Bleach TYBW E47 Review: tri-world cooperAtion

Bleach, Thousand-Year Blood War, Episode 47: The End 2

Been a bit behind in Bleach: TYBW reviews, but considering that there's a bit of delays in the final two episodes, I guess it all works out in the end. After the previous episode was a relatively faithful adaptation/remastering of some segments in the manga, 'The End 2' gives us mostly new content. 

And we start off with a rather fun scene, and one that quite interesting for the anime staff and the writers to focus on, since we start off in a strange purgatory with waters. The near-death Kyoraku gets dragged underneath by an a hand, and is confronted by the spirit of Ukitake. Ukitake gives a bit of a recap about Juhabach's plan to merge the Three Worlds, and how he's managed to delay it with his whole Mimihagi gambit. Ukitake notes that he's very likely to die soon (and Kyoraku agrees), and before he does so, he wants to make a gambit on Kyoraku by giving his last powers to him. There's a nice couple of jokes between the two old friends, before Ukitake notes that despite this not being Kyoraku's style, he's still going to do it since there's no one else that can. 

Kyoraku walks off into the distance and wakes up in the real world, while Ukitake fades away (and says his last line in his adult voice). It is quite surprising that we're getting a bit more for Kyoraku to do, but I am absolutely not complaining. 

Our main star in this episode is Uryu, however, as we go through a massive sequence that's original to the anime. Fresh off his victory over Haschwalth, zips down into the giant orb of deathly distortion, summons his fancy new four-pronged bow, and starts shooting arrows into it. The arrows whirl around the giant death-orb, and Uryu notes that this is exactly as his master (his grandfather) wrote. Utterly unexpectedly, the two best characters in Bleach, Pesche and Dondochaka show up. They were apparently caught up in the 'black eyeballs' and got teleported there. Which I guess are the portals that were opened a couple episodes by the science team? 

But much more exciting is the arrival of Neliel and... Harribel! There's a bit of a comedic bit from Pesche where he accuses Uryu at ogling Nel's adult form. Harribel is completely no-nonsense, pointing her giant shark-bone-sword at Uryu's face. Which, fair enough, he is a Quincy and even though Harribel has been out of the loop, her being suspicious would be entirely proper. Kyoraku and Nanao then show up, leading to a three-way meeting between the Shinigami, Hollows, and (a) Quincy. 

And can I just say how cool it is for Tier Harribel to have a large-ish role here? They didn't have to do this. They could've just had Harribel be freed in the epilogue and called it a day. But I've always had a huge soft spot for the Espada, and seeing Harribel get extended screentime where she had nothing in the manga is great. 

We get a brief cutaway to a whole ton of Hollow rampaging and destroying the Rukongai, with Akon and the rest of the science team remarking about how this appears to be stabilizing the distortion as best as they could, and while the destruction of the poor Rukongai to be a necessary evil. There's some discussion about how Shinigami need to ensure balance, although I don't think 'maybe Rukongai existed just for this moment' makes much sense beyond the Shinigami telling themselves that to feel better. 

We then get Kyoraku and Harribel both commenting on the big orb of doom, and Uryu identifies it as a 'final arrow' by Juhabach to trigger the collapse of the Three Worlds. And Uryu makes it clear that his duty and objectives as the Last Quincy is to destroy that Seed of Distortion. We get a flashback to Ishida Soken, Uryu's grandfather, apparently being the one to have discovered this distortion with his experimentation... and inadvertently caused this to be known to Juhabach. Soken notes that there might be a way to destroy the Seed of Distortion by driving it into the distortion itself. A bunch of handwave-y explanations that I have watched a couple of times and shrugged, but essentially it gives Uryu a game plan. 

The whole Seed of Distortion stuff is admittedly still a bit of a random plot device from out of nowhere, but we at least get some modicum of explanation and exposition this time around. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I can see how it works around the explanation for Uryu's big moment in this episode, and at least one aspect of Juhabach's plans to merge the three worlds -- even if he seems perfectly capable of doing it on his own with just his Auswahlen powers. 

There's a bit of a 'tough guy' act from some of the parties involved, but ultimately the various factions decide to work together to enact Uryu's plan -- drop the castle down into the distortion. Uryu plans to drop the central tower of the five-pointed Soul Palace (apparently the other four mini-palaces keep the central structure floating in the skies? ....sure?). In an adaptation of the silly unexplained bombs from the manga, Uryu gives out 'Leiden Scherben', Quincy explosives that break down and scatter reishi. Uryu's allies will go around to tear down the bridges of Wahrwelt to drop the central castle. 

We cut back to Juhabach and Ichigo, where after the previous episode, Ichigo is basically in complete shock while Juhabach does an evil villain monologue. We get a short but powerful monologue from Ichigo, who notes that everyone there has had their powers rendered ineffective... and Juhabach attempts to take back the power he has given to Ichigo. I'm not sure if it actually worked or not, but Juhabach draws in power from Ichigo and Blut Vene appears all over Ichigo's body. As per Ichigo's flashbacking to the origin of his Quincy powers, Juhabach is drawing the Quincy-Hollow powers into himself, and Ichigo's hollow horn shatters. 

Shadowy goop comes out and creates a gigantic halo, and this slams down all over the battlefield. Everything is bathed in vague purple light... and sadly, this does mean that the Gerard Valkyrie fight ends the same way, without even the slightest bit of extra scene for Byakuya/Hitsugaya/Kenpachi to do something against Gerard and his heart. Boo! Boo boo!

(At least this time it does seem to be Juhabach unwittingly hitting the other Schutzstaffel in the crossfire while draining Ichigo, instead of him grabbing the villain ball). 

As the church-bells sound and Gerard gets atomized into a skeleton, the Auswahlen also slams onto the Lille Barro birds, wiping them out of existence while a confused Izuru Kira looks. It's...  it's a bit of a little bugbear for me, too, that we didn't even get a token scene of Kira fighting the Lille birds. We don't have to get a proper fight, just to see Kira clash maybe once or twice with the Lille birds. There were enough random scenes with the science team that I'm sure it could've been snuck in. 

More importantly, Mimihagi around Ukitake explodes and Ukitake presumably dies properly in this episode... but Kyoraku raises his hand, which contains a fragment of Mimihagi... and that shadow morphs into a mass of energy, and then an eyeball, and gets sucked in by Juhabach as well. What this means, and why Ukitake needed to entrust that power to Kyoraku, I'm not sure... but I really do appreciate the added Kyoraku/Ukitake stuff and hope that all of this builds to a less ass-pull-y finale for how they defeat the Almighty. 

Juhabach, fully empowered as thus, flies up above the Wahrwelt and notes about how his plan is entering fruition as the Seed blooms, and as he's about to make an offering to the 'chaotic tranquility'. 

(I will still be critical and note that the anime still doesn't explain why Juhabach needs to do a second Auswahlen to get rid of Gerard and Lille, which still feels as random as it was in the original manga. I can infer stuff, but it still feels rather random._

It's at this point that the five bridges blow up as Uryu's allies detonate the bridges, and Uryu flies in from the skies. And as if he's a goddamn proper main character this time around, Uryu challenges Juhabach. And as Uryu and Juhabach prepare to fight, we get a cute scene of Dondochakka's giant pet Hollow worm, Bawabawa, evacuating the rest of the main cast. 

Uryu and Juhabach fight, with Juhabach outspeeding Uryu handily... but then a gigantic blast of water slams onto Juhabach as Tier Harribel joins the battle! That's so awesome. Underused characters actually participating in big fights? I guess the Espada rightfully is more popular even among the writers and animation staff compared to the XCution or Visored. 

And Harribel just keeps slamming large amounts of water onto Juhabach. Nelliel charges in with Super Acceleration, although she gets pierced on the side. It is quite cool, since Nel did absolutely nothing but stand around and evacuate people in the manga version of the arc. Juhabach mocks the 'King of the Arrancar', noting the sheer gulf between their powers. Harribel cares not for power level gaps, or of the title of 'King'. 

Harribel and Neliel are completely outmatched, mind you. Juhabach is right. But it's still cool to see old school Bleach attacks as Harribel drops a Cascada on Juhabach, dodges some black shadow tendrils before being pierced. Uryu uses Feder Zwinger to break down the reishi of Wahrwelt to create a gigantic arrow, and does a massive combo attack with Nelliel's Lanzador Verde... the scene moves between multiple projectiles and it's a bit odd, but as Juhabach queries whether this is the 'future that Uryu has chosen', Uryu goes "I haven't chosen yet!" So... uncertainty works to work around the Allmighty? Lanzador Verde slams onto Juhabach and seems to stun him for a bit. 

Juhabach notes about how futile this is, and uses his powers to 'break the arrow of hope'... but then, Uryu finally, finally shows off why Antithesis is actually important to fight against Juhabach. 

In the face of Juhabach's future-swapping abilities, Uryu notes that he could already see that the future's going to be swapped... and he uses Antithesis to reverse the futures, restoring the arrow that Juhabach broke. It breaks apart and swarms around the Seed of Destruction, finally sending the Royal Palace descending down into the giant void in space. 

Again, this is cool. In the manga, Uryu barely gets to use his Antithesis powers, but everyone keeps calling him as some kind of special Quincy. Uryu actually having the power to defy Almighty with Antithesis, and his still-unexplained immunity/survival of the Auswahlen (which I really hope the anime explains) really does make it understandable why he's super crucial to defeating Juhabach, instead of it feeling arbitrary. The added Uryu fight scenes against Squad Zero, Renji and Ichigo, of course, most certainly helped out too. I know I did complain a bit across my reviews about some things that could've been extended, like the Visored, or Gerard, or whatever.... but Uryu definitely is someone who went out of this new rewrites with a massive victory. 

As the Seed of Distortion falls into the distortion itself, and Juhabach mocks Uryu that this is going to blow up the Seireitei... Uryu uses Antithesis to swap some stuff. With the trinkets that Uryu and Neliel has thrown around, Uryu swaps Juhabach and traps him within the explosion, while teleports the Arrancar into safety. And then with a gigantic amount of Feder Zwingers that take the form of like, mummy bandages, Uryu wraps everything around the gigantic explosion to contain it. The interlocking Quincy arrows is some over-the-top CGI stuff, but it looks impressive enough. Uryu gets a pretty cool Dragon Ball Z style yelling, before the explosion happens. 

