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insta doodle requestsss

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Friends

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Recent Batman Shadow that I drew as a wallpaper

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Metroid Dread is my favorite game of all time.

Good LORD this game is flawless. I don't care what anyone says, I do not have a singular issue with this game. Everything is just PERFECT. But, let me try to put it into words

If I had to describe Metroid Dread in 1 word, (aside from perfection), it would be "Smooth". Everything perfectly slides together to create one of the most cohesive games I have ever played. The control is flawless. Samus has straight up never controlled better in the series. General movement is incredible, feeling more responsive then any game I have played. Her movement is literally the perfect speed, the slide blends in so well with it, especially once you get the morph ball. The wall jump is quick and snappy. Some people object to it locking your momentum, but it's personally not a bother, especially since the Infinite Bomb Jump picks up the slack anyway. Samus is so perfect to move around in this world, and the combat also ramps up nearly flawlessly. Every upgrade you get feels offset by the new enemies, but in a way that never feels annoying. It always feels good to get an upgrade. Especially stuff like the Space Jump and the Gravity Suit. And the bosses. My GOD the bosses are all incredible. The highlight, obviously, is Raven Beak, but the Chozo soldiers, Corpius, Kraid, and Experiment, etc are all insanely fun to fight as well. Each boss is like a new puzzle to complete, and even on repeat playthroughs (and believe me I've played this game a LOT), they remain challenging enough to be super interesting. Also, the graphics. My god, this is the second best looking switch game IMO, and it used to be #1 until Prime Remastered came along. This game is gorgeous, running at a pretty consistent 60fps while still looking like GOD. Outside of the slightly low resolution (which may get fixed, please switch 2 update 🙏) the game is GORGEOUS. The level design is literally flawless. Every second there's something new to do in an area, and while you may get a little lost, that's kind of the point of MetroidVania. Although, this is a bit more of a linear one. There's plenty of sequence breaks (ones I do all the time are early grapple beam and bombs) but if you just stay with the way the game guides you it won't be much of an issue usually. This game can be hard in combat though. My first playthrough, I died over and over. Now i kinda breeze through it, even on hard, but that's because I replay this game constantly. Hell, the run I did for this review was just under 6 hours, when my first playthrough was over 15. That may sound short for a 60 dollar game, but it is genuinely THE best game I have ever played. Metroid Dread is a triumph of game design, and everyone (and I MEAN EVERYONE MERCURYSTEAM HIGHER UPS) deserves credit for what they worked on with this game. I hope this team gets another shot at a Metroid (and I hope the higher ups stop being dickheads. Like seriously, I know there wasn't crunch but the lack of crediting people who didn't work on 25% of the game is really scummy, as well as the environment not being great apparently. That aside though, hopefully it gets better.)

Despite that, Metroid Dread is my favorite game of all time. Fully deserving of the 15 I'm about to give it. If you think that's unfair, fuck you, this is my review/hj

15/10

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So I beat Metroid Fusion for the first time. Weird, since Dread is my favorite game ever and it's basically a direct sequel to Fusion but just hear me for a sec.

When Dread was revealed at E3, I immediately decided to play through the Metroid series. I got through Zero Mission, Samus Returns, and Super Metroid. When I got to Fusion, Dread was a few days away and I decided to just play through Dread and get to Fusion after. 3 fuckin years later and I finally got to Fusion. So, what did I think?

Its good! Really good!

Metroid Fusion is the game Zero Mission was based off, and as such, it controls basically flawlessly. Movement, jumping, shooting, missiles, bombs, morph ball, it all controls how you'd expect from a post Super Metroid game. I do have 2 very small things though. One is, for some reason the space jump didn't feel good to me. It was just weirdly unresponsive to me, which was fixed in Zero Mission. The other thing is that you can't aim while hanging from a ledge, which, again, was fixed in Zero Mission. There's also locked momentum when wall jumping, but personally this wasn't a bother. Dread does it too so I'm used to it. Overall, controls were great, and they have to be because this game is HARD. Like, seriously, Jesus Christ man. Enemies hit really hard in this game. Never anything that feels unfair but even with a lot of energy tanks only a few hits mean you die.

Level design in Fusion is really good IMO. It is fairly railroaded for story reasons but the BSL is still an interesting place to explore, And as the game goes on it opens up a bit more until you basically have free reign to do whatever you want at the end. Personally, as someone who's not super into 100% and would rather see how fast I can get through (without outright speed running cuz I am WAY too stupid to figure out some of those strats lmao) the rigidness of Fusion didn't really bother me. Each sector has a unique theme and none of them blend together at all. I also appreciate how it's a man made area but it doesn't just have metallic hallways for everything. There is genuine variations while still feeling somewhat man made. It gives the BSL a very artificial vibe, which is cool. While it's not my favorite environment for a Metroid, it's not bad at all.

