Don't run! It's just ham!

Experience Points is ??a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment?, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games bein??g discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about Team Fortress 2. Feel free ?to share some of your own favorite things about the game in the comments!

Screamin' Eagles!

The first thing that grabbed my attention in Team Fortress 2 was its eccentric cast of characters. The Heav??y caught my eye first of course, because how could he not? He's so big! I immediately took a liking to him due to his goofy, yet menacing, personality and his over-the-top accent. And every other character was just as awesome, fro?m the drunken Scottish Demoman, the psychopathic Australian Sniper, the loudmouthed, arrogant Scout from Boston, and the enigmatic Pyro.

Surprisingly, my favorite character initially looked the least interesting to me: the Soldier. He basically looks like the stereo?typi??cal type of military character I would expect to see in a first-person shooter, albeit with a slightly cartoonish flair. He was probably the last class I tried out for this reason, but as soon as I started playing as him, I had to admit that the rocket launcher was a hell of a lot of fun to use and I was actually getting more kills than usual.

I also quickly learned that I had seriously misjudged his character. While he is obnoxiously patriotic and aggressive, it becomes quite clear that he's meant to be a satirical twist on those types of macho military men. He likes to shout “maggots!” and refer to his teammates as “ladies,” but many of his spoken responses reveal that he's not quite the smartest cookie (“Ich bin I just kicked your ass!”) and he might actually be slightly unhinged (“I am going to enjoy killing each and every one of you sorry sacks of scum!”). This is made even clearer in the Meet the Soldier video, w?here he lectures a bunch of decapitated heads about Sun Tz?u, while somehow getting him mixed up with Noah.

His backstory, which was hinted at in the comics, just made me love the crazy guy even more. As it turns out, he's not actually a real soldier. He was rejected?? by every branch of the military during World War II, but due to his rather intense patriotic attitude, he decided to teach himself how to use weapons, bought a plane ticket to Europe, killed a bunch of Nazis, and awarded himself with medals that he designed on his own. Then he continued to call himself a soldier and tried to convince everyone that he really was in the military. It's a truly inspiring story about ne??ver giving up on your dreams, no matter how insane your solutions might be. Shine on, you crazy diamond!

You can go with this, or you can go with that

Team Fortress 2 has some of the best weapon variety I've seen in a sh?ooter. Every character has their own unique arsenal to choose from, ranging from standard classics ??like the miniguns and rocket launchers, to bizarre and unexpected items like ham sandwiches and jars of piss.

Everyone has their own go-to loadouts for individual characters, which are usually varied enough so that no two characters in a single game are using the same weapon combinations. It really helps to keep matches interesting, since you never know what strategies the enemy might try using depending on their loadout. I have a few staples myself, including my Battle Medic wit?h the Crusader's Crossbow in hand, my Pyro with the Degreaser + Axtinguisher combo for easy melee kills, and my Soldier who's always equipped wi??th the Black Box and Equalizer, even though the latter is a much less impressive weapon than it used to be.

But the one weapon that I have never swapped out since I found it is the Scout's Sandman. This melee weapon is a simple wooden bat that co??mes with a ba?seball. Scout can either bash heads in with the bat, or use the alt-fire to whack the baseball at a target, temporarily stunning them. It has been nerfed and buffed many times since it was first introduced, but has nevertheless remained my favorite weapon to use.

I used to think it was super difficult to aim the baseball correctly in order to hit an opponent, but I've used the Sandman so much by now that I almost never miss my mark anymore. Every successful stun I inflict feels so satisfying. Sometimes I get so caught up in it that I forget to switch back to the Scattergun to finish off the dizzied enemy and instead resort to hitting them with the bat a few times and then running off a distance to try and stun them again. Of course, it's even more sat??isfying to score a kill with ??the ball, hitting them in head so hard that they fall over dead. It always happens when I least expect it, and it makes me grin every single time.

There can be only one

Trying out all the different weapons is a lot of fun, but my favorite game mode actually restricts the majority of them. In Medieval Mode, players can only use melee weapons, as well as a few other thematically appropriate ones such as bow??s and crossbows. This mode is only available on one map, DeGroot Keep, but it's so enjoyable that I don't even mind playing the same map over and over again.

There's just something fundamentally entertaining about the melee weapons in Team Fortress 2. Having a game mode built entirely around them is genius. Whether I'm raking people over the coals with the Back Scratcher, going crazy with one of the Scout's bats, collecting heads with the Eyelander, or getting a "FISH KILL!" with the Holy Mackerel, I'm ha??ving a good time!

The heavy hitters in Medie??val Mode are definitely the Demoman with his sword and shield and the Sniper with bow and arrow (there are even lit torches scattered around the map to l??ight the arrows on fire!), but even so I tend to cycle through the entire team rather than just stick with those two. After all, the Heavy's Killing Gloves of Boxing are nothing to laugh at, and I'll take any opportunity to play Battle Medic since the Crusader's Crossbow is one of my favorites.

Another neat feature of Medieval Mode is the chat parser which (somewhat clumsily) translates all text chat into Ye Olde English. A friendly “Hello” might become “Well met, good sir!” and anyone calling you an idiot might refer to you as an “ill-bred, witless jackanape” instead. It's pretty humorous, even though it can cause the chat to become a load of nonsense rather quickly. But ??who ??needs reliable chat options in a team-based shooter anyway?

Watch your back

The Spy is such an interesting character to me. His playstyle is typically not what I go for in multiplayer games. I usually like to be in the action, shooting and fighting out in the open and making my presence known. But to be a competent Spy, I have to d?o the complete opposite.

Yet there's something surprisingly thrilling about hiding in the shadows as a Spy. He's almost never a part of the action. He's either disguis?ed as the enemy and trying to mimic their behavior to blend in and remain unnoticed, or he's hidden under the veil of his invisibility watch, moving from shadow to shadow and trying to stay out of sight. One wrong step could alert the enemy to his presence and he's doomed. It gets my heart racing even when I'm just standing there doing nothing, waiting for my Cloak and Dagger's invisibility meter to recharge so I can move again as enemy Soldiers and Pyros are running past me.

And then there are the backstabs. Pulling off a successful backstab is probably the best feeling one can have while playing Team Fortress 2. Simply backstabbing a single Heavy when he least expects it feels wonderful, but getting multiple backstabs at once can make me feel like a god. Whether I'm taking out a Medic followed by his confused Heavy partner, or a handful of unsuspecting Snipers all perched in the same area, or an entire mob of enemies who are too busy attacking to check for Sp?ies. It's such a rush of adrenaline, it makes me feel unstoppable! Well, at least until the Pyros find me...

Salt in the wound

I love the taunt kills in Team Fortress 2. Every character has at least one taunt which can one-hit KO an enemy if they're standing close enough. They can be diff??icult t??o land, since the animations take a while (especially Scout's) and you usually have to be almost touching your victim. But successfully pulling off a taunt kill feels pretty amazing, because you just know your opponent is sitting there thinking, “Goddammit, really?!” It's an easy way to make people salty.

All of the taunt kills are great, with Scout charging up to hit a home-run, Engineer bashing heads in with his guitar, Pyro performing a Hadouken, Demoman decapitating dudes with his sword, Medic attempting a spinal tap with a bonesaw, S?niper stabbing people with arrows, Spy practicing his fencing technique, and Heavy simply pointing at people? to death.

But my favorite has got to be Soldier's taunt kill, Kamikaze. If Soldier taunts while holding either the Equalizer or the Escape Plan, he'll throw the pickax over his? shoulder, crack his knuckles, grab one of his grenades, and pull the pin. He ?keeps holding onto it as it explodes, killing himself and any enemy standing near him. It's the perfect taunt for such an insane character. I actually use it all the time, just because it makes me laugh so much. Sometimes I'll Kamikaze while waiting for the round to begin, or after claiming victory over the other team as a sort of twisted celebratory gesture. I don't know how much my own team appreciates it, but I find it amusing.

Killing with style

Of course, everyone already knows what really makes Team Fortress 2 great: hats! You might think I'm joking, but I actually really do enjoy collecting them. I used to get so jealous when I'd see another player wearing a really cool hat, and hat drops were so rare tha?t I didn't have any of my own for a long time. I still remember my very first hat drop, the Mining Light for the Engineer, and how excited I was when I got it. It's not even a very interesting hat, but I was still psyched to put it on my Engie.

Actually, most of the hats that I found were pretty lame, with the exception of the Handyman's Handle, a plunger that my Pyro sticks on his head. Even so, every single ha?t drop I received was an exciting moment. And I still enjoy seeing all the goofy things other players have on their heads, often wishing I could be so luc??ky as to find them myself.

In fact, Team Fortress 2 remains the only game to this day that got me to purchase something through microtransactions, and of course it was a hat. I decided that I absolutely NEEDED to have the Offi??cer's Ushanka for my Heavy, and since the chances of finding one randomly are astronomically low, I went ahead and bought it. And I regret nothing, because my Heavy looks totally amazing in his fluffy Russian hat!

Past Experience Points

Level 1: .01 - .20

.21: Katamari Damacy
.22: Tomb Raider
.23: Mother 3
.24: Deadly Premonition
.25: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
.26: Dark Souls
.27: GoldenEye 007 
.28: Pokémon Red/Blue 
.29: Skies of Arcadia
.30: Dragon's Dogma
.31: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
.32: Super Metroid
.33: Beyond Good & Evil

The post Experience Points .34: Team Fortress 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

The last Metroid is in captivity

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly note?worthy and/or awesome.

It will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discusse??d, so keep that in mind i??f you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about Super Metroid. Feel free to share ?some of your own favorite things about the game in the comments!

Natural born killers

There are few creatures more innately terrifying than the Metroid. These gelatinous, jellyfish-like monsters are vicious predators who will attack anything they come across, gripping their prey with large mandibles and quickly draining them of their life force. They can float through the air with impressive speed while persistently homing in on their target. Not only that, but they're resistant to most forms of attack,?? with ice being their one main weaknes??s.

I never managed to get very far in the original Metroid growing up, so I had always wondered why the series was named after a particular enemy that barely showed up in the game at all. Players won't even see them until the final area, which I was never patient enough to discover. I finally had my first Metroid encounter in Super Metroid several years later, however, and I immediately ??understood why they chose them for the game's namesa??ke.

But before that happened, I ran into the “Metroids” in the Maridia area. These weaklings are actually called Mochtroids, but since I had never met an actual Metroid yet, I mistook it for the real thing. The Mochtroids are rather pathetic. They move around quickly enough, but they just kind of lamely latch onto Samus and can easily be shaken off and destroyed. After swiftly destroying them, I thought, ??“Really? What's so special about these things? That was nothing!”

Then I got to Tourian and came face-to-face with the real deal. “Oh, these guys again? This will be a piece of cake!” Boy was I wrong. The Metroid flew right at Samus, grabbed onto her head, and refused to let go. It proceeded to kill her in a matter ?of seconds while I feebly tried to escape and attack it to no avail. Then it killed me a few more times, just as quickly, before I finally figured out the Ice Beam was the key to subduing it.

But that single encounter was enough to instill fear. I was now terrified of Metroids. The second I saw one appear on the screen, my heart would skip a beat and I'd go into all-out attack mode, jumping and dodging for my life while ??throwing ice beams and missiles around like I was fighting off an army. No wonder they named the game after these merciless killing machines!

Not all Metroids

Of course, Super Metroid also showed another side of the vicious beasts, something that I certainly w??as not expecting. Near the end of the game, Samus finds herself in a fight against a large Sidehopper. Not a big deal. But as it hops towards Samus, without warning, an absolutely massive Metroid swoops down out of nowhere and kills the Sidehopper on ?the spot. I nearly wet myself when I saw it. How was I supposed to beat this thing?! Well, I didn't have much of a chance to try anything before the huge monster lunged at Samus and began draining her life away. I struggled and struggled, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

But then, at the last remaining bit of her ??energy, the Metroid suddenly just let go of Samus. It hovered above her for a bit, and seemed to make... a sad-sounding screech? Did this thing actually feel bad for attacking me? It then fled the room, leaving Samus to esc??ape.

Little did I know, this was actually the baby Metroid that Samus had rescued at the end of Metroid II, the same one from the beginning of Super Metroid that Ridley had stolen. The once-tiny baby recognized Samus the moment before it killed her, and felt absolutely awful for hurting its own parental figure. I didn't know about all this at the time, but I still sat there stunned that this monstrous beast had shown mercy. It was completely unexpected, especially after my previous encounters with the normal-sized variety and their b?loodthirsty tendencies.

Later, the giant Metroid makes ano?ther surprise entrance during the final boss fight against Mother Brain, sapping her energy before she gets the chance to kill Samus. In a final twist, the friendly Metroid latches onto Samus once more, but this time it transfers all of its energy into the heroine, returning her to full health. But as this is happening, Mother Brain regains consciousness and starts attacking the Metroid, eventually killing it. Its body falls around Samus, granting her the power of t??he Hyper Beam so she can avenge its death.

Even though I was unaware of the baby Metroid's history at the time, I s??till felt a twinge of sadness when it was killed. This creature that I had mistaken for a vicious monster gave its life trying to save me. I attacked Mother Brain with renewed ferocity, in the hopes that my friend wouldn't have died in vain. It almost even changed my opinion of Metroids in general. Well, almost, but not quite. They're still genuinely terrifying to me!

Beyond the glass tube

Some of you already know that I'm one of those weird people who really likes underwater levels in video games, so it should come as no surprise that Maridia happens to be my favorite area in Super Metroid. Maridia is the submerge??d sector of Zebes, crawling with crabs, spiky fish, mollusks, gia??nt sea snakes, and other aquatic alien species.

Like many underwater levels, Samus will experience a significant speed reduction when moving through the water, which can make navigating the area feel like a chore. But don't worry, Super Metroid takes the edge off of things by offering the Gravity Suit. This upgrade allows her to m?ove freely underwater, so there's no need to struggle through the area at a snail's pace. It's too bad more games didn't take notes here.

The best part about Maridia, though, is one of the entrances Samus can open up. She can get an early view of Maridia from a?? glass tube connecting two parts of Brinstar. I must have run through that tube back and forth so many times, without even realizing there was anything to do in that room.

Then I had a crazy thought. What if she could break through the glass somehow, like that scene in Jaws 3 only not totally embarrassing? I tried hammering the walls with missiles and bombs, but nothing happened. Then I got the Power Bomb and t?ried again. To my amazeme?nt, the glass began to crack and crack until it completely shattered, granting Samus entrance into the newly discovered area of Maridia. I couldn't believe it actually worked!

Crusty crabs

Of course, there's still one more awesome thing about Maridia that I haven't mentioned yet, that being the main boss of the area. Kraid, Phantoon, and Rid?ley are all really great boss fights too, but Draygon is my personal favorite.

The fight takes place in a large, dark, algae-covered room underwater. When Samus enters, she sees a group of weird, pudgy shrimp-like creatures swimming around. They don't look particularly threatening, and they can't be attacked, but the boss music had started playing so I knew something was up. Suddenly, Draygon swoops in from the corner of the screen, lunging directly t??owards Samus.

Its entrance is extremel?y startling, due to its size, speed, and grotesque appearance. It's basically an enlarged version of those shrimpy things from earlier, a giant alien crustacean with long legs, a bulging head, angry red eyes, and what looks like a giant spike or stinger protruding from its rear end. It's one of those horrors of the deep that would make you never want to set foot in the water again.

Draygon attacks by spitting up weird, white goo and swimming in close to grab Samus so it can stab her with the spike on its butt. She can kill it the normal way with missiles and whatnot, or she can use? its grabbing attack to her advantage for a secret method of taking it down.

Lining the walls of the room are turrets which can be destroyed, leaving behind broken mechanical bits surging with electricity. Once Draygon grabs her, she can grapple onto the electrical surges, which will hurt her of ??course, but it will also transfer that energy over to Draygon, quickly frying that sucker in seconds. Shrimp boil, anybody?

We're screwed

Finding upgrades and new abilities is a key aspect of the Metroid series, but the greatest upgrade will always be the Screw Attack. This is one of Samus's ultimate abilities, turning her normal spin jum??p into a deadly mid-air attack that can instantly kill most enemies and even break through certain walls. That's right, she can kill things by simply jumping into them!

Combined with the Space Jump ability, which allows her to continuously jump through the air almost as though she could fly, Samus becomes an unstoppable wrecking ball. The Screw Attack is one of the last items she'll find, but it's definitely worth the wait. It makes traversing the world of Zebes incredibly easy, since she can basically fly anywhere and kill just about anything simply by pressing the jump button. It has returned in almost every Metroid game, and even became a usable item in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Can you imagine actually performing a Screw Attack, though? Especially while Space Jumping. How does Samus not get sick after somersaulting so many times through the air like that? You'd think she would at least be a little dizzy from all the spinning. Just think of how disorienting it would be if they had implemented a first-person view of the Screw Attack in the Metroid Prime series. It would have been absolutely insane, but that's what Samus would see on a daily basi??s! She really is an incredible lady if she can physically deal with the Screw Attack like it's no problem at all.

No one can hear you scream

Super Metroid's greatest strength is its atmosphere. It nails the “creepy, isolated sensation of exploring an alien planet” vibe so well that it's almost hard to believe it came from Nintendo. There's not a single human being or any other life form to talk to on Zebes, and there are barely any friendly creature?s either, save for some weird green things that teach Samus how to wall jump. It's just her, exploring a bunch of creepy caverns and derelict research labs while every living thing is trying to kill her.

