Fun, fun and more fun!

Well after a fair bit of trouble, I managed to get ctf themes working on my PSP. They're basically themes that change where the icons are, look like and sound like. I'm happy with myself now, managed to get a theme like I like running, it also suits the theme I'm using for FireFox.

MyWii is asking for help!

Well with the new update to MyWii next year, they are updating the slogan, emotions and much more! Giving the us (members) the opportinity to be part of it, whether it's the slogan or emotions. So I thought I'd have a crack at it!
So, included with this post is my creations. :)

Wii Homebrew

I've actually dug myself deep into the Wii's homebrew, it's a brand new experience with the Wii once you have homebrew. I'm also into the designing of HBC icons, which is a lot of fun and the results can be quite rewarding, if done right.

At the moment, I'm trying new ideas and wanting to make a new range of HBC icons, so ideas are handy. Requests also help to! :)

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

Link is back, looking better than ever! This legend of a game has been around since 2006, so I thought I’d review it! The Legend of Zelda series started in 1986 with the first game, which was titled, Legend of Zelda. It came out on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). The second in the series came out a year later, was titled The Adventure of Link, which was also released on the NES. Then we had to wait another 4 years for the next game in the series to be released. That game was titled A Link to the Past, and was released for the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). The next game was the first portable Zelda game, it came out for the Game Boy. The game was called Link's Awakening and was released in 1993. Then on the Nintendo 64, a new Zelda game was born, it was called Ocarina of Time, this game was release 5 years after the one before it. There was something different about this game, it was the first "3D"Legend of Zelda game. Link was not so much of a "kid" in this game, he could switch between young link and adult link.

In the year 2000, Majaoras Mask was released; this was the second "3D" Zelda game. In this game, Link could use masks to change into a Deku Scrub, a Goron, and a Zora. There were several releases before the next Console Zelda; the next Legend of Zelda game on a home console was called Wind Waker, which was released on the Nintendo Game-Cube in 2003. This game was the first "cell-shaded" Legend of Zelda game. Link looked younger, a lot younger. Wind Waker is much like Phantom Hourglass, by the way they look and that they both are unique games. I'm going to skip, Four Swords, and Minish Cup, as I can't have this too long. Anyway, the next big release in the LoZ (Legend of Zelda) series was called Twilight Princess; it was released on both, the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo Game-Cube in 2006. This game was very revolutionary, for the LoZ series, as Link was now a "teen-adult". Now, that’s not the last of our Zelda series. Nintendo, not long ago, released the sequel to Wind Waker on the DS. That’s right, a portable. This game utilized much of the DS’ features, such as the touch screen, microphone, and dual screens.

What Zelda lacks graphic...Wait. It seems as though it's perfect. Good graphics, intriguing story and fun controls, wouldn't that mean a perfect game!? This brilliantly executed Gamecube ported, Wii launch title packs a punch. It's getting quite a date on it though, 2 years old. To be honest, I couldn't even tell this was a Gamecube port. Like usual, Nintendo stories go as far as this. The Princess, in this case Princess Zelda, has been 'taken'. Your objective is to save her and everyone else from this evil force that even dares to reckon with you! But this is where the twist is. You, the hero Link are nothing but a boy that helps Ordon Village throughout it's struggles. But one day, the Twilight Realm wreak havoc among Hyrule and everything surrounding it. Including Ordon Village. They storm through the village, knock you unconscious and kidnap the younger children. Once you wake, you go to the Twilight Realm entrance to help you friends, but once the reach the entrance you are taken in. The Twilight Realm leaves a side-effect, you're now a Wolf. You're chained up in Hyrule Castle, and that's where you meet your saviour and future side-kick, Midna.

Now that you get the gist of the story, I suppose you are frothing at the mouth if you haven't played this game yet. The game does get a little repetitive, as each in dungeon you have a mini-boss, and quite frequently, after beating that mini-boss you receive a new tool to destroy enemies with! That tool is then used a lot for the remainder of the dungeon until you find the 'Big Key' to fight the Big-Boss. That tool that you get earlier on will most likely need to be used to bring this beast down. You may think it being a Gamecube port; it'd be limited, right? I guess that's where you fall. It's graphically stunning, the sound is simply amazing and something you can never get enough of. The only thing that would possibly pull it down is the motion controls. They seem a bit forced and cheesy, the option to be able to just use normal buttons, like A or B to attack would have been appreciated. But I guess I can elaborate on that a bit later down the track in this review.

