Just wrapped up the first dungeon, and it was great fun. Gale boomerang, wind puzzles, monkeys everywhere. It wasn't particularly involved, but hey, first dungeon.

By this point I'm really hooked on Twilight Princess's mechanics. Wolf Link is different enough that it's a distinct experience from playing regular Link, but similar enough that it's pretty easy to take care of business. Plus running around and growling at enemies is surprisingly fun.

So far, the plot hasn't surprised me. There was a moment analogous to that in Wind Waker where Link descends into underwater Hyrule, but it was hinted at and introduced gradually, so the shock value wasn't nearly that of WW's. Nevertheless I'm hoping/expecting something big comes up later.

There are a lot of stylistic enhancements to classic Zelda, for instance when you press A to put away your sword at the end of a battle sequence, Link spins the blade with a flourish before sheathing it. Controller sound effects are neat too, though their frequency is a bit startling (sometimes it seems like almost every action has a controller sound effect).

The reviews floating around the web so far seem to indicate that Twilight Princess is nothing new, some easy romp through Hyrule to break in the Wii. I've got plenty of game left to explore, but personally I disagree. Maybe I haven't spent as much time collecting heart pieces as I should, but TP has actually struck me as quite difficult for how early in the game I am; and it's definitely a fresh experience, if using an established engine.

If it follows the Zelda story formula established in Ocarina, Twilight Princess should become super-compelling within another dungeon or two.

Progress: Finished Forest Temple

I've never been big on sports (except maybe Mega Man Soccer), so I wasn't expecting much out of this except some cheap thrills as an apartment activity. I wouldn't say I was wrong, but I totally underestimated Wii Sports. I might argue that it's the best party game since Smash Bros. To contextualize this, I played Wii Sports with my three roommates, so we had a full team so to speak.

The games themselves are something of a mixed bag. Tennis is probably the most fun for partying situations: extremely easy to play, and way too entertaining to watch your friends flail around with a racket. Baseball, none of us have figured out how to bat yet, so it's hard to enjoy. Bowling is pretty cool and easy to play, but not as exciting as a time-based game. Golf is pretty fun by design; we're having some issues with club-swinging (mostly putting), but that's probably a learning curve situation. Boxing is actually pretty exhausting since it involves so much arm movement, which has its own pros and cons.

Like I said, partying with Wii Sports is way fun. There's more to it too, like a Training mode that allows you (and optionally your pals) to play mini-games related to the five core games and hone your skills, and a Fitness program (for the solo player) that's like Brain Age but without the "brain" part. I haven't explored these much so far, but I may delve further into them at some point.

Progress: Tried out all 5 games, haven't done much else

I'll be honest: the intro section bored me. Link's humdrum little farming village is pretty bland, and unfortunately you have to spend some time in it getting used to the controls. But now that I'm in the real adventure of the game, it's nothing short of exhilirating. I only stopped playing because I haven't eaten since this morning.

Of course there is still a long way to go, but I have an extremely good feeling about this one.

Progress: I'm a wolf!

In previous playthroughs, I had never really concerned myself with checking out multiple endings, but I made that a focus of my CT romps over the weekend and I really enjoyed it. It's remarkable how much refinement and polish was put into this little gem - I've fallen in love with it all over again. But, times are tough, so getting all that's left will have to wait.

Progress: Endings +!

I've got a little downtime before this month's big Wiilease, so I figured I'd start replaying CT for old time's sake.

So far, it's every bit as sophisticated and charming as I remember. I will say that the battles seem to be slower than I'd like, but I'm pretty sure this is just because I'm still in the early stages of the game.

Gato rules!

Progress: Doing the time warp again

Progress: 100%

The ending? Pretty bizarre. But that falls perfectly into line with the rest of the story. It also leaves a ton of doors open for the sequel.

Nothing about my previous complaint (far-off level-up abilities) has changed, except my opinion about it. Finishing the game without them is perfectly feasible and fun, and having ultra-lofty goals for character advancement is a great replay mechanic. Leveling up your bevy of cool abilities is a fantastic way to breathe life into the game well after the ending (not to mention all the sidequests). I don't have the space in my schedule for it now, but I definitely plan on coming back to do more in the post-game when I get the chance.

