Similar to what happened with A Link to the Past receiving a sequel (Link's Awakening) that took the bases of the previous game to give a more experimental and "different" adventure, two years after the release of Ocarina of Time would come Majora's Mask, a game that gives a very interesting twist to the original formula to offer one of the most singular adventures in video games in general, I dare say.

Before we begin, I'd just like to quickly highlight the parallels between this game and Link's Awakening. For starters, both are sequels to games considered "masterpieces" that instead of trying to imitate their greatness, they try to go beyond and stand on their own merits, in both we control the same incarnation of Link from the previous game, both take place in what is apparently a parallel dimension, and lastly, even though they may have a mostly goofy and illogical tone, this game having a somber tone while LA a more cheerful one, both share deep messages with allegories to fear of change and death. But well, let's start talking about Majora's Mask.

The story of this game begins shortly after the story of Ocarina of Time. Link embarks on an adventure to unknown lands in search of Navi, that friend who left us once she fulfilled her goal in the previous game. However, as fate would have it, we get caught up in a problem that traps us in a three-day time cycle forever... or at least it will be that way until we find a way to save the world, which will inevitably come to an end in that span of just three days (equivalent to just under an hour in reality). I especially like how immersive this introductory section is, as it puts a lot of pressure on you and makes you understand the danger the world is in firsthand. However, don't panic, even though the game has that 3-day limit, thanks to having possession of the ocarina of time, we can manipulate time as we please, giving us access to three songs; one that allows us to slow down time, another that allows you to jump through it and the last and most important, the song of time, which takes us back in time to the moment when all this mess started. So yes, you have a time limit, but anyway the game gives you enough time to play this adventure as you would play any other, I was able to fool around and explore at my leisure without any problems, and it's worth mentioning that I'm the kind of player who takes his time on everything.

I suppose you're still thinking that having a time limit ruins the game and makes it hellishly difficult, after all, Zelda games have a slow pace, one much like a JRPG, however, the three day cycle rather than a challenge, serves more to present a new approach to exploration and side-quests that can arise from the wide repertoire of NPCs that this game offers, but more on that later.

This game gives more importance to the masks, because while in Ocarina of Time they only served to obtain variations in the dialogues of some NPCs, in this game the masks are also used sometimes to give you small passive abilities, similar to the accessories in an RPG, which I like a lot, and although there are some masks that you only use once in the whole game, masks like the kamikaze or the bunny hood were quite good and convenient.

Speaking of one of the main innovations of this game, we have the transformations. Probably since Ocarina of Time the developers realized how limited it could be to have a human with realistic movements to make a more creative gameplay, because you can't really invent things that a human can do, so in this game the transformation masks are introduced, which expand Link's movements and game mechanics, being the forms we can get nothing more and nothing less than that of a Zora (fish man), a Goron (rock man), and a Deku (plant boy).

As for the "main" content that are the temples, this game offers few, and you may think that this hurts the game, but the truth is that no, because the amount of optional content that there is more than makes up for it. But talking about the temples themselves, they are quite good, a bit more complicated compared to other games, but each one offering the traditional structure of getting an item and setting puzzles around it, but not only that, because each temple makes you use each of the transformations, so that in fact the temples are designed around both, the item and the new transformation. My favorite temple is the fourth one, one of the best in the series without a doubt.

Another thing I like about this game is that there are no golden Skulltulas, instead, each temple now has 15 fairies hidden in it, which when you collect them all together will give you a permanent magic upgrade. Needless to say, I prefer this, as it makes exploring each temple more interesting and even though finding some of these fairies can be tricky, they are all hidden just right.

It may seem that this game has fewer items than other Zelda games because there are only 4 temples, but many classic items are not really gone, but are included in the same Link transformations, as the Goron is as if you had the hammer with how strong and heavy it is (or the pegasus boots for giving you a lot of travel speed), the Zora gives you something like the boomerang and a replacement more than superior to the iron boots. In that sense, the transformations are very cool, as they not only change the way you move around the world (being a considerable improvement over Ocarina of Time), but also have their own useful abilities.

