2020 Recap and Plans for 2021

Happy New Years!  As is customary for me, every year I go back through my Youtube progress and calculate how productive my year was on Youtube, calculating my livestreams and published videos and logging how many and when.  And when looking back at 2020, I had a very unproductive year at first glance.  But 2020 was a very behind the scenes year and after examining all of the behind the scenes stuff, it was very productive.

For starters, I released a video about COPPA, which took effect in early 2020.  This unfortunately made all of my videos (except a scant few) fall under "for kids", meaning limited searching and no comments.  Thankfully, the response to that video was very productive.

However, that video was an offshoot of a huge project that my best friend and I spent a lot of valuable time and resources on.  Starting in late December 2019, we recorded 8 or 9 podcasts with the intent to edit them for clarity and release them to the public.  The project was called Don and Jerry with a goal on creating a podcast and videos on a separate channel.  With his help, we created a successful discord, edit roughly four of those podcasts together, create a discord exclusive preview and publish three video game playthroughs for our brand new Youtube Channel.  Don and I worked hard planning, recording, editing and creating for three months to get this done but unfortunately life got in the way.

A tragedy happened in February which you can read partially about on my new poem: A Girl Named Frank.  At the same time, I was diagnosed with tinnitus, which halted my ability to listen to the podcast and edit.  Around this time, I did record a couple of new videos (Mega Man X2, Lion King, GTA Liberty City Stories) but though I finished the first two, I never got my editor to work.  I chalked it up to lack of memory and put them to the side.

Fast forward a month and my tinnitus is starting to get better.  I started a Resident Evil Challenge on Mixer (as my computer stopped letting me livestream due to memory issues) and managed to beat RE0-4 as well as CVX and most of 5 before getting severely burnt out.  I also streamed most of Gears of War but I wanted something different.

I chose Super Mario Galaxy.  I started it up on my Wii U and started recording the walkthrough and to my surprise, it worked.  I managed to record all 242 stars over the course of the month and began editing them.  Unfortunately for me, my video editor still didn't want to work.

That's when it happened.  My computer's hard drive started failing.  Thankfully, I got a great new one which allows me to livestream, record and edit again.  And throughout October, November and December, I edited the 250+ videos into manageable parts, timestamped everything and created custom titles, editing them down into 70 separate videos.  This was by FAR my biggest project ever for the channel and the most time consuming, taking me nearly six months to finish.  While I am sad that I didn't get it out before September when Super Mario Galaxy was announced for rerelease, it's still done and I'm very proud of the result.  I may start SMG2 soon but I want to do a few other videos first, such as editing the numerous unedited videos on my hard drive.

I did manage to livestream quite a few more times though, streaming Story of Seasons FOMT remake and Portal but unfortunately I didn't get a lot of edited walkthroughs up (though I did manage to get a few that had been unlisted for a while).  And though I finally got my 1000 subscribers last year, I wasn't able to celebrate it much.

That's why this year, I'm cracking down.  It's gonna start with making sure the timestamps on my videos are correct and there.  You may have already noticed I've been doing this throughout today, fixing a lot of the timestamps and adding them as necessary.  This is due to Youtube's new Chapter feature, which really helps with my longform walkthroughs.  By making sure these timestamps are correct and on there, I can facilitate your viewing and make it easy to play along no matter which platform you're on.

I also plan to record a bunch of new walkthroughs starting with Phoenix Wright.  I recorded it a total of three times so far but each time video corruption reared it's head (or I wasn't a fan of the final output).  However, no more.  I got the game on Steam and I can run it smoothly, which will allow me to record it perfectly as I intend to.  I also want to finish more Zelda games as well as the remaining classic Castlevania games.  I also want to re-edit Dragon Quest 1's walkthrough to remove the random encounters and finish DQ3's walkthrough as well as a few Final Fantasies.  I really hope to follow through with this and make 2021 a much better year.