She'll come across unsettling spore-filled rooms, pools of acid, abandoned laboratories, a place that looks like the walls and floors might be made out of alien eggs, and other such places. There are giant worms bursting out of the walls, hives that seem to house an endless amount of insects, huge mantis-like creatures with deadly claws, and all manner of other frightening specie?s. My favorite areas are the entrances and rooms shaped like monsters with gaping jaws, indicating that not all of these ?cavernous structures are naturally occurring.

And then there's the wonderful soundtrack which really highlights that sense of exploration and isolation. The title screen music immediately fills the player with a sense of dread, while slightly more upbeat tunes like the Crateria Main Theme or Brinstar's Jungle Floor music pack in that feeling of discovery. Most of the soundtrack goes for a creepier, more subdued sound to? really drive home the fact that Samus is all alone on this alien planet where death looms around every corner. It's the perfect soundtrack to listen to when you just want to feel totally apprehensive. Or when you're working. Same thing, really.

Past Experience Points

Level 1: .01 - .20

.21: Katamari Damacy
.22: Tomb Raider
.23: Mother 3
.24: Deadly Premonition
.25: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
.26: Dark Souls
.27: GoldenEye 007 
.28: Pokémon Red/Blue 
.29: Skies of Arcadia
.30: Dragon's Dogma
.31: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The post Experience Points .32: Super Metroid appeared first on Destructoid.

I've been waiting for you, Hero of Time

Experience Points is a seri??es in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing th??e game for the first time.

This entry is all about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Feel free to share so?me of your own favorite things about the game in the comments!

Best friends forever?

Link may have been on a quest to rescue Zelda, and he may have accidentally gotten engaged to Ruto, but the girl I always liked the most was Saria. The pair would never work out romantically, since as a Kokiri, Saria would always be a child. But I was still rooting f??or her anyway.

Saria is Link's childhood friend. She's the second best green-haired gal in video games (Final Fantasy IV's Rydia probably has her beat), she has?? a really happy theme song, and she's one of the friendliest characters Link interacts with. When his journey begins, she meets him on his way out of Kokiri Forest, expressing sadness that he's leaving even though she always knew it would happen someday. She gives Link her ocarina as a memento of their friendship and tells him, “When you play my ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit.”

It's a very sweet moment, which Link totally ruins by being awkw??ardly silent, ??backing away slowly from her, and then suddenly running off without a smile, a wave, or even a glance back. Later on, he even tosses aside her ocarina without a second thought after he acquires the Ocarina of Time from Zelda. Way to be a terrible friend, Link.

The two childhood pals meet up once more seven years later in the Chamber of Sages, when Saria awakens as the Sage of the Forest Temple. She laments that she cannot live in the same world as Link, but accepts that it is her destiny. Their final meeting ends with the words “Saria will always be... your friend...” That line always makes me feel more sad than happy for her. Poor Saria... I always wished I could go visit her again, even though Link p??robably couldn't care less.

Gone fishin'

What's a hero to?? do when the princess has been kidnapped and evil monsters roam the land? Go fishing, of c?ourse! It may not have helped save the world, but I sure spent an ungodly amount of time at the fishing hole near Lake Hylia trying to catch the biggest fish possible.

As far as fishing mini-games go, Ocarina of Time's is one of the best. The controls are easy to learn, there are a couple rewards for landing “a real lunker,&rd?quo; and there are a bunch secrets to be discovered by those like me who were crazy enough to spend a lot of time there.

For starters, there was the sinking lure. It's a hidden item that can be found in a few spots around the pond just by walking over it. It lets Link catch fish that are sitt?ing at the bottom of the pond, wh?ich usually tend to be the biggest. The pond owner doesn't appreciate outside lures being used, however.

There's also the pond owner's hat trick. If Link stands in the perfect spot and casts the lure directly at the owner, he can actually catch his hat! This reveals a bald spot that has developed in the seven years since Link last saw the man, but obviously he gets rather upset about having his hat stolen. Link can either give the hat back or ??choose to be a huge dick and throw it in the pond. What the hell, Link?

Finally, there's the Hylian Loach. For the longest time, I thought catching this rare fish was just a made-up rumor. It appears in the pond occa??sionally, resting at the very bottom, but there never seemed to be any way to actually attract its attention. It is possible though, and I've even managed to catch it myself once before! The trick is to wait for it to come up to the surface, and in that brief moment, it might just grab onto the lure. The 30-pound fish is extremely difficult to reel in, and after Link goes through all the trouble of c?atching it, the pond owner (though impressed) makes him release it back into the water. The Hylian Loach is an endangered species, after all. No wonder it's so hard to find!

Music from the valley

Every song off of Koji Kondo's iconic soundtrack is just as m?emorable as the last, but? I feel there has always been one clear standout track that rises above the rest: the Gerudo Valley theme.

The very first tim??e I set foot in Gerudo Valley, riding atop Epona, I immediately fell in love with this song as soon as I heard the first few notes. The Spanish guitar-inspired tune definitely sticks out from the rest of the soundtrack with its energy and unique instruments. I found ?myself hanging around the canyon area for a long time just listening to the music loop over and over again.

Out of all of the wonderful music to come from the Legend of Zelda series, this song might just be my favorite. I had the pleasure of seeing a live performance of the Symphony of the Goddesses orchestra once, and of course they played the Gerudo Va??lley theme. It was every bit as amazing as I thought it would be!

Dawn of the Dead Hand

On the surface, Ocarina of Time may seem like a lighthearted adventure suitable for all age?s. But deep down, it's filled with all manner of truly horrific monsters that could make anyone's skin crawl.

Take the ReDeads, for instance. These soulless husks lazily walk around like zombies, moaning and drooping and generally being creepy. If Link walks too close, they let ou??t a terrible shriek, freezing him in place as they slowly walk up and attempt to cling onto him and suck away his life force in a horrifying bear hug of death. I always made sure to keep as much distance from them as possible just to avoid those awful sounds they make.

Then there's the cursed family in Kakariko Village. These unfortunate souls were transformed into grotesque half-man, half-spider hybrids with deformed faces, random human arms mixed with spider arms, and the disturbing ability to quickly descend from the ceiling. They may be friendly, but good god, they are way too upsetting to lo?ok at. The least they could do is stay at ground level so they don't surprise the crap out of me whenever they suddenly decide to drop down in front of my face.

But the most horrific monster of all would have to be the Shadow Temple's Dead Hand. This terrifying pile of bloody flesh has an infinite amount of hands that stick out of the ground and grab onto Link, trapping him in place as the main body slowly lurches forward with its weird, handless arms, empty eye sockets, and gaping jaw. Everything about this mini-boss creeps me the hell out, from its grisly appearance down to the way it awkwardly wiggles around and unhinges its jaw to eat Link. And then it keeps twitching even after it's been killed (*shiver*). Dead Hand might ??be the most potent nightmare fuel I've ever encountered. I thought this was supposed to be a game for kids, Nintendo!

The birds

Cuccos may seem like docile creatures at first. They're?? just chickens, after all. Weak little birds that squawk and flee when attacked. But should Link choose to bully them too much, he might just regret his cruel tendencies.

When threatened, a lone cucco will make a shrill cry, calling forth its fellow cuccos to descend in a swarm upon Link, tackling him to ground and wreaking havoc in a flurry of feathers and loud clucking. It's a hilarious sight to behold, and probably a rather terrifying experience for Link. But he did have it coming to him, really. I mean, who picks on a poor, defenseless cu??cco?

Of course, Ocarina of Time wasn't the first game to introduce the dreaded cucco attack. That honor belongs to A Link to the Past. But the event is so much more dramatic and humorous in Ocarina of Time, with its initial cutscene and the sight of all these birds flying in from every direction and literally knocking Link over as he yells out in pain. I'm glad they kept this little joke in just about every other game to feature cuccos as well. They even made it into the newest Super Smash Bros. as an item. I always make it my top priority to activate the cucco attack ??at every opportunity!

Witchy women

The boss of the Spirit Temple, Twinrova, is noteworthy for a few reasons. She's the only boss that Link gets a glimpse of before entering the temple, when he spies her kidnapping Nabooru. She's the only boss that undergoes a transformation mid-fight. She's also the only boss, besides Ganondorf, who speaks to Link. Oh yeah, and she's actually two separate ?characters, the twin witch sisters Koume and Kotake. They may be villainous ?kidnappers, but I still think they're awesome.

The actual fight itself is really interesting, and rather difficult. During the first phase, the two witches attack separately, one casting fire magic and the other ice. Link must use his newly acquired Mirror Shield to deflect one witch's ??attack over to her sister, which requires some tricky targeting tactics.

After enough hits, the sisters fuse together into Twinrova, with the powers of both fire and ice together. For th?is phase, Link has to charge up the Mirror Shield by absorbing three of the same type of magic attack in a row, which then releases in a burst of pent up energy back at Twinrova. Then Link just has to run up and slash away while she's staggered.

Once she's defeated, the sisters separate again as halos suddenly appear above their heads. T??hey begin lamenting their death at such a young age (“I'm only 400 years old!” “And I'm just 380 years old!”) then?? start bickering with each other for lying about their ages (they're twins, after all) and accusing each other of going senile. As they ascend to the afterlife, they leave Link with a final threat: “I'll come back to haunt you!”

It's an unexpectedly humorous moment, and it easily made Koume and Kotake jump up to the top of my list of favorite Legend of Zelda bosses. It's awesome that despite being villains, they still get to go to heaven. It's a nice little positive outlook on life from Nintendo. It's also awesome that Koume and Kotake later appeared as returning characters in Majora's Mask, but they were good guys who ran a potion s??hop ?and helped Link on his quest. Maybe they're not so bad after all!

Past Experience Points

Level 1: .01 - .20

.21: Katamari Damacy
.22: Tomb Raider
.23: Mother 3
.24: Deadly Premonition
.25: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
.26: Dark Souls
.27: GoldenEye 007 
.28: Pokémon Red/Blue 
.29: Skies of Arcadia
.30: Dragon's Dogma

The post Experienc??e Points .?31: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time appeared first on Destructoid.

Fungah! Foiled again!

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a l??evel or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being d?iscussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about Super Mario RPG. Feel free to share some of your own favorite things a?bout the game in the comments!

Valiant villain

I've always been a big Bowser fan, so I was very excited when I played Super Mario RPG for the first time and discovered that Bowser actually joins Mario's team. This was the first time the two rivals teamed up together, and it was awesom??e.

Super Mario RPG actually begins with a boss fight against Bowser to save Princess Toadstool, leading the player to believe it's going to follow a similar storyline to the previous Super Mario games. But that all changes immediately when a giant monster sword descends from the heavens and lodges itself in Bowser's Keep, layi??ng claim to the castle and kicking Bowser and his minions out?.

Mario spots Bowser and his army several times as they're attempting to regroup and take back the keep. Finally, they meet face-to-face in front of Booster's T?ower where a lone Bowser reluc??tantly decides to lend his strength to Mario's team (because he knows they're headed for his castle anyway). He declares Mario and friends to be honorary members of the Koopa Troop for the duration of their travels together.

Bowser is probably my favorite party member (sorry Geno!). He's a ??powerful asset during a fight, able to summon a Big Boo to terrorize enemies, wield a Chain Chomp as a weapon, and even toss Mario around like a projectile. He also brings a lot of humor to the group. This is the first game where he's characterized as sort of a goofball. He tries really hard to keep up the reputation of being a tough, mean bully, but it's pretty clear that he's really just a big ol' softie. You just keep being you, Bowser!

It's axin' time!

Super Mario RPG has arguably one of the greatest boss battles of all time: the Axem Rangers! After a particularly grueling fight against the Czar Dragon in Barrel Volcano, as well as its unde?ad form, Zombone, Mario finally gets to take a break and revel in the light of the newly recovered Star Piece. Unfortunately, it's a short-lived victory, as the Star Piece is suddenly swiped right out of his hands by stealthy assailants.

The thieves reveal themselves to be none other than the "amazing," "unbeatable," and "gorgeous" group, the Axem Rangers! They're clearly inspired by another gr??oup of similarly colored Ra?ngers, only they're much more dastardly. Mario chases them up to the rim of the volcano where they attempt to make their getaway on the airship, Blade.

The fight commences aboard the airship, where the Rangers declare their motto and attack. It can be a difficult battle, since there are five targets ??to focus on, each with their own attacks and specialties. Eventually they start to drop out one by one, each complaining about something trivial like being hungry, having a headache, having runny make-up, and accidentally breaking their sunglasses, to which Axem Red always has a snarky retort. Finally, Red changes strategies and takes control of Blade for their ultimate attack, the Breaker Beam.

But despite their showmanship and underhanded tactics, the Axem Rangers are still no match for Mario and company. Of course, that doesn't stop them from being awesome and ??having the coolest motto!

"We fight for evil! We live for disorder!? We like what we do! We struggle for chaos! We are..?. the AXEM RANGERS!"

Sniff competition

Booster is one the most memorable characters in Super Mario RPG, but a big part of why I like him so much is because of his Snifit buddies. Booster himself is kind of insane; he never seems to have a good grasp on reality, so he relies on his Snifits to help him out and explain things to him. They help solve a lot of simple mysteries for him, like what to do at parties, how to eat cake, and what it means when someone is crying. Without his Snifits to keep him under control, who knows where Booster ??would end up.

While Booster's main posse consists of three Snifits (simply named Snifit 1, Snifit 2, and Snifit 3), there's actually a secret side quest to expand his army. In Booster Pass, Mario might come across an enemy called an Appren??tice, a blue Snifit who hopes to impress Booster by beating Mario in a fight. They are very weak enemies, so most players will probably just kill? them and be on their way without a second thought.

But I always liked the Snifits and wanted to help the little guys out, so I tried losing to an Apprentice on purpose once just to see what would happen. After a really long battle where I just defended and let the little? dude pummel me with weak attacks, he finally "beat" me. Instead of getting the usual Game Over, though, it returns to Booster Pass where the Apprentice proudly exclaims that he'll become Snifit 4 and runs off excitedly. Congrats, buddy!

Mario can actually keep battling Apprentices in t?his way until there are eight Snifits. They can all be found at the top of Booster Tower, where they're still super thrilled with their new titles. Well, all of them except for ?the eighth Apprentice, who woefully explains that Booster only wants seven Snifits and that all of his training was in vain. Poor guy... at least you tried your hardest!

I am matter... I am antimatter...

Monstro Town is my favorite area in Super Mario RPG for several reasons. For one, it has a great theme song and a bunch of cool, friendly monsters to talk to. All the enemy types Mario has been fighting h??ave all gathered in this secluded villager in order to live peacefully with no wish to fight.

There's also a few side quests to do here, such as fighting Jagger and his sensei Jinx at the dojo and playing a nice little game of "Find the Flag" with the Three Musty Fears. But my favorite side quest involves a sealed door and a mysteriou?s neighbor. The friendly piranha plant hints about hearing their strange neighbor next door mumbling about crystals and ??evil.

If Mario brings a Shiny ??Stone from Moleville, the crystal will react to the door and the seal will be broken. Upon entering, Mario finds himself floating in a strange dime??nsional rift and is greeted by a creepy purple being who calls himself "Culex, Dark Knight of Vanda." If Mario agrees to fight him, he will be up against the most powerful foe in the game, even more daunting than the final boss, Smithy.

Culex is particularly awesome because of his ties to the Final Fantasy series, since the game was created by Squaresoft and Nintendo. While he's not based on a specific character, he's designed to look like a typical final boss from the series. The encounter with Culex also uses several songs from Final Fantasy, including the battle theme from Final Fantasy IV, the victory theme, and the main theme of the series which? plays while they are speaking after the fight.

I always thought ??Culex was a really cool idea for a crossover boss fight. Plus, the fact that he's so well hidden made it that much more surprising and exci?ting when I finally entered his door to find myself in another dimension speaking to a character who probably shouldn't exist in the Mushroom Kingdom. Well done, Square!

Super Mario Shmup

Super Mario RPG has a lot of fun mini-games to play whenever Mario wants to take a break from his grand adventure, but the one I spent the most time with was probably Beetle Mania. Beetle Mania is a handheld game that Mario can buy from a Toad in the Mushroom Kingdom Inn, which can then be accessed from the main menu during any area of the g?ame.

It's basically a really simple shoot-'em-up where the player controls a tiny beetle that shoots stars at incoming Koopa shells. The shells bounce around and remain on-screen until they are hit. Each shell grants two points when shot, and explodes into a burst of other stars that can hit more shells to trigger a chain reaction which ca??n quickly multiply the score up to thousands of points per shell. Even though it only rewards two points for an individual shell, the score can easily skyrocket in seconds due to combos if there are a bunch of shells on-screen at once.

I believe the high score is so??mething like 99,999,999 points, which I never came close to personally, but I definitely made it into the millions a few times, and I wasn't even playing for that long! It's an addicting mini-game due to how satisfying it is to watch the score jump higher and higher so quickly, and I found myself taking bre?aks from the main story to play Beetle Mania for a while just because it was so much fun. Do you remember what your high score was?