And Uryu falls out of the sky, and just like Orihime a couple of episodes ago, this feels like a victory. But then Juhabach appears in the sky, laughs, and notes that this alters nothing of the future he had planned. Can't... can't Uryu just Antithesis this again? But sure. I get where they are going for with this, and we could handwave it as Uryu just losing power. 

Juhabach boasts as eyeballs appear all over his body that 'all Schrifts have sublimated' within him, and that the final end and beginning is about to happen. With the distortion plan gone, Juhabach walks into a portal and heads down to the Soul Society. This happens in the manga, too, but felt random and arbitrary. 

While I'm still a bit salty about some choices, I really do appreciate that the anime is really showing off some characters that really deserved better. Harribel, Nel and Kyoraku all having stuff to do is absolutely welcome, but Uryu getting a proper huge gambit to fight against Juhabach is great. I also really like that between the Antithesis powers of Uryu and the whole Mimihagi gambit by Ukitake and Kyoraku, that we're slowly building up various other ways to properly get around The Almighty beyond just a vague handwave of 'plot device magic arrow'.

This episode does feel a bit clunky, and if we're being honest a couple of the changes are quick handwaves just to give us some popular characters returning as a bit of a fanservice... but I can't lie; I did really enjoy all the returning characters and the huge Uryu moment. It feels like they could've did some work to make the pacing work better, but otherwise it's still a nice episode. 

Random Notes:

• Kyoraku and Ukitake getting extra scenes is most welcome. One could already make an argument that Kyoraku had his big moment, and Ukitake's big moment comes off a lot better now that the anime equivalent of that scene has a flashback attached to it. But having a proper conclusion to that is most certainly welcome. 
  
• And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Ukitake getting a proper close-out is probably a nod to his upcoming big role in the Hell Arc, whenever that happens. 
• 
  Among the discussion between Kyoraku and ghost!Ukitake, there's  a cute line where Ukitake notes that the chances of their plan working out is the same chance as Kyoraku successfully asking Unohana out on a date. Okay!
• With Xcution really not doing anything more than their manga counterparts in the next episode, I really thought that they could at least help out in laying down the bombs. At least Kujo, Riruka and the Time Tells No Lies guy would have something to do? They would represent the 'Earth' part of the Three Worlds a lot  better than just Uryu alone, at least. 
• It was a bit confusing how Pesche, Dondochakka and Harribel got sucked to the Royal Palace. Pesche claims that some 'black shadowy eyeballs' teleported them there, which seems to imply Juhabach's powers, but considering they were all last seen in Hueco Mundo, and the only portals that opened to Hueco Mundo seem to be the one activated by the Gotei 13... it's just a bit odd. 
• Nanao was fully ready to throw down and Hado the Arrancar if Kyoraku hadn't stepped in. 
• The Gerard fight really does rankle me. Even a couple of extra scenes showing them figuring out that it's the heart that's the source of regeneration and commenting on it would've been something. 
• As Juhabach does that final Auswahlen  and everything goes purple, there's a very cool chanting background music that I think is Never Meant to Belong (?) but with the Auswahlen church bells effect overlaid on top of it. 
• I do like that among the five orbital palaces, we get to see the massive terrain damage caused by Gerard's kaiju fight, as well as Lille's Trompete attack. 
• So despite Renji being cut up into ribbons last episode, I guess only the Bankai parts are broken? Because he seems quite whole on top of Bawabawa. 
• The bangles that Nelliel drops to allow Uryu to use Antithesis are the bangles that prevent her from reverting to her child form... she does get turned back into a kid next episode, so it's a bit... foolish, I would say, to use those when any item would really do. 
• Really love the scene of Uryu swooping in like a damn fighter jet into the glowing yellow explosions of the Seed of Distortion. 
• Rangiku, Momo and motherfucking HANATARO make brief cameos around Byakuya and Hitsugaya as they witness Uryu stopping the big explosion. 
• ...did none of the Shinigami try to help contain the blast? Even with the handwave that the more powerful Arrancar are wounded, the Shinigami no longer have Gerard to deal with, after all...

Gotta Review 'Em All - Moves [Generation VIII], Part 1

Generation VIII is here! And while it isn't as broadcasted as heavily as the 'National Dex' stuff, in addition to huge swathes of Pokemon simply not being playable in Pokemon Sword and Shield, a casualty that went unlamented are entire scores of moves that are simply... purged from the game entirely. While not including some of the more extraneous moves like Z-Moves or the Let's Go special Pikachu/Eevee moves are understandable, the fact that so many moves are just lost and not available feels like kind of a disservice. 

I do understand that it's a nice simplification of the game for newbies, to reduce the available amount of moves to something somewhat comparable to Generation III or IV. With moves, I can at least somewhat see the 'competitive field' argument. Not that I really find it a good reason myself, since it really does reek of them simply not caring enough -- or more likely, not having the time -- to program all of these older moves into the game. 

And I think part of my frustration with this 'move purge' is that, unlike the Pokemon species, there really isn't much in lieu of replacements for these 'lost' moves. When you do a rotation in a TCG, normally the cards that leave are replaced with ones that do a similar thing, but in a more balanced manner. And while we do have some new moves, they're also... not the most exciting? Which is probably why my Generation VIII move review took so long to write. 

And as such, I honestly do think that Pokemon lost something when so much of these new moves in a generation are just either gimmick signature moves, or, in the case of Generation VIII, part of a series of moves meant to fill a quota, in this case the Dynamax/Gigantamax moves. And honestly, the sheer lack of flavour in the G-Max moves in particular is what made writing this article so hard for me. I finished up most of the other moves, but for the Max/G-Max moves, it took me so long to write. So I do apologize in advance if I sound a bit too salty, but these are my honest opinions in reviewing these moves.

(This was originally supposed to be a single article due to the relatively smaller amount of moves, but my ranting ended making it a bit longer than it should be.)

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Normal-type Moves:

So to refresh your minds about the Dynamax/Gigantamax gimmick for Generation VIII, once per battle in certain areas, a Pokemon can become really big to turn into their Dynamax (or Gigantamax) forms for three turns, getting some buffs to their stats and replacing all their moves with "Max Moves". It's something similar to Z-Moves from Generation VII, with all attacking moves turned into their respective max moves, while all support moves turned into a specific variation. And some Pokemon get special 'G-Max' moves if they have Gigantamax forms, which allows them to use a unique variation. 

Which sounds like them trying to do a balancing act between Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves on paper. It sounds neat! On execution... I can't speak for the 'meta' implicatoins, but execution wise, it's almost always kind of boring and if I was a bit more cynical, I would point this out as yet another example of Generation VIII's rushed, cost-cuting measures because almost everything uses the same bunch of animations, robbing the whole point of what made Z-Moves unique in the first place. Which is really a shame, but honestly, considering the bulk of new moves in Generation VIII are tied to this Dynamax gimmickry, there really isn't much for me to talk about 'flavour'. But I'll get the Max moves out of the way for every type, but... if you can't tell, all things considered, I really do think that the Dynamax gimmick in Generation VIII is probably my least favourite of all the gimmicks we've had. 

(The fact that you only really have eighteen animations and they're not skippable means that you'll see them over and over and over again, so after a while despite being impressive on paper they kind of become quite boring.)

• Max Strike (Dai Attaku/Dy Attack) This is what all the Normal-type offensive attacks are transformed into, and the animation is probably the only thing that these Max moves do well. It's an over-the-top giant strike from the heavens with a lot of flashy lights, taking a nice advantage of the Nintendo Switch's comparatively better graphics. It's a bit less silly than VII's Breakneck Blitz, which is the Normal-type Z-move, but it's all right. 
• Max Guard (Dai Woru/Dy Wall) A fair bit more boring is the 'guarding' Max move, which is what all status move turns into. It's basically Protect. Again, conceptually it's okay. You go big, and one of the big stuff you do is a big forcefield. Neato.
• G-Max Gold Rush (Kyodai Koban/Gigant Koban), G-Max Cuddle (Kyodai Hoyo/Gigant Embrace), G-Max Replenish (Kyodai Saisei/Gigant Regeneration) ...but this is where things kinda fall off. All these fancy Gigantamax forms -- Gigantamax Meowth, Gigantamax Eevee, Gigantamax Snorlax -- have fancy new forms, and each of them have a specific new Gigantamax move... all of which are given such inspiring and memorable names starting with "G-Max". The animations? Exactly the same as Max Strike, with some effects that are not displayed visually. Coins burst out with Gold Rush, berries burst out with Replenish, which seems like such a cheap, additional tack-on. Remember how cool it is that some Pokemon got unique Z-move animations in Generation VII? All the animations with Snorlax waking up and charging at the enemy, or Incineroar summoning entire boxing rings, or Decidueye spinning around shooting shadow arrows into a tornado? Man, those were so personalized to each Pokemon and so memorable. 

• Court Change (Koto Chenji/Court Change) Depending on the release date of this article compared to the abilities one, you will or have seen me bitch about Libero. But Cinderace's signature move, Court Change, is actually very flavourful! In football (or soccer), the teams swap fields at some points in the game. Cinderace replicates this, swapping the effects of each field and moving buffs/debuffs onto the opposing field. Unlike the random favouritism of Libero, I actually really like this move's flavour. 
• Stuff Cheeks (Hobaru/Stuff Cheeks) Originally the signature move of the Skwovet line, this one has the Pokemon eat its berry to get whatever effect that the berry has and get a defense boost. It's a way to guarantee your Pokemon get the effect of the berry. Sure, it's kind of cute for the starting rodent, I suppose, and it's quite flavourful. Later generations would make this move available to other 'glutton' Pokemon like Swalot and Lechonk. 
• Teatime (Ochakai/Tea Party) ...why is this a Normal-type move? You'd think it's Ghost-type, since it's Polteageist's signature move. The effects are also kind of strange. Despite the visuals of Polteageist doing... well, poltergeist stuff on a spectral tea-set, the effect is... all parties in the field eat their berries? Uh? Okay?
• Terrain Pulse (Daichi no Hado/Terrain Pulse) A rather simple move, this was only available in the DLC through a move tutor. Terrain Pulse ties into the Terrain gimmick introduced in Generation VI -- Terrain Pulse changes its typing based on the active terrain at the time. Neat! Not much to say beyond that. 
• Power Shift (Pawa Shifuto/Power Shift) This is a very interesting move introduced in Legends: Arceus, which also came out in this generation. Power Shift basically swaps the physical and special stats -- both attack and defense -- allowing some Pokemon with weird movesets to benefit from different stats. In competitive play you really do want to build your Pokemon to their stats, but maybe you reeeeeeally want your Dusknoir to be destroying opponents with Shadow Ball instead of Shadow Punch. I can't say I don't understand, in my head Gyarados blasts Hyper Beams and Hydro Pumps instead of slamming onto them with Giga Impacts and Waterfalls. 

