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Minds Beneath Us Review

I don't often play games on my PC . . . but damn, I cannot stop myself from playing and writing about BearBone Studio's first ever release.

Needless to say, I am quite impressed with Minds Beneath Us, released not too long ago yet remains obscure. If you are into narrative-based gameplay with elements of dystopian sci-fi, deep philosophical questions, and emphasis on complex relationship navigation, then this is the game for you.

I have a surface-level review at Movies, Games & Tech, but I am digging a little deeper here, now that I have completed all the endings (and the post-credit scenes have updated as of August 29th).

[MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING]

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

It honestly pains me not to give this game a perfect score, but I know for sure that some aspects could have been better.

Minds Beneath Us performs brilliantly at addressing the current implications of A.I. and what this means for humanity.

"It is no secret that A.I. and its capabilities are igniting a fierce global debate. The future of this rapidly developing technology has stirred a myriad of concerns for people, not only in terms of employment, but it also adds to the existential questions of human purpose and exceptionality."

Everyone has their own opinions on the pros and cons of A.I., but I am sure Tumblr is at the forefront of anti-generative A.I. You know, with it stealing digital art and music from pre-established humans. Minds Beneath Us takes these issues a step further. The game takes place in the year 2049, not too far from our current reality, where automation runs the world in its entirety: data collection, security, housing, employment, transportation, the food and beverage industry . . . I mean, I guess this is happening now too.

Overall, this title conveys their story quite meaningfully and provides a surplus of well-thought-out characters, intriguing (albeit hefty) dialogue, engaging QTEs, and the power for players to alter how the plot unfolds. I appreciate the immediate story hook in the prologue as well.

Perhaps some people may dislike the inherent lack of actual action-based gameplay, but I think it works for what Minds Beneath Us is trying to do. And, get ready; this game is not meant to have a happy ending per se.

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GAMEPLAY: 8/10

Minds Beneath Us lacks in the "gameplay" department, acting more like a visual novel. I cannot complain though. Steam tags it as an "emotional, sci-fi narrative."

The game itself is quite hefty to my surprise, taking a whopping 6.25 gigabytes to download. But, the game runs smoothly and beautifully as of its latest updates. When I first began playing near the initial release date, I had several issues with lag and my save file would occasionally disappear. All of the problems have been resolved.

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For one, I must talk about the art style. It is reminiscent of Playdead's Inside: simple, dully, 2D-shaded with an eerie overlay. The most prominent aspect, like Inside, is the lack of human facial features. Characters are identified by their gait, hairstyle, stature, and gesturing for the most part. To some people this may seem odd or uncomfortable because facial expressions are key to human interaction and understanding.

But, I think that this stylistic choice works amazingly. I may be reading too much into it . . . but aligning with the game's theming, at first glance the lack of face individuality insinuates humans being solely considered a "number" in the society of late-stage capitalism. Just an asset; a cheap commodity compared to the superior A.I. A.I. itself does not inherently need a face, it just does what it needs to do or "thinks" needs to be done. Without a face, a piece of humanity is lost.

On the other hand, one thing that Minds Beneath Us does highlight is character movement. The people noticeably breathe, and motion with their hands and posture and heads. The way the game is animated (which BearBone Studio says is hand-drawn, by the way) is so impactful that I can almost hear them and feel their emotions, despite the lack of face and audible voice. When a disgruntled person slams their hand down on the table in frustration, I feel myself jerking back in anxiety. When the character Wayne erupted in anger at Justin following the proposed shutdown of the farm . . . the way the dialogue slammed onto screen and how Wayne's body arched in an attack-like stance put me on my toes. I could feel it.

That breathing animation though! Again, I might be reading too much into it, but as opposed to the lack of facial features, the pronounced breathing reminds me that these characters are indeed humans. Living creatures. A.I. does not breathe, but humans do. This becomes even more upsetting at the end of the game, when project "Sleeping God" is revealed to be mass experimentation on synthetic, manufactured humans. By legal and scientific "standards," these things are not considered fully people, implying that it is okay for them to be unethically utilized for a sole purpose. However, you can see these creatures murmuring . . . breathing . . . distinguishing them from the automation around you.

This has been a bit of a tangent, but I am mesmerized by the art and animation style. It feels so alive.

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The game is 2D with some three-dimensional elements, and players can walk or run in the directions of left or right. There will be lots of traveling around but towards the end of the game, it will automatically skip over unnecessary travel time.

For the most part, you can choose who you want to talk to outside of the main story, and players can click on certain items to take or learn more about them. For example, the player can click on a water bottle in Jason and Frances' bedroom and perform a classic bottle flip. Or, you can click on this flyer in the White Scorpion hideout and Jason himself will give you background knowledge on the fate of the building you're in. Or, you can click on the "MycoCept" medicine bottle and a text blurb will tell you that it "reduces implant rejection and soothes pain," and also tell you its serial number.

Some of this seemingly irrelevant information can give the players incredibly important knowledge, whether for world-building purposes or by granting the player "new pathways," meaning that you will receive new dialogue options you otherwise wouldn't have. These dialogue options can affect the overall game, or at least warrant special responses from others.

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The star feature of Minds Beneath Us is the fact that it is a choice narrative, meaning that your dialogue choices may and will effect how the story unfolds.

Essentially, you are controlling the main guy Jason Dai. Well, you are controlling the entity that is controlling Jason Dai.

I cannot say for certain that the MBU in Jason Dai's body is supposed to be the player themselves, I really do not think that is the case. But regardless, this is who you are playing as and with it you'll make decisions.

The decisions you make will influence Jason Dai's future and the relationships around him. Players will receive thoughts and opinions from Dai himself, and you can choose to abide by it or ignore it completely. Ignoring Jason's desires may not make him very happy, though. Overall, do as you may. The MBU can be kind and curious, or mean and neglectful--the important thing is, however, not to expose yourself as an MBU to the world. You have to act as Jason Dai.

Some dialogue choices will have indefinite time. You can take your own pace choosing what to answer, considering all the information you might have. Other times, there is a time limit to response, sometimes slow and sometimes insanely quick. Always be at the ready to make a fast decision, because it can cost you Jason's life in a real sense or metaphorical sense. Sometimes there is no telling whether the choice you make is inconsequential or will have dire consequences later on.

Having unlocked new pathways from clicking on objects, or by being investigative and probing during conversations, will open a lot more options for you. You can open up side quests (more like side conversations), which its purpose is to flesh out the characters more. For example, choosing to talk to your coworker Paxton on day two will unlock the "Showdown is Nigh" side quest. He recruits you into talking to Quentin from the screening sector into having a "showdown" with him, as they are both "chubby nerds" (his words, not mine). However, you'll learn that Paxton is just kind of bashful and wants a friend, but hardly knows how to engage in peer conversations.

Other specific dialogue options can do a lot of things, from mending relationships between coworkers Jeff and his adoptive father Mr. Liao, which Jeff will then thank you and Mr. Liao will invite you to dinner in response. Or, you can hound Justin Wu into acknowledging his lack of empathy and apologize to Cathy, as he had hurt her feelings and forced her to backstab the screening division. All Cathy wants is for Justin to recognize her capabilities and independent choices. You can even convince Cynthia from the logistics department to hook up with Wayne Zheng, as they both are crushing on one another. Essentially, the player has the option to get involved with all the drama and act as a peace-keeper therapist.

Some decisions will carry a lot more weight to them. At the very end of the fourth chapter, if you do not head straight to bed and instead knock on the neighboring door, you will reveal a massive underlying plot element. There is no apparent in-game indication to even do this, so you, the player, must be curious enough to try out anything and everything. If you knock on the door repeatedly, you'll reveal the true intentions of the character 23, which then will 100% influence the dynamic between Situ, 23, and Lawrence.

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Some choices are innocuous and do not do too much. Like, the MBU has the option to say "goodbye" to people at the end of conversations, or instead say nothing. You can say "I love you" to Jason's girlfriend, Frances, but no matter what the story will not be influenced.

This may be a bit of a negative for Minds Beneath Us. There is not enough game-changing decisions. I would have liked it a little more if each and every option had a semblance of impact . . . but I think the biggest issue is is that no choice you make influences the actual ending you receive, aside from the final decision.

There are four possible endings the player can get. It does not matter what the hell you do, these ending options will always be there, only determined by the last decision you make. There is only one exception though--the ending that focuses on Jason Dai getting out of dodge and joining the Moonflowers under a new identity. This ending is actually unavailable unless you make a very specific choice in the PROLOGUE. If you manage to keep Albert Tsai alive, the character Ivan Zheng will feel indebted to the MBU inside Jason and pitch him the idea of joining the Moonflowers to protect Dai from ultimate harm further down the road.

There are other massive game changers, just not ones that impact the end. Most notably, in chapter three, the player must decide whether to join the screening sector or the ops sector. This will affect the people you interact with and a lot of story elements henceforth, each having their pros and cons. Joining a specific side will also influence the fate of Silencio, the flops farm you work at. Unless you are actively working towards the "bridge builder" achievement, where Dai is able to bring both sectors together for a compromise, lots of people will be upset.

Most other decisions only effect relationship dynamics. But, the ways the characters interact are great, and probing them only gives more depth.

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Minds Beneath Us is not particularly difficult. There will be QTEs, which I will discuss later, but they are brief and even if you mess up, there is an instant redo.

The hardest part of the game is probably just not using a guide. It may be hard to determine what choices are going to make things happen. Really, just do anything and everything possible. Knock on every door. Enter every room. Talk to everyone. But, try to be nice for the most part--dialogue will depend on the character's personality, but being friendly mixed with an assertive inquisitiveness gets the job done. Never skip out on asking further questions, but avoid unnecessarily brash responses . . . like asking a contractor why she decided to have kids if she's struggling to take care of them. Yeah, that will not go well.

The game says it will take about 12 hours to finish the first playthrough. Um, it took me like almost 30 hours. Why? I don't know. I did everything I could, and discovered every side conversation, hidden secret, and in my opinion, I selected the "better" ending. I also redid a chapter so I could play in both the ops and screening sector.

The saving mechanic used to be a bit buggy but has been fixed. Though, players cannot save the game at will. There will be autosaves that happen after every setting change or important conversation. If you are upset with your choices, you can select a chapter and redo it. The game supports multiple save files.

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I think the biggest mechanic disappointment was with the tab button. There was an insinuation I would be able to read minds or something as an MBU? But that is not true. The tab button pulls up this cool, techy-looking display but only tells you your main objective and sometimes other minor objectives. You are just kind of looking inside the MBU's thoughts. I think this function could have been neater somehow.

This is especially so with the potential that MBUs are able to detect other MBUs. Woody Chen is a character possessed by one of these things, and seems to know that Jason is too, and knows Jason's full name without us telling him. Why couldn't I do that?

**This is a wild theory . . . but the fact that Woody knew the full name "Jason Dai" and blurted it out without us telling him; the player can do the same thing to the security guard named Michael Hsiao. Jason can blurt out Michael's full name, which will catch the latter by surprise as they had never met before. Is he an MBU as well, perhaps? He seemed nervous and confused the entire game.

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MUSIC: 8/10

I cannot say that the music is the most memorable, but it is perfectly fitting for the game itself. It sounds atmospheric, eliciting a somewhat nervous yet curious vibe. I am an MBU discovering the world and its horrors so freshly, and the reclused Jason Dai must face the reality he tried to hard to be ignorant of. Yeah, that is what the music feels like. Unsettling, techy, with some piano work, and lots of synth.

There are occasional tonal shifts: sometimes a track is excitingly dangerous, as when combat ensues or massive horrible information is leaked. The intensity of the music will amp up. Other times, tracks are light-hearted bops, like when roaming around the city of Wanpei in the night.

Every sound just felt so woven into the settings themsevles.

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You can watch this video, or purchase the soundtrack DLC on Steam.

Within the soundtrack, my favorites are . . .

Frances' theme (bittersweet, loving, and homey and cozy like a Minecraft track. After all, she is the loving girlfriend of Jason Dai)

City of Light (a lighthearted bop, giving me the sensation of amazement)

Nin's theme (a bit somber but powerful; she is a respectable but perhaps unreliable figure)

Let's Fight (when this song would play, I knew to get my ass ready)

Ops Division (It just . . . gave off the vibe that something fishy was going on, before this knowledge was revealed to us)

Ghost Protocol (I associate this song with the game itself)

The Sleeping God (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

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STORY: 10/10

Minds Beneath Us features a storyline whose themes are becoming more common as of late . . . but it is for a good reason. I do not think plots revolving around artificial intelligence has been overdone quite yet, and I think it will take a while. This is what science fiction is all about: a play on, a mockery of, or a metaphorical callout to current or impending societal issues. Even with games like Cyberpunk and Detroit: Become Human, Minds Beneath Us manages to stand out.

Perhaps unlike a lot of media (even though this is changing), the game doesn't end . . . good. There are four possible ending sequences, in which are all rather gloomy. Jason only wanted a simple, quiet life, which this desire was soon adopted by Frances as well after coming to face with reality. However, these dreams are nigh. The duo has been roped in to a world they cannot escape, simultaneously being powerless to stop all the societal ills they've uncovered. Ultimately, Jason doesn't get his happy ending, but the player can at least mitigate by providing him safety and a source of income.

Minds Beneath Us is not a fantastical escape from reality. It is a cold reality check of sorts. And on another note, the game does not answer a lot of questions players may have, provoking us to challenge our own morality, philosophies, and self-worth in a world so far ahead.

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Minds Beneath Us has five chapters, and a prologue. It is rather tricky to summarize the plot, due to its complexities as well as the fact the players' choices can make such a difference.

Here is a link to an excellent guide, if you would like to follow along and reap the fullest game experience: https://www.neoseeker.com/minds-beneath-us/walkthrough

Overall, it is a story of conspiracy, betrayal, unethicality, and faction-based thinking. . . yet also truth-seeking, building friendships, seeking justice, and compromise. Each and every character is splendid, having their own separate character arcs whether featured in the main story or as a side plot; everyone's mind is so complex, human, and facing dualities that the player may help to resolve.