Wedding woes

Super Mario RPG's story is full of goofy plotlines and even goofier characters, but the silliest part of the game by far happens in the town of Marrymore, where Booster attempts to marry Princess Toadstool. Crazy old Booster, who was holding Toadstool captive after ?she fell from the sky and landed in his tower, decides that their strange meeting must be destiny a??nd that they should get married (obviously).

When Mario climbs the tower to rescue Toadstool, Booster flees to Marrymore with the princess in tow and it's up to Mario and friends to crash the wedding. Afte?r barging into the chapel with Bowser's help busting down the doors, they accidentally bump into Toadstool, causing her to drop all of her wedding accessories. A quick mini-game ensues, where Mario has to collect all of her dropped items in a time limit.

Afterwards, she says she'll reward Mario with a kiss. But this causes Booster and Bowser to feel left out, since Bowser thinks he deserves a kiss for breaking down the door and Booster wants a kiss too since everyone else is getting one. A confusing rush occurs as everyone goes in to try and get a kiss from Toadstool. Depending on the player's skill during the previous mini-game, Mario could get a kiss from Toadstool, Bowser, Booster, or even Bowser and Booster at the same time! The lucky bastard!

Since the wedding is pretty much off at this point, Mario, Toadstool, and Bowser start to leave the chapel, but the way is blocked by the chefs who have just brought the wedding cake in and are distressed to see that the bride is leaving after they spent all day baking the (r?ather hideous) cake. In a fit of anger, the chefs attack, initiating one of the strangest boss fights in video game history.

After a bit of fighting, the massive dessert the chefs were so proud of actually starts to move on its own, and the chefs flee the scene. Then the main battle against the living wedding cake begins, and it's a pretty difficult fight. After putting out the candles and eliminating the top two tiers, Booster and the Snifits arrive just in tim??e to eat the remainder of the cake. They deliberate for a bit on the best method for consuming such a huge treat before the Snifits finally just toss the entire thing into Booster's open mouth (but not before Booster notices that it's moving!), destroying the evil dessert once and for all. It may have tried to kill most of the wedding party, but at least it was delicious!

Say WHAT?!

Super Mario RPG is so good at humor that even some of its more serious moments are rather hilarious. Take one of my favorite moments, for example, where Mallow's grandpa reveal??s his true origins.

Mallow was rai??sed by his grandfather, Frogfucius, in Tadpole Pond, an area populated by frogs and tadpoles. Naturally, Mallow grew up believing that he, too, was a tadpole, even though he really looks nothing like one. That is, until the fateful day that he met Mario.

After retrieving his grandfather's coin from a thief with Mario's help, they return to Tadpole Pond to speak with Frogfucius about what to do next. He ad??vises Mallow to accompany Mario on his adventure, but Mallow seems surprised, saying, "I'm only a simple tadpole! This adventure isn'?t for me!"

Frogfucius turns around, the happy music fades out, and suddenly the tone ??becomes deadly serious. "Mallow, my boy, I've kept this from you until now, but you're... not a tadpole!!!"

DUN DUNNN!!! (*Actual ?sound effect used in the? game.)

Needless to say, Mallow is shocked! His whole world is turned completely upside down. Everything he thought he knew about himself was a lie. It even starts playing a really sad piano tune and Mallow starts to cry. And yet... I couldn't stop laughing! Poor Ma??llow... but I mean, co?me on man, look in a mirror or something!

Past Experience Points

Level 1: .01 - .20

.21: Katamari Damacy
.22: Tomb Raider
.23: Mother 3
.24: Deadly Premonition

The post Experien?ce Points .25: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven S?tars appeared first on Destructoid.

'F K'... in the coffee!

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable? things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack??, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so k??eep that?? in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about the awesomely bad Deadly Premonition. Feel free to share some of your own favorite things about the game in the co??mments!

The man who wasn't there

The big question on everyone's minds while playing Deadly Premonition is always, "Who is Zach?!" York talks to himself a lot, and he??'s always addressing someone named Zach who is not actually present. There's never a physical manifestation of the person he's talking to, and Zach never responds out loud, although York does speak as if Zach is talking to him as well. They seem to be best friends, and York always asks him for adv?ice.

So who is he? Is Zach an imaginary friend? Does York have so?me kind of mental disorder such as a split personality? Did Zach die and York? is still in denial?

All of these possibilities crossed my mind while playing through Deadly Premonition, but about halfway through I decided on something else which I kind of liked. Maybe Zach is the player, meaning every time it seems like York is talking to himself, he's really trying t?o have a conversation with the player to try and piece together the mystery of what's going on around town. It would have been a clever way to make the player feel included in the story, even if their name wasn't actually Zach.

Zach's true identity is revealed tow??ards the end of the story, and it's about as cheesy and melodramatic as I would have expected from this game. I do sort of wish they had kept his identity a mystery, though. Coming up with possible theories about Zach was a lot more fun than learning the truth about him.

Let's take this baby for a ride

For a perfect example of the kind of thing that makes Deadly Premonition an awesomely bad game, let's take a look at the driving mechanics. The first time I got in a car, the controls seemed jarring and overwhelmingly complicated. The game assaults you with a huge list of controls. Every single button seems to do something different. Not only can York steer, accelerate, brake, and change the camera angles, but there are also buttons for honking, turning on the headlights, using the ??windshield wipers, signaling turns, and talking (either to a passenger or to himself). I'm surprised they didn't include buttons for the radio and air conditioner too, while they were at it.

All of these controls may seem like a lot to remember, but really, none of these things are necessary aside from steering, acceleratin?g, and braki?ng. The headlights don't really help much when it's dark, and likewise, the wipers don't help much while it's raining. And who knows why anyone would ever need to use turn signals in a video game.

So why were all of these complex contr??ols included? Beats me. I guess they wanted the experience to feel more realistic, but it honestly just makes it feel way more absurd. And not only do the vehicles have superfluous controls, they also break down over time and run out of gas, meaning if York wants to keep driving the same car, he'll have to take it to the gas station for refills and repairs. All of this just to drive from one location to the next in a murder mystery game, as if it's trying to be a driving simulator on top of everything? else.

The driving mechanics are incredibly bizarre and mostly unnecessary, but I kind of love them for those exact reasons. There's so many things to do in the car with no real justification for their inclusion, and I think that's hilarious in a way??.

All the girls say I'm pretty fly

One of my favorite things in Deadly Premonition is its random inclusion of beard growth and hygiene mechanics. It may no??t be obvious at first, but York's face will slowly start to accumulate stubble over time, and his clothes will become dirtier the longer he wears them.

At first I was confused about why he was able to shave at every mirror he came across, not to mention the fact that he was dry shaving (sometimes mere seconds after he had just shaved, if I kept making him... ouch!). Soon I stopped shaving, because it didn't seem to do anything. And then the stubble started to come in. I was pleasantly surprised. Beard growth mechanics in Deadly Premonition? Unexpected, but why not? The game already has everything else going for it. Obviously, I kept the beard for the remainder of my p?laythr??ough, because beards are awesome.

But what about the hygiene mechanics? This one took me a lot longer to figure out. Eventually, as I was playing, I began to notice flies hovering around York. It started with one fly, and I thought it was just a random background element of the specific scene that was happening. Maybe the police station had a fly problem? Who knows. Soon the flies began to multiply, to the point w??here York was hold?ing a town meeting amid a veritable swarm of insects. Only none of the characters were reacting to them. I thought, "Okay, now this is getting ridiculous! What is the deal with these flies?!"

I had to resort to looking it up online, because I was seriously confused. Apparently, York's clothing gets dirty over time, so he needs to get his suits dry cleaned every now and then to stay fresh and keep the flies away. Who would have guessed? After I foun??d this out, I honestly considered staying in my dirty pink suit for the rest of the game anyway, just because of how hilarious all of the cutscenes were with a horde of flies swarming around York during serious moments. It made me laugh, but ultimately the little bugs were too distracting, so I had to get rid of them. Geez, York, take a shower or something!

A damn fine cup of coffee

There are many reasons to love Mr. Francis York Morgan (I mean look at that smile... how could you not love a face like that?), but my favorite thing about him is his unbridled, almost alarming excitement for food and coffee. Much like FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper's enthusiasm for coffee and pie in Twin Peaks, York can't hold back his love for certain ??foodstuffs.

A few of the most memorable scenes in Deadly Premonition are about food, such as when Polly brings York a cup ??of coffee for his first day on the case. Before she brings it over to him, he warns, "I am very pa??rticular about my coffee. The very best you have, please," with a charming smile that surely melted the old lady's heart (or her eyes). He takes his time enjoying the cup, and even has a surprising revelation while staring into the dark brown liquid.

Afterwards, he can go back for another ??cup (and another... and another), and each drink gives him a new fortune. I have to wonder how he gets these fortunes, though. Are they appearing to him in the coffee itself, like the letters "F K" did? The fortunes are pr?etty long, so that would be rather impressive. Maybe he just has such a strong connection to coffee that it speaks to him every time he drinks it. Maybe he is the coffee whisperer.

Another great scene is when he tries a special sandwich for the first time. After ordering a turkey and gravy sandwich and a fresh cup of coffee (obviously) from the local diner, Mr. Stewart stops by to pick up his lunch and convinces York to change his order to a turkey, strawberry jam, and cereal sandwich. Or as York calls it, the "Sinner's Sandwich." York is skeptical at first, but tries it anyway. His reaction to eating the concoction is perfect. He takes one bite and literally jumps back out of his seat, staring at the sandwich in awe and proclaiming, "I can't believe it! This is...? fantastic!" The camera then pans to Emily, who has a look of thorough disappointment at her friend's choices.

I have yet to try this san??dwich mys??elf, but it sure sounds... interesting. I can't imagine turkey and strawberry jam going well together, and "cereal" is a pretty vague ingredient. I wonder what kind of cereal would be best to use?

Beauty in death

Deadly Premonition had some of the best death sequences I've ever seen in a video game. Obviously, this is a bit of a touchy topic, because I don't ??want to spoil too much for anyone who hasn't played the game yet. But even the very first victim, Anna Graham, who we see strung up to a tree in the opening cutscene, looks like some kind of beautiful, bloody angel of death. Creepy and unsettling, but at the same time aes??thetically pleasing. We don't actually see her being killed, though.

The rest of the victims' deaths are just as dramatic, except the player must watch as they happen. I think the second victim's scene was my personal favorite, because the tension was so incredibly palpable. It was such an intense moment, and the ????color palette and placement of the body helped make everything stand out.

I'm usually not one for appreciating blood and gore, but Deadly Premonition's death sequences were just so well executed that ?it?? was hard not to appreciate them.

More than just a pretty (ugly) face

If there's one thing that Deadly Premonition does legitimately well, it's character development. Every single charac?ter is memorable in their own way. They all have unique personalities and backgrounds. Even minor characters seemed interesting, even though I might have only talked to them a couple of times.

Take the hospital receptionist, Fiona, for example. York really only has to talk to her once or twice during th?e entire game, but in that small amount of time I learned that she likes reading best-selling books, she's studying for a medical exam, and she has a crush on the hunky doctor she works with. She could have easily just been another random NPC with no personality, but they fleshed her out and made her seem important. I was actually surprised when I got to the en?d of the game and realized I only talked to her twice, because it almost felt like it was setting her up to be more crucial to the plot.

And I could say the same for just about every other character. There was Mr. Stewart, the creepy, quiet, gas mask-wearing man and Michael who talks for him; Po?lly, the kind old hotel owner who is hard of hearing; Thomas, the shy police assistant who is great at cooking and knows a lot about squirrels; Kaysen, the friendly traveling plant salesman who has a cool pet dalmatian; Isaach and Isaiah, the creepy-cute twins; Nick, the art-loving cook who is very quick to anger; Lysander, the "general" who wears a sergeant's uniform; and even "Roaming" Sigourney, the crazy old lady who is always lost and carrying a pot around. They're all wonderful characters? with so much personality packed into each and every one of them.

I think the characters are the biggest reason why Deadly Premonition became such a huge cult hit. If the characters had been dull and uninteresting,?? I'm not sure most people would have put up with the weird controls, poor graphics, and sometimes tedious gameplay to make it to the end. I know the reason I couldn't put the game d??own was because the characters were all so likable and I couldn't wait to see more of the story to find out how things turned out for everyone.

Past Experience Points

Level 1: .01 - .20

.21: Katamari Damacy
.22: Tomb Raider
.23: Mother 3

The post Experience Points .24: Deadly Premonition appeared first on Destructoid.

Nanomachines, son

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundt??rack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing t??he ga??me for the first time.

This entry is all about Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Feel free to share some of your own favorite things about the game?? in the comments!

When it rains, it pours

Metal Gear Rising is full of insane, high-energy boss fights. Sometimes Raiden will be up against gigantic war machines which he can climb all over, and sometimes he'll be in one-on-one duels against villains roughly his size. But no matter what, the fights themselves are alway?s impressive.

My personal favorite boss is Monsoon. He's a cyborg ninja with distinctive red and black armor and a helmet covering most of his face save for his creep??y grin. His weapon of choice is a pair of sais, which he's quite dead?ly with. And true to his name, his boss fight takes place in the pouring rain.

His most unique feature, however, is the fact that his body is actually made up of a bunch of smaller segments held together by electromagnetic forces. This allows him to separate his body at will, which he does quite often in order to attack from great distances and to easily dodge incoming attacks. If Raiden tries to attack normally, he won't be able to land a single hit with Monsoon's body constantly shifting, separating, and reconnecting at high speeds to avoid injury. Patience and clever tactics are required to even scratch th??is guy.

After a while, Monsoon will begin demonstrating another ability which allows him to lift and hurl enormous objects. He starts chucking tanks and aircraft at Raiden like it's nothing, even going so far as to meld a bunch of them together into one giant Katamari-like ball of metal. Things get pretty crazy!

This fight in particular forces the player to master parrying, a skill which quickly becomes essential for survival. If Raiden is unable to parry effectively in the fight against Monsoon, he'll be taking far too many punches, kicks, and sais to the face to survive for very long. It's one hell of a fight, complete with an excellent heavy metal-ish theme song, and it perfectly encapsulates the frantic, over-the-top combat of Metal Gear Rising.

The incredible backflipping feline

There is possibly no greater character in Metal Gear Rising than the cat. What cat, you ask? You know, the ninja cat! It can be found walking around the beach in R-01. It's kind of hard to spot sometimes, so the player h??as to really be looking for it, but it's total?ly worth it to seek the animal out.

What's s??o great about this small white cat? It doesn't really do much of anything, just wanders around the beach lazily. That is, unless Raiden tries to attack the poor, defenseless kitty. Don't worry though, there is no way Raiden is going to land a hit on this cat.

When attacked, the cat will perform a killer backflip and dodge out of the way. Every single time! No matter what attack Raiden throws at this ninja cat, it will demonstrate its impressive evasive skills and come away unscathed. I spent so much time on the beach just watching this awesome cat backflip out of the way of every move Raiden attempted. Had the cat decided to go on the offensive and scratch back, Raiden surely would have been defeated?? by this nigh invincible feline.

The ninja cat also makes another appearance later in the game, during a long cutscene where Monsoon is having a chat with a weakened Raiden. The camera can be controlled during this scene, and if Raiden looks to his right, he'll see the cat walk right up to one of the cyborg soldiers. The soldier gets really excited, getting down on the ground on all fours to pet the kitty before it leaves him in disinterest. Then the soldier gets back up and sadly waves goodbye. It's really adorable and goofy, and it completely turns Monsoon's se??rious monologue into a bit of a joke.

¡Muy guapo!

Early on in the game, Raiden has to swing by Mexico to infiltrate a cybernetics lab. He was apparently told to wear a disguise so as n?ot to dra??w too much attention to himself in this foreign country, so of course he goes the full stereotypical route and decides to wear a poncho and a ridiculously large mariachi hat. Excellent choice!

Immediately after stepping out of his car, everyone around notices hi?s strange appearance and starts freaking out, commenting on his outfit and wondering if he's actually a mariachi player or rather a cyborg in disguise. He quickly descends into a sewer, ditching the outfit and saying, "Adios, amigos," as he disappears. It's pretty much the b?est cutscene.

Then mission R-02 begins with Raiden back to his? normal suit (lame!). I was pretty disappointed, as I was really hoping I would get to play the entire level as Mariachi Raiden. Fortunately for me, the mariachi outfit becomes unlocked as an alternate skin after completing R-02, meaning I could play the remainder of the game in a totally absurd costume. Obviously, I only played as Mariachi Raiden from that point on. I mean, how could I not?

Cyborg's best friend

Raiden's mechanical canine companion, Blade Wolf, is such a joy to have around. He may not be useful for combat (his AI apparently lacks brutality), but he is very helpful for scouting purposes, and he's a surprisingly entertaining conversationalist as well. He may be a robot, but he has quite a unique personality since his AI was created to be similar to a human brain. He's especially noble, often questions why killing is necessary, and?? is always yearning for freedom.

I particularly enjoy Wolf's dry sense of humor. He always takes notice of Raiden's jokes and likes to poin??t out that he doesn't think Raiden is very funny. He's also quick to pick up on puns and expressions, such as when Raiden said they should "throw him a bone" and Wolf quickly noted that his choice of words was amusing on two levels, since his body is modeled after a canine and canines like bones.

