Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link might not necessarily be everyone’s favourite, but there are plenty of Nintendo fans out there who still have fond memories of the 1988 NES title.
If you have ever wondered what this game could potentially look like if it was revived during another generation (like the GBA era), then check out the wonderful fan art from pixel artist and Twitter user ‘huttaburger‘. For the enemy designs, they apparently took some inspiration from Link to the Past and the original Zelda title.
A new speedrunning world record has been established in Super Mario Galaxy 2, with Twitch streamer Jhay managing to beat their own record by just over four seconds.
In case you missed it or want to see it again (who wouldn’t??), BIG GGs to @NotImJhay for getting the WR in Super Mario Galaxy 2! GGs to HardcoreGaming, @SuperT302, and MutantsAbyss for the great race as well, whew! #AGDQ2023pic.twitter.com/vQgCluJ9rP
The new record was set during the Awesome Games Done Quick stream, which saw Jhay take on Mutantsabyss, Hardcoregaming, and Supervipert302 in a speedrunning race. Jhay’s Any% with Bank run — a reference to the Bank Toad who is required to unlock the game’s final galaxy — was completed at 2:54:51.33, which was 4.4 seconds faster than his previous record of 2:54:55.
Jhay celebrated his new record by tweeting in all caps, “I just got WR live at GDQ in front of 80k people how in the actual universe. I have peaked in life. Galaxy forever.”
I JUST GOT WR LIVE AT GDQ IN FRONT OF 80K PEOPLE HOW IN THE ACTUAL UNIVERSE
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is one of many speedrunning events taking place during Awesome Games Done Quick, which is running all this week on Twitch. Other notable events include runs through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and other popular games.
Awesome Games Done Quick will run until Saturday, January 14, with all proceeds from viewer donations benefiting the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Duelyst spent several years trying to find a business model that worked, before it finally shut down for good back in 2020. Well now the whole thing – code and art – is open source and available for use in others projects, royalty-free.
You may already know by now that I love deep dives, especially into the Zelda and Pokémon series — I’ve probably written thousands of words doing trailer breakdowns and lore explanations across the games over the past couple of years here on Nintendo Life.
So imagine how I feel discovering that there’s an artist out there making a Pokémon X Zelda mash-up, with incredible thought put into the details. Bilsu Art has been showing off his “Zelda-Based Fakemon Region” for the past few weeks on his YouTube channel, and I’m already completely in love with it.
Tough boss fights are the highlight of any Team Ninja action game, and it looks like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will be no different. For today’s IGN First, here’s an exclusive first look at one of the game’s earlier bosses, Aoye. Aoye is a fictional creature that appears in the ancient Chinese text Shan Hai Jing, also known as Classic of Mountains and Seas. It is described as a bull-like being with long hair reminiscent of a straw rain-cape.
In Wo Long, Aoye appears as a giant monster that attacks with its long hair and creepy tentacles. While it often lays itself open to attack, each of Aoye’s strikes are heavy and can be fatal. Aoye also has an attack that spreads ice throughout the battle area, which makes it necessary for the player to fight carefully within a more confined environment.
In our gameplay video with Aoye (see it at the top of the page, and then check the 10 minutes of new gameplay we had last week directly above if you missed it), the player character wields the Halberd, a never-before-shown weapon type. Here’s what director Masakazu Hirayama has to say about it.
Each of Aoye’s strikes are heavy and can be fatal.
“The Halberd is best known for warlord Lu Bu’s Sky-Piercing Halberd. It’s a heavy weapon that can mow down enemies like the Glaive. At the same time, it also has some long-range vertical thrusting attacks like the Spear. Utilizing the Halberd’s shape, this weapon type also has a Martial Art (a powerful move that differs per individual weapon) in which you can hook a far away enemy with your blade. You can use this attack to draw the enemy towards yourself and attack from a closer range.”
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is set to release on March 3 for PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC and will be available on Xbox Game Pass day one. With Wo Long as January’s IGN First, expect many more exclusives throughout this month. Be sure to check out our gameplay video of the TIanzhushan area as well as a detailed article on the game’s weapons.
Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan. He wants to master Wo Long’s Staff.
Final Fantasy 16‘s PC port came up. “Nobody said a word about a PC version release,” said Yoshi P, the producer on both FFXIV and FFXVI. “Why is it like a PC version is releasing 6 months later? Don’t worry about that, buy a PS5!” he said, laughing.
A number of burglaries at trading card stores have been reported in Tokyo, Japan, as a result of the rising popularity and value of Pokémon cards. Since last summer, Japan Times reports that damages from these burglaries are estimated to be around tens of millions of yen.
According to an investigative source, there have been unprecedented five cases where the main target has been trading cards — and the Pokémon Trading Card Game is usually involved. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has reported on one specific case, where 60 cards — worth a staggering ¥8.5 million — were stolen from a store in Machida, a city located in the western part of Tokyo.
Another year, another round of ‘New Nintendo Switch Pro/2/+/On/Up/Over’ rumours. Whispers of new or updated Switch hardware have been doing the rounds since practically the launch of the console back in 2017, and the start of 2023 has brought with it a fresh round of speculation as to when exactly Nintendo will debut its next video game console.
