#Nintendo Direct 2020

[random-meme-bot]

My Nintendo Direct Impressions

Pretty freaking fantastic!

[bryan360]

Here’s my note before I’ll get started….

(NO COPYING OR PLAGIARIZING FROM ME AND ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIEND’S WORK! THAT INCLUDES OUR CHARACTERS, DESIGNS, STUFF, ETC. IMPOSTERS AND SEXBOTS ARE NOT WELCOME TO FOLLOW MY BLOG WHATSOEVER! 😡 That will be all….I mean it.)

On This Day - Mar. 26th, 2020

It was an interesting start for Super Smash Bros Ultimate’s Vol 2 DLC lineup. Though before it was Min Min months later in June, it had a lot going to pick other ARMS fighters to take it guess. Aside Spring Man already being as the assist trophy during the original development.

Also this video ⬇️

[delightfuldevin]

Any thoughts on all the newly announced Mario games?? Predictions, opinions, general hype or otherwise??

VERY EXCITED VERY HYPE

New Peach game!!! I still haven’t watched a playthrough of Super Princess Peach cause I want it for myself, so I definitely want to get it before the new one comes out!! Not that I think they’ll be related in any way (though they might be?), I just want to play it,, Excited to see Peach in a main role once again with her (hopefully) being hyperfeminine as always! (I won’t go into a rant about how ooc I felt Peach was in the movie, let’s just say that I reeeeally desperately crave super girly yet powerful and kickass Peach hdbcdjbjscbaj)

Remaster of Super Mario RPG!! I… actually just bought it on WiiU virtual console before the eshop closure so I’m a lil bit peeved jdbcjsbcjskx but I can’t wait to play it in HD!! Everyone is so teeny tiny it’s kinda silly, but very adorable!! Like, the original’s graphics make it less noticeable but in HD everyone is very much like half their usual height lol. And I guess now I don’t have to worry about starting over since I got stuck at a boss I’ll just start over when the remake comes out

DAISY BEING PLAYABLE IN A MAINLINE GAME DAISY HAVING A MAJOR ROLE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HER DEBUT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Super Mario Bros Wonder is soooooo silly looking!!!! The absolute peak of silliness!!!! It’s great!! Mario games have never really been super “serious”, but I feel like this is Nintendo really pushing the innate goofiness of the series to its limit and I love that!! Like. So much was going on in that trailer and none of it made any sense. I really really reeeaaaaally hope there is some kind of story and explanation that isn’t just “Mario and co found a weird new flower!” I want this to be another dimension. I want this to not be in the Mushroom Kingdom cause it’s just so incredibly different. And if it does take place in the Mushroom Kingdom, I want the Wonder Flowers to transport our heroes to some kinda alternate dimension version of the Mushroom Kingdom whenever they’re activated similar to the Dream World in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. ALSO I hope there is an actual reason for Daisy to be playable! I hope she has a story reason to be there with them, though that may not be likely (Toadette being in New U DX didn’t have a reason, and neither did Rosie in SM3DW).

Well heck, I didn’t become overly obsessed with the Mario world and its characters because of the stories Nintendo tells with them. Rather, it’s the fact that the games are so basic and open ended with just enough lore to work with and build off of that made me love it. So even if there is no story or reason for Wonder, I know I’ll have a grand ol time making up my own story for it!!

Also I really enjoy the silly talking flowers

[heartfilia-source]

A direct sequel to Fairy Tail (2020), Fairy Tail 2 was revealed during the 6.18.2024 Nintendo Direct. So far stated to be an "action RPG" covering the final arc of the main story with further details to come, the game is currently planned to be released Winter 2024 (~2025?)

Fairy Tail 2 will be available on the exact same consoles (plus PC) that Fairy Tail (2020) was - PlayStation 4 & 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam

According to Famitsu (translated by Gematsu and Noisy Pixel) FT2 will have a redesigned battle system differing (not quite sure how much) from the previous game, new 'Character Stories', as well as an original post-series story called "Key to the Unknown/Hidden Secrets"

[garrison-of-leaves]

People may not realize it, but Three has left an impact on Eight’s life for better or for worse, and it’s an incredibly important part of this series. There’s still so much about the character that we don’t know prior to the events of Octo Expansion.

If we’re to assume the battle against Octavio in Splatoon 1’s Octo Valley played a crucial part in freeing Eight from Octarian society, then having some insight into how exactly the two of them crossed paths would be a good place to start. We know Three had fought Eight prior to the two of them becoming lost in the Metro, but what was Eight doing before that? Were they aware of who Agent Three was prior to hearing the Inkantation?

Then there’s the secret final boss with Inner Agent 3, where you remember the fight against the enemy soldier you first encountered and put the demons of your past to bed once and for all as you prepare to take your first steps towards a new life. Defeating the hero within is something that screams “you did it��, and opens so many possibilities for Eight’s character that didn’t exist before (such as when they were enemies with Three).

Then, there’s the endorsements that Nintendo has been putting out for the two of them. I want to go back to the Valentine’s Day and White Day posts from 2020, and that brief little concept artwork of Three holding hands with Eight, and how Eight canonically looks up to Three in the official relationship chart, and how Three admires Eight as well.

Even with all the variables that the fandom has chosen to adopt between the two of them, it’s clear to me that Nintendo has an agenda going on with Three and Eight. It’s surprising to me how they SPECIFICALLY went with showing Three and Eight together in two separate events alluding to romance, and they’ve never bothered to pair Eight with anyone else, nor have they made any character-specific posts for Valentine’s Day or White Day after that one. Not to mention, if OE was going to take on a drastically different direction during its early stages of development, what exactly did they plan to do with Three and Eight? And if we go by the original Japanese translation of these posts, then that only raises MORE questions.

Eight has made no appearance in Return of the Mammalians, and this entire little thread that the two of them have has been outright ignored. I’m hoping that Side Order will shed some more insight into Eight’s character and provide more context towards what they’ve been trying to tell us with Three and Eight.

Say what you will to this, call me crazy, but you CANNOT deny that there is *something* going on, what with the amount of times they’ve put these two together in artwork, whether it be concept or promotional, combined with what went down in OE.

Like, I’m not even speaking as someone who ships them. I’m just talking about their relationship in GENERAL. Are they friends? Did they ever interact after the events of Octo Expansion? Better yet, what’s the current status of their relationship following the gap between Splatoon 2 & 3?

WE NEED CONTEXT FOR ALL THIS STUFF YOU’VE BEEN THROWING AT US, NINTENDO.

[edgy-ella]

Idk if this is a hot take but I’m glad Palworld is getting sued by Nintendo. This is one of the only lawsuits I feel Nintendo is totally in the right about. Not only do the “Pals” in Palworld look like AI generated Pokémon, there’s also evidence that several models in Palworld are straight up plagiarized from existing Pokémon models. No matter how big Nintendo is, plagiarism is still plagiarism. Even most high-effort Pokémon fangames/ROM hacks go out of their way to do original sprite art from the ground up. Palworld couldn’t even do that. It’s really ironic that defenders of the game see this as a “wake up call” for Game Freak and the Pokémon Company that should inspire them to “innovate,” because Palworld is one of the most derivative games of the 2020s on art direction alone.

