Best posts made by tokeeffe9

Mod Note - The word I was clearly referring to was 'triggered'. Do not use it again. You can expect a warning and your post to be removed if used. @suplextrain, you will receive a ban if I see 'triggered' used by you. If you or anyone else has an issue with this, you can PM me. Do not waste more posts in this forum on the topic as they will be removed and could lead to a ban also.

Next thing is, people could probably do with reading the OP as the conversation has changed widely on what they think the OP is about. If the conversation continues in this way (essentially derailing the thread), it will be locked.

@Musou-Tensei You don't need to make a comment about things you haven't played and don't care about. It adds nothing to the conversation. All you're doing is making people scroll more.

Hey Allies,

I thought it'd be cool to have a thread for people who wanted to play games with people from the EZA community:

• Help with specific games
• Co-op
• Trophy/achievement farming
• Organising big multiplayer sessions.

So if anyone wants to party up or need help, just leave your posts here!

Yes that's right, I'm very late to the 'The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past' party.

Just to set the picture, I owned an SNES but back then, you'd go into a game store and pick the coolest looking box art. For some reason I either completely ignored or never saw A Link to the Past. Fast forward 20 years or so later and here I am with a N3DS and the first thing I purchased was this game for two reasons.

1. To see one of the most highly rated games in history.
2. To see why Kyle Bosman dislikes it so much.

Art Style - I love how this game looks. The only negative I have in that department is Links hair being pink. I just don't really understand why it is pink. Other than that, I love the detail in the world, the enemies, the colours. It's really nice. I could say this for most SNES games to be fair.

Exploration - This is arguably the best part of this game. There is so much to find and at the same time you're not being forced to find anything. I love that it rewards the player who goes out of their way to find things. The first time I switched between light and dark worlds to acquire a heart, my mind was blown. It completely changed how I played the game and what I did. It feels so rewarding in an era where we get a map which points out all the stupid feathers to collect. Bring back the old times I say.

World - So I've positives and negatives on this one and I understand this is a game running on a very old platform. The world itself is very cool. It's diverse, there are loads of cool and interesting places to explore and of course it's cool to see how things change in the Dark World. However my issue is the world doesn't really feel lived in. Where you start the game, it's just your Uncle's house. There's the castle north and a very small village to the west. Things feel like they were placed there for the sake of the game and not for actually making sense. It would have been nice to interact with more people in other areas or have a more lived in village. Minor complaint really.

Dungeons/Bosses - For the most part the dungeons and boss fights are great. They are well designed, they force you to get a good understanding of the dungeon layout and provide you with interesting items that push the player to think a bit more on how they will tackle a situation. I wouldn't say the bosses themselves were particularly challenging. Only one really frustrated me and that was because initially it kept knocking me off the platform so I had to start again. I also think the further along you get, the worse the dungeons get. They aren't as interesting visually, they are built more like mazes so it's difficult to remember the path and the worst is the final area where you have to fight three bosses you previously fought. I just felt this was your typical game just throwing everything at you to make it more difficult instead of something more interesting.

Story - I'll be honest, I've never been massively into the story of Zelda games and this one is no different, even worse I'd say. I can see why Kyle doesn't like the premise or the 7 princesses. It's just nonsense really and there is nothing really behind it. But I will say this didn't bother me too much, I wasn't playing the game for that.

Sound - I love it. Obviously these are tracks we're used to now in every Zelda but hearing it on the SNES sounds wonderful. The sound design is great too. It doesn't really add to the environment or setting, but the sound of collecting items, hitting an enemy or shield, they are all really solid.

Other Positives -

• Map - I loved the map. I did not expect to see a map which had markers on it in the SNES era.
• Saving - Small thing but I liked that you could save anywhere.

Other Negatives -

• Blue Cane - I think this item breaks the game. If you have enough magic, you're essentially invincible.
• Tablets/telepathy - I just hated seeing them pop up in dungeons. I understand they are there to help you but I wish it was a bit more elegant

Overall/TL:DR - A Link to the Past absolutely holds up. I don't think it's a masterpiece, it's not my favourite Zelda (That goes to Skyward Sword... yes that's right Damiani and many more, Skyward Sword is my favourite so far) however it's definitely up there.

If you haven't played it, I'd definitely recommend giving it a chance. LTTP has a colourful world with loads of diverse areas to explore and uncover secrets in, along with your traditional dungeons and bosses that you expect in an adventure game.