Wolf was even popular enough to get his own DLC chapter where he was featured as a playable character. It??'s a pretty neat side chapter which requires the player to be extra sneaky to get stealth kills, since Wolf himself is not that great at fighting (even though he has a giant chainsaw which he can fling around with his tail). I'm glad he got so much recognition as an excellent character, worthy of being playable even though he's not humanoid. Honestly though, who wouldn't want to play as a badass rob?otic wolf?

The perfect hiding spot

Ah, cardboard boxes. A classic staple of the Metal Gear franchise. They're back once again in Metal Gear Rising. Raiden can of course find cardboard boxes scattered around which he can hide under and walk around in a most (in)conspicuous manner. And not just cardboard bo??xes, but metal drum cans as well. Plus, if he's wearing the mariachi outfit, the boxes an??d drums he hides under will be decorated with his festive hat. Totally not suspicious-looking at all!

My favorite thing to do is to have Raiden hide inside a drum can while wearing the mariachi outfit and then go into a ninja run. This causes him to fall over and start rolling around sideways inside of the drum can, with the h??????????????????????????at somehow remaining firmly fastened to the top. This move can actually hurt enemies and destroy parts of the environment, but ??eventually Raiden gets sick and has to stop rolling to vomit.

Metal Gear Rising even went a step further with the cardboard boxes by including enemy soldiers which hid inside boxes themselves and could be found a??nd killed for an achievement. There are a total of five of these MIBs (Men In Boxes) to find, and locating all of them unlocks a special wooden sword. The first one I found made me laugh pretty hard, because I honestly wasn't expecting anyone else to be using the cardboard box tactic. App??arently, it's becoming quite a popular technique!

A million little pieces

It may sound twisted, but slicing enemies up into tiny bits in Metal Gear Rising ??feels incredibly satisfying. It probably helps that most of the enemies are machines, and even the humanoid enemies are riddled with cybernetic enhancements, so slicing them up doesn't really result in a bloodbath of internal organs and icky stuff. It's mostly mechanical body parts, with a bit of blood splatter thrown in for color. But still, it feels amazing.

Raiden has a special ability which allows him to essentially slow down time in what's known as "Blade Mode," so that he can hack and slash enemies with quickness ??and precision. With Blade Mode activated, a single cyborg soldier can become hundreds of sliced up pieces of cyborg soldier within a matter of seconds, as Raiden unleashes a flurry of sword swipes in every direction. It's almost hypnotizing to watch it happen.

And it's not just the enemies Raiden can obliterate. Most of the environments are fully?? destructible, so even when he's not in combat, Raiden can enter Blade Mode and slice things up to his heart's content. I spent a lot of time running around the levels trying to see what all I c??????????????????????????ould destroy, slicing up trees, tearing through cars, turning crates into splinters, bringing down entire staircases. It just felt so satisfying to watch the world crumble at my hands. Mwahahaha!

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine
.05: Demon's Souls
.06: No More Heroes
.07: Paper Mario
.08: Persona 4
.09: Final Fantasy IX
.10: Mega Man Legends
.11: Rayman Origins
.12: Metal Slug 3
.13: Animal Crossing
.14: Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
.15: Super Mario Sunshine
.16: Final Fantasy VII
.17: Nier
.18: Chrono Trigger

The post Experience Points .19: Metal Gear Rising: Revenge?ance appeared first on Destructoid.

This guy are sick

Experience Points is a series in which I highl?ight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playi??ng the game for the first time.

With a remake finally announced this year at E3, this entry will be all about Final Fantasy VII. Just imagine all of these moments in glorious?? HD! Feel free to share some of your own favorite ??things about the game in the comments!

The descendant of the Shinobi

Picking a favorite character in a Final Fantasy game is usually pretty tough (unless that game is Final Fantasy IX). I have a soft spot for most of the party members in Final Fantasy VII; Cid and Barret are comically vulgar, Red XIII is awesomely adorable (that part where he's trying to walk like a human <3), Tifa has this sort of quiet badass-ness surrounding her, and Cait S??ith is really weird, but I just want to snuggle up with the giant Mog like Mei napping on top of Totoro. If I had to choose a favorite, though, I would have to pick Yuffie.

I feel like Yuffie often gets a bad rap. She's a thief, after all, and is constantly plotting to steal the party's Materia. She's also kind of a brat, and can come off as rather obnoxious and selfish. But even so, she has so many shining moments throughout the game where she demonstrates a wonderful sense ??of humor and optimism. It's also revealed through a side quest that she only wanted to steal Materia to help out her father? and their home town, so even as a thief she still manages to be a sympathetic character. Then again, Yuffie and her father hatch up a plan to steal everyone's Materia again after the adventure is over, presumably for selfish reasons. I guess some things never change.

When she's not stealing things, she can be found suffering from motion sickness, slicing things up with giant shurikens, calling people "old farts", pretending to be a news reporter, and other crazy stuff that a teenage ninja girl might do. She also has my personal favorite theme song; it's very upbeat and cheerful. Hearing it always makes me really happy! Whenever I replay Final Fantasy VII, I always make it my mission to recruit her? to the team as quickly as possible.&nbsp;How anyone could hate Yuffie is beyond me.

Interrupted by fireworks

The Gold Saucer: an endlessly exciting theme park with obnoxiously happy music, filled with games, rides, haunted houses, live theater, fireworks, racetracks, battle arenas, and all sorts of fun stuff. Not to mention the fact t?hat ?it's built on a giant, almost unreal, tree-like structure towering above a desolate wasteland. It's a truly magical place.

While the rides and games are fun and addicting (the motorcycle and snowboarding games are my favorites), the highlight of the Gold Saucer occurs after the party decides to rest at the inn. Depending on certain choices the player has made in the game up to this point, one of four characters will knock on Cloud's door late at night and ask him out on a date, where they walk around the park, take part in a theatrical performance (which is always hila??rious), and go on a romantic gondola rid??e during a fireworks show.

Obviously, the two main options for date night are Tifa and Aeris, but it's also possible to go on a date with Yuffie?? and, ?surprisingly, even Barret. Tifa and Aeris might make the most sense, but the scenes on the gondola with Yuffie and Barret are some of my favorite moments in the game.

The date with Yuffie is adorably awkward. Yuffie clearly likes Cloud, and she even manages to work up the courage to give him a peck on the cheek, but Cloud just sits there like a grumpy, silent lump and embarrasses the heck out of her ("Gawd, I could j?ust die."). Poor Yuffie!

The date with Barret, on the other hand, is just plain awkward as hell. Barret asks Cloud to accompany him because he wants to go for a walk, so it's not framed as a date at all, but it sure starts to feel like one. The gondola ride starts out in awkward silence as the two men just sit there and stare at each oth??er with their arms crossed, until Barret gets pissed about having to enjoy the fireworks with another dude and asks Cloud why he never asked one of the girls out. He then goes on to basically accuse Cloud of pedophilia by falling in love with his daughter, Marlene (she's like four years old!), and gets even more pissed off to the point ??where he starts shooting at the fireworks to make them shut up. I mean, geez, you could just cut that sexual tension with a knife, am I right?

The protector of Cosmo Canyon

Final Fantasy VII has no shortage of emotional, tear-jerking moments. Of course, while there is the big one which you're no doubt thinking about right now, my personal favorite moving moment happens much earlier in the game when the party first arrives at Cosmo Ca?nyon and learns a little more about their ?mysterious animal friend, Red XIII, or as he's known in Cosmo Canyon, Nanaki.

While sitting around a big bonfire, Cloud has a chat with Nanaki. He reluctantly begins to open up about his parents and how the thought of his mother fills him with pride and joy, while the thought of his father fills him with anger. Apparently, his father abandoned his mother and the town and left her to die. Nanaki's grandfather, Bugenhagen, overhears the conversation and asks if Nanaki really cannot forgive? his father.

Bugenhagen then leads the party th?rough a dangerous cave full of ghostly terrors in order to show Nanaki something special. At the back of the cave, the party finds themselves at the bottom of a cliff, at the top of which sits a stone statue resembling Nanaki. Bugenhagen reveals that the statue is actually Nanaki's father, Seto, who was turned to stone by poisonous arrows as he was trying to drive enemies out of the canyon to protect the town. He still remains there today, wa??tching over Cosmo Canyon.

Learning all of this about his father, Nanaki has a sudden change of heart. He de??cides to accompany Cloud and the team in order to help protect the planet and proudly declares, "I am Nanaki of Cosmo Canyo??n! The son of the warrior, Seto! I'll come back as a warrior true to that noble name!" Upon making this announcement, drops of water begin to fall from above, and Nanaki looks up to see that the statue of his father is shedding tears of joy. Nanaki jumps up onto a small outcrop and begins to howl up to his father.

This scene always sends a shiver down my spine, and the howling almost makes me shed a tear. It leaves me feeling simultaneously sad that Red XIII's father is dead and happy that the two could reunite and come to an understanding. And the music, a more melancholy version of Red XIII's theme, ?fits the scene perfe??ctly. It gets me every time!

Love and rockets

Another wonderfully touching moment happens a bit later in the game, when the party sits down to have tea with Shera at Cid's place i??n Rocket Town. The relationship between Cid and Shera comes off as particularly volatile, with Cid constantly shouting and cursing at her and generally acting very agitated whenever she's around. The party asks her how she can put up with all of his anger, and she explains that he wasn't always this way.

This cues a flashback of Cid's first attempt to launch a rocket into space. Shera is busy checking an oxygen tank, which Cid claims she's wasting her time with. It then cuts to Cid in the cockpit, ready to take off, and the countdown begins. But there's a problem: a? mechanic is still in the en?gine section of the rocket, a very dangerous place to be when the rocket is about to blast off, as the heat would surely kill them.

The lingering mechanic is Shera, of course. She stuck around to do some final checks on the oxygen t?anks, since they weren't testing to her satisfaction. She's urges Cid to continue with the launch, and seems to be dead set on fixing the oxygen tanks even if it means she'll be killed. She only wants the launch to be a success, to fulfill Cid's lifelong dream o??f making it into outer space.

Cid doesn't want her to die, but the countdown has alre??ady started, and if it'??s canceled they'll have to wait another six months until the next launch. In a panic, Cid shuts down the engine at the very last second, saving Shera's life but sacrificing his dream. Later, the Space Program was cut back and plans for another launch were canceled.

So that??'s why, according to?? Shera, she's okay with all of his abuse. She blames herself, so she feels she deserves it. Deep down, though, I still think Cid really cares for Shera. He may not show it very well, but he did save her life, after all. It's a complicated relationship for sure, but that just makes it all the more interesting.

Just play it cool, boy

Is ??there no cooler theme song than the Turks' theme? It fits the group perfectly, with their cool, confident demeanors, sleek suits, and take-no-shit attitudes. It's a really interesting part of the soundtrack, too, because it's made up almost entirely of percussion sounds, with a slight bit of melody thrown in occasionally for good measure.

I like to imagine the Turks walking down the streets of Midgar with this song playing, snapping along to the music and kicking stuff out of their way while other people look on in intimidation. Maybe they throw in some subtle dance moves while they're at it, like they're performing a more subdued version of "Cool" from West Side Story. They could totally pull it off.

Awkward encounters at the Honey Bee Inn

Midgar's Honey Bee Inn, a seedy brothel run by women in sexy bee costumes, happens to be the home of some of the most unexpected scenes in Final Fantasy history. During Cloud's visit to the inn, he has access to one of two rooms: the Group Room a??nd the &$#% Room. They sound pretty exciting, no?

Choosing the Group Room, the sexy bee l?ady steps aside as a mob of sweaty, muscular men barge into the room and practically force Cloud to take a bath with them (what a lucky guy!). Or if? he chooses the &$#% Room... well, I'll just let you imagine what goes on in the &$#% Room.

I'm honestly really surprised these scenes weren't censored from the game. I'm also kind of glad that they weren't. Not only because my pervy teenage mind enjoyed them (even if I probably didn't fully understand what was happening at the time), but also because this awkward, racy, unexpected content was part of what made Final Fantasy VII feel so special. I mean, who honestly thought they would see stuff like this in a Final Fantasy game?

Hits like a truck

I love it when Final Fantasy gets real weird with its boss fights. The Ultros fights from Final Fantasy VI and the fight against Sandy, Cindy, and Mindy from Final Fantasy IV always stick in my mind because of how silly they were. There always seems to be at least one humorous boss fight, and in Final Fantasy VII, that boss is Palmer.

Palm??er is the head of the Space Program for Shinra, but he's a very incompetent and obnoxiously childish old man. In Rocket Town, the party interrupts him while he's trying to steal Cid's plane, the Tiny Bronco, which leads into the boss fight.

During the entire fight, Palmer bounces back and forth in a ridiculous, taunting manner. Occasionally, he'll use up a turn to spin around and smack his butt in the party's direction, muttering, "heh heh hic!" as though he's dru?nk (and he probably is).

The best part, though, is at the end of the fight. After Palmer is defeated, he does this weird little dance, almost gets his head chopped off by the propeller of the Tiny Bronco, mocks the party to save face, then turns to run away only to get hit by a truck out of nowhere and sent flying. The entire cutscene is just crazy. Why is the Tiny Bronco suddenly moving on its own? Where did that truck even come from? I mean, they're fighting in Cid's fenced off backyard, so did it drive over his fence? It's the most absurd, unexpected way to end a battle, especially in a mostly serious game like Final Fantasy VII, but that's exactly why I love it so much!

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine
.05: Demon's Souls
.06: No More Heroes
.07: Paper Mario
.08: Persona 4
.09: Final Fantasy IX
.10: Mega Man Legends
.11: Rayman Origins
.12: Metal Slug 3
.13: Animal Crossing
.14: Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
.15: Super Mario Sunshine

The post Experience Points .16: Final Fantasy VII appeared first on Destructoid.

So, you've decided to move out?

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a lin?e of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series?? will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time?.

This entry is all about Animal Crossing. Feel free to share some?? of your own favorite things ab?out the game in the comments!

The mouse next door

Animal Crossing is all about the villagers. Whenever I start a new town, I pray I'll g?et at least a couple cool neighbors. I usually try to pester or ignore the less desirable ones until they eventually move out to be replaced by someone better. And when an awesome neighbor finally moves in near me, I make a point of hanging out with them every day, hoping they'??ll be my best friend.

There are a ton of animal villagers I really like, but I think my favorite will always be my first friendly villager, Samson the mouse. Samson lived in the acre right below me in m?y very first town. He has the sporty personality, so he's constantly talking about lifting weights and keeping active, with a very optimistic and happy attitude. I used to visit his fruit-themed house every evening before bed, listening to him brag about how many push-ups he could do and asking if there were any errands I could run for him. I was always glad to see him walking around town.

Then I tried visiting my friend's town one day, and a while later I noticed that Samson had moved. He'd left to go live in my friend's town, and I was super bummed. It always seems to happen to the villagers I like the most, while the ones I don't parti??cularly care for seem to stick around forever.

Luckily, I've had plenty of other cool neighbors to keep me company ever since Samson left, like Punchy, Apollo, Puck, Leopold, Lobo, and Octavian. I never managed to get Bob in any of my towns, though. Bob is the best.

A blast from the past

The GameCube version of Animal Crossing was the only one to get NES games as items (at least in the US), which is a shame because it was one of my favorite things about the original game. The NES titles are furniture items which can be placed in players' houses. Interacting with them while they're on display will allow the gam??e to be played. And not just a demo of the game. The entire thing was playable!

NES games were particularly hard to come by, usually only found in Tom Nook's lottery at the end of the month, or in Crazy Redd's black market tent. There are 19 in total that can be obtained, although some of them can only be found through cheat codes. I only owned a few of these games growing up (Excitebike, Super Mario Bros., Punch-Out!!, and Legend of Zelda), so the rest of them were completely new to me.

I spent a ton of time playing all of the NES games, which I collected and displayed in my basement. I probably spent the most time playing Balloon Fight, Clu Clu Land, and Ice Climber, since those titles were very unfamiliar to me, and also Pinball, which was strangely addictive. It was crazy that they included so many, though. Animal Crossing was essentially twenty different gam??es in one package. It just took a bit of work to find them all.

Gone fishin'

If you know me at all, you know that I love the ocean and everything in it. So it should come as no surprise that my favorite activity in Animal Crossing is fishing, of course!

Fishing in Animal Crossing is pretty simple, compared to most fishing in videogames. The player only needs to line the lure up with the fish's face, wait for it to bite, then hit A and voila! The fish is caught! No need to worry about reeling anything in or having the l?ine break. It's all about careful aim and a bit of patience. It's also probably the quickest way to make money, so I often found myself fishing out of necessity to pay off my debts, but still had fun doing it.

I love how specific the game gets with the various types of fish, too. All of the fish featured in Animal Crossing can be found in the real world. There's normal fish that everyone has heard of, like goldfish, piranha, and catfish, and also some really exotic ones that only ichthyologists would know about, including arowana, arapaima, and coelacanth. I actually learned a lot about real-life fish and bugs just from playing Animal Crossing!

Oh, and the player character likes to come up with the most awful puns for ev??erything they catch. So there's always that to look forward to while waiting for a fish to bite!

The cat without a face

There are tons of animal characters to encounter, aside from just the villagers living in town. Special characters will occasionally stop by for a visit, depending on the time, the date, or other ci??rcumstances. There's a giraffe fashionista, a wandering walrus, a carpet-dealing camel, an accident-prone seagull, and more.