Also, and this is totally a personal thing, but I really don’t like the precedent that Palworld potentially sets. I really don’t want “Nintendo knockoff with realistic guns” to be the next Thing™ in gaming. It gives me the same vibe as those slasher films of child friendly public domain characters. The entire premise and appeal is “hey, what if this thing you liked as a kid was MATURE and KILLED PEOPLE.” At least something like Blood and Honey uses stuff that’s public domain and didn’t steal assets for a commercially released product.

It’s really not that hard to make a “mon” game with its own visual identity. Digimon has been doing that for years, and at this point, so has Yokai Watch. Atlus games like SMT and Persona have some similar mechanics to Pokémon but vastly different character design and art direction. I can name a bunch of Pokémon fangames that have their own Fakemon designs, none of which feel copied from any existing Pokémon, and one of them is the fucking 4chan game where the grass starter is named Grasshole. A fucking 4chan themed Pokémon game did what Palworld was evidently too lazy to do.

There is absolutely no reason that Palworld shouldn’t get sued by Nintendo and the Pokémon Company. They’ve sued for less. And honestly? Good riddance.

[satoshi-mochida]

Yakuza Kiwami coming to Switch on October 24 - Gematsu

Publisher SEGA and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio will release the Yakuza series for Switch for the first time with Yakuza Kiwami on October 24, the companies announced. It will be available via Nintendo eShop for $19.99.

Yakuza Kiwami first launched for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on January 21, 2016 in Japan, followed by PlayStation 4 on August 29, 2017 worldwide, PC via Steam on February 19, 2019, Xbox One on April 21, 2020, and Luna on December 22, 2022.

Here is an overview of the game, via SEGA:

Yakuza, the first installment in SEGA’s critically acclaimed action series, gets an extreme remake in Yakuza Kiwami. To save his best friend, Kazuma Kiryu takes the fall for a crime he didn’t commit, and ends up with a 10-year prison sentence. After being released, Kiryu finds himself expelled from his yakuza family, and alone in a world he no longer recognizes. Events take a turn for the worse when 10 billion yen vanishes from the vault of the Tojo Clan, Kiryu’s former yakuza family, igniting a war in the red-light district of Kamurocho. Together with a mysterious girl named Haruka, Kiryu must fight to survive and uncover the truth hidden amidst the chaos surrounding them.

Watch the announcement video below. View a set of screenshots at the gallery.

Nintendo Direct: August 27, 2024

English

Japanese

[mfporky]

I feel like people forget just how many Nintendo IPs got proper revives on the Switch, so I made a big fat thread about some

The biggest one in my eyes, a series that holds strong importance to me, is Pikmin. After getting a pretty damn good game on the Wii U back in 2013 the series was propelled into a limbo-like state with Pikmin 4 being "On My Way!" for a decade straight. Mainline wise, nothing, we don't talk about Hey Pikmin. Absolute crickets for awhile and then almost overnight it became THE system for Pikmin games. Pikmin 3 Deluxe, which is way more than just a port, with a bucket full of new content and an alternative campaign, released October 30th 2020. Back to crickets for a few years until all of a sudden, Pikmin 4 and ports of Pikmin 1 and 2 released on the same day of July 21st 2023. All incredible games in their own right, the supreme ports of all, insanely proud Nintendo treats their small fish franchise with such delicate care; if you're using this list as a game suggestions list, check out Pikmin you will NOT regret it.

Famicom Detective Club, which was one damned to eternal obscure Nintendo fanatic knowledge hell, has arose from its grave and is unironically making strong waves. The last original game being made in 1989 and then having "Super Famicom Satellaview Remasters" in the mid 90s, which are damn hard to find proper info on. Other than that, tombstone. Only real thing of note being that it was the first project Yoshio Sakamoto sunk his pen into, other than that it was doomed to niche oddity and a footnote in gaming history. The Switch changed all that, with remakes of the first two games being bundled together and released May 14th 2021. That's not all, a brand new game in the series, "Emio - The Smiling Man", is currently set to release August 29th 2024 as of writing

F-Zero, technically got a new game! It's pennies compared to everyone else's quarters and dollars, but after a 20+ year hiatus its worth a mention. With the last game in the series, ironically called F-Zero Climax, released on the GBA there were crickets after that. Gone but not forgotten, it got the occasional rerelease onto the latest system's virtual console, and it still had a spot in Smash Brothers. Granted if you were me growing up you'd figure that Captain Falcon was just some wack original character, but shit the representation matters. It was like that until September 14th, 2023, when a brand new game in the series with online got announced and released later in a Nintendo direct! Sure it was just a battle royale game, another drop in the bucket with the 99 subtitle, but it counts for this list.

Metroid, the series infamous for its dry spells, has been an oasis of new content recently. The last chronological game in the 2D Metroid series was Fusion, released in 2002, with the Metroid Prime game getting its third installment in 2007. In terms of original games, that was it. There was a remake of Metroid 1 on the GBA, and a remake of Metroid 2 on the 3DS, and there were spinoffs here and there (Metroid Prime Pinball is my GOAT baby); other than that, nothing. That is until the Switch came along, with Metroid Prime 4 being announced within the same year of the Switch's release. It took literally 7 years to get more info about Prime 4 but its with confidence to say that the game is coming out, sometime in 2025. 2D Metroid, long dormant and stagnant and almost two decades without a game got a surprise announcement in a Nintendo Direct; the highly anticipated and teased Metroid Dread, long thought to be a cancelled DS game but emerging in the flesh brazen as ever. Released October 8th, 2021, Metroid is officially back after what felt like centuries of wait.

2D Mario has been stuck in a rut of unoriginality for a decade and a half now. Since the release of New Super Mario Bros for the DS in May 2006, 2D Mario was stuck in a loop of distilling the same damn game over and over, with it getting stripped more and more of what once was in such a short time. It hit a boiling point in November 2012, with the release of "New Super Mario Bros U", the second New Super game to release that year. After that, nothing. People were sick of what felt like the same damn game, sure they were passable but it felt emblematic of everything 2D Mario shouldn't be. Then, almost like an angel from the heavens, came Super Mario Bros Wonder; the antithesis of New Super, it had original concepts in boatloads and felt like a proper evolution of 2D Mario. New concepts in spades, so much extra content, brilliant new artstyle in a new kingdom. It feels like going from store bought freezer pancakes from Walmart to a French chef from a 5 michelien star restaurant making you your breakfast.

The Mario & Luigi series, although a cult classic series, never quite got the mainstream attention it deserved. Even with classics like Bowser's Inside Story, Dream Team, Superstar Saga, the financial backing from the public and internal was just never quite there. After Dream Team (sleeper hit, if you're interested check it out!), it was the beginning of the end with the release of Paper Jam. Reused assets, real basic baby story, padding aplenty, dialogue that hits the senses like pulling teeth (fuckin leave Luigi alone), there's no way this was anything other than a cash grab. A collaboration with Paper Mario too, another cult classic series, it was insulting to both Paper Mario fans and M&L fans. After that, no new original games. Alphadream pumped out two remakes, which are pretty alright, and them they went bankrupt. God bless Alphadream, but the writing was on the wall when they kept making 3DS games long after the Switch came out. It was a dark time, felt clear as light that the M&L series will remain to be past tense and just a footnote in the large conglomerate that is Mario now. Until recently, with the announcement of Brothership; a new spanking game in the M&L series releasing in November of this year.