But well, let's talk about the real main attraction of the game, which is the 3-day cycle, the aspect that makes this game special, but also imperfect. What really makes it shine is how this system was leveraged to give a little story to each of the NPCs in this game. Unlike previous installments, Majora's Mask gives a greater emphasis on the day to day life of the NPCs, so you will have to pay attention to them, as there are some that have different behaviors depending on the day, time and place. Many of the NPCs are directly re-used from Ocarina of Time, so they will be somewhat familiar to you, but I think the developers of this title took advantage of that factor to give them more distinct situations and personalities. Each one has a problem and helping them will usually reward you with a piece of heart or a mask, or rarely even better things. What's entertaining here is how peculiar and diverse the situations and people we can encounter are. Finding weird NPCs has always been a common thing in Zelda games, but I especially like how for the first time in the series a lot more attention was given to this aspect of the game, they end up making this title particularly very memorable.

The map is smaller compared to Ocarina of Time, and it certainly may seem more linear at first glance for only having 5 areas, but the truth is that there are too many things you can do apart from overcoming the temples to entertain you. Majora's Mask is masterful at giving you plenty of puzzles and challenges that are intuitive and satisfying to complete. Although the scale of the game is smaller in comparison to Ocarina of Time, that adventure and discovery factor that is so characteristic of the series is not sacrificed at all, in fact, in some ways I feel it was enhanced.

In fact, as different as this game may feel from the rest of the series, even its music is there to remind us that this is a true adventure on par with all the other games, with the main theme being a reversion of the classic Overworld theme. The music in this game is great, as it has a certain tetric and chaotic aura, while at other times it can be very calm and even full of melancholy... Although many melodies from Ocarina of Time are reused, the new tracks make up for it by how good they are.

Going back to the 3-day cycle, every time it is restarted you lose your money, unimportant items like ammo, sticks, or nuts, which is not as bad as it sounds, because fortunately the game is fair in terms of what you lose and what you don't lose in each restart, since important things like items or masks you will always keep.

However, the real problem that arises from the 3-day system is the repetition. And although I like that the game is made so that each cycle is different and unique, in a way it makes you take everything with more frivolity, because you are helping people that you know that once you restart the cycle, they will have exactly and again the same problems that you had already solved, and although it sounds like a minor detail, for me this actually breaks a little with the immersion, because I am no longer helping people to solve their problems, but just to get something. And this can become more tedious when you take into account that failing or taking a side quest at the wrong time sometimes means having to repeat it from the beginning. Also when you finish a temple, the curse of that area will be dispelled, but it will return once you restart the cycle, which makes you have to defeat the boss of each temple every time you want to break the curses again (there are some side-quests that require it). This to me also breaks a bit with the logic of this universe, because there are things like the bank that make your money be kept even if you restart the cycle, but on the other hand, why do the bosses of each temple revive even though the mask they give you (proof that they were defeated) you will always keep it?

But... speaking again about a positive aspect of the concept of the 3-day cycle, I like the fact that, even if you have already completed everything in the game, you can replay the parts you liked the most at any time you want without having to create a new file, not something you can do in all games, but in this one thanks to the very nature of the cycle. In addition, living in Termina becomes somehow a daily thing, and little by little, both the place and its inhabitants, become part of you.

Anyway, changing the subject, this remake is pretty good, although it has some questionable changes, but I think I understand, Eiji Aonuma believed that some things from Majora's Mask needed to be changed to make this game a more "suitable" one. However, it's well known that many of these changes were for the worse, and while I don't think they ruin the experience entirely, I understand where the hate from hardcore fans comes from. Be that as it may, the remake also introduces many quality of life improvements and in some ways (just some) feels like a more polished remake than Ocarina of Time. If you want to play this version, go ahead, and if you want to make it even better, use the restoration patch, which modifies some things of this remake to make it more like the original version, but keeping all the good changes of this remake, also adding more quality of life improvements that were not in the original version, nor in this remake.

And well, what to say, if it wasn't for the changes that Eiji Aonuma asked Grezzo, I think this would be one of the best remakes, because the updated graphics make the game look more beautiful and attached to the art style that was portrayed in the concept art, it also adds a lot of detail and color to the scenarios, which makes that unlike the original version, the reuse of assets from Ocarina of Time is considerably less. The downside of the graphical update is that many people don't like it, as the low quality textures and low-poly models, as well as the muted colors of the Nintendo 64 version are for many a fundamental aspect of the experience. In my opinion, again, I don't think they ruin the atmosphere of the game, as I quite liked it, so I think it all depends more on personal preference. The graphic style of Ocarina of Time 3D is great, and I like how this game is just a continuation of that style in many ways.

Conclusion
Majora's Mask is truly brilliant. I love how cleverly the exploration and side-quests are designed, they make it a game rich and varied in content, as well as the approach and often evolution that gives many of the mechanics and concepts established in previous titles end up making it a very outstanding installment.