Despite the game's heaviness on the dialogue, I could never bring myself to skim through it. Every little detail is either relevant or interesting, making the world so lifelike and relatable.

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The prologue swoops in with a vehement bang, asserting its uncomfortable, dystopian motifs immediately. However, much of these will not be unraveled until later chapters. Minds Beneath Us has intriguing pacing; a bit of a slow-burner, but never a slow-down. The plot hook is immediately strong.

The game begins in a confusing frenzy: an older man named Ivan Zheng violently bangs on the door to a hospital room. Shortly thereafter, the player's screen begins to glitch, and Zheng abruptly ceases as we take control of him.

Throughout the game, the player will be controlling an "M.B.U.," some sort of assault-type silencer artificial entity created in lab. Humans who have had chipped brains, either during birth or unwanted surgery, will be susceptible to being "possessed" by MBUs. These entities are controlled at "the source," which is the area in the prologue, by a man named "The Calibrator" and the alien-tech scientists around him (I am unsure if they are actually aliens, but they are certainly quite advanced).

However, in the prologue, as Ivan Zheng tries to fight off the MBU and The Calibrator after making him harm his drugged underling, Albert Tsai, this being called "The Anomaly" invades the place. It kills everyone, except Ivan, Albert, and the MBU.

The Anomaly then mumbles to the player, you are free. Something like that. It asserts that the MBU potentially has its own free will and consciousness.

It then forces us far away into the body of Jason Dai, a seemingly average man who lives with Frances Cheng, his girlfriend, in a simple apartment in futuristic-city Wanpei.

This will be our main guy for the rest of the game. The point is, you are playing as the little man: Jason is just some guy who finally got employed as a large company, and all he wants is to survive and live a "cozy, quiet life" with his girlfriend. However, Dai is living in willing ignorance and refuses to look deeper into the societal ills around him. Can't blame him, though. In our modern day, as we have 24/7 access to the atrocities of the world. We must all must feel rather fatigued and powerless. There is bliss in ignorance.

However, Jason and Frances unwittingly get roped into some dark information and threatening circumstances.

The two work at Silencio, a flops farm under the Vision Corporation. "Flops" are computational power generated by "farms' in order to operate all of Wanpei's A.I. systems. This industry is literally the main pillar of society--if something happens to the A.I., or the cloud, everything falls apart. There are several flops farming companies, like Vision, Growell, and Tendril. The business Sunrise provides these corporations with necessary equipment including A.I.-powered security cameras and listening devices.

Flops farming seems weird, but it is a double-edged sword. On one hand, this provides job opportunities to many. The middling class, like Jason Dai, can work at these corporations for good benefits and decent pay. And . . . where do these farms get their flops from? Human brains, of course. People who are unfortunate victims of society, living in the "slums," the "shithole," or otherwise these "evacuation zones" because suburbs of Wanpei are prone to intense flooding (thanks, climate change), these poorer class individuals need money fast.

At the farms, those in need of cash are interviewed by Silencio's screening division to make sure they are able-bodied and relatively healthy. Once signed onto a contract, these "shithole dwellers" go down to the cellar, are tranquilized to be sedated, and are hooked up to these devices to transfer their brain power into "flops" to fuel the city's A.I. systems. They are then suspended from the ceiling. Literally, minds beneath us.

This seems . . . rather cruel and unusual. But, the contractors get a lot of money, health insurance, and all. The procedure is typically only weeks at a time and they are put into a deep, nourishing sleep via tranquilizers and feeding tubes. Its not very cushy. But, it pays the bills I suppose.

However, Silencio is very old in model, and not appropriately funded. There is risk when it comes to "juicing," and even more so with the industry's sketchiness. In chapter two of the game, Jason Dai (and the MBU) will witness mechanical malfunction, where an automated tranquilizer is repeatedly jabbed into a "juicer" in lethal dosage. And, one juicer will plummet from the ceiling.

However, there is more than meets the eye. Minds Beneath Us features topics of late-stage capitalism, profit over ethics . . . these threats do not only come from lack of funding, but internal sabotage, division warfare, and disgusting secret experimentation.

Players will learn that Silencio is producing an insane amount of flops, despite the farm not running at full capacity. The ops division accuses screening of sending down unqualified candidates, and the screening division accuses ops for recklessness with the machines. Jason Dai will ultimately get wrapped up into the darker recesses of corporate greed after Silencio's boss, Eva Yeh, sends a secret, disturbing hard drive to Frances containing alarming information about Vision. Having this knowledge that Frances and Jason should not have, an attempt at Frances Cheng's life occurs after confronting the CEO. Unfortunately, the company has close-knit connections to gang mercenaries, resulting in conspirators' untimely demises.

The couple get rescued by a subgroup within OWL, a secret police organization. These members include Nin Situ, 23, and Lawrence Chang. Situ, the lead, is very much like Jason--an individual that can be possessed by MBUs, and also someone who was genetically modified to be stronger and faster at birth. Jason Dai is this way too, unbeknownst to him until know, which makes sense. You are playing as this guy, and he can almost supernaturally kick ass during fights.

Not a surprise. I mean, here in 2024 we have the CRISPR gene-editing coming our way.

Jason and Frances have no choice but to join this ragtag group to ensure safety. Plus, genetically engineered individuals are typically hunted down and killed by OWL due to being (on average) mentally unstable or overly powerful foes to society. According to Situ, Jason will have to join OWL eventually to secure his life.

Jason Dai and his girlfriend have been roped into a world they do not desire. Goodbye to a peaceful life, and Jason will rely on you, the MBU, to protect him and Frances at all cost. A beautiful metaphor, not only does Jason not have any control over his circumstances, but literally no control over his body. You are talking and acting for him, like a puppet. But, since this game is all about the choices you make, you can either be a true asshole puppet master or a genuine friend for Dai.

The OWL group will go through lots of hoops to obtain critical data and discover the source of the flop output surge. You will come to realize the the gang of three is not exactly reliable, as they are literally operating without OWL's own awareness (or so they think). Despite the secrets, unreliability, and dangers of these missions, you all grow close to some degree.

The thing about Minds Beneath Us is despite the world's traumas and greed, most characters within the game, on a personal level, are good at heart. They all abide by their own morals and definition of "justice," either wanting to protect themselves and their loved ones (e.g., Jason Dai, Mr. Laio, 23), or do their best to benefit the community around them (e.g., Wayne Zheng, Eva Yeh, Frances Cheng).

The source of the extra flops is beyond sinister, however. The final chapter reveals an ungodly "Sleeping God" project happening behind the scenes: Vision's Red Room has conducted mass experimentations on these synthetic humans. They use manufactured tissues and nerves, like stem cells, to create a body and brain, and then they implant replicated/copied memories and egos of real human subjects onto them to give them a degree of consciousness, which outputs brain power. This is apparently a cheaper alternative than hiring contractors from the slums . . . you know, because they do not have to offer benefits and life insurance. Yuck.

They can be procured at a mass scale at will too. The scientists cut off the limbs and remove unnecessary organs to conserve energy for the brain. They insist that they are sub-human, inferior . . . even though Nin, Jason, and Lawrence witness the humanoids talking and breathing, mumbling "it hurts."

The production is beyond imaginable. There is a whole room full of hundreds of these guys. Turns out the extra flops had been outsourced from this facility. On the bright side, there is no extra unethical practice going on inside farms on full-fledged humans . . . but on the downside, who is to say that these synthetic people are not human? Who is to say this is not unethical and cruel?

Regardless, not much can be done about it. It has already kickstarted, and blowing up the place would only result in a major setback and kill a bunch of people, and cause havoc among an A.I.-powered society. OWL's little secret mission is--in all--hopeless. This is furthered by the fact the government privately legalized Vision's practices . . . because in the latest stages of capitalism, corporations control the government, right?

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As stated, it is incredibly difficult to summarize the story because so much happens. There is never a quiet moment. This expands further by the fact that the player's choices will affect the unfolding of the story. So, lots of different conversations and quests might happen, and there are scenes and critical information the player may not get because of a simple choice of dialogue.

As mentioned earlier, the only choice that affects the ending is the final one.

OWL accosts Jason, Lawrence, and Situ on Silencio's rooftop for committing "terrorist attacks" at Silencio and crimes with meddling, hacking, defamation, and violence. At this point, the MBU has become so embedded in Jason's mind, that Jason Dai himself will become pretty much "extinct" from his subconscious. The player cannot speak to him anymore, but he gave his opinion before hand--do not trust Situ, and/or if things go awry (which they did), use a stun bomb and escape the facility.

It is up to the MBU to determine the ultimate fate of Jason Dai. The MBU, surprisingly, will recount a lot of pleasant memories for some reason. Rather than think of the fear and horrors, the MBU will recall all the friends he made with his coworkers, and with the OWL agents, as well as Jason's love for Frances. I feel like this nostalgic trip is pushing the player into making a particular choice (which, in my opinion, is probably the "best" one), but it is all up to what you click.

No ending is good. Frances and Jason will never get their own life back, harboring this intense knowledge and faced with illegal crimes. Jason and Frances can never work at Silencio again, and seemingly the only guarantee for bodily safety is to join OWL.

The first option is to give in and join OWL, whilst keeping connections with Situ. Situ will hold out her handgun, awaiting for you to hopefully grab and take it, as an offering of trust. Choose this option, and she will seemed almost touched (but will not show it). Jason is now under the care of OWL . . . but now must forever engage in dangerous missions, unfortunately partake in the protecting of large corporations, and will never have the "privilege of dying in a bed." At the very least, Jason gets to keep all the relationships he made aside from his former coworkers.

Another option is to join OWL, but refuse the gun. Jason Dai has stated he wanted to sever ties with the untrustworthy Situ, and you have that option. Nin will state that she understands. A bit sad, but makes sense. She prioritizes her safety above all else, and will not hesitate to abandon Jason and others if her life is on the line (although, she protected you time and time again during the past few days).

Whether you stay with Situ or not, these two choices are likely the "best." Some cutscenes will play, featuring Lawrence and 23 packing up the operations room, and attempt to rekindle their friendship after 23's treachery. Back at Silencio, the office will celebrate their new boss and the new fate of the farm. This scene is highly dependent on the MBU's actions in chapter three, whether he chose to work for ops or screening . . or, regardless of the choice, if the MBU tried to fix Wayne and Justin's friendship, there will be a lovely compromise. Overall, it is somewhat happy, and the workers will reminisce about Jason Dai's kindness, but feel sad about his sudden departure. There will be other scenes of the former CEO being forced to step down after the Red Room got attacked, making way for Yuna Hsu to climb up the corporate ladder. "Sleeping God," sadly, will still go on.

A scene that the developers just added not too long ago is absolutely wonderful: Frances proposing to Jason Dai. They hug, kiss, and simply exist as a happy couple.

There will be a final scene dependent upon whether you severed ties with Situ. They are kind of similar, because Jason does not fully trust Situ anyways, but still views here as a "friendly acquaintance." She will apologize for what happened to you. And, still, nobody knows that Jason was possessed the whole time.

The third ending can only be unlocked if you chose to save Albert Tsai in the prologue of the game. Jason Dai can use the stun weapon, and cause everyone on the roof to become temporarily paralyzed while he makes his grand escape. Earlier, Ivan Zheng told the MBU that the only true way Jason's body can be protected is if he gets the hell out of dodge and join the "Moonflowers," where he will be given an entire new identity. Jason Dai seriously considers the offer. If the MBU chooses to do this, Jason must leave everything behind . . . including Frances.

There will be a scene alternate to the proposal. Nin will be on the phone with Situ, swearing up and down that they will locate her boyfriend. Bittersweetly--well, more bitter than sweet--Frances will continue to devote her life to finding Jason. This is sad . . . because likely she never will. So, ultimately, you may have protected Jason and avoided sending him to a militant career, but you have distressed Frances Cheng's life for all eternity.

When Jason meets up with Zheng, he will insist that he has "no regrets" and is ready for his new, safe, quiet life, despite the "Frances-shaped hole in [his] heart." I can almost feel the pain emanating from those words. Perhaps there is a sliver of regret.

Lastly, the MBU can choose to go ahead and blow up the sickening facility, despite Situ's change of plans. Jason Dai is in possession of the detonator, so one click--it's all gone. This seems to be the choice of justice at a surface level, but it will result in soooo many consequences. With this option, players may feel that they have ended project "Sleeping God," fulfilled their mission, and had the privilege of getting the last laugh at Vision . . . but . . .

Blow it up, the CEO will scream and go bonkers. The lead of OWL, "Grandma," will tell him to calm down. She will ask Jason if he has any last words. The best option to say is probably "Tell Frances I am sorry, and that I love her," then all of the OWL agents will shoot Jason dead.

Not only will this forfeit Jason's life, going against his desires, but this ending is definitely the most upsetting and dark. It will cause a mass outage in the city, inciting derailing of trains and ship wrecks (as everything is run by automation). Once the cloud is down, the world is down. Instead of the proposal sequence, the scene will feature an empty apartment with the television blasting: mass causalities, evacuations in place. Blowing up the facility is killing a lot more people outside of the Silencio than you may realize.

This also will not stop the Red Room's project. Yuna Hsu will assure that "Sleeping God" will go on and be built from the ground up. So, yeah, it was literally all for nothing.

And, a final scene will play, with a sobbing, disgruntled Frances, screaming at Situ and blaming her for robbing Jason's life. Everyone is just . . . sad.

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SETTING: 9/10

The game takes place in December of 2049, just over two decades from the current present. The setting is in the city of Wanpei, inspired by the potential future version of Taipei, Taiwan. BearBone Studio is a Taiwanese indie developer after all.