Genuine generational run Nintendo is going on right now. List could've droned on for easily triple the length, and I might make a sequel to this one day. Could've been even more if i talked about new Nintendo's new IPs or just how much better everything's gotten. It rules we live in this time now, especially after the dark ages of the Wii U.

[miquellah]

✧ After Elden Ring: What Next?

This is intended as a condensed, spoiler-free guide for people who have played Elden Ring and no other Soulsbornes, but are very curious about the rest of the genre. If you were enamored with Fromsoft's game design or lore, and are otherwise new to things, I'm here to peddle you some other potential starting points!

I'll give a lowdown on systems available, DLC available, and some thoughts in regards to each as a starting point post-ER. And just because I like him, also whether or not each game contains our favorite little guy: Patches!!!!!

DARK SOULS 1 (2011) Systems: Playstation, Xbox, WIndows, Steam, Nintendo Switch DLC: purchaseable intact with special editions or purchased in online store (intact: Artorias of the Abyss, Prepare to Die, Remastered)

With slower combat than Elden Ring, and no fast-travel for a good portion of the game, this is often a tough sell for many. Nonetheless the entire Dark Souls saga is a shining gem of its own right, and it all starts here. The setting is somewhat similar to Elden Ring, albeit striking far further into Low Fantasy than High. You may or may not have some growing pains, but don't let that deter you; determination is all very much part of the experience. (And, it's got enough cracks in the code you can sufficiently cheese a lot, should you get fed up and stuck.) Contains Patches, the Trusty.

DARK SOULS 2 (2014) Systems: Playstation, Xbox, Windows, Steam DLC: purchaseable intact with special editions or purchased in online store (intact: Scholar of the First Sin)

Considered by many to be the black sheep of the DS trilogy, given its abrupt change in development direction; nonetheless, it's still a VERY worthwhile title, and a very apt inclusion into the Dark Souls story. Certain mechanics such as a gradual, incremental loss of HP bar per each death MAY seem daunting, but for a mediocre player like me it actually wasn't all that big a deal. You COULD jump into this one as a starting point, but you may as well just go for DS1. Does NOT include Patches (but has a Patches-like).

DARK SOULS 3 (2016) Systems: Playstation, Xbox, Windows, Steam DLC: purchaseable intact with special editions or purchased in online store (intact: The Fire Fades Edition)

Faster-paced in combat than the previous two titles, it serves as a decent starting point from Elden Ring, if only for the relative similarity in feel and mechanics. It also has just a bit more hand-holding that the previous two, though nothing to sand away the bulk of challenges. But as the final title in the trilogy, and intended in and of itself as a send-off, though, if story is your priority then you're best off starting with DS1. Contains Patches, the Unbreakable.

DEMON'S SOULS (2009/2020) Systems: Playstation Only DLC: no expansions, only items

Alright so I haven't played the remake, which also may very well be the most accessible to you unless you have a PS3 and the original discs. Nonetheless, Demon's Souls in and of itself was the predecessor to Dark Souls, and the beginning of the Soulsborne formula itself. It seems a bit simpler on the surface, but there's a lot of brutal charm here all the same, and unique lore you could still dig through for years. Contains Patches, the Hyena.

The remake is most easily available, and has a higher graphical fidelity if you're into that; nonetheless, there's been a lot of understandable qualms about the changes made in much of the art direction from the original, so if you want the true, ORIGINAL intentions in full... well, find yourself a letsplay or a PS3.

BLOODBORNE (2015) Systems: Playstation Only DLC: must be purchased intact in special editions or purchased in online store (intact: The Old Hunters)

Everyone's favorite. Bloodborne is a standalone Soulsborne that gave the genre that latter half of its name, and takes place in a horrific, Victorian-era England. Its primary focus is on offense over defense, and there's a bit less customization available in builds... nonetheless, the trick weapons are fun as all hell. It's got a unique, dreadful atmosphere unlike anything else, and a feel I've been craving to see again anywhere. Contains Patches, the Spider.

SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE (2019) Systems: Playstation, Xbox, Windows, Steam, Stadia ?? DLC: no expansions, only items

While NOT a true Soulsborne, it's considered by many to be within the fringes of the formula. I personally still have yet to play this one, but the combat is apparently fast-paced, and primarily focused on deflections, with a story centered in fictionalized Sengoku Japan. It's been praised consistently and highly by many, but may have a bit of a learning curve. Does NOT include Patches, to my knowledge.

ARMORED CORE VI: FIRES OF RUBICON (2023) Systems: Playstation, Xbox, Windows, Steam DLC: none. yet?

.... Okay this one isn't a Soulsborne at all. It's actually the long-awaited revival of Fromsoft's Armored Core series, and it's a mech game. But do you like crazy customization in builds? Do you love Fromsoft's lore and stories, and want to see their unique writing in a fresh, yet still crazily strong take? Do you LOVE critiques of hypercapitalism and want to see it all burn? Please play AC6. Please. It was so fucking good. (Doesn't contain Patches, but he DID appear in AC4: For Answer)

_________________________________________

And that's that! If you feel I missed anything, or have any further questions, don't hesitate to add anything on or shoot me a message. Elden Ring has brought sooo many new people into the fold and there's so much more for you to discover!!! Don't ever be afraid to try out the rest, challenge yourself, and fall in love!! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

[tartrat]

August Just Dance plus Drop review i guess. Have to do something to pass the time until the nintendo partner direct to see if there will be more songs revealed for jd2025. Might do this for the song drops. Also would anyone know how to take a screen shot from in game, i've tried looking it up but it seems like you can't unless there's another way to do it.

You spin me round (Like A Record): Honestly, one of my favourites from jd2015. Back in september of 2020 i played this one a lot on unlimited. Just a really fun one.

Don't Worry: Before this i only ever watched youtube gameplays, and forgot about it when i got unlimited. Cool but not much else. It does show how they had ideas for the danceverses all the way back in 2017. Coincidentally Jerky Jessy plays both Wanderlust and the guy in the silver suit. Maybe its his duty to play interdimensional travellers or something.

Summer (Classic): I'd say that this is my second favourite from this batch. Fitting for the end of summer and still fast and fun. However all i can think about is how Sky tv used this song in their ads all the time back in 2015, and that's all i'll associate this song with. That and the meme from 2022.

Moves Like Jagger: Guy on the cover looks like Mr Schuester from glee but bald. Eh just a typical JD4 map nothing really stands out to me. I think the scoring is a bit janky, which is weird because the scoring on all the other legacy songs that have been added this year have been great. Maybe its just a skill issue on my part, Do people still say that?

Surprised that they didn't add Summer's sweat version, but maybe that's for the best. When it eventually gets added the scoring on it will be better like Maneater's, hopefully.

It was over for Moves Like jagger the minute they decided to add You Spin me Right round along side it.

final ranking

1 You Spin me Right Round (Like A Record).

2 Summer (Classic).

3 Don't Worry.

4 Moves Like Jagger.

Here are the scores i got for each (Summer is top Left, its the only one that got the song title cut off when i took the photo) :

[talesfromthebacklog]

Are you looking to click with a new game and want something genuinely different?

I am always hunting for new titles to reinvigorate that click I feel with video games. Not all video games will click but when they do they can be something truly special. I wanted to go over some of my favorite games I’ve played in recent years that are available on current gen consoles. I’m not covering anyone upcoming, these are titles you can pick up today. Cheaply at that. Several of which are on sale on Steam right now as of writing this.