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Fire-type Moves:

• Max Flare (Dai Ban/Dy Burn) So yeah, the Max Fire-type move is just... a bigger Flamethrower that creates a big fire explosion. Admittedly there's only so much you can do with fire, but still... I dunno. Just 'Flamethrower but big' feels so lazy. 
• I think I haven't really mentioned that almost all of these Max moves have some kind of additional effect, yeah? I'll just note all of them here. Where possible, the weather or terrain associated with the type is unleashed by the move. Max Flare, for example, casts the sunlight weather effect. The water, ice and ground Max moves cast rain, hail and sandstorm; and the electric, psychic and fairy moves cast their respective Terrains. The rest, though? Just some random buffs or whatnot, which I thought was honestly kind of lame. 
• G-Max Wildfire (Kyodai Gokuen/Gigant Hellfire), G-Max Centiferno (Kyodai Hyakka/Gigant Hundred Flames), G-Max Fireball (Kyodai Kakyu/Gigant Fireball) And really, there isn't that much of an excuse that Charizard and Centiskorch's "Wildfire" and "Centiferno" basically have the same animation but with slightly different effects. Being a DLC form, Cinderace's "Fireball" actually does have unique animation... but it's honestly just Cinderace doing a regular attack animation of kicking the giant bunny fireball, so I'm not impressed either. 

• Pyro Ball (Kaen Boru/Flame Ball) Of course Cinderace gets two signature moves and a signature ability. Freaking Fire-type starters and their favouritism. I actually do like the flavour of Pyro Ball, though, where Cinderace isn't just kicking balls of fire (which already fits with his theme). He's actually kicking little rocks on the battlefield, and those get ignited and expand into the fireballs. I don't like Cinderace, but this little detail, I can appreciate. 
• Burning Jealousy (Shitto no Hono/Flame of Jealousy) The Sword/Shield DLC gives a bunch of moves that the dojo move tutor can teach you. For Fire, it's Burning Jealousy, where in a rather hilarious anime-style wackiness, the user gets so jealous at any opponent that had a stat increase, and attacks them and leaves them with a burn. Bit of a shame that the visual effects are just a 'big fire explosion', but at least the name and effects are cute. 
• Raging Fury (Daifungeki/Great Infuriation) Legends Arceus gives us some additional moves. Raging Fury is essentially Fire-type Outrage, and it honestly kind of fits the flavour of a 'fiery rage'! That's neat. In Legends Arceus, this was originally exclusive to Infernape and Hisuian Arcanine. 

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Water-type Moves:

• Max Geyser (Dai Sutorimu/Dy Stream), G-Max Stonesurge (Kyodai Ganjin/Gigant Rock Formation), G-Max Foam Burst (Kyodai Homatsu/Gigant Froth) Again... the animation for the water-type Max move is... just an over-the-top Hydro Pump. It looks cool, yes. The bright beams, the explosions of water erupting away as the beam is unleashed... but after all the flash disappears it's kind of just a beam? An unskippable beam of an annoying gimmick that you have to see over and over again if you want to engage with this game long-term. 
• And, again, my complaints continue where the names of attacks like "Stonesurge" and "Foam Burst", assigned to Gigantamax Drednaw and Kingler respectively, doesn't really reflect the flavour. No stones are shown with Stonesurge; and a giant Final Flash beam isn't exactly a 'foam' that traps the enemy. 
• G-Max Cannonade (Kyodai Hogeki/Gigant Bombardment), G-Max Hydrosnipe (Kyodai Sogeki/Gigant Snipe) The DLC Max moves fare a bit better, in a way, even if the animation mostly just involves zooming into the anatomy of the Pokemon in question. G-Blastoise just unleashes multiple streams of water from the little fortress on his back; G-Inteleon aims, shoots and it explodes the enemy in water.
• G-Max Rapid Flow (Kyodai Rengeki/Gigant Continuous Strikes) G-Urshifu does some rapid-strike moves. It's kind of what you expect from a kung-fu attack, and... normally I'd complain, but my standards for Max moves are very low so the fact that he received any kind of unique animation already gets Urshifu an A in my books. 

• Snipe Shot (Neraiuchi/Snipe Shot) This is Inteleon's signature move, and it has ol' Gecko James Bond point his finger-guns at the enemy and then unleash a compressed blast of water that just slams onto them. This ignores 'taunting' moves and abilities that draw in this attack like Storm Drain or Follow Me. I think I've gone on record that I'm a bit disappointed with how Inteleon's visual design turned out, but the finger-gun water sniping ability gets no complaints from me. 
• Fishious Rend (Era Gami/Gill Bite) Fishious! Like 'vicious'! Get it, get it, get it, ehhh? I love this pun. The half-and-half fossils of this generation get two signature moves split across the 'heads', and Fishious Rend is shared by Dracovish and Arctovish. It's basically a glorified prehistoric fish biting you, but a dunkleosteus looks creepily badass enough that I believe that their bites warrant a whole new move on their own. The effect is doubled damage if the 'Vish moves before the opponent, which I'm not really sure what the flavour is. 
• Life Dew (Inochi no Shizuku/Life Droplets) A bit of a rarity in this generation, this isn't a signature move or a move tutor move, but just a move that many Pokemon can learn. Life Dew just instantly heals the user and its allies by 25% of their HP. The flavour of 'healing water' that is quite common in fantasy fiction hasn't really been all that prominent in Pokemon outside of Aqua Ring, so I do like the addition of this one.

• Flip Turn (Kuikku Tan/Quick Turn) Flip Turn is basically Water-type U-Turn. The user deals damage then quickly switches out. This is the DLC tutor move for the Water type, and I didn't care at all for this the first time I saw it... until I was informed that Flip-Turning, or Tumble-Turning, is actually a technique that professional swimmers do to quickly change direction. And now I really like the flavour! 
• Surging Strikes (Suiryu Renda/Stream Strikes) This is Rapid-Strike Urshifu's signature move. He hits three times, flowing like the river and whatnot. I like the fun display of kung-fu movie tropes here, but I have to confess that beyond the fact that "it looks cool", I can't really find much to say. 
• Wave Crash (Uebu Takkuru/Wave Tackle) This is a move introduced in Legends Arceus, and is shared between Empoleon and the Hisuian Basculin line. It's a recoil move and is therefore the most efficient way to rack up the recoil damage needed for Basculin to evolve into Basculegion. In the original Legends Arceus, Wave Crash interacts with the 'action speed' mechanic that replaces turn order. In the full games, however, it just gets reduced to a straight Double-Edge clone. I do really like Legends Arceus for introducing some new mechanics separate from the original games, but I also acknowledge that sometimes not all of them can be translated well to the mainline games. 

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Grass-type Moves:

• Max Overgrowth (Dai Sogen/Dy Grassland) The Dynamax move for Grass-types is Max Overgrowth, which essentially summons shoots several seeds that emerge into of spectral giant mushrooms and grasses. I like the mushrooms for this one, and it's quite neat to see the slight contrast between the giant Pokemon stomping around and the normally much smaller grasses and mushrooms and whatnot. 
• G-Max Tartness (Kyodai Sangeki/Gigant Acid Attack), G-Max Sweetness (Kyodai Kanro/Gigant Nectar). These two are the G-Max moves of the Applin final evolutions. Which... okay, not all the G-Max moves are lame! For Appletun and Flapple, they summon giant apples instead of mushrooms, which is cute. 
• G-Max Vine Lash (Kyodai Bentatsu/Gigant Whipping), G-Max Drum Solo (Kyodai Koranda/Gigant Drumbeat) And, of course, DLC Gigantamaxes get more unique animations. G-Venusaur's G-Max Vine Lash is basically an over-the-top vine whip animation, while G-Rillaboom's drum solo summons a root through the ground that explodes upon the enemy. Slightly more neat. 

• Apple Acid (Ringo San/Malic Acid) Most Pokemon introduced in this generation gets a signature move, and the apple dragons of course get some. Appletun gets Apple Acid (the Japanese goes a bit more specific with 'malic acid'), where it vomits out some sour fluid that lowers the opponent's Special Defense. All well and good, but...
• Grav Apple (G no Chikara/G-Force) Look at what Appletun's brother Flapple got! "Grav Apple", or "G-Force" in the original Japanese. What has the Grass-type or apples have to do with gravity? Isaac fuckin' Newton, that's what! Flapple summons a tree and we get an animation of a giant apple falling down and smashing apart on the opponent's head. If the Psychic-type move Gravity is in effect, Grav Apple does more damage! That is how you do flavour. Holy shit. I didn't realize this move was a thing until I started reviewing stuff on this blog, and I feel like that's yet another reason why the Dynamax/Gigantamax gimmickry of this generation isn't a particularly good showcase of the actual Pokemon. I mean, yes, the visual designs of the Gigantamaxes are showed off, but all their moves are the exact same as everyone else. The most fun stuff in this generation are stuff like Inteleon's Snipe Shot or Dragapult's Dragon Darts or Flapple's motherfuckin' Grav Apple, you know? 

• Drum Beating (Doramu Atakku/Drum Attack) Drum Beating is Rillaboom's signature move, where it beats its drums a lot and a bunch of roots move across the ground to slam onto the enemy. I honestly kind of expected a bit more (especially compared to Cinderace and Inteleon's far more fun signature moves), but kudos for Rillaboom for at least having something neat. 
• Branch Poke (Edazuki/Branch Poke) This one is almost Grookey's other signature move, but it's also shared with the Phantump line. It's essentially a reskinned version of Leafage or Vine Whip, a weak early-level move that's flavoured a bit differently, this time with a branch poking you. I've been hurt more times by branches than vines or leaves, so yeah.
• Snap Trap (Torabasami/Foothold Trap) What a fun move, huh? This is Galarian Stunfisk's signature move, and it does what you expect it to do. Stunfisk latches on to the enemy like a bear trap, and it both traps the enemy in the field and also deals damage over time. Cute!

