#at this point sega isn’t even bothering to hide it

[chillbean-427]

……

Do I even need to say anything?

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

The Thrilling Saga of Connie paying real life money for the Worst Sonic TV Show

Let’s begin with the simple fact that me and my sister, @birdsareblooming​ “Cori”, have both been hyperfixating on Sonic the Hedgehog since last March. During this hyperfixation, I was on Sonic Wiki to copy-paste song lyrics onto my stolen mp3s, and I called my sister in and pointed at the template at the bottom. 

“What is this Sonic Underground thing?” I asked. “It has one shit billion songs.” 

So we clicked on the page to read about it, and each sentence we read was a punch in the gut and this quickly became the funniest thing we’d ever read. Highlights include:

It looks like this:

“Sonic[...] is known to be a prince” 

Sonic has two siblings who actually have good characterization but their names are literally just Sonia and Manic. Like. Sonic split into two names. jesus christ 

Also Sonic and his siblings all share a voice actor. honestly Jaleel White does his best with it but 

“The three siblings possess enchanted medallions that transform not only into musical instruments, but also into weapons.”

“Some fans consider Sonia to be a clone of Amy Rose, minus the attraction Amy feels for Sonic.” YEAH I SURE HOPE IT DOES

“Manic is the most often captured of the siblings” himbo king 

Knuckles shows up, and for the first, like, two sentences his description is very similar to the game, and then you get immediately pulverized by “He has a pet Dinosaur called Chomps.”

Literally so many sentences on Sonic Wiki are lowkey salty about this show. The page features lines such as “Sonic Underground bears little relation to the often complex Sonic universe (including previous animated series, as well as Sonic comics and games), and shares only three established characters” and “many of the characters in the Freedom Fighter group that were in Sonic the Hedgehog are completely left out (including Tails).”

“The show met with mostly negative reviews.”

*checks air dates* It only lasted two goddamn months

So after seeing this we thought it was the funniest thing and we showed our older sister, @patema-introverted​ “North.” To our surprise, our at the time “knew nothing about this sonic bullshit” sister recognized the show. Turns out she’d seen trailers for it as a child and that was her sole exposure to Sonic canon. 

We were in quarantine at the time, so we ended up finding it on YouTube and binge-watching it all together as a sibling bonding activity. It was just as hilarious as we thought it would be- some stuff was legitimately good, like the sibling dialogue for instance, but good lord were the character designs ugly, the plot all over the place, and pretty much every song, um, not great. Also there was one episode that we skipped because it got, um, I think “stereotypical” is the nicest word I can use here. 

But the point is, we had a jolly good time watching it, and afterwards we binged all the other Sonic shows and bonded as a family. 

After quarantine, North and I go back to college. My roommate gets groceries at Walmart, while I get them elsewhere, so while she and North collect food I wander the DVD aisle to look at the cool movies and also dumpster-dive in the bargain bin for Cats (2019). I am also short as fuck, so the top shelf of movies I cannot see, I can only read the labels. 

So one day I was browsing the DVDs, and glancing over at the labels for the top shelf. I read over the final one before the shelves end. 

And then I stop, do a double take, and have a heart attack, because there is a label that reads “SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74″

I immediately climb the shelf but there aren’t any DVDs atop the shelf. However, the label is still there. I excitedly tell my sister and roommates, freak out with them a bit, and then give myself a mission statement:

I will buy the $4 Sonic Underground DVD from Walmart

I did not want it as a gift, I did not want to find it online. I wanted to walk into a store, pick up the Worst Sonic Show on DVD, walk it straight to the checkout, and in front of the cashier and God, pay for it with my own money. I did not care if it was the whole series or two episodes; I needed to do this for my own serotonin.

We would go to Walmart about once a week. Every time, I would go to the DVD aisle, and go right to the end of the shelves. I would stare at the label SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74 and empty space above it and wonder who the fuck was buying this other than me. I would occasionally ask employees if they had any copies in storage. I would build a shrine to Manic in my room. Okay, no I didn’t, but only because my RA would have murdered me. 

Christmas break comes, and we have to go home. We have a nice Christmas, and Cori and I infodump at each other about how we would make Sonic Underground a good show (note: we’re both galaxy braining) and also play Bendy and the Ink Machine. Fun times. 

When we finally get back to College, it’s late January- long story short we have a very long winter break. My roommate who gets food at Walmart got food without us the first week cause she showed up first, so we take her out to Walmart the first time in the year of our lord 2021 on January 29. 

I wander the Valentine’s aisle, immediately grabbing a sequin puppy. I go to the DVDs and see Animaniacs Season One, also grab that. 

And then.

There it is.

The Holy Grail. 

Above the label SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74, is one DVD left. 

Already I am losing my mind. It’s roughly seven hours of episodes- I couldn’t find an episode list, but I think that’s half the show, for $4! And the cover is amazing. 

That’s a png of Sonic from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) with a medallion badly photoshopped over it. The medallion is too small. 

Manic is shoved into the corner. He doesn’t have his medallion at all. 

Sonia isn’t even pictured on the front cover, probably because they realized she was the worst designed of the bunch. I’m not ragging on her though, because she’s still one of the better designed characters of the show. Those background characters make me cry 

So you bet your ass I finally paid my hard-earned $4 for this shit. Upon getting home, I discovered that there was even wilder shit with this DVD than I thought. 

For starters: the bonus features listed are as follows:

Original Concept Art - did not expect that these character designs were the final draft

Storyboard-to-screen - did not expect they bothered to storyboard this 

Music Video Jukebox - that’s cute, they thought we liked the music 

Interviews with original screenwriter & executive producer - I fully expect the only questions to be “why.” 

On the left of this list are screenshots from the show, where people can finally see Sonia, who we Know™ is a girl because she is pink and has hair and also an actual body shape instead of just circles like her brothers. 

But wait... what’s that in the lefthand corner? 

That looks like some kind of robot. But it’s not a robot from Sonic Underground! That didn’t appear once. Why is it here? 

The mystery continues upon opening the DVD case: inside are advertisements for other collections, including other Sonic DVDs: two volumes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) and the final episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog “SatAM” (1993)

First of all, the first volume of AOSTH has the exact same PNG of Sonic as the Underground Volume 1. Not even trying to hide it. But second... the second volume of AOSTH also has this robot on its cover. 

And THIS ROBOT IS ALSO DECORATING THE THIRD DISC IN THE SET?

So you may be asking, who is this robot? Is it from AOSTH or Underground?

IT’S FROM FUCKING SATAM. The one show that doesn’t have it decorating the DVD covers.

Also, not only is it from SatAM, it only appears in one fucking episode. Not a major character! AND IT HAS A DIFFERENT DESIGN ON THE PROMO ART, WITH HAIR AND FANGS.

Why is it showing up everywhere? What is going on? 

I have not yet had the opportunity to watch this glorious piece of animation, but I am so glad at the confusion I have felt upon receiving it. 

But before I go, I must share with you the best part of this DVD purchase. And it was flipping to the back, scanning the details, and discovering the exact runtime of the episode collection. 

Guys, gals, and enby pals, friends and enemies, Nintendo and Sega, the first Volume of Sonic Underground has a runtime of...

420 MINUTES.

Maybe I’m wrong and this IS the best Sonic show. 

[alexthedrummerboy]

Darkest Before The Dawn

pairing: willex, past luke/alex

summary: "your parents were never cool again after you told them you were gay.” OR an exploration into alex’s past, his family life, and his relationship with religion

essentially this is all one big angsty headcanon

authors note: basically i’ve been thinking about the gold chain alex wears around his neck and i’ve been way overanalysing what it is and i thought - what if it used to be a cross necklace that his devout parents made him wear?? also i’m so desperate for alex to have more backstory that i’m pulling it out of every nook and cranny at this point

trigger warning: homophobia, bad parenting

ao3

It starts when he’s seven. He’d invited Bobby over to his house after school to play, not knowing that his dad had come home from work early. They’re sitting at the dining table, drawing with Alex’s new 36 pack of crayons when he hears it.

“I just think letting him do all that... art stuff is gonna make him...” he hears his dad say to his mom, “...soft. Girly. We already have one daughter, we don’t need another one.”

Alex doesn’t really understand what his Dad means, but he drops the crayon he’s holding and pokes Bobby on the wrist lightly. “I’m bored,” he says quietly, though his picture remains on the table unfinished. “Can we go do somethin’ else?”

Bobby furrows his eyebrows and looks down at his paper. “But... I didn’t finish colouring my dragon.” 

Alex looks at his Dad in the kitchen. He’s still talking to his mom, both of their heads bowed. He has that look on his face that reminds Alex of the time his mom tried to convince them to go vegetarian for a week. “We can finish colouring later... maybe,” he says. “Let’s go play in my room.”

Bobby takes one last look at his drawing but nods, gently folding the piece of paper in half and tucking it into his backpack. “Okay.”

They walk up to Alex’s room together, hand-in-hand like always. They pass the kitchen on the way and Alex’s dad turns his head, scowling deeper when he looks at their hands. Suddenly Alex feels cold all over. 

“Boys,” he says, deep voice booming. “You’re getting a little old to be holding hands, aren’t you?”

Alex lets go of Bobby’s hand immediately and tucks it into his trouser pocket instead, nodding. Bobby looks like he wants to protest but Alex just nudges him and nods towards his room. 

They walk away and Alex tries to brush the experience off. He doesn’t eat much at dinner that night.

---

His dad makes him quit choir the next year. He’s up in his room practicing for the Christmas festival when he hears three quiet knocks. 

“Come in,” he says, closing his music book. His dad walks in, still in his shirt and tie from work. “Oh. Hi, Dad.”

His dad smiles stiffly. “Alex, what are you doing?” 

Alex looks between his dad and his choir book for a moment. “Practicing for the festival,” he says, a smile growing on his face. “Mrs. Carson gave me a solo for the first--”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” his dad says, pursing his lips. “Wouldn’t you be happier... playing a sport or something? What about baseball? You know when your old man was in school, I was a real killer on the pitch.”

Alex’s tongue feels dry in his mouth the longer his dad speaks. He hates baseball. “Um... I-I like choir, though.” His voice is quiet, barely above a breath. His dad sighs and shakes his head. Alex feels an overwhelming sense of anxiety rise inside his chest. He hates disappointing people.

“I’m just worried about you, son,” he says, sitting down on the edge of Alex’s bed. “Okay, maybe not baseball. How about... soccer?”

Alex shuffles around on his chair. He feels like his heart has stopped beating. “Drums,” he mumbles, looking down at his hands. His dad leans closer. 

“Speak up, Alex.”

Alex looks up, clenching his jaw. “I-I wanna learn how to play the drums,” he says. “L-like that guy from The Rolling Stones.”

His dad goes quiet, scratching his chin like he’s thinking about it, before he smiles and nods. He claps Alex on the shoulder hard enough that it makes him wince. “Drums eh? Sure, we’ll get you a kit and you can set it up in the basement.” As he turns to walk out of Alex’s room, he turns and throws him a cheeky smile. “My boy, the drummer. You know they say girls love drummers.”

Alex isn’t sure why, but that comment makes him feel sick. He stares at his closed door for too long after his dad leaves, his thoughts twisting and turning in his mind.

---

When Alex receives his first cross, he’s 12-years-old. He immediately vows never to take it off. It’s a beautiful piece of jewellery; a small gold cross on a solid gold chain. When his mom slips it around his neck, he feels... protected, somehow. Safe. 

His mom smiles at him tearily as she hooks the clasp around his neck, running her hand down the side of his face. “Congratulations, baby,” she says quietly. “You know, my mother gave me my first cross when I was exactly your age. ”

Alex just smiles and tugs on the chain lightly, feeling the cool metal against his thumb and forefinger. “Thanks, mom,” he says quietly, looking down at where it’s dangling against the soft blue of his button down. 

His sister, Andrea, comes from behind him and knocks his shoulder lightly. Her own cross is silver and smaller than his, contrasting against her light skin perfectly. He doesn’t remember when she got hers. She was four years older than him and got hers when he was just a little kid. “Congrats, Lexi,” she says.

His dad comes out of the kitchen, a bottle of champagne in one hand and two flutes in the other. He’s beaming. “This calls for a celebration!”

His mother looks at his dad and tuts quietly, though she still looks pleased. “Michael, it’s barely 9. We have to leave for church soon.”