So. Enough chit chat. Lets’s start with an easy one:

Paradise Killer:

PC Switch PS4/PS5 Xbox

I just finished this one and am in the middle of writing my review on it. Painfully stylish with a killer vaporwave soundtrack this game oozes aesthetic. Kaizen Game Works understood the hauntology assignment and took it to the MAX. You are an investigator trying to solve an immortal god-like council’s murder in a dystopian society. You’ve returned to this gorgeous open world parasite paradise from your exile of 3 million days (about 8219 years)! If you’ve played Outer Wilds this is among that same vein. (And I will caution you, while not hard, the game relies on you wanting to just explore. It will provide hints but it won’t hold your hand.)

This is an Ace Attorney-esqe collectathon mixed with open world and exploration. There is no combat. Both the writing and the world are spectacular. Don’t deny yourself something this wonderful, because it is.

This has quickly risen among my gaming ranks as a favorite and it hits to being as close of a favorite as my number 2 suggestion…

Outer Wilds:

PC Switch PS4/PS5 Xbox

This is perhaps one of my favorite games of all time. I wanted to talk about this second because Outer Wilds has received more of the notoriety it deserves in recent times and I wanted PK to get the main spotlight. Don’t get it twisted though If it wasn’t for UpIsNotJump’s video (<— Spoilers) I would have never realized what I was missing. And I still think a lot of people don’t understand what they’re missing too. It is an absolute masterpiece. And seeing it getting released physically again is a god send. I want people to play this game. (And it’s DLC Echoes of The Eye)

No combat. You are a scientist exploring your local solar system in your spaceship in an open “universe” instead of an open world. The sun explodes every 22 minutes which sends your memories back in time. Again, I will caution you that the game relies on you wanting to explore. It will not direct you.

Eastward:

PC Switch Xbox

Too much exploring. Let’s reel it back with Eastward. A Zelda-like where you control an older man and a little girl with psychic powers in a post apocalyptic world. If you’re looking for those fun pixel games that pack that quirky feel this is it. A bit existential, a great sense of humor, and fantastic writing are all part of the Eastward package. (You startin’ to see a theme here? Ha ha)

All while boasting a seriously killer pixel soundtrack. The original Iron Carbine trailer for the Nintendo Direct had an immediate impact on me as a gamer. I knew this was a game I would fall in love with. Sometimes you just know when something is special. This game is beautifully pixelated and packed with lovingly crafted content. Puzzles are the right amount of challenging and there is so much fun side stuff to do. Including a Dragon Quest-esqe game inside the game! It also received DLC via Eastward Octopia! Which I also love.

Moon: A Remix RPG

PC Switch PS4/PS5

I do play games with combat. I swear. Several of these games just don’t have it! (Ha!) This will perhaps be the hardest game to sell to you on this list. I have a soft spot for quirky games like this, but know that this was a PS1 Japanese exclusive game in the 90s. And it sure acts like it. Slow to start, weak tutorial, and doesn’t provide a ton of direction. This game was ported into English for the first time in 2020 and I love it. It is a trial and error experience though.

This cult classic is one of the games that inspired Undertale and when you play it becomes wildly apparent. I dare say it reminds me more of Undertale than its other main inspiration Earthbound. You are a little boy that’s been fallen into his video game and you have to save the souls of monsters the hero has killed using love. (Sound familiar?)

Light hearted and weird this game also has a great sense of humor as it pokes at classic RPG tropes. And that slow intro comes into play providing a unique perspective as you journey through the game befriending people. It won’t be for everyone, I would research this one before sinking the… $18.99 on the purchase. But I think it is worth experiencing if you love Undertale.

I think I’ve yakked enough. If folks like the post I’ll follow up with a part two with a little more genre variety! I wanted to the first post to include my top favorites. So. I hope there’s something in there that invigorates you the way these games did for me.

[amalgamgooze]

the most annoying Smash Brothers character butterfly effects me into studying Japanese

(Big Earthbound/MOTHER 3 spoilers ahead!)

Back in December of 2018, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch had released. I didn't think much of it at the time--it was just a game that I'd end up playing with my cousins over Christmas break. It functioned great as a party game back then in that more innocent time, since we all sucked equally at it.

We'd most often play with the standard rule set, forcing ourselves to choose random characters so nobody could get good at using one spammy character.

It was this fatal mistake that introduced me to the character known as "Ness", otherwise known as the kid who screams "PK Fire" several times before exclaiming "Okeh!". If you know how to do this, he becomes a rather irritating character to play against in casual settings.

Fortunately for my cousins, they only suffered the wrath of Ness for one single game.

Unfortunately for everyone, I decided I would get better at playing Ness in Smash Brothers just for the fun of it.

Fortunately for everyone, I didn't really become much better than knowing how to use the shield button and following the PK Fire spam with a swift swing from his trusty wooden bat--which is still annoying to play against, but not terrible to avoid if you know how to.

Of course, when I got my butt handed to me repeatedly in Smash's online matchmaking, I stopped really trying to get better at the game. Even through that disappointment, though, there was still a nagging impulse to try Earthbound, the game that Ness originates from.

Fast forward to 2020, the year the world went weird. In the boring isolation of the pandemic summer, between bouts of working on a Minecraft mod that never got finished, wasting away on the servers of Team Fortress 2, and attempts to stay in shape for the upcoming soccer season, I started playing games on my 3DS again, sticking mostly to eShop-exclusive titles such as indie and Virtual Console games. (RIP 3DS eShop, you will be sorely missed by many.)

Of course, in the midst of indie titles like VVVVVV, Cave Story, and The Binding of Isaac, there lay Earthbound: the original Earthbound-inspired indie RPG. About depression.

I'm kidding, of course. Earthbound explores more existential/absurd themes as opposed to tackling depression. In fact, the only Earthbound-inspired indie RPG I can think of is OMORI. (I think Undertale ends up getting lumped into that category a lot too because of its substantial story--though at that point I'd rather just call the genre "Indie RPGs with interesting stories". But enough ranting.)

Surprisingly, I'd managed to play Earthbound without getting major spoilers about crucial story moments--which I think really adds to the experience of anything. Though, that's kind of obvious. Still, I think the story still lands and hits just as hard even if you know what's coming.

Earthbound, as mentioned earlier, is a 1994 SNES RPG produced by Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory (yes, the masterminds behind the Kirby series!), written/directed by Shigesato Itoi and with (legendary) lead programmer Satoru Iwata. There's more interesting history behind the game and its development, but I'll leave that up to you whether you want to read into it more or not.

The story of Earthbound itself is built upon the quest for Ness (and his friends) to save the world from the evil alien Giygas--though the looming threat of world destruction honestly feels so minor in the quirky world of Earthbound. Sure, there's robots and animals that have been influenced by Giygas to kill you, but Giygas's influence ends up nothing more than a justification as to why otherwise peaceful entities go out of their way to chase you down on the overworld map.

There's so much to Earthbound to unpack that, again, I've only really got space to discuss my top-very-most-favorite moments of the game.

Perhaps one of the best moments of the game happens about a third of the way through its course--it's got no official name, but Earthbound fans know it as the "Coffee Break" scene.