I like how Minds Beneath Us does not take place atrociously far into the future, and it maintains semblance of modern times too. I think I could walk out into Wanpei and not be overly shocked, but instead uneased. The thing about Wanpei is that the district where Jason and Frances live, there are still local "ma and pop" shops, but other characters explain this is very much not the case elsewhere. Only several huge, dominating companies own and control everything. Seems accurate.

Everything in Wanpei, and I assume a greater portion of the world, runs on artificial intelligence. If the cloud were to suddenly fail, chaos ensues. For example, on the news, it is said the a glitch or shutdown happened with the cloud, causing cargo boats' self-steering systems to fail, resulting in a collision.

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All the scenes are gorgeous. The game takes place mostly indoors or at night--since the main characters work the night shift--so there is forever a looming dimness, even though Wanpei is illuminated by blue light. The city is a vast array of techy neon colors, bright and bold people, with an overlaying nightly purplish hue. It is all very fitting.

The game alternates between several settings: the initial simulation room, Frances' apartment complex, the streets of Wanpei, Silencio and its floors (the rooftop, the main room on 1F, the screening offices, the consultation floor, logistics, the cellar, and the flop core). You will spend like 80% of your time in these places. Later in chapters 4 and 5, Jason will go to the White Scorpion gang hangout, and the ultimately this secret Vision lab where horrors await. The game does a great job at making the laboratory settings feel devoid and anxiety-inducing.

While you spend most of your time in the same places, there is always something new, usually extra side conversations and drama. You may go through the cellar completely fine one time, but another time you will witness a "juicer" plummet from the ceiling to the ground.

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COMBAT: 7/10

It is hard to give this section a full rating because there isn't really true combat. The game features 6-7 QTEs, or quick time events, scattered throughout the game. The QTEs are infrequent and not the most involved, but I think they work well in general. I mean, Jason Dai is not some sort of warrior superhero (even though Situ wants to be the Batman) despite being genetically modified. He considers himself an average guy, and usually avoids physical confrontation.

The MBU is programmed to be a "silencer" combat unit. But, the MBU ends up kind of being a peacekeeper if you want it to be.

The QTEs involve the "E" key to punch, the spacebar to dodge, and occasionally the "A" and "D" key to move forward or backward. These events usually start and stop quickly so you must be at the ready.

The first one happens in the prologue, when a drugged Albert charges at Ivan Zheng. You press "E" to grab him by the neck (which will break and kill him if you choose to inject the blue liquid). Other QTEs include a stabbing incident at Silencio, gang members at the hospital, White Scorpion mercenaries at the flop core, these strange medieval-sounding gangsters at the White Scorpion hideout, among others.

They are damn quick, yet scarce. Nonetheless, the QTEs are exciting and pulls you right into the scene, reminding players that you are indeed playing a video game. Jason will have a small health meter, but it will take several hits and missteps to put him down. Dying will only restart the combat anyways, and does not impact the fate of your game. The QTEs are fairly easy overall, but there is a difficulty spike around chapter 3, and I did mess up a few times. Perhaps I am just not used to PC gaming.

My favorite part is the combat animation. It is incredibly fluid and I can literally feel the ungodly force of Jason Dai's punches and grabs.

----------

Other QTEs might be something like quickly catching a blade Situ throws behind your neck, showcasing Dai's quick reflexes. There is also a running sequence towards the end of the game where Jason has to jump over obstacles and avoid the flurry of bullets coming at him.

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ENJOYEMENT: 10/10

Minds Beneath Us is sticking to my brain in vehement amounts. It really got me to introspect even hours upon completion.

In an in-game E-Zine, it says,

Humans learn. Advanced learning capability is what sets us apart from animals. Sadly, the oversupply of knowledge can sometimes be a curse. With the aid from state-of-the-art AI, we are unlocking secrets of the human brain faster than ever. This process, however, gives birth to a new kind of existential crisis called "Anthropocentric Dismay." Scientists tapping into the potential of AI are finding that computers work, fundamentally, eerily like human brains. If so, is there really such thing as the human soul, or free will? Meanwhile, life science is seeing a revival, as researchers work extra hard to find a new way to establish the uniqueness of humanity."

I think that this conversation is insanely appropriate now more than ever. What truly makes humans unique? What makes us special, exemplary, more capable than other species?

I also enjoyed this conversation between Kaylee and Jesse:

Jesse: What is the human mind? Layers upon layers of noises, is what it is. The life of an average human is utterly distracted. Focusing on one single thing is impossible. There are random factors affecting our thinking, such as the weather, the mood, so on and so forth. All these factors combined makes each of us unique. But ultimately, this uniqueness has no meaning. We're just constructs made unnecessarily complicated. Still, we worship this complicatedness, inventing names for it. We call it the soul, the free will. Does it have any value?

Kaylee: I say this will to live is the result, not a reason. Who is in a position to give a definition to the meaning of life? We many not be in a position to give a verdict, but we do believe it nonetheless. Humans, though, are not one single being. Humans differ, especially over things that are pure speculation. They exist because they already exist. There's no prescriptive meaning to it. If there's no assigned meaning, we should invent our own meaning. AI doesn't have such mental faculty. It's focused and efficient, yet not a living thing. Does the invention of automobiles make the existence of horses meaningless?

Even as of now, human laborers are facing quite the crisis. A.I. has entered the realm of employment, sifting through our resumes, and taking both manual and artistic jobs alike. It is easy to tell a robot what to do, to save ourselves some "precious time and resources," but as Jesse says, humans for the most part don't even know what they want, or at the very least cannot articulate is. What does this say: humans are too complex, indecisive, emotional? Or, in Kaylee's terms, the human life has more value because we have to figure it our ourselves and proceed by our own will?

We are in times where capitalism is becoming late-stage, where massive companies can take the world over whilst finding ways to mitigate being defined as an illegal monopoly. Corporations affect the government and law, thus society at large. Human labor already is unfortunately cheap, and that is why we have issues with modern day slavery, and why companies prefer to hire people regardless of experience for a little of a wage as possible.

----------

Companies can get a way with a lot, despite increases in surveillance and data leaks. Who knows what is occurring today? In Minds Beneath Us, it is seen that efficiency and profit is taken to the extreme and the treatment of these "humanoids" is utter, horrific torture. But, as said by Grandma, these experiments had just been legalized.

Science is not specifically a moral practice. Gather a bunch of intellectuals and sociopaths (and simultaneously both) in a laboratory setting and boom: the Holocaust, the Gulag, Unit 731, unethical animal testing, among others. It makes those individuals with a good heart feel powerless. That is what Situ and the gang felt, knowing that all of this dangerous activity is ongoing secretly, but nothing can be done about it without disrupting and displacing the entirety of society. The world is built upon corruption.

We can see with the ops and screening sectors that a majority of folks do have good intentions, whether it be wanting to protect their loved ones or serving a greater, positive purpose for the community at large. However, everyone is unintentionally adding fuel to the fire due to what jobs are available and the standard of living . . . and as Justin said, sometimes you just got to go with the lesser of evils, unfortunately. Everyone, including higher-up positions, are just trying to keep their head out of the water. We have made an uncomfortable society for ourself, haven't we? And whether you think the world is on the upward or downward spiral, there are deeply ingrained societal ills among us.

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I just love a good game that makes me question my own morality and worldview. Minds Beneath Us does its job so well; the world feels alive, dystopian, but realistic. The characters are wonderful and the visuals are stunning. I can play this game again and again and again.

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**I will say, there are a lot of questions that go unanswered. Some things are meant to be ambiguous, to challenge the players' own thoughts.

Such as . . . what is an MBU? How were they made, what do they all do? Just why? Regardless of the ending you get, all players get this bonus ending scene where the MBU is sent back to the simulation room, facing the Anomaly. It asks you just that: what do you, the MBU, think you are? A human? AI? A being that just exists?

I also wonder about some other things. For one, we never got to learn the meaning of 23's name. She said she'd tell us . . . but never did.

Finally, what the hell was Edith Yeh's role? 23 found her to be suspicious, and she certainly was to me. She also kind of looked like both Eva Yeh and OWL's "Grandma." She was the only member of screening who was upset at the increased communications between divisions. She was entirely absent from the end-game credits at Silencio. Hmm . . .

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 28 hours

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

PLATFORM USED: PC

DATE OF COMPLETION: August 2024

[milkpumpkin96]

Hmm, I thought that Nintendo was going to elaborate on the next-gen console this summer. According to president Shuntaro Furukawa, details will be released within the fiscal year.

It has been over 7 years and five months since the Nintendo Switch came out. It is officially the longest gap between consoles in Nintendo history.

Nintendo sold 2.1 million Switch consoles this past year, which is a 46% decrease from the previous year. Nintendo's software sales and shares have also decreased.

There are 44 days left this summer . . . I am hoping to hear something! As much as I love the Switch, its lifespan has officially been exhausted for sure.

[milkpumpkin96]

"In 2020, the IOC made the decision to not renew the game’s licensing deal, ending a run of games that’s covered most Summer and Winter Olympic Games since 2007."

I am still sitting here, ruminating . . . pondering . . . awaiting for the Mario & Sonic at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

[milkpumpkin96]

"Memento Mori"

Beautiful artwork. I am almost done with Persona 3 Reload!

🌕

[milkpumpkin96]

Went to the Southeast Game Exchange in Greenville, SC this past weekend.

Got to see Super Smash characters "IRL" wrestling, participate in a cosplay contest, perform onstage playing Rock Band, and meet wonderfully nerdy people!

[milkpumpkin96]

Zelda and Link as "The Shadow" (1909), Edmund Blair Leighton

[milkpumpkin96]

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Review

Part II: The Indigo Disk

It took me a while, but I have finally completed the entirety of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC. This post is a continuation of my previous review regarding "The Teal Mask."

It is pleasing to say that I enjoyed part II just as much, if not more, than part I of the DLC. Despite all the flaws that remained unresolved, I had an enjoyable experience playing through "The Indigo Disk!"

As a longtime Pokémon fan, I have quite a lot to say (bear with it), which is why I have broken up this review into two parts, with this post being part two.

[MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING]

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

As stated previously, I went into this DLC completely blind. I had not watched teasers, trailers, playthroughs, or promotional art. I had no clue about the existence of the new characters or what the story would entail!

When it comes to the content and character building of "The Indigo Disk" . . . wowzers. Stepping foot onto the grounds of Blueberry Academy for the first time was quite a treat--I am not sure as to what I was expecting, but it certainly was not a huge techy school floating in the middle of the ocean, where all the classrooms and dorms are under the water. How beautifully frightening! The academy also unleashed a fresh wave of Unovan nostalgia, for those fans of Generation V.

I was overall pleased with my playthrough. The DLC was longer and more jam-packed than I had thought, almost as if I were playing an entirely new game. "The Indigo Disk" had a hefty amount of new entries to the Pokédex and the battles were quite difficult (in a challenging yet manageable way).

However, I must talk about this again . . . "The Indigo Disk" features no performance upgrades. The DLC ran no smoother and no less buggy than the main game. There was atrocious lagging at times which bogged down the awe of the exploration and the impact of some cutscenes. I myself was lucky enough to not encounter any glitches, but other players were no so fortunate.

Part II of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero encapsulates some of the best components of Scarlet and Violet for sure, yet it fails to solve all the qualms Pokémon fans have had since the beginning.

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GAMEPLAY: 6/10

Once again, Game Freak has failed to solve the biggest issues plaguing the mainline games for years. Once again, fans must witness the same poor graphical output while Nintendo is still able to offer beauties like Super Mario Wonder and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Pokémon Scarlet came out in November of 2022. "The Indigo Disk" rolled around just over a year later, and despite complaints of bugginess and a struggling FPS, it seems that the creators of Pokémon don't give a shit.

It is cool to see, at the very least, that Game Freak is experimenting with creative ideas when it comes to character development and dialogue/writing. But it is saddening to have this experimentation--which has been a high point for the series in recent years--to be undermined by its biggest problem . . . especially when there are so many graphically capable modern games in comparison.

Listen, I am a Nintendo fan, and as such my preferences for visuals are not too particular. I do not always want pristine or realistic graphics. I like the occasional retro throwback or cartoony charm or good, old cell-shading. But, seriously . . . Pokémon Scarlet and Violet look pretty bad. This is especially true knowing that Game Freak has the funds and capabilities to bring about so much more. Even Legends of Arceus was a big step up, and this achievement had to be diminished with the chibified Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

The performance issues become greatly apparent traveling through Blueberry Academy's biomes. Riding Koraidon/Miraidon is still too much for the game to handle apparently. The worst frame rate drop I had ever seen was in the Savannah Biome: anytime I was anywhere near pluff mud, it was as if the world was ending. My screen would freeze.

I am not trying to defend Game Freak at all when I say this, but in theory, the locations are charming. I was blown away by the concept and visual presentation of Blueberry Academy itself. It is a vibrant terrarium under the sea, the inverse of an aquarium above land. The school is in the middle of Unovan waters and it is colored a specific white and blueberry blue, giving off advanced techy vibes.

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My absolute favorite aspect about the DLC has to be the difficulty surge. Hooray for Pokémon fans, we finally have a challenging game again!

Of course, some people will continue to complain that it is not hard enough, particularly players with a full-level 90-100 party. I mean, sure. I do not think that there will ever be a mainline game where the difficulty is extraordinarily high, due to balancing the wants and capabilities of actual children, casual players, competitive players, adult fans, and insane people. For us casual fans and even some competitive players, however, "The Indigo Disk" offered a unique challenge.

In "The Teal Mask," if players had beaten the main story in Scarlet and Violet, the battling levels were in the 50s-70s. In "The Indigo Disk," there is now a jump to levels 70s-80s. This DLC has some of the highest-leveled trainers to be seen in mainline Pokémon games. I personally had many moments of struggle due to the fact I play casually, and my main team was within the level 75-85 range.

What makes the DLC even harder is the fact that the battle system was an homage to old Unova practices: double battling! If you as a player had already been comfortable with your set-in-stone team, you may have to change some Pokémon around or switch up strategy in order to survive these double onslaughts. Of course, wild battles are still in singles, but trainers will be sending out duos.