• Grassy Glide (Gurasu Suraida/Grass Slider) Grassy Glide, or 'Grass Slider', is the move tutor move for the Grass-type, and... I don't like the flavour of this one all too much. The idea is you sliding on the grass and hitting the enemy, so it gets a bonus damage if Grassy Terrain is in effect? Terrains are a bit ignored and so a bunch of moves that synergize with it is nice, but I feel this one feels a bit forced from a flavour standpoint. 
• Jungle Healing (Janguru Hiru/Jungle Heal) Jungle Healing is Zarude's signature move, which is also a reminder for me to actually watch the Zarude movie. Zarude would extend his vines and attach them to the jungle around him, and then draw enery from the jungle to heal itself and its allies, restoring health and status conditions. I do like the little contrast of a very feral-looking psycho-ape like Zarude having a super-powerful healing move!
• Chloroblast (Kuroroburasuto/Chloroblast) Chloroblast is almost assuredly a pun on Chloroplast, the organelle in cells that contains chlorophyll. This is the signature move of Hisuian Electrode, and takes the form of a gigantic beam of light as Electrode unleashes all of the stored chlorophyll energy within his body. I guess Hisuian Electrodes unleash plant-powered laser beams instead of exploding? Pretty sure they explode too in Legends. It's a powerful recoil move, because presumably Electrode 'burns out' its chloroplasts, but in exchange for one of the highest base-power Grass-type moves, tied with the starters' signature Frenzy Plant. 

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Electric-type Moves:

• Max Lightning (Dai Sanda/Dy Thunder), G-Max Volt Crash (Kyodai Banrai/Gigant Heavy Thunder), G-Max Stun Shock (Kyodai Kanden/Gigant Electric Shock) Again, just like the fire-type move, Max Lightning is... just a really over-the-top Thunderbolt. Which looks cool the first couple of times you see it, but there's not a whole lot of creativity here, I guess. Almost half of the Electric-type moves that already existed already summon a thunderbolt from the skies. 
• Volt Crash is G-Pikachu's; Stun Shock is G-Toxtricity's... there are effects for them, but I just find it so boring to list everyone's effects, so I'm not going to. I'll list the Pokemon that does them, but trying to find something interesting to write about these end up giving me such a bad case of writer's block that I'm not going to.

• Bolt Beak (Dengeki Kuchibashi/Electric Shock Beak) This is the signature move of the 'Zolt' fossils, where the 'bird head' portion of Dracozolt or Arctozolt lights up their beak and pecks the enemy. It's got a weird additional effect of getting a bonus if they manage to attack before the target. Okay? 
• Aura Wheel (Ora Guruma/Aura Wheel) Because Morpeko is a hamster, it runs around in an 'Aura Wheel' and slams onto the enemy as it runs in a wheel made out of electricity. It's cute. Depending on Morpeko's form, Aura Wheel swaps between dealing Electric and Dark type damage. Gimmickry, yes, but it's neat. 
• Overdrive (Obadoraibu/Overdrive) This one is Toxtricity's signature move, and it's unleashing an epic rockstar guitar TWAAAANG that explodes out in one of the nicest effects in Sword/Shield, taking the form of those musical beats in DJ machines that I don't know the exact terminology for. In a game where a lot of the animations are actually simplified, I really appreciate moves like Overdrive and Aura Wheel for giving us some really fun effect. Overdrive is also a sound-based move, which synergizes with Toxtricity's ability! 

• Thunder Cage (Sanda Purizun/Thunder Prison) Thunder Cage (or 'Thunder Prison' in the original Japanese) is Regieleki's signature move, and it looks particularly cool in the anime. Regieleki already has his arms be made up of a bunch of viney, ropey fingers that open and close, so it really lends well to the imagination of it opening these up and making them into a cage. The anime interprets this, however, as Regieleki's legs exploding into a giant skirt or root system of electricity that cages his opponents. The actual effect is basically a simple damage-over-time thing, but the visuals are really nice. 
• Rising Voltage (Raijingu Boruto/Rising Bolt) Kinda boring. Rising Voltage is the tutor move for the Electric type, and it's just an upwards-rising lightning bolt that gets boosted by Electric Terrain. I guess it's cute that in Generation IX it ends up being the signature move of the long-necked Raging Bolt? Eh. 
• Wildbolt Storm (Kaminari Arashi/Thunderbolt Storm) Wildbolt Storm is Thundurus's new signature move thanks to Legends Arceus. Another 'storm' attack, Wildbolt Storm afflicts its opponents with paralysis. Rather simple, but also fitting with the flavour of a lightning-themed weather god. 

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Poison-type Moves:

• Max Ooze (Dai Ashiddo/Dy Acid), G-Max Malodor (Kyodai Shuki/Gigant Stink) This one's okay. Three giant pillars burst out of the ground, enveloping the enemy. It's something a bit more flavourful than 'just a poison beam'. I am... kind of surprised we don't have a 'Poison Terrain' yet? Really? You'd think that it would've been an easy video game trope to add into Pokemon moves. 
• G-Max Malodor is G-Garbodor's version of the move... and there actually is a difference here because the giant pillars of poisonous goop are now BROWN! It looks suitably disgusting. See? It's not that hard to change some of the moves to look a bit different!

• Corrosive Gas (Fushoku Gasu/Corrosive Gas) This is the Poison tutor move, and... I actually like the flavour of this one! The user unleashes a cloud of corrosive gas around it that "melts down" all of the held items of everyone else. The flavour of a corrosive acid destroying items is pretty solid, and I find it one of the favourites out of the DLC tutor moves. 
• Shell Side Arm (Sheru Amuzu/Shell Arms) This is Galarian Slowbro's signature move, and Galarian Slowbro's whole deal is that his spiral Shellder shell is now a Mega-Man style cannon. Can you just imagine Slowbro cocking that shell like a shotgun, and then firing off a round that explodes into a cloud of poison? I really like this one just from a flavour standpoint. 
• Dire Claw (Feitaru Kuro/Fatal Claw) Dire Claw, or "Fatal Claw" in the original Japanese, is Sneasler's signature move. To be honest, I actually find Sneasler to be one of the more forgettable Hisuian evolutions. Dire Claw is... interesting? It has a 50% chance of casting not just Poison, but also Paralysis or Sleep. I'm not sure how that last one came around. It just feels honestly kind of random and I'm struggling to think of what the flavour is for the lanky, moutnain-climbing weasel. 
• Barb Barrage (Dokubari Senbon/Thousand Stingers) And Barb Barrage here is Hisuian Qwilfish and Overqwil's signature move, which, in addition to being able to cause poison, has a variation of Venoshock's effect (increased damage if the enemy is poisoned) but for all status conditions. Oh, and Qwilfish needs to have this move to evolve into Overqwil!

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Dragon-type Moves:

• Max Wyrmwind (Dai Doragun/Dy Dragoon), G-Max Depletion (Kyodai Gensui/Gigant Decay) The Dragon-type summons a vertical tornado, and two dragon wings spin around before the tornado explodes. It's... all right? Not particularly Dragon-flavoured, but then again what is? I like the little pun with 'Dragoon' in the original Japanese and 'Wyrmwind' in the English. It's okay. 
• Depletion is G-Duraludon's signature move, and a giant winged tornado isn't something that you'd normally associate with a walking building. 
• Dynamax Cannon (Daimakkusu Ho/Daimax Cannon) Dynamax Cannon is one of Eternatus's signature move. Being the anti-Dynamax Pokemon, Eternatus's Dynamax Cannon is just a really huge fuck-off laser beam. It deals bonus damage to Dynamax Pokemon, which is both a nice little counter to these gimmicky bastards but also quite thematic from a lore perspective. 
• Eternabeam (Mugendai Bimu/Infinite Beam) In his "Eternamax" form, Eternatus transforms into his eldritch hand/worm/satellite form, and unleashes a whole load of laser beams down at the enemy. In-game, the Eternabeam animation is the only way that you can see Eternatus in his 'Eternamax' form after the boss fight, since that isn't a form you can access in normal gameplay. That's cool, actually. Eternabeam has a similar 'cooldown for one turn' similar to Hyper Beam. 

• Breaking Swipe (Waido Bureika/Wide Breaker) Breaking Swipe, or 'Wide Breaker' in Japanese, is originally almost a TM-exclusive move in Generation VIII (Duraludon learns it naturally), and it's kind of a way to give Dragon-types an AoE move, isn't it? The flavour is basically similar to Dragon Tail (the tail glows and the user swings it), but with the main selling point being the ability to hit two opponents. Can't say I'm too excited about this one. 
• Dragon Darts (Doragon Aro/Dragon Arrow) The best signature move, this one belongs to Dragapult. Dragapult launches the Dreepies hiding in his little missile pods, and they fly towards the enemy and explode. They're fine, because the little babies are already ghosts! Back in Generation VIII, there is even a little easter egg that if another Pokemon copies Dragon Darts, the 'missiles' are not Dreepy but a glowing purple energy dragon. That's cute! 
• Clangorous Soul (Souru Bito/Soul Beat) Clangorous Soul, or "Soul Beat", is Kommo-o's signature move. With the Z-Moves being removed in this generation, Kommo-o doesn't have anything special going for it, so they actually did a nice thing and repackaged Kommo-o's original "Clangorous Soulblaze" into this move... which gives Kommo-o the same buffs, but now he has to sacrifice some HP to get it. Poor Kommo-o! 
• Scale Shot (Sukeiru Shotto/Scale Shot) This is the Dragon-type tutor move, and... it's a nice, flavourful one. The idea is that the Dragon-type launches its own scales like throwing knives or something, making this move a multi-hit one. But as the scales are launched, the user's Defenses are lowered, while the Speed is increased. Pretty simple 'shed armour, be faster but weaker' flavour here. I like it. 
• Dragon Energy (Doragon Enaji/Dragon Energy) Dragon Energy is Regidrago's signature move, and the power of this move is tied to Regidrago's own "life force" -- the higher Regidrago's remaining HP, the more powerful this is. It's all right. It's no Thunder Cage. 