I don't know how to say it, but it depresses me that there will never be a game like this again. Although the 3-day cycle makes it an imperfect title, it also makes it a very special game like no other.

Additional comments related to the review
I played using the restoration patch made by Project Restoration, which can be found at the following link: https://restoration.zora.re

why this is so much better than the first one:
- you will not want to gouge your eyes out after every line of dialogue
- choices actually matter (even little tiny things, relationships are very important to the ending), tangible sacrifices are made
- not nearly as predictable
- it just... looks better (mouth mapping still sucks though)
- script is SO MUCH BETTER, characters actually make sense and talk like human beings, voice acting is really good
- characters were much easier to empathize with while having flaws, threats in the story much more tangible than time travel being able to fix every possible issue
- lovely relationships, family/love/friendships all feel very real
- the aspect of moving all over the place brought lots of new environments, beautiful scenes in nature

my main gripe:
- most villains very one-sided, face value (except Lisbeth and her group were more interesting)

if this is propaganda what is COD doing with reagan's penis in their mouth?

I enjoyed this game more so than the others, as I felt that I could connect with it on a much deeper level. It’s themes of identity, regarding sexuality if you make the choice, and brotherhood.

I felt many of the choices were impactful on me as a player and definitely left me thinking for a bit.
I also connected with the single parent element and how this effects kids, and in a way, it was therapeutic. I’ve revisited this game a few times now, and it’s never gotten old.

Love it!

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of those games that has no doubt had and will continue to have "what happened" case studies and documentaries. It's a fascinating game in a lot of ways before even playing it. Riding high off the success of The Witcher III and the goodwill gained from that release and it's superb DLC it felt like the developer CD Projekt Red could do no wrong. Even a simple beep tweet on Cyberpunk's twitter account after a dormant time from announcement caused a lot of discussion and hype leading up to their next big project. Cracks under the surface though unknown to most with troubled development led to launching on platforms the game wasn't ready for. The game came out with performance, AI and balance issues in abundance. Overnight after it's rushed release CDPR's bubble burst. Noise about it for the PS4 specifically was so bad that Sony did the unthinkable removing it from the PSstore and handing out refunds. It stayed that way for months. Moral of the story here? never pre-order no matter who the developer is in this day and age.

So very quick background about Cyberpunk's history out the way, how is the game 3 years later after all it's patching, PS5 version release and 2.0 Update release? All in all pretty good though I have nothing to compare it to prior to this as I was waiting for it to be finished before I played it. So this will not be a No Man's Sky or FFXIV redemption story review. Simply one of how I experienced it as it is now.

First thing I have to comment about is that as a role playing game I still found Cyberpunk disappointing and to be honest I just don't count it as one. I remember in an interview when the game was still just an announced CGI trailer 10 years ago from a developer that the game would be dense and vertical. I clearly misinterpreted that taking it to mean it would be a bit more like Deus Ex but the end result is quite the opposite. This left it feeling extremely wide and flat with a few buildings to traverse at key points. It just feels like any other open world game with a Cyberpunk skin. This may be a me problem rather than a Cyberpunk 2077 problem but I just expected more to it than that. The level up and skill system is actually just bad and this is after it has been revised, stripped down and balanced as I understand from launch. Normal level up perk point skills seem pointless mostly. Slightly more damage, quick hack damage at 10%? It's all just a bit...boring. I think I would have preferred they scrap perk abilities completely and had all abilities attached to the Cyberware you install. Having gorilla arms that increase physical strength for melee attacks and forcing open doors? Legs giving double jumps? Optics for seeing enemies through walls etc. There are just more useful abilities that offer more utility for both exploration and combat. Additionally these type of upgrades fit the cyberpunk thematic a lot better to boot. Instead it's got multiple systems that feel uninteresting and tacked on. Equipment and Cyberware should have been the focus.

Now I know that so far I have come across as negative but the thing is I actually had a really good time with Cyberpunk 2077. I mean sure as an RPG it's pretty crap and the overall main story feels a bit disjointed but so much of the rest of it is a real blast. A lot of the characters and set pieces really build up Night City as a living result of a corporation only future which is often bleak with a large almost class divide. You play the role of V, a character who through misfortune ends up with a countdown clock dying and is trying to find a solution to that predicament. This leads you to finding fixers, mercs, prostitutes and corporation suits to try and save yourself. It's an interesting setting in that so much of it looks like a modern skyscraper idyllic future city covered in neon lights yet there is a constant layer of filth and garbage bags almost everywhere undermining it's more grandiose appearance at first glance. Many of the characters reflect the city coming across as guarded and jaded but with their own reasons underneath it all. Johnny SilverHand played by Keanu Reeves is a prime example. He is your companion throughout the game and for most of It I actively hated the guy, yet the game with the best ending in was through him in the end. I liked how the characters and city are unveiled and the shades of grey between them all.