Blueberry Academy even offers its own student-led Elite Four and champion ranking. Unlike typical Pokémon plot progression, players do not have to grind through eight gym leaders in order to get to the elites. Through personalized recommendations from Elite Four members themselves, the MC is ranked up quite highly and can skip straight on to tackling the Elite Four in any order. But . . . you still may want to wait. Players should catch some new Pokémon within the terrarium and level up their team. The Elite Four are HARD. I cannot recall the last time I failed one of these matches in recent generations . . . but in "The Indigo Disk," I admittedly lost both Crispin and Amarys. My team was not ready for the flint and steel.

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So yes, there is Crispin, the first-year student who loves spicy foods and Pokémon battling. He is a fire-type specialist who doesn't care for petty drama. Then, there is the second-year student Lacey, the daughter of gym leader Clay, who is cute, resourceful, and loves fairy types. Next is Amarys who is cold on the outside but soft on the inside. She wields steel type and is seemingly concerned about time management. Finally, there is Elite Four member Drayton who specializes in dragon types. He is the grandson of Unova gym leader Draydon, and presents himself as cool yet slothful. You can battle these students in any order, and all of their Pokémon are within levels 76 to 80. Get ready.

Like "The Teal Mask," another beautiful aspect of battling is that the trainers are smarter; in that they understand a bit of strategic thinking and item usage. You'll get sick of the constant use of focus sashes! It makes it feel almost as if you are fighting a real person on the other side.

There is another great feat of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero: sorry, Cynthia, but a new, powerful trainer is in town.

The champion of Blueberry Academy is the strongest champion to ever appear in the Pokémon series. He plays competitively. He is busting out an Incineroar of all things . . . and to Pokémon fans, you know how that goes. Having a remarkably leveled 83-85 team, good old Kieran from Kitakami has earned the title as champion in vain of the MC's bitchery.

Kieran's VGC-inspired strats make for an incredibly dynamic and fun battle. He whips out Hydrapple, a new evolution to Dipplin, and unleashes fury with the move "fickle beam" that can absolutely destroy you if Hydrapple randomly desires to go "all out."

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"The Indigo Disk" provides a nice amount of new bonus features to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Some are more impressive than others, but I did enjoy my time with them.

I think that the coolest addition is being able to unlock the ability to fly with Koraidon/Miraidon (not just glide). Players can fly anywhere and everywhere, in both the DLC maps and the Paldea map too. This makes travel much quicker and easier, though it would be nice if Koraidon/Miraidon could fly just a tad faster.

The downside to this ability is that you cannot unlock it until after you beat the main storyline of "The Indigo Disk." In post-game, Amarys will give your legendary lizard a supplement that will give it the permanent ability to fly. By the time this happens players will have probably done most of what they needed to do, aside from catching paradox and legendary Pokémon.

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Also, yes . . . Perrin has returned! Why though, why is Perrin inside of a Unovan high school? I am unsure about that.

Once players register 200 or more Pokémon in their Pokédex, Perrin will then have a request for you. A bit cheeky for someone who was buddied with you back in Kitakami, but oh well.

She reports these legends of paradox Pokémon that look kind of like pre-existing legendaries, but certainly more strange. Perrin shows players two vague photos and asks you to go find and catch them. These paradox creatures are located within Area Zero of Paldea.

The paradox Pokémon include Raiku and Entei or Cobalion and Terrakian, and depending on whether you have Pokémon Scarlet or Violet, they will look either more prehistoric or futuristic respectively. They will be named Raging Bolt and Gouging Fire [Scarlet] or Iron Crown and Iron Boulder [Violet]. Once both are caught, Perrin will give you a sport ball. Not too rewarding on her part but at least you will have cool, new Pokémon.

I am unsure as to why Walking Wake (a.k.a. Suicune) and Iron Leaves (a.k.a. Virizion) are not a part of this quest, but players can catch these as well.

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One of the most important mechanics of "The Indigo Disk" is the "blueberry points" system, or BP. These points are crucial and work as in-game currency, displacing other means of payment. You can use BP to purchase items, challenge the BB Elite Four, as well as to access a bunch of new additional items and upgrades in the BB League clubroom.

With these points, players can buy a myriad of things: new Pokéball throwing styles, new camera functions, changes to the aesthetic of the BB League room, more additional Pokémon to catch (i.e., adding starter Pokémon to the biomes), among other things. In the post-game, BP can be used to call in special couches for you to battle and trade with.

However, some of the new functions are horribly expensive. It costs BP to change your throwing style or the look of the clubroom each and every single time you decide to do so. While it is not difficult to obtain BP per se, it can be a very tedious grind.

How do players get BP? Players have to complete "BBQs." There are several different tasks that will show up on the right side of the screen, ranging from quests to catch a certain type of Pokémon, taking a picture of a Pokémon in motion, walking a certain amount of steps, preparing a certain flavor of sandwich, et cetera. These quests will reward you with varying amounts of points, normally 20 or 30 BP at a time. After every 10 BBQs completed, players will receive a special quest that may be worth over 100 BP.

This can be an annoying process. I would spend hours grinding for BP just to afford anything, especially when trying to spend 200 BP per special coach recruitment.

Accruing BP can move along much faster when using the Union Circle. Playing with friends or strangers will allow you to grind for BP much more efficiently, and group-specific quests can award you loads of points. Group BBQs can be as simple as taking a group picture while wearing Kitakami masks, or as challenging as finding a certain number of hidden Ditto blocks. The most frustrating part of the Union Circle is that, like Ogre Oustin', you cannot randomly play with people online. Players must enter a group code. This is really only possible by going on a subreddit or something, hoping that other players are in the mood to grind for BP. While this is not a difficult process at the moment, it could be problematic for those who want to play the DLC in the future.

But yeah, I overall appreciate the ability to customize. I have my BB League clubroom in the "gorgeous" style at the moment. The DLC also allows players even more hairstyles to choose from, and offers a plethora of new outfits: seasonal BB uniforms and a track outfit, as well as Drayton's getup. They are much more fashionable than Uva/Naranja's school uniforms.

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A strange but seemingly anticipated feature that "The Indigo Disk" implements is called "Pokémon Synchronization." Wowzers!

In the center of Blueberry Academy's terrarium is the plaza, where players can encounter a scientist named Synclaire. She asks you to test out the Synchro Machine, which will allow you to metaphysically synchronize with your leading Pokémon.

Once activated with the L and R-buttons, you become your Pokémon. Like, if you have Ogerpon on hand, you become the ogre. Essentially, players walk around as normal but through the eyes and body of the Pokémon. You can still pick up items and battle in the method of an auto-battle.

It is quite cute and silly . . . but sort of pointless? You can only access the synchro machine inside of the terrarium and nowhere else. The mechanic is also rather slow, meaning that your Pokémon is usually slower than the speed of the MC (especially on Koraidon/Miraidon). However it is just a cute extra gimmick, and it is really cool when players synchronize with Gholdengo because the game essentially transforms into a Tony Hawk title.

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A final addition I will mention is the post-story content.

For one thing, players can now catch almost every single legendary Pokémon imaginable! They are located sporadically around Paldea, but can only be accessed after The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero storyline is fully completed. In the post-game, a weird man named Snackworth will want to talk to you outside of Blueberry Academy. After completing certain amounts of solo quests and group quests, Sanckworth will tell the MC old tales of his childhood where he seems to . . . have met with . . . 25 different legendary Pokémon!?

Snackworth will give vague hints on their whereabouts. In order to have access to all the legendaries, players will need to have completed 130 solo quests and 12 group quests. This side adventure may be sluggish sometimes but it is a high reward. Solo quests are abundant and easy to do but group quests may be harder to access.

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Aside from this, in the post-game, players also unlock the ability to call in special couches to the BB League clubroom. These coaches include Paldean gym leaders, Paldean teachers, and Paldean Elite Four members! The BB Elite Four will be in the clubroom automatically, rotating every now and then (there can only be 3 BB students at a time). The special coaches are expensive as hell, requiring 200 BP per call.

The coaches will have unique dialogue and may even interact with one another. Riku will converse with Tulip, and Hassel has a conversation with Drayton. This may be fanservice-y to some degree, but is in all honesty really cool and interesting. The characters are one of the biggest highlights for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet anyways.

Players can battle the coaches at Blueberry Academy. If you win, you receive special reward items, including a pair of Rhyme's shoes and Clavell's "Clive" wig. If players lose a battle, they are unable to rematch the coach until you call them in with 200 BP again. After recruiting a coach three times, you unlock the ability to trade Pokémon with them! This can also be done with Lacey, Amarys, Drayton, and Crispin.

After doing the epilogue/mythical event called "Mochi Madness," Kieran and Carmine will show up to the BB League room for free. Nemona, Arven, and Penny will also be unlocked as special coaches!

This mechanic is adorable, interesting, and kind of addicting. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the different dialogues with characters you may not expect to mingle with, like the heartwarming interaction between Nemona and Kieran.

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MUSIC: 10/10

I admit that I am a bit easy to please, but I love Pokémon's music. Scarlet and Violet does not miss, especially here in the DLC! "The Indigo Disk" also features the surprising return of Toby Fox's musical talent.

What Game Freak lacks in visuals they make up for in sound. Well . . . not quite literally but you get what I mean.

The DLC soundtrack is a homage to Pokémon Black and White. For fans of Generation V, and people with good taste, the nostalgia and fun will please the senses. It is different enough to be its own soundtrack but includes remixes and renditions of old Unovan beats. For example, the coastal biome's track has a Driftveil City leitmotif. The terrarium wild battle and trainer battle music purely resembles Black and White's soundtrack.

We may not be getting remakes of Generation V now . . . but at least Pokémon fans got a little taste here in the DLC.

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Again, I am a major fan of battle music. Some of my favorite tracks are battle-related, including:

Battle! BB League Elite Four

Battle! Terrarium Wild Pokémon (v.2)

Battle! BB League Champion Kieran

I generally enjoy all of the terrarium music. Black and White are personally my favorite Pokémon games, on the basis of pure nostalgic, love for its Pokémon designs, and continued enjoyment of its story arc.

The battle theme against Kieran, who is now the BB League champion, is a remix of his final battle music from "The Teal Mask." The music adds electric guitars and heavy percussion--it goes hard. The track still captures Kieran's inner turmoil and desperation but combines it with sudden intensity and feelings of megalomania. Players get the sense that Kieran has achieved where he wanted to be in theory, but still lacks fulfillment. He is trying hard, wants to take you down, and he's freaking mental.

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In the second half of the DLC, when traversing deeper into Area Zero, more new music is played. These tracks are cool as well, giving off a mystical yet ominous vibe for the secrets of the Area Zero depths. The Depths music incorporates this demonically angelic chorus that emits this tone suggesting that you are roaming this unexplored, potentially dangerous area.

My favorite entry in the soundtrack is the Battle! Terapagos theme. The ascending and descending piano scale; the sense of dread and awe; the Toby Fox-style insertion of previous leitmotifs; it truly felt like a final boss fight. Even though the battle itself was questionable, I could not help but feel the music. It made the emotional impact of Terapagos' destruction and Kieran's heel-face turn much more powerful.

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The only thing I have to say is, well, in the beautiful words of Kenneth Shepard from Kotaku,

"The real Treasure of Area Zero is this f*cking Ed Sheeran song showing up again."

Yeah . . . uh . . . the end credits theme was a jump scare. I am sorry to Ed Sheeran fans, but not even Toby Fox could save this one.

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STORY: 6/10

"The Indigo Disk" had so much potential.

Pokémon fans had a goldmine of questions because the base game brought about so much intrigue. What exactly is this terastal phenomenon? Was there even more to the story and research of Professor Sada/Turo? Why is there a giant crater in Paldea?

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero initially presented itself as a key to these questions, delving deeper into why the hell a large ominous hole is in the middle of the continent. Why are Ms. Briar and her ancestor so interested in Terapagos and the Indigo Disk?

Unfortunately. . ."The Indigo Disk" left us with even MORE questions than answers. Leave it to Game Freak to circumvent their own ideas.

Obviously, the main focus for the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero seems to be the character building and interactions, especially regarding Florian/Julianna and his/her relations to the antiheroes Carmine and Kieran. More specifically, the DLC was truly about Kieran and his meta-awareness that he is indeed not the protagonist of the game. Kieran has this slow descend into a power craze and crazy obsessiveness over the MC.

This is fine. I love Carmine and Kieran and I am glad to see that Game Freak handled them well and gave them three-dimensionality. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's greatest strength is the writing and characters alone, and in this regard, Generation IX is one of the top ranks for this category.

Unfortunately, as it has been said, Game Freak has NO IDEA or just puts in zero effort to fix preexisting weaknesses. There are clear performance struggles, but another issue with the base game and the DLC is that the story is too big for its britches. The terastal phenomenon is a gimmick but had hints to great plot depth. You would think that the DLC, being named The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, would resolve this. But, no. I truly, honestly wanted to give the storyline a higher rating, especially since the first half of "The Indigo Disk' was super enjoyable. The plot unfortunately fell off in the second half, when it should have taken off.

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The story begins some time later after the events of "The Teal Mask." Director Cyrano of Unova's Blueberry Academy--sister school of Uva/Naranja--comes to Paldea with the given goal of enrolling the MC as an exchange student. Apparently, Carmine has put in a recommendation for Florian/Julianna.

I personally think that it is a bit odd that only the MC will be an exchange student. Are no other Paldean students in the running for the exchange program?

By the encouragement of Cyrano and Clavell, the MC travels to Unova and arrives at the academy, which is in the middle of Unovan waters. Cyrano gives you a brief tour alongside Lacey, a second-year student and the daughter of famous gym leader Clay. They introduce you to the terrarium, and at the top of the school rests a "terastal core" which was set up by Ms. Briar. She combined the soils and waters from Paldea and Kitakami's crystal pool to grant Pokémon within the terrarium the ability to terastalize. It seems that Ms. Briar is rather vague about her methods and explanations, and Director Cyrano doesn't seem to know what the hell is going on in the school.