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Ice-type Moves:

• Max Hailstorm (Dai Aisu/Dy Ice), G-Max Resonance (Kyodai Senritsu/Gigant Melody) This one is a bit more creative -- the user creates a bunch of giant icebergs in the sky that then plummet and shatter all over the opponent. It also explains the casting of the 'Hail' weather effect better than the water and fire type moves.
• G-Max Resonance is G-Lapras's version of the move.
• Triple Axel (Toripuru Akuseru/Triple Axel) This is the DLC tutor move for Ice, and it's hilarious in that it's meant to be a figure skating move, reinterpreted as the Pokemon coating their legs in ice and then doing said Triple Axel move to kick the enemy multiple times. It's particularly hilarious in this anime example of Mr. Rime kicking a badass, presumably while tapdancing. 
• Glacial Lance (Burizado Ransu/Blizzard Lance) This is Ice Rider Calyrex's signature move. Where upon riding up on top of Glastrier, Calyrex summons a giant lance made out of ice and chucks it at the enemy. It's a neat visual, if nothing else, fitting with the idea of a jousting knight.
• Mountain Gale (Hyozan Oroshi/Iceberg Wind) Mountain Gale is Hisuian Avalugg's signature move, and to call it a 'gale' is a bit of a misnomer. Its original Japanese name, which translates to roughly "Iceberg Wind", is more descriptive because Hisuian Avalugg quite literally drops several icebergs down onto the enemy. This originally had a completely different effect relating to action orders in Legends Arceus, but in the proper mainline games, it causes flinching instead. 

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Bug-type Moves:

• Max Flutterby (Dai Wamu/Dy Worm), G-Max Befuddle (Kyodai Kowaku/Gigant Bewitchery) Despite being given the utterly confusing name of "Dai Worm" in Japanese, Max Flutterby actually summons a bunch of glowing butterflies that fly towards the enemy, and then explode in a giant Dragon Ball Z energy dome. It's... it's not very 'Bug'-y other than the butterflies, is it? I'm not the biggest fan of Savage Spin-Out from Generation VII, but at least that's unmistakably very Bug-flavoured. 
• I'm also kind of disappointed that G-Butterfree's unique version, G-Max Befuddle, doesn't colour the butterflies in Butterfree's colours. 
• Skitter Smack (Haiyoru Ichigeki/Creeping Strike) The Bug-type DLC tutor move is... it's got a cute name, representing the Bug-type scuttling behind the opponent and then striking it. This lowers the Sp. Attack stat. Okay. Kinda boring, honestly. I don't have much to say about this one, it's not particularly 'buggy', and if we're being honest, fells more like a Dark-type move.  

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Flying-type Moves:

• Max Airstream (Dai Jetto/Dy Jet), G-Max Wind Rage (Kyodai Fugeki/Gigant Wind Strike) I actually really like this one. The Flying-type Max move is a giant horizontal tornado that actually looks super-badass, ripping up the air and the ground as it blasts through the enemy. It's more of a 'wind element' move, I guess, but it does make sense when you've turned into a giant bird to unleash such a devastating tornado upon the enemy. 
• Wind Rage is G-Corviknight's version of the move. Unfortunately, despite the badass design, the mini-Corviknights don't do anything in the move. 
• Dual Wingbeat (Dabaru Uingu/Double Wing) The Flying-type tutor move. This one is simple. Birds tend to have two wings. So you hit them twice with your wings. Thus, the Dual Wingbeat -- or 'Double Wing' in the original Japanese. This is actually the first Flying-type multi-hit move. Not the most creative, but it's okay. 
• Bleakwind Storm (Kogarashi Arashi/Chill Wind Storm) Legends: Arceus gave the Forces of Nature signature moves, and Tornadus got the very badass "Bleakwind Storm". The idea of this attack is that Tornadus weaponizes the cold, chilly winds to hurt the opponent, causing them to be afflicted with Frostbite (Legends: Arceus' version of Freeze) or a lowered speed in subsequent generations. I like the principle of giving some of the more ignored legendary pokemon new moves, and having suffered through cold winds myself, I can see why this move is quite damaging. 

Reviewing Monsters - The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - Echoes

Look at this charming game! 

The 21st game in the Legend of Zelda series, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a first in the series where it's a full-on Zelda experience... where you finally take control of the titular Princess Zelda! We've had Zelda playable in short sections or in 'larger roster' fighting games like Smash Bros and Hyrule Warriors, but Echoes of Wisdom opens up with you being a full-powered Link going through a final dungeon to fight Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda trapped in a crystal. Pretty common stuff...

Up until the story gets reversed, strange rifts open and Link falls inside... but not before freeing Zelda, who goes through the adventure to save Hyrule from the ever-expanding threat of the rifts! The gameplay is a wonderful mix of assets and the engine from Link's Awakening with the open-world, minimap quality-of-life improvements from the Breath of the Wild series of games, and it's probably one of my favourite unexpected Zelda experiences. The game is crisp, and brings in a brand-new innovation in that Zelda plays very differently than Link. 

Zelda doesn't solve most of her problems with sword-and-shield combat (she can, as a super-mode, but it's not going to be your go-to solution) but rather as a spellcaster. Specifically, a summoner. Zelda's obligatory fairy companion Tri allows her to gather 'echoes' of monsters and objects, and summon them to solve puzzles. This brings in a rather unique gameplay where Zelda goes around defeating monsters, 'scanning' them, and summoning them as her own minions. It's pretty fun, even if it was a bit slower-paced in the beginning. 

Again, this review is more concerned about the monsters than the gameplay or story, but suffice to say that I enjoyed Echoes of Wisdom quite a bit. 

The game also features a lot of 'variant' monsters, some of which are stronger or tied to a specific element, but for the sake of not repeating myself too much, I'll group each monster based on the 'families'. I'll also be referring a lot to the older 2D Zelda games, so refer to my reviews of A Link to the Past (part 1, part 2) and Link's Awakening (here) if you need a refresher. Those reviews are a bit older, but should still hold up. 

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Zols: Zol, Ignizol, Hydrozol

There's upwards to around 100 monsters that are able to be turned into echoes in this game, but not all of them are created equal. Many of them are 'reskins' of each other, which is quite typical for a Zelda game... but it gets a bit more obvious when you are actively scrolling through the 'echo select' screen and seeing a hundred of them. 

A lot of the monsters are also based on their appearances in the 2D Zelda games, particularly Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past, but we do get a lot of new ones or variations of older ones. The classic Zol takes the role of the weakest enemy, lacking the body-splitting ability of its previous counterparts. The Zol is just there, blobbing around, happy to be around instead of the Chuchu. 

Two 'elemental' variants appear in later areas. The Ignizol is themed on a candle, with a white body and a little wick on fire on top of it. The Ignizol is one of the most essential echoes in the game, particularly in the icy Hebra Mountain regions, as it serves to keep you warm and to solve torch-themed puzzles. Lastly, the Hydrozol appears in the water-themed Zora areas, with the unexpected ability to expand double its size if it comes into contact with water. 

Sea Urchin

As with its previous incarnations, the Sea Urchin is more of an obstacle than an actual monster -- a little orb with metal-looking spikes and two unblinking eyes. As an enemy, it's a bit more annoying to deal with since Zelda doesn't have access to a sword all the time... but the Sea Urchin, at least early on, actually serves well as being a cheap little spiky buddy you can summon and use as a wall to block enemies, or to drop on stunned foes in front of you. A nice little boring enemy that becomes a bit more interesting due to the mechanics and engine of the game. 

Rope

The classic Rope also makes a return, these happy green snakes that move in a single line. Again, one of the weaker enemies in the game, and I just find it cute that Zelda can summon a little horde of snakes to sic at her enemies. 

No variants for the poor Rope... not even the classic ALTTP Stalrope! In fact, there's a dearth of skeleton enemies in this game, no Stalfoses or whatnot! I'm not sure why, all recent Zelda games have shown skeletal enemies with no problem, and even undead enemies show up later down below. But oh well. 

Keese: Keese, Fire Keese, Ice Keese, Electric Keese

The Keese, the classic bat enemy, also shows up here. Much later in the game, the far more annoying Fire Keese, Ice Keese and Electric Keese show up in the volcanic Eldin Mountain, the frosty Lanayru/Hebra Mountains and the stormy Faron Wetlands respectively. They each carry their elements as expected.

Perhaps this is a good time to note how the game balances on the Echoes that Zelda can summon. Her fairy companion Tri has a set number of 'triangles', and each Echo costs one of those triangles (which can be upgraded, of course, as the game goes on). The cheap, weak Keese costs one, so if Tri has a maximum of three triangles Zelda can summon three Keese to attack her enemies. The three elemental Keese are a bit more powerful due to being flying and possessing an element, and they cost a whooping four triangles each to summon. It's an interesting little balance, I feel, since the Fire and Ice Keese are particularly useful against each other. 

Darknut: Darknut, Darknut LV 2, LV 3

The classic 'evil knight in dark armour' enemy, the regular Darknut is the first heavy-duty Echoes that Zelda gets early in the game, and depending on the combat, you sometimes want like a swarm of Keeses and Ropes to rapid-fire your enemy from different directions... and sometimes you want a slow, durable and hard-hitting tank like the Darknut. 

As the game progresses, you encounter stronger and stronger versions of the Darknut, often as minibosses in castles, with the Darknut LV 2 having blue armour, horns and a two-bladed axe, and Darknut LV 3 being beigger,  having a white and gold armour. Again, I get why we needed stronger enemies as the game goes on, but I kinda feel like they could've gone and named these guys more interesting names. 

The Moblins: Sword Moblin, Spear Moblin, LV 2, LV 3

Yeah, I'm going to group all the Moblins together. The Moblins are the more bulldog-headed ones, and they come in three levels. Weaker ones are brown-skinned, LV 2 ones are green-skinned (very orcy!) and the one lone LV 3 Sword Moblin is a dark blue and a bit bigger than the rest of his minions.

Moblins come in 'sword' and 'spear' variations, and the stronger ones get more ornate shields and blades. We see a bunch of their camps all around the overworld... I like these guys, always had, since my ALTTP/LA days and it's fun to have a group of them flank Zelda as she ventures around looking for treasure.