For the reasons I just listed, id consider Fusion a good game, if somewhat of a weak Metroidvania since it doesn't have the greatest exploration. So I'm happy to say that on top of all of that, the story ties it together very well. Full spoilers ahead, but the game is also like 23 years old atp. Samus, on an expedition to SR-388, is attacked by an organism called the X parasite (elon musk is clapping somewhere). The parasite invades her central nervous system and nearly kills her, but a vaccine made from Metroid DNA saves her life, because Metroids were predators of the X. Since Samus is the only one who is immune to the X parasite, she's sent on a mission inside the BSL to "destroy" the parasite. On paper, this is a relatively simple Metroid plot, but what makes it diffrent in story and gameplay is the robot companion Samus has, which she names Adam after her former commanding officer. The robot acts as the one railroading progress, keeping Samus on a tight path. The reason for this is the federation actually has no interest in destroying the parasite. They want to contain it and study it. Samus doesn't learn this until later, so she goes along with the plan for a while. Eventually though, the way forward is only possible through her own agency, and she starts seizing control back slowly but surely, getting around on her own, and doing things she's unauthorized to do in order to find the way forward. The robot, realizing this, locks Samus in a room, telling her the plan. Samus, realizing this is too dangerous, tries to appeal to the robot, and calls it Adam. This causes it to faulter, and the brain of Adam Malkovich, which was uploaded to the galactic federation database takes over. This part is one that I find a little ridiculous. Like, I get what they were going for, but it's strange that the robot would just. Access and become like Adam because of the name drop. Regardless, the brain of Adam finally agrees with Samus, freeing her and giving her the ability to destroy the BSL and SR-388, ending the menace of the X parasite (until Dread but shhhh). Overall, this is a really good story. I have my issues with the way Adam ties into it, and honestly I think a better way to go about it would be Samus breaking out of the place she's trapped herself. That would show she finally has her Agency, which is central to her character and Metroidvania's as a whole, but the way it is, is fine. Overall a really good story. While I don't think Fusion needs it, I would be curious how a Dread style remake would make the story feel while playing. Regardless, Fusion is a really fun game imo, and I will be replaying it at some point.

9/10.

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Quick Sonadow prime redraw I made back in January :)

Particularly proud of how Shadow looks here

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Sisters! ^w^

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Along with appreciating Maddie for Mother’s Day I wanna shout out the big sister/motherly sister that is Maria Robotnik. Defending her little brother while he acts like a scary motherfucker

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Hedgehog hang out ✨🌺🌸

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So my final thoughts on Sonic Adventure 1:

I fucking love this game, honestly. Its just really fun. I've given all my thoughts on the campaigns themselves, but here's my ranking of each of them;

6: Amy. Too slow which clashes with the gameplay they were going for. Not bad though

5: Knuckles. He's okay but treasure hunting just ain't my thing

4: Tails. This one is good, and it's a nice coming of age story, but the ability to fly kinda trivializes things. Makes it a smidge too easy.

3: Big. I dunno, I just don't get the hate. He's lovely. I love this dumb lil guy. I need him in more things. Just in general

2: Gamma. Excellent story about a robot fighting against his programming and doing what's right, and the fact that the flickies are freed afterwards is really nice. It means Gamma and his friends aren't gone, just free. Plus, this is the one where the mediocre acting gets in the way of the story the least.

1: Sonic. Just the best. Longest, most levels, and most fun gameplay. Perfect sense of speed, I love the OP spindash, and the story is good, if dated presentation wise.

So yeah. Adventure 1 is a good game. The Super Sonic boss is also great, albeit it's outclassed by like, every Sonic game with a Super Sonic boss that comes after (except generations, that one fucking sucks). Adventure 1 is a good, if dated, time. I hope it gets something like the Oblivion remaster, improving the presentation while keeping the gameplay in tact. Aside from that, the actual game is awesome.

9/10.

(Also if you missed any of the singular campaign reviews I did and want my more in-depth thoughts, here's each of them.)

Sonic:

Tails:

Knuckles:

Amy:

Big:

Gamma:

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Big's campaign complete and.........

I like it!