One such character is Blanca, who will sometimes appear on the train when a player goes to visit another town. Blanca is a white cat with a blank expression, and I mean that in the most literal sense. She does not have a face. It's actually kind of horrific when you think about it. I mean, how is she even talking to me? How does she eat? How does she breathe?!

After a rather unsettling conversation (apparently she washed her face off?), she asks the player to draw her a new face. A menu pops up, similar to the menu for designing clothing at the Able Sisters' shop, allowing the player to draw whatever they want on Blanca's head. Players can make her look as beautiful or as scary as possible. And I'm sure there are plenty of people who drew immature things for a laugh,? like drawing on a roommate's face with a marker after they've passed out.

Later, she can be found walking around town with her freshly designed face. Even though I usually tried to give her normal features, they often still looked rather strange and stretched out. Poor Blanca! Her appearance is forever at the mercy of others, and other people can be pretty cruel. At least she provides a fun little mini-game, and the ??results are almost always amusing.

Canine in concert

Everybody loves K.K. Slider, right? He's the hip hound that stops by the train station on Saturday ni??ghts to play live music. He basically makes Saturday the most exciting day of the week. I always made it a point to play the game every weekend around 8pm to see him.

K.K. will play just about any style of music imaginable, from rock 'n' roll, to country, to reggae. He'll take specific requests, or just play whatever, and after a concert he'll give the player an air check so they can listen to his music at home. Obviously, I had to co?llect them all.

There's a ton of K.K. songs that I enjoy, but the songs I had playing most often on the stereo were K.K. Cruisin', Go K.K. Rider!, and K.K. Ballad. Of course, I'm sure everyone else has their own favorites. You really can't go wrong with a K.K. song. Well, except for maybe K.K. Dirge... that music makes my skin crawl.

Between K.K. Slider's tunes and the ambient music that changes depending on the time of day, Animal Crossing has one of the most unique applications of a soundtrack I've seen. Certain songs will always scream "Animal Crossing!" to me more than others, just because of how and when I played. For me, it's all about the 8pm music and K.K. Cruisin', but other players could have an entirely different o??pinion.

Happy holidays

Animal Crossing handles time mechanics in a rather remarkable way. Not only is there a day and night cycle, but even the seasons change in real time. Different ?seasons bring different weather,? different events, and different animals into the game. Playing during winter almost feels like an entirely new experience after playing during the autumn months for so long.

And as if that wasn't enough, Animal Crossing even has several in-game holidays which correspond with actual holidays in the real world. That means if the player starts their game on October 31, for example, the villagers will be celebrating Halloween, running around dressed as Jack-o'-Lanterns, asking for candy, and han??ding out prizes.

The holiday e?vents were always entertaining. The fireworks displays on New Year's Eve an??d July 4 are really pretty and fun to watch from the pond. During the Harvest Festival, players have to save a frightened turkey from becoming a feast. A reindeer comes to visit on Toy Day, handing out toys to the player when he's found. On Groundhog Day, the resident mole -- I mean, "groundhog" -- makes an appearance to predict the upcoming weather. They even celebrate the player's birthday, which the other villagers will sometimes ask about in order to get the date right.

All of these time-sensitive events are a great way to keep players thinking about the game even after they've stopped playing for a while. Once Christmas season began, I found myself wondering what kinds of events might be happening in the world of Animal Crossing, and planning a time when I could jump into the game and explore. And when spring rolled around, I felt compelled to visit the game again just to find all of the new fish and insects the warmer weather attracted, and to see if anything changed around town. I had Animal Crossing on the mind all year round!

Waiting 'til the end of time

Time doesn't stand still in the world of Animal Crossing, even when it's no longer being played. If a player boots up the game after a year-long hiatus, they'll notice that the town has changed a lot since they last played. It will ??become overrun with weeds, houses will become infested with cockroaches, mailboxes will be overflowing. It's a huge mess to deal to with.

And yet, the villagers that still haven't moved away have not forgotten about their?? human friend. In fact, they've been counting the months since they last spoke with the player. Even if it's been several years, they still count the months. Every s??ingle month, waiting, hoping, feeling sad and abandoned, refusing to pull their weight and CLEAN UP THE DANG TOWN THAT THEY LIVE IN, LIKE I'M THE ONLY ONE-- ahem. Got a bit carried away there. I apologize.

I always thought it was really crazy that the game carries on without me even when I'm not playing. It makes me wonder what's going on in all the different?? towns I've created over the years, hiding away in various memory cards. Are my favorite villagers still there waiting for me? Or have they moved on to a new home after feeling neglected? Maybe I'll pop into the game again someday and find out.

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine
.05: Demon's Souls
.06: No More Heroes
.07: Paper Mario
.08: Persona 4
.09: Final Fantasy IX
.10: Mega Man Legends
.11: Rayman Origins
.12: Metal Slug 3

The post Experience Points .13: Animal Crossing appeared first on Destructoid.

Oo-na nee-na glou glou~

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of th??e most memorable things about a particul??ar game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so k?eep that in m??ind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about Rayman Origins. Feel free to share some of your own favorite things about the game in the comm??ents!

Dance Dance Ray-volution

Rayman Origins is just about the happiest game I've ever played. Every little aspect of it seems to be built around the sole purpose of making players smile. For example, achieving almost any goal will cause Rayman and friends to break out in dance. Whether he completes a ?level or simply rescues a few Electoons, Rayman can't help but celebrate by busting a groove.

Each of the characters have their own dance moves, but Rayman's got the best moves by far. He seems to really like disco, as much of his dancing takes inspiration from that. He also has this really weird dance whenever he rescues Electoons, where he sort of humps the air a few times while swinging his ha??nds back and forth with a wild grin on his face. It makes me laugh ev?ery time.

One of the funniest scenes in the game also revolves around dancing. When Rayman encounters the Magician in the Moody Clouds, the antagonist suddenly drops a funky beat. Of course, Rayman will take any opportunity to break into dance, s?o he busts out some of his sweet disco moves alongside the Magician. They look to be having fun dancing together before the bad guy runs away unexpectedly while Rayman is still too busy moving to the music. It was all just a clever ruse! And you have to admit, tricking someone ?into dancing so you can get away is probably one of the best escape plans ever.

Musical Lums

Rayman and friends aren't the only ones having a good time. If there's anything that will get players dancing along to the game, it has got to be the King Lums. Lums are the collectibles of Rayman Origins; they're these happy little yellow dudes who hover in the air and play musical notes when they??'re collected. They're everywhere.

King Lums are a little big?ger than your typical Lum, and they wear big gold crowns so they're hard to miss. Grabbing a King Lum will trigger a short, incredibly happy tune which causes all the other Lums to turn red and start dancing, meaning they're worth double points until the song ends. Gotta move fast and collect as many Lums as possible bef??ore the music stops!

It's almost physically impossible for me to not dance at least a little bit after grabbing a King Lum. I a?lways catch myself bobbing my head, moving my torso, or tapping my foot ??to the melody. I just can't help it; it's the happiest, catchiest music!

Slap-happy friends

Playing Rayman Origins with friends is a hilarious experience. Technically, everyone is cooperating to finish the level, but things c?an get competitive very quickly.

You see, not only are players able ??to punch and slap enemies, but they can even beat their friends up as well. Smacking your friends doesn't cause damage, but it does make their characters yell out in ridiculously exaggerated pain, which is really funny to watch.

It's pretty much an eventuality that every cooperative session of Rayman Origins will turn into a slap-fest at some point. It's difficult NOT to hit your friends, even if it's an accident, which will inevitably caus??e them t?o hit you right back. And thus the friendly fighting begins. Who will win in a slapping contest: Rayman or Globox? There's only one way to find out!

In the belly of the beast

The bosses in Rayman Origins are fantastic. There's a fat, googly-eyed bird; a thorny plant m?onster with a huge head; a giant, eel-like sea dragon; and a dragon chef suffering from severe heartburn.

The ailing dragon chef, named El Stomacho, is definitely my favorite one. This boss's level is called "My Heartburn's for You," which is just about the best level name ever. ??He's so big that he swallows Rayman and friends whole, meaning the boss fight actually takes place inside his stomach. Rayman will? have to avoid streams of flame and rising stomach acid as he waits for an opening to attack. This dude's heartburn is no joke!

After each attack, there's a brief cutscene as the camera cuts outside to El Stomacho himself, who looks like he's about to barf with all of this activity upsetting his stomach. Finally, Rayman manages to escape back out the way he?? came, as he's launched out of the dragon's mouth along with ?a huge burst of flames.

The massive dragon then shrinks down considerably to a tiny little lizard chef and breaks into dance with Rayman. ??In fact, all of the major bosses shrink down into these adorable little forms and start dancing after being defeated, and it always makes me happy. They weren't really bad guys after all!

Treasures and tribulations

Rayman Origins may seem like a fairly simple platformer at first, as most of the levels are?? straightforward and dying only brings Rayman back to the beginning of the room he's currently in. The main game isn't too difficult.

The Tricky Treasure levels, however, are an entirely different story. Each world has a Tricky Treasure level which is unlocked after freeing a certain number of Electoons. As their name might suggest, these levels are seriously tricky! Each treasure level is a race to the finish w?here every action counts. Slip up even once, and it could be over very quickly. Rayman only has one shot at success, or else he has to start the entire level over from the beginning.

Some of these levels are particularly brutal. I had to run a few of them over and over again until I knew every move I had to make by heart, to the point where I felt as though I could probably beat it again with my eyes closed. It was like Super Meat Boy levels of punishing platforming in this cute, cartoon-y Rayman game, and I loved it!

Plus, the music for these levels is fantastic! I didn't even min?d that the music was being repeated ad nauseum, because it was so upbeat and catchy. I'd often find myself humming along as I ran, only for the song to be cut short by some choice curse words whenever I died again.

No country for old grannies

I thought the Tricky Treasure levels were difficult enough, and then I came to the Land of ??the Liv??id Dead. Holy cow, you guys!

The Land of the Livid Dead is a secret final area only accessible after beating every Tricky Treasure level and returning the ??crystal teeth to the old man in the Snoring Tree. It's a dark, gloomy underground graveyard ful?l of thorny, eyeball-laden vines, pillars of flame, and angry grannies! That's right, angry grannies. The Land of the Livid Dead is populated by irate, undead grannies who won't hesitate to kick Rayman off their lawn. They're kind of the greatest thing ever.

This area is an intense mega-marathon to the finish line. Luckily there are checkpoints, but even so, getting to the end is no easy feat. Once again, I got a sense of the crazy Super Meat Boy difficulty of the Tricky Treasure levels, and this quickly be?ca??me my favorite area in the game.

The level ends with a super ridiculous boss battle against a giant, hairy, many-eyed monster, who is busy painting her nails, singing a silly tune, and bathing in lava when Rayman interrupts her. She lets out a horrified scream (in a much deeper tone than her singing voice), and tries to shake Rayman off of her arms as her spiky bracelets slid?e around. She's such an unexpectedly bizarre final boss, and the perfect way to end such a great game.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention the music from the Land of the Livid Dead, which is heavily inspired by Ennio Morricone's soundtracks to classic Spaghetti Western films such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It's my favorite music in the entire game (which is saying a lot, since all of the musi??c is fantastic). Lucky for me, too, because I had to he??ar that music A LOT.

Glou Glou

I'll round this post out with another wonderful soundtrack selection. While it's not my personal favorite, the music from the Sea of Serendipity is definitely the most iconic music from Rayman Origins. The tracks "Lums of the Water" and "The Lums' Dream," both subtitled "Glou Glou," feature nonsensical vocals by the Lums. These peaceful, dreamy songs play while Rayman and friends are swimming around under the sea. It's impossible for me to listen to these tracks without smiling. They're beautiful and adorable, and they fit perfectly in the world of Rayman.

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine
.05: Demon's Souls
.06: No More Heroes
.07: Paper Mario
.08: Persona 4
.09: Final Fantasy IX
.10: Mega Man Legends

The post Experience Points .11: Rayman Origins appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm sharpening my knife, kupo

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the?? most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic??, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being disc??ussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about Final Fantasy IX. Feel free to share?? some of your own favorite things about the game in the comments!

The little Black Mage that could

It's impossible to talk about the best parts of Final Fantasy IX without mentioning Vivi. I mean, are there actually people out there?? who don't like Vivi? Is that poss??ible?

Vivi is a quiet little Black Mage who stumbles into Zidane's group almost by accident. At first, it takes a lot of encouragement to get Vivi to fight alongside them (which, surprisingly, he gets the most of from Steiner, who is generally rude to everyone who is not the princess). Turns out Vivi is? quite the powerful Black Mage, able to learn all sorts of useful magic attacks, from lighting fires to calling down comets and meteors from the sky.

What makes Vivi so great, though, is his personality. He may seem shy and insecure at first, but he is always incredibly humble and kind to everyone he meets, and he ends up being by far the most mature character in the game. The little guy goes through quite a huge tr??ansformation; it's really great to watch his character grow.

You see, Vivi knows nothing about his past at the beginning of the game. Eventually, the ?team runs into more Black Mages like Vivi, but it turns out they're being produced in a factory. Not a great way to learn the truth behind your existence... The other Black Mages can't really comm??unicate; they behave more like puppets, produced for the sole purpose of killing others. They're essentially pawns in a war.

Understandably, this causes great distress for Vivi, and also raises a lot of questions, like why does he have a consciousness while the others apparently do not? Well, later o??n in their journey, the team comes across a hidden village of Black Mages who had suddenly "awoken" to a consciousness of their own and esc??aped from Queen Brahne's army to live by themselves, cut off from the rest of the world. Vivi also discovers that some of them have been mysteriously "stopping," or in other words dying, a year after they were built.

All of this information weighs heavily on Vivi's thoughts, but he comes out way stronger for it than anyone could have imagined. He becomes a leader of sorts, trying to help save the Black Mages and others like them, and begins offering sound advice on life and death to the other characters, lifting everyone's spirits and encouraging them to continue fighting for what they believe i??n.

Vivi is an extremely admirable character. I think the reason he resonated so well with me was because from the beginning of the game, I felt like I could relate to him. I've always?? been rather quiet and reserved, and tended to have more faith in other people than in myself. Seeing Vivi grow and become someone that people could look up to and rely on really gave me hope that I could do the same someday. Thank you for being so amazing, Vivi!

A Thorn (and a Zorn) in my side

Zorn and Thorn are a mischievous pair of antagonistic jesters. Their alliance shifts periodically during the game, first being controlled by Queen Brahne, then almost falling under Garnet's supervision when she beco??mes queen, before finally being scooped up by Kuja for use in his grand scheme. But where did they even come from, exactly? Their identities largely remain a mystery, but it's hinted that they're just pawns, much like the Black Mages, so maybe they were created in a similar manner. 

The two of them are rather bizarre characters. They're over-dramatic, constantly bickering with each other and running around mindlessly, yet? always managing to cause trouble for Zidane and friends. They have a very peculiar speech pattern, where Thorn basically repeats everything Zorn says but switches the words around (Thorn kind of sounds like Yoda). They're really weird, but for some reason?? I can't help but find them endearing. There's just something about silly, bumbling villains that always makes me smile.

My favorite Zorn and Thorn moment is their first battle sequence. Whenever they're ready to attack, they bounce up and down like weird toys and give each other spells to use like Meteorite and Light Flare. It's similar to the Twincast ability used by Palom and Porom in Final Fantasy IV, although it wor??ks a little differently. It's a very easy battle once you figure out what to do, but it just makes me happy to watch them bounce around like fools. Oh Zorn and Thorn... you guys are special.

Tinkling in the starlight

There's one scene in Final Fantasy IX that I'm never really quite sure what to make of, but it's so r??andom that it has always stuck in my mind as one of t??he most memorable moments.

When the team arrives at the remote summoner's village of Madain Sari, Vivi's anxiety about his origins is at an all-time high. He goes off by himself, consumed with existential thoughts about life and death, staring off into the distance and unable to sleep. Zidane tries to comfort him, and offers to show him a trick to take his mind off of things. "This is an age-old ritual between male friends," he says, as the camera pans away and he urges Vivi to join him by the side of ??the canyon to "let [himself] go under the? stars."

Then all you see are the words, "Tinkle. Ti????nkle tinkle. Tinkle tinkle tinkle tinkle."

Meanwhile, Eiko has been off to the side eavesdropping on them this whole time and clearly doesn't know what to think about wha?t's currently happening, so she ju?st runs away. Poor Eiko...

I still don't know what's up with this scene, but I think I like it. It's apparently about pissing off the side of a cliff under the stars with a buddy, which is really weird to think about in a Final Fantasy game. But, you know, it honestly does sound prett??y relaxing.

Friend or foe?

The enemies in Final Fantasy IX were top-notch. The series has always had really neat enemy designs, some based on mythology, and others like Cactuar and Tonberry created specifically for the Final Fantasy universe. The enemies in IX perfectly encapsulate the diverse ros?ter of enemies found in the series while adding quirky new foes like Armstrong an??d Grimlock.

