Thoughts on My Combat Style in Echoes of Wisdom

There are two topics I want to bring up for this game but today I will talk about combat. After all, this is the most unique combat style in the series so it would be a waste to not have a discussion about it. Also, now that I have actually progressed the story a bit and fought some dungeons, I have started to develop my own fighting style at last. Now there are two styles of combat. The first is using echoes to fight your battles by having them attack enemies. the second is by using the Swordfighter Form to fight like Link would for a certain time. Personally, I tend to use the former unless I am fighting a boss. Part of the reason is that I am the type who tends to save his trump cards for emergencies. The other part is I find the echoes to be more versatile in combat, especially the higher-tier echoes. There are a lot of echoes that are very useful for both offense and defense. For instance, let’s talk about the Sword Moblin. Certain monsters actually have higher-level variants that are stronger and have special skills. The Sword Moblin gains a shield as he gains a higher level and becomes harder to counter making him great for drawing aggro. Personally, I love using enemies to draw aggro so I can accomplish my goals. I also really enjoy using elemental attacks to stun and inflict status on my enemies. I especially like using electricity in water-based situations. I realized that my playstyle is a lot less confrontational and a lot more cautious and experimental. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not, but it has gotten me through the game so far.

Another aspect of combat I have focused on is accessories. Some of them are super useful for fighting enemies in tricky situations. For instance, there is a boss in the desert that spends time in quicksand which makes it a pain to fight. However one of the first items I encountered in the desert was an accessory that allows you to fight without sinking in quicksand so I had no problems with the fight. There is another that allows me to keep the Swordfighter Gauge from running out as quickly and even though I don’t use it as often as I can, it is very useful when fighting in that form for extended periods. Especially during some boss fights, it can be very useful. I already maxed out the number I could wear by paying money to the fairy, but I think it was worth it. There are still more to find and try on. Hopefully, they won’t be hard to find. I have also found some different attire as well, but so far I have no idea how many will be combat-oriented.

One last thing I want to say before I go. Even though I can summon more than one enemy at a time, I typically forget I can do that in the moment. I think it is partially due to my preference for using higher-level summons first that I forget I can just go crazy with multiple smaller summons. Another thing is that half the time I just avoid combat if I can since most enemies aren’t really that much of a threat if you stay away from them. After all, you shouldn’t fight meaningless battles. Anyway, to sum it all up, the combat is definitely interesting and varied, but I still feel like I am playing things too safe. Maybe I will just consider it prep for hard mode or something. Anyway, see you next time. I’m going to bed. Need to replenish my health.

Echoes of Wisdom is Fun

Yeah, it isn’t a surprising title I know considering I delayed the post just to play it some more. I will be honest and say that this will feel more like a first impressions post rather than a deep dive into anything about the game since I have spent so much time exploring that I have completely neglected the main story. Sorry to Link and the King, but I have some stamps to find. Anyway, I do love how much freedom you are given to explore in this game. This might be the 2D Zelda game with the most freedom to explore to ever come out. I have been playing since this game came out and haven’t entered the second dungeon. I have pretty much explored the entire map already because I felt like it. It’s great. I will say that I tend to use a lot of the same travel methods to get around though. I feel like I have a lot of echoes, but I use some way more than others. I probably need to experiment a bit more in that regard. Furthermore, sometimes I forget I have Swordfighter mode, and I really need to remember to use it. The amount of dirty tactics I have used to defeat enemies while I run for my life is too many to count. I keep forgetting I have a way to fight back. It isn’t like I don’t have the drinks to recharge my energy. What am I doing? Anyway, what I am saying is that I need to git gud.

Now, I have noticed that this game seems to have taken some elements from the latest 3D games in the series. There are the potion effects with temporary buffs, the diverse item options, and even the quest system so you can actually remember what you were supposed to be doing. All nice additions, I might add and in some ways, this does feel like a more compact version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, it is more than that. The map being confined to 2D means it isn’t as big which makes travel feel a lot faster. So, I feel like I end up covering way more ground because of that. Also, all the echoes make it so easy for you to travel, so there is no reason not to do so. I climbed multiple mountains, just because I felt like it. Was I maybe supposed to do that at a later point in the story? Probably. Did I care when I did it? No. Do I care now? Nope. So there’s no problem.

Right now, I have gotten a bunch of echoes I can’t even use yet. I’ve found a mini-rift that I didn’t even realize could be found in the area. I am already at double-digit heart containers without even attempting any new boss fights. I probably should more along with the story, but what about those last stamps that I need? Needless to say, I am having fun in my own way, but I am falling into the same kind of trap I did with previous Zelda games. Here’s hoping I actually finish this one at a reasonable time. Who am I kidding? I’ll be playing this for the rest of the year. I’m already thinking about my second playthrough and I haven’t finished the first. It’s over for me y’all. Have a good night. See you next time!