Here's the thing right, Big is an interesting case. Literally everyone else is focused in some way on running through levels, whether it's a "get to the goal" or "collect 3 things", it's always supposed to be quick. Amy is the only one who kinda fails at this because she simply runs and turns too slow for a speed focused gameplay style to be fun. Big is even slower, but his gameplay isn't about speed. Its about fucking FISHING. So the lack of speed is irrelevant here, at least for me. And his fishing? It's really not that bad. Like, it's not explained well but once you get the hang of it you can get Froggy hooked pretty quickly. Not much to say on the gameplay it's just kind of fine. I dunno. The story though is where this story SHINES imo. Like. Big's best friend gets wrapped up in the plot accidentally and he goes to find his best friend. This somehow ends with him FACING DOWN CHAOS 6. And is he afraid? No, he does it cuz he loves his best friend. I love that. Like genuinely I really love that lol. Big is one of my favorite Sonic characters and this story is one of the reasons why. When the chips are down he cares about his friends above all else, and I think that's lovely. His voice acting is also on the better side, with Duke Nukem giving an overall okay performance. I do prefer Kyle Hebert, but John Saint John is doing just fine here. Plus we get some more DEEM BRISTOW ACTION WOO! Anyway, Big's campaign, is silly, fun(ish) and features one of my favorite characters. What can I really ask for?

7.5/10

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Gamma's Campaign is really fun

First off, as per usual, gotta give props to Deem Bristow as Eggman. Just awesome in this role and he really shines in this story specifically. Speaking of the story, Gamma's side story might be my favorite one outside of the main plot. Its a fantastic story, told shockingly well for a game with this much camp. The robotic voice acting doesn't hurt it because 1: Eggman has the best performances by far in this game, and 2: Gamma IS a robot, so robotic voice acting is actually welcomed! The gameplay here is great as well. The levels are short and you're on a soft time limit, and the actual design isn't super great for Gamma, but it's made up for in how WELL he controls. Like, if I had these controls for the SA2 mech stages those wouldn't fucking suck nearly as badly. So yeah, a great story with really fun gameplay, albeit short.

8/10. Good showing Gamma!

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Amy's campaign is... meh?

It's not bad it's just really mediocre. Amy's gameplay works on paper, hammer bouncing is fun imo and she has a good story, but the issue is the CRIPPLING lack of speed. Amy is fucking SLOW in this game. It's kind of annoying, especially when turning because it kills your speed, and killing your speed means you can't hammer bounce, which means if you need to hammer bounce for a better route you need to build speed again. Her flow is just stop and start, and it's unfortunate because a few tweaks could make her genuinely INFINITELY better. As is, it's not the worst Amy playable appearance (that goes to 06, dear god 💀) and the story is cute, but it's not something I'd be chomping at the bit to play again. It's basically perfectly mediocre. Didn't hate it, didn't love it, but the story definitely gives it an extra point.

6/10.

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IDC how consensual it was, the Darth Vader ai Fortnite thing is fucking strange. James Earl Jones passed away, and, call me old fashioned, but I think it's REALLY poor taste to recreate someone's voice or likeness using CGI or AI or both after they've passed. This isn't even about the "jobs that are being lost" or whatever. Its about the fact that it's FUCKING WEIRD. I know he consented to it, which should make it okay, but hearing the voice of a person who has passed away recreated in AI, no matter if they consented or not, will ALWAYS be strange to me.

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Amy and Blaze sporting spring outfits

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In my Sonic adventure replays I've been talking up Deem Bristow as Eggman (once again, may he rest in peace) and god, I just LOVE him as this character. A piece of the character that was largely lost for a bit was that he is genuinely a scheming genius. This aspect started coming back in Frontiers, but honestly? I don't think Mike Pollock is good at this type of Eggman. Before I continue, I know he's done and said a lot of, let's just say "questionable" things on twitter, but I do not wanna get into that right now, and that's not what this post is about. This is purely about the Voice Acting. Anyway, Pollock's Eggman is just a lot more gruff. He screams a lot and even when he's not, he doesn't have that like, smoothness that Bristow brought to the role. Even in the adventure games he is by far the best actor imo, and that goes double for Adventure 1 specifically (not because he got worse in adventure 2, everyone else just got better). Bristow speaking could nail the more comedic moments, but he feels SO much more threatening when speaking darkly. And Pollock did try this style of Eggman in 06, but, honestly it really just doesn't work for me there. I think the actual VA work is fine but I'm so used to his Eggman being more high energy that it just comes across as weird when he does it. The thing is, I don't even dislike Pollock as the character. All of his performances are pretty consistently good. He just doesn't command a room the way Bristow does, and I feel like for Eggman that really is something that he should be able to do. While Pollock can do serious moments, and he's good in Frontiers, I just feel like Bristow had this air around him that let him steal the show in a way Pollock just doesn't.

TLDR: Deem Bristow is probably my favorite Eggman VA

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“The Demon born from Heaven”

“The Angel born from Hell”