VIDEO GAME: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (2021)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion Year: 2021 Rating: E10+ Time Played: ~2 hours Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is one of those games that got me to play it based on the name alone. That it also only took up two hours of my time was also a plus. A cutesy action-adventure, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is just silly enough to not be taken seriously, but not absurd enough to be ultimately funny. I definitely played through it shortly after adding it to my vast video game library, but I also was glad that it was a free game I got as part of my Amazon Prime subscription. As an action-adventure title, there are easy comparisons to The Legend of Zelda games, as well as the Metroidvania genre here. You collect items in dungeons that you need to defeat that dungeon's boss and advance to the next part of the map. Where successful versions of these games succeed is by making it clear what...
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VIDEO GAME: Breath of the Wild (2017)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Year: 2017 Rating: E10 Time Played: 90+ hours I’ve been a fan of the Legend of Zelda series for a long time. While Ocarina of Time started my love of the series, I looked forward to each new iteration to see how the items, puzzle-solving, and combat would satisfy my need to visit Hyrule. Consequently, while Breath of the Wild snuck under the radar for me (in part because I didn’t own the consoles it released on at the time), I almost have trouble going back and playing the older Zelda titles because of its mold-breaking success. Needless to say, this game was what impelled me to finally buy a Switch a few years ago. I could continue to sing the praises of this game heaped upon it by other reviewers. But, instead, I’ll point out that it’s a game I’ll still occasionally pull out and play, even when I have newer titles that I haven’t even...
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VIDEO GAME: Ocarina of Time 3D (2011)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Year: 2011 Rating: E10 Time Played: 16.95 hours When I was cataloging my video game collection a few years ago, I realized how I seemed to have a lot of Nintendo console games that I also had in a Game Boy version. While this seems to indicate I was the prime market for the Switch decades before it came out, I never considered the “portable” versions of these games to be that good. With the recent uptick in remakes and re-ports to newer hardware, I can’t claim that I appreciate buying the same game I already own and can still play on an older system. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is the exception to this. While it had been some time since I played Ocarina of Time, it was one of the first Zelda games I actually completed when I was growing up. So, with a bit of nostalgia tinting my play-through of the...
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VIDEO GAME: A Link Between Worlds (2013)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between WorldsYear: 2013Rating: ETime Played: 895 minutes / 14.92 hours While I bemoan remakes of games that are just straight ports from their original system, I can appreciate remakes that add a little something to make it worth playing the same story over again. That was definitely the case with The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Basically a 3D re-skin of A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds modifies the mechanics and story just enough for me to consider it a moderately unique entry in the Zelda series. In fact, I think I like this game more than I do the game it was originally based on. This game's stereoscopic effect really adds to that top-down visual style that defined the earlier Zelda titles. So, while everything looked gorgeous in its reimagined 3D form, the game already lent itself to this technological feature. I also appreciated how open this game was, as...
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VIDEO GAME: Phantom Hourglass (2007)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom HourglassYear: 2007Rating: ETime Played: 19.78 hours Just like Ocarina of Time influenced the style and lore of the Oracle games, the Zelda series’ first foray into the DS system took its cues from The Wind Waker—perhaps even too much. Additionally, as there were plenty of new features in the Nintendo DS that were not present in previous Nintendo systems, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass decided to take advantage of almost all of them. Again, perhaps to its detriment. Still, for the limited graphics and repetitive sections of the story, Phantom Hourglass is a fairly good Zelda game. Even if it took a little bit to get used to the stylus-based combat system, I did eventually find it to be a neat alternative to the standard button configuration for a Zelda title, even if it didn’t behave as I wanted all the time. There were also limitations to how accurate the stylus inputs were when I needed...
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VIDEO GAME: The Minish Cap (2005)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish CapYear: 2005Rating: ETime Played: ~16 hours The almost forgotten title in the Zelda franchise, Minish Cap has a subtle nod to its portable system in the way that Link can shrink down to engage with the world on a smaller scale. It’s a shame we didn’t see more unique titles in the Zelda series for the Game Boy Advance, as Minish Cap was a charming adventure that added to the developing lore of the franchise. While the visuals and controls were quite good considering the Game Boy Advance’s limitations, the length of this game left me wanting more by the time I completed it. As a unique entry in the portable Zelda games, Minish Cap has a surprising amount of depth regarding the characters, plot, and overall game mechanics. Each step in restoring the Minish sword revealed a little more about the lore, which caused me to keep playing to find out what would happen next....
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VIDEO GAME: Oracle of Ages (2001)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages Year: 2001 Rating: E Time Played: ~30 hours As the second half of the “Oracle” games in the Zelda franchise, Oracle of Ages takes more of its cues from the wildly popular Ocarina of Time than its sister game, Oracle of Seasons, did. While Oracle of Seasons had a fairly unique mechanic (albeit not fully realized), Oracle of Ages had the benefit of its Nintendo 64 predecessor to help craft some of the puzzle-solving that needed to happen throughout its gameplay. And even if I played through using a linked account, giving me quite a few advantages—Oracle of Ages still suffers from some of the Game Boy Zelda titles' limitations. Even if the story in Oracle of Ages isn’t that strong compared to the Nintendo 64 games, it’s at least more fleshed out in terms of characters and their motivations when compared to Oracle of Seasons. The end boss wasn’t nearly as difficult in this game, but at...
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