From a larger gameplay perspective it's somewhat less interesting though that could be my build. Stealth silencer head shotting goons with an over powered pistol sweeping through areas. AI was pretty unimpressive but I enjoyed some of the abilities and weapons available. It lacks the depth of an immersive sim but jumping onto a roof, finding a hidden entrance, hacking a turret remotely to turn it on it's enemies whilst throwing grenades in to cause carnage is fun, if not especially deep. I guess what you need to know going into this game is where to set your expectations to. I didn't have any really going in and had a good time exploring around the vistas killing gang members and exploring the city. The technical side of things seem to have mostly been fixed. I had one crash and a couple of items fall through floors but otherwise this is a pretty fun open world game with a large amount of content. It's not the game I wanted, nor is it the game CDPR promised but it's not bad either. The characters and set pieces are good fun as is the combat but even fixed a few years later it doesn't reach the clear ambitions CDPR had when starting development. I hope they learned their lesson from this going into the sequel and their other projects.

Still, I got to ride a cool looking Akira motorbike with a katana drawn power sliding into enemies to start a fight. What other games can you finish a review with that in?

+ Night City is a cool looking location.
+ Fun set pieces and fairly interesting characters.
+ Johnny Silverhand is a likeable dick.
+ Akira bike.

- As an RPG it's pretty crap frankly.
- Lacks depth for combat, skills and level design.
- Some story beats and resolutions don't quite land at the end.

Fallout: New Vegas is, to me, definitively the best RPG ever made. And it isn't close.

The Fallout franchise has a long and storied history that bares repeating for the sake of context. Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game was created by Black Isle Studios in 1997 as an isometric, tactical CRPG. The point-and-click, turn-based game was one of the first games to rely on clever dialogue and branching quest lines and while not very popular, set a new standard for these niche types of games. Just a year later Fallout 2 was released, using the same engine and graphics as the first game.

Interplay, the publisher, rented out the license to external studios to create two poorly received spin-offs, Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. These games attempted to spin the license into a pure overhead tactics game and an action game, but with their failure Interplay shut the franchise down and sold the near-useless Fallout IP to Bethesda Softworks. The rest, as they say, is history; Fallout is now one of the biggest gaming franchises on earth. Fallout 3 was 2008’s definitive Game of the Year. Fallout 4, despite disappointing a lot of fans, is one of the best-selling RPGs of all time, topping Bethesda’s own Skyrim and sitting second only to the juggernaut that is Pokemon. While Fallout 76 holds the esteemed title of “worst launch of all time,” the Wastelanders update has made the game playable and even pretty good. Essentially, Fallout games have a history of being all over the place.

Nestled comfortably in this complicated release history is 2010’s Fallout: New Vegas. Following the success of Fallout 3, Bethesda rented out the Fallout IP to a new studio called Obsidian Entertainment, made up of the very ex-Black Isle Studios employees that had created Fallout in the first place. Bethesda handed Obsidian the Fallout 3 engine and put them to work — and so it was that the planets aligned. All the best parts of the classic Fallout games and the Bethesda version came together to form Fallout: New Vegas, one of the greatest RPGs (and dare I say greatest games) of all time.

A quick cut scene establishes the world of Fallout: war between the US and China escalated in the year 2077 to the point of total atomic annihilation around the world. The bombs dropped and ended humanity as we know it, leaving the survivors to scrounge for food in a horrific wasteland. The Forced Evolutionary Virus escaped containment, transforming everything from scorpions to lizards to humans into grotesque mutants. Over a hundred years later, a courier travels through the Mojave desert to deliver a package. The Courier is stopped by Benny, played by Matthew Perry (Chandler from Friends), and is shot in the head when they refuse to give up the goods.

The player wakes up in the run-down home of one Doc Mitchell, a kindly old man who explains the situation and acquaints the Courier with the state of the world. He then guides you through a clever set of questions in a psych test to determine your optimal character build, but you can of course set your stats however you’d like. After point-buying from your seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck), you’ll select a few special skills for your character to have. You design your character in a subpar character creator (but hey, it was 2010) and then it’s off to the wasteland!