Players get a small taste of Blueberry's class algorithm by attending a course in the coastal biome alongside Lacey. The MC then wanders to the central plaza and meets up with their old friend Carmine, who seems a bit more languish than usual. You battle her, and then she asks you if you've seen Kieran. She acts strangely regarding this topic.

Not too much later, Kieran does appear but not to which he can visibly see you or Carmine. You watch Kieran berate and belittle a random BB League member for "not training hard enough." The younger Kitakami sibling seems suddenly abashedly rude and vicious, with his leg vibrating violently (perhaps from anxiety), and he's sporting a new look with a tank top and hair bun. He tries to look intimidating and tall with his chin tilted up, but the little butthole still looks 90 lbs.

After witnessing that kerfuffle, a student named Drayton approaches you and asks if you're friends with Kieran. He then invites you to the BB League clubroom, stating that school will suck if you don't find a club to join. Drayton shows you how to use the room's computer and spend "blueberry points," and convinces you to join the BB League much to Carmine's bewilderment. Drayton is low-key kinda flirty, but in a platonic way, and then asks you out on a lunch date to talk further.

When Drayton leaves the room, Carmine takes you to your new dorm room and talks to you about Kieran and Drayton. She is worried about her brother: after the events of Kitakami, Kieran has grown aloof, mean, and power-hungry. He hardly eats and sleeps and overworks himself. Kieran triumphed through the ranks and became both the champion and the president of the BB League, acting as a huge debbie downer and enforcing super strict club rules. Drayton, who Carmine claims to despise, is potentially brewing up a scheme. She tells you not to trust him and she welcomes the MC to punch him.

Later, Florian/Julianna goes on their lunch date with Drayton, and at this point you can mostly ascertain as to why he wants you to join the league so badly. Drayton views Kieran as this little asshole who should be knocked down a few pegs. Drayton is the former champion, and I do not think that the man is particularly jealous or obsessed with such status, rather, Drayton seems concerned about Kieran's mental health yet he probably also harbors some ill feelings over Kieran's disgusting attitude.

Other club members enter the cafeteria, and Kieran finally spots the MC. Apparently Kieran had no idea that Florian/Julianna was coming as an exchange student. All the members vote on whether or not to let this random ass Paldean join the BB League (as it is against the rules). Amarys and Lacey reject you, but Drayton, Crispin, and Kieran allow you in as the majority. The boys got your back.

You are taken to be enrolled in the BB League, and due to the recommendations of the Elite Four and more importantly Kieran himself, the MC gets to bypass the lower rankings and is allowed to challenge the Elite Four directly. Even though Kieran gave you the go-ahead. . . I mean, damn. He worked so hard to get to his champion rank, and he insists that Florian/Julianna "shouldn't go losing" because HE has to be the one to kick your ass. That is so Zuko core. Perhaps it is more-so an inversion of Nemona's obsession with the MC.

The MC proceeds to get wrapped into the BB League drama and take on all Elite Four members. Both Drayton and Kieran keep an eye on you closely for different reasons. Once you defeat the Elite Four, Julianna/Florian can proceed to battle Champion Kieran. Kieran asserts that he is "no longer the little kid from Kitakami" and begins laying it on thick. Players can send out Ogerpon during the battle and Kieran will flip his shit.

Of course, Julianna/Florian must win because they are the MC, and once successful, Kieran has the ultimate mental breakdown and just stands there unable to speak or move correctly for a long time. Drayton immediately refers to him as "ex-Champion."

Before anyone can process the de-throning, both you, Kieran, Carmine, and Drayton are abruptly called to Ms. Briar's office. Quite bad timing. Lacey grows concerned because, since you are a temporary exchange student, you will eventually have to abandon your champion title. If Kieran is demoted to an Elite Four member, Crispin is pushed out of the ranks. But there is no time to solve this now.

You all go to Ms. Briar and she brings up the fact that Kieran is a big, fat loser. She gathered you all specifically because this quartet are the "strongest" trainers the academy has to offer. She informs you that she has been officially granted permission (after all these years) to delve into the depths of Area Zero. The room is then joined by the Paldean Champion Geeta and Elite Four member Riku, who talk more about the situation and adamantly pressure you into going with Ms. Briar. I mean, yeah, the MC has been there before, and you are considered "champion-ranked." Geeta expresses that all other Paldea league members are inadequate and inferior, so these four children must go instead . . . okay.

So, the MC will go, and Carmine wants to go, and Kieran agrees to join because he suddenly became unhealthily interested in catching Terapagos as means for a last-ditch power grab. Drayton volunteers to stay behind, because he is lazy as hell. Before departure, Geeta gives the player the indigo disk because she is unsure of its purpose despite research efforts. Alright Geeta, entrust a 14 year-old with this powerful unknown object.

The gang flies to Paldea and enters Area Zero once again. Carmine and Kieran are mesmerized . . . but I can infer that the MC must be quaking in their shoes (after what happened with Professor Sada/Turo). You descend down back into the laboratory and Briar finds all these private journal entries. You all get into the elevator after plopping the indigo disk drive into this machine, and the elevator redirects to deeper depths floors.

You exit the elevator and are greeted by these crystalline caves. The team finds even more entries from previous researchers and Professor Sada/Turo themself, talking about the whereabouts of Terapagos (aka the "key to/hidden treasure of Area Zero") and the existence of the "stellar tera type." Nobody had known that any human made it down this far into the depths. As you traverse onwards, the group frequently encounters these powerful Pokémon of the stellar tera type, which has not been seen outside of Area Zero.

After several Pokémon battles and slight bickering with Kieran, you eventually reach an ominous, open room with huge crystals. There is a little green gemstone lodged inside one of the bigger crystals, and Kieran rushes over to attempt to pull it out with his bone-thin arms. He ruminates and expresses frustration and grief over Florian/Julianna and their ability to ravel easily, ability to make friends quickly, their effortless strength, and their ownership of Ogerpon (and multiple legendaries at that). This is a pure expulsion of envy, loneliness, and desperation. Meanwhile, the socially unaware Carmine and MC finally understand what Kieran is so damn mad about. Ms. Briar, on the other hand, ignores this teenage display of angst and continues to obtusely egg Kieran on with his poor behavioral choices.

In a rage, Kieran successfully frees the gem. The gemstone levitates and out pops an adorable, babyish turtle Pokémon. Due to the direction it was facing when it popped out, Terapagos immediately imprinted on the MC due to him/her being in its line of vision. It cheerfully waddles towards the MC, but Kieran notices this immediately and becomes pissed and afraid. He cannot let another chance of bonding with a legendary slip out of his hands, so he whips out a master ball and catches Terapagos. Carmine is shocked and concerned, but Briar applauds him. Now that it is in captivity, Terapagos can be immediately researched upon.

With his new power, Kieran challenges the player to a battle. Kieran only uses Terapagos, which changes form during the fight. Briar encourages him to explore all of its capabilities.

The fight is not difficult at all, and Kieran becomes confused and depressed. He questions as to whether or not this Pokémon is actually the "treasure" of Area Zero. What's wrong with it?

Briar detects that Terapagos' terastal output is far too low. She tells Kieran to terastalize it so it can recognize its full potential. Naive Briar is commanding a mentally ill teenager to behave recklessly, yippee. So, Kieran terastalizes Terapagos . . . but it gets out of hand quickly. Terapagos absorbs so much terastal energy to that it becomes dangerous and uncontrollable. Terastal beams shoot everywhere creating a danger zone. Kieran tries to recall the Pokémon but the master ball freaking breaks. He is almost fatally struck in the head, but Koraidon/Miraidon shields him.

You and Carmine attempt to get Terapagos under control, to hardly any avail. The legendary keeps absorbing both trainers' terastal output. Briar's cowardly ass is over at the sidelines, and Kieran has another nervous breakdown and begins dissociating.

Carmine's Poltchageist quickly faints and the MC is left battling alone for a while. After multiple attempts at encouragement from you and Carmine, Kieran finally snaps back into reality and tries to help the situation. He realizes that he is kind of at fault and that he is not half bad at Pokémon battling. Eventually, you both tame Terapagos, and the MC catches/contains it in a ball.

Once things cool down, Kieran apologizes and bursts into sobs, followed by Carmine. Carmine also rips Briar a new one--Ms. Briar literally recruited mentally unstable children to descend into the most unknown, dangerous place in Paldea.

The gang returns to Unova where Kieran decides to fully apologize, and ask Florian/Julianna if they could start over and craft a friendship on a blank slate. The MC agrees, and the sky grows a romantic pink.

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As mentioned, the first half of the plot is pretty great. It is more surface level but still offers an entertaining depiction of [Pokémon] high school drama. The MC has returned to Kieran's surprise after having departed on a bitter note. While Florian/Julianna presumably carried on with their lives, Kieran has festered in envy and despair over the events of "The Teal Mask," devoting himself solely to getting stronger. You can even see the bags under Kieran's eyes, from the fact he has grown to be an insomniac.

The introductions of Lacey, Amarys, Crispin, and Drayton are executed wonderfully. They add a fun and unique flair to the plot that was largely absent in "The Teal Mask," and their interactions with each other are intriguing and charming. Sure, perhaps it crossed the lines of being "shippy" and dramatic at times . . . but these are all like 14 to 16-year-olds. Pokémon has never really dealt with shipping so upfront, but here you go. Though there is Drayton, who has been held back like three times, so he must be like 19 or 20 or something?

The rivalry between Drayton and the Kitakami siblings is quite amusing. It comes from a place of genuine concern on Drayton's side but it does not negate his cockiness (though to be fair, Kieran was presumably an asshole sore loser to him).

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I would say that the Blueberry Academy part of the game takes up most of players' time, due to the need to explore, catch new Pokémon, and complete trials and challenges. It is a chill adventure with a childishly dramatic story, which serves as an excellent buildup. Briar in the first portion of "The Indigo Disk" seems like a potential villain with more-than-meets-the-eye traits due to her vague explanations and questionable motive. Kieran's rampant self-destruction and callousness towards the League is worth a playthrough . . . players will want to kick his ass for sure.

However, following the defeat of Champion Kieran and the transition into the actual Area Zero parts of the story . . . oh boy, did it sure disappoint. For one thing, Geeta--knowing that her coworkers (like the gym leaders) do not seem to like her--remains weirdly auspicious yet does not seem willing to disclose key information to the people who are actually venturing down into the depths. Is Geeta hiding something? Does she know more about Terapgos and the indigo disk than she leads on? How did she obtain a Glimmora if they are only found in Area Zero? Why is she allowing mostly non-Paldean children over her fellow league members to go inside Area Zero? Game Freak will give zero answers to these questions.

The characterization of Briar became a big mess as well. Her presence in the story is mostly muted . . she could have been so much more. She served as more of a naive nuisance than an actual villain. Briar is a reckless, immature adult absorbed in her own world. She puts three kids in danger due to her erratic thirst for knowledge. She egged on a mentally unstable high schooler to do her own bidding. She was not a more-than-meets-the-eye villain, only an accidental enabler.

And why did Briar not get arrested? Why was she ever granted permission into Area Zero? Did she notice anything wrong with Carmine and Kieran? I feel like child endangerment charges should be filed. Of course, yet again, Game Freak will not answer nor solve any of these questions. In the post-game, Ms. Briar gives the player a book on the retelling of the Area Zero Depths event written by herself. She gives you a bloody book as an apology.

The saddest part about "The Indigo Disk" was how short it was. I had a playtime of 20 hours, in which maybe only two or three of those hours were actually in Area Zero. The depths were a cool concept that failed to actualize. As stated, the game left us with more questions than answers. What is Terapagos doing down there lying dormant in the depths? How is this Pokémon connected to terastalization? Still . . . why is there a huge crater in Paldea? Why does a random eastern town like Kitakami have terastal crystals in the water?

Ogerpon is much more fascinating lore-wise than Terapagos, and is also signifcantly better in combat than Terapagos' stellar tera type.

I mean, Terapagos being a turtle is neat, and so many religions in Asia and the Indigenous Americas focus on some sort of "world turtle" being the grounds for land and life itself. Why was this concept not explored in the Pokémon universe?

I don't know . . . the DLC was just much too short, and the depts were underwhelming. Game Freak could have dug even deeper. The final battle was exhilarating though, and I adored Kieran and Carmine's come-to . . . but still. It is also strange to note that Arven had nothing to do with these events. The old Paldea gang remains absent in both "The Teal Mask" and now "The Indigo Disk." As stated in my last review, these characters were pushed aside to allow the Kitakami siblings to shine. Though I think Area Zero is still really important for Arven . . . unless he is still grieving and traumatized, I do not know.

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SETTING: 8/10

"The Indigo Disk" takes place in two major locations: Blueberry Academy and its terrarium, and the depths of Area Zero.

Graphics aside, the settings are quite stellar. My jaw dropped at the first encounter with the academy and its expansiveness. The layout is circular like a Pokéball, with a plaza in the center and four biomes all around. It is a nice size for a DLC I think; not too overwhelming in scale but full of varied geography. The good thing about a smaller-sized map is that there are significantly fewer instances of boring, barren stretches of land that could be found in the Paldea map. Most anywhere in the terrarium you can find at least something.

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The biomes include the polar, coastal, canyon, and savannah areas. I had the worst performance issues in the savannah biome, and the landscape is probably the most lackluster in my opinion. I mean, savannahs are flat grasslands in reality . . . so I cannot fully blame it in that regard.

I really liked the music and appearance of the coastal biome, and I appreciated the ruggedness of the canyon biome with its huge cave complex you can enter.

The strangest pieces of architecture are the rainbow blocks that loosely resemble structures. The small gazebo-like classrooms and the main central plaza are composed of these blocks. It is very ugly, but I suppose the coloration and brightness make it very visible.