Announcing and launching new hardware are two very different things, of course, but Switch will soon be entering its seventh year on store shelves and it’s getting to the point where, based on the evidence of past console cycles, official news of a true successor can’t be too far off — even given Nintendo’s willingness to subvert expectations, to leave Sony and Microsoft to fight over hardware specs since the Wii era, and to lean into its catalogue of evergreen games which keep its hardware selling well into its twilight years.
When you begin, you’ll see our main cast, known as the Straw Hat Pirates, get sucked into a storm, thrown onto a mysterious island, and separated. They must find each other, meet the locals, and fight off the new enemies they meet along the way. That means we get to see our heroes in action and get hands-on experience with the turn-based combat.
Your favorite pirate crew is all here
Luffy – The captain who ate a Devil Fruit, which made him able to bend and stretch his body as if he was made of rubber.
Zoro – The master swordsman who uses a three-sword fighting style.
Nami – The ship’s navigator and skilled con artist who uses her “Clima-Tact” to fight by controlling the weather.
Usopp – A sharp shooting slingshot user, afraid of most conflict.
Sanji – A skilled cook who reserves his hands just for cooking and fights only with his feet.
Chopper – Part reindeer, part human, full-time doctor on the ship.
Robin – The ship’s archaeologist who ate a Devil Fruit which gave her the ability to create duplicate limbs from any surface.
Franky – The shipwright and cyborg with super-human strength and weapons built into his body.
Brook – Musician and skeleton whose soul can separate from his body… or what’s left of it.
Each Straw Hat has their own combat specialty, which are often their iconic moves from the One Piece series. You’ll get to utilize everyone’s unique abilities not only to fight, but to get around the map. During dungeon exploration, use Luffy and his stretchable limbs to pull yourself across the map with Gum Gum Slingshot, or take advantage of Chopper’s small size to crawl through tight spaces.
In each fight, your party members and enemies occupy different positions on the battlefield. This allows you to land close-range, long-range, and group attacks depending on your location, so you’ll have to make sure each Straw Hat is in the right spot to take advantage of their abilities. Thankfully, the game lets you swap party members positions throughout the fight. You can even pull party members into the fight who weren’t on the field. Usopp too close to a group of enemies? Switch him out with Sanji. No healing items available? Have Chopper tap in to take care of damaged friends. Later in the game, you can even harness the power of friendship with “Bond Arts,” a powerful ability that Straw Hats execute together, which you can unlock through side quests.
During battle there’s a chance you’ll trigger a “Dramatic Scene,” which is an extra task to complete in exchange for bonus experience and loot. In a “Dramatic Scene,” you might be tasked with defeating an enemy with a particular member or in a certain number of turns. Completing these gives you a huge boost in leveling and helps you quickly progress through the game. Another way to get ahead in big fights is to eat food items that give you a buff. While you can’t get Sanji’s ability-buffing food in the demo, you can still pick up ingredients that can help you during smaller fights and can be used for cooking better recipes once you transfer your demo save into the main game.
Fans of the series get the chance to jump into an adventure with their favorite crew and and fight iconic enemies from some of the team’s biggest battles. You also get to experience a new world with new characters, some designed by One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda himself! Even if you’ve never seen the One Piece anime or manga, the game will be a great first introduction as you get to discover what it means to be a Straw Hat Pirate and get a taste of life on the Grand Line.
If you’re curious to try out the first One Piece turn-based RPG, you can download the One Piece Odyssey demo today! Your progress in the demo transfers to the full game, but make sure to pre-order to secure even more bonuses for when it’s released on January 13.
This set features useful items and the additional costume Traveling Outfit Set, all of which can be used in-game.
Includes:
• Energy Apple x 10
• Excite Apple x 10
• Golden Jelly x 3
• 100,000 Berries
• Traveling Outfit Set (Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Chopper, Robin)
*Full game is is required. Please update to the latest version before use.
*Please note that bonuses may be distributed at a later date.
*Contents and specifications are subject to change without notice.
*Some scenes and performances in the game may not reflect the costume changes.
*Bonuses can be obtained from the start of the game.
A new RPG from the hugely popular manga and anime series ONE PIECE, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the series!
The famed pirate, Monkey.D.Luffy, better known as Straw Hat Luffy, and his Straw Hat Crew, are sailing across the New World in search of the next island and the next adventure that awaits them.
But during their voyage they are caught in a storm and shipwrecked. They find themselves washed up on a lush tropical island surrounded by constantly raging storms…
Separated from his crew, Luffy sets off on a grand, new adventure to find his friends and escape the island!
Dangerous new enemies, terrifying forces of nature, and more await them!
Play as various members of the Straw Hat Crew in a classic RPG set in the world of the popular ONE PIECE anime!
*In addition to this product, ONE PIECE ODYSSEY Deluxe Edition and other digital content is also available. Take care to not make duplicate purchases.
Duelyst spent several years trying to find a business model that worked, before it 
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Final Fantasy 16‘s PC port came up. “Nobody said a word about a PC version release,” said Yoshi P, the producer on both FFXIV and FFXVI. “Why is it like a PC version is releasing 6 months later? Don’t worry about that, buy a PS5!” he said, laughing.
