're all really good adverts (and show the free game promotion), so if this doesn't work I don't know what will!

2010 is my personal favourite - the 3DS made me relieved that Nintendo were back in a way I suspected they might never be. And, weird as it may sound, I enjoyed 2011 just for that Zelda demo.

In all honesty I think they've gained a lot of ground back (especially since the 3DS onwards), but I agree with @Hero\-of\-Time that this particular conference/era was a real low. There was nothing about the Wii hardware that put core gamers first, absolutely nothing at all. The processing power was kept low so they could include motion controls, and the motion controls themselves were 100% to attract a new crowd. Analogue triggers? Gone. Dual analogue? Gone. So many buttons all gone, resulting in significant compromises to their biggest franchises (Mario and Zelda). Things are actually much better now, but they didn't give two hoots about the core gamer at this time.

With a great degree of proficiency, I should think!

Come to think of it, Shia reminds me most of the Helmaroc King (Ganondorf's giant bird in Wind Waker).

Definitely. This game has got me thinking about that, especially how there weren't really puzzles in the first two games. Then the 3rd one comes along and it's heavily puzzled-based - very abstract puzzles too, in some cases - and from then on they've been a huge part of the series. Maybe it could have a little bit more combat and exploration, and a few less puzzles? I'm not saying I want Zelda to be a button-masher, but there's definitely a case for having freer exploration, especially of the overworld, without having to worry about where you're stepping all the time. In other words, I hope it goes back to more like OOT/TP than Skyward Sword.

Brilliant idea. I genuinely think Wii U is going to take off a fair bit now.

Yeah, I definitely think this is one of the biggest things. There seems to be much more excitement now that the Wii U is getting some games with a graphical "wow" factor, like Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors. Of course, launch games never show off a console properly (even more so this time with apparent difficulties in moving to HD), but there was something about the launch/E3 2012 which made me feel Nintendo just didn't understand. On the bright side, there's still time for a lot of these games.

Agreed. It's a bit of a mish-mash, although I do like them. I'm also surprised to see the Bokoblins are the Skyward Sword version, as the game doesn't seem very related to it otherwise. Absolutely. Especially screens...

Not at all. I'm no "Every Zelda should be like OOT" fan, but to me that game's Impa is the real one. Not because it was the character's debut either (I prefer WW's Tingle to MM's) - it's just that, to me, Impa is meant to be really solid and muscular.

Can we get Team Ninja to do more collaborations with Nintendo? There's something I like about their games, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

They'll probably buy Majora's Mask immediately and then think "How the f**k do I play this?!!"

I really want Ninja Cop too, and Double Dragon Advance. Want that last one a great deal.

Hmm, that's interesting. Supports the idea of Nintendo preparing their games to work on a GamePad-less system, in my opinion.

And... completed! In case anyone was wondering how Story Mode compares to the original game...

Hoping it's Metroid Dread. Metroid is the big franchise Nintendo hasn't done on 3DS. Plus, there was Reggie's hint with his tie pin...

Is it that you regret installing Windows 8.1 and want to go back to Windows 8? If so, how about System Restore? It'll just take your computer back to before the last significant update.

Wow! Can you still buy from HMV online? Their website seems more like a review site than a shop. I don't understand it.

I definitely think Austria was Top 10, but I'm also sure it received an extra boost through juries being ultra-PC. It didn't actually bother me until I read about the discrepancy between public and jury votes, but it can't be right that the public vote can be completely negated. From the BBC link I posted: It's completely unfair and undemocratic. Don't get me wrong, I'm a liberal and like the fact the contest itself celebrates all kinds of sexuality - heterosexuality, homosexuality, trans etc - but the jury votes suggest they have a PC/feminist bias, which is not liberal at all.