New Vegas was the first Fallout game I ever played, and I had no idea what the series was about before that. More than that, though, this was the first open world game I had ever played. And the first western RPG I’d ever played as well. This was all new to me, every piece of it. New Vegas eases new players in to the post-apocalypse by introducing a compelling cast of characters in Goodsprings, the starting town, and having them drip-feed you exposition through well-written dialogue. Sunny Smiles and her dog Cheyenne walk the Courier through the basics of shooting, VATS, item management and exploration if they choose; if the player is a veteran, they can simply exit Doc Mitchell’s house and begin wandering the waste in literally any direction they choose. New Vegas does a near-perfect job teaching new players how to learn about the wasteland themselves, rather than dumping exposition and calling it a day.

The premise of the story is that you, the Courier, were delivering something called the Platinum Chip to the mysterious owner of New Vegas, Mr. House. After being shot in the head the Courier has lost their memory, and remembers only Benny’s smug face as he pulled the trigger. You’ll set out from Goodsprings to track down Chandler and get the full story out of him, dead or alive. Meanwhile, a war is brewing; two huge armies are moving slowly towards the coveted Hoover Dam, the biggest source of power in the Mojave.

The New California Republic is the remnants of the governments of six West Coast States that formed a new union upon the destruction of the United States, while Caesar’s Legion is a tribe of barbarian sex-traffickers marching from the midwest, believing they are the chosen army to achieve the glory of Rome. This is to say nothing of the aforementioned Mr. House, sitting pretty in control of New Vegas and all the food, water, electricity, drugs and luxuries that come with it. The underground militia of The Brotherhood of Steel sits quietly in the dunes waiting for their moment while the drug-pushing Great Khans stake their claim in the deserts. The Boomers have taken control of an old Air Force base up north and claimed the weapons, but there are rumors that the husk of the American Government has formed once more into the Enclave. Each and every one of these factions have a relationship with the others, and your actions determines who allies together, who betrays each other and who ultimately is victorious.

It is almost impossible to understand the moving pieces of the world as they change around you in response to your decisions. Shooting one person at the wrong time could have ramifications that reach across the deserts and through to the end of the game. Dialogue choices become available to different players depending on how they’ve statted their character, so it’s unlikely any two people have played Fallout New Vegas exactly the same way. Dialogue is more clever than it has any right to be all the way through to the end of the game, and your dialogue choices can have very immediate ramifications if you say the wrong thing. A pleasant chat can become a shootout in a matter of seconds, but hey, that’s the wasteland, baby.

The shooting in Fallout New Vegas is not good. It does improve upon its predecessor, Fallout 3, by offering a much larger assortment of guns; however, the feel of gunplay has not improved. Guns continue to be hard to aim, and moving targets are almost impossible to hit without using VATS (the lock on mechanism). There are many action RPGs in which players will try to power through the dialogue sections to reach the action, however players will likely find the reverse true in New Vegas. Utilizing the correct weapons, armor, chems and skills will give you the edge in individual fights, but the overall war will be decided by how well you can play your character, whether its a max-strength barbarian or a lucky sonofabitch. The RPG mechanics of this game are deeper than most will care to dive into, but rest assured they are there.

The companions in New Vegas are for the most part well written, interesting people that have discernible goals and will join the Courier if they believe it’ll help them reach those goals. Cass, Boone, ED-E and of course our very good boy Rex are just a few of the great characters that will accompany you, each with their own specific set of powers and skills. Dialogue and interactions with other characters will change depending on who your companion is, but be wary that they’re also keeping an eye on you. If the Courier makes too many decisions in favor of a faction they’re not aligned with, the companion will leave your party or even try to kill you. If you’re trying for a Legion playthrough, I’d advise you to assassinate Boone as quickly as possible.

Fallout New Vegas takes everything that Fallout 3 brought to the series stretches it over the skeleton of the classic games, creating something much more elegant than it has any right to be. Aside from the numerous technical problems and impossible-to-aim guns, Fallout New Vegas is a flawless masterpiece. The player will continue to be astounded that the developers thought of one thing or another and prepared for it; your choices in both dialogue and action do truly affect and alter the world around you. And endless cast of well-written characters with overwritten backstories will carry the Courier through the wastes in search of the truth and land them in a very specific position to determine how the war plays out. Although the player is always in control, most repercussions of your actions are completely unintended and leave you scrambling to figure out how to repair an alliance or take a stronghold to remedy it. Obsidian has created the most intricately crafted game ever written with excellent DLC and well over a hundred hours of content — and I didn’t even touch on mods. Get it.