Remake wishlist: Zelda II -- Spaghetti Mage

What is your favorite Zelda game? Ocarina of Time? Breath of the Wild? Maybe it's Twilight Princess.  Most people don't answer Zelda II.  In fact, most people would say Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the worst Zelda game of the series.  For me, it brings back some nostalgia.  I remember playing this in anticipation, wondering what the sequel to Zelda would bring.  It's dungeons were mysterious, and the music for the game is very memorable.

Truthfully, it hasn't aged well.  Zelda II opted for a side-scrolling view for it's dungeon gameplay over the topdown play style of the original game.  However, I think a remake would turn this game into the classic it was supposed to be.  I would love to see something similar to the Metroid Samus Returns remake.  

Sometimes I feel like I don't understand what the hell Nintendo is doing.  They have such a strong legacy of games they could remake to keep the legacy thriving.  Personally, it feels like they abandon previous systems.  The 3ds is truly unique in it's ability to show 3d games, yet the new games coming out seem sparse.  Nintendo has such a library of games, yet I feel like they underperform in many ways. Their Zelda and Metroid series have such potential to be remade and updated with new graphics.  Zelda II in particular would allow for A LOT of room to rework some of the original aspects of the game.

Check out this fanmade version of Parapa Palace! Looks nice.  Nintendo, why can't you make this happen??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJIbmCiFcWM

Shadows Awakening -- Spaghetti Mage

So I recently beat Shadows Awakening, a game that has some similarities to Diablo, but has some unique twists.  Your core character is a demon that lives in the shadow realm.  At the beginning, you have the option to choose a legendary hero; a barbarian, a thief/archer guy, and a sorceress/magic user (her name is Evia).  I chose Evia.

As the game progresses, the demon character can absorb certain souls of enemies, making them playable characters, aka "puppets".  This allows the player to grow the list of playable characters in the game.  It's definitely a unique twist in the game, and it is fun finding out what characters you might acquire next.  In certain scenarios, you have to pick which character to get, making the alternative choice unavailable to play.  Certain characters have key dialogue parts as well, such as Zaar and Carissa.

I had fun playing the game, and the mix of puzzles, story, and action works well, especially flipping between the real world and the shadow realm.  The demon and Evia are permanent characters, so you can only choose 2 additional characters for your team of 4.  Once I got Carissa to join the party, I found myself using some of the extra characters a lot less.  Towards the end of the game, I was basically using Evia, the demon, Carissa, Falon, and the Iron Clad zombie some.  For all the work needed to get the Draconian, I really didn't use him alot.  

I think it's a good game, unique in it's playability, and familiar to fans of Diablo-type games, but it never really knocks it out of the park.  The ending sort of winds down instead of builds up.  If this game were multiplayer...even if it were just 2 players, I think it would be way more fun.