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Inside the academy is neat. You can go to the cafeteria, your dorm room, and the school store, which all mostly looked like Naranja/Uva's interiror but alternately colored. Like in the base game, you can see some of the MC's friend's dorm rooms, like Carmine's and Kieran's (the latter is only accessed after the epilogue is completed). Carmine's room is neat but a bit weird, full of family portraits and Pokémon dolls. Kieran has a total depression room with loose candy wrappers and a dead plant.

The belle of the ball is the BB League clubroom, which can look different depending upon the player's will. With the computer, you can spend BP for the art club's services of remodeling the room. You have the options to make it look normal (wooden walls and a blue carpet), natural (green and full of plants), monochrome (greyscale, hexagonal), fancy (pink dollhouse-like), dark (like a vampire's dining room), classic (darker wood and cabin-like), futuristic (like a kid's rocket-inspired bedroom), and gorgeous (golden, east-Asian inspired). If players get sick of one look, BP can be spent to remodel it again. All the designs are quite charming with my favorites being natural and gorgeous.

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The look of the Depths is alright. It doesn't look radically different from before, but it certainly feels unusual. It looks more humid, cramped, and sparkly, with a foreboding vibe. I am not a fan with the strict linearity of the path from the Depths' start to finish, but at least it moves players along quickly.

The area with the big, crystallized tree surrounded by rainbow-ish water is beautiful. This scene was featured in the trailer. However, I am not quite sure of the significance of this location. Players engage in a stellar terastal battle here, but not much is noted about the tree itself. Stunning for Pokémon standards, but rather unimportant . . .

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COMBAT: 9/10

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero is definitely a step in the right direction for Pokémon, and "The Indigo Disk" itself is a step up from "The Teal Mask." The DLC is hard.

You are going to need Pokémon above level 75 to suffice through part two of the DLC. Players will also face the highest leveled champion of all time, Kieran, who has a team of level 85 Pokémon.

"The Indigo Disk" features callbacks to Unova, in which Blueberry Academy specializes in double battling. Aside from wild encounters, ALL trainer battles will be doubles. This makes challenging the Elite Four and champion even more difficult. Players are going to need to strategize a bit. Even Pokémon that do not appear to be threats can unabashedly use helping hand and other supporting moves for their partner to your demise.

Champion Kieran's team is notably different from who he battled with back in Kitakami. He has come equipped with the most notorious VGC Pokémon of all time, Incineroar, and also has powerhouses like Dragonite and Grimmsnarl, and Pokémon with powerful attacks like Porygon-Z's hyperbeam and Hydrapple's fickle beam. It is evident that Kieran has been studying up and wants to harness only his most capable team members (bye bye little Furret). Kieran, like other trainers, also have a better understanding of how to use berries and focus sashes . . . so watch out. The struggle may annoy some people but appeal to others' competitive edge. It kind of feels as if I am battling another actual person sometimes.

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Fighting and catching some of the new Pokémon in the terrarium's Pokédex is hard. The starter Pokémon in particular, which can be accessed after spending 3,000 BP per biome, are a tough catch. I spent countless Pokéballs to no success for a freaking Froakie or Cyndaquil.

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Instead of any gym challenges, the Blueberry Academy featured league challengers per Elite Four member. These varied in difficulty.

Lacey's trial was a mere Pokemon quiz, and Amarys' challenge was a timed flying trial for Koraidon/Miraidon. These trials were not too hard at all nor too long in length. Players may slip up on certain quiz questions (e.g., what body part does Venonat see out of) or if your flying controls are inverted, it may be tougher.

Crispin's trial required bargaining trainers for spicy ingredients to make a super spicy sandwich. Some of these trainers the player has to battle. It is kind of silly and fun, but certainly longer than Amarys' and Lacey's tests. Drayton has a very unique challenge. You battle three trainers but ONLY with Pokémon you caught in the terrarium itself. This may be simple for some but hard for others, particularly players who had gotten by with their carry-over party from Paldea or Kitakami. I appreciate the little challenge that forces you to actually explore the biomes and attempt to change up the player's team.

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The second half of the DLC has more inconsistent difficulty scaling. There is an addition to the terastalizing gimmick: the stellar tera type. Pokémon usually terastalize into one specific type that may or may not be unusual for the species, but the "stellar" type is like a combination of all types. Honestly, the stellar type is weird and kind of useless . . .

I am unsure as to why this type was added to the game. It seems cool and powerful in name but not in practice. The "stellar" tera type appears for certain Pokémon within the depths of Area Zero, but I had a ridiculously easy time destroying the onslaught of them.

Stellar terastlization is supposed to boost Pokémon moves of all types, but only once per type. The Pokémon will gain the abilities:

Become super effective against other Pokémon that are terastallized.

Keeps the base typing's defensive stats and properties.

Will have no weaknesses nor immunities.

So . . . yeah, kind of strange. Would players rather have a permanent boost on a specific tera type? Probably yes. Essentially, the stellar tera type does nothing for a Pokémon offensively, just defensively.

This made the newly revealed legendary Pokémon Terapagosmrather underwhelming. He is a stellar tera type, and while he looks cool, so what? The animation for Terapagos to terastalize is also awfully laggy and time-consuming. There is virtually no point in terastalizing him.

The boss battle against Terapagos however is unholy broken. It is a difficult fight . . . until it is not. The fight is impossible to get through if your Pokémon is not terastalized, in which Terapagos will be constantly absorbing the player's terastal energy for its own benefit, particularly after every third chunk of HP lost. Non-terastaslized Pokémon do insanely minimal damage.

The battle is actually story-guided. Despite the intensity and the epic soundtrack, the flow of the fight is hardly in the player's control. Carmine's only Pokémon will faint within the first third of the battle, and the MC will be left to his/her own devices in the middle third of the fight. In the final stretch, Kieran, regardless of anything, will come to his senses and help you out to defeat Terapagos.

Admittedly, I did die several times in this fight. Other people probably had no struggle at all. While Terapagos technically changes type every once in a while during the battle, it was hard to notice since it was so plot-oriented. The scariest part of the battle, which killed me, was the vehement spamming of the move "tera star storm."

So, the introduction of the stellar type is kind of a downside. It is simply irrelevant. It does not make too much sense for the player to actually use this mechanic. Once the story is completed, wild Pokémon may randomly develop the stellar tera type. It is not really worth the catch in my opinion; it is a gimmick pure and simple, unable to live up to its epic name.

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ENJOYMENT: 8/10

Overall, I enjoyed my experience with The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC. It has its serious flaws, and perhaps I am too content of a Pokémon fan, but I think my greatest attraction to this game was simply the characters and their development. The writing is humorous, emotional, and thoughtful, and Kieran and Carmine's arcs were refreshing and nicely done. It is great to have poorly adjusted, mentally ill rivals for a change, rather than the classic friendly competitor.

"The Indigo Disk" provided a fun challenge with its double battle system and high-leveled Pokémon, and I never got bored of fighting. I only was bogged down by the grinding for BP, but give or take it is an optional mechanic. I was thriving in my childhood memories of roaming around Pokémon Black and White, jamming out to the soundtrack reminiscent of Generation V.

Scarlet and Violet once again introduced visually and personality-appealing characters and Pokémon designs. Hydrapple has been a huge hit it seems, and I see some fans calling Applin the "new Eevee."

Of course, Game Freak must get itself together. There are no excuses for bugs, glitches, FPS drops, and graphical issues in 2022 onwards. Game Freak also needs to stop shying away from its own story questions they propose; the company is full of interesting ideas, they just need to figure out how to adequately implement them through and through. Yet, I just know the next mainline games are going to abandon and forget the concept of terastalization and all the power it holds in the Pokémon lore.

Regardless, I think that Pokémon fans will have a great time with this DLC and a gang of characters to remember and cherish.

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 40ish hours

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

PLATFORM USED: Nintendo Switch

DATE OF COMPLETION: May 2024

[milkpumpkin96]

The Nintendo Direct was an absolute banger today. We’ve got Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Metroid Prime 4, Mario & Luigi Brothership, Mario Parry Jamboree, Dragon Quest HD remakes, and Donkey Kong Country Returns (again)!

Heard about Metroid Prime 4 back in 2017 . . . what a rollercoaster that has been. Finally the silence has been broken—and I wonder if it’ll come to the Switch, or be reserved for the possible next gen console?

[milkpumpkin96]

It’s been nine long years . . .

How we feeling after the direct fellas?

[milkpumpkin96]

¡Amateur!

Morgana drawing from several years ago

[milkpumpkin96]

Gonna say this as someone who has been critical of Game Freak both as a fan and as someone with a Pokémon SPIN for a while now:

Do not support Palworld.

The CEO of Pocket Pair, the game’s studio, openly supports AI and even made a game where making AI-generated art is its main mechanic.

Palworld is not Pocket Pair’s first instance of plagiarism, either. Their previous game, Craftopia, plagiarizes Breath of the Wild, whereas as its upcoming game, Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse, plagiarizes from independent developer Team Cherry’s game, Hollow Knight.

On top of stolen character models and concepts from fakemon artists, it’s already known that you can put Pals through what is basically slave labor BUT what’s been recently discovered is that the game allows you to capture and sell humans. This has been raising some red flags for black gamers looking into these mechanics, me included, considering this factors into the established slave labor system of Palworld.

TL;DR: I completely understand being tired of Game Freak and the Pokémon Company’s lack of polish over the years, but supporting something that is just as devoid of polish and even more devoid of ingenuity is not the way to make those criticisms clearer. This will only encourage more soullessness in the industry.

I implore you to support other creature collectors with some real passion behind them; I will reblog this post with recommendations shortly!

[milkpumpkin96]

For real????

Persona 3: SEES are well connected and are able to buy weapons from a contact within the police force.

Persona 5: The weapons are actually just models that work within the Metaverse because they look real.

Persona 4: Alright, so Inaba has this blacksmith who sells guns to children.

[milkpumpkin96]

Absolutely in love!

The First Supper

[milkpumpkin96]

This is SOOOO exciting! I cannot WAIT to play the remake!

The Nintendo Switch remake of Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door restores the original dialogue depicting Vivian as Transgender, something that was removed in the original English Gamecube release.

[milkpumpkin96]

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Review

Part I: The Teal Mask

I have a lot to say about Pokémon Scarlet & Violet as a whole . . . but damn, this game is ginormous. I have recently completed "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" DLC in its entirety, but since it is absolutely stuffed with new content, I am going to divide up my review.

It is quite clear that Gen IX has . . . its flaws. But nonetheless, I adored this DLC like you cannot imagine (graphical concerns aside).

Pokémon has always been a huge part of my life and I am eager to talk about it. I think that the DLC could have been cheaper to purchase, but it is definitely worth it for Pokémon fans.

I know I am late to the party because "The Teal Mask" came out like half a year ago, but oh well!

[ MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING ]

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

For the most part, I went into the DLC blind. I did not view posts or trailers or anything about it beforehand. As such, I was in for a nice surprise!

Overall, "The Teal Mask" featured definite improvements from the base game. I consider myself lucky in that I never experienced the hoards of bizarre or game-breaking glitches that other players dealt with in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. The DLC had some slight upgrades in this regard. Slight.

That being said, the fact that performance issues remain present only highlights the indolence of Game Freak. Since, on the other hand, Nintendo has Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4 pushing the Nintendo Switch's capabilities to the max and can run fine and look stunning in its own right.

Otherwise, the soundtrack, the storyline, the characters, and the aesthetic of the DLC are phenomenal and feature some of my favorite elements compared to the main game. Also, "The Teal Mask" certainly offered quite a fresh challenge (at least for casual players).

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GAMEPLAY: 6/10

As stated, the biggest disappointment with the DLC is its failure to properly fine-tune the performance issues. Cutscenes still lag; and holy hell, the cutscene of the MC and Carmine gazing at the Crystal Pool is egregiously choppy. The game tried sooo hard to feature the sparkling beauty of the pool but to no avail. It seems that this severe lag happened to everyone, which made the already underwhelming Milotic jump scare even more underwhelming.

The game does not look awful, but still pretty bad. Game Freak totally is not a billion-dollar franchise capable of more, right?

Players still have instances of sudden FPS drops, especially when Koraidon/Miraidon tries to run and jump (this is most apparent during the Ogre Oustin' minigame).

The smallness of the map will be this DLC's savior, which I will discuss under my "setting" review category. But, in regards to the graphics, I think if the map were any larger, "The Teal Mask" and its areas would be sooo sluggish and lackluster compared to many places in the base game. This is due to the lack of NPC density and really anything going on outside of the three major locations of Kitakami.

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I still believe that Pokémon has its own charm though. At the very least, the land of Kitakami is enticing and pretty.

I did not experience any glitches in "The Teal Mask." The performance ran smoother on my own copy compared to other players, because I have heard the other people had more prominent performance errors in their DLC.

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Moving on, I will say that the difficult scaling of the DLC surprised me in a good way. This is especially true for casual players like myself!

The game is not hard, but it is not easy either. If you choose to begin part one of the DLC after beating the base game and post-game, the Pokémon in "The Teal Mask" are between levels 60s-70s. This shocked me as being a fairly difficult starting point (especially since this is only part one of the DLC, and it is kind of its own game).

I am a fully casual player. Say what you will, but by the time I completed the post-game of Pokémon Scarlet, my highest level Pokémon (my Skeledirge) was about level 71. Most of my main party were between levels 50-70, so the DLC being at this level was amazing for me. A perfect blend of enjoyment and challenge.

Even for competitive players and heedless grinders, there is still some difficulty to be had. This is particularly the case with the optional ogre clan members you can battle--which their Pokémon are level 75--and also even some battles against Kieran can come as a surprise. If your team is all maxed at level 100 . . . then of course you can blast your way through.

Personally, I lost to several ogre clan members, and nearly to Kieran as well.