Doing Some Cleanup

You know, I have spent a decent amount of time hunting for shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Shining Pearl. A lot of the shiny Pokémon I have have been found through the use of PokéRadar, with a couple of notable exceptions. Now while I do consider to have gotten pretty lucky with some of these shiny Pokémon, I still have a lot more I want to hunt more. I would like to try hunting the fossils at some point, but that might take some time. I know that I will eventually need to hunt for Arceus, even though I really wish I could put that off. There are a couple of hunts I need to do if I ever want to have a shiny living dex. Although, there’s a bit of a problem. Now before I start any new hunts, I should finish off my old ones first. I will admit I have been a bit lazy about this, but now I am finally taking a step forward so I can actually add these Pokémon to the dex. You might remember that while I have caught enough shiny Pokémon to complete these sets, that doesn’t mean these sets are done. So, I’m fixing that. Mostly. I left Doduo alone since I have one of each gender and their gendered forms have a noticeable enough difference that I would want two of each before evolving. With that being said, let’s cut to the chase.

Since all I had were level three Nidoran males, I needed to get at least two to evolve into a Nidorino at level sixteen, so I grinded levels a bit until that was squared away. Thankfully for me, both of Nidoran’s second evolutions evolve with a Moon Stone so no more grinding was required on that front. Skitty also needed a Moon Stone to evolve, but thankfully this game’s underground makes getting these evolution stones so easy so I had plenty to spare so I managed to finish things off pretty quickly with those Pokémon. Here’s what the final form of the Nidoran line looks like.

Whoops. wrong one. But hey, at least you can see now that I finished both the male and female Nidoran lines. Surprise. It took me a while but I did it. Also, I just want to mention this. Why does the female Nidoran line stop using pink at the final evolution? Both of the previous ones are very pink and yet the final form swaps to this strange green color. Nidoking doesn’t change that drastically. Sure, each evolution line for the male Nidoran is a different shade of blue, but why does Nidoqueen get the same shiny treatment as Dragonite? Or did Dragonite get the same shiny treatment as Nidoqueen? Something to think about, but here’s shiny Nidoking for real this time.

See. Blue. What’d I say?! Anyway, the only other Pokémon I needed to get was Marowak. It took me grinding twenty-five levels for it, but I managed to clutch myself a shiny Marowak and I also did the Bidoof and Starly lines while I was at it. Then once that was over I realized I once I organized everything I realized my collection in this game was tamer than I thought. I need to work harder in the future. I wonder who I should go for next? I guess we’ll see at some point but that will have to be for another time. Goodnight!

Also Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen. Okay bye.

Even More Sleepy Shinies

Guess what, I managed to get even more shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Sleep. While some of these may be boosted, they were all great finds. Here’s hoping you enjoy seeing these new additions to the collection.

Back in June, there was a special summer event in Pokémon Sleep, where bug, water, and flying type Pokémon had an increased chance of being shiny Pokémon. I didn’t really get my hopes up that I would find anything, and yet I somehow managed to get this guy on the first night of the event. Can’t complain, especially since it pairs up well with my Metapod, the first shiny I found in this game. Now here’s hoping I can find a shiny Butterfree one day.

This is probably the coolest shiny Pokémon I currently own in Pokémon Sleep. This was also found during the same event as the Caterpie so that shiny boost was really pulling its weight. Glad that I managed to get the female version too as I think the heart-shaped horn goes so well with the pink. What a lucky find.

I promise this is the last one from that event. This guy came to me on the last day of the event and surprisingly I recognized it was shiny immediately. It might have helped that there were other Slowpoke around it, but I don’t think that matters. What is important is that I have it. What a great way to end that event. three shiny Pokémon in one event is nuts.

You might be thinking this is a mistake, but it is actually a repeat. Yes, I now have two shiny Eevees in this game. If you don’t believe me, notice that this one is male instead of female. I will probably not evolve it until I can rest assured that I can handle the Eevee line with no problems. for now, he’ll just stay as a little guy.

This shiny Pokémon is a bit of an odd case for me. This is actually my first ever Bayleef in this game. Not only was it the first time I had seen any of its sleep styles, but I never evolved Chikorita to its second stage. This is my first ever Bayleef and it happened to be shiny in this game. That is wild to me. This also happens to be my second-ever starter shiny Pokémon in the game, with the first being Charmander. I wonder who will be next?

Of course, that question will have to wait for next time. right now I need to head to bed to make sure I can find more shiny Pokémon to post about. Who knows? If I am lucky I might be able to find another batch by the end of the year. We’ll see though. See you next time!

