LogFAQs > #967614659

Young Link - The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask

Depending on what you consider Young Link to be, this could be a number of appearances. Like, if the Oracle games have a Young Link, he might qualify, I do love Oracle of Seasons. Same with any of the games in LttPs vein. But if were focusing specifically on the Young Link who is the Hero of Time, then yeah, Majoras Mask by quite a lot. Young Link was actually the first character I ever really hated controlling as a kid - I got to that part with the fences leading to the Kokiri Sword and was very concerned that I could not jump over them. I openly asked, whats wrong with his knees?, and after seeing him jump off of a cliff edge, discovered that he COULD jump, but simply chose not to. Based on this information, I decided that Ocarina was a bad game sometime in the middle of the Deku Tree and went back to Banjo-Kazooie, a decision I have not once regretted. Deku Link, though? Love that little guy, his spin attack feels great to use, makes total sense why hes so limited, gliding and pond skipping provide for great mobility puzzles. Goron Link? Love rolling around with that guy, big lug, fantastic. Zora Link? Kinda neutered in 3D, but man oh man does swimming with him feel GREAT in 64. Majoras Mask takes the base of Link - who truly only felt good in combat in OoT - and experiments with him in various ways to make him an incredibly flexible character. Most of the masks add onto this, as does the flexibility of most of your weapons and power-ups being optional, dungeon items regulated to simple arrow upgrades. Majora does an amazing job creating a sense of discovery based on the growth of your character, the more you put back into the world giving you a greater reward, culminating in the Fierce Deity just taking Majora over his knee and spanking the demon to death. Its one of the best ways Zeldas managed to marry narrative and gameplay, and deserves praise for not just being great, but turning me, specifically, around on 3D Zelda. Still ruined Ocarina for myself, but hey! Majora really great!

Best Smash Appearance: Ultimate - I love the design of Young Link they went with in Ultimate. True, its just Melee Young Link, but thats exactly the point. The feel of the character is so close to how a Melee character operates in physics and snappy aerials that it ends up being a proper homage to that bygone time. Is Young Link still annoying because of his oppressive projectile game leading to the same Up B finisher every single time? Yeah, but like, you fish for that optimal string in Melee, thats how it works when youre playing an out-of-meta character or Falco. Yink feels neat and novel in a way that fellow Melee transplants Dr. Mario, Roy, and Pichu dont, not changing himself up in any way, just stubbornly adhering to his roots and changing his playstyle only to make sure he feels even closer to the general vibe of the game hes homaging. Does this cut down on the inherent potential of the character? Oh yeah, Id much rather all that stuff I said about Majora be represented in Young Links moveset, there is an inherent cap to how far his novelty as a nostalgia character can take him. But insofar as just its the old Link you love, but more action? I like him fine. B-

Starfy - The Legendary Starfy

This is the only Starfy game Ive played. I know the 3rd one has Wario in it, is that the good one? Anyway, I really liked my time with Starfy, its a cute little game that does the most to make swimming controls really fun and fluid while not being challenging on any level. But it has this really neat sense of charm to it with the little mini-interviews it gives characters and codexes and just the little smatterings of character. It reminds me of the good parts of those mid-2000s Kirby games, the ones that werent very good compared to the rest of the series, but were cozy times and filled with little bits of personality. A shame none of that comes across in Smash, Starfy basically being the Goldeen of Assist Trophies. I think him swimming around the screen pushing people out of the way, basically constantly going GET DOWN MR PRESIDENT could be really fun. But nah, just spin and be useless. I think there are more amusing joke characters out there (Glass Joe, for instance), Starfy really deserves better than well hes trying.

Roy - Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Roys so strange. His actual personality does not fit his aggressive Smash Bros playstyle at all, the confident and cocky reverse hilt style totally opposite to the finding-confidence-in-himself prince looking to live up to his father, Eliwoods, legacy. The fiery, powerful blade of Roy wanting to constantly toss himself into danger was made up for Smash wholesale, the character made to be a reverse-Marth with only some pieces of concept art to base him off of, and hey, hes red, fire is red! Fire effects whoo! And when he was brought back for Smash 4 well regular Roy sucks, so they doubled down on those explosive elements to make a hyper-offense character who feels really, really great to play, sacrificing his own safety for a chance to hit an opponent with an almost assuredly lethal combo. As such, Roy does not represent Fire Emblem, his character, or his series at all, but still follows the natural evolution of a fighting game character in a way that ultimately makes him fulfilling to play. Do I think he should ever come back? Nnnoooo, I think the Awakening Lords fit his playstyle a lot better personality-wise, even though he feels better to play than both of them. Roy is in a weird position where he is too good for his own good, too enjoyable to properly represent the character that he is, but still too close to the other Fire Emblem characters that he doesnt get to stand out like Ike or Ganondorf. This is a moveset that could do wonders on another character, so much focus has gone into making it feel great but just transplanting it onto someone would feel like theyre just a Roy surrogate rather than their own character, despite Roy only really existing in this form IN the Smash Bros series! Kinda screwed themselves with a good design, here. C-

Best Non-Smash Appearance: Fire Emblem Heroes - Well it sure as Hell aint Sword of Seals, thats for sure! Miserable game where you have to drag Roys worthless ass through every single stage so he can cap it and be done with it, all the while being one of the most miserably underpowered lords in the entire series. The whole game is an escort mission centered around him, safe to say he weighs the entire game down and is lucky that the novelty of playable brigand carried me through (love you, Gonzales). Heroes Ive never liked any incarnation of Roy Ive pulled. But he was playable. So thats a step up!