His dad simply brushes off her worry. “My son is being confirmed, Linda. We’re celebrating.” He kisses her on the cheek and hands her a champagne flute. “It won’t take long.”

He pours himself and Alex’s mother a small amount of champagne and Alex watches, entranced as they cheers and take a sip. His mother and his father lock eyes before handing their glasses to Alex and Andrea, smiling secret smiles. 

“Just this once,” his dad says. “Just one sip.”

Andrea takes the flute immediately and takes a sip. Alex watches her for a moment before taking his dad’s flute and lifting it up to his mouth.

The bubbles fizz and pop in his mouth. The taste is unpleasant, but... the feeling of his dad’s eyes on him, proud and sparkling with happiness make the experience a million times better.

As they drive to church, Alex keeps his hand firmly clasped around his cross, smiling the entire time.

---

Alex receives his first kiss when he’s 14. It happens in his basement with Luke Patterson. He’d invited him over so they could work on a song together. Luke had discovered him playing drums in the music room one day and had instantly recruited him to join his band, alongside Bobby and Reggie Anderson.

They’d long since abandoned practicing any form of music and were lounging on the couch in Alex’s basement, playing video games on his Sega Genesis. He’s so close to beating Luke at Mortal Kombat. They’ve been playing for 45 minutes and Alex has managed to lose every round so far.

But, with a fatal blow, Alex watches his character drop to his knees as Luke’s character poses victoriously. He groans loudly and leans back against the couch, trying his best not to pout as he hears Luke’s laughter next to him. “No fair!” he exclaims, dropping his controller beside him on the couch. 

Luke smirks, boxing Alex in the shoulder lightly. “Not my fault I’m better at this game than you are,” he says. He’s leaning towards Alex, his face mere inches away from his shoulder. “I’m just naturally skilled.”

Alex blushes and shuffles away from him, leaning into the arm rest and trying to ignore his heart as it pounds away in his chest. “Naturally ugly, more like,” he mumbles. It’s not the best comeback, but he can’t really focus right now.

Luke laughs anyway, punching Alex’s arm again and turning back to face the TV. Neither of them speak for a moment but Alex can feel the air thicken with a strange tension that he’s never felt before.

His hand automatically comes up to grip his cross, the edges of the metal digging into his palm. He takes a short breath in and out, feeling the cold metal warm up in his hand. 

He feels Luke’s eyes on him and he turns. There’s a small smile on Luke’s face that Alex can’t help but return. “What?” he asks.

Luke shrugs. “Nothin’,” he says softly.

Then, he leans in closer. Alex does not pull away.

Before he even realises what’s happening, they’re kissing. It’s chaste and completely innocent; a light press of lips against lips. Alex can tell that Luke hasn’t bothered to put on chapstick in his entire 14 years of life, but he tastes vaguely of grape bubblegum and iced tea. It’s nice. 

As they kiss, he feels his grip on his cross loosen until his hand falls completely slack, landing on top of Luke’s hand where it’s resting on a cushion.

They’re interrupted by the sound of footsteps against carpeted stairs. Alex jumps out of his seat and lands on the floor in front of the couch. Luke loses his balance and falls after him, landing face first in the couch cushion where Alex had just been sitting.

The basement door opens and Andrea pokes her head through, holding two capri suns and a bowl full of chips. She sees Alex on the floor and furrows her eyebrows. “Why are you on the ground?”

Alex clears his throat and blinks down at his knees, trying to hide his shaking hands. “Um... it-it’s more comfortable down here,” he mumbles. 

Andrea shrugs and walks in, placing the bowl of chips and the drinks on the coffee table. “Mom told me to give these to you.” She looks between the TV and the two of them. “I thought you guys were practicing.”

“We were!” Luke says, standing up and walking over to where his guitar is resting on the other side of the room. “We took a quick video game break, but we’re ready to get back to work. Right, Alex?”

Alex nods, but he can’t stand back up. “Right,” he says breathlessly, giving Andrea a weak smile. “Thanks for the snacks.”

Andrea nods, but she looks suspicious. She walks out of the room and shuts the door behind her. Alex doesn’t exhale until her footsteps have retreated completely. He breathes out shakily and draws his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. 

“Hey,” Luke says, running to Alex’s side. His hand hovers above Alex’s back before resting just behind him on the couch. “You okay?”

It takes a minute, but eventually Alex nods and looks up at Luke. “Yeah,” he replies, though his hands are still balled into tight fists. “I’m good.”

Luke nods, his hand tightening and loosening its grip on the couch cushion a few times. “Was that... weird?” he asks quietly. Alex has never heard him sound this unsure before. 

He shakes his head, a small smile growing on his face. “No,” he says quietly, and he means it too. “I don’t think so, anyway.”

Luke nods again, smiling brightly at Alex. “Okay. Cool.”

“Can we not... tell anyone? About that?” He asks quietly, looking up at Luke, eyes pleading. “I-I don’t know if I’m... if that...”

“Alex, of course,” Luke says earnestly, finally reaching over and resting his hand in Alex’s shoulder. “It’ll be just between us.”

Alex nods, smiling weakly. “Cool. Thanks.”

He feels mildly comforted by Luke’s words, but he can’t help the anxiety that grows in his stomach. He stands up and walks over to his kit, sitting down at his stool and twirling his drumstick in his hand.

When he closes his eyes that night, snuggled up in his bed, all he can think about are warm lips and iced tea.

---

He comes out at 16.

It doesn’t go well.

His mom cries like he’s just told her he died... but what makes him more anxious is his dad’s reaction.

He doesn’t say anything at first. Just stares at Alex with that those hard, light eyes. He doesn’t even look angry, he just looks... disappointed.

“Dad?” he says quietly. The word gets caught in his throat.

His dad breathes in slowly and stands up. He walks out of the living room shaking his head. Alex watches him go until he’s completely out of sight. All he can hear are his mothers sobs. All he can feel is the weight of his guilt pressing down on him.

His cross feels like it’s burning his skin through the fabric of his t-shirt. Suddenly it feels like he’s wearing a ten pound weight around his neck. It’s hard to swallow.

He wants to comfort his mom, but he doesn’t even know what he would say. What could he say that wouldn’t make everything worse?

So, he stands up and takes one last look at his mom before walking down the hall. He passes Andrea on the way to the basement. She looks at him and then toward the living room where they can both hear their mother’s sobs. 

“What’s wrong with mom?” she asks, placing a hand on his elbow. The touch burns. 

Alex opens his mouth to speak but the words he wants to say get stuck in his throat. He brushes past her, ignoring her questions and running down the stairs to the basement and shutting the door behind him.

He sits down behind his drums and raises his hand to clasp his necklace, holding it so tightly his hand begins to hurt. He can’t cry. He thinks if he could, then maybe he’d feel better, but... the tears won’t come.

So, he lets go of his cross and picks up his sticks instead, twirling the left one in his hand a few times before hitting his high tom once, hard. It feels good, but the feeling doesn’t last long.

Eventually, he loses himself in the rhythm, hitting each drum harder than the last. He forgets for a moment; forgets about the disaster that had happened just minutes ago upstairs. He pauses for a minute to catch his breath but finds his mind wandering; is his mother still crying? Why hadn’t his dad said anything?

He shakes the thought free before pounding on his drums again. He’s not even beating out a rhythm now; he’s just trying to fill the space with noise to keep his thoughts out.

He’s interrupted when the door opens. It's his dad, holding an empty duffel bag, a somber expression on his face. Alex raises his eyebrows and takes his earplugs out of his ears. “Dad?”

His dad winces when Alex speaks, throwing the empty duffel bag onto the floor. “Pack your things.”

All the blood drains from Alex’s face and he stands up on shaky legs. He’s gripping his drumsticks so tightly, it’s a miracle that the wood doesn’t fuse with his skin. “Wh-where’re we goin’?” he asks, though he has a suspicion. 

“We aren’t going anywhere, son,” his dad says. His eyes are on the carpet. He can’t even look at Alex. “Your mother and I... we can’t have you staying in this house.”

“What?!”

“If you’re going to choose to live with your... affliction,” he spits out the word like it’s poison; and in his dad’s mind, perhaps it is, “then it won’t do to have you living here, corrupting us with your ungodly temptations.”

“Dad--”

His father holds up a hand. “I’ll give you 15 minutes to get your things and leave.” He turns to leave the basement but Alex calls him back.

“Where am I supposed to go?” he asks, voice cracking as he tries to fight the tears that threaten to run down his cheeks. He knows crying will only make him more upset. His father doesn’t turn around.

“You can figure that out on your own.” Then, he walks out. Alex is alone. After a few moments, he walks out from behind his drums and picks up the. empty bag with weak hands and walks up to his room. 

He’s working on autopilot as he shoves clothes and shoes and random items (when will he ever need his model robot?) into the bag until it’s almost full to bursting. He drops the bag on his bed and stares at it. He can’t hear anything; all the sounds around him are dull, muted almost. 

He turns around and catches a glimpse of his reflection in his bedroom mirror. He still looks the same as he had that morning when he’d gotten dressed for school. There are still drawings on the back of his hand in blue and black ink from third period when Bobby and Luke decided to draw on him in lieu of paying attention to what Mr. Peters was saying.

Remarkably, he looks the same... but he couldn’t be more different. 

Alex’s eyes drop to the necklace around his neck. It almost hurts to look at now. He’d done well by his vow; hadn’t ever taken it off, even when Jeremy Matthews teased him about it (and received a firm smack on the head from Reggie).

Shakily, he lifts his hands and unclasps the necklace, holding onto the chain so tight that the links begin to make grooves in his skin. He takes hold of the cross and swallows thickly, looking at his warped reflection in the surface of it. 

He slowly slides the cross off of the chain and places it on his nightstand. The chain, though, he keeps though he doesn’t really know why. He puts the chain back around his neck. It feels bare without the cross on it weighing it down, but... Alex finds he kind of likes it. 

With that, he picks up his duffel bag and walks out of his room. He can hear the quiet sound of scraping cutlery against ceramic and he winces. They’d started dinner without him. 

As he walks towards the front door, he passes the dining table. When she hears his footsteps, Andrea looks up from her untouched plate of food and stands up. Alex shakes his head silently at her, gripping his bag strap tighter.

His parents don’t even look up. He gives Andrea a half-hearted smile and a wave before walking out the front door. He doesn’t bother taking his keys with him; he knows he won’t need to use them again.

The cold, night air smacks him right in the face as soon as he closes the door behind him. Then, without a second glance, he leaves and begins the short trek to Bobby’s house.

---

“So, I was wondering...” 

Willie turns to Alex and smiles at him, squeezing his hand gently. “Yeah?”

They’ve been walking down the pier together in comfortable silence for almost 15 minutes, but the question bubbles up in Alex’s chest before he can control himself.

Alex looks down at their interlaced fingers before gesturing towards the necklace around Willie’s neck. “What’s that key around your neck for?”

At the mention of his necklace, Willie wraps his hand around the key and gives it a light tug with his free hand. If Alex notices how Willie’s slowed their walking pace slightly, he doesn’t say anything. 

“It’s my house key,” he says softly. Alex parts his lips in surprise. “When I was a kid, I... I was pretty irresponsible. I was always losing things in random places. My mom used to tell me I’d lose my arms if they weren’t attached to my shoulders.” The smile on his face makes Alex want to cry. “When my folks gave me my first house key, it felt like I was finally growing up. I was so scared I would lose it, so I bought a chain. I’ve worn it around my neck ever since.”

“Even after...” Alex doesn’t continue his train of thought but Willie understands regardless. He nods.

“When I woke up after the accident, it was actually the first thing I reached for,” Willie says quietly, gripping Alex’s hand like a lifeline. “Force of habit, I guess.” 

“Have you ever tried to visit your place?” Alex asks quietly, steering Willie towards the edge of the pier so they can sit by the water. Willie nods.

“A couple times. After I died, I didn’t visit for months. It hurt too much.” He pauses, looking out over the water as he scoots closer to Alex until their shoulders are pressed together. “I visited them for the first time a year after I’d died. I couldn’t go in. I was too scared, so I just watched from the windows like a total creeper.” There’s a chuckle in Willie’s voice that astounds Alex. He doesn’t know how he can be so cheerful even while talking about something so heartbreaking. “My family moved sometime around ‘89. I haven’t tried to find them since.”

