The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Wii Virtual Console) Review

Truly, this is the best of all direct sequels in the history of the Legend of Zelda franchise, and in many ways is superior to its predecessor, The Ocarina of Time.  

Ocarina can't be beaten in terms of revolutionary game play, epic scale and mythological story telling, but this 2000 N64 title packs a punch that has more engaging characters, side quests, and dungeon crawling/puzzle solving than its predecessor.  There may be only four main dungeons, but there are plenty of masks, bottles and heart pieces to collect to keep a gamer busy for hours (particularly if the temptation of a walkthrough or strategy guide is firmly avoided, which is difficult for more than some of the side quests).

It's nice to play a Zelda game and actually care about the people and land in peril.  This time, Princess Zelda is practically gone from the story (aside from a brief musical memory scene), as is the Triforce macguffin, leaving only the land of Termina (a sort of parallel world to Hyrule, in the tradition of Koholint Island from Link's Awakening) for Link to focus on saving.

The moon fills the sky as it grins maniacally down at Link, an ever-present reminder of the chaotic influence of Majora's Mask, which seems to be drawing the moon toward Termina.  It is three days away from crashing and wiping the land and people out forever.  The solution to this is a fair amount of time traveling to beat the necessary dungeons and collect the necessary items to stop the impending crash, which is where the challenge sets in; this is the only Legend of Zelda game with a constantly running clock to remind the gamer that doom is crawling closer and closer.

What this essentially means is that the player has three days to beat a dungeon, collect the necessary masks to progress through the story and get closer to the goal of preventing Termina's demise, before playing the song of time and warping back to the beginning of the first day, once again with three days to complete the next set of objectives.  Three days may sound like a long time, but even if Link slows time down by playing the song of time backwards (which slows down time to half its default speed), he is going to have more than a little trouble fitting all the things there are to do into one day.

The time-jumping challenge is generally the chief cause of complaint amongst folks who play Majora's Mask and come away with a bad taste in their mouths. The truth is, this heightened difficulty level is a major strength in a series that often makes things too easy (who really had any trouble getting through Ocarina of Time, aside from the somebody who had never played a video game before?).

For the original N64, this game is a bargain potentially if picked up cheap, but that is unlikely to happen for under $30, and it shouldn't even be bothered with without an Expansion Pack, an additional $15 investment.  The Legend of Zelda Game Cube Collection is a better deal, as it includes Ocarina of Time, as well as the original two NES titles, but even that is tough to find for under $30, and the emulation on the game cube version of Majora's Mask is prone to audio and video lag.  The best bet is to snag it off the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console for 1000 Wii Points, which is exactly $10, with smoother graphical and musical emulation than its predecessors.

For Club Nintendo participants, it can be picked up through the end of this month (admittedly a paltry 36 hours as of this writing) for 150 Club Nintendo coins, which are earned by players that register their products with Nintendo and fill out short surveys about the experience.


For those who are looking for a great game at a great bargain, ten dollars/1000 Wii points is a pretty good deal for Majora's Mask.

-Jado
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Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Developer: Nintendo

Released: 2000 (Virtual Console 2009)

Cost: $10=1000 Wii Points


The bargain bin price is found on Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console.

Xenosaga Ep. 1: Der Wille Zur Macht Review

Space opera. Just hear the words and consider them. Space opera.

Most folks will immediately think of Star Wars and the universe of spinoffs, merch and fanfic the George Lucas brainchild spawned over the past four decades. Not this guy. My first major exposure to space travel as an engrossing experience that spawned a trilogy was the Xenosaga series Namco releases between 2002 and 2006, a massive project that ultimately collapsed under its own ambitious weight before the true potential was realized.

The Xenosaga lore begins with Xenogears, among the most revered titles in the PlayStation One’s annals. Space exploration, far-flung futures and so much mystical and philosophical influence was packed into that adventure RPG that Monolith Soft got started on the Xenosaga series, with six titles planned to expand the universe of the first title and plenty of crossover into anime, manga and novels.

The .hack series had better execution of the multimedia concept, though it got stale in a hurry as the MMORPG conceit driving those titles became flat after the first title, and it seems the Namco and Monolith Soft suits feared the same fate for the Xenosaga series, opting to bring in new story editors and concept designers midstream. This move had the effect of hiring new firefighters as the building is burning; the new team eschewed existing creative direction and sought to make a better product with fewer resources, and what’s worse is that the initial product was in no need of revision to begin with.

Alas, the cruel fate of the Xenosaga series was that its wild expansion and unfolding of plot twists and character development made it impossible to keep everything in line for six games and a library of anime and manga. All told, three games were released before Namco folded the project, leaving a long line of fans gloomy and wanting more.

The existing titles are still plenty of fun, and the first episode, Der Wille Zur Macht, sports the most complex gameplay and most developed storytelling.  The story line keeps party members invested in unique battle scenarios often enough that each character must be kept current in their levels and techniques, lest the run the risk of being way behind but required for use in a boss fight. The spread-out approach is nice, though as with most RPGs it will eventually boil down to selecting three favorites and maxing them out as the others get almost no play.

