Adventure/Explore

Ending the World in Style

HIGH Beautifully cohesive and flows at a smooth, fast pace.

LOW Azrael's dungeon is too sloggy.

WTF Someone actually approved the sandworm room?

Combining the Best of the Past and the Present

HIGH Finishing a particularly nasty bit of platforming in the last level.

LOW Not being able to see Rayman when the screen zooms out.

WTF Disco dancing with the main villain for absolutely no reason.

It ain't Wonderland

HIGH A more interesting version of Wonderland than the sequel's.

LOW Every aspect of production and control is painfully rough.

WTF A pile of different weapons, but only a couple worth a damn.

We're bringing back GameCritics After Dark, and to kick things off it's a special Zelda extravaganza! We assemble a crack team of experts to give their take on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, then we debate an even more enormous question: what is the future of the Zelda franchise? Featuring Richard Naik and Mike Bracken, plus special guests Jeffrey Matulef and Brainy Gamer's Michael Abbott.

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Links:

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

I haven't been up on my download titles and the way I should lately, so I've been trying to rectify that over last week or two. I decided to comb through the PSP Minis store alphabetically and see what caught my eye. There's a whole lot of junk in there, quite frankly, but there are some nice titles if you look hard enough.

Welcome back to the second part of our interview with Jonathan Blow, creator of the indie smash Braid and the upcoming The Witness.

In this episode, we begin the discussion of what it means to spend our time playing games. Paramount to this: our discussion of "achievements" and how they feed into creating structures that presuppose challenging design.

Happy New Year! We reveal the success rate of our 2011 gaming resolutions, and set some new ones for 2012. Plus, Fallout (the first one!), Infinity Blade II, Sequence, Darksiders, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward BORED—am I right, people? With Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard Naik, and Tim "My Wife Really Did Say That" Spaeth. Oh, and I almost forgot! This is the show that changes everything.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | Zune | RSS

Links:

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Stuck in the Clouds

HIGH The boss in dungeon four.

LOW Inconsistent stabs AND falling off a ledge to be respawned next to a lantern ghost in the Silent Realm.

WTF To open the gate of time, you must attain the three sacred flames. To get the sacred flames, you must acquire the three sacred gifts. To get those, you must procure the fifteen tears of the goddess....

Welcome back to State of Play with Brandon Bales!

Here's the first part of our interview with Jonathan Blow, creator of the amazing indie hit Braid and the upcoming The Witness!

In this episode, we dive into Mr. Blow's history in the industry and into the genesis of Braid, one of the breakout hits of the new Download Renaissance.

I did play the game back in the day when it was new, but it's been so long (released in 2000) that I couldn't remember much about it except that I had an intense dislike for it.