This went way longer than expected. If there is anything I missed that someone wants me to talk about, let me know.

What's interesting is the easier the difficulty, the lighter your character's skin. Conversely, the harder the difficulty, the darker your character's skin. It means if you want to play The Fractured but Whole on a harder than normal difficulty, you have to play as a person of colour.
During the process, South Park stalwart Eric Cartman will comment: "Don't worry, this doesn't affect combat. Just every other aspect of your whole life."

I love this idea so much

So you may have seen my LTTP for A Link to the Past. I continued that SNES trend by going staight to Super Metroid. This one shouldn't be as long!

Atmosphere/Soundtrack/Art - I love it. Maybe the best thing about the game. The sound and soundtrack set the tone perfectly. It just gives you that feeling of being isolated in this unknown area. Each area felt unique due to the colour palette, it's own theme and obviously new enemies etc. It's small things but it does help in the overall presentation of the game.

Exploration - Another SNES game, another one which is hugely focused on exploration. I'll restate this, but the best things about games are the surprises whether that be a new area, a new twist... whatever it is. I think that why we love to explore and find secrets. This game is just oozing with secrets. Between finding new upgrades and items or just discovering things to do with your new equipment, it's all fantastic. I ended up with 72% collected so I was pretty happy with that and it was easily my favourite part of the game.

Combat - Okay, so this was hit and miss really. The combat in general is fine. What I mean by that is switching between different types of weapons and bombs to combat certains situations is interesting and adds to the fun. However having to aim the gun downwards and upwards can be a serious pain. The bosses in the game were generally pretty fun and had some of the coolest moments in the game (3rd last boss and final boss).

Platforming -I'd say platforming might be the weakest element from the game. It feels very floaty, there were times I didn't really feel in control. Also learning how to wall jump... oh man was that a frustrating one for 5-10 mins just trying to figure out how to do it. Also Maridia is just a horrible place. Constantly being irritated by quicksand and just sand in general. Made platforming even more annoying I thought.

Little things - Oh how I wish the map told me the door colours. That would have saved a lot of time travelling and would have let me known if I needed to go back and explore an area. (This was resolved in Metroid Prime)
The amount of damage Ridley takes is insane! :)

Overall - Similarly to LTTP, this entry isn't my favourite in the series, I must admit I preferred Metroid Prime & 3. In fact I even admire those games more as the teams who developed those really understood what made Metroid games great.

However with that said Super Metroid is a great game. It's tough to hold it in the same light as others do since it's been ripped off so much in the years but it truly is an amazing achievement in level design and atmosphere. So I'd definitely recommend it to anyone really.

Patreon - We Got a Studio!

Youtube Video

Making it official on the forums, congrats to Easy Allies on acquiring a studio.

Thanks so much to all everyone who's helped through patreon and spreading word about Easy Allies and look forward to checking out the studio in January!

Timesplitters 2 was my childhood. I loved that game so much. Easily the most fun I've had with a multilayer fps game.

Playing the snow level with the tower with just rocket launchers. Or the virus game mode... The memories.

Also I do love Infinite. I know it's not the best shooter out there and it makes no sense at times but I just loved that environment and the characters.

We'd like to change how certain things work in the gaming discussion category.

You've probably noticed we get a lot of topics regarding something new about a game such as a trailer or news story. The issue with these is a lot of the time the title is so strict (e.g 'Game Name' New trailer) that it really only allows for a small amount of discussion regarding that game.

So we're going to try and have more general topics about games where everything is discussed in the one topic.

Now you've probably noticed a few topics which have a title like "Sniper Elite 4 - (PC/PS4/XB1)" and with tags general topic and the name of the game. This is the ideal way (currently) to show that it's a general topic regarding that game and it also makes it really easy to find all the main topics for games.

If a news type topic is created, it'll be moved into the general topic unless it feels like it's own separate thing.

Anyway this is just a start and things can definitely change. I'd love to hear people's feedback on how it's structured, what they like/don't like and improvements.

I've made the Switch!

Sorry about not putting it into the one image

I really loved this moment (along with the Andrew House segment)

Youtube Video

I don't think there's any real discussion to be had here. The poster has let EZA know what they think and people have come back with their own opinions. I'm sure the appropriate people have seen the feedback.

Topic locked.

Oh man, I haven't said much in a while.