The story follows several themes that make this title worth seeking out and playing, whether for the first time for a younger player who missed out on the fantastic wave of early-2000s RPGs or for a nostalgic adult gamer who wishes to play it once more. The complexity of the story will certainly keep the gamer’s attention as it jumps from the story of Shion, the lead female protagonist involved with superweapon android KOS-MOS, to the story of Jr., one of three twins resulting from genetic experiments gone haywire. A malicious life form known as Gnosis ravage the humans populating the well-traveled universe of the future 4,000 years ahead of present day, and KOS-MOS’ role as a deterrent in the war against them includes diving into the android’s history while Jr. and Shion’s tales are explored.

A central theme is also on the rights of Realians, biomechanical beings developed to resemble human life but given a lower platform on the ladder of rights than natural humans. Their place in the distant future is up to question, as humans are becoming extinct under Gnosis attack and Realians may be the only form of life with any human semblance that will exist as the Gnosis destroy humanity. No one is even sure what a Gnosis truly is, let alone how to defeat them without the use of KOS-MOS or mecha-weapons designed to stave the Gnosis off but unable to defeat them entirely.

The gripping story and exciting battle system make this title a gem among the bargain bin, one worth seeking out and adding to any gamer’s collection. It may have taken its cues from Star Wars, but this take on space opera is among the PS2 library’s finest.

-Robert Seitzinger

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Xenosaga Ep. 1: Der Wille Zur Macht

Developer: Namco

Released: 2002

Cost: Under $10, IF purchased used, over $35 new.


The bargain bin price will be found at local game retailers, pawn shops, OR online from sites like eBay, Amazon, etc.

An Update

Long time no posts!  I have been looking at options for registering domains, and am still in the process of figuring things out, but I have writers, and a little content, but am still in the development process.  I will be releasing a few reviews here shortly from various writers, and am excited to continue down the recruitment vein.

New website is on the way... :)

What we are doing here (short version)

We find inexpensive games and review them, and tell you where you can find and acquire them inexpensively as well. Usually, the most consistent place to find similar deals is online or at retail outlets at multiple locations. The best place to find less consistent deals is at pawn shops, so while we may recommend pawn shops occasionally there is no guarantee where that is concerned--although there never really is anywhere, there is just a higher likelihood at retail chains.

Eventually we will add other content. If you have ideas or want to write for us, comment here or email us at bargainbingamers@gmail.com.

Thank you much, we look forward to building this site and adding more stuff!

What we are doing here (long version)

BARGAIN BIN GAMES
Bargain Bin Gamers is all about finding good deals on games, old and new. I (Jado) Personally love old video games, so you will see me focus on games that are not new, but are relatively inexpensive to acquire (legally), and occasionally free (when we are lucky). I like to purchase a lot of games in bargain bins at Game Stop, pawn shops, and from cheap deals on Amazon and eBay.

I rarely purchase games new these days, although I did just pick up Mafia II: Director's Cut for the 360 for what seemed like a decent deal to me at $19.99. Was it a good deal? For me, and my budget at the time, yes, especially since it was $59.99 when it first came out. Is it a Bargain Bin Game? This is where the debate starts...

For a game to qualify as a Bargain Bin Game, it has to be generally under $20 and include more than the average package. The fact that I purchased the Director's Cut with Bonus Content + Missions that would cost me more to download had I picked up the original package, which lacks such perks, are points in favor of a Bargain Bin Game designation. The fact that it is a re-release that is fairly easy to acquire, however, makes it less of a bargain, since our monetary system depends on scarcity to calculate value, and this is not a scarce package. Over all, this would definitely be a Bargain Bin Game if I acquired it for $9.99, or perhaps $14.99, but the fact that it is a re-release that is easy to find puts it right on the line of qualification. I would say it is a good deal, but not quite Bargain Bin material. However, if I was a different reviewer making a different argument, it very well might be a Bargain Bin Game because in the end, whether or not a game is Bargain Bin material is entirely subjective and up to the reviewer's discretion.

PIRATE'S PLUNDER
In addition to our main content, Bargain Bin Games, we will also have other sections about games that are not bargains. One of these sections will be about games that are the opposite: extremely overpriced/expensive (they will generally be a combination of the two). A good example of this would be this unopened Earthbound package, on sale for $999.99. Earthbound is a quality 1995 RPG (released as Mother 2 in 1994 Japan) that I am still in love with, despite the fact that it is almost 18 years old. Luckily, I have the original cartridge that I purchased at Incredible Universe (now Fry's Electronics) in Wilsonville, Oregon over 16 years ago. However, it (and the entire Mother Trilogy) are available easily on the high seas for those who wish to sail their ships towards places that pirates frequent, and get it for free to play on their computer. Thus, such games are available for those who wish to track them down in stores or online, but are not easy to get and sometimes require the purchase of new hardware (such is the case with Terranigma, the third in the Enix "Soul Blazer" trilogy and released only in Japanese and European markets on the Super Famicom). Such acts of brazen piracy are illegal, and we condemn piracy here as such.

VIDEO GAME CULTURE AND EVENTS
While we will not devote as much time to these, gaming culture and events will also occasionally be referenced as well as our friends who also cover such things.  Eventually we will add more content, including podcast and videos. Thank you all for reading, and if you have any suggestions for a review or essay that covers any of these categories, leave us a comment here or email us at bargainbingamers@gmail.com.

-Jado

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Bargain Bin Gamers blog.  Here, we will review old and/or very affordable games.  Be forewarned, most of the games you can get for dirt cheap are junk, and we will help you discriminate between that junk and the rare gem that's to be found out there.