Alex nods, listening to the sound of the crashing waves and seagulls as they fly overhead. He doesn’t feel pressured to comfort Willie at all. He thinks that telling him his story might’ve upset Alex more than it upset him. Instead, he rubs his knuckles with his thumb slowly, his finger savouring the feel of every dip and crevice. 

“What about you?” Willie asks suddenly, turning to Alex. There’s a smile in his eye that Alex never wants to look away from. “Is that gold chain around your neck a remnant from your gangster rap phase, or...?”

Alex laughs brightly, throwing his head back. He can feel Willie laughing too, his shoulders bouncing up and down with every giggle. He stops and breathes out quietly, looking down at his chain and hooking his finger through it. 

“Um... there used to be a cross hanging from it,” he says. “My parents got it for me for my confirmation when I was 12. I basically didn’t take it off for five years.” 

Willie pauses, shuffles closer; almost as if he can tell what’s coming next. He doesn’t say anything, though, and somehow that makes it easier for Alex to keep going.

“When I came out, my parents um... they weren’t very cool about it,” he says, tugging a little harder on the chain. “My dad kicked me out.” Willie’s grip on his hand tightens and Alex lets out a breath. “When I was leaving, I took the cross off. It didn’t seem right to keep it after...” he clears his throat. “I kept the chain. I’m still not really sure why... I’ve been thinking about it ever since I left home. I think it’s just... a reminder of why I left and what I have now.”

Willie smiles, bumping their shoulders together. “What do you have now?”

He looks at Willie and find that he can’t control the smile that’s growing on his face either. Under the setting sun, Willie looks so beautiful; his tanned skin practically glowing and long dark hair moving with the breeze. He leans in and brushes a gentle kiss against the side of his lips. He feels Willie’s hand come up to cup his cheek and he leans into the touch. 

They pull away from each other after a few seconds and Alex smiles again, resting their foreheads together. 

“Freedom.”

[thetravelersjournal]

Programming A Date- A ShardxNicole Story

This is for the ShardxNicole summer contest, which can be found here. I really like how this turned out, and I hope you enjoy as well!

At any rate, enjoy!

“Gear? Are you awake?”

I snort the last part of my snore and cough before opening my eyes slowly. Nicole was standing above me.

“Oh… *Yawn*... I guess I fell asleep. What’s up? We haven't hung out in a while.” I slowly sat up against the tree I was lying under, stretching my aching bones. It felt good to get some sleep for once. I grunted a little from the pain flaring in my hip; the hilt of my sword had been digging into it.

“I… I know, sorry,” Nicole said sadly, sitting down beside me and looking at the nearby Lake of Rings, “But with everything going on, I…”

“No, I understand. Team Freedom- and us at the SFF- have a lot to deal with. Not to mention your whole exile thing.” I didn’t mention Sally.

“Right…,” her voice trailed off. I peered at her suspiciously.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Huh? Nothing. I just came to-”

“Nuh-uh. I can read you like a book, Nicole. What’s up?” I repeated.

She stared at me for several seconds before hanging her head and sighing.

“Well… It’s about Shard…,” she mumbled.

“What about him? He’s fine now, right? Me and Chuck fixed his core and everything.”

“Yes, but… we have been spending more and more time together lately, and… I am starting to get confused again, like I was when I first started using this form.” She gestured to her holographic body.

“Ah, new feelings springing up? Describe’um for me!” I leaned back and closed my eyes.

Nicole stared at the ground a little longer while she thought up some words to describe her feelings. “Hmm… It feels like my stomach… ceases to exist... when we meet up, and I feel rather nervous, but that goes away after we hang out for a little while, being replaced by... sort of a happy, hot tension in my chest… and when he leaves, I feel sad for some reason.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed, “That was a terrible way to describe-”

“Love,” I stated simply, smiling, “You’re in love with Shard.”

Nicole looked at me keenly before whispering, “Love?”

“Sure, sounds about right. Never felt the emotion myself, I suppose, but that’s what most people describe it as.”

“Love,” Nicole rolled the word around in her mouth, tasting it, making a face that told it was both sweet and sour.

“Are you sure?” she argued, “I don’t know if that accurately describes it.”

“If it doesn’t, then you need to explain it better. I can only do so much.”

“Love,” Nicole repeated. She gazed at the lake, becoming quiet.

I followed her gaze, becoming absorbed in my own thoughts. It was a pretty well-known fact that Shard liked Nicole- the guy couldn’t hide anything worth beans- though it made a little sense that Nicole herself didn’t recognize it. An idea formed in my head.

“You know… you could always ask him on a date.”

Nicole swiftly turned around. “A date?” she asked.

“Sure, test the waters and what-have-you-not.”

Nicole stared at me intensely. I realized a second too late I had said the wrong thing. “Test the waters? I am barely aware of my feelings towards him. Besides…,” she sighed heavily, “Do we really have time for that, with everything going on with Naugus, and Knuckle’s people, and… Sally?”

She became quiet towards the end of the sentence, leaving a hollow silence that traveled across the lake.

I observed her for awhile, before turning my snout towards the dark heavens. Alien lights simmered in the blackness, trying to light up the moonless sky on their own.

“Nicole… why do we look to the stars?”

She peered at me, perplexed.

“Do we dream of journeying up there someday, exploring the unknown? Maybe. Do we contemplate and appreciate its beauty? Perhaps. But do you know what I see when I look up? I realize, that somewhere out there, someone is facing the same struggles I’m facing. And they’re winning. They’re going up against the odds and beating them by a milestone. And, well… it gives me hope, really. I know that, no matter how hard the obstacle, I can always move forward, as long as I have the will to do so.”

I stopped my speech and looked at Nicole, who was now staring into the black abyss above.

“Sorry, that was kinda corny, wasn’t it?” I said sheepishly.

Nicole didn’t respond. For several minutes, she continued staring up, perhaps in search of the hope I had described.

“You’re right,” she finally stated. She stood up and started to walk away before looking back at me.

“I’m going to face my problems head-on. Nothing can stop me, as long as I put my mind to it. Thank you, Gear. And… I’m willing to give it a shot. I’m going to ask Shard out on a date.” And with a small wave and a little smile, she disappeared from sight.

“Atta girl,” I yawned, continuing my stargazing.

“Hey, Gear. Wake up.”

I grunted, surprised that I had fallen asleep yet again. I looked up at the silhouette of a metal hedgehog.

“That better be you, Shard,” I said, drawing my sword.

“Relax, essh,” Shard said, stepping into the limelight.

I breathed a sigh of relief, returning my weapon to its sheath.

“What can I do for you? And you realize other people might have similar reactions if they see you, right? I didn’t use all the duct tape and glue I possess on you just for you to get stoned by a mob.”

“Yeah, I know, I was just… Looking for Nicole,” he said, mumbling the last part of his sentence, “Have you seen her?”

“Nicole? Dunno. She usually meets me here, but-”

“Alright,” grumbled Shard, “I’ll just look somewhere else.”

“What do you need her for?”

“What? Oh. That. Well, I wanted to see if she could run up a training simulation in preparation for our next mission. Need to practice some new one-liners I came up with,” He smirked.

He might’ve bought my lie, but I didn’t buy his. “You gonna ask her out?”

“O-out? Wait, no, seriously? Are you even listening to yourself? There’s no way I…” He stopped talking, stunned into silence by my glare.

“Ahem… You were saying?” I smiled coyishly.

“Alright, Foxx… You got me. Though you’re wrong about one thing- I wasn’t (technically) asking her on a date. Now will you tell me where she is?” He tapped his foot in annoyance.

“So you’re not asking her on a date? Why not?”

Shard stared at me. “Wait… You actually want me to…?”

“Well, duh. I’m pretty sure everyone you know is waiting for the two of you to pair up.”

“Everyone I know? Who the heck would that be?”

“Nicole, for one.”

“Really? Because she seems preoccupied to me.”

“Are you even listening to yourself? That is a terrible reason not to ask someone out.”

“What would you know? Have you ever even had a girlfriend?” Shard replied.

“Yes,” I said.

“Technically, if you count the human side of me,” I thought.

Shard fell to the ground in a sitting position. He examined me angrily, before sadness swiftly swept onto his face.

“It's just… what if she says no? I know that she may not really fully understand love yet, so…” He sighed

“Well, isn’t that what dating is for?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“People don’t date to show their love for one another- that’s what marriage is for. No, people think they might be in love with someone, and that’s why they ask them on a date- to see if they actually love the other person. All the other person has to do is like them enough to say yes. You and Nicole are like peas in a pod, there’s no way she would say no,” I explained.

The wind dissolved for a few seconds.

“I… guess that makes a surprising bit of sense,” Shard said slowly.

“Surprising?”

“Coming from you, yeah.”

“Jeez, why do I even bother…,” I muttered, leaning back up against the tree.

“But… basically, when I ask her out, I just have to hope she likes me enough to say yes, right?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “It’s a good first step at any rate.”

We sat in silence for a while. Finally, Shard worked up his courage.

“Okay… I’m gonna ask her.”

“Good to hear. She went that way, by-the-by,” I announced, pointing to the right.

Shard looked at me with annoyance before smiling and striding off. I watched him disappear behind some trees, before turning my attention skyward once again. The stars started blinking out one by one as my eyelids slowly closed.

“All in a day’s work,” I mumbled, before my body slowly slid down the length of the tree trunk and I fell into yet another peaceful sleep.

Gear belongs to me.

Nicole and Shard belong to SEGA and Archie(?)

[furederiko]

Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 was held on June 13-15 in Los Angeles, USA. Meaning, it has once again come and gone, and now comes the time to talk about some of its biggest news (ones that matters to me, at least). That's right, it's a Video-Game Special Random-News-Digest this time around...

NOTE: In general, the topics below are categorized under the company that released them. But in some cases, they go by their separate franchises instead. And one more thing, this was supposed to go up yesterday, precisely one day after E3 2017 ended. BUT... due to unexpected technical issues (internet connection, and... my health), I had no choice but to postpone it. Better late than never, I guess... *sigh*

Marvel vs Capcom

Let's kick this off with a collaboration of Marvel and CAPCOM. Aside from another "Monster Hunter" title that I honestly couldn't care less, "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" was one of CAPCOM's big showcase this year. Remember that leak that arrived earlier this month, the one that spoiled the game's roster? Looks like that report might be true after all. CAPCOM has officially unveiled several more playable characters: the Marvel side has been added by Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange, cosmic warrior Nova, assassin Gamora, and the Mad Titan Thanos; while the CAPCOM side was expanded by silver haired Dante of the original "Devil May Cry" (so NOT the latest reboot "DmC"), Zero from "Rockman X" series, cyborg Spence of "Bionic Commando", and goofy knight Arthur from the action comedy franchise "Ghosts 'n Goblins". Considering all eight of these names fit that roster report, I'm pretty sure the credibility of that leak has been confirmed. Everyone was revealed through the new Story trailer, that also announced that a Story Demo has been made available to those who want to experience the game first-hand. You can also check out some of these characters in action, as well as possible in-game pairings (like Gamora-Strider, Strange-Arthur, and so on), through the official gameplay video.

As I've commented on my previous R-N-D, most of the names (with the exception of two) revealed here are 'has been' characters. So while some people were happy about them, many were equally disappointed, which isn't good considering the internet hasn't been kind towards this title. An issue that stemmed from public's disappointments to "Street Fighter V", really. Thankfully, there was one pleasant surprise that came along with this trailer. And it's Black Panther! Those X-Men enthusiasts who cried foul when Wolverine is omitted from the game, can stop whining because the character officially has a replacement now. I'm pretty confident that Panther is going to share a similar 'slash and dice' movesets, if not simply a re-skin version. Panther's inclusion made a lot of sense, considering his first-ever solo movie is arriving in February 2018. The same logic goes to Thanos, as "Avengers: Infinity War" that will put him in the spotlight will arrive a few months after in May. And thanks to Thanos' importance in the story mode, now I understand why Gamora (who shares a famillial link) is necessary to be included in the core cast. Somehow I suspect she's going to be a re-skin of Jill Valentine though, and that might be an issue. Speaking of problem, Panther's not among the core roster. He will be part of the upcoming 6 character DLCs that already includes Ultron and Sigma, though seemingly will be available on launch as part of the 'Deluxe Edition'. And since we already have Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and also Groot (who has been confirmed to be an official assist of Rocket, as they come in one package), I wouldn't be surprised if Star-Lord will follow suit among this DLC wagon as well.