I Want to Talk More About This New Zelda Game

Last time I talked mainly about combat and how it might be some of the most interesting combat in a Zelda game. Now let’s talk more about how this story could be crazy. First off, let’s speculate about a few things because there are a few things that don’t quite add up. For instance, we see that Zelda spends the better part of this game in a robe, which we can most likely assume is the same one Link wore in the opening. The question I have is why does she have the robe on? Is she traveling incognito and if so for what reason? Or is there another reason why she is wearing it? Maybe the robe itself may be significant. There is a part at the beginning of the trailer when Zelda is running out of the chamber where you see something sparkling at the bottom of the screen. Something may have been leading Zelda out of there, but it is related to the robe or is there something else at play?

Also, for what reason is Zelda thrown in prison? We see that the guards seem to come to Zelda’s aid after she escapes this void and they act respectfully towards her. I assume they probably bring her to an audience with the king and then something happens after he gets taken away that leads to her ending up inside the cell. Maybe they suspect her or someone takes over the castle. Actually, if someone does take over the castle, who would that even be? It isn’t even clear yet who the bad guy is here. Sure we see Ganon at the beginning and his weapon seems to be the cause of everything, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be more at play. It is just too early for me to make a judgment.

Also, there is one more thing that we should address and that is the sword. Now while it is super cool that another Nintendo princess is getting a swordfighter form, let’s talk a little about that sword. We can infer a few things about this sword. First off, it seems to be the same sword Link had when he fought Ganon. This means that you probably will acquire this sword after the encounter with the evil/dark Link we see teased at the end of the Still World trailer where swordfighter form was first showcased. The question I want to ask is this: Why does Link seem to be the only one not frozen in the still world other than Zelda? We have seen in other trailers that as people are sucked into the rifts they become stone and we see that they remain that way in the Still World as well. While it is true we never saw any indication of Link turning to stone when he was being sucked through the rift, what exactly happened to him? Is the Triforce protecting him from becoming stone? Or is there maybe someone who needs him for their goal to conquer Hyrule? There is a lot to think about here.

Again some of this is pure speculation and I can’t be sure of anything until the game is released, but it is curious how there seems to be a bit of mystery in this story. We don’t seem to know a lot about these strange rifts or the fairy Tri for that matter. Do they have some connection to the Triforce maybe? There are just so many things I want to know, but it is unfortunately not September 26th yet. One thing I do love about the Zelda series is that are always trying new things with the franchise. This one might be one of the craziest Zelda games ever and I have no clue what is going on. I’m loving it. So far the gameplay seems creative and the story seems to have a decent amount of intrigue. I’m not saying this story is going to win any awards or anything since this is a Zelda game. But, the possibility is there for this to be one of the best storylines in a 2D Zelda game period. Anyway, have a good night, and see you next time. This is going to be a long three weeks, isn’t it?

A Unique Zelda Game

We are less than a month away from the latest adventure in The Legend of Zelda series and this is going to be one of the most memorable games in the series’ history. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this is the first mainline title where we actually play as Zelda. That alone is an interesting selling point, but what really gets me going is that this might be the most varied combat a Zelda game has ever had. Typically there have always been three styles of combat in The Legend of Zelda series. The first type is melee-focused with a particular emphasis on using a sword for fairly obvious reasons. The second type is ranged combat with bombs and bows being two of the more common options. The third type is magic which is typically limited to a few magic spells or magic weapons. After all, we all know Zelda is more of a mage than Link. However, we aren’t just getting magic attacks, we are getting a summoner class. The closest thing to this before is controlling dummies and armored soldiers in games like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. However, this feels like a proper summoning-style setup.

However, while this is the main mode of gameplay, there are options to diversify your combat style even further by using machines and even summoning a sword-fighting form for a limited time. Personally, I like that there is a lot of versatility in this new combat style because that means there are ways to make up for the inherent weaknesses of being a summoner. Typically there are limitations to summoner abilities since the strength of a summoner is determined by their summons. I speculate the automatons will help as a form of extra firepower for some tougher situations. I can’t be sure how much more useful they are since they can break after a certain number of uses, but I feel they will probably exist as useful trump cards. Speaking of trump cards, the swordfighter form will also help deal with one of the summoner’s greatest weaknesses. It gives them the ability to protect themselves in case they can no longer summon anything. However, it can’t be used indefinitely since it should be used as a crutch. This game’s combat is going to be so much fun in terms of fights and puzzle-solving.

I do wonder how many types of echoes there are for this game. I personally can’t wait to find out. My backlog is screaming at me right now, but I am just too curious about what this game has to offer. One more thing before I wrap up on this for today. The style of this game is very similar to the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening that came out on the Switch a few years back. I wonder if they will use a similar interface for this game. The reason I bring this up is I wonder how quickly you can switch between echoes considering how many we will find in the game. I’m not too concerned, but I just thought I’d add some food for thought. I have other things I want to talk about as well, but let’s leave it at the combat for now. Thanks for hearing me out and have a good night!