Super Mario Galaxy Walkthrough

 As I mentioned before, I started recording for a Super Mario Galaxy walkthrough on June 5th this year and finally completed all 242 stars on June 24th.  However, due to computer problems editing, I had yet to publish this walkthrough.  Of course, it would have been wonderful to publish this walkthrough in August right before the big reveal that it would be ported to Switch but it was not meant to be.  However, I'm writing this to announce that after many many hours editing, the walkthrough is finally fully edited (70 parts).  At the moment, I'm uploading them one by one to Youtube, making sure I didn't make any mistakes (already caught a few that I have to correct) and making custom thumbnails (also getting timestamps) but all things considered, I should hopefully have the walkthrough published in a few days (barring any unforeseen circumstances such as internet outages or hard drive failures).

I hope this walkthrough will help you beat this amazing game.  It was a blast to create but a beast to record and edit.  The finished files take up around 110gb so it may take a while for them to upload though.  As soon as everything is in the clear and everything checks out, I'll make everything public and publish it (then start SMBG2!)

What happened to the channel?

What happened to the channel and why have there been no new videos since March?  Short answer: my computer.  My computer was going on 8 years old this year and when I would try to record things, it would lag and freeze.  This was a huge reason my Resident Evil marathon was exclusive to Mixer at the time because my computer would freeze every time I tried to stream.  It was especially bad trying to edit the videos, as the editor would crash after just a couple edits or moves.  I managed to somehow get Super Mario Galaxy to record, probably due to the settings being at 480p but even then it would still lag horribly at times, forcing me to rerecord videos.  I finished recording it in June and my full intention was to get it out by August, however, my video editor actively worked against me, freezing every time I tried to render or edit a video and corrupting a ton of videos as it attempted to render my videos.

Unfortunately, this came to a head a week or two ago when my computer started clicking when I was operating it.  The hard drive was going out and all my stuff was in danger of being lost (20+ years of stories and pictures, several raw walkthroughs that needed to be recorded, etc).  Thankfully, due to my Youtube channel, I have a 5TB external hard drive so I threw everything I could on that and went computer shopping.

I managed to pick up a beast of a computer too.  It's been a long time since I could run computer games without lagging and now I'm running a lot of them at ultra 120fps.  That means I can finally record PC walkthroughs again, something I haven't done since Scribblenauts (in 2014).

Of course, transferring everything over, my videos wouldn't edit in either of my video editors that I used.  I tried reinstalling codecs and various other things but the only viable solution was to either get a new editor or convert 250+ videos to another format.  Thankfully, I found OpenShot editor and I'm enjoying it a lot.  It's been working fabulously for my editing and I've been very productive with it.  In the last week, I've managed to edit together most of my Super Mario Galaxy walkthrough and it should be ready in the next week or two (I still have to make custom thumbnails and grab the timestamps for everything).  In fact, just a progress update on editing:

MARIO: 100% done and edited

LUIGI: Currently editing Kitchen Dome galaxies.

My intention at this time is to finally edit several walkthroughs I have finished after I finish Super Mario Galaxy (it's kind of a monster walkthrough with nearly 70 videos, each roughly 15-45 minutes long).  I have Leisure Suit Larry fully recorded, as well as Final Fantasy Adventure and Resident Evil 1 with Jill (still need to record Chris's walkthrough), as well as Lion King SNES, DKC2, Spyro GBA and Phoenix Wright.  I plan to also record Super Mario Galaxy 2 soon and possibly other ones like Portal or Yakuza.

I am truly sorry for my hardware issues stunting the growth of my channel but I hope you look forward to the projects that are coming out soon.

Zelda Quest 1: Twilight Princess

After thoroughly enjoying both Link's Awakening and Breath of the Wild, my thirst for Zelda was not quenched at this point in time.  One game I really wanted to fire up was Twilight Princess HD, a game that I had yet to finish on Wii U and hadn't beaten since it released in 2006 (and even then, I was racing my buddy to see who could complete the game first).  So it quickly became a prime target for my next Zelda adventure.  At this point, my wife took a keen interest and the official Zelda Quest was birthed.

One thing that was so cool about this game is the duality between the twilight realm and the normal realm.  Playing as wolf link seemed much less cumbersome this time around and I loved the dark, gritty tones of this game (though I think Majora nails it better).  And I can honestly see why fans think this is a top tier Zelda game.  Then again, it's got a ton of OoT references and has the realistic and dark undertones so naturally a lot of people will enjoy it.  Plus you could finally unfreeze Zora's Domain (though not in the way people wanted).

