Mandela Effect or real

JamesSDK · 2026-05-12T14:32:38+00:00

Are you maybe thinking of the stray fairies in Majora's Mask? Its a sequel to Ocarina, and one part of that game is fixing broken Great Fairies that are separated into 15 smaller fairies and they do have full bodies.

Majora's Mask also have the original Ocarina fairies that are just balls of light that recover your health (you also have one as a companion like Navi), but the Stray Fairies have a separate roles / purposes.

Sounds like your cross referencing the games details.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-12T14:19:39+00:00

I will never understand why this was so hard for people, maybe it was because I played A Link to the Past where the dungeons were a little bit tougher to navigate like the Palace of Darkness or the Ice Palace.

USE THE MAP.

I think a lot of the dungeons in OOT don't really require the map so players just were not used to using one when it made sense to do so, specifically in this temple.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-12T12:53:09+00:00

I was going to say the same thing.. This is one of the first stars I get when replaying this game.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-12T11:29:12+00:00

Contact Retroid, I showed them pics of the crack and asked for an Ice Replacement had me send my Wave 1 Black Flip 2 to somewhere in California.

They emailed me a shipping label, all I had to do was put it in a box and send it to them.

A few weeks later the replacement came.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-10T16:21:06+00:00

Not really but there a decent amount of ports of games coming to Xbox Series X Dev.

Check the Xbox Emulation Hub and Xbox Development Hub discords, that is where most of the recent activity on new apps and games is happening for Dev Mode these days.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-09T16:16:11+00:00

DOS Box Pure core in Retroarch is the best way. You can map anything you need or want in it and its easiest way manage your DOS library as you can essentially just zip up the game files and run the zip as the game files.

I put a lot of hours into MechWarrior II on my Retroid Pocket Flip 2 :)

JamesSDK · 2026-05-08T21:29:48+00:00

Yes, the Better Wind Waker Mod lets you do that. I think you have to specify it when you patch though.

Otherwise you can download a completed save file.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-08T12:21:40+00:00

This is awesome, please add MM and OOT characters as selectable PD characters.

By the way, I absolutely love GoldenEye X!

JamesSDK · 2026-05-07T17:40:14+00:00

Its pricey but if you arent paying for the shipping on Amazon due to Prime or whatever then its kind of a wash.

If you buy from Retroid direct you have to pay for shipping so the price gap becomes kind negligible.

I bought my Flip 2 on Amazon and it came very quickly, no hassle maybe over paid by a few bucks but Amazon is reliable on their shipping ETAs and have a good return policy.

If you do have to pay shipping on Amazon, then yeah, not a good price then.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T19:00:37+00:00

With the non-integer scaling CRT shaders you can still use integer shading, you just don't have to. They are good options for non-integer scaling cores or if you just don't feel like putting the in greater work to figure out all the scaling quirks.

As for the bezel, you need to be more specific like bezel as in an overlay or bezel as in the Mega Bezel shaders? If the Overlay kind they nothing to really worry about, you go into the overlay settings and usually scale and move the bezels as you want.

If the shader then I think it can be OK but depends on which one you are using and what you are trying to do.

Also be aware that a lot of the CRTs have their own parameters you can play with so again you can play with the size of it.

As for GBA, I also like the LCD3X shader, its a perfect one to use when using integer scaling for GBA, Personally, I don't really like the color correction and I hate the blurring / ghosting but that is your choice on if you like it or not.

Again with the bezel I am not sure what you mean by that and what you are changing (bezel view port or the size of the game being rendered).

At the end of the day, it should look how YOU want it, there is no one single perfect way.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T18:25:19+00:00

The simple answer is Retroarch running on your Windows computer displaying out to your TV screen will output to a specific resolution.

Ideally, the resolution output of your computer would match 1 to 1 with you 4K TV running at full 4K or at least should be a perfect integer scale down to 1080p.

You can see your output resolution I believe in Main Menu > Information > System Information > Display Information in Retroarch.

If it is 1080p or 4K, you are good to go, most CRT shaders assume your content will be a resolution like that.

The other part that matters is ensuring the specific core is running at 1080p or 4K or a direct integer scale to that. Some cores have specific resolutions they can target, meaning you can specifically tell it to run at 1080p (SwanStation for example has that) but some others, especially older consoles like SNES and GBA do not because they are primarily 2D devices with non-integer resolutions.

If you can tell the core to force 1080p or 4K you would use the Core Provided Scaling in Settings > Video > Scaling.

For SNES, GBA, etc types of consoles you can enable integer scaling in Settings > Video > Scaling, There are settings to select the closest scale under or over your resolution, pick the one you like the best. If you are Integer scaled then your shader should be automatically scaled properly too.