I have a hard time quantifying it, but there's an immense sense of nostalgia when I play Contact. It probably has more than a little to do with the SNES-esque graphical style prevalent in the Professor's lab, but there is definitely something very "old school" about Contact's gameplay mechanics. A huge amount of credit should go to this game's developers for a job very well done.

Progress: 6 Power Cells

I've been elected as my apartment's official Zelda: Twilight Princess representative. True story.

Contact was written for computer geeks. Almost every level of the game has some Internet-culture humor - even the instruction manual is written as if it's the professor's LiveJournal, each page an entry describing his newest project (parts of the game interface). All the dialogue is excellently crafted; the professor's absent-minded descriptions of his inventions are endearing, and all the NPCs have something entertaining to say.

If you're unfamiliar with the plot, it starts with the professor trying to make contact with a being (the player) from another dimension (the one with DSes). However, shortly after "meeting" you, the professor's spaceship comes under attack, and his power cells become fragmented and scattered across the planet. He makes an emergency landing right next to mild-mannered boy Terry, who's quickly rushed into the safety of the professor's ship to avoid deadly laserfire. Then the last of the ship's remaining energy is used to get to safety.

The professor ends up "merging" his ship with a pirate galleon he found lying around, which allows him to travel between islands, searching for his missing power cells. But he's not strong enough to do it on his own, so he needs Terry's help; and Terry's not smart enough to do it on his own, so he needs your help. And so begins the adventure.

I've already described the basic gameplay devices in Contact. What I didn't mention is that there are a number of outfits Terry finds within the first half-or-so of the game that you use to gain new abilities and/or strengths. There is a suit for each of the four elements, which each amplify a certain character trait - for instance, the water suit increases your magic abilities, and the rock suit increases your stamina. There are also three special suits that enable cooking, fishing, and thieving (the thief suit allows Terry to pick locks). Each outfit has a corresponding character level, and higher levels bring new abilities and moves. (Similar enhanced abilities and moves come from leveling up each of the three different weapon types.)

Yeah, there's a huge amount of opportunity for character customization. One problem I'm running into now is the experience curve; I'm already nearing the end of the game, and don't even have half of the abilities for anything. Given the lengths I have left, and that higher levels naturally take more grinding, I feel like I'm missing out on the highest echelons of abilities, and may never actually get to them.

But, I may be speaking too soon. I still have the final castle to do, and that's not to mention the game's bevy of sidequests. For instance, on specific islands, there are girl NPCs who are... shall we say, easily wooed by gifts and a particular trait (e.g. one of them likes flowers and your Courage stat). Once a girl is sufficiently impressed, she moves onto your boat and will travel with you. In fact, you can have all four of them on the boat at the same time. Contact Terry is already more of a player than real Terry ever was.

Everything about Contact is pure fun. It's certainly apparent where someone might not like it - the difficulty level, for instance, is not for the weak of constitution - but this is the kind of brilliant game I've been waiting for for a long time. I feel obligated to knock off some points for the experience curve, but there's still time for that to change, anyway.

Progress: 5 Power Cells

Hey, guess what? Touch Detective is super-short. The obtuse difficulty I encountered in the first episode did not come up again, so the game went from beginning to end fairly rapidly.

Touch Detective shows promise; there is a great framework for touch-centric investigation. I haven't explained the gameplay before because it's really explained in the title - you touch things to investigate the case, which is executed simply and intuitively. The presentation also makes it fun despite the juvenile characters. The top screen shows the thoughts and feelings of the detective herself, Mackenzie, and while this is rarely used for crime-solving, it does make the experience more engaging.

However, the engine isn't really used to its full potential. Touch Detective's story consists of four episodes, about 1-2 hours long each, if you don't get "stuck" on a cold lead. There's also a Bonus Episode, but it's just a collection of small tasks to help out the characters you've met through the other cases, and there isn't a narration or any grand goal to tie it all together.

I can also go on about other tradeoffs in Touch Detective: how parts of the soundtrack are cool, but most is forgettable; how sometimes the writing is clever, but other times laborious and tiring. But really these are just tertiary concerns in respect to the bigger flaw of the game. In the end, it's fun, but there just isn't enough to it. Watch for a (hopefully bigger) sequel, but until then, save your money for Phoenix Wright 2 or Hotel Dusk.

Progress: Almost 100%