Let me start by saying that this game has some amazing dungeons.  I love the Snowpeak Ruins.  It feels so awesome exploring a snow covered mansion and it's such a fresh take on a dungeon.  Even City in the Sky is so much fun with the double Clawshots, even though there are some annoyances with it.  Plus there are some unique and fun items in this iteration.  I like the spinner and the ball & chain is really cool (but essentially a Megaton Hammer on a chain) but reinventing the iron boots to work on magnetized tracks was awesome and made me think of them in a new light.  There's a lot of good stuff here!

I loved the fact that you could challenge the Hero of Time to learn new moves as well and there were so many OoT callbacks in this while still maintaining its own identity.  Seeing how the events of OoT played out after the credits was awesome too.  In fact, the storyline with Midna and Zelda as well as the Twilight Realm vs the Normal realm while still numerous side plots like Ilia or King Bulblin was great.  Plus the final boss was EPIC.  This was definitely a great Zelda to play for both the gameplay and the story.

However, the collectables and minigames were kind of weird.  I wasn't a fan of having 5 Heart Pieces to a container and catching golden bugs was alright.  Sumo wrestling with Gorons was hilarious though even if you have to cheat with Iron Boots.  The Cave of Ordeals and the new Wolf version were also more boring than anything and the fact that you have to do the wolf version four times sucks.  Plus the world map being segmented the way it was is kind of annoying, especially with how open and free form Wind Waker was.

All in all, Twilight Princess was a blast and a lot more fun than I remember it being.  It has an interesting story and I love the soundtrack to it too (Midna's Lament is definitely one for the Youtube playlist).  The wife loved the duality between light and darkness, the storyline and wolf link and easily put this near the top of her list (though I predict nothing will dethrone BotW).

At the end of it, I had completed the game 100%.  All 45 Heart Pieces, all 10 Bugs, every upgrade, both caves of ordeal done, etc.

OVERALL RANKINGS:

1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2. Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

2/ Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

WIFE'S RANKING:

1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2. Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

Pre Zelda Quest 2: Breath of the Wild

I'll be completely honest.  My thoughts on Breath of the Wild are like a roller coaster.  When I first got it for Wii U, I was absolutely captivated by the beauty and freedom and this feeling persisted when I picked up the game for Switch.  However, this copy was soon absconded by the wife who proceeded to play it for 450+ hours, searching all the nooks and crannies and even starting a separate file just to re-experience it.  However, when I rebought it a third time (after getting my own non shared Switch), I began to grow frustrated with the game.  I loved the exploration aspect but felt the game punished you hard for it.  It seemed like exploration was purposefully obtuse and whenever I would get anywhere decent, I would run into a powerful enemy who handed my butt to me, forcing me to trek back.  To be honest, it was offputting and for the better part of two years, I put off playing the game because of it.

However, after enjoying Link's Awakening, I decided it was time.  And boy, am I glad I did.  The game is incredibly flexible and despite the unforgiving beginning, once you start completing a few shrines or unlock new powers from the Divine Beasts, the game really starts to open up and become a blast.  I loved exploring the world, learning about the war against Calamity Ganon, doing side quests for people and unlocking all of the Shrines.  The atmosphere is awesome and while I hated the fact that weapons and shields broke at first, once I got used to it I was having a blast and enjoying the system.  Solving shrines is so fun because of the freedom the game gives you.  If you can imagine a unique puzzle solution, chances are if you can pull it off it will work.

Not only that but a lot of the side quests are unique and fun.  Finding a questionable statue with a background of double edged dealing or helping create a new town is so fun and awesome.  While I stand by how annoying the game is at the start, please put some time in and enjoy the game.

One thing I do NOT recommend though is collecting all the Korok seeds.  Yes, I ACTUALLY managed to collect all 900 Korok seeds in my playthrough of this game.  You only need about half to get all the max pack upgrades.  Finding the remaining 450 is a huge waste of time and only rewards you with a golden pile of poop that makes Hetsu dance.  That's it.