Story is usually not a fighting game's forte. Even the seamless touch of "Mortal Kombat" couldn't hide the fact that it's... ridiculous at best. And well... this one is no different. Jugding from the trailer, this game seems to rely heavily on the Infinity Stones, or as Captain America suggested, "Infinite Six". Again, it also makes sense, due to the movie based on it happening in less than a year. After all, why would the title even bothered to have 'Infinite' as the sub-title, if that's not the whole point, right? The universe-shattering plot somehow reminded me of "Street Fighter V" all over again, which wasn't that great. So I'm not too sure CAPCOM will be able to pull this 'cinematic experience' off into something significantly better. The CAPCOM characters already felt... what's the word... out of place? And yikes, what happened to Chun-Li?! Subjectively speaking, she's not as 'ugly' as NetherRealm Studios' design for female characters, but I've certainly seen the Chinese Interpol agent in a much better shape before! On the other hand, never thought I'm gonna say this, but Thanos totally kicked-ass with his Infinity Gauntlet. Getting me more and more excited for the "Infinity War" movie, which might be the other primary goal of this game from the very beginning.

I don't know what you think, but overall this game doesn't look half bad. The design might need some getting used to, but I think it feels closer and closer to the previous 3 titles the more I see it. Unfortunately, as I've said before, the general sentiment of this game is definitely leaning on the side of negative. Fans who have 'tasted' the Story Demo have expressed a similar pessimistic tone as well. With a release date crawling closer and closer, how would CAPCOM react to this? I guess we'll just have to wait and see when the game is officially launched. "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 19.

Sonic the Hedgehog

SEGA released a new trailer for "Sonic Forces", and this time around, they introduced the set of villains that Modern, Classic and Custom Sonic will be teaming up to face. I was already sold by the inclusion of a Custom character, but seeing all those arch-nemesises in one place just turned me into... a pure happy camper. And that's not all, because a new powerful and mysterious enemy will be joining, if not commanding them. Infinite, no relations to the above category, will be teaming up with Doctor Ivo Robotnik/Eggman (from... duh, almost every game?), Metal Sonic (who debuted on "Sonic CD"), Chaos (of "Sonic Adventure"), Shadow the Hedgehog (of "Sonic Adventure 2"), and Zavok (from the recent "Sonic Lost World") to take over the world. Seriously, that new villain looks scary, and he's totally stealing my attention. Dang it, I totally wish I can play this game. There's no release date so far, but "Sonic Forces" will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC this holiday.

Dragon Ball

I actually couldn't care less about any "Dragon Ball"-based games beyond the ones released during the 90s, but this one... "Dragon Ball FighterZ"? This totally got my attention! Indeed, it was that good, that it was stealing many E3 attendee's attention with its high speed action, flashy moves, and colorful anime graphics. For some reason, the "Marvel vs Capcom" style felt strong in this, to the point that many people have come to loving this more than that franchise's upcoming release. Ironic, huh? I guess nostalgia does play a crucial factor...

This title is under Bandai Namco, but developed by Arc System Works, and somehow was leaked a few days ahead of its planned official reveal. The latter is the company that is known for franchises like "BlazBlue", "Guilty Gear", and also the "Naruto" series. But unlike the Naruto ones that went full-on 3D style, this one utilized a 2.5D style, which once again, is the right call! Why? The development is in 3D, which as producer Tomoko Hiroki has confirmed, makes some technical elements much easier to pull off, but the visual is of 2D animation. And I say, not just that. "Dragon Ball" IS and has always been an anime, thus the anime style is definitely the way to go when it comes to adapting Son Goku and other character of the long-running franchise. It also easily reminded me of those classic "Dragon Ball" fighting game I used to play on my SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive with my family. Aaah, the good 'ol times when the world was still kind, and people hasn't been corrupted by the irony called... growing up.

The game's official reveal trailer only included 6 characters so far: Son Goku, Vegeta, (child) Son Gohan, Cell, Frieza, and Majin Buu. But since the game will be based on the whole "Dragon Ball Z" arc, it's obvious we'll be seeing many more characters like the twins Android 17 and Android 18, Krillin, (future and child) Trunks, and even Son Goten. Especially with Bandai Namco stressing out that "famous scenes from the Dragon Ball anime reproduced in 60 frames per second and 1080p resolution.". A closed beta demo will be held on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One before the end of summer, so fans who are intrigued to give this game a shot, just need to wait a bit longer. For the time being, we can indulge ourselves with several gameplay videos taken as direct-feed from the E3 hall. You can visit Gematsu (HERE, and HERE) to view them. "Dragon Ball FighterZ" will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC worldwide in early 2018.

Nintendo

Contrary to previous report, Nintendo did take the stage this year, as they announced numerous exciting titles that made MAAANY people happy. Not a surprise as well, because Nintendo Switch was just released 4 months ago, and there haven't been many softwares to complement the hybrid console.

Let's start with what's probably the biggest signature title for Switch. A game that IGN has even crowned to be the "Game of Show", "Best Platformer", and "Best Nintendo Switch Game" of E3 2017. It's none other than... "Super Mario Oddysey"! In this game, players will take Mario on a globe-trotting 3D adventure to collect Moons, a fuel for the airship 'Oddysey' that is necessary to rescue Prince Peach from Bowser. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. How many effing times do Mario needs to walk through the same scenario, right? But never mind that, because this game looked super fun.

I haven't purchased Switch yet, but even I'm already itching to play this game. For so many reasons. That great and catchy theme song that made me dancing like a child. That white broadway top-hat, or Mexican sombrero? And Mario 'possessing' practically any living beings around him with a cap throw? Dang it, if only I can play it right NOW. This looked a lot like "Super Mario Galaxy" on Wii, but with its own... spin. Get it? Here, just take a look at its reveal trailer, or the gameplay videos (available on Gematsu), and tell me if you're not easily charmed by this game. Because if you're not, then I seriously pity your sad childhood (just kidding, no need for death threat!). "Super Mario Odyssey" will launch on October 27th, 2017... only on Nintendo Switch.

The second Switch game for Mario is "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle", that combines the world of Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom, with Ubisoft's "Rabbids" franchise. Yep, this worst-kept secret collaboration title has been developed by Ubisoft, hence why I don't give the company their own exclusive category (because its content will be separated in two). In this game, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and also Yoshi will join forces with their four... Rabbids dopplegangers, to journey four different worlds, in the hope of restoring order to The Mushroom Kingdom. I'm personally NOT a fan of the Rabbids, but even this crossover game looked FUN. And beyond that, according to IGN it has a deep strategic battle system too. But more importantly, this game also proved that Nintendo is becoming more open to allow other developers to use their properties. A fact that inspires great potentials and possibilities in the future. You can watch the official announcement trailer on Youtube, as well as a Development Diary for the game. Gematsu also had 21 minutes of gameplay from the E3 floor, so go ahead and visit the site. "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle" will be released for Nintendo Switch on August 29th, 2017.

More Mario? Yes... more Mario! Announced during Nintendo's E3 2017 Treehouse live stream, "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions" is a renewed classic that will arrive on October 6th, 2017 exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. In this game, rather than trying to battle Bowser, the Mario Bros are teaming up WITH Bowser to restore Princess Peach's voice. Visit Youtube for the official trailer, and also Gematsu for 25 minutes of gameplay videos. Wow, Mario is killing it, huh? Nope, not just him, his green dinosaur friend Yoshi is also getting his own Switch game! Conveniently titled as "Yoshi", the 2D side-scrolling adventure will see Yoshi exploring a world of miniature diorama filled with flip-ping surprises. Go ahead and watch the trailer and have your mind... flipped. LOL. "Yoshi" will be released in 2018.

What about other franchises, you wonder? Well, ask and you shall receive! In list form... LOL - The honestly weird-looking "Arms", is getting rave reviews. It's ridiculous fun, even with its lack in the story department as well as... logic. It might look simple, but it has a startling amount of depth that will wow anyone. Many are saying that this will be a hit for families entertainment, and the game is already hitting the market with a DLC already announced. - Fans of the "Metroid" series will also get their share of excitement. "Metroid Prime 4" has been announced for Switch. There's no release date for now, but I'm sure information about that will come in the near future. The same can't be said about "Metroid: Samus Returns" though. A 3D polygon remake of Game Boy classic "Metroid II: The Return of Samus", the title will be officially released for 3DS on September 15th, 2017. - The pink ball Kirby also gets Switch-ed, in the equally conveniently named "Kirby". Kirby will be adventuring in a party of four, which means up to 4 players can play this game together. Don't forget to check out its Hollywood style trailer! "Kirby" doesn't have a release date yet, but is set to be released in 2018. - And "Skyrim" fans? You got it! Complete with amiibo support and Legend of Zelda skins...

As you can see, the library of Switch is expanding like crazy, and it's an exciting turn around especially compared to what happened to Wii U. Those who have purchased this hybrid console since day one, no longer has to worry about not having a game to play. And for those who haven't had a chance to do so... well, the more the reason to get a Nintendo Switch, right? *grins*

Pocket Monsters

Are you among those who are waiting for a core Pokemon title on Switch? And you were disappointed when "Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon" was announced for 3DS instead of the rumored "Pokemon Stars"? Well, turns out you only need to wait... a little bit longer. The Pokemon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara officially announced that Game Freak has begun developing a core RPG title for Nintendo Switch! So it is indeed happening, folks! He added though, that the title "may not release for more than a year, but we hope you will look forward to it all the same", hence why I told you to wait. Then again, more than a year from now can also mean... it MIGHT arrive on November 2018, right? Wow, I'm getting excited for no reason... LOL.

In a way, this announcement has also partially confirmed that the Switch is indeed the officiall replacement of 3DS. Moreso, and this is just a wild guess, but likely the rumor about "Pokemon Stars" was actually referring to this particular development, instead of the recently announced extension of "Pokemon Sun & Moon". Either way, this is a great news, because we're finally getting what many Pokemon fans have been dreaming: a chance to play a Pokemon RPG on the TV screen! How is that possible, you dare ask? DUH, Switch is a hybrid console that enables that! Of course, this also works wonder to Switch itself, because quoting my own words from last week: "The hybrid console is definitely in need of a fan favorite franchise like Pokemon to attract more players". Yes, the E3 announcement for those Mario titles and many others have shut down the public concern of 'Switch is lacking of exclusive game titles'. But having a Pokemon RPG on Switch, will undeniably attract Pokemon fans who are still on the fence to purchase the console and help boost its sales. Want prove? That's easy, because mark my word, I'm TOTALLY getting a Switch (sooner or later) just for this! *geeks out*

By the way, technically speaking, this section should've been part of the Nintendo category. But since it has already established its own category (in various form of medias) for such a long time, I've decided to put it separately.

Assassin's Creed

At long last, Ubisoft officially unveiled "Assassin's Creed: Origins" during Microsoft's E3 2017 stage. It was certainly not a surprise announcement, considering the title was already leaked since May. More than that, a Game Informer coverage was already leaked ahead of E3, officially spilling the beans in a non-official manner. Ouch! Someone at Game Informer is going to get fired...

Confirming the rumor, the new game will take place in Egypt, and as the title suggest, will be telling about the founding of the Assassin's Brotherhood. The main character (but not the only playable one) will be Bayek, a protector of the land whose story will be root of the Creed. Since the game takes place in the ancient Egypt during Cleopatra's reign, we can expect to see Great Pyramids, mythologies, pharaohs, and many other awesome bits from the country's history. Eventhough this game has been in production before the infamous "Assassin's Creed Unity", it will have a new free-form combat system with new A.I., revamped narrative experience and freedom to choose quests, an entire country to full explore, while still retaining and improving the series existing signatures like puzzles, Eagle Vision (through an Eagle named the Senu this time), stealth, that annoying climbing, Naval adventures, and many others. You can check out the official reveal trailer on Youtube, a Gameplay Demo, coverage by Game Informer, as well as a "Mysteries of Ancient Egypt" that gave additional details about the game.