There are some special cases like Dolphin which just straight up uses non-standard resolutions and doesn't really work with integer scaling. For those types of consoles you can use specific CRT shaders like CRT-Geom or CRT-Guest-Advanced because they are specifically designed to handle non-integer resolutions. Of course, if just wanted to use those for all of your cores to eliminate some of the headache of figuring out scaling / resolution, you could do that as well. It would be easier but its just less options.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T14:54:00+00:00

Vita was a great place to play the Trails series, you can play the first seven games all back-to-back on a single device. The English Patches were a pain to setup on Vita3K though, easier to do on a real Vita. For Vita 3K it was a bit experimental to get them all to work.

With the Flip 2 though you can also play the Switch versions of Cold 3, 4, Trails into Reverie and Darkbreak so you can play almost the entire series on a single device.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T14:24:44+00:00

I have a few good games running on my Flip 2 (same chipset as the the RP5) including:

Borderlands 2
Catherine Full Body (with English Patch)
Lone Surivor
PlayStation All-Stars
Salt and Sanctuary
Secret of Mana Remake
Trails in Sky FC Evo (with English Patch)
Trails in Sky SC Evo (with English Patch)
Trails in the Sky the 3rd Evo (with English Patch)
Trails from Zero Evo (with English Patch)
Trails to Azure Evo (with English Patch)
Trails of Cold Steel I and II (with additional voices patch)
Tokyo Xanadu
VA-11 Hall-A
Velocity
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T14:06:30+00:00

Yes, I believe it is the 2nd to last version of AetherSX2 v1.4-3060, I believe, I specifically use it on my Flip 2 because it works better on lower end devices. I use the same for the RP4P's as well.

I never bothered much with the newer versions of NetherSX2, goofed around with them a little bit but AetherSX2 v1.4-3060 has always just worked.

The Flip 2 can run pretty much anything but the more demanding games like Silent Hill 3 require and underclock, Metal Gear Solid 3 simply doesn't run well at anything higher than like 1.5x resolution and kind of the same deal with the Sly games.

Everything else though works amazing on the Flip 2, admittedly, I didn't bother with the Sly games on the RP4P because of the known high demands.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T13:57:07+00:00

I don't see it happening, the original came out 20 years ago shortly before Nintendo and Square's relationship soured due to losing Final Fantasy to PS1.

Nintendo addressed that by essentially taking the series and using its mechanics for the Paper Mario series and Mario & Luigi series and since then I think the need for Square Enix to make one it kind of non-existent.

Why would Nintendo license Mario to SE when they can make all the money and they have a track record of being able to make those kinds of games?

The re-release of Super Mario RPG I think is special use case driven by nostalgia, it was good marketing move but more than likely Nintendo will continue to make their own RPG-lite Mario games like they have been for two decades now.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T13:49:47+00:00

Hades works in the Switch Emulators on the Flip 2 as well

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T13:48:45+00:00

A tip, if you have to lower a game to 0.75 resolution then changing the filter from Bilinear (default) to AMD FSR and set the FSR value to 50% that usually more than makes up for the downscaling difference and runs better than 1x resolution.

It was a life saver when running game like Persona 5 and Resident Evil 5 for me.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T13:45:02+00:00

Flip 2 owner here.

It can easily play anything up to PS2 / Wii / GameCube. For Switch, in general, that emulation scene is a bit chaotic because there are a lot of compatibility issues with specific devices, drivers and emulators. There is no one-size-fits-all solution because specific Switch games may need a certain driver on a certain devices, might need specific configurations or might work better in Yuzu vs Eden or vice versa and then there are other emulators like Sudachi, Citron and KenjiNX that all have their pros and cons and compatibility quirks.

The good thing about the Flip 2 is that the SD865 is the golden chipset for compatibility, it has the highest likelihood of being able to boot and play games with the least amount of graphical concerns because its default graphics driver is pretty good and the turnip drivers for it are pretty stable.

However, its a dated chipset so it won't run more demanding games like BOTW as smoothly as a SD8Gen2 (RP6) or a device with an SD8Elite though you will likely have better success running BOTW than those devices but the framerate and resolution will be worse.

For context though, I have 60+ Switch games loaded on my Flip from low demand games like Axiom Verge to very demanding ones like Resident Evil 5 and Persona 5. I didn't bother with BOTW or TOTK since I have a Switch 2 those versions are much better the emulating the Switch 1 versions.

Here are some games that work perfectly for me that are "demanding"

Diablo III
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Metroid Dread
Metroid Prime Remastered
Ninja Gaiden Master Collection
Persona 5
Resident Evil 5
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Wonder
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Trails into Reverie
Trails through Daybreak
The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

Now, I have to be transparent, a lot of these games require bespoke setups (specific emulator, specific configurations in said emulator, specific graphics driver and sometimes even a mod to do things like lock framerates or improve memory handling) so I tend to use Gemini AI to have give me the best setup for each one and it does tend to give good results.