After defeating a mound of ooze that's been terrorizing the curious Mr. Saturns, Ness's party takes a short rest in a hot spring while drinking coffee served by a Mr. Saturn. The screen fades to black, and an epic monologue begins scrolling in front of a psychedelic blue-and-green background. The end of this monologue is perhaps the most inspiring part:

One thing you must never lose is courage. If you believe in the goal you are striving for, you will be courageous. There are many difficult times ahead, but you must keep your sense of humor, work through the tough situations and enjoy yourself.

(Earthbound "Coffee Break" Scene)

Now, when I experienced this scene for the first time, I was nothing but a weird anxious mess of something between a middle schooler and a freshman, daunted by the world and its uncertainty. So of course this scene resonated well with me.

Four(ish) years later I'm in a much better place psychologically and these lines still inspire me. I've been fortunate enough to receive a print with those exact lines that's now proudly displayed on my dresser in my room.

This is just one example of Itoi's masterful writing in action--though unfortunately it's not the 'original original' text--it's been translated. I think the translators did an excellent job with these games--but no matter how good a translator is, it's just fact that you're not reading the original text and thus you might not be picking up on the author's true voice.

Anyway, continuing on with Earthbound's awesomeness, there's a scene much later in the game where Ness ventures deep into "Magicant"--a world formed from his own memories. This is where I feel like Earthbound's story's "coming-of-age" portion hits the hardest. It's a very literal representation of Ness reflecting on himself and continuing to grow throughout his adventure--especially at the end of the stage, where upon defeating "Ness's Nightmare", a short cutscene plays where our hero receives massive boosts to every single stat--much more substantial than after any other fight. It's to reflect him overcoming his fears and doubts, and growing immensely as a result--returning to that idea of courage again.

If I ramble any longer about Earthbound, though, I'll never finish this post.

So, moving on, after beating (and loving) Earthbound, I obviously searched for similar games to play next.

MOTHER 3 tends to be high up on these lists of "what to play post-Earthbound". Being another game written and directed by Shigesato Itoi, I obviously had to try it next!

Unfortunately, it's never been officially released in English. In fact, at this point, it's just comedic how Nintendo sort of refuses to mention the game to non-Japanese audiences outside of Smash Brothers. There's even a Robot Chicken skit about it!

Thankfully, there's a fantastic fan translation for the game (project lead Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin) that lets stupid Americans and other English-speakers play the game without learning a new language.

So I'd tried this fan patch that same summer. Unfortunately, I got stuck right before the best part of the game started, so I never got further than the beginning of Chapter 4.

And it stayed that way for years.

Until last summer.

Towards the end of the summer last year, I'd picked my now-modded 3DS back up again and decided to hack the MOTHER 3 fan translation onto it.

I know I said the game only gets good after Chapter 4, but that's not because the beginning of the game is terrible. It's just sort of slow--at least in my opinion. The story for these sections are fantastic too--it's very good exposition, in my opinion. Somehow, though, the later story manages to dwarf that excellent exposition with how well it's done.

There's so much else I could rave about this game too--but again, in the sake of finishing this today, I've got to stick to my favorite parts.

First, the hardware upgrade. The graphics and soundtrack for MOTHER 3 are permitted to be much more expressive because of refined console capabilities. Every single animation is so expressive--from the cutscenes to the gameplay, everything just exudes personality. Perhaps the expressiveness of it all makes it an excellent case study for the idea of "show, don't tell"-- something I've noticed quite a few modern games lacking in.

Shigesato Itoi obviously does a wonderful job of tackling emotional themes again in this final installation of the MOTHER series. This game's story jumps from character to character at the start of the game, eventually focusing on Lucas's response to the rampant urbanization of his once-peaceful hometown--as well as his dead mother, missing brother, and mourning father. His ragtag party grows to include his dog Boney, the assertive princess Kumatora, and the limping thief Duster.

There's a scene late in the game where the party washes up on the shores of Tanetane Island and consumes psychoactive mushrooms, leading to a miserable trip filled with hostile hallucinations. At points, people important to the party members end up ridiculing and threatening them. There's an incredibly memorable moment where Lucas hallucinates his brother and his father threatening to beat and flog him. It's easy to see this scene as just "Generic Drug-Fuelled Hallucination Scene #87", but in reality it confronts these very real (and sometimes rational) fears of being betrayed by those closest to us.

Again, I could go on and on about MOTHER 3, but for the sake of time, I have to move on.

After beating MOTHER 3, I started reading into a lot of media regarding it--stuff I'd avoided beforehand to avoid any more egregious spoilers than the ones I'd already unfortunately received. One of the most interesting pieces of media, in my opinion, were the lead translator's "commentary" on the process of translating the game. (These notes can be found here, if you're interested!)

Being an aspiring story-rich-game developer myself, the notes were incredibly fascinating to me, with all the minute changes and creative liberties that were taken in order to preserve the original intents of the game while preparing it for Western audiences. If I remember correctly, the team needed a programmer to modify the text scrolling methods the game had in order to print English text properly!

This ultimately inspired me to start learning Japanese myself, in hopes of trying out the original, untranslated MOTHER 3 and experiencing the differences for myself.

After weeks of literally studying just the characters of Japanese hiragana and katakana, I'd finally started actually "studying" Japanese with the help of Duolingo and my friend who'd been part of a Japanese exchange program before.

Just over 200ish days later, here I am with a 199-day streak on Duolingo spending hours earlier today studying how to discuss public transport and houses in Japanese. It's a slow process, but if I keep studying my textbooks and learning vocabulary, I'll become more and more fluent until I can play MOTHER 3 untranslated.

And to think this all began with the worst character to play against in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

…

Thanks for reading ALL of this! I know it's SUPER long, so I really appreciate it!

See you later!

…

(PS: There's probably issues with my post. Unfortunately, I'm a little pressed for time right now, so I can't really go back and proofread right now. Sorry!)

[acquired-stardust]

Anime Spotlight #1: Sonic the Hedgehog OVA (1996)

Acquired Stardust's spotlights expand into the realm of anime! Join Ash as she takes a look back at 1996's Sonic the Hedgehog OVA, a fitting first entry in our anime spotlight series, bridging the gap between video games and anime.

In many ways the story of Sonic the Hedgehog mirrors that of developer Sega's due to how indelibly linked the Blue Blur's meteoric rise into pop culture relevancy is to the company at large. Sonic the Hedgehog, much like Sega, went from the cool new contender rivaling Nintendo's dominance in the early 90s to an underdog by the turn of the century, to an example of just how harsh the shift from 2D to 3D games could be to video game developers that struggled to make the transition with as much acclaim as Nintendo had, back to a beloved alternative underdog in recent years that represented a very particular style and sound that you couldn't find just anywhere else.

It's easy to see why Sonic the Hedgehog had such an impact in its initial boom period (which lasted roughly 8 years, from 1991 to 1999) with the strength of the creatives involved and inspirations evoked. Brandishing a visual and auditory edge along with its gameplay and level design that many considered on par with Nintendo's Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog helped propelled Japanese video game developer Sega into unprecedented heights particularly in America. Hot on the heels of 1993's Sonic CD and 1994's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles)released on the Sega CD platform, 1996 saw the release of a two-episode Sonic the Hedgehog original video animation in Japan (that's OVA for those unfamiliar with anime terms, meaning a popular release method that's a sort of direct-to-video release rather than airing on television or in movie theaters). It was also compiled into a single 53-minute video and dubbed by ADV Films when it arrived in America in 1999, coinciding with the release of Sonic Adventure.