There is a cute little gimmick that I never really used a lot, but I like that it exists -- all Moblins are instantly distracted by chunks of meat or fish that you throw around, running to chow down on them and getting distracted from the army of Ropes that you are summoning on the side.

The Boarblins: Club Boarblin, Boomerang Boarblin, LV 2

The 'Butablins' are now properly called Boarblins, and they have a much more 'piggier' face. Again, they come in two variants -- the melee one uses clubs, and the ranged one uses boomerangs. That's neat. The weaker Boarblins are orange, but the LV 2 ones are a sick shade of red with yellow hair. The LV 2 Boomerang Boarblin even has the wacky three-bladed boomerang that the Lizalfos use in Breath of the Wild! I like that. 

Peahat

The Peahat has gone through many iterations, but this Peahat is based more from the giant bulbs seen in Ocarina of Time. Another one that's likely to be your early-game 'big guy' if you manage to stumble upon the cave early, the Peahat is a giant bulb with a helicoptering set of leaves... and when it moves to attack, it sprouts a ring of spikes on its lower end. The Peahat being a flying enemy makes it quite awesome in the early game when there are a lot less flying enemies, but its vulnerability to fire and faster fliers (like birds) makes it a bit less useful later on. 

I don't care, though. I love my big murder helicopter bulb friend. 

Strandtula / Crawltula

Spiritual successors to the iconic Skulltula enemy are the Strandtula and Crawltula. Like Link's Awakening, the game has some fully 2D platforming segments, and the Strandtula is used there. When summoned, it creates a string right up to the ceiling of the dungeons/caves, allowing you to climb up. If there is a ceiling, anyway. 

Crawltulas reside in the '2.5D' overworld, scuttling around like regular spiders. They're absurdly weak as enemies, but are extremely useful as tools once you've gotten them, since they will instinctively crawl any surface they see in front of them, and you can latch yourself onto a Crawltula and get brought up pillars and mountains. 

Caromadillo: Lv 1, Lv 2

A brand-new face to the Legend of Zelda monster family are the Caromadillos. They are... they are just armadillos. Not the most exciting, but a lot of these early enemies are just 'animal monsters'. The Caromadillo's gimmick is they, of course, curl up into a ball and launch themselves forwards immediately, really great for destroying rows of boxes or whatnot. They also bounce around erratically, ending up making the battlefield feel like a pinball machine. Particularly when you get the stronger LV 2 variant, a nice shade of metallic gold and black. 

Not much to really say here, otherwise. 

Octoroks: Octorok, Fire Octo, Ice Octo

It is a 2D Zelda game, so of course the Octoroks show up basically unchanged. They can be on land, they can be in the waters, they shoot rocks at you. Cute! Volcanic Fire Octo and frosty Ice Octo show up in the Eldin and Lanayru regions respectively, lurking in lava pools and freezing waters. I don't have much to say about the Octorok that I haven't said in the other dozen times that they've shown up in the series, but I sure am happy to see them here. 

Needlefly

Another brand-new enemy, and a bit more exciting than the Caromadillo! Somewhat similar to the 'Dragon Fly' from Majora's Mask, the Needlefly is a dragonfly-looking monster with a stinger-tail that it curls forwards like a reverse scorpion, and it's got a nifty elongated head with eyes that look like a bandit mask. The Needlefly is noted to be 'highly intelligent' and 'finds the perfect moment to attack'. In practice, though, this just means that the Needlefly takes a long time to charge up its attack, making it probably one of the weakest airborne echoes in the game. 

That's okay, though. We appreciate you, Needlefly. You hang out in the ponds and forests and look nice. 

Wolfos / White Wolfos

The Wolfos don't really make a lot of appearances out of the 3D games, but here they are now as... as just wolves instead of vaguely werewolf-looking monsters. The Wolfos are a bit different from other costly echoes like the Peahat or Darknut in that it's blindingly fast, hits hard, but runs around so much that it can be a bit more unpredictable. If they zero in on your enemy, though, I find that the Wolfos does quite a bit of damage. 

The White Wolfos actually acts as a mini-mini-boss in the Lanayru Temple, being faced in a singular room and being much tougher than the average enemy there. The White Wolfos actually summons two Wolfos to its side with howls, which is cool -- I actually am surprised that there aren't more monsters in this game with a summoning/splitting gimmick! Although I guess it's so we don't get too many monsters on screen at any one time. 

I don't think we've seen the Wolfos show up in quite a while (the White Wolfos at least made some appearances in Twilight Princess and Spirit Tracks), so while I am a bit disappointed that they are just 'regular wolves', I'm happy to see them back. 

Deku Babas: Deku Baba, Bio Deku Baba, Deku Baba LV 2

Good ol' Deku Babas make a reappearance here! The weakest variant is a surprising shade of yellow that I don't think I've ever seen before in Zelda? The regular Deku Baba just stays rooted in the spot and tries to chomp you, but otherwise is quite unremarkable. All Deku Babas can be ripped off the ground in a surprisingly brutal manner by Zelda's "Bind" ability. 

The Bio Deku Baba has the traditional purple colours and the fangs that subsequent iterations like to give the Deku Baba, and is completely underwater! The original Bio Deku Baba from Majora's Mask was also an aquatic variant, though that one transformed into a weird scuttling plant-alien. This one is just a flytrap monster that hangs out underwater. 

And finally, in the Faron Wetlands the thicker-armoured Deku Baba LV 2 shows up. The Bio and LV 2 Deku Babas actually swallow Zelda and keep her immobilized in their huge jaws... before spitting her out after dealing damage. This is a bit more deadly against smaller enemies, as the Deku Baba just eats them and digests the enemy. If only they had longer reach!

Crow / Albatrawl / Beakon

These three birds are essentially just reskins of each other, and they attack by flying and pecking you. All three actually have a bit of a nice gimmick to them, though. The Crow is my favourite, coming from a lot of classic 2D Zelda games, as it knocks off rupees from enemies when they peck them. You do have to scrabble to grab those rupees before the Crow nicks them for itself. 

The Albatrawl appears in the Zora regions, being a seagull that can also divebomb deep into the waters and peck you underwater. Most other non-aquatic monsters drown if they get submerged, but not the Albatrawl! And finally the Beakon, appearing in the Faron Wetlands (surprisingly a bit more late-game) just... screams a lot and acts as a beacon to call other monsters over. This makes the Beakon probably completely useless as a minion summoned by Zelda. 

Sand Crab

Another one from ALTTP/LA, we've got the cute Sand Crab! Not much to say here, it sure is a crab with oversized, mean-looking pincers that go sideways. We don't get all the classic enemies from ALTTP, but I do like that some of the ones that I count as 'essential' do show up. And the Sand Crab was such an important part of Link's Awakening's opening that I'm happy they're here!

Biri

Using their more 'realistic jellyfish' appearance from Ocarina of Time instead of 'flying glossy UFO domes with angry eyes' 2D appearances, the Biri mostly appear in underwater areas, although they are still able to float above the ground as they traditionally do. The Biri are slow-moving and are not the most threatening... on land. In the water, their electrical field attacks are a much wider range compared to how they are on land, and can be quite annoying to get through in some of the platforming sections -- particularly since Zelda has to hold her breath underwater!

Tangler: LV 1, LV 2

Based vaguely on the 'Angler Fish' boss from Link's Awakening is the Tangler. The Tangler is just an angry fish enemy. Not much to say about that, underwater combat is a major part of the Zora segment of the game, and the Tanglers infest a lot of the ocean and rivers while other creatures fly or jump over the surface. It's an angry fish that wants to bite you.

Tangler LV 2 has angry orc fangs and most importantly, an anglerfish lure. There are a couple of sections of darkened underwater labyrinths and the Tangler LV 2 is practically the only way you can really both light up and defend yourself in these locations. Pretty neat little puzzle-solver. 

Chompfin

It's a big bad shark! The Chompfin is a brand-new addition to the Zelda bestiary, and it's... well, it's just a shark. Not much to say about it, but it sure costs quite a lot to summon, but having one in the ocean fighting for you has it absolutely annihilate almost anything in the watery Zora areas with minimal effort. Other than enemy Chompfins, of course. 

I don't have much to say about it, it sure is a shark. All the fish enemies like the Tangler, Chompfin and Bombfish kind of flop around if they are summoned on land, which I thought was sad but a nice little detail.  

Bombfish

Returning from Twilight Princess, the Bombfish essentially replaces your 'Bomb' item for this monster-summoning game. It sure is shaped like a giant goofy piranha chomping down on a spherical bomb! The Bombfish costs quite a bit to summon which really marks how it's meant more for puzzle-solving instead of having Zelda be a bomb-slinging pyromaniac. 

Being a monster instead of an item does make the Bombfish sometimes swim around or flop around out of the way of the exact tile you want it to blow up on, which was equal parts frustrating and funny whenever I have to run after the ticking, flopping sentient explosive sashimi. (It took me... longer than I should to realize that the Bombfish's explosions do not actually harm Zelda). 

Tektite: LV 1, LV 2

Love the Tektites! As with how they usually show up in the games, Tektites are bouncing water strider monsters with gigantic eyeballs. with the '2.5D' nature of the game, the Tektites' altitude actually matters, and you can actually drown the Tektites by dragging them underwater the ponds and rivers they hang out in. They're quite cheap and quite fun to summon against enemies on high elevations. I just like them! 

The Tektite LV 2, instead of being a simple red reskin like most Tektites in other games, gets a black-and-red carapace, a red pupil, and tiny spikes on the tips of its legs. 

Poe

There aren't a whole ton of 'ghosts', and there's only a small dedicated graveyard area, but we do get some of the classic ghostly spirits. The Poe takes on an appearance that's a cross between its ALTTP and Ocarina of Time incarnation, being a mischievous-looking hooded purple figure with a flaming lantern. It can pass through walls, too, which would be useful if the Poe had better attacks -- instead of damaging the enemy traditionally, the Poe spots an enemy and then moves away from it, leaving behind little patches of ghostly flame that the enemies get damaged if they run into. Not the most intuitive echo to use as a minion, but a fun one nonetheless. 