Final Fantasy IX also introduced friendly monsters. Occasionally while traveling across the world map, a random encounter would occur, but instead of the typical battle theme, the player would hear a much different, much happier tune. Sometimes this would be an enemy called the Ragtime Mouse, presenting yes-or-no quiz questions to answer. Other times, friendly monsters would appear, asking the player for ore or other items rather than?? engaging in combat.

Finding all of the friendly monsters can be very beneficial. For starters, they grant tons of ability points, meaning characters can easily learn abilities without having to grind much. Finding all nine friendly monsters also makes the powerful h??idden boss, Ozma, much easier to fight.

Just be on the lookout for the Gimme Cat, a false friendly monster. This ungrateful jerk will ask for diamonds, but gives nothing in return. If attacked, i??t freaks out and counterattacks with Come??t, which can easily destroy the team. Stay away from my diamonds, you mangy cat!

A trip down memory lane

The final dungeon, Memoria, has some of the coolest level design I've seen in a Final Fantasy game. The location is essentially comprised of the mem??ories of Zidane, his friends, and all of their ancestors. The memories are given physical form so that they can actually walk through them. It's presented in a surreal, dreamlike way, with architecture that twists and transforms and doesn't really make much sense.

Each room is completely different visually from the last. One room is filled with eerie floating furniture, one is submerged underwater, one is a beautiful sunset, one is out in space, one is a stairway leading up to a creepy, red eyeball... it's ??truly a joy to explore and take in the sights. I never knew what?? I was going to see next.

Players will also find several references to past Final Fantasy games in Memoria. Zidane and friends will have to fight four bosses: Maliris, Tiamat, Kraken, and Lich, otherwise known as the Four Fiends from the original Final Fantasy. There's also an optional boss fight against Hades, who appeared as a summon in Final Fantasy VII. These fights were a neat way to pay tribute to the game's roots, and they also happened to fit nicely with the theme of memories that the area foste??rs.

You're not alone

One of my favorite scenes in Final Fantasy IX occurs in the alien dungeon of Pandemonium, when Zidane has an abrupt and jarring change in personality. Some people seem to feel that this particular moment is out of place, completely out of character for Zidane, and unnecessarily angsty, almost like the writers were trying to have Zidane emulate the pes?simism of Clo??ud Strife or Squall Leonhart for no apparent reason at all. However, I can't help but feel that these people are missing a very key element to this scene.

Immediately before this sequence, Zidane is speaking wi?th Garland, his creator, who is very unhappy that he refuses to cooperate and take over for Kuja in his attempt to assimilate the souls of Gaia. Garland regretfully decides to discard Zidane, banishing him t??o Pandemonium and taking away his very soul so that he would become a mindless Genome, as he has no use for him anymore. This is the reason why Zidane suddenly has a complete change of character; he is essentially no longer Zidane.

What follows is a particularly touching scene in which all of Zidane's friends try to get him to snap out of his unusually gloomy, antagonistic mood. They manage to interrupt the soul-stealing process and he awakens in an angry, zombie-like state. All of his friends are fighting to protect him, but he keeps pushing them away, saying he doesn't need them anymore. Everyone is shocked at his behavior, but they keep trying to get through to him anyway, reminding him of all the ways that he helped them to be true to themselves in the past and how much his friendship means to them. Meanwhile, he keeps shutting them out and leaving them behind. F??inally, Garnet, the love of his life, is able to bring him around a?nd he returns to his normal, optimistic self.

Even though the scene is mainly about Zidane, all of the other characters really shine here. It's a showcase of how much each character has grown, and how Zidane has affected each of their lives?. It's all about the power of friendship, which may sound incredibly sappy, but gosh darnit it makes me smile.

And of course, the best part of this entire scene is the music. "You're Not Alone" is by far my favorite song from Final Fantasy IX. It's ??moody, but with a t??inge of hopefulness. It's a perfect fit for such a beautiful scene.

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine
.05: Demon's Souls
.06: No More Heroes
.07: Paper Mario
.08: Persona 4

The post Experience Points .09: Final Fantasy IX appeared first on Destructoid.

Hey Mario! We got a letter from Princess Peach!

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable t?hings about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first ??time.

This entry is all about Paper Mario. Feel free to?? share some of your own favorite things about the ?game in the comments!

A Boo-slapping good time

In Paper Mario, Mario gains the loyalty of several monster partners who join him on his adventure. They're all pretty cool, especially Goombario the Goomba, Wa?tt the Li'l Sparky, and Lakilester the Lakitu. I always like Bow the best, though.

Lady Bow is a snooty green Boo with red bow tie??s. She looks calm and friendly, but she can be quite terrifying when she needs to be. She joins Mario's party in order to save her fellow Boos from a monster that's taken a liking to munching on ghosts. Mario actually gets to witness the horrific act firsthand, as a poor Boo is unceremoniously gobbled up by Tubba Blubba. I wonder what a ghost tastes like, and how you would even go about eating one...

Bow aids Mario by allowing him to turn invisible to avoid enemy detection, and also to dodge attacks during battle. The main reason I like her so much, though, is because of her normal attack. She disappears and then pops up right in front of an enemy and slaps the ever-living crap out of them, causing them to spin around like crazy. Her most powerful attack is even a variation of this, where she uses a fan instead of he??r hand to smack foes around. It's very satisfying and never ceases to be amusing. Just make sure you don't get on Bow's bad side!

General Guy and the army of cuteness

Shy Guys have always been my favorite Mario villains. Ever since I played Super Mario Bros. 2 as a child, I've been enamored with the hooded little guys. So obviously, when I discovered Shy Guy's Toy Box in Paper Mario, I got super excited. ?An entire level devoted to Shy Guys? Amazing!

I can't even begin to describe how happy Shy Guy's Toy Box made me. There's dancing Shy Guys, camouflaged Shy Guys, Shy Guys on stilts, Shy Guys on fire... they're a?ll so cute and ridiculous! Plus, there's Gourmet Guy, who is severely overweight but surprisingly agile. He's great.

The best part, though? The boss fight against General Guy and his army of minions. Wading through the sea of Shy Guys in the dark and watching them squeal and scurry away when Watt lights up the room never gets old. And General Guy in his adorable little military uniform and toy tank is just too much to handle. I really enjoy the battle theme, too. It's got that mili?tary undertone while still being silly and upbeat.

Honestly, there was no way this wasn't going to be my favorite boss fight. It's just too bad Mario never got a Shy G?uy partner...

Princess Peach's special ingredient

Mario isn't the only playable character in Paper Mario. Princess Peach gets some time in the spotlight ??during interludes where she sneaks out of the room that Bowser is holding her host??age in to try and gather information to aid Mario on his journey. Peach's stealth sections were actually pretty fun, and included one of my favorite scenes in the game.

At one point, Peach enters a room to fi??nd Gourmet Guy, the overweight Shy Guy that Mario met earlier. He agrees to keep Peach's escape a secret on one ??condition: she has to cook something really yummy for him. And so, Peach decides to try baking a strawberry cake. Hilarity ensues.

In the kitchen, Peach has access to a variety of delicious cake ingredients, including the essentials, like eggs, butter, flour, and sugar, but also other things a normal kitchen would have, like salt, water, and cleanser. Twink gives step-by-step i??nstructions to make the perfect cake, which are easy to follow. But that wouldn't be very fun, now would it?

I honestly spent a little too much time at this point in the game experimenting and making the nastiest cakes possible. Of course, we're using the word "cake" very loosely here. Would a saltwater and butter concoction topped with raw egg and strawberries really be considered a cake? It sure turns out looking like a cake somehow. And baking cleanser into the cake is fun and potentially po??isonous and all, but why not go the extra mile and just make a cake out of nothing but cleanser? Cleanser mixed with cleanser, then baked and topped with more cleanser? Delicious! And magically cake-shaped!

I wish Gourmet Guy had more than one reaction to poorly baked cakes, but unfortunately his only response is to accuse Peach of learn??ing to cook in truck driving school. You'd think eating a caked made entirely out of cleaning product?s would elicit a much more extreme reaction, bodily or otherwise.

Tayce T.'s tasty treats

Peach had her fun baking a cake, but Mario can do ?some cooking of his own also. Well... sort of. Really, he just brings ingredients to a Toad named Tayce T. (har har), who does all the cooking for him. Perhaps Ma??rio is incompetent in the kitchen.

I found the Tayce T. sidequest to be unexpectedly fun. Whenever I found a new ingredient, I would always hold on to it just to see what she'd cook up. Once Mario gets the cookbook from Gourmet Guy and gives it to he??r, she'll be able to cook with two ingredients, opening up way more possibilities. I enjoyed experimenting with stuff and trying to figure out the different recipes, all 50 of them.

What can she make with this lime and this pasta? Can she use this weird leaf I found, or t??his sheep? How many dishes can she possibly make out of mushrooms? I felt compelled to try everything!

She can make some really useful items, like Deluxe Feasts which recover 40 HP and FP, and Jelly Pops which recover a whopping 64 FP. Cooking can be ve??ry rewarding! Although if an incorrect combination of ingredients is used, Mario will have wasted some perfectly good items and be left with a Mistake, granting only a single HP and FP. Oops...

Who would have thought a simple ingredient-mixing side??quest would be so enjoyable?

Penguin murder, she wrote

Remember that time Mario was accused of murder? And not just murder, but penguin murder! The crime h?appens in Shiver City, a quiet town inhabited by friendly, adorable penguins, the last pl??ace you would expect a murderer to strike.

Mario is invited into the home of the penguin mayor, whose wife leads him into the living room to meet with her husband. ?Mario enters the room to find... a dead penguin body?! He finds a note with the word "Herringway" scrawled upon it lying near the body, when the mayor's wife pops in to find her hus?band dead on the floor.

Obviously, she thinks Mario did it, and who wouldn't? He's a stranger after all, alone in the room with the mayor. Mario is innocent, of course, and to prove it, he goes out in search of the real killer. The most suspicious individual is a local penguin novelist named Herringway, who has locked himself into a hidden room in his house to work on his latest mystery novel. Once Mario accesses the room and confronts Herringway, ??they all make their way over to the mayor's house to sort things out.

Herringway claims he didn't do it, since he and the mayor are friends. The mayor's wife still thinks Mario did it (she's pretty rude about it, too!). As they're discussing the matter, the mayor's body suddenly begins to twitch, ?and all of a sudden he springs back to life. A zombie penguin?! Nope... turns out he just fell and hit his head while tr?ying to grab a gift for his friend, Herringway (did nobody think to check his pulse?). Mystery solved!

It's weird to think about murder in a game like Paper Mario, and in a town populated by cu??te penguins ?no less. Although, Mario does stomp Goombas and Koopas on a regular basis; he's no stranger to killing things. Maybe the penguin murder scenario wasn't so far-fetched...

Smoke and mirrors

Outside of Shiver City lies the Crystal Palace, a place full of mind tricks. The palace appears to be built with?? wall-to-wall mirrors, and it's quite beautiful. But something is a l?ittle off about the mirrors; certain things don't have reflections like they ought to.

These mirrors b??ecome the main puzzle element of Crystal?? Palace. What looks like a reflected room might actually turn out to be an entirely separate room, an exact duplicate of the one Mario is standing in. Mirrors without reflections turn out to be entrances to walk through. Sometimes even the actual reflections themselves can't be trusted. 

As it turns out, there actually aren't any real mirrors in the palace at all?. Mario's reflections are really enemies called Duplighosts, who are so good at imitating things that they can predict their every movement. Once they are exposed and defeated, the palace's "mirrors" are revealed to be nothing but glass wall??s.

The Duplighosts' tr??icks don't end there, though. They continue to impersonate Mario and his allies, appearing i??n hordes to try and confuse Mario into hurting his own friends when he can't figure out which is the real Bombette. The Duplighosts start to lose their edge, though, revealing themselves through weird speech quirks and eventually failing to copy appearances at all. It's actually really funny seeing them try so hard to trick Mario and failing utterly.

The Crystal Palace is designed so well that it's almost astounding. The visual trickery is really neat to watch. What I thought were mirror puzzles turned out to be puzzles of symmetry, where doing certain things in one part of the palace would cause the opposite side of the palace to change as well. It was all balanced so perfectly, and I was i?ncredibly impressed with the level designers when I finally figured out what was going on. What a terrific chapter!

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine
.05: Demon's Souls
.06: No More Heroes

The post Experience Points .07: Paper Mario appeared first on Destructoid.

Strawberry on the shortcake!

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesom?e.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so?? keep that in mind if you?? plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about No More Heroes. Feel free to share some of yo??ur own favorite things about the game in the comments!

You've been a bad girl

Bad Girl, the second highest ranked assassin: a cutesy, foul-mouthed, beer-chugging psychopath who definitely lives up to her nickname. Travis first f??inds her beating random dudes in gimp suits to a bloody pu??lp with her wooden baseball bat, just for fun. She's insane and incredibly dangerous.

After tossing back a few beers, she challenges Travis to a duel with noth??ing more than a bat against his deadly beam katana. She can c?ertainly hit hard with that thing, though. Even her standard attacks hurt like hell, so watch out.

After a while, she starts using those gimp dudes she was smashin??g earlier as projectiles, hitting them home run-style right at Trav?is like giant, living baseballs. She even takes a second to drain a flask she was hiding in her dress, spitting the alcohol onto her bat and lighting it up in flames like a badass.

Don't be fooled by her occasional daintiness, either. She likes to fall to the ground and pretend to cry, which may seem like a good opportunity to slash her up, but for the love of God, don't fall for that trap! If Travis even so much as approaches her at this point, she'll trip him over, jump on top of him, and proceed to beat his face into the ground with her bat. It's an instant kill...

Bad Girl is hard as hell, and she killed me too many times to count. But everything about this fight is amazing. Her frighteningly cool demeanor which clashes with her frilly style, the sinister atmosphere, the thumping battle theme which sounds like something from a seedy, super threatening strip cl?ub... it all fits so well together. It may be frustratingly difficult, but it's still my favorite fight in the ??game hands down.

The waggling

One of the most surprising things about No More Heroes for me was just how great the motion controls felt on the Wii. I think I can honestly say that this is the only game I've played where I actually enjoyed the motion controls and felt lik??e they added something to the game.

Probably the biggest reason they work so well here is because they're specifically relegated to special attacks. The A button is used to attack normally, so players don't have to swing the controller every which way constantly during combat, looking like a fool. Waggle is required when Travis locks swords with an enemy, and the Wiimote and nunchuk are swung around while executing wrestlin?g moves. But the best feeling is when Travis kills an enemy with a finishing blow. The grand slashing motion paired with Travis shouting, "go to hell!" actually feels really great to perform.

And of course, who could forget the motion for recharging the beam katana? Players b?asically have to jack off with the Wiimote, while Travis doe??s the same thing with his sword on-screen. Ahhh... stay classy, Nintendo!

Thunder Ryu's rigorous regimen

When he's not busy slicing up assassins or working to pay for his next big thrill, Travis likes to spend his free time at the gym. Gotta stay fit to pull off those sweet wrestling moves, right? That's why it's usually a good idea to visit the Thunder Ryu building on occasion and lift so?me weights. Something is a little off about this gym, though...

Upon entering the building, the owner, Th??under Ryu, makes some rather unsettling demands of Travis. "Take your clothes off. OFF! ?I will teach you THAT technique. Make sure your ass's clean." I uhh... what?! I... I think I'm in the wrong place...

If Travis agrees to do "THAT" training, he's taken to the gym room, where he can lift dumbbells, bench press, or do some squats (What? That's it?). These exercises will increase his combo time, strength, or vitality, so they're ?quite useful. Of course, it's probably not what anyone was expecting, based on gym owner's greeting.

So why did Travis have to take his clothes off back there? And why so much interest in the cleanliness of his butt? Who knows. Thunder Ryu is either a super horny old man, or he's just joking around to make his clients uncomfortable. Either way, I started going to the gym a lot more frequently after that exchange.

...

...What?

Postal worker by day, total asshole by night

No More Heroes is all about the boss fights, so it's hard to pick just one to talk about. There aren't really any bosses from the first game that I dislike. Even though Bad Girl is definitely my favorite, there still plenty of other awesome assassins like Shinobu, Holly Summers, and Speed Buster (special shout-out to her theme song, Mach 13 Elephant Explosion, for having the coolest track title of all time). But there's? one boss that always makes me laugh.

The seventh ranked assassin is an angry jerk who w??orks for the postal service, although his true persona is the? idiotic supervillain known as Destroyman. He employs underhanded tactics to try and get ahead, like attacking Travis when he has his back turned and electrocuting him when they shake hands. What a dick.

Destroyman has a partly annoying, partly humorous tendency to shout the names of his attacks as he's about to use them, so during the entire fight all you hear is, "Destroy spark!" "Destroy cannon!" "Destroy beam!" At least he gives fair warning this time, I suppose! He also has a super deadly attack called "Destroy buster" which fires a massive laser beam right out of his ?crotch. After he uses this attack, he starts laughing like an imbecile, giving Travis plenty of time to smack him around ?a bit for firing crotch lasers at him. Oh, and don't forget the nipple machine guns he uses right before Travis kills him. This guy has the best attacks.

Aside from being an absolutely ridiculous battle, I think the best part about the Destroyman fight is just how good it feels to beat this guy up. I mean, he's constantly acting like an asshole, so he kind of des?erves it. Plus, he occasionally lets out the silliest, high-pitched screams whenever he gets hurt. It makes me laugh every time.

