Pragmata's probably still my GOTY, but Mina the Hollower's a very close second (and it's honestly more tightly designed). Such a wealth of stuff to do, secrets to discover, and mechanics to synergistically play around with! Highly, *highly* recommended.

It's June 2026. I still think about Richie Faulkner's solo in 'Invincible Shield'.

People have said the same about changing the combat in, say, Final Fantasy or Yakuza. It was unwarranted then, and it's even more unwarranted now. The "feel" you're describing is just your nostalgia speaking. Nostalgia turned insecurity towards the new and unknown. A defensive reaction that makes you want something to be the same. Sameness is safe. It felt good then, so it'll feel good now. But we know what actually decent Zelda combat looks like now. We've all played BotW and TotK. Why not build on their heights instead of going back to a rose-tinted past long left behind? Besides: the Z-targeting system was born out of compromise. It was a concession. Nintendo weren't familiar enough with 3D design yet to comfortably implement more dynamic combat. Plus, the system helped them save on a jump/dodge button in certain contexts as well. Those compromises are no longer necessary now that Nintendo have mastered movement and combat in three dimensions. There's no real reason to go back to Z-targeting — which, let's be honest, turns combat into a slow, boring, Simon Says-like minigame — apart from catering to the aforementioned nostalgia. Take a good, honest look at the evolution of 3D Zelda combat (from fighting Darknuts in Wind Waker to taking down Lynels in the Switch's duology) and then tell me that Z-targeting would still "feel" better in a game in 2026. Go on, I dare you. You don't actually want Z-targeting. You just don't want your memories of Ocarina to be tainted. And I get it, change is scary. But the only way to get the kind of art that makes Ocarina-like memories possible, is to demand what's best, not what's familiar.

No, I’m not amused by the announcement of another Ocarina of Time remake. This Switch 2 strategy of “let’s just remake N64 classics that defined 3D gaming 30 years ago” is exactly the kind of mind-numbingly safe, boring and corporate BS that is antithetical to peak Nintendo.