There are several version of the game that fans can purchase. First is the "Deluxe Edition" that contains the game, printed version of the hand-drawn world map, soundtrack, and Digital Deluxe Pack. Second is the "Gold Edition", that adds a Season Pass for upcoming expansions and equipments. There are also the "Collector's Edition", "Dawn of the Creed Collector's Edition", and the special "Dawn of the Creed Legendary Collector's Edition". That last one will add a highly detailed resin statue of Bayek and Senu, The Collector's Certificate of Authenticity, replica of Bayek's eagle skull amulet, two Steelbooks, and four large lithographs signed by the studio artists. This limited edition (only 999 units for worldwide sale) is already available for pre-order exclusively on Ubisoft store for $799,9. As the pricing suggest, this is totally for that devoted fan with plenty of money to spare! *sigh*. Visit Gematsu for further details of these items. "Assassin's Creed: Origins" will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 27th, 2017.

Square Enix

The company brought their top franchise to the convention this year. Several new iterations of "Final Fantasy XV" were announced during the event, while new development on the highly anticipated "Kingdom Hearts III" was also revealed elsewhere.

Second DLC episode for "Final Fantasy XV", one that will focus on Prompto Argentum's solo adventure will be launched on June 27th, 2017, alongside the "Regalia Type-D" update (brings greater freedom to drive Regalia off-road). Just like the first that featured Gladioulus as the central character (released back in March), "Episode Prompto" will likely take place in between the infamous Chapter 13 of the main game as well. If Gladioulus was a hack and slash action genre, then apparently Prompto will take on a first-person shooter experience. Makes sense, really, considering his signature weapon of choice. You can check out a six minutes gameplay video of this DLC on Youtube.

Expanding the "FF XV Universe", two more extension games have been announced. The first one was "Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV", that will be available for PlayStation VR. It's a... fishing game, that let players explore oceans, lakes, ponds, and rivers alongside Noctis and his friends. Clearly based on one of the main game's mini-mission, the game will be launched in September. For now, you can view the official trailer to know that I'm not at all kidding. The second was "King's Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon", which apparently is an action RPG. This one's an App game, and will be released on iOS and Android later this year. I can't see the relation of this title with the main game, but I'm sure Final Fantasy fans will dig it like crazy anyway, right? Last but not least, the main game will soon have a major update to support Microsoft's new console. One which I will talk about at the end of this post. "Final Fantasy XV" is available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

As for "Kingdom Hearts III", Square Enix debuted a new trailer during the "Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour". Compared to the "Final Fantasy" one, I personally liked this one better. But while the game looked great, the story seemed to have gotten... even more confusing by and by. Apparently, Hades, Maleficent, and Pete are looking for a Black Box or something, while lead character Sora alongside buddies Donald Duck and Goofy want to bring Roxas to reality, with a certain 'dire cost'. I recall only getting to the second game, thus never experienced the Nintendo DS ones to even have a clue of what's going on. Still, the charm of this series is the various Disney/Squaresoft worlds, and at the end of this trailer, Square Enix officially announced that new information will be delivered at the Disney D23 Expo 2017 on July 15th, 2017. That means there will be new worlds to explore, and I bet it will involve recent released titles like "Frozen", "Moana", and/or "Big Hero 6". "Kingdom Hearts III" is still under development, and hasn't gotten a release date, but is likely to arrive in 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Taiko no Tatsujin

The latest iteration of the "Taiko Drum Master" series, the "Taiko no Tatsujin: Session de Dodon ga Don!" has been announced on Famitsu Magazine. The game will have a special jam session against other player's musical performance data, that can even be achieved when they are not actually available online. This game will include over 70 songs that cover from famous Japanese classic anime songs, classic orchestral musics, recent tunes from the J-Pop circle, up to modern hypes like the "Pen-Pineapple Apple-Pen". A teaser website has been opened by Bandai Namco, that revealed a special feature to play the game alongside popular characters from Japanese shows. Development has reached 80% and the game is set to be released for PlayStation 4 later this year.

Spider-Man

As proven by their smartphones games like "Future Fight" and "Contest of Champions", or the collaboration with CAPCOM that I've talked about above, Marvel is ramping up on their video game divison. And the one I'm going to talk about here, is their collaboration with Insomniac Games, in form of the non-nonsense titled "Marvel's Spider-Man". It is best known as "Spider-Man PS4" though, because as the nickname suggests, it will be exclusively released on PlayStation 4. And well, since SONY is the copyright owner of the Spider-Man franchise, it's not really much of a surprise huh?

A special 9 minutes gameplay video has been released to give players a sense of what to expect from this game. My reaction? If you're eager to see how Spider-Man gets trapped in a Rocksteady's Arkham game, then this is easily your answer. The whole stalking, cinematic quick-time sequences, as well as exciting one-vs-many combat totally reminded me of those Rocksteady titles. But instead of Batman and his vast array of gadgets, we have Spider-Man and his iconic humor, jokes, acrobatic movesets, and... gadgets in his place. Creative director Bryan Intihar also described the footage in details, through PS4's official blog. It seems Spidey will 'cooperate' with Wilson Fisk, to deal with the Inner Demons gang, who works under Martin Li or Mr. Negative. He will be exploring an open-world of New York to deal with super villains as well as personal matters.

Honestly, I'm not too keen on the human character design, as well as the first suit that has too much white. But this certainly caught my attention. Heck, I think every Marvel fans would be amazed by this. In fact, this game has been confirmed to include additional Spidey suits, as well as multiple Spider-Man characters, meaning there's more to it than what we've seen so far. With strong emphasis on story, it's not a joke that IGN has awarded it as "Best PS4 Game" as well as "Best Action Game" of E3 2017. Here's hoping the actual game will be as good as, if not better than this achievement suggested. "Spider-Man" will be released in 2018.

LEGO Games

New characters have been announced for "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2"! Giant teleportation mutt Lockjaw, and Inhumans Queen Medusa have officially entered the game alongside Agent Venom. As to be expected, the whole roster of Guardians of the Galaxy have also been confirmed to be playable in this second game, because the story will pick up directly where the previous title left off. Not to mention tying in to this year's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" movie. There weren't many details offered for this game, because likely TT Games and Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment is saving more reveals to be delivered on Disney D23. For now, you can watch various gameplays through the official LEGO presentation stream on Youtube. "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2" will launch for all consoles on November 14th, 2017.

Professor Layton

Following last month's reveal of the first episode of "Layton's Mistery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy", LEVEL-5 celebrated E3 2017 with with details for the second one. Episode 02, entitled "Song of a Certain Love: Riverside Festival" will focus on the town's tradition of confessing love from opposite sides of River Thames. One that is called "Riverside Confession Show". The legend told that the couple who engaged in that would die unnatural death. But this time, contrary to the annual festive that usually went victim-less, two young people actually get killed! An event that shakes the town, for better or worse. I found the premise of this episode to be exciting, because it means Katrielle isn't just a run-of-the-mill detective in this game. She's going to be investigating deaths, and possible murders!

Another two of the "Seven Millionaires of London" have also been revealed. Joining Ridley Fremens and Clerk Gospec are Andrea Quinto and Zach Lyell. Quinto is a young multi-millionaire who inherited a vast sum of money following the death of her parents. While Lyell is a sharp business who is extensively expanding businesses. He's the president of a group enterprise that owns Long Roller Bank. Up to this point, it's still unclear how or in what capacity these Millionaires are involved in the game. Are they part of a secret organization, that is somehow responsible for Professor Layton's disappearance? Or is there other mystery behind that? And how will they affect Katrielle's life?

Several new features have also been announced. Katrielle will be able to change clothes in the game, and they are specially designed by famous stylist Shouhei Kashima. New outfits can be obtained by using "Special Coins" in the 3DS version, or actual money in the smartphones version. Those who purchase the 3DS download version in Japan will receive a Flora Reinhold-style outfit. Player can also decorate the interior of Katrielle's "Layton Detective Agency" through the new "Room Coordinate" feature. New furnitures might be obtained by trading "Interior Tickets". As for the puzzles, this game is said to have the highest number of them, of all Layton titles. Lastly, the game's theme song "Girls" is sung by Kana Nishino, and will be officially released on July 26. "Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy" will be released worldwide on July 20th, 2017.

Atari

No, you're NOT reading it wrong. Atari, the classic 90s gaming console that even I have never even seen in real life, is getting back into the hardware business. Apparently, CEO Fred Chesnais had publicly stated this news on the E3 2017 floor. He didn't really go into specifics about this, aside from saying that it is based on PC technology. But could he be talking about that "Ataribox" that has been teased on Youtube? The video DOES call it 'a brand new Atari product'. It even has its own website. The current speculation on the internet, that Atari is attempting to replicate Nintendo's accomplishment with their NES Classic. You know, the one that only saw limited release and has been discontinued? Especially because the video hinted at the "Atari 2600" which was the first console ever released by the company. I guess we'll just have to wait for more information about this. But be honest, would you purchase a NES Classic-esque console just to play classic and likely long-forgotten Atari games? Personally, I'm NOT too sure...

Microsoft

Speaking of console... Okay, let's end this R-N-D with a topic that many are calling to be... the 'MOST POWERFUL' reveal of the Expo. Microsoft has officially unveiled the name of its high-tech console Project Scorpio, and it officially goes by name "Xbox One X". That's... so many Xs, huh? LOL. By 'most powerful', I'm obviously talking about the console's technical specifications of course. And not about that over-confident official tagline that's being boasted throughout the event on T-Shirts, as well as flaunted pretty much everywhere. Hold on... HUH?

Really, its technical specs is certainly no joke. True 4K resolution with 12GB GDDR5 graphic memory, that enable games to run smoothly in 8 million plus pixels resolution (that's the highest possible, for current technology at least); 8-core Custom AMD CPU with 6 Teraflops GPU and 326GB/s Memory Bandwidth, for realistic and smoother animations; liquid cooling and supercharger-style centrifugal fan, to ensure it stays cool with less noise, a system that, according to Xbox Software Engineering Kareem Choudhry, is usually implemented for servers; 8GB flash and 1TB internal HDD storage, with faster hard drive speed; 4K UltraHD Bluray Disc Drive; DTS and DOLBY TrueHD Atmos sounds; various connectivities via wires and wireless; and not to mention being the smallest consoler the company has ever released. To be honest, eventhough I might have an IT background, I have NEVER been into hardware. Thus all these gibberish tech-talks almost put me down to sleep. But I don't think it takes a genius to easily tell that this thing is massive. Undeniably a 'First Class' product that offers immersive gaming experience. According to IGN, the CPU is 30% faster than the current Xbox One, with a GPU that's 4.6 times higher. To ensure backward compatibility with it, all of its accessories and games will work on this Xbox One X, and existing games (like "Dragon Ball FighterZ", "Final Fantasy XV", and "Assassin's Creed: Origins" that I've mentioned above) will soon receive major updates to ensure faster loading time, even for a player who isn't utilizing a 4K TV.

Said technical specification is certainly an eye-popping fact. This is basically a super high-end PC set, in form of a standalone console. Unfortunately, that comparison also immediately raised several glaring questions among the public, particularly game enthusiasts. One that ranged from the most simple, like "Who is this intended for?" to the most philosophical like "Why even bother choose this over PC?". Indeed, which gamer market is Microsoft really trying to aim with this product? Because obviously, to make full use of the UltraHD 4K resolution, a gamer needs to eventually own and plug it into a 4K TV as well. Which is... STILL a really pricey technology that NOT everyone can afford. The fact that the console itself will arrive at an equally 'premium price', feels like a hard wake-up slap to every average guy's face.

Will this win over those gamers who have abandoned home consoles and have since moved on towards PC? In an interview with Gamespot, a developer (who's working on exclusive Xbox title... a random FYI to see the bigger picture) sang praises for Xbox One X by calling it as the most developer-friendly due to its super over-powered hardware. He said, "it's like a high-end PC crammed into this tiny little box". Of course, the logic that follows is, why not just... use a PC instead? A PC World writer has even made a possible comparison to the budget necessary to build one with similar specs. With its own valid pros and cons. The point is, PC gamers will likely opt to spend less money to upgrade their existing PC sets. So is this meant for Xbox fanatics who are looking to upgrade from a very recent Xbox One then? Or VR enthusiasts, eventhough it might be a veeeery niche market? Why not go with the cheaper Xbox One S instead? Hmmm...