Dumpster chic

I wish I had Travis's wardrobe. He has so many cool t-shirts that I could easily see myself wearing in real life: the giant squid, the luchador masks, the w??eird doodle designs a?nd logos, the king stag beetle (actually, I really did buy a shirt with the beetle design on it!). He can keep the anime girl shirts, though. Those are a little much.

The craziest part about his clothing, however, is that he finds most of his shirts in dumpsters. Travis can also buy new clothes at the Area 51 store, but they're a bit pricey, and du??mpster shi?rts are free! Not to mention some of the dumpsters are apparently full of money, so he's getting paid and expanding his wardrobe at the same time.

Now, I've never gone dumpster diving myself, but I'm pretty sure the? chances of finding a really cool shirt in the trash are slim to none, and the chances of finding lots of money in the trash are probably even lower than that. Travis is a lucky son of a gun. I wish it was that easy to find cool tees for free, but I guess thrift stores are the next best thing.

Cute kitty overload

Is there any better way to unwind after a to?ugh day of slashing up thugs than by playing with fluffy, adorable kittens? No. There is no better way.

While resting at his apartment between jobs, Travis can choose to spend time with his tiny kitten, Jeane. He can feed her, tease her with toys, pet her, or nap with her on the couch, while Jeane lets out the cutest little mews. There's no real benefit to playing with Jeane; it's purely ther?apeutic. That didn't stop me from cuddling with her at every possible opportunity, though, because "oh my gosh KITTY!"

There's also a side job that Travis can take called "Meow Meow." The job involves catching runaway kitten??s by distracting them with foxtail and grabbing them when they pounce, all the while listening to a ridiculous song featuring a man meowing in a deep, seductive voice. If that's not the best job in the ?world, then I don't know what is!

Saving in slot number two

I like when developers think of creative ways to implement game saving, rather than just going to a plain old menu. There are many great examples of unique saving mechanics in other games: contacting Mei Ling in Metal Gear Solid, sitting on the couch with Yorda in Ico, calling your dad in EarthBound...

Saving in No More Heroes is the best, though. The?? option to save becomes available whenever Travis goes to the restroom and sits on a toilet. It even shows him pulling down his pants, as a bunch of toilet paper rolls by to cover up his junk. It's so unexpected and hilarious, and somehow brilliant. Many people use their bathroom time as a chance to relax and reflect for a moment, so it makes sense that T??ravis would do the same, recording his memories of all the crazy shit he's been up to.

Apparently, Suda51 actually came up with the idea for No More Heroes while he was on the toilet himself, so th?at's how the toilet-saving mechanic became a thing in the first place. And I'm sure it's not just Suda51 coming up with ??great ideas in the bathroom. Imagine all the world's creators and inventors, who probably came up with a lot of the stuff we use and think about every day while they were pooping. That's just science.

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine
.05: Demon's Souls

The post Experience Points .06: No More Heroes appeared first on Destructoid.

Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a?? level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or aweso??me.

This series? will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about Demon's Souls. ??Feel free to share some of your own favorite things about the game in the comments!

Ben and the Giant Knight

The Tower Knight was my very first foray into the Souls series' notorious difficulty. It's true that Phalanx is the first boss, but bea??ting Phalanx is a test of patience more than anything else. Taking down the Tower Knight, however, requires strategy, planning, observation, and skill. If you just waltz up to the Tower Knight with your shields up or your swords swinging, you will die so quickly.

Like many other players, I'm sure, my first encounter with the Tower Knight went a little like this: I entered ??the fog door, walked forward a little bit in awe and apprehension due to the sheer size of the boss, and was almost immediately hit square in the chest with the Tower Knight's giant lance, whic??h killed me instantly. Well... damn.

I tried again and again to beat him, or even so much as damage him sufficiently, but kept failing. I wasn't thinking like a true Souls player yet, and kept recklessly charging in to my death. Then I stopped playing, for like six months. I was so frustrated, and figured I just wasn't good enough to beat Demon's Souls.

But I kept thinking about the Tower Knight and how badly I wanted to defeat him, how good it would feel to emerge victorious. So I finally picked it back up and tried again, this time being more careful and observant. I still died, but I soon figured out a reliable strategy. And then suddenly, after a particularly good run, victory was mine! I let out an audible roar of triumph, and it felt absolutely amazing. I felt like I could do anything, like I could actually beat Demon's Souls. And so I went on and did just that!

Looking back now, the Tower Knight fight is actually pretty simple. I might not even rank it in the top twenty most difficult Souls bosses. But as a beginner to the series, it was hard enough. It was a hurdle I had to overcome in order to better understand Demon's Souls and what the game expected of me. Because of that, it will always remain one of my favorite boss fight??s of all time.

The tower of terror

The Tower of Latria... a dreary prison tower of unsettling sounds and Lovecraftian horrors. You begin in a prison cell, navigating your way around the other cells through cramped hallways and trying not to fall into the seemingly bottomless pit in the middle of each room. Mindless, sickly prisoners meet you at every turn, shackled to the walls, stuffed into urns and iron maidens, and otherwise being tortured to insanity. Mind Flayers patrol the halls, flexing their tentacles and ringing their eerie bells, the sound of which sends shivers down your spine. Descending down the tower, you'll find more unspeakable horrors: a massive, terrible machine that fires an unending volley of arrows and a deeply disturbing pile of prisoners, crushed into a? spherical shape and moving around on several arms and legs.

As you travel further up the tower, you are greeted by gargoyles, who fly about and pester you endlessly as you teeter across narrow walkways hundreds of feet above the gr??ound. Up ahead, you can see a giant bea?ting heart which is chained up to another tower and must be cut down.

Eventually, you take a ride to the very bottom of the building and must trek through a swamp of disgusting pinkish goo riddled with huge, pulsating tentacles. The swamp is crawling with the most horrible abominations imaginable: these large, crazy, centipede-like creatures with m??ultiple human faces. They lunge at you and make the most awful gurgling sounds when they're killed.

Latria is disturbing to the max, and it's utterly amazing. The sheer amount of creepiness and creativity put into this level easily makes it my favorite area of Demon's Souls.

The hunter becomes the hunted

Demon's Souls introduced an intriguing new multiplayer mechanic which I'm sure you're all familiar with by now: invasions*! While playing online, at almost any moment during your adventure, another player could invade your world as an enemy Black Phantom. The other player could hunt you down, in your own game, and kill?? you. As someone who has never been very good at player vs. play??er duels, the thought terrified and excited me.

My first encounter with an invader scared the crap out of me. A red message flashes at the bottom of the screen, saying, "Black Phantom so-and-so has invaded!" My h??eart skipped a beat, and I tried to search for a hiding spot while desperately scanning the area for the enemy. Of course, they were way more skilled than me. They managed to sneak up behind me for a backstab, which practically made me jum?p out of my seat. The next several invasions didn't go so well either, but eventually I got the hang of things and was able to hold my own.

Nothing feels better than slaying an invading player. I'm sure many of them are decent people just trying to have some fun (after all, I've done my fair share of invasions too), but I always envision them as bullies just trying to kill other players so they can sit back and laugh at their misfortune. This makes killing invaders all the more satisfying. "You thought you could screw me over? Well take that! Muahaha!"

Of course, it's all in good fun. Invaders may seem scary to new players, but they're just another threat that must be dealt with in a world where everything is trying to kill you. Sure, they may be more skilled than the NPCs you come across, but even if they kill you, it'll just send you back to the last bonfire like any other death. And you should be pretty used to death if you're playing a Souls game.

_{* - Pictured above: not really an invader... it's Satsuki, but let's just pretend it's someone dressing up as him (finding quality images of this game is harder than you would think!).}

Heir to the Old Monk's throne

Invasions were such an ingenious idea that From Software decided to use that potential to create one of the most unique boss fights around. ??The Old Monk is the final boss of the Tower of Latria. He's a decrepit old man, dressed in a ridiculously large orange robe and sitting atop a huge pile of chairs. You don't get the chance to fight ??him though, because he withers away and dies before you can even reach him.

But with his final breath, he casts a spell to summon up a demon to fig??ht in his stead. His orange robe swirls around the demon's head like a weird, tornado-shaped turban, passing on the Old Monk's powers. For some players, this duel will be a lot like fighting the o??ther invading Black Phantom NPCs, which can be kind of underwhelming.

But for those playing online, t?hey actually got to fight other players who were summoned to their world to fight for the Old Monk. The boss fight essentially became a player v??s. player match, forcing some people to go toe to toe with an invader. The invader also gains the Old Monk's Homing Soul Arrow attack, which is cast automatically throughout the fight, giving them a bit of an edge. But even so, it all comes down to skill. The better player will emerge victorious.

The first time this happened to me, I was so confused and terrified. I was still at that stage where invaders scared the heck out of me, so I dreaded entering the fog door. Later, when I became more comfortable fighting other players, I started to realize just how great of an idea this boss fight was. I even played a few sessions as the Old Monk's phantom in other peoples' games, and had a bit too much fun slaughtering the various hosts. From Software revisited this idea in Dark Souls II with the Looking Glass Kni??ght, and I actually enjoyed that boss fight even more!

Transient souls

Aside from invasions, Demon's Souls also introduced some other unique multiplayer mechanics which were a bit more subtle. During your adventures through Boletaria, you would occasionally catch glimpses of ghosts. These fleeting specters were actually other players traversing Boletaria in their own games, like shadows of parallel universes. You weren't able to interact with them, but their mere existence was somehow comforting. These ghosts made you feel as though you weren't so alone in this dangerous world full of enemies. Other people were deal??ing with the same things you were. Perhaps they could see a shadow of you as well, giving them comfort and hope.

You would also occasionally come across bloodstains on ground. Sometimes it would be your own blood, from where you died last, allowing you to retrieve your lost souls. But many other bloodstains would litter the ground, which were clearly not left by you. These were the spots where other players perished in their own worlds. If you interacted with them, a red phantom would appear, reenacting? their last few moments before death. These could be useful as warnings of danger up ??ahead, an opportunity to prepare for traps or ambushes. They were also comforting, much like the ghosts, because you got to see others players failing and dying right alongside you.

Some of them were also pretty damn funny to watch. For the really mysterious ones, I liked to try and imagine what could have possibly happened to them. How could they have died here, of all places? Some of them were so crazy that I watched them over and over, seeing their spectral bodies smashed into the ground and flung this way and that before they'd finally had enough and t??oppled over dead. Poor guy must have had the worst luck, but at least it was entertaining!

One sword to rule them all

I didn't really have any favorite weapons in this series until Dark Souls. I mostly just ran through Demon's Souls with a winged spear. Not too exciting, but it got the job done. How?ever, there was one weapon that really stood out to me, even though I only used it for a few specific moments.

At the end of the Shrine of Storms, you have to fight the Storm King, a gigantic flying manta ray that shoots spikes and creates thunder. He flies in a large loop in the sky way above you, so the only way to reach him is by firing arrows or using magic. I've always preferred melee characters, so I was kind of screwed during this fight, and resorted to casting wimpy soul arrows to try and take the beast down. It took forever.

During my second playthrough, I dreaded having to fight him again. When I returned to the Storm King's arena, I spent a lot of time goofing off and searching for items rather than fighting the boss. That's when I came across the Storm Ruler, a sword sticking out of the ground in the Storm King's domain. Stats-wise, it wasn't as powerful as my winged spear, but I decided to fool around with it, since I was trying t??o delay the boss fight anyway. I always like to test out the movesets of any new weapon I come across.

So I tried the heavy attack and... WOOSH! Something shot off the sword! It looked like an intense air current cutting through the sky, and it went pretty far. I tested it out on the Storm King as he flew by, and sure enough, it hit him square in the chest for decent damage. S?o there IS a way to defeat this boss using melee tactics, and I had no idea! The Storm Ruler took the boss down in no time, and I sat there thinking about how long it had taken previously when I was using Soul Arrows, and felt completely foolish.

Unfortunately, the Storm Ruler's special ability only works in the Storm King's arena. Otherwise, it behaves like a normal sword, albeit one with lots of knockback. I went back to using my winged sp?ear for the rest of the game, but I still found occasional uses for the Storm Ruler. I utilized the sword's heavy force by knocking some enemies off of cliffs with it. I even used it to kill Old King Doran once, by continually knocking him back further and further until he eventually fell down a long staircase and died on impact. Take that, Doran, you evasive bastard!

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound
.04: Catherine

The post Experience Points .05: Demon’s Souls appeared first on Destructoid.

Love is over

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a ??level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games?? being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing?? the game for the first time.

This entry is all about Catherine. Since today is Valentine's Day, I figured I'd pick a game that's all about love, sex, and relationships (and also cheating... uhhh...). Feel free to share some of your own favorite things about the game in the comm??ents!

Drink and be merry

Every night at the Stray Sheep, Vincent has the option to get borderline blackout drunk at the bar. You can order cocktails?, sake, beer, and whiskey. Or you can order one of each. Or 50 of each. Drinks are free and the bar apparently has an unlimited supply, so go crazy!

Surprisingly, drinking only has positive effects on Vincent. A?lcohol makes Vincent move faster in his nightmares, which is very useful since the puzzles are on a tim?e limit. It's always a good idea to drink yourself into a stupor before taking on the block towers of your dreams.

Too bad alcohol doesn't work that way in real life. If I drank as much as Vincent did in my game, I'd be dead. Even if I drank a fraction of what he did, I'd still be waking up in a puddle of my own sick on the ground outside of my apartment, if I even made it that far. Let alone the hangovers... does this guy even get hangovers? What is his sec??ret?

Back to Bach

All of the music in Catherine is great, but the best tracks are definitely the songs that play during the block puzzle segments. Composer Shoji Megur?o used classical music arrangements for the soundtrack, remixing them with his own style to create these really nice modern takes on classic compositions.

Some of my favorite classical scores are featured, such as "Mars" and "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets, Bach's "Little Fugue", and Chopin's Revolutionary Étude. The soundtrack also introduced me to some great music that I hadn't heard before, but which quickly became favorites of mine, including Mussorgsky's "The Hut on Fowl's Legs" and Dvorak's New World Symphony.

I don't know how much average gamers these days know or care about classical music, but I'm glad that there are still avenues through which young people can be exposed to the classics. You'll occasionally hear classical arrangements in other games as well, like Tetris, Mega Man Legends, and Earthworm Jim. I always appreciate a good reference to ??the great composers of the past.

Another round of drinks, Erica!

Erica is a waitress at the Stray Sheep. She's a childhood ?friend of Vincent and his buddies, and loves gossiping with the group. She also has a weird Ronald McDonald color scheme going on, but that's okay. She'?s way cooler and way less creepy than Ronald.

Toby, a recent addition?? to the group of friends, has a pretty big crush on her. It's no wonder why; Erica is always super kind and charismatic, and attractive to boot. Eventually, the two get together for a night of passion.

At the end of the game, if you get the True Lover ending, it's revealed that Erica used to be "Eric" back in the day. This comes as a huge surprise to Toby, but rather than getting all freaked out or weird, he just sort of jokes about it in a friendly way. The rest of the guys obviously already knew this about Erica, since they were childhood friends, and they treat her normally during the entire game. There ??are also a few subtle hints about the revelation at various points during their conv?ersations.

I think it's great to see a transgender c?haracter handled so respectfully in a videogame. Her ??gender identity is revealed in a natural way, and it's treated like a perfectly normal aspect of everyday life. She was my favorite character in the game, even before I learned about her past.

A wet dream gone horribly wrong

Most of the bosses in Catherine represent aspects of Vincent's re??lationships that he worries about during the day. The Fist of Grudge symbolizes Katherine's controlling personality and Vincent's fear of commitment. Doom's Bride alludes to Vincent's uncertainty of marriage. The Child with a Chainsaw implies Vincent's apprehension about having a child.

And then there's the Immoral? Beast. The beast takes the form of a gigantic butt with legs that tries to kill Vincent. It has a mouth with a huge tongue that waggles all about, and blue eyes that resemble Catherine's on each cheek. It appears in Vincent's nightmare after he has an affair with Catherine.

It's pretty clear that the butt beast represents Vincent's shame due to the affair, but it seems like it's also telling us something more about the specifics of their sexual encounter. Catherine even comments the next morning that she's never done something "like that" before. I'm sure you can all use your imaginations to deduce what that means. Regardless, the Immo??ral Beast is one of the most bizarrely grotesque bosses I've ever encountered i?n a game, and I can't help but admire that.

Feeling a little sheepish

Those who haven't played Catherine might not know that most of the characters in the game are sheep. Well, technically the??y're men, but in the nightmare world they appear as sheep to everyone but themselves. That means, to all the other guys, Vincent appears as a sheep wearing polka dot boxers.

The sheep-men are all so freaking cute, especially since ?many of them are dressed up like people. One sheep is wearing a tie, another one has a cool jacket and glasses, one has a pom??padour hairpiece or something, and another one's got a police hat and nightstick and is a little larger around the belly (he's my favorite). Most of them represent male characters from other parts of the game.

Their outfits are a little strange, though. Like, shouldn't they be dressed as though they're in bed, like Vincent in his boxers? Does that means Morgan, the policeman, sleeps in nothing but his hat and nightstick? And some of the? others sleep in their jackets? That's kind of weird, but I guess it's possible. I mean, hey, whatever's comfortable. I'm not here to judge!