It's quite strange, most games on the Wii that have come out this year don't even look anywhere near as good as this does and this was made 2 years ago. That's actually quite sad. Most games you play you notice that the cut scenes look much better than what the actual in-game graphics look like. This isn't really the case in this stunning title, both in-game and cut scenes look equally fantastic! Whether it's the water effects, the enemies or even the detailed terrains you'll be sure to fall in love quickly with this game. Many things you do notice, is that some glitches do appear. Sometimes, quite often when an enemy is near a wall or somethings you can see some of the body on the other side, and you are even able to attack it that way.

A pain in Zelda games is that speech and mouth-moving is never featured. Instead, you get to hear grunts, screams and squeals. As easily as that could enhance the game, it could destroy the game, no one wants a pommy Link. Noses, mouths and eyes look a bit unrealistic in this game though, working on the facial features a bit more could have enhanced this game. Also, an interesting feature is that when in water, your clothes get darker, to look as if they're wet. The bad thing is a few seconds after exiting the water, you're instantly dry. More realism would've been appreciated.

Being caught swinging your Wii remotes like a lunatic can be embarrassing, and unfortunately, you have to do it a fair bit in this game. Like you'd expect, you use the Nunchuck to move Link across the lands. The Wii Remote on the other hand is used for combat, opening the menu, opening the weapon selection and even to perform some awesome hidden skills. To attack, you simply shake the Wii remote, in any direction, it won't affect the way you hit on screen, unless of course using a hidden skill. You can also use buttons such as A to perform a hidden skills, such as the Helm Splitter, which is a highly strong attack to the skull of the enemy. What I didn't know, when I first got my Wii is that the Nunchuck has motion sensing in it, being as light as it is no one would know. You do use the Nunchucks motion sensor to perform Hidden Skills also, such as the Shield Attack.

Annoyingly enough, these controls can make you tiresome, that is of course if you're a very, very lazy person. But I'd suggest you get the Gamecube version if you're that lazy, and then you can miss out on the fun of the Wii Remote madness. I suppose you could get more engaged into the game when using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, as you sometimes do feel like you're the swordsmen. You do use the same technique to attack when in Wolf form, shaking the Wii Remote to attack, which doesn't feel quite right to me. Another thing to note is that when in Wolf form you can't use any of them awesome Hidden Skills and you can't even finish off an enemy that's on the ground. You must wait for them to get up and then deliver the final blow.

Here I am, watching the initial start up video, just loving that song. Twilight Princess features a nice dark feel to its soundtrack, to add to the effect of evil lurking. While it does use some bright songs to brighten the mood throughout Hyrule during day, it does feature quite the devil-ish sounds. Wii Remote sounds are horrible, I'd suggest you turn the sound off on that thing, really ruins the mood. I don't recall hearing the original Legend of Zelda theme throughout the entire game, but I may be wrong, as it may be in it. Everything sounds better in surround sound, especially sound effects, such as arrows being pulled back ready to be fired or the neighing of Epona.

Oh and yes, one complaint in this area is the lack of voice acting, not just Link but everyone else too! You do hear the odd grunt or scream from a character but that's about it. Some of the noises that the enemies make can be quite spine-chilling, especially that roar from them Twilight Beast that you fight early on in the game.

Having only finished this game about one to two months ago, I can say it takes a fair bit of time to finish. I managed to rack up the time of 65 hours, that's a fair bit over the average. But I guess since I'm one of those gamers that must collect everything, and do any side-quests possible, it's a fairly decent time. But hell, I didn't finish this 100% but I tried to do it. Now, if you're one of those gamers that don't care about the side-quests or collectibles, then you'll probably finish the game in about 30-40 hours or possibly even 20. So this game will keep you entertained for ages, it took me two years, with a lot of breaks in between to finish this game.

From what I believe, this game can be bought from stores at a low price, something like $50 or even less, so you definitely get you money's worth.

So, in conclusion. You'll soon find out why I gave this such a high score, as it truly is a masterpiece and something all gamers should get to experience. If you're thinking that you need to have played a Zelda game before to get into this, you're wrong. It doesn't run off any of the previous Zelda games and features it's own unique story.

9.0 seems like a solid score for such a fantastic game and this is much deserving of it.

Thanks, for reading,

-Azza123

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my Blog! It's still in it's early age and should be up and fully running shortly.