Sure, technically speaking, Microsoft has created a console that's... uncomparable, and has no competitor in terms of power and performance (that's the words of Head of Xbox Phil Spencer himself). Will that guarantee a win in the console competition? Remember, the hip and popular neighbour PlayStation 4 (and its 4K extension PS4 Pro) proudly carries the advantages of having far richer library of titles and DLC exclusives, one that only continues to add as we speak. While the sweet and seemingly innocent new kid-on-the-block Nintendo Switch, is offering the ease of mobility, family-friendliness, and multiplayer experience both offline and online. Both are already promising long hours of entertainment with a relative 'family-budget' that seems more inline with the current economical climate throughout the world. So can Microsoft really be certain that their luxury product will appeal a much bigger mass than those? Particularly when sales for the current Xbox One isn't even doing... good? Learning from past experience, the answer to that is rather... skeptical.

No offense to the company, but somehow the term 'most powerful' itself feels... exaggerating much? I mean, A for effort, but it's nothing but a temporary bubble with a very limited lifetime. We are talking about technology here, a means that is ever-changing and ever-evolving. This month, perhaps Xbox One X is indeed the strongest there is, but another console will surely swoop in with better specs and surpassed it. Perhaps next year, if not sooner or later. Trust me, this is coming from a proud Xbox360 owner, who still has the fully operational console and plays its numerous game titles every now and then, and who has consciously skipped out Xbox One due to the lack of interesting titles (aside from monetary situation LOL). What I'm trying to say is, I don't really see the point of moving on towards Xbox One X, at least in the near future. Which is ironic, because what seems to be winning over many gamers' heart, was none other than Xbox One's backward compatibilites. Yes, the exact thing that SONY has been failing to deliver for years, has become the big positive difference that Microsoft is generously offering. Said function will not be available until later this year, but it will support up to classic/original Xbox games! That's an era of 15 years ago, so we're talking about valid nostalgia boost here.

In the end, the common sense is the Xbox One X is NOT for everyone. But it's still all up to you to decide whether you want, NEED, or even afford to have one decorating your already-possibly-expensive home. Lest we forget, freedom of choice, is everyone's basic human rights, regardless of their financial ability *sigh*. This 'most powerful console' is set to be released on November 7th, 2017 at the mindblowing price of $499. I guess that's when its accessibility strength to the general public can truly be tested. So as always, we'll see...

[entergamingxp]

Persona 5 Royal review – both better and worse than the original • Eurogamer.net

It’s a great intro: protagonist Joker darting along the casino roof, quick like a shadow. Making fast work of a handful of enemies while leaving others in the dust, his black coat swishing behind him. The excited voices of his team mates over the intercom as he’s almost reached his goal, but then! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! He’s surrounded!

Persona 5 Royal review

Developer: Atlus/P Studio

Publisher: Atlus/Sega

Platform: Reviewed on PS4

Availability: Out now on PS4

The first sequence of Persona 5 Royal acts as foreshadowing and tutorial all wrapped up in one, showing you everything you will regularly be doing in each dungeon you crawl through – jumping between platforms and squeezing through ducts to find a way forward, hiding away from enemies or ambushing them when they’re not looking. Most importantly, in round-based combat you unleash Persona, manifestations of parts of Joker’s psyche who can use different elemental attacks, healing spells and stat buffs. Persona 5 Royal also adds a grappling hook to your arsenal, which you’ll mostly use to find shortcuts and additional treasure.

Joker and his friends, regular students at Shujin Academy in Tokyo, one day stumble into the Metaverse, a parallel reality that manifests Palaces where people live out their worst desires. There’s also Mementos, a sprawling maze of randomly generated dungeons. The group of high schoolers enter these palaces to steal people’s treasures, causing them to let go of harmful desires and confess their crimes.

Persona 5 Royal brands itself as the definitive version of the game, and introduces an extensive list of improvements – if you’ve played Persona 5 before, you’ll definitely notice how P-Studio worked to fix a few common gripes. New items help in combat, such as talismans that buff several stats at once, more food and drink that replenishes SP and many new accessories, among them rings you can put on your team members so they can use spells they normally don’t have access to.

You can form bonds with two new characters, first-year gymnast Kasumi Yoshizawa and school counsellor Takuto Maruki. Scenes with both are sprinkled in throughout the main story, while an all-new storyline after the main game focuses completely on them. New bonds mean there’s new Persona to catch and new abilities to gain from becoming friends, too.

Speaking of abilities – Persona 5 Royal introduces a really cool new special attack that unlocks as the story progresses. Called Showtime, it’s a powerful attack that unlocks when an enemy is almost finished or you’re really struggling. Two friends in your group will pair off and start a short, eye-popping sequence that briefly takes you elsewhere. They’re really difficult to describe if you haven’t seen them – Haru and Makoto for example start a WWE Smackdown double attack, and Ryuji and Yusuke start a saloon shootout when the enemy rudely interrupts Yusuke feeding Ryuji some ginger-laden donburi. It’ll all make some kind of distant sense when you see it, I promise.

The improvements aren’t all combat-focused, either. Thanks to a wealth of additional options, you’ll find it easier to raise your social stats, and if you time things right it will now only take you a single playthrough to max out every confidant. To justify adding even more content to an already meaty game, the palaces are now shorter, mostly because the layout of each has been streamlined to include fewer rooms, and some puzzles have also been shortened. Notably, you can now collect Will Seeds in each dungeon, manifestations of a palace ruler’s driving feeling. If you collect three seeds and take them to Jose, a small boy who hangs out in Mementos, you gain a powerful, otherwise inaccessible ability.

Gymnast Kasumi appears sporadically throughout the main game, to experience her full story you have to finish that first.

There’s more stuff, but the important question is, does it make Persona 5, an already universally lauded game, any better? Honestly, and I’m making my best Robert DeNiro face while I say this: meh.

When I played the original Persona 5, a handful of things detracted from my overall immense enjoyment – the treatment of some of its characters, the difficulty, which to me felt pretty easy, and the length of the game. It wasn’t just the number of hours, which was colossal, but how long they could feel.

If you’re plugged into the discussion that surrounded Persona 5, you know that certain parts of its plot didn’t land that well: a storyline in which your friend Ann is supposed to pose as a nude model, and a bit where your characters meet a couple of gay men. Atlus West requested the latter be changed, but to me it’s an absolute non-change that while no longer suggesting the abduction of minors, still finds ample opportunity to stereotype gay men. Small mercies, I suppose.

The way Ann is treated is equally off-putting to me, but it’s just part of your standard grab bag of misogyny in Japanese games, so of course that would remain unchanged. Don’t get me wrong, I love Persona 5 a lot, and I recognise that the opportunity for change is limited if you don’t want to downright cut content, but Royal does nothing to fix its larger problem: you get to meet a group of characters that’s perfectly adorable in their own right, but it’s constantly suggested they would be nothing without you.

The Velvet Room now offers battles where you earn battles for particular efficiency.

Persona 5 Royal puts its own characters down – it’s frequently suggested that Ann is a bit of dumb blonde, Yusuke is just weird, Makoto is too uptight, but you’re here to change their lives. P5R adds instances of queer-baiting to the mix, not letting you date your male team members, but putting you in intimate situations with them all the same. Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal take the power fantasy to whole new levels, making sure to call the protagonist, and by extension the player, awe-inspiring, a hero, a leader, whenever the opportunity presents itself. I find the idea of being near-infallible pretty tiring.

This leads me to the combat. I’m confident in telling you to start Royal on Hard if you’ve played Persona 5 before. Royal also comes with two modes that lock you into your chosen difficulty, Safe and Merciless. You now have so many additional abilities and items that I think the standard game is way too easy, and can feel like going through the motions. Boss fights have been retooled with new segments to fit the narrative better, but the balance feels off – overall I enjoyed the fights, but I had trouble with some that had never bothered me before, while others seemed too easy given how far into the game I was.

The last point on my list however, is perhaps one of the most common complaints about Persona 5. I’m pretty happy how on normal difficulty there’s never been a reason to mindlessly grind, even though in essence that’s what Mementos is for. Grinding isn’t what turns Persona 5 Royal into a game of over 100 hours – it’s how characters review and re-review even the most basic information ad nauseum. It’s how you might not want to spend the next four hours driving around in Mementos, but you have to, since it’s a plot requirement. It’s how the game heavily cheats you by suggesting not once, not twice but three times that this is definitely the last battle and the world will be saved any minute now.

The additions here make all of that worse. Absolutely no one I’ve ever talked to said “you know what Persona 5 needs? Another palace. And I also really want to spend more time in Mementos”, yet that’s exactly what you get. To make the plot additions work at all, it needs a massive leap of faith that undermines pretty much everything you’ve done until this point, and it’s so frustrating. After a truly epic finale, another villain simply takes the place of the last. It’s the same principle that often makes movie sequels so grating – the victory you’ve just had was for nothing. For a game that frequently tells you the exact opposite, to stay true to your ideals and keep fighting even when others think it’s pointless, this is especially disheartening.

You use the grappling hook seldomly but to great effect. Wheee!

Without wanting to spoil anything, the new villain does have interesting motives, but they’re the sole upside of a storyline that asks you twice to have the same conversation six times in a row, and that gives you a palace where you fight three new enemies over and over, one of them several consecutive times. The way it is, the new story content feels a bit tacked on, despite giving you the option to keep working on your Social Stats and links – it feels like a DLC. This is an additional month of in-game time, relating to something that’s only alluded to in bits and pieces throughout the main game. It might be fun if you come back to Persona 5 after several months, but put at the end of the main storyline like that, it just makes you wait for it to be over.

If you’ve never played Persona 5, thanks to much of the optimisation this is certainly a safe bet. But Persona 5 Royal doesn’t so much feel like a definitive edition and rather a game made for fans who get excited about collectibles like the Will Seeds or additional Persona, or who are thirsting for new interactions with characters like the twins, who were previously largely neglected. Sadly it doesn’t add enough to justify another playthrough.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/persona-5-royal-review-both-better-and-worse-than-the-original-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=persona-5-royal-review-both-better-and-worse-than-the-original-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[recentanimenews]

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is an Outstanding Open-World Oasis

IN THE YEAR 199X, a boy is with his parents at a tiny mom-and-pop video store in Okinawa called American Video, off on his own trying to find something to watch. He finds a tape, part of Streamline's "Video Comics" line of dubbed anime releases titled Fist of the North Star, and carefully covers the "Not for Kids!" sticker with his thumb when he shows it to his parents, who are fine with him watching Dragon Ball Z on Japanese TV, so more fighting anime men is perfectly fine. Thank you, parents--25 years later, that boy appreciates you being lax that one time.

  The glorious violence that followed hit me right in the soul, adding a new love to my young life, one that's stayed with me ever since. I don't gush about my love for Fist of the North Star as much as, say, Dragon Ball or Giant Robo or Berserk or Gintama, but it's always there for me in some form... except in the realm of video games, for some reason.

  Last Battle, a US-released Fist of the North Star Genesis game that removed the blood, changed everybody's names, and featured hilarious, nonsensical dialogue

  Fist of the North Star is a franchise that's never been lacking in video game adaptations. From the very first PC adventure in 1986 to a whole list of side-scrolling actioners (one of which was released in the US as Last Battle) to those amazing arcade games with the punch pads to an (amazingly broken) ArcSys fighter all the way to Koei Tecmo's brutal large-scale brawlers, gamers have wasted more wasteland mooks than Kenshiro himself ever did. And to be completely fair, there's a reason fans don't talk about too many of them: with a few rare exceptions, they're not all that awesome.

  So please, trust me when I say that Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is the first Fist of the North Star game to really get it right.

  Finishing moves are (appropriately) accompanied by these sick-ass title cards and Kenshiro shouting the attack name

  Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is the happy product of Sega's ongoing success with its Yakuza franchise, and just how perfectly Kenshiro and the gang fit into a very similar video game mold. I mean, look: a stoic-yet-honorable man must navigate a series of betrayals and revelations, all in the name of protecting their loved ones and cherished ideals, and all while getting into a series of spectacular one-against-many fistfights culminating in an emotionally-charged shirtless duel. Pretty damn spot-on, right?

  Aside from perfectly lining up with Yakuza in terms of storytelling and overall feeling, Lost Paradise matches its gameplay as well: after a short on-rails introduction, Kenshiro wanders the wasteland and discovers the city Eden, which is besieged by game-original villain and Immortan Joe impersonator Kyo-Oh, the King of Fear, and his vast and vicious armies of wasteland killers. At the same time, Kenshiro has to battle the evils within Eden, and discover the city's secrets... and retell the rest of Fist of the North Star in the process.

