Cere Junda is a former Jedi from the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game. Junda was captured by Imperial forces not long after Order 66 and tortured until she divulged the location of her padawan, Trillia, who would eventually become the Second Sister, one of the many Inquisitors in canon . Cere Junda used the Force to escape her captors, and eventually lived an anonymous life far removed from her origins. She would have remained so if not for meeting another Jedi survivor of Order 66, Cal Kes
Hyrule is safe once more, but so much was lost to acquire even a semblance of peace. Now, Zelda must emerge from the ruins of destruction and build something from the wreckage. It’s a heartbreaking conclusion to her destiny, and Zelda is left with so much emotional and physical baggage that it’s easier just to cut it all away – this detachment has been presented in a rather literal sense with her new hairstyle.
It does something that a remake or remaster can never do. No matter how much Mass Effect Legendary Edition or Spyro Reignited may look like how we remember them, they’ll never be able to capture the experience of playing games as a kid. Revisiting classics through remasters and remakes definitely induces nostalgia, and they have the power to trigger all manner of memories and feelings from the past, but a fresh coat of paint just isn’t enough to truly bring me back. Resident Evil 4 VR, despite it being a completely different format, has moved me in ways a normal remake never could. This game makes me regress, and from talking to other people and watching streamers play it, it seems to be doing the same thing to everyone that grew up with Leon’s Spanish advent
Given that the Las Plagas parasites have existed in their Spanish cave for at least centuries and were used by the older Los Iluminados cult of centuries earlier, it may be hard to make the case that Umbrella’s Nemesis monster helped create the Ganado (Los Iluminados members who are infected by the Las Plagas parasites). In all likelihood, it sounds more like the existence of the Las Plagas parasites helped Umbrella create the Nemesis parasite, and Umbrella’s Nemesis was modeled after the Las Plagas paras
Grogu’s life after Order 66 is generally a mystery, as is much about him. It’s not clear who his master was, or if he had one at the time of the attack. His survival seems to be the result of the kindness and sacrifice of a mysterious benefac
RE4VR doesn’t function like a remake or remaster at all. When I play it, it’s a way of experiencing something I’m intimately familiar with. It’s somewhere between nostalgia and deja vu – like going somewhere you’ve only been in your dreams. When I’m fully immersed in a VR game, it’s the closest I ever get to that childhood feeling of getting totally lost in a game, and the familiarity of RE4 makes that even more profound. I know every inch of this game, yet somehow I’m also seeing it all for the first t
Female characters parting with their hair has been a deliberate sign of growing maturity in media for decades, a changed appearance highlighting that women are willing to leave behind everything in service of something greater. Mulan is the most popular example, with the titular character cutting her gorgeous hair to join the army and assist her ignorant father. It’s the opposite of Zelda’s situation – instead of pulling herself away from the royal family, Mulan is doing everything she can to preserve it. But the core motivation remains the same: these are two women who realise a sacrifice must be made, even if it means altering their appearance and walking away from a life of security.
Nintendo has built up a cast of beloved supporting characters, so expand upon them and make them matter. Age of Calamity did a solid job of this, although I wasn’t a fan of its more eccentric approach to storytelling – still, it’s a good blueprint to follow if the overall tone is given a few much-needed adjustments. Breath of the Wild was so compelling because of the mystery that defined it, each hesitant step into its sprawling world rewarding us with riches and a freeform experimentation in gameplay that nothing in the open world genre has been able to match since. It’s a marvel, and something the sequel should build upon as opposed to replicating with only a few key changes.
No matter what happens, it remains important to consider the symbolism behind Zelda’s appearance, and how her luscious new hairstyle could be a sign of change for her character that allows her to abandon the shackles of royalty and strive for Elden Ring NG+ guide independence beyond grief and trauma. It’s a powerful message of perseverance for a woman who deserves agency, even more so when you consider the classics that inspired her and how female characters in the world of gaming are finally earning a similar level of respect to their male counterparts.
I can’t play the Spyro trilogy for the first time again, nor can I approach it with the same innocence and sense of wonder that I did when I was ten years old. I still love the series, but games have changed a lot since Spyro first came out. There have been 20 years of evolution and innovation since Spyro the Dragon was made, and I’ve seen how games have been refined and enhanced since then. I’ve changed a lot too. I’m a critic now, and I pick games apart and analyze them for a living. I can revisit Spyro from a new perspective, but now I experience it as an echo of the original – a snapshot of my childh