Immediately apparent is the retention of many of the elements that made Sonic so popular in this era. First you have the art style of Sonic CD, recreated faithfully by Studio Pierrot (also responsible for animating shonen anime classics Naruto, Bleach and Yu Yu Hakusho), with the even higher animation quality than the animated sequences of the then-new video game afforded by the budget of OVA format. There's also the soundtrack composed by Mitsuhiro Tada sporting an incredible blend of synthesizer, drums, keys and horns that's still stunning to this day and tragically never released in any official capacity (though an early production reel of the soundtrack, including its clever and catchy main theme sung by Riyu Konaka, was leaked in 2020 thanks to a Russian Sonic fansite). There's also the story and cast, an unthinkable (in 1996) teamup between Sonic and friends with nemesis Dr. Eggman rounded out by a few original characters such as the charmingly feral brat Sara, notably being the first instance of oddly human (or at least in this case humanimal) love interests for Sonic.

As previously mentioned, Sonic OVA nails a lot of things about the series that made it so popular at the time including the portrayal of its lead characters. Sonic has his cocky coolness, Tails lovable kid genius with plenty of vulnerability and Knuckles has both all the toughness and silliness one would expect. Aspects of all three of these characters would come to be either lost of hyperfocused on in the years to come and it's pretty great to have a piece of media capture the protagonist trio in such robust detail, with each character getting several moments to shine and their own significance in the events of the OVA as opposed to being ultimately completely beholden to Sonic to save the day.

Another retention from the video games of the time is the action and sense of speed with Studio Pierrot having done a wonderful job animating not only several sequences of traversal straight out of the Sega Genesis games complete with cameos of enemies along with several impressive fight sequences, as well as a few small instances of impressively thought out interaction between both characters and environment. In terms of the story and animation it's clear that the people involved in the project really understood the assignment and never phoned it in or lost sight of what they were doing.

While a wonderful snapshot of the series at the time, Sonic OVA also features a few interesting elements that look to the future. Planet Freedom, the world in which the characters inhabit in this particular incarnation of the series, features a distinctly New York City in post-apocalypse locale that would later come up again in 1999's Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast. Sonic OVA also positions Tails and Dr. Eggman as more direct rivals than previously seen, which would come to be a staple of the series starting again with 1999's Sonic Adventure. Sonic OVA is not entirely without its own quirks that would not be retained however, most notably referring to Knuckles as a mole and seemingly giving him the ability to outright fly as opposed to merely gliding.

Some may find the English cast to be annoying, but personally this is my favorite casting of the characters and the voices I always associate with them - they're teenage (and in the case of Tails, a child) cartoon animals after all. Regardless of which language you choose to watch in, Sonic OVA is a fantastic time and an interesting snapshot in time that effectively communicates why a lot people had so much fascination with Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog in its prime. It's also not everyday that this era of Sonic's music, largely featuring reworked compositions of Masato Nakamura's band Dreams Come True and later various songs by Michael Jackson (itself an interesting footnote of Sonic development lore), manages to feature tracks that stand up to the mainline games' quality, but Sonic OVA definitely includes a few songs that will stay with you and it's a shame that until recently the soundtrack has been almost completely ignored by Sega.

A gem hidden among the stones, Sonic the Hedgehog OVA is undoubtedly stardust.

-- Ash

[meikostan]

just solved a mystery that wasn't really mystery and didn't really need solving 👍 anyway i was going insane re:oshi no ko timeline because i forgot how old the twins are and what year this takes place in and needed to put all of my info in one place. in this essay i over-analyze the models of iphone as they differ from each other in the manga vs the anime. warning: very disorganized as i was sourcing all my evidence all this WHILE writing the post.

clickbait tldr: OSHI NO KO ANIME AND MANGA ARE IN SEPARATE TIMELINES⁉️ (NOT A PRANK‼️)

regular tldr: they're like 15/16 and the manga takes place in 2020 (but like including their childhood as well as their teenage years).

edit: the image formatting is broken :( idk how to fix it, sorry. they're still there, they're just huge and not next to each other for some reason

compare and contrast ruby in the manga vs the anime. now i will admit i am not an expert of identifying iphones but in the anime she appears to be holding an iphone 4; we can tell because there's only one camera lens, the power button is on the top, as is the headphone jack. it's also a bit rounded on the edges, which seem to have a little bit more meat on them compared to the manga. speaking of, compare with the manga: here, the phone has 3 camera lenses. the angle prevents us from getting a good view of the top of the phone, but there doesn't seem to be either a headphone jack OR a power button. it's a bit harder for me to tell but i think this is supposed to be an iphone 12 pro max.

compare. left: iphone 4, right: iphone 12 pro max

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL because aqua has an iphone too so of course we're looking at that

left: aqua seems to be using the same iphone 4 that ruby was using previously

right: looks more like an iphone x judging by the camera? compare:

ok so moving on. not from phones in general we'll still be talking about those but we also need to consider some other hints shown by the use of technology here. the anime seems to be pushing harder for us to view vol 1 as being set some time around 2010; if you saw my other post re:my thoughts on episode 1 you'll know that i talked about this already, but i'll restate some stuff here for completion's sake (+ add pictures)

compilation of flip phones being used throughout ai's death montage; while i did find some articles published in 2009 on flip phones dipping in popularity because of smart phones, they were definitely still being commonly used around that time. i know this because i was alive in 2009

also a wii, which was released in late 2006. it would have been incredibly common in many households, especially for non-gamers, which it was marketed towards. obviously a lone wii does not automatically mean oshi no ko vol 1 is set in the early 2010s/late 00's, but this in combination with the older models of phones does seem to point in that direction. also i have no proof of this but i feel like if it was set in modern day (2020s) that wii would be a nintendo switch instead.

bonus kana with an iphone 4 btw

you'll notice that these are all anime screenshots, and this is because pretty much none of this is in the manga. apart from the funeral we don't see any crowd shots, or anything of the public; it's all very focused in on aqua and ruby. what we DO see in terms of technology are ruby's iphone 12 pro max and aqua's iphone x, meaning in the manga either vol 1 takes place around late 2020/early 2021, the cast of oshi no ko is stuck in an eternal present, or this was an art oversight brought upon by early installment weirdness.

also, to cover the use of twitter: twitter was launched in late 2006. the website saw a pretty huge boost in popularity in 2008, and the mobile app launched in 2010. it would be very possible for the twins to go twitter viral and become the oshi no ko version of charlie bit my finger.

OK on to guessing how old they are in the present, which for now only exists in the manga!

DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU ARE AN ANIME ONLY AND INTEND TO KEEP IT THAT WAY, OR ARE OTHERWISE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANGA.

so, we know that ai had the twins when she was 16, and died a week before she turned 20. for simplicity's sake we'll just say she died when she was 20. that means the twins would be about 4 years old at this point.

what we're interested in is figuring out their age at present day. chapter 11 opens up with ruby filling out her idol applications; she list her age as being 14.

however, we know that she's been filling out multiple applications for a good while now, and aqua has continually been sabotaging her. this might not even be an application from present day. speaking of aqua, he mentions right after this panel high school entrance exams:

in japan, students enter high school (upper secondary school) around the time they're 15-16 years old. of course, aqua says they're "coming up", not that they're soon or currently happening. they could be on the lower end of 15 around here, or the higher end of 14.

additionally, in the next chapter, aqua is seen wearing what looks to be a gakuran (basically, middle school boy's uniform; middle school takes place ages 12/13 to 14/15).

from this we can guess that around 10 to 11 years have passed since ai died; they're about 14 to 15 here.

if we pretend that their childhood in the manga also took place in 2010, that means present day oshi no ko takes place around 2020.

mystery solved! but i like digging deeper this is fun. so let's continue.

skipping to the next volume!

lovenow time! here they outright state aqua's grade; high school 1st year, aka 10th grader, aka like 15/16.

can't grab screenshots of where 15 years of lies was established because mangaplus hates me and has locked the relevant chapters behind an app >:(

have to stop it here bc i don't remember as much as i thought i did and i also don't have access to chapters 95 thru 114 (thanks mangaplus👍) so uh yeah thank you for sticking with my rambles. again this was just me logicking through stuff because i forgot how old they are & is for personal reference. next time i do a reread i'll add more ^_^

[furiousgoldfish]

Hey, hope you're having a good day today (or at least not a bad one). I'm really confused about my situation, and I'm hoping that perhaps you may be able to help me figure things out about it

My memories of my early childhood are extremely fragmented at best and non-existent at worst, large voids of experiences that should be there, but aren't. Of the few fragments I do have, I get the sense that something must've been going on -- I space out when someone counts to three, the thought of someone grabbing my wrist activates my fight-or-flight response, and any sort of skin-hitting-skin sound makes me flinch. But at the same time, of the earliest whole memories I *do* have, from perhaps around the age of 13, I...wasn't being abused by my parents or anything? Like, I would get shouted at a hell of a lot, and I would get into trouble for shit that my brothers did and got away with, hell sometimes I would even end up getting blamed for what they did, especially my older brother.

And speaking of him, he's always been a self-centered piece of shit, always taking my things from me because he likes them and wants them for himself, or breaking things of mine because he didn't like them -- one time he tore off the face of a doll I'd made based on a character I made up -- and then yelling back at me when I got mad at him, or copying and/or deleting my save datas on games he wanted to complete himself first if I was too far ahead, not to mention the times he would repeatedly bash his leg against mine to the point of leaving bruises if mine happened to knock against his in the car, or how he'd yell at me to stop singing only to start singing himself, or how he'd always claim to like whatever songs he knew I hated and hate songs he knew I liked. And he would always get the more expensive birthday/christmas presents, and there were always loopholes in the rules and restrictions for him. Maybe I'm just being jealous, but it really feels like they're playing favorites here, and I'm the bottom of the barrel.

But in the last couple of years (since like...2020, I was 16 turning 17), things have...changed. I've been keeping myself isolated in my room 24/7, I'm basically nocturnal just to avoid everyone, and...I'm not even sure if I'm doing the right thing. My parents are both acting really nice, especially my mother (which is funny cuz she's always been the one I've been most scared of) -- hell, my mother even got me a Nintendo Switch recently, and she'll always buy whatever snacks and things I ask for, and we're going out together soon in a few days to go get cake together. And my brother, while he's only gotten worse in things he hates about me (now he'll get mad if I clear my throat "wrong"), seems to be...afraid? Of me now, and avoidant of being in the same room as me if he can, while before he would almost seem to seek me out and try to antagonize me.

Whilst certainly a refreshing change of pace in some aspects, it's also throwing my own memories into question. Anything before 2020 feels...fake, almost, at times, and any potential abuse from before 13 may not have even happened, for all I know I could just be inventing this all to try and fill the hours of isolation and justify my own fear and mistrust. And yet I *know* there had to have been something, because a 13-year-old doesn't start feeling like an outsider in their own family, and questioning if they were adopted, or if maybe they're secretly some alien from outerspace or monster from some deep dark cave somewhere for no reason, right? But then again I was always told that I'm overemotional, that my depression was always present from that age (despite me not even feeling depressed at all until I was 14?), that it was hormones, or school, which I mean it could be? How would I know, I don't even remember anything? And yet those just feel like excuses to direct me away from the true problem?

...I don't know, I don't know what to think, I keep flipping back and forth between the two. What's your opinion, reading this? I can give more information if it's wanted

Yeah I can see why your experience is so confusing to you, not only your memories are a mess and constantly being second-guessed, but your reality shifts for no apparent reason and you feel pressured to accept every new situation as if the last one didn't even happen.

Based on everything you're saying, I'm certain you're abused. The fragments of memories that you have all are memories one would have dissociated from due to abuse (in your case, you're even describing physical violence), and people don't make things like this up, it's upsetting, scary and painful. Nobody wants to believe they've been thru such things, and you seem to be suffering from the symptoms of it. Memories of fight-or-flight response being triggered, being shouted at, someone hitting you, this wouldn't have been happening if you weren't thru something really awful. And you'd have your memories whole, not fragmented.

Your sibling definitely abused you, and from how you describe it, it reminds me a lot on the narcissistic split between the children - narcissistic parents will often pick one child who will be 'the golden child' and will be heavily favoured, praised, will be able to get away with everything, and will be able to abuse and exploit the other siblings without any repercussions. The other child will be 'the scapegoat', and this child will always be blamed for everything, shouted at, humiliated, abused, forced to do work/chores, even used as a servant and a punching bag to rest of the family. The golden child can always abuse the scapegoat and get away with it.

So it's not just 'playing favourites', it's parents treating one child as a part of the family, and another one as a burden, waste, outsider. Golden child will usually have traits closer to the parents (it can be cruelty, sadism, entitlement, selfishness, self-importanct, or just some trait that parents can get celebrated for, like talents for acting, singing, music, sports appearance), and the scapegoat will usually be perceived as 'too different' or 'not useful' or can be discriminated even for a disorder, disability or sickness (though I've seen parents pick the sick child for the golden child too, because they can get a lot of sympathy points for being the poor parents who have to struggle with a sick child).

I could be wrong about this, only you will know if this rings true to you or not, if this isn't your situation, you still are being put thru something truly uncommon and weird that is hard to understand. There are several reasons why abusive parents will suddenly snap and change their behaviour from atrocious to 'less atrocious' or even 'nice':

You are closer to becoming an adult and they know you will realize that you have been abused, and there might be consequences for them once you realize it, so the treatment of you quickly changes so you'd have nothing visible to complain about, and so that you look insane if you do complain

Your parents are getting monitored by someone and are in danger of their abuse being outed. It can be a social service, but it also can be a neighbour or someone perceptive who is paying close watch to what happens to kids. Parents will be willing to act nice and to buy gifts and to treat their kids way nicer if they know they're being watched for abuse

You are getting opportunities to get away from home, which could result in you both realizing the past abuse, and telling someone about it, without them being able to stop you. They need to persuade you with nicer treatment to stay home, to not go anywhere, to not tell anyone anything, so they need you to feel insane if you try to remember the past or the abuse

They might want something from you that they can't get via abuse, they'll need your consent to something, and they need to convince you that they're good parents and love you, so you would not object to it. This can be anything from organ donation to marriage to some cult thing

it could be something completely else that I haven't even thought of, but the common theme is that your parents, right now, feel very invested in you NOT being able to figure out that you're abused, possibly because of the risk that they'll be reported, or that they'll lose you as a victim.