    Rather than just dump this game's entire original story between episodes 22 and 23, Lost Paradise simply picks up with Kenshiro facing Shin in their destined duel, and then adapts large chunks of Kenshiro's adventures to fit this tale. Rei and his glorious mullet still think Kenshiro kidnapped his sister, Jagi is still a poser piece of garbage, Rihaku is still the biggest Yuria fanboy on what's left of Earth, and Raoh is still the ideal all Shonen Jump villains aspire to. To further tie Lost Paradise to Yakuza, you'll hear a lot of familiar voice actors on the Japanese audio track: Kenshiro is played by an even more deadpan Takaya Kuroda (Kiryu), Raoh is given life by Masami Iwasaki (Ryuji Goda), Rin doesn't sing but still has that Rie Kugimiya (Haruka) adorableness, and many more as a satisfying nod to Yakuza fans.

  The blasted-out, nuclear-bombed, oceans-dried-up world of Fist of the North Star isn't nearly as colorful or lively as Yakuza's, so there isn't much to look at, but the game does quite a bit to still make Eden feel like home. You'll spend most of your time running around Eden talking to different characters, receiving quests and substories, and eventually getting a buggy to drive around the wasteland and discover new locations to meet interesting people, hit their pressure points, and explode them from within.

  Beautiful

  Regular random battles are a big part of the Yakuza series, and despite how much I hate them in, say, JRPGs, I've never really been bothered by them in Yakuza because there's something truly satisfying about smashing some goon's head against a railing for daring to bother you while you're running around town trying to do something more important. Lost Paradise does much the same thing, with the same dozen or so types of post-apocalyptic troublemakers in Mad Max gear trying to start some shit, and then getting immediately turned into a fine red mist. When you start the game, Kenshiro's Hokuto Shinken feels more limited than Kiryu's techniques, but that quickly opens up as you buy and learn more techniques--there is no question as to whether or not you're going to win against these nobodies, so you're encouraged to finish them off as spectacularly and quickly as possible, with experience bonuses given out for particularly flashy or precise kills.

  Yes, you can make a cocktail called "You're Already Drunk"

  It's not all doom, gloom, and boom, though: Lost Paradise's world shows us a softer, funnier side of Kenshiro by putting him in ridiculous situations and letting him stay exactly as stoic and deadpan as he always is through a huge list of side quests and minigames. An accupressure rhythm game, post-apocalyptic baseball where you line-drive bikers with an I-beam, playing hide-and-seek with kids, fighting in the arena, bouncing and managing a hostess club, working in a grocery store, upgrading your buggy with Bat, and becoming the wasteland's best bartender aren't even the full list of distractions available from the main plot. Like I've said before, none of these time-wasters feel like wasted time--you get experience for all of them, and they all serve to make Kenshiro and the people around him that much more endearing.

    Lost Paradise, unfortunately, is not quite paradise on all fronts: the constant random battles would be fine if you could just tear through them, but you'll hit regular snags with large enemies who simply exist to soak up damage, and the battle system just isn't flexible enough to give you ways around this aside from just hammering them until they stagger. Character models and animation feel stiff, especially for small everyday actions like walking up and down stairs, and driving the buggy is something I just want to do as little as possible. No joke, Mass Effect's Mako controls better than this thing. Additionally, Fist of the North Star's story has never been particularly complex, but that was to its benefit--a few late-game reveals and a final villain switcheroo feel kind of weak, and take away from the built-up emotion (and a tradition of perfect final battles in the Yakuza series).

    Even with a few frustrations showing up now and then, I could not stop playing Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. Popping bad guys like zits is addicting, spending time with Kenshiro's friends even more so. Lost Paradise is so much more than a post-apocalyptic palette swap--just as you spend entire Yakuza games becoming the Dragon of Dojima, now you too can become the Savior of the Century's End. And maybe a little more than that, too: Lost Paradise adds some dimension to the otherwise stone-faced Kenshiro, and maybe this is what this legend needed to get (even) more people to love him.

  REVIEW ROUNDUP

+ Fully-realized Fist of the North Star experience: sound, visuals, rhythm of combat, hot-blooded energy

+ Satisfying battle system requires creativity, forethought, and efficiency to truly fight like Kenshiro

+ Wealth of minigames and side quests never feel like filler because they're just that damn good

+ Shoutouts and callbacks for Fist of the North Star and Yakuza fans alike

+/- Explore a larger map with the buggy, but the buggy is also just not fun to drive

+/- Character models look so close to Buronson's art, but this also makes their animations kinda wonky

- I legitimately don't feel any connection toward the game's original characters

- Hidenari Ugaki (Majima) deserves so much better than playing Jagi

-----

Nate Ming is the Features Editor for Crunchyroll News and creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[anautisticdragon-blog]

Sonic Kids: An Introspective

I'll open this with a bit of truth that's going to leave a lot of middle-aged men angry with me, unfortunately. I didn't think that Sonic Mania was very good, at all. In fact, I don't believe that it was even necessary.

In my opinion, Freedom Planet did more to move the genre forward than Sonic Mania had at any point. Mania is no more than a mere revisit to a different time, it hasn't really evolved beyond that at all. It still has the same litany of poor design choices that don't stand up to modern scrutiny.

Take that timer, for example. The one that forces you to rush through a level rather than taking the time to actually examine, explore, and enjoy your environs. That's such an archaic, outmoded concept to even begin with. If I were involved in the development of Sonic Mania, that's one of the first (of many) elements I would've dropped. Though to put it frankly, my attempt would've just looked like Freedom Planet.

Freedom Planet is essentially why we didn't even need Sonic Mania. I think that anything that Sonic Mania does with at least some competence, FP does better on every level.

So why does it exist?

Middle-aged men. And don't fool yourself, the people who complain about Sonic OCs on forums aren't youngsters. I'm too familiar with their lexicon to be fooled by that argument, their terms and language are too outdated by even contemporary teen standards. No, these are middle-aged men.

So why are middle-aged men clamouring for Sonic Mania, whilst putting down everything else that dares to be something different? Why did the same kind of middle-aged men try to tell us that Science ruined dinosaurs when we learned that many had feather-laden hides? Nostalgia.

It appears to me that the more lacking a person is in self-awareness (which some hipsters would like to rebrand as its hip, shades-wearing uncle 'Theory of Mind,' but let's not go there), the more prone to nostalgia they are. They're frozen forever in a moment of time, unable to free themselves.

I mean, sure, there are periods of time that I liked, too, but I'm not beholden to them. Nor do I see those as being superior to any other. If I were riddled with nostalgia then -- being in their age bracket -- I'd be all about the 8- and 16-bit eras. What I've found is that under modern scrutiny, those don't really stand up to contemporary examination.

I have been known to wistfully long for development houses and genres lost to the sands of time, but that isn't quite the same as nostalgia. That's more of a feeling of disappointment that a form of entertainment was robbed of its potential to evolve. Consider that most of the Japanese video games industry has disappeared, then look at titles like Xenoblade Chronicles X to see what they could be if they were still at the height of their power.

That there's so little like Xenoblade is a point I mourn, but it isn't quite the same thing as the nostalgia goggles worn by the hordes of middle-aged men who're clinging to Sonic Mania as though it were some kind of fursuit-clad son of Christ.

Saying that, I do want to see Jesus in a fursuit.

And here's another unfortunate truth for those lost in their special moment in time: I enjoyed Sonic Forces. I thought it was aces because I was able to see beyond myself and understand why it would appeal to children. To give a child the opportunity to create their own character and play alongside another that they love the media of? That's something special, and I'm pleased with Sonic Team for realising what their core demographic actually is.

Children. FYI. In case you hadn't figured that out.

You see, SEGA is pandering to the middle-aged men with average titles like Sonic Mania, which are essentially dressed up fan-games so that these unfortunate individuals can rant on about a 'return to form for Sonic,' showing the least amount of self-awareness possible. All the while, the youngsters get to enjoy Sonic Forces, unbeholden to this nostalgia.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that SEGA is figuring it out. They're getting smart about it. They're throwing scraps (Mania) to the middle-aged men so that Sonic Team can work on titles for younger audiences without drawing so much attention from a crowd of adults who really shouldn't be paying attention to it in the first place.

So, I suppose this leads to the question of why these middle-aged men feel so angry and violated when a developer chooses to make a title that's clearly aimed at a younger audience, eh? That comes down to the incorrect perspective they have of 'what kids enjoy.'

Before I get into that, though, you know it's funny that even Game Grumps had the self-awareness to understand that there would be kids who'd be absolutely delighted with Sonic Forces. They were able to abstract themselves with the possibility of growing up in today's world, and they realised they'd be smitten with a game like Forces. Good for them!

All the middle-aged men reviewing a game like Forces and smiting it with their angry, bile-ridden words because it isn't Mania? Well... Let's just say that Mania/Forces is turning into the most successful litmus test of self-awareness that I've witnessed in quite some time.

So! Middle-aged men tend to view console gaming as 'for them.' They grew up with it, so they 'own' it, you see. It's their 'territory,' and children don't 'belong' there. Now whilst you might roll your eyes at this (understandably!), that is how many of these middle-aged men feel. So I'm rolling my eyes right alongside you, here. It's not exactly a great situation.

Every G4M3R out there, the kinds of middle-aged men that made up G4M3R-G4TE! for example? They think that they own the entertainment medium of video games, and that all titles should be crafted to suit their needs and desires. This isn't that different than the privilege problem that cishet, white, and healthy people experience.

"PROPERLY DRESSED BLACK WOMEN AS HEROES IN MY VIDEO GAMES????"

And that's one of the reasons we have the Alt-Right, conversely. Angry middle-aged men who can't deal with an ever changing, evolving world that's left them behind.

And Sonic is one of the things of the Olde Wurlde that they cling to. So they cling to Sonic Mania with dear life as a sort of shamanistic totem of what their reality used to be like. That's part of how nostalgia functions and why individuals like myself (whatever the fuck makes me like I am) aren't so beholden to the allure. Nostalgia preys on a lack of self-awareness.

Feathered dinosaurs were a litmus test of self-awareness. And now Sonic Mania/Forces is a litmus test of self-awareness. It's actually helpful, though, to find out the kinds of people who're worth bothering to listen to and to try communicating with as what I've found is that people who're devoid of any form of self-awareness are equally devoid of empathy as well. They're not exactly the most fantastic people, even though their ilk seem to be the most commonplace.

And if you doubt anything I've said? Consider the facts.

Middle-aged men really do consider console gaming to be a field that they exclusively own. Do you think that those who're reviewing video games now are younger than 30? I invite you to research this as I have! You'll find that most of them aren't. In fact, a lot of them are approaching or even over 40.

Middle-aged men are clinging to Sonic Mania like it's some second coming or however that works. I'm not a very religious person even though I do try to practice tolerance so forgive me if I get any of my terminologies wrong, here. They treat Mania as though it's the only kind of Sonic game that anyone would want to play. Thing is? Kids don't really like Mania at all.

It's funny. Sonic Boom, the game, was a deeply flawed title to be sure, but at the same time it was a bit of fun and certainly a title that the kids could enjoy. It had that Skylanders magic about it. I noticed, at the time, that there were some younger folk putting up videos saying that they quite liked it despite whatever flaws it had. Do you remember that?

Probably not. They were drowned out by middle-aged men spamming YouTube with videos of how awful it was and that SEGA needs to learn from this and make another 2D Sonic game because self-awareness is a sin, everyone! Did you hear the news? Self-awareness is a sin!

Yes, yes. I know, I know. Sonic Boom was an over-ambitious, buggy mess. I know. However, it understood the much younger audience that SEGA was trying to tap into and that younger audience actually enjoyed Boom for what it was. And despite middle-aged men raging about the 'terrible designs' of the Sonic Boom TV show, there are plenty of kids who simply love the show. Thing is? It seems like SEGA knows how to listen to those kids better than their own nostalgia-laden parents do. That's... kind of sad.

Then again, as an autistic person I've noticed that neurotypical parents would rather listen to Autism Speaks (as horrible and unethical as they are) telling them that their autistic children are demons who need cures, rather than realising that their kids are simply different and that they need to learn to accommodate to their child's differently functioning mind as opposed to demanding that their child be some kind of witless clone of their parents.