Some other people might want to start from scratch and foster a brand new team in the land of Kitakami. I actually recommend doing so if you want to experiment with the new entries in the Pokedex and have a nice and fun challenge.

If you start the DLC before you finish the main game (which is possible), "The Teal Mask" will try to scale down to your own level.

----------

Aside from battling, there are other extra features players can engage with. At the "Festival of Masks," you can try a minigame called "Ogre Oustin,'" in which your MC rides on Koraidon/Miraidon and attempts to pop ogre-themed balloons and retrieve berries of certain colors (red, grey, green, and blue). These colorations match the masks held by Ogerpon, hence the name. Since the inhabitants of Kitakami initially view Ogerpon as unfavorable, the point of the minigame is to mimic hunting down the ogre to avenge The Loyal Three.

This minigame starts off fairly easy at first: run around and pop like four blue balloons and three green ones. Players must play "Ogre-Oustin'" at least one time due to story reasons, and stick it to Carmine who's ego is more inflated than the balloons themselves.

As you progress through the levels, it becomes alarmingly difficult. You go from popping 10 balloons in total to around 60 or 70! There are also Skwovets and Munchlaxes actively trying to steal your berries. Players can try this minigame alone or play online or local multiplayer. Trust me . . . playing the game with others is superior. I cannot get through the harder levels solo, like at all.

This minigame is weird but kind of fun. I feel a blend of anger and joy when I play . . . "Ogre Oustin'" will incite peoples' competitive streaks.

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Another side option players can do is engage with the character named Perrin, who . . . you know . . . is 100% a descendant from Hisui's famous Adaman.

She will not regard you until you have completed 150 Kitakami Pokedex entries in full. Once you begin Perrin's side mission, she asks you to assist her with capturing a photo of the "blood moon beast," who is rumored to be lurking in the woods of Kitakami. Throughout this quest, players camp with Perrin and take various photos of Pokémon at night. Perrin's strange camera device has to filter out all non-"blood moon beast" species in order to autonomously detect the location of the beast.

So, I mean, if you like Pokémon Snap or just enjoy using Scarlet & Violet's camera function, then wahoo! However, I wish all the new camera functions were available at this point in the game, as they are not accessible until part two of the DLC.

You ultimately get to battle and capture the "blood moon beast" (which is a special coloration of Ursaluna), and Perrin takes a horrifically blurry photo of it. This side quest is silly and fun, but ultimately just kind of meh. Perrin herself and Ursaluna are cool, though!

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A third side quest you can engage in is with the characters Billy and O'Nare, who are adorning sparkly outfits and can be found standing on the edges of Kitakami's apple orchard. The two are members of "The Glitterati" and are very flamboyantly wealthy.

Their side quest is kind of tedious and annoying in my opinion. After each conversation with these guys, they travel vehemently to random landmarks either in Kitakami itself or back in Paldea. It is a fetch quest where you find the same duo over and over rather than an object. The hints to their whereabouts are kind of vague, which is made worse because Paldea's map can be redundant. Billy and O'Nare are looking for a famous waterfall? There are so many damn waterfalls in Paldea!

After each find, they give you daffy advice and some items. Occasionally players must battle O'Nare, but all she has is a rather weak Persian and eventually an Arbolivia.

Once the side quest is completed, players will have enough valuable items to bulk sell for a hefty amount of money. Players should sell these items and get the 10-ish grand. If you return back to Kitakami and talk to the caretaker, he will be asking for donations to repair the disassembled statues of The Loyal Three in Loyalty Plaza. Sure, the caretaker only wants to repair them for tourism purposes, and sure, the caretaker is kind of a greedy asshole, but if you donate 100,000 to the cause, you will receive a flashy jinbei to wear!

There is a fandom debate on the identities of Billy and O'Nare, in which some fans suspect that these two may be Nemona's parents. After all, O'Nare specifically resembles Nemona in the face, and players know that Nemona grew up quite lavishly. Her parents are never home and Nemona had been primarily taken care of by housekeepers . . . and Billy and O'Nare are always recklessly on the go . . . hmmm.

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MUSIC: 8/10

Pokémon has never blown my mind with its soundtrack, but damn, these games have some bangers!

The music in "The Teal Mask" is very fitting, giving off a warm, seasonal vibe and incorporates the sounds present in traditional Japanese folk music. Overall, the DLC's soundtrack contains some of my favorite works in all of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, and I am very happy that Game Freak decided to change up the wild battle and trainer battle themes to distinguish it from the base game.

Also, wow, I am still very happy that Toby Fox contributed to the soundtracks of "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" DLC!

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The music is funky, upbeat, and irresistibly hard not to dance to. It pairs splendidly well with the visual setting, and I feel as if I am roaming rural Japan.

I am always a fan of battle themes. So, some of my favorite tracks include:

Battle! Vs Carmine

Final Battle! Vs Kieran

Battle! Vs Okidogi, Munkidori, & Fezandipiti

Battle! Vs Ogrepon

Carmine's battle theme is bouncy and light-hearted, reflecting her humorously volatile nature yet her slow-growing friendliness towards the MC. The battle theme against The Loyal Three starts off sounding intimidating but then becomes super funky and whimsical. This gives it a de-escalating feel, as in that these Pokémon are actually not that much of a threat after all.

Ogerpon's theme is awesome! It is super folky and happy-sounding, and it made the final battle feel and sound emotionally significant in a positive way. And damn, I love Kieran's battle music, particularly the final version. His theme begins as light-hearted as Carmine's but becomes more intense the worse Kieran's mental state becomes. The final battle music sounds desperate. It sounds sad. It sounds vengeful. It sounds passionate. All of these strange, edgy, teenage hormones unleashed into an awesome tune.

Evidently I love battle music, but there are several other tracks I adore as well:

Mossui Town

Kitakami Hall

Get Stronger

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STORY: 7/10

I do genuinely believe that Generation IX is pretty top-tier when it comes to writing, next to Gen V and VI. At least when it comes to mainline Pokémon game standards.

I had a great time playing through the story and was invested in each line of dialogue. The story itself is about 8 hours, and it offers a pleasing mix of silliness and emotional investment. The star of the show was the friendship/rivalry between the player and Kieran, which the latter stumbled down a childish version of the joker pipeline.

As many people say, Scarlet & Violet's companion characters are some of the best. Nemona, Arven, and Penny are packed with personality, and especially when it comes to their post-game interactions, their similarities and differences bounce off of each other well. Including the MC, they all are outcasted children (and have parental issues) to varying degrees, united by a love for Pokémon and a desire for friendship.

Then, we have the new sibling duo from Kitakami: Kieran and Carmine, who also harbor [potentially] parental issues, and host of other problems.

Carmine and Kieran are natives of Kitakami, and strangely it seems there are not too many other NPCs of their age around. They live with their grandparents Hideko and Yukito in a pale yellow home, and like other locals, are majorly disconnected from a technological standpoint. Carmine has a phone, but Kieran does not, and the only other devices (a television and a game system) are located in the community center for tourists to stay at. Kieran and Carmine are battle maniacs; apparently, according to the "caretaker" of Kitakami, the two tend to cause some disturbances around the place. I am not quite sure if he is referring to their youthful boisterousness, craving for battle, or simply their short tempers (especially Carmine).

But, I was not bothered by them in the least. I was quite entertained.

—————

The story begins when the MC--Julianna or Florian--alongside some other random Uva/Naranja students are "randomly" selected by Professor Jacq to take a school trip to the little local town of Kitakami. The reasoning for this seemingly obscure location is that the trip is hosted by an affiliate sister school, Blueberry Academy. Blueberry is a new Unovan school that aims to strengthen its bonds with Uva/Naranja.

Kitakami is a small village located near the Kanto and Johto regions. Of course, the MC has no choice but to agree to go on the trip!

The group boards an airplane and takes a long bus ride, eventually making it to Kitakami. The class is led by Ms. Briar, a faculty member of Blueberry: Ms. Briar states that she is a descendant of Heath, the author of the Scarlet/Violet Book. In the uncensored book she possesses, Heath vaguely describes a legendary creature named Terapagos that has some sort of connection to the terastal phenomenon. She is on the hunt for this mysterious creature and wants to ultimately gain access to Area Zero in Paldea (which apparently she has been denied many times). The primary reason why Ms. Briar is hosting this trip is because the Crystal Pool located in Kitakami possesses terastal crystals akin to Area Zero. This could help with her research.

Anyways, the kids leave the bus and one of the students becomes car sick, so Briar sends the MC to Mossui Town, the one and only little village in the area, to get some help. The player then encounters Carmine and Kieran, two locals awaiting the arrival of the Paldean students, and Carmine immediately becomes hostile and xenophobic towards you. She challenges you to your first battle while Kieran quietly watches. They are eventually shooed off by the "caretaker," who properly greets you.

You all are cared for and fed and housed in the community center, and when players wake up the next day, the "school" part of the trip begins. You all gather outside of the community center and Briar, Carmine, and Kieran officially introduce themselves. Carmine and Kieran, while born in Kitakami, actually attend Blueberry Academy (which is in the Unova region), I suppose because they are notable for their battling skills. Blueberry is known to specialize teaching the art of Pokémon battling.

As a part of a school task, the "caretaker" instructs each student to pair up and visit three signboards across Kitakami that detail its history . . . or rather historically-based folktales. Briar encourages intermingling between the Uva/Naranja kids and the Blueberry kids. The MC talks to the Kitakami siblings and Carmine asserts that her little brother has been ogling at you, much to Kieran's embarrassment. She then encourages a battle between you two, which is conducted. Depending on your play style, this fight can be kind of easy or surprisingly a struggle. The outcome of the battle regardless makes Kieran even more fascinated with Julianna/Florian.

As such, the MC ends up pairing with Kieran. Kieran is very timid so he kind of avoids actually walking with you to the signboards. First, players traverse through the apple orchards and make it to Loyalty Plaza, where the first signboard talks about the tale of The Loyal Three sacrificing their lives to protect Kitakami from the monstrous ogre. There are statues of these honored Pokémon in the plaza; and Kieran opens up a bit and claims that he finds the ogre actually pretty cool and powerful. After all, the ogre, who is a grass type, murdered three Pokémon with a type advantage. Kieran mentions that he used to go to the ogre's hiding spot as a kid at night and would be yelled at by the adult villagers.

The MC and Kieran then head towards the Festival Hall where the second signboard is. This board continues to talk about the tale, and references the ogre's four masks: the cornerstone mask, the hearthflame mask, the wellspring mask, and the teal mask. Kieran opens up to the MC even more and talks about his fascination with the ogre, and how it doesn't care about what anyone else thinks, and it can hold its ground and is strong and willful. He then invites you to come check out the "Dreaded Den" on Oni Mountain, where the ogre is said to be. The MC agrees and travels there.

Here, Kieran and the MC battle again, because Kieran hopes a display of strength will draw out the ogre. It does not . . . to their knowledge. The two go inside the den and look around the cramped area. Sunset arrives, and then Kieran invites Florian/Julianna to attend the Festival of Masks with him that begins that night.

Later, you are given a green jinbei and attend the festival alongside Kieran and Carmine. You hang with Kieran for a bit until Carmine has a little blowup episode, and while you are off on your own, you see Ogerpon walking around alone. Thinking it to be a masked child at first, the MC approaches it. Then, Carmine finds you and calls out to you. The ogre runs away, accidentally dropping and chipping its teal mask. When Kieran catches up to you guys, you lie to him and say you saw nothing. Kieran thinks you and Carmine were talking about him behind his back.

The next day, Yukito reveals to Carmine and the MC about the true story of the tale of Ogerpon and The Loyal Three. It turns out, the roles were reversed. Ogerpon has been defending itself from the three Pokémon and went on a rampage after finding all of its masks stolen and its original companion human presumably dead. The "Loyal" Three were greedy, murderous thieves all along.

Kieran overhears this conversation, after having been vehemently shooed away by Carmine. He becomes upset, especially since he is a superfan of the ogre, and his entire life he had believed Ogerpon to be the "good guy" where nobody else in Kitakami believed this to be true.

You go to the last signboard with Kieran, and the latter noticeably seems more tense and withdrawn than before. The MC battles Kieran, and Kieran loses, lamenting privately that he is too weak. The last signboard gets a little wild and says that if you encounter the ogre without a mask, it will steal your soul. Kieran asserts that there is no way that is true, and then begins talking about how his great great great great great grandfather was a mask maker (in which the mask maker is responsible for making Ogerpon's mask). The MC just says that's cool, and via body language, one can tell that Kieran is pissed by this because he subtly tried to incite the player to tell him the truth. Kieran then leaves.

Yukito tells the player that he cannot fix up the mask without a terastal crystal, so the MC and Carmine head up to the Crystal Pool to retrieve one. They are met by Ms. Briar, and Carmine angrily questions why she is there because the Crystal Pool is considered a sacred space. Briar claims that she got permission from the "caretaker" and needs to look at the pool for research purposes.

The duo then tries to give Yukito the crystal, but the grandpa says that Kieran ran off with the teal mask. Carmine wonders how in the hell Kieran figured out the truth, so you two chase after him to Loyalty Plaza. Kieran is violently upset, challenges the MC to a battle, loses, and then edgily punches the statue of The Loyal Three while holding the teal mask. He begrudgingly returns the teal mask to you and runs away. Carmine wonders if he is becoming hormonal or something.

Then, suddenly, the statue of The Loyal Three explodes into a purple fume . . . and The Loyal Three are found standing on top of the wreckage, alive. It is theorized that Kieran may have accidentally revived those fools because he touched the monument holding the teal mask, which according to the signboards, is said to have revival/restorative properties. The three thieves run off and you follow them to the Festival Hall. There, the "caretaker" and other townspeople admit that they were fascinated with their return, and thus fed the Pokémon nutritional mochi (perhaps with herba mystical or something) and had returned their stolen masks to them. Carmine becomes outraged and dubs them The "Lousy" Three. She tells the MC to go rescue Ogerpon from their clutches while she quickly goes to retrieve the fixed teal mask from Yukito.