I managed to get 100% on the map completion but I have a few side quests left to do (4 if my count is accurate) and I still have to do the master trials to unlock the powered up Master Sword.  However, I have completed all 120 shrines, all named locations, all DLC shrines and sidequests (aside from the above mentioned Master Sword quest) and all korok seeds.  I even picked up all the amiibo armor but I have yet to upgrade everything and likely I don't plan to do so due to the overwhelming time it would take to do so.

HIGHLY recommended game.  I don't think it's as good as the hype leads you to believe but it's still fantastic.  Definitely play this one.  As far as how it compares to LA, there's hardly a comparison here.  LA is a fantastic game but short and sweet while BotW is long and will keep you occupied with tons of content and freedom unlike many other games out there.  For me, it's definitely better but LA is still fantastic.  As far as my wife's feelings go, it's one of her all time favorite games and one that she has spent three weeks of her life enjoying.  There's no question that it will top her list unless by some miracle she truly enjoys one of the other games in the series.

OVERALL RANKINGS:

1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2/ Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

WIFE'S RANKING:

1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Pre Zelda Quest 1: Link's Awakening Switch

Link's Awakening remains one of my favorite childhood Zelda games.  I used to love playing the game on my old chunky Game Boy on recess, discussing tips with my friends or showing off our progress and naturally, I was extremely intrigued with the Switch remake and bought it on release.

Immediately upon firing the game up, I was enamored with the art style, beautiful music renditions and hit with a huge nostalgia wave.  This game oozes charm and dspite being a weird one off style game with platforming elements, Goombas and a SimCity reference, this game was just awesome and I was severely disappointed when I 100% the game after a short 15 hours.

I love the atmosphere and updated graphics this game brought.  The setting being on an island outside of Hyrule and trying to collect instruments to wake up the Dream Fish is a unique and interesting plot, though due to the limited Game Boy hardware there's not a whole lot here.  Despite that, I loved Wind Fish Island and it's unique geography.

The dungeons were a lot easier than I remember them being however.  None of them proved a real challenge, even the Eagle's Tower (which I was thoroughly dreading).  However, they were quite fun, despite being more simple than I remembered and the tools you got from them were awesome.  I love blazing things with the fire rod or nabbing an upgraded tunic that increases my attack and it felt like there was a real sense of progression while playing this.

A lot more collectibles were introduced in this one but despite this, I found most of them easy to find, especially after getting the seashell tuner.  Still, I love that they fleshed it out more and increased your max health.  Plus the new Mario collectibles were fantastic and fun to go for.

However, the new Dungeon Maker was a huge disappointment.  Like many others, I was excited to have a "Zelda Maker" only to be vastly disappointed when I learned it was mainly just rearranging existing dungeon rooms together into one large one.  You couldn't even place treasure chests or customize the rooms!  This could have been an incredible feature and selling point but instead it's a novelty that wears off quickly.

All in all, this game is a fantastic remake, a bit shallow but kept me interested all the way.  Great remake but barely scratches the Zelda itch.  If you can pick it up for cheap, do so you'll love it.  Because the wife wasn't involved, her opinion won't be included yet.

OVERALL RANKINGS:

1. Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

WIFE'S RANKING:

N/A

Zelda Quest: A Personal Undertaking to complete all Zelda games

Back in September of 2019, Link's Awakening would receive a full remake and be released on Switch.  Naturally, being a huge Zelda fan, I decided to pick it up and fell in love with it.  However, because of its short length, I decided to continue on with the series and beat Breath of the Wild, which at that time I had yet to do.  This sparked a huge interest in the series and I decided to start a personal quest I entitled my "Zelda Quest", which is to beat all Zelda games as close to 100% as possible.  I managed to start up Twilight Princess HD, a game that I had on the backburner, which sparked the interest of my wife.  After discussing it with her, who has spent 450 hours in BotW but yet to experience the other games, she joined me and asked that we play the games in "timeline order".  Despite my warning that timeline order is subjective, we decided to use an official timeline from the encyclopedia and start the quest officially with Skyward Sword once Twilight Princess is over.  However, both LA and BotW were retroactively added to the quest, despite my wife being somewhat absent for them.

During this quest, we will be actively going over what we liked and didn't like and ranking the games in order.  Of course, we will be excluding obvious titles like Link's Crossbow Training, the CDi games, etc.  However, other than that, nothing will be left out!  I hope you enjoy our journey and our thoughts!