Hellblade is an incredible experience in my book. I feel like it can just be so powerful with the subject matter they tackled and how they did it, along with just the actual scale of the project too. Ninja Theory gambled a lot on this model and it paid off massively. On the game itself, I was just always invested in it. It made me feel very uncomfortable but it also had moments of real power. Sound design and the lead performance are incredible. I did notice some people saying they found it very repetitive but I felt like they split up the game nicely and it was never long enough to be repetitive to me.

Uncharted The Lost Legacy - It's kinda crazy that Uncharted 4 was easily my favourite game of 2016 (from what I'd played) and then the Lost Legacy only got a nomination even though one could argue it is a more refined version. Just shows the quality of the year I guess. It's easily in my top 3 Uncharted games. I think it has some incredible highs gameplay wise. The open area is so much fun and one of the last chapters is an incredible culmination of several set pieces that Naughty Dog have worked on in the past, possibly the pinnacle in my book. It's a bit unfair to compare with 4 but I loved that game more mostly because of the relationships with the characters, better story and much better villains. This game in particular had possibly the worst villain in the series. Just very pointless. But that's it really, I'd a blast playing the game.

Nioh - One of the games I put about 10 hours into to see if it'd make my list late on. Since then I've completed the main game and I have to say I'd a great time with this game but I don't think it would make my top 8 after. My biggest problem was really with the loot system and economy in the game. You just get too much stuff and there is never any reason to use the blacksmith because you can just find better stuff. Also some of the animations were a bit weird, on a few occasions the animation of an enemy would just reset into something completely different and that'd catch you off guard so it felt really unfair. Once you get a good handle on the combat and the spirit, it does feel like you can blast through the game fairly easily, especially on bosses. But I did have a really good time with the game and would recommend it.

Cuphead Another one for the late chance to make my list. Fortunately I just tackled this one day and completed it. Honestly, if I gave myself more time to think about it, it might have got in there. I think this game is so good. The animation and visuals for every fight are amazing. Getting to the next phase is an absolute treat. I never found myself insanely frustrated (all streamed so might have to check the tape on that! :) ) mostly because of how great it looked, how incredible the soundtrack was for each fight and how quickly you can just jump back in. Ya this one was certainly close.

Also I do just want to mention one other game that I played 2-3 hours of before nominations and really liked but felt it wasn't enough. Hollow Knight, I've since beaten it and it probably would have knocked something off my list because that game is incredible. I'd be surprised if it makes it at this stage so I'll probably mention it again when all is said and done.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning for $15 and the concert itself is on the 18th March this time.

Unfortunately won't be able to make it this year but I hope everyone who gets to go has an amazing time.

Maybe use this topic to let others know if you'll be there and if anyone has any group plans. Last year a lot of people went to Disney etc in EZA groups.

Either way, without being pedantic, it is normal. If you assume ones sexual interest, like that's fine but that shouldn't cause some surprise if that assumption is incorrect.

And just in terms of this topic, I'm not even sure what the point of it is. If it's just to highlight that Naughty Dog are interested in exploring more diverse characters with interesting stories, then I think everyone is agreed that they absolutely do that and it's a major reason why I love their games. If one doesn't have an interest in that then that's cool too, there are more games then ever out there to cater to your needs.

I think we've kinda lost sight on the point of this topic. I made it initially for the news stories that would never really get their own topic but was cool to keep up to date with. Release dates, trailers, announcements, whatever it was. But now we're having more cases of going back and forth over a story or over an opinion of a story.

If you want to discuss something further, create a topic for it (like this battlefield video right now) and if you want to post an opinion of a story, create a topic for it also so we don't have these situations constantly arising.

Let's try and keep as news focused as possible.

Currently playing a lot of Overwatch and whenever no one is online for that, I'm playing through A Link to the Past for the first time on my newly purchased N3DS.

I'm so sick of the negativity. I think that thread on neogaf titled something like "Why are gamers so negative?" sums it all up really about gaming.

It's so refreshing to just listen to people who actually seem to really like games and then to have a pretty like minded community.

Some people really need to remember why they play games.

Name - Tim
Located - Currently Cork and due another change.
For a living - QA Enginner. Fancy title for a software tester.
Non-gaming Hobby(ies) - travel, movies, football (soccer)
Gaming Historical facts - MGS2 on European Extreme, I had to use a biro for the button mashing bit when Solidus is choking you because it was impossible to do with my hands without causing some form of pain.
Champion of - I'll have to come back to you on this one.
PSN - SPUD_1231
Twitch - Spud_1231
Battle net - tokeeffe9#2957
Twitter - @tokeeffe9