Aruroda

We go now to the Gerudo Desert, and into a monster that I thought was original to this game... but it's actually from Zelda II! All the way back from the side-scrolling game! Wow-wee! The Aruroda is a tiny little cute desert scorpion, minus pincers. It pokes you in the back, digs into the sand, and resurfaces next to you. It's quite a fun enemy to look at, even if it's not particularly threatening both as a foe or as a minion. I do like that similar to the Tektite and traditional Gohma, the Aruroda continues the trend of 'giant oversized bugwith one huge eyeball'. 

Sand Piranha / Piranha

No, instead, the really annoying creature in the Gerudo Desert are the faster Sand Piranhas. Which, as their name implies, are fishies that can swim through sand, leap out and bite you. The description of this strange creature is clear that it cannot survive in the water. It's a sand fish! It dives out of your grasp in the sandy dunes, and leaps up to bite you. There's a lot of these guys. They're annoying! But they're also somewhat useful as the fastest and cheapest sand-dwelling minions that are immune to quicksand. 

Much later, in the Faron Wetlands, you'll encounter the regular Piranha, which behave like the other fishy enemies in the game. And only in the Faron Wetlands. The regular Piranha honestly is so forgettable that I didn't remember it existed and had to come back and edit this article to put it in!

ReDead

Ah, the classic masked zombie enemy. The ReDead is much cuter than its Ocarina of Time inspiration, with the chibi proportion and a much, much cuter death-mask. It's even got the earrings of its Wind Waker incarnation! The ReDead is one of those enemies that are much more threatening when it's facing you and not the most useful as your minion -- its gimmick is a paralyzing scream... which normally isn't what you want when you're fighting enemies. Bosses are immune to the ReDead's screams anyway, and with the shambling slowness of the ReDead, you're normally much better-served summoning a Darknut or a Moblin instead. But it's the thought that counts! 

Gibdo: LV 1, LV 2

Gibdos come in two variations, both of which appear back-to-back in the Gerudo Desert. I would normally bemoan this, but there's an actual nice difference between the two! The regular Gibdo is just a mummy that runs away if it gets set on fire. The Level 2 Gibdo with the dark bandages and the red 'skull' beneath... instead transforms into a ReDead if it gets set on fire! Both Gibdos are insanely slow but very tanky. Tanking enemy attacks isn't exactly super important in this game, and so the Gibdos aren't super useful as minions, but I do enjoy that they're here. 

Tornando

This one is new. The Tornando (not Tornado!) is a weird... tadpole creature? It's not obvious from the front, where he just looks like a spherical dude, but from the back he's got a tadpole tail, making his general look feel like the Pokemon Poliwag. The Tornando doesn't actually hurt you so much as it just zips around the battlefield and knocks you into the sky and disorients you. Not the most threatening enemy, but a weird one for sure. I've used Tornandos to launch enemies off of ledges and into the void for sure. 

Some parts of the Gerudo Desert are perpetually covered with sandstorms unless you kill a certain miniboss, and the Tornando appear to be designed to tie in to that particular weather phenomenon specifically. 

Mothula: LV1, LV 2

Normally some kind of a boss in most Zelda games, the Mothula has been reinvented into a less 'giant kaiju' monster, and more like... a Bug-type Pokemon. The Mothula's still a moth for sure, and one with a less monstrous boss look like its ALTTP or Wind Waker predecessors. That face wouldn't look too out of place next to moth/butterfly Pokemon like Venomoth and Butterfree, would it? Unlike regular moths, however, a Mothula's abdomen is actually... a propulsion engine.

No, really. Instead of stinging the enemy or biting them or dropping dust scales or something like what moth monsters usually do in these games, Echoes of Wisdom's Mothula instead just... charges at the enemy, leaving behind a line of exploding flames from its little 'exhaust abdomen'. That's so random, but quite cool to watch. The downside is that the Mothula often knocks its silly little head and gets stunned, at the price of being one of the harder-hitting flying enemies. That's pretty creative. I like it. 

Holmill

This one could have been 'just a mole' to match a lot of the less-interesting animal enemies, but the Holmill does manage to be a bit cuter by only having two legs. So it waddles around with a full mole body-and-head, but two legs. The artstyle makes it cute, but I'm trying to imagine it with a more realistic mammalian furry body and it would look so strange, would it? 

The Holmill is found in the desert regions, and helps you dig tunnels in the side-scrollers, or to create passages through soft soil. It's more of a puzzle aid than an actual monster -- as a combatant, it digs a hole and periodically pops up to lob rocks at people. 

Flying Tile

THE best Echo in the game, the Flying Tile graduated from being a one-off hazard in a couple of rooms in ALTTP to basically being one of my go-to transport Echoes. "Scanning" the Flying Tile isn't the easiest since it moves around so fast before breaking, but once you do so, you get to summon a floating, hovering board that shoots you in a direction for quite some time before disappearing. In a pinch, the Flying Tile also works as a projectile to be launched at the enemy, too. This one was quite fun, and I love how what's otherwise a rather cute-but-one-note trap ended up being so useful here. 

Platboom

The other best echo is the Platboom, which counts more as a monster on account of it having a single eye. You know it's a Zelda monster when it's got a single big eyeball! Initially encountered in the side-scrolling sections, Platbooms resemble the 'Whomps' from Mario, being sentient platforms that slam down with spikes on its bottom to hurt people, and slowly float back up. Which means that they are literal elevator-platforms that you can summon on demand! I honestly kind of wish they were a bit damaging as enemies as well -- particularly since Platbooms you summon take some time to 'wind up' and rise into the air. 

Beetle / Beetle Mound

The 'Beetle' isn't really a beetle, but a weird bug with a single eyeball and four legs. It's called the far less specific Zuruzuru in the original Japanese, and it's another one that came from A Link to the Past! instead of 'just' being another creepy bug enemy, however, the Beetle in Echoes of Wisdom comes with a fun little gimmick and additional echo -- they are initially encountered in a mini-dungeon filled with these Beetle Mounds that endlessly gorge out Beetles like a spawning ground. 

That is a neat, if not the most inspiring, gimmick for an insect monster. Far cooler, however, is that Zelda can scan the Beetle Mounds as well, and sic her own constantly-regenerating Beetle swarm on the enemy. At least until they figure out to destroy the very fragile mound, anyway. But it's the style that counts! This does help elevate the Beetle from being forgettable to having a memorable gimmick for sure. 

Ball and Chain Trooper

After the first couple of areas, the story goes back to Hyrule Castle which has mostly been overtaken by soldier-type enemies like Darknuts. The classic miniboss-turned-elite-enemy Ball and Chain Trooper also starts showing up here, and I like the huge underbite of this incarnation's helmet. The Ball and Chain Trooper, as you expect, slowly spins the flail around before launching it at the enemy, and sometimes it gets stuck. 

Due to the '2.5D' physics, the Ball and Chain trooper doesn't actually swing his ball and chain in a proper horizontal 'spin attack', but spins it more realistically -- which actually makes him a lot less deadly in this game because he now has a much more abusable blind spot. At least he's still quite tanky, and looks quite cool too. 

Lizalfos: Lizalfos, LV 2, LV 3

Huh! The Lizalfos actually get a bit of a redesign, with a slender, almost snake-like head. Other Lizalfoses tend to look like geckos (Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword), dinosaurs (Twilight Princess) or chameleons (Breath of the Wild), and the Lizalfos here is one of the few returning monsters to be given a makeover. I like it!

The regular Lizalfos is green and they jump around with spears, and are found in the lower parts of Eldin Volcano. Lizalfos Lv. 2 are orange, have fancier tridents, and a little horde is encountered as like a miniboss in one of the plot-mandated Eldin Volcano mini-dungeons. And finally, Lizalfos Lv. 3 is a particularly large one that you fight underwater in the Faron Wetlands, which is a bit of a surprise considering the game otherwise populates the Lizalfos-es in the volcanic regions, but I guess it makes sense that they can swim? 

I like them. They're fast, they jump around, and they're cute lizard-people! I am pretty sure I used them more than the Darknuts and Moblins once I got access to them as my go-to melee troopers. 

Torch Slug / Freeze Slug

The Torch Slugs! With their new eyestalks, they look a lot cuter than their more 'monster slug' or 'elemental slug' incarnations in Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess. The Torch Slugs are found in Eldin Mountains and Freeze Slugs in the Lanayru Mountains, and they both behave similarly -- they crawl around walls and ground and leave behind little specks of either flame or ice, which are really annoying if you're climbing and trying to get through a maze and end up getting blocked or knocked off. 

Notably, the slugs are one of the few Echoes who do 'friendly fire' to Zelda and can hurt her with the little trails they leave behind. Pretty cute, otherwise. 

Zirro / Ghirro

The Zirro is a classic ALTTP enemy, and it's still a weirdo as its original appearance. A mushroom-headed thing with a face, feet and angel wings, the Zirro does look like it comes from a Kirby game, doesn't it? The Zirro still goes around vomiting bombs all over, making it an alternate bomber to the Bombfish (although much less consistent, even if you're holding the Zirro above your head and try to use it as a cannon). 

Far more useful in this game is the Zirro's purple cousin, the Ghirro, who shoots out bursts of wind instead. Zelda can hold Ghirros on top of her head, and use it as like a jetpack to navigate the hot vents in Eldin Volcano. It's surprisingly fun, and the summoned Ghirro is smart enough to hop in Zelda's grasp and point its mouth backwards. I thought that was quite cute. 

Mini-Moldorm

The big, regular Moldorm doesn't actually show up in this game, so the 'Mini-Moldorm' is a bit of a non-sequitur if this is your first Zelda game. But these hamburger-worms with googly eyes are still one of my favourite 2D monsters from these games, and I am happy to be able to summon them. 

The Mini-Moldorm are encountered in the Eldin Mountains, and can be found crawling on the walls or on the ground, and they just move so randomly, pinballing around whatever is in their way. It does make them particularly useless as an allied echo since you can't direct them towards fighting the enemy. But they're cute, and they're just vibing! That's cute. 

Wizzrobe: Fire, Ice, Electric

Another classic enemy! You find a Wizzrobe as like an overworld miniboss in each of the three late-game areas -- the Fire Wizzrobe in the Eldin Mountains, the Ice Wizzrobe in the Hebra/Lanayru Mountains, and the Electric Wizzrobe in the Faron Wetlands. They all cost quite a fair bit to cast, but they're probably the best flying ranged enemies in the game. They teleport around the battlefield, charge magical spells and launch them. The only real problem is that they're expensive and take some time to charge their attacks, but I find them to be particularly useful particularly in minibosses and boses!