The player finds Ogerpon surrounded and defenseless without its masks and fights Munkidori. Carmine and Kieran show up eventually, scaring the Pokémon away. Kieran apologizes to the player. He expresses that he wants to return the teal mask to Ogerpon himself. However, the ogre gets flustered around unfamiliar people and does not accept it. The MC then tries and Ogerpon happily receives the mask . . . much to Kieran's annoyance.

The three "friends" then develop a little mask retrieval squad, which they will seek out each of The Loyal Three, defeat them, and return each mask to Ogerpon. The ogre begins to follow the MC around, and eventually Kieran backs out of the task force, mysteriously saying that he has something else to do.

After Carmine and Florian/Julianna defeat the titan-ized Loyal Three, Kieran request them to return to Mossui with Ogerpon. Everyone feels reluctant, since the townspeople believe Ogerpon to be a violent gremlin, but Kieran assures them that it is going to be okay. The quartet returns to Mossui, and much to Carmine and the MC's surprise, the townsfolk welcome Ogerpon with sorrow and joy. They apologize to the ogre, expressing that they had misunderstood history, not even realizing that any of the tales were actually true in the first place. I guess it helps that the inaccurate story of Ogerpon is so many generations old, that the people of Kitakami lacked extreme emotional connections to it. The townsfolk just like to celebrate and wear masks.

Yukito says that Kieran shouted at everyone about the true story of The "Lousy Three," breaking out of his socially anxious character temporarily. Kieran had good intentions to help Ogerpon, but ultimately he avoided any chance to actually bond with her as she roamed around with Florian/Julianna.

Carmine, Kieran, and the MC set off back to the "Dreaded Den" to return the ogre to her home. However, as Ogerpon approaches the den, she turns around and runs up to the player, expressing the desire to tag along with him/her. Ogerpon had been seeking a companion like she did so long ago, and I suppose the MC fit the bill. Kieran, at this point, undergoes a tantrum and tells that player that they should battle to see who gets Ogerpon. Carmine tells him that it is not his choice, and the ogre can make her own choices. Kieran does not give a shit (well, he kind of does, but he is having a mental breakdown), and the two of you battle. Kieran fights for his life but is no match against the MC's determination (and ability to terastalize). He falls to the ground, punches the soil, and dies on the inside.

Then, the MC fights Ogerpon, because he/she has to prove their strength to the ogre. Ultimately you succeed and proceed to catch Ogerpon in a pokeball. Carmine cheers, and Kieran brokenly tries to congratulate you, before he runs away crying.

The next day, another class meeting is held in front of the community center. Everyone is there except Kieran, who "does not feel well." Each pair had finished seeing all the signboards, and then Ms. Briar expressed that a sudden development occurred in Area Zero, and she must leave--which means taking Carmine and Kieran back with her. The kids wave them all goodbye, and Carmine tells everyone that she is super sorry about her initial xenophobia, and that she had so much fun with the MC and wishes to see him/her again in the future.

The Blueberry goers then leave. Before "The Teal Mask" concludes, there is a brief scene of Kieran losing his shit in his bedroom. He is shaking his head, grabbing his hair, talking about a deep desire to grow stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger. He creepily smiles, and then a "to be continued" screen appears.

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The story is full of positives for the most part. Though, I find it disappointing and strange that the other Paldean students are full-on nobodies. These kids do not even have proper names or anything remarkably unique about them. It just felt unusually random. I have heard complaints/questions wondering why the other students could have not just been characters we already know and love, like Arven and Nemona? Why could they not have tagged along? In fact, our Paldea friends are entirely absent from "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" DLC (which is especially weird because Arven is so connected with the terastal case).

While this is kind of sad, it is actually very much understandable. "The Teal Mask" is Kieran's story if anything. The plot was high-key focused on the relationship between Kieran and you; a wicked plot progression as Kieran goes from a sweet, shy, timid child who is absolutely fascinated with the MC, to a jealous, egotistical, confused, edgy asshole who wants to destroy you.

This plot highlighted something that most Pokémon games fail to emphasize: you have it all. Kieran can try so hard and give everything he has, but will never be the main character. Florian/Julianna is the MC. Kieran is programmed, story-wise, into having to lose to you. Every time. Kieran's reactions to his failures are quite realistic--he's bitter, jealous, and upset with himself. It is not "oh ha ha you win AGAIN wow you are so cool!" Well, it began that way, up until the MC repeatedly batted him down.

So, I think that having our character's old happy-go-lucky friends would very much get in the way of the development of this dynamic. Kieran and Carmine needed their time to shine. Plus, who knows how it works chronologically? You can activate the DLC almost at any point. So . . . what if the MC met Kieran before he met Penny or became friends with Arven?

—————

I appreciate the length of "The Teal Mask." It is about eight hours story-wise, but I invested significantly more than that doing everything. I thought the plot would end earlier . . . I did not expect Kieran's mental breakdown.

The game is not too deep nor dramatic, but highly enjoyable. As mentioned, there are great fleshed-out characters like Carmine and Kieran, and then the story of Ogerpon herself is fascinating.

The folklore is based off of Momotarō, or "Peach Boy," a popular Japanese folktale. This allusion becomes more apparent with the mythical prologue story available after beating the entire DLC.

Ogerpon's tale has some dark elements to it. She killed The Loyal Three (and tried to kill Pecharunt) to avenge her deceased companion and get her masks back. I adore the way in which the story was animated too: in the game, Yukito talks about the true historical events and there are little wood-block-like clips that demonstrate these events. On YouTube, Pokémon uploaded an epic video about Pecharunt's story, and I find the animation to be super enticing with a storybook aesthetic.

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Having such intriguing folklore for the legendary Pokémon is such a huge plus. I also liked the toned-down plotline of "The Teal Mask":

No, the end of the world was not happening (yet). It was simply a story of some teenagers having drama and miscommunication . . . . but with flare. All the characters are actually interesting, and it is cool to see how a foreign, "city" boy/girl interacts with two emotionally volatile rural kids, one of which is obsessed with the "bad guy" of a folktale.

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SETTING: 7/10

If you can look beyond the janky graphics, I find that the land of Kitakami to be quite pretty. To my knowledge, it may be based on a place of the same name in the Iwate prefecture of Japan. This is further evidenced by the way the townspeople speak, particularly Kieran. He harbors a bit of a Tōhoku dialect which is considered the "typical" rural Japanese accent.

And poor Kieran. In "The Indigo Disk" following the epilogue, Kieran can be found in the BB clubroom stating that he used to be embarrassed by the way he spoke. You can kind of tell that he attempted to ditch his dialect in part 2 of the DLC, but it would surface during his shy or geeky moments. I am not sure as to why Carmine's Tōhoku dialect is not very prominent.

---------- Some players might have wanted a larger DLC map, but I believe that Kitakami is a perfect size. It is actually kind of big, hosting only one town of Mossui and several other staple areas like Oni Mountain, Loyalty Plaza, and the Festival Hall. There are several other locations that players can travel to and catch or battle Pokémon and trainers there. This includes the Mossfell Confluence, Paradise Barren, and Wistful Fields, among others. Some of these places do have signboards that are a part of the main plot, and other areas--like the Timeless Woods--are where Perrin and the "blood moon beast" side quest occurs.

There are very few shops here: Peachy's, located in Mossui Town, sells pretty much anything you need as well as brand new glove and sock options. The stands at the Festival Hall allow players to purchase a variety of masks (e.g., Pikachu, Eevee, Ogerpon, and each of The Loyal Three) as well as food options, like candied apples.

I say the size of the map is good because, for one, I think that an overly massive Pokémon DLC would be very time-consuming and overwhelming. Paldea is big enough as is. Secondly, as can be seen with the performance issues, I am not sure if the Nintendo Switch could handle that much more. The Crystal Pool, as small as it is, lags horrifically. Thirdly, which is probably one of the biggest critiques I have with then main game as well, is that too many areas are otherwise kind of . . . lifeless.

In the Paldea map, there is a surplus of areas of just nothing. The open world is novel at first, but there are a host of spots that lack NPC density and any remarkable geological or architectural standout points. Paldea is too open for its own good. Game Freak has yet to master this.

Lucky for Kitakami, it is just small enough so that the pockets of barrenness are not too noticeable. Sure, there is an unnecessary amount of mini cave entrances and completely pointless islets, but most of the significant locations are memorable enough. The lack of NPCs is not too bad either because Kitakami is supposed to be an incredibly small village. It helps that there are ogre clan members scattered throughout the map so you can find and challenge these lunatics.

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The Festival Hall would be my favorite location. Sure, it was kind of sparse with the vendors, but this is rural Kanto/Johto. The hall has its charm: the music, the colors, the twinkling night sky, and the masks adorned by all the villagers . . . it really appealed to me.

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My only other complaint is that players still cannot enter people's houses. I know it is culturally rude, but you were able to do so in older Pokémon games!

This was a major disappointment for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet as a whole; and another indicator that the open-world system was to big for Game Freak to handle. In the base game, you could enter the MC's own house as well as Nemona's (and kind of Arven's), but in the DLC you cannot go into Kieran and Carmine's home, even though Kieran invites you there!

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COMBAT: 8/10

As mentioned, the difficulty of the game was a wonderful surprise in my humble opinion. The battle system is not any different from the main game of course. Players still conduct single battles, but alas in Kitakami, nobody is going to terastalize. That gimmick is absent in battling despite the presence of terastal crystals--in that case you as the player can still terastalize your Pokémon.

Though . . . how? Terastalization is majorly a Paldean thing, and despite the presence terastal crystals, only Ogerpon terastalizes. Why does some "land in the east" have the same phenomenon happening in theory?

The details are vague and unexplained. You would think these story elements could be solved in "The Indigo Disk." Here is a link that suggests some theories:

You know, with Pokémon, each generation is going to have a gimmick that is abandoned. At least there is some degree of lore behind terastalization in Scarlet & Violet.

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The hardest battles of the DLC are the seven ogre clan members. The ogre clan leader, who is standing in front of the Festival Hall, will give you riddles and clues on their whereabouts. These trainers fight at level 75, and I found them to be quite challenging and satisfying to win.

Carmine's battles are easy, especially the first fight in which she sends out Poochyena. Seriously! Her Sinistcha (which is a new Pokémon introduced in "The Teal Mask") however can be a tough one with that "matcha gotcha" move. Though, I would say Carmine's Sinistcha works better as a support Pokémon during double battles.

Kieran on the other hand . . . players may struggle with him, especially if you beginning the DLC with a fresh and new team or are at the same level as these trainers. The more you battle Kieran, the tougher he gets, especially in the final fight where Kieran goes psycho mode. Although, poor buddy cannot terastalize like you can.

I appreciate how the Kitakami siblings are not stagnant with their lineup, and despite the hefty amount of battles you have to do with them, the party and dynamics change every time. Kieran's Yanma, Nuzleaf, and Sentret all evolve, and he catches a Gliscor and Probopass eventually. His ace is his Dipplin (another new Pokémon), which looks cool and cute but fights mediocre. Kieran also attempts to use items in battle, like focus sashes and berries, in desperate attempts to beat the MC. So yes, Kieran is pulling out the strats, and has a degree of intelligent/predictive AI. Some might find this challenging in a positive way, or rather annoying.

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The battles with the DLC's new legendary Pokémon were pretty great. Not necessarily hard, but still fun.

Battling against The Loyal Three for the first time demonstrates the consequences of the naive townsfolk nourishing them back to health with all of their best mochi. Munkidori, Okidogi, and Fezandipiti all become titan Pokémon that you and Carmine must face against (minus Kieran who abandoned the squad). Holy hell, these guys are huge! When I saw the titanic Munkidori for the first time, I wanted to cringe and laugh and cry. His big head made him appear rather funny-looking.

The purpose of the double battles against the titan Pokémon are perhaps there to give you a taste on what is to come in part two of the DLC (which takes place in Unova, where everyone engages in double battles only).

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The final battle against Ogerpon herself was a wonderful experience. However, she is shiny-locked (bummer) and has a 100% catch rate, so it eliminates some tediousness.

Ogerpon will go through four stages of battle, and is the only Pokémon to terastalize in "The Teal Mask." Players fight all four masks, which changes Ogerpon's type from pure grass to grass and rock, fire, or water type. Ogerpon terastalizes all four times which showcases the immense power of Ogerpon, and how each mask themselves are the ones that terastalize (the ogre is just chilling behind it). This fight feels incredibly rewarding. The fight is also tough to get through with the changing types, combined with the overpowered cudgel move.

I am certain the most players sent out that friend ball to catch the ogre, right?

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I do not have many complaints when it comes to the combat, but I would have not minded an even greater challenge. I am sure that players with all level 100 Pokémon would agree!

The lag also made some of the battles (and the buildup to them) a bit more cringe. The Milotic fight . . . I don't even understand it.

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ENJOYMENT: 8/10

In all, I had a wonderful time playing through "The Teal Mask." Scarlet & Violet has its ups and downs, but there is no denying that Kieran and Carmine are wonderfully complex and amusing characters, and that the writing and music are exemplary.

Part one of the DLC offers a nice challenge to even more competitive players, and I can appreciate the bonus introductions of new minigames, side quests, and even new Pokémon in the Kitakami dex. Is it worth over $30 (which includes "The Indigo Disk")? I am unsure about that . . . but you know, Pokémon fans do torture themselves.

The lack of an attempt to fix the FPS and other graphical issues is not excusable, however. I am not always too concerned about these topics, and I do not think that these issues fully detracted from the actual enjoyment of the game, but it is certainly embarrassing for Game Freak.

But yeah. So I guess what I'm trying to say is . . . I had fun!

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 20 hours (an estimate. I am slow af)

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

PLATFORM USED: Nintendo Switch

DATE OF COMPLETION: April 2024

[milkpumpkin96]

I hate him.