None of this means that your memories are not real, or that what you survived was fake or something to discard or forget! Had your parents and sibling really changed, they would actually reflect on their past behaviour, talk to you about it, apologize, try to make amends, they would not simply expect you to 'accept this new situation and never mention the past'. Only on abusive situations are you required to accept whatever you get, and never allowed to bring up anything that was done to slight you in the past.

I know this might be really hard, but trust your memories above everything. You didn't get in this situation, writing to a blog about abuse, struggling with fragmented memory, confronted with a strange and sudden change in behaviour, because nothing happened. Something did happen. The reason for change might be something neither you or I don't know about, some threat to the parents that is currently invisible or hidden from you. But you don't have to accept the current situation or ignore the past.

If you feel it's safe, you could try asking about why they've changed, and if they explode, refuse to elaborate, punish you for even mentioning it, or act like there was no change at all and you're insane - then you have your proof, they're gaslighting you about your past. To pretend nothing happened when it did, is to try to make you second-guess your own memory, and it's generally a method that makes a person go insane trying to figure out what's the truth.

Also, I forgot to respond to this earlier, but going nocturnal is something really common with children who are being abused. Night time often seems like the only time it's safe to be awake because abusers are asleep and you're allowed a moment of peace and comfort. Night is the safest time to exist for the abused. So that's another red flag you have that shows signs of abuse on you. Non-abused individuals feel safe and peaceful during the day as well.

[influenzalake]

Batman and Superfam + playing Just Dance

prompts:

- do they play casual, mid, or with all their heart?

- favorite JD game?

- favorite part of the game?

- are they competitive or chill?

- do they sing along?

- how do they play? / favorite way to play (wii, xbox kinect, playstation move / camera , nintendo, just dance now) 

--- --- --- ---

Bruce:

-Bruce will play casually, think "uncle playing JD on the couch only moving his arm in one direction" gameplay. If he sees an opportunity for friendly competition, maybe he'll put his back into it! 

- favorite JD game is 2 or 3, they have a lot of songs from his youth!

- favorite part of the game has to be shuffle, he likes a challenge

- mostly chill!

- he does sing along, in his head

- Bruce is a Wii JD player for sure, he has seen other consoles and UI from his sons playing 

Selina:

- Selina's playstyle is a combination of "what is this contraption" and "how do I operate this contraption" lol. she will look at the controller / screen and try to do a move or two, then go find something more interesting 

- Favorite JD game is Just Dance 1, the beginning

- Favorite part is song list, Selina likes Heart of Glass, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Can't Get You Outta My Head

- Selina will get most competitive with her favorite songs! She doesn't try as hard with other songs

- she will sing along for a few lyrics if she gets into it

- Selina has less options since JD 1 is so ancient, she has only played JD on the Wii

Dick:

- Dick plays with all his heart, he wants to have the crown next to his "Jazzy" username 

- Favorite Just Dance game is 4 and he likes 2 as well

- favorite part of the game is the extremes for 4, he loves showing off in Good Feeling Extreme 

- he plays competitive but will let other people win sometimes 

- he will sing along to his favorites!

- Dick puts everything into his dance, he plays on Xbox 360 with the Kinect! He has also played on PlayStation and Wii

Wally: 

-Wally plays casual but fun with JD, some routines he goes all out and others he just likes for nostalgia 

-Wally's favorite JD games are 3 and 2014!

- His favorite part of the game is battle mode in 2014, he loves to invite friends over and have a JD battle 

-It can get competitive really fast! Gotta have those bragging rights!

-Wally will sing along for extra coins in 2014

- Wally got his start on Nintendo Wii, but he graduated to Kinect for 360 but he still boots up old reliable every now and then 

Jason: 

- Jason plays JD mid, half casual half serious (also depends on who he's playing with / against)

- Jason's favorite JD game is 2023 or 2024, he likes the games with lore

- Jason's favorite part of a JD game was the All Star mode in Just Dance 2020. He loved seeing the story play out and the characters interact with each other 

- Jason can get competitive when he wants to be, mostly against his friends and family to show who's the JD boss

- Jason doesn't sing along 

- Jason has played on ps3 / ps4 / and now he plays on ps5 

Roy:

- Roy plays casual , just to have fun and spend time with friends

- Roy has the most hours in JD 2022 because Lian, she loves to play!

- Roy's favorite part of the game is probably the gift machine, it's mindless reward fun

- He plays very chill

- He will sing along when playing with Lian and that's it 

- Roy didn't play much as a young person, but right now he plays on ps4

Bonus: Lian's favorite songs are Poster Girl and Jerusalema

Tim:

- Tim will play mid as his "casual" , him getting Megastar is just the average play experience 

- Tim's favorite JD game is a mix, he likes some songs from some games but can't get the same feel to the entire song list

- Tim has a JD unlimited subscription or JD+ and will play the individual games that have songs he likes if they're not on JDU / JD+

- Ask anyone else, Tim is competitive. Ask Tim, he will say chill. He dances for real but to him it's for fun

- Tim won't sing along

- Tim has played at least once on every major console. Tim plays JD+ / JDU on PS5 and has JD Now app on his phone when he's out with friends 

Damian:

- Damian plays with all his heart, he knows it is a game but also knows dance is a physical art and values the interpersonal expression

- Damian's favorite JD game is 4 and 2014, he plays 4 with Dick and recognizes the outstanding song list and designs in 2014

- Damian's favorite JD feature is battle mode in 4 and 2014 , it itches his competitive brain

- Which leads into the next part, Damian is competitive as HELL. He needs to have a high score everytime he plays especially if he's playing with others. 13k and Perfects only please

- Damian will not sing along aloud but will in his mind

- Damian plays his favorites on Xbox One kinect, it is his preferred console

Clark:

- Clark plays with his heart and is actually really good! Clark playing JD is so wholesome it can bring dead plants back to life 

- Clark doesn't have a particular favorite, he plays what's in front of him 

- No favorite game, but he likes to customize his dancer card in the modern games

- Clark is a chill JD player, but watch out because this man can DANCE       (he is a JD assassin) 

- Clark will sing along sometimes, mostly when playing with family

- Clark plays however with whatever, he doesn't have a preference

Lois:

- Lois plays JD casual, but when Jon challenges her to JD dance off, it's ON!

-Favorite JD game is undecided, there are features in one game that carry a weak song list while other games have decent UI / song list but lacking features!

- Her favorite thing to do in JD is make a personalized playlist, so games that have that feature get brownie points 

- Lois is a chill JD player! It's all good fun :)

- Lois might sing along if she knows the lyrics 

- Lois prefers a controller-less gameplay, whatever works with that!

Conner:

- Conner plays casually and lets the music move him, it's a great game to enjoy the music and relax

- Conner's favorite JD game is JD 2017, he likes to play Dragostea Din Tei lol. 

- Favorite part of the game is custom avatars 

- Conner is a chill player

- He will sing along to his favorites !

- Conner plays on Xbox , he has 360 and One

Jon:

- Jon is a middle kind of player, sometimes he goes for the hi-score sometimes he just wants to dance 

- Jon's favorite JD game changes now and then, he follows JD is awaits the new games !

- Jon really likes playing battle mode or gift machine on any game

- Jonathan prefers to play with others, it doesn't have to be for competition

- Jon will sing along (especially if it annoys Damian lol)

- Jon is a Nintendo Boy, he has played on Wii and currently plays on Switch