I just really like them. I think this game doesn't do the best in terms of 'balancing' the Echoes, but your first Wizzrobe really does feel hard to obtain, and feel like such a huge power boost once you get it. 

Tweelus / Temper Tweelus

We've got rock golems! Equivalent to the Pebblits and Talus-es from Breath of the Wild, the Tweelus are just tiny little rock dudes that wander around. An understated use for them is that you can use them as platforms in lava, instead of summoning the very expensive Lava-Rock. 

They've got adorable animations, too. The Temper Tweelus is a magma-themed version that's not found in volcano, but rather the icy Hebra Mountains. The Temper Tweelus moves slowly until you damage it, at which point it heats up and becomes volcanic and starts charging and spinning its adorable little hands and whack you at rapid speed.

Pathblade

An adaptation of the classic 'Blade Trap' enemy, the Pathblade counts as a monster because it's got an eye, I guess! While Pathblades still bug you in the dungeons as usual, the summonable Pathblade isn't the most useful against enemies. It does zip forwards very quickly, so you can hop on to it like a Flying Tile which I found to be cute. 

Gustmaster

Another trap with an eyeball, the Gustmaster just periodically creates a blast of powerful air around you. I kind of forgot it existed, really -- both as an obstacle or as something to aid you, the Gustmaster never really mattered, I feel. It has an eyeball so technically it counts as a little monster. 

Spark

Another classic hazard, the Spark looks particularly cheeky in this engine! Look at that grinning face. The Spark is tied to two specific puzzle dungeons led by Smog (who's a recurring miniboss we'll discuss later when we cover bosses). The Sparks move around walls and always stick to whatever wall in front of them -- and obstacle you summon. They serve for some of the more fun, challenging puzzles in this game for sure. 

The Sparks are also quite neat to launch rapid-fire at the enemy, making Zelda feel like a bit of a 'blasting' sorcerer instead of just a monster summoner. Unfortunately, the Spark doesn't actually damage -- it doesn't even damage Zelda as an enemy -- but just paralyzes you for a moment. I suppose that's more for the sanity of the players as they go through the Spark dungeons, but it does make the summonable echo a lot less useful than it would've been. 

Ghini: LV 1, LV 2

A little 'mini-dungeon' (which Echoes of Wisdom has a couple of) is a graveyard on the North of Hyrule City, populated by Ghinis. The boss is a larger Ghini LV 2, which is a Ghostbusters puke-green, double the size, and has little cute orc fangs. The Ghinis, like the Poes, can pass through walls to lick you. 

A very strange -- and honestly inconsequential -- detail is that Ghinis will swarm around teddy bears and lick it. It's a distraction method similar to Moblins and meat... except Ghinis only show up in this one dungeon and isn't particularly hard to beat either. It would be something if the Ghinis naturally hide away by passing through walls or something, but it's just a strange little non-sequitur handwaved by 'Ghinis are dead spirits of loneliness, so they like teddy bears'. It's just weird!

Snomaul

We're in the snowy mountains of Hebra / Lanayru now, and one of the more common monsters here (other than the icy versions of the Keese, Octorok and Slugs) are the Snomaul. Based on the 'Pokey' monster from Mario, the Snomaul is a totem pole of snowballs with a grinning evil snowman head on top. That head is the core of the creature and instantly dies if you deal enough damage with it with like a bird or arrow; otherwise the Snomaul just launches its snowballs to pinball around the battlefield, and regenerates them. A neat little 'snowman elemental' monster for sure. 

Leever

It's a bit surprising that they essentially transplanted the Leevers from its traditional desert habitat to the icy mountains, but I suppose they do want to make it so that we get a bit more variety in the snowy peaks instead of just ice monsters. Leevers still hide under the ground -- snowbanks now instead of desert sand -- and rise up and spin slowly towards you. Always love these rotating plant monsters. 

Since these are presumably a variant that has adapted to the arctic cold, the Leevers are white with red highlights, which I thought was a nice little touch. They could've just copied the appearances of previous Leevers, but they went the extra mile to make it feel more appropriate to the location. 

Freezard

Yeah, giant angry ice elemental face monster! Taking the look of Ocarina of Time Freezards, these guys hang out mostly in dungeons, and constantly spew a cloudy mist that freezes you. They can be melted like many of the overworld ice pillars with Ignizols or torches. If they weren't so unwieldy and move so slowly, they would probably be the ideal 'freezer' enemy, but there's otherwise they are one of those enemies that feel more like an obstacle than anything else. 

Moa

The Moa is another one that I thought was original to this game, but actually appeared in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link! It's a floating eyeball with prominent eyelashes, and are cute little guys that fly around. Interestingly, the Moa is given a cute little gimmick. Whatever these floating eyeballs are, Moas are 'fiercely protective of its allies' and 'with no one to protect, it calms down'. When a Moa has an ally around it, it just rapid-fire laser beams at its opponents, and being tiny and airborne it makes the Moa surprisingly useful in a lot of situations!

Hostile Moas actually will leave the battlefield and disappear if they're the last enemy on the screen. It's such a cute little behaviour, and I'm delighted that this otherwise 'random enemy' has such a personality. There's no sub-dungeon, no miniboss, no NPC-related quest, no callback to a previous game... it's just programmed in as a little thing that the Moa does, just because. I love that!

Drippitune / Ribbitune

We're going to the Faron Wetlands now, represented by a massive rainforest with electric monsters, spiders, plants and constant rain. Except the rain is actually given to us by Drippitune, a happy fanged blue frog with a little topknot that sings. And when Drippitune sings, rain falls. It's just a Politoed doing Rain Dance, isn't it? From Pokemon? Drippitune itself doesn't actually attack you, but the rain powers up a lot of the monsters in Faron Wetlands and prevents your Fire Keese and Ignizols from burning plant monsters or solving fire puzzles, so it's an interesting mechanic if nothing else. 

The much rarer Ribbitune is a orange, and more boring-looking version of the Drippitune. It just sings with no power to summon rain, and instead attracts monsters to it? It's a bit pointless, honestly, practically, but I do welcome a brand-new monster!

Buzz Blob

The Faron Wetlands has a bit of an electric theme to it, and the Buzz Blobs are quite numerous in this area! It's cute to see such an otherwise early-game enemy show up so late in the game. The Buzz Blob's lightning aura is a lot deadlier in ponds or in the rain, and also quite useful to solve some of the electric puzzles in the area. 

No Cukemans in this game, tragically. "It can display millions of polygons!"

Baby Gohma

Baby Gohma! The Gohma in this game interestingly takes a combination of various different Gohma incarnations over the years, notably the four chonky legs. But interestingly enough, unlike most traditional Gohma, this one has a spidery face instead of a giant eyeball. I get that there's a lot of giant eyeball monsters in the game, but it does make the Gohma a bit too mundane, especially in a game with Strandtulas and Walltulas already. 

The Gohmas are actually important in the Faron Wetlands storyline. The creation of the rifts are implied to have created more monsters, but particularly the Gohmas -- who has been covering the Faron Wetlands with massive amounts of webs that the local Deku Scrubs treat as tasty 'cotton candy' and are actually hostile towards Zelda for closing the rifts and denying them of tasty tasty cottton candy! Oh no! 

Hoarder

This is the evolution of the original enemy that has been translated as 'Spiny Beetle' or 'Hoarder' in A Link to the Past, and I love that they've given it a much more insectoid look. This was a carry-over from the Link's Awakening remake, but I do really love the buggier look. It looks a bit like a fantastically pink-and-orange assassin bug or something. 

The Hoarders in Faron Wetlands uniquely only ever have glow-in-the-dark mushrooms on their tops, disguising themselves as local plantlife... which also gives the Hoarder an additional use of being a light-up monster in the darker caves in the Faron Temple! I like this little additional usage of the Hoarder.

Goo Specter

Coming from some of the newer incarnations of Link's Awakening are the Goo Specters! I love them. Look at them, they're so fun with that bandit-mask eyes and the hands raised into the air. Goo Specters blorb down into the ground where they're completely flat and move around mostly invulnerable to attacks, before popping up to attack you by contact. What jerks! I love these guys. They've got such over-the-top expressions. I like it. 

Giant Goponga Flower

Populating the Faron Wetlands are the massive Giant Goponga Flowers from Link's Awakening, and they are huge immobile enemies that launch globs of poisonous spores that stick around for a brief while after the projectiles impact. Like all plant enemies, Goponga Flowers are more vulnerable to fire. I don't have much to say about this one, although as a Link's Awakening fan I'm happy to see them around. 

Armos

Taking the classic look of the 2D enemy, the Armos is used to solve puzzles more than anything in this game. It disguises itself as statues in the Faron Wetlands temples, and when it activates, an Armos will always just go forwards and backwards. This incarnation of the Armos itself has a very weak back, so you need to figure out how to get behind the Armos to strike it there (or to flip it around). Due to its rigid, uncompromising patrol behaviour, it also makes the Armos useful if you need an echo to hit a switch at the same time as you do. Rather unremarkable otherwise, but I do find it neat that the Armos is given a little puzzle or gimmick to do instead of just being another 'hop and attack' enemy. 

Beamos

It sure is a Beamos that shoots lasers out of its eyes! The Beamos spins around and shoots lasers, as usual. There's an interesting property where a Beamos that gets destroyed and damaged goes inert and gray... but you can actually kill a Beamos with a bomb to gain it as an echo, and to prevent it respawning if you exit the room. I didn't realize this until I was almost done with the Faron area!

Lynel

The final (and frankly, slightly disappointing compared to the rest of the game) area of the game is the Eternal Forest. And as a bit of an easter egg enemy, you need to follow a bunch of hoofprints around the winding forest to get the Lynel to spawn in a clearing that it otherwise wouldn't appear in. The Lynel is essentially a chibi version of its now-iconic Breath of the Wild lion-centaur incarnation, and it looks so cute for something so threatening!

The Lynel makes the already easy final dungeon a cakewalk, which is a bit of a shame that you get it so late. That's not the Lynel's fault, though, but more on a game design end! The Lynel's cool, it's tanky, it's fast, it hits hard, and costs more than the other powerful monsters (the 'LV 3' creatures) that you would've encountered and been using as your finishers.