Saving lives one conversation at a time

If you make a habit of talking to the various bar patrons at the Stray Sheep, you'll start to recognize some of them as the sheep you meet in your nightmares. The more you talk to them, the more you learn about their love lives and why they're being haunt?ed by these bad dreams. You'll find that most of them are rather depressed and worried about the way they've been treating the women in their lives.

By speaking with them regularly and answering their questions, you'll give them hope and more incenti??ve to stay alive in their nightmares. On the flip side, if you ignore them or give them unsatisfactory responses, you may notice that they stop showing up to the bar at night and you won't see them in your dreams anymore. This means they've lost the will to go on and died in their sleep. How awful...

The most touching story to me was that of Morgan the police officer. You learn that his wife was killed a long time ago by a criminal he had been investigating. He blames himself for her death, espec??ially since they had a fight the day she died, and the last thing he said to her was, "Get out." His depression has left him with suicidal thoughts. The reason he's been having nightmares is because of his tendency to lead women on with no intention of a relationship, which he sort of views as cheating on his deceased wife.

If you help him? stay alive, he decides to focus on finding?? his wife's murderer so he can finally enact justice. All of the other men's endings involve them asking their girlfriends to marry them, or trying to make things work with their wives, which is great. But Morgan just wants to avenge his wife so that he can visit her grave and tell her all about what he did. I always thought that was really sweet of him.

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus
.03: EarthBound

The post Experience Points .04: Catherine appeared first on Destructoid.

Say, 'fuzzy pickles!'

Experience Points is a series in wh?ich I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything f??rom a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

T?his series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

This entry is all about EarthBound, one of my favorite games of all time. Feel free to s?hare some of your own favorite things about the game in the comments!

Know your enemy

One of the first things that stuck out to me in EarthBound was the enemies. Once Ness leaves his house, wild animals begin to attack him. They seem like somewhat normal enemies at first; crows, snakes, dogs. Except they aren't just crows, snakes, or dogs. They're Spiteful Crows, Coil Snakes, and Runaway Dogs. They could've just b?een plain old animals, but these additional descriptors really make the enemies sound way more interesting. Why is this crow so spiteful? Where did this dog run away from? Am I beating up someone's lost pet?

This is a running theme for all of the enemies you fight throughout EarthBound. You won't find any run-of-the-mill ghosts or goblins here. Instead, you'll go up against weird foes like Ramblin' Evil Mushrooms, Moles Playing Rough, No Good Flies, and the Plague Rat of Doom. You'll also run into humans gone bad, like the Cranky Lady, the Unassuming Local Guy, the Annoying Old Party Man,?? and the New Age Retro Hippie (a personal favorite). And then things start to get straight-up crazy, wit??h unusual enemies like Scalding Coffee Cups, Mad Taxis, Crazed Signs (which are apparently from Ohio?), Big Piles of Puke, French Kisses of Death... what the heck is going on in this game?

The wide variety of quirky, unexpected enemies really makes this game stand out; it's not going to be any old RPG. I mean, what other game has you beating up mean old ladies and possessed vehicles with a bas?eball bat? It's completely bonkers, but that's exactly what's so great about it. You really can't help but smile whenever you run into a new enemy only to find out it's called a Worthless Protoplasm.

The 13-year-old homeowner

While exploring Ness's hometown of Onett, you'll probably notice a house that's for sale near a cliff by the sea. The current owner is willing to sell you the house for $7,5??00. Since Onett is the very first town, there's no way you'd be able to afford it unless you felt like grinding enemies like crazy, so most players will probably move on and eventually forget about the house.

Later in the game, when your bank account is literally overflowing (geez, Dad, don't you think you're spoiling me a bit here?), you can return to Onett and t??he house will still be up for sale. Pay the steep fee, and Ness will become the proud owner of a beautiful seaside cottage. The things kid?s spend their money on these days, sheesh...

Then you step inside your humble abode and... ummm... what the hell happened to this place? There are gaping holes in the floor, the furniture is all torn up, and what on earth happened to the entire back wall?! It's just ??not there, it's straight ??up gone. Is this what the guy meant when he said the house had "an ocean view?" What a jerk! I guess this will teach Ness to inspect a house first before buying it, at least. You gotta learn these things young, you know?

The strangest thing about this ramshackle house, though, is a weird magazine you can find in the open drawer. It contains an excerpt from a story called "My Secret Life" and describes an incident where a man tries to get out of a speeding ticket by claiming his ??wife is in labor, and then when the officer offers to escort them to the hospital, the man refuses and exclaims that the baby is actually a dem??on child. It's truly a bizarre find, and along with the decrepit state of the place, it really makes you wonder just what kind of person owned this house before Ness.

A cure for what ails you

Most RPGs have status ailments that affect your party during battles, and EarthBound is no exception. There are your RPG staples, of course, like falling asleep, getting poisoned, or becoming paralyzed. But then EarthBound gets a little more creative with its ailments. Ness?? and friends can catch colds, start feeling nauseous, begin crying uncontrollably, get sunstroke from walking in the desert, become possessed by a ghost, get turned into a diamond, and more.

One of the strangest status ailments happens when a mushroom enemy scatters spores all around and you become "mushroomized."?? In battle, this basically works like confusion; you'll randomly attack your allies sometimes. Outside of battle, you'll have a mushroom growing out of the top of your head, and the controls will be all scrambled, causing you to move in random directions. These have to be removed by healers rather than doctors, and the healers actually pay you $50 for each mushroom, so it's almost worth it to be hit with spores. The effect is kind of annoying, but it always made me laugh whenever it happened, because of how silly everyone looks with a fungus on their head.

My favorite EarthBound ailment, however, is homesickness. Ness is the only character who can b?ecome homesick, and it could happen randomly at any point during your adventure. This causes him to occasionally waste a turn with messages like, "Ness misses home," or, "Ness suddenly t??hought about his Mom." To cure homesickness, all you have to do is find a phone and give your mother a call. Is that not the most heartwarming game mechanic ever?

Star-crossed sesames

The Dusty Dunes Desert may seem vast and empty, but if you take the time to explore, you can find some really neat stuff out in the sand. There are items to be found, skeletons to talk to, sunbathers that sleep out in the desert (how are they still alive?), an oasis, a lost contact lens, and more. My favorite desert attraction, however, is pr??obably even more difficult to find in the sand than the contact lens.

If you're observant enough, you may notice a couple of off-colored pixels out in the dunes??; one black pixel and one white pixel amid a?? sea of orange and yellow. If you try interacting with these tiny specks, you'll learn that they're actually sesame seeds, and they can talk (?), and the pair of them were once in love. The black sesame wishes he could apologize to the white sesame for hurting her, while the white sesame wants you to tell the black sesame that she still loves him.

You can wal?k back and forth between the two and relate their tales to each other, which seems to bring comfort to the white one, and causes the black one to begin weeping. I still don't know why Ness couldn't just pick them up and reunite them. ?Instead, he heartlessly leaves them separated out in the vast desert like a jerk. It's still a lovely moment, though. Incredibly random, sure, but heartwarming nonetheless. And it's something that most players will probably pass right by without even noticing.

Music to my ears

It would be remiss to talk about EarthBound and not mention the music, but choosing a favorite song from the soundtrack is nearly impossible. There are so many wonderful tunes that evoke a range of emotions, each one more ?memorable than the last. There's the comforting song that plays in your home, the upbeat Onett theme, the silly shop tune, the pleasantly mystical melody of the Snow Wood Boarding House, the ritzy Fourside theme, the funky music that plays when you fight a hippie, and so much more.

EarthBound's music is just as important for setting the tone of the game as its witty dialogue and modern setting. Ness' main quest revolves entirely?? around music, as he goes in search of melodies from his childhood and records them all in a Sound Stone in order to truly understand himself. Plus, you befriend and follow around a band, attending several of their concerts throughout the game. Music is a central theme, and the accompanying soundtrack definitely does not?? disappoint.

I'm sure if you asked anyone who has played EarthBound what their favorite track was, you'd probably get a wide range of answers. If I was forced to choose just one, I might go with "Home Sweet Home" or "Snowman" (see? I still can't decide!), bu?t I c?ould easily make a convincing case for pretty much the entirety of the soundtrack.  

An insignificant quest

There's one side quest in EarthBound which is so hidden that you'd be hard-pr?essed to even discover it without a guide, but it involves a very peculiar item that never fails to make me smile.

There's a man in the Twoson hospital who apparently left something very precious to him at the Threed hospital. You can go and look around for it if you happen to remember the man's offhand comment, but its location is not obvious. Rather than being inside of a gift box, like most items, you actually have to go up and search one of the ??hospital drawers. There you'll find the man's precious... "insignif??icant item?" Well, that was a little anti-climactic... but also kind of hilarious.

If you try to use the object, you get the following message: "By using the insignific??ant item, you had a very f??ruitful experience that cannot be understood by someone who does not use something insignificant." For some reason, that message always spoke to me. It's like it perfectly describes the essence of side quests in general and what they mean to the player. They may not be important to the main storyline, and they usually involve searching for trivial junk, but they're oddly comforting to complete anyway.

After this revelation, you can return to Twoson and give the man his pointless thing back. He's very thankful, and rewards you with a Magic Truffle, which is actually pretty useful. So, hooray! You had an epiphany and you got a neat gift!

Hi, hi, hi!

Even if you haven't played EarthBound, you've probably heard of Mr. Saturn before. He's that weird walking head creature with a huge nose, whiskers, and a bow that you can throw around in Super Smash Bros. There's a reason why he made it into Super Smash Bros., because he happens to be the most adorable, cheerful character in all of EarthBound.

Mr. Saturns are actually a species of alien creatures ??who reside in Saturn Valley. They speak in broken English, which is characterized by a strange, swirly font. They have a habit of using words like "boing,?" "ding," and "zoom," after every thought, or shouting unexpected things like, "Dakota!" Just going around and talking to each Mr. Saturn is a delight. Their dialogue is incredibly random and silly; it's really hard not to smile at everything they have to say.

They're also very peaceful and kind, offering you free coffee, free health care, and a place to rest. They like to eat weird foods like peanut cheese bars and piggy jelly (whatever that is) and play strange games like "ladder," where they pile up on top of each other. Mr. Saturns are just so innocent and positive that it's impossible to dislike them. I probably spent way too much time in Saturn Valley just p??laying around and chatting with them, but their happiness is so infectious that I couldn't help myself.

"I so happy, happy, happy... Zoom!"

Past Experience Points

.01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
.02: Shadow of the Colossus

The post Experience Points .03: EarthBound appeared first on Destructoid.

You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?

Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gam??eplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that ??is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome.

This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep? that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time.

With Majora's Mask 3D coming out in a few weeks, I figured it would be fitting to make the first entry all about The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, which happens to be my favorite Zelda game. Feel free to share some of your own favorite things a??bout the game in the comments!

Green around the gills

One of Majora's Mask's most unique features is Link's ability to transform into various races by wearing certain masks. Link's Deku ??and Goron forms are both really awesome for their own reasons, but my favorite has got to be the Zora fo??rm.

As a Zora, Link can swim quickly and gracefully through the water, gliding around and leaping above the surface like a dolphin! He also gets an electric shield and boomerang fins, which are both quite useful, plus a ??sweet guitar made out of fish bones. He makes a pretty rad Zora!

Swimming in the Zelda series usually becomes a tedious task (I'm looking at you, Ocarina of Time!), but th??e Zora form makes swimming so much fun that I sometimes went out of my w??ay just to go jump in the water. I spent way too much time in the Great Bay area just goofing off in the sea. I perfected the art of leaping cleanly onto the dock of the marine research lab, tried to see how many dolphin jumps I could do in a row, swam around admiring the coral and seaweed, and generally had a wonderful time. I wish I had a Zora Mask in real life.

To the moon

The moon is easily Majora's Mask's most striking feature, so I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I'm including it. It's always looming overhead with its unusually creepy face, getting closer and closer to its eventual c??ollision wi??th the town you're staying in. Wherever you are in the game, you can look up into the sky and see this unsettling monstrosity, a constant reminder that you're running out of time.

Eventually, you get to travel to the moon's... surface? Insides? I'm not really sure, but wherever it is, it's one of the most disturbingly serene locations in a videogame ever.?? The area consists of a single, giant tree on a bright, sunny hill, with a group of strange children running around wearing the masks of the bosses you've defeated.

The first time I saw this place, I was taken aback by the simple absurdity of it all. I didn't know what to make of it, but I was also so enraptured by the sudden peacefulness that I ended up ?just wandering around in awe at the beautiful landscape, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the place. It's so unexpected and surreal, and I absolutely love it!

Papers, please!

If you happen to be staying at the Stock Pot Inn and need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you might be in for a nasty surprise. The inn's toilet is residence to a mysterious, nocturnal... hand? Surely there's a body that the hand belongs to, but you never see it. The grimy?? hand ??gropes around the bathroom asking for toilet paper, which you can bring it as part of a side quest. Surely this person needs more than just toilet paper, though. I'm sure they could probably use some help getting out of the toilet and directions to the nearest shower, for example.

The toilet hand is so mysterious that it leaves me with way too many unanswered questions. Who does the hand belong to? How did they get into the toilet? How has ??no one else at the inn noticed this yet? Why is there only one toilet in the entire i??nn? I mean, I REALLY had to use the restroom, but I guess I'll just hold it until morning...

Giving Link bunny ears

Anyone who has played Majora's Mask probably spent the majority of the game wearing one mask in particular: the Bunny Hood! Not only is it adorable to see Link wearing bunny ears, which sway back and forth whenever he moves, but it also doubles his running speed. And in a ??game where you're often traversing large, open areas, it's insanely useful. Most masks are meant for specific situations, but the Bunny Hood is useful for just about any part of the game. I almost never took it off while in human form, unless I had to. If only more open-world games had Bunny Hoods...

Whenever I replay Majora's Mask, I always make it my first order of business after leaving Clock Town to go track down the Bunny Hood. Luckily, it's not too difficult to acquire. You just have to wait until the third day to access the farm so you can play with the cuccos while wearing the Bremen Mask, which you can get by talking to Guru-Guru at the Laundry Pool. Then you can speed around the ?world to your heart??'s content!

The Dance of the ReDead

ReDeads are arguably the creepiest enemies in the Zelda universe (save for maybe the Dead Hand). Their horrible shrieks freeze Link in place, allowing them to slowly amble up and give him a big old hug of death. The s??ound alone sends shivers down my spine, and their frightening appeara?nce only makes matters worse.

In Ocarina of Time, you had to run around them quickly, and pray that they didn't see you. Luckily, Majora's Mask offers you a way to sneak past them and avoid detection, and it just so happens to be the most hilarious thing in the game! If you don any of the three monster masks (Gibdo Mask, Garo's Mask, or Captain's Hat), the ReDeads will apparently see you as one of their own. With no heroes of time in the vicinity, the monsters will drop their guard and suddenly break into dan?ce. It's shocking to see such terrifying monsters suddenly become so carefree and jubilant, while their faces remain hollow and soulless. Though I must admit, they've got some nice moves!

The soothing sounds of the Song of Healing

All of the music in Majora's Mask is pretty great, but my favorite song by far is the? Song of Healing. The Song of Healing is one of the tunes Link can learn, which you play throughout the game to heal tormented souls, usually granting you a new mask.

It's such a beautiful, calming melody that I can't help but linger in certain areas a bit too long just to listen to the music. I probably stood around in Pamela's house a good ten minutes after healing her father because th?e music was so lovely, and it made the moment tha??t much more powerful. It also plays inside the clock tower, where the Happy Mask salesman stays, but then you have to hang out with the Happy Mask salesman, and nobody wants that...

Oddly enough, the song can also be used to fix broken signs, in case you carelessly slice one in half with your s??word. I guess inanimate objects need healing sometimes, too.

Anju & Kafei

This is likely everyone's favorite side quest, and for good reason! It requires you to spend all three in-game days focusing on this one quest, and it doesn't end until there are only a few seconds left (or one hour, in game time) until total annihilation as the moon collides with Clock Town. But it results in one of the most me??morable, emotional scenes in the game.

Once you've acquired Kafei's Mask, you can begin the quest by speaking with Anju, a friendly woman who works at the inn. She asks you to deliver a letter to Kafei, her fiance, who has disappeared. Eventually you find Kafei, who appears to be a young?? boy hiding behind a mask. You learn that he was once an adult, but the Skull Kid cursed ??him to make him look like a child. A thief also stole his Sun Mask, which is an important part of the wedding ceremonies in Termina. So out of shame due to his appearance and lack of a Sun Mask, Kafei decided to go into hiding.

After a series of events, you will recover Kafei's lost mask. With the mask back in his possession, Kafei finally comes out of hiding and returns to Anju at the inn. Even though he's much younger now, Anju recognizes him immediately and forgives him for disappearing. T??he two exchange masks and officially become a married couple, with Link as the sole witness.

It's just about the happiest moment in the game, yet also bittersweet. Sadly, you only have a few seconds to admire the union before you must turn back the clock, erasing the moment from history. That is, unless you're ready to book it to the clock tower and beat the game right then and there, so that Anju and Kafei can really live happily ever after. And let's face it, that's really the only correct way to beat Majora's Mask!

The post Experience Points .01: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask appeared first on Destructoid.