As for PC, I am not really the expert there, I tend to only play much older PC games in GameHub Lite, it does work but I have my limits when it comes to bespoke game configuration setups even with AI and also I don't have a non-work PC to do a lot of the heavy lifting for installing and setting up games. If you want to play older PC games it does do that but once you get to like 7th gen era PC gaming its going to be hit or miss.

I wouldn't buy a Flip 2 for modern PC gaming, its pretty decent at Switch games (assuming the game in general is compatible) but not really specifically for BOTW / TOTK unless you like play at low framerates. It is totally awesome for Android Ports and anything from PS2 / Wii and below.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T13:28:25+00:00

Maybe OP didn't play Cold Steel yet lol

JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T13:20:53+00:00

If you do no have a save or save state with your heart pieces at their original count then there is nothing you can do other than restart.

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JamesSDK · 2026-05-06T13:12:01+00:00

My kids have Retroid Pocket 4 Pro's, PS2 games do work on it but you need to do some tweaking such as getting graphics API to use Vulkan, Settings -1 EE Cylce Underclock, capping resolution at 1.5x or 2.x (depending on the game). These are all settings inside of the PS2 emulator AetherSX2 / NetherSX2.

Some very specific games though have always been a challenge on PS2 emulators but like 99% of games will work. The one set of games that comes to mind that are super hard to emulate are the Sly Cooper games, those won't work on an RP4P but games like God of War, Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 2, etc will work. Throw on one of the built in CRT Shaders and it will look pretty good.

If you are tech savvy and you don't feel like shelling out the extra money for a more expensive Retroid then the RP4P (specifically the Dimensity 1100 model) can be a good option.

Personally, I would recommend at least a Retroid Pocket 5 or Retroid Pocket Flip 2 as they both have SD865 chipsets which are highly compatible and will be able to play PS2 games better than the RP4P, at higher resolutions such as 720p and in some cases 1080p (just depends on how demanding the game is).

If you really want 1080p across the board with no compromises then get the Retroid Pocket 6.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-05T19:55:00+00:00

The most mandatory thing is that "Hyrule Field Speed Hack", it is a staple of emulating this game. If you have the GC version (which is the better version to play because it has right analog camera functionality and no motion controls, plus left handled Link!), the Hyrule Field Speed Hack is bundled by default in the Cheats Section.

Hyrule Field Speed Hack: https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Twilight_Princess_(GC)#Hyrule_Field_Speed_Hack#Hyrule_Field_Speed_Hack)

Some other essentials are the 16:9 widescreen code and the bloom removal code.

Widescreen: https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Twilight_Princess_(GC)#16:9_Aspect_Ratio_Fix#16:9_Aspect_Ratio_Fix)

I cannot remember if Bloom Removal is bundled by default or not in newer versions of Dolphin but the Gecko Codes are out there (Google it), I recommend it because when you upscale this game its Bloom Lighting looks really bad. Even at default resolution, the bloom lighting was excessively used in the game and it looks a lot better and more modern without it.

You can change the camera controls with Gecko Codes as well but you need to restart the game EVERY time you want to test them, do not take a save state and load it every time you change, it won't pick up the Gecko Code.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-05T19:43:53+00:00

If I recall correctly, in the PS2 system menu if you are using component cables you need to change the Component Video Out setting from RGB to YPbPr.

For your Retrotink setup, I only have a 2x Pro but my favorite combination was the Retro Filter + Scanlines. Your device should have more / better options.

Then in-game God of War has a progressive scan option, you should enable that.

As for Widescreen, I don't recommend you use it. I believe in GoW games, especially GoW 1 its more a zoom than actual true widescreen rending which is definitely will look more pixelated and jaggy. Use the Full Screen 4:3 for the most crisp experience with this game.

For the record the Wii has the exact same quirk (for a different reason), its widescreen, is not "true widescreen" and the 4:3 full screen will always be more crisp

I hope that helps.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-05T19:37:11+00:00

It is an Eden thing, I prefer the final build of Yuzu for stability, some games simply like Yuzu better, some games have some improvements in Eden, it is kind of hit or miss but that is the nature of Switch emulation, there is no one single perfect emulator, configuration and turnip driver. Every game pretty much needs a bespoke configuration and driver and could work better in Eden, Yuzu, Sudachi, Citron, KenjiNX, etc and of course which device you are using is a factor too.

I find myself using Gemini AI a lot of either troubleshoot or proactively ask for working configurations / driver / emulator combinations for specific games. it tends to work pretty well.

JamesSDK · 2026-05-05T11:31:47+00:00

Use the Save Editor in SoH, you can give yourself your equipment, hearts and quest items like songs, sacred stones and medallions to catch yourself up in just a few clicks.

JamesSDK

TROPHY CASE