And it all comes back to self-awareness, doesn't it? I wonder to myself sometimes if the reason autism is becoming more prevalent is because humanity is -- in general -- too lacking in self-awareness to be able to survive. I usually want to think that autistic people appear to be, on average, fairly great at introspection and self-awareness. I’m prone to thinking that we're here to do the thinking that other kinds of minds aren't really able to. At least, that's how it feels, sometimes. I am making efforts to not think like this any more, but some days are more trying and difficult than others. It's just false association, of course, I feel that because I am actually autistic and because neurotypicals are always telling me I lack 'Theory of Mind,' I tend to reflect that back on them and attribute my self-awareness to autism out of my association with it and my spite toward them. I'm aware of that. It's not great. Definitely a character flaw.

So... I know that's simply not the case, but it feels like so many people out there are so lacking in any kind of self-awareness and/or empathy that they can't see beyond their own nose. They can't ask why any particular game might be popular with their own kid. Instead, they'd rather force their kid to like the same kinds of games that they like. Which is likely why many kids have felt obligated to turn to mobile gaming just to get away from their... over-enthusiastic parents.

"Oh! You're sitting at the console! Turn off that Minecraft junk! Here, let me put on this game that I like and you can play that instead! It's called Sonic Mania, you'll love it! I just want to watch you play it, okay???"

Essentially, there are kids out there who'll love stuff like Minecraft, Sonic Forces, Skylanders, and so on but because it isn't like what their middle-aged parents (who also grew up with consoles) enjoyed? It's not the kinds of games that their parents think they should be playing. Their kids should go through the same gaming history that they did.

I actually had a moment in the past where I wondered if I'd introduce any kid I choose to have to my history with games, it was an interesting exploration in my head but I realised that it would lead them to resent me for forcing them to be out of touch. Introspection for the win, I suppose. I realised it'd be okay to present them with a lot of options, both old and brand new, and let them figure out what their tastes and opinions then are. I'd support them in whatever they wanted.

Sadly, most parents don't even think about this. They don't seem to think about a whole lot of anything, frankly, which is why most of them go into parenthood unprepared and fail spectacularly at it. Even though I don't know if I'll ever choose to have a child (it's a huge responsibility, and I'd adopt rather than procreating due to the feelings my partner and I have about over-population), but if I did? I'd be ready.

I watch most parents stumble into it, though. And... well, their kids end up scarred, fucked up, and generally a mess because their parents weren't even remotely ready. I know mine weren't. I didn't exactly have a great childhood, and I see many kids out there being exposed to the same. There's this part of my brain that just nags at me and says that every would-be parent should have to apply for a license and pass tests of introspection, self-awareness, and responsibility to even have their first child, and then even those who do should be limited to just one child regardless of their financial status and privilege (or even lack thereof).

This has been a very weird little piece and I apologise. It's just why this journal of mine exists, isn't it? I vent here, I do so because I feel that need. Sometimes I look at this world and I want to say something about it, though I'm not the sort to burden anyone with it so I'll just leave it here.

Anyway, to wrap up? My experience is that Japan has been better at understanding what a younger audience wants than the West. I think that, generally, this comes from being a more introverted nation that has a more natural introspection. That might just be my biases at work and I accept that, so I'm not saying that that's absolutely the reason but I do know that they're better at paying attention to what kids want.

Sonic Forces is just Japanese developers being attuned to what would make children happy these days. And injecting their own characters into a Sonic game is what the younger generations have wanted to do for quite some time. Consider how many kids created 'zoosonas' when Zootopia happened, it was such a hit with younger audiences that their imaginations ran with it and they all wanted a character of their own to live in this world. Being a kid is all about imagination, after all.

Sadly, it seems like a lot of people leave imagination behind when they leave being a kid behind. You hit 18, your brain gets pruned, and now you've no longer got any imagination, or any capacity for self-awareness, introspection, or empathy to speak of. You know I'm not generalising when I say that this applies quite broadly. I might be being a touch cynical in saying that it even goes as far as most people, but it's not exactly wrong.

Sonic Mania teaches us that it's not wrong.

See, what's actually happening here is that these middle-aged men are longing for a time when they had an imagination. They envy kids for still having one, it's a sort of secret, subconscious envy that they aren't aware of but they'd ruin something kids love just to feel better. That's how people are. It's sad. It's genuinely pathetic. Still, that's people for you.

Yeah, there are exceptions but unfortunately they tend to be those that prove the rule, rather than being enough to disprove it. The McElroys stand out by being an exception, if everyone was as accepting, open-minded, and as capable of the levels of self-awareness, introspection, and imagination that they are? Well, we'd have a lot of goddamn funny podcasts now!

But we don't, do we?

What we do have is a bunch of angry, middle-aged men ranting about how Sonic has changed, hating the Boom incarnations and their designs, and generally just... yeah. I know that Chris-chan is exemplary of a certain kind of mental disorder but the sad truth is is that if these middle-aged men had impaired impulse-control and didn't feel any shame?

Well, they'd all be Chris-chan. Every last one of them. Chris-chan is just a middle-aged man with no shame or impulse control. He's a low functioning sociopath, which is very unfortunate for him but he serves as an example.

And whilst these middle-aged men would ridicule Chris-chan, they hold Sonic up in exactly the same kind of way as he does. They treat Sonic like a holy symbol, a religious icon.

And that's why Sonic Mania exists.

I don't like Sonic Mania very much, you know. I'm just not a fan. I don't think the game is all that impressive, but I also generally don't appreciate the scene, either. I wish these middle-aged men could just enjoy Sonic Mania and allow younger audiences to like whatever it is that they like.

And yes, I am saying that fans of Sonic Mania are effectively Chris-chan but WITH impulse-control, the capacity for shame, and even less imagination. Is that wrong? I don't think it is.

If the white-striped, red shoe fits...

So hopefully that's going to be an overdue jab in the arm of self-awareness for anyone who happens to read this.

[recentanimenews]

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is an Outstanding Open-World Oasis

IN THE YEAR 199X, a boy is with his parents at a tiny mom-and-pop video store in Okinawa called American Video, off on his own trying to find something to watch. He finds a tape, part of Streamline's "Video Comics" line of dubbed anime releases titled Fist of the North Star, and carefully covers the "Not for Kids!" sticker with his thumb when he shows it to his parents, who are fine with him watching Dragon Ball Z on Japanese TV, so more fighting anime men is perfectly fine. Thank you, parents--25 years later, that boy appreciates you being lax that one time.

  The glorious violence that followed hit me right in the soul, adding a new love to my young life, one that's stayed with me ever since. I don't gush about my love for Fist of the North Star as much as, say, Dragon Ball or Giant Robo or Berserk or Gintama, but it's always there for me in some form... except in the realm of video games, for some reason.

  Last Battle, a US-released Fist of the North Star Genesis game that removed the blood, changed everybody's names, and featured hilarious, nonsensical dialogue

  Fist of the North Star is a franchise that's never been lacking in video game adaptations. From the very first PC adventure in 1986 to a whole list of side-scrolling actioners (one of which was released in the US as Last Battle) to those amazing arcade games with the punch pads to an (amazingly broken) ArcSys fighter all the way to Koei Tecmo's brutal large-scale brawlers, gamers have wasted more wasteland mooks than Kenshiro himself ever did. And to be completely fair, there's a reason fans don't talk about too many of them: with a few rare exceptions, they're not all that awesome.

  So please, trust me when I say that Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is the first Fist of the North Star game to really get it right.

  Finishing moves are (appropriately) accompanied by these sick-ass title cards and Kenshiro shouting the attack name

  Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is the happy product of Sega's ongoing success with its Yakuza franchise, and just how perfectly Kenshiro and the gang fit into a very similar video game mold. I mean, look: a stoic-yet-honorable man must navigate a series of betrayals and revelations, all in the name of protecting their loved ones and cherished ideals, and all while getting into a series of spectacular one-against-many fistfights culminating in an emotionally-charged shirtless duel. Pretty damn spot-on, right?

  Aside from perfectly lining up with Yakuza in terms of storytelling and overall feeling, Lost Paradise matches its gameplay as well: after a short on-rails introduction, Kenshiro wanders the wasteland and discovers the city Eden, which is besieged by game-original villain and Immortan Joe impersonator Kyo-Oh, the King of Fear, and his vast and vicious armies of wasteland killers. At the same time, Kenshiro has to battle the evils within Eden, and discover the city's secrets... and retell the rest of Fist of the North Star in the process.

    Rather than just dump this game's entire original story between episodes 22 and 23, Lost Paradise simply picks up with Kenshiro facing Shin in their destined duel, and then adapts large chunks of Kenshiro's adventures to fit this tale. Rei and his glorious mullet still think Kenshiro kidnapped his sister, Jagi is still a poser piece of garbage, Rihaku is still the biggest Yuria fanboy on what's left of Earth, and Raoh is still the ideal all Shonen Jump villains aspire to. To further tie Lost Paradise to Yakuza, you'll hear a lot of familiar voice actors on the Japanese audio track: Kenshiro is played by an even more deadpan Takaya Kuroda (Kiryu), Raoh is given life by Masami Iwasaki (Ryuji Goda), Rin doesn't sing but still has that Rie Kugimiya (Haruka) adorableness, and many more as a satisfying nod to Yakuza fans.

  The blasted-out, nuclear-bombed, oceans-dried-up world of Fist of the North Star isn't nearly as colorful or lively as Yakuza's, so there isn't much to look at, but the game does quite a bit to still make Eden feel like home. You'll spend most of your time running around Eden talking to different characters, receiving quests and substories, and eventually getting a buggy to drive around the wasteland and discover new locations to meet interesting people, hit their pressure points, and explode them from within.

  Beautiful

  Regular random battles are a big part of the Yakuza series, and despite how much I hate them in, say, JRPGs, I've never really been bothered by them in Yakuza because there's something truly satisfying about smashing some goon's head against a railing for daring to bother you while you're running around town trying to do something more important. Lost Paradise does much the same thing, with the same dozen or so types of post-apocalyptic troublemakers in Mad Max gear trying to start some shit, and then getting immediately turned into a fine red mist. When you start the game, Kenshiro's Hokuto Shinken feels more limited than Kiryu's techniques, but that quickly opens up as you buy and learn more techniques--there is no question as to whether or not you're going to win against these nobodies, so you're encouraged to finish them off as spectacularly and quickly as possible, with experience bonuses given out for particularly flashy or precise kills.

  Yes, you can make a cocktail called "You're Already Drunk"

  It's not all doom, gloom, and boom, though: Lost Paradise's world shows us a softer, funnier side of Kenshiro by putting him in ridiculous situations and letting him stay exactly as stoic and deadpan as he always is through a huge list of side quests and minigames. An accupressure rhythm game, post-apocalyptic baseball where you line-drive bikers with an I-beam, playing hide-and-seek with kids, fighting in the arena, bouncing and managing a hostess club, working in a grocery store, upgrading your buggy with Bat, and becoming the wasteland's best bartender aren't even the full list of distractions available from the main plot. Like I've said before, none of these time-wasters feel like wasted time--you get experience for all of them, and they all serve to make Kenshiro and the people around him that much more endearing.

    Lost Paradise, unfortunately, is not quite paradise on all fronts: the constant random battles would be fine if you could just tear through them, but you'll hit regular snags with large enemies who simply exist to soak up damage, and the battle system just isn't flexible enough to give you ways around this aside from just hammering them until they stagger. Character models and animation feel stiff, especially for small everyday actions like walking up and down stairs, and driving the buggy is something I just want to do as little as possible. No joke, Mass Effect's Mako controls better than this thing. Additionally, Fist of the North Star's story has never been particularly complex, but that was to its benefit--a few late-game reveals and a final villain switcheroo feel kind of weak, and take away from the built-up emotion (and a tradition of perfect final battles in the Yakuza series).

    Even with a few frustrations showing up now and then, I could not stop playing Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. Popping bad guys like zits is addicting, spending time with Kenshiro's friends even more so. Lost Paradise is so much more than a post-apocalyptic palette swap--just as you spend entire Yakuza games becoming the Dragon of Dojima, now you too can become the Savior of the Century's End. And maybe a little more than that, too: Lost Paradise adds some dimension to the otherwise stone-faced Kenshiro, and maybe this is what this legend needed to get (even) more people to love him.

  REVIEW ROUNDUP

+ Fully-realized Fist of the North Star experience: sound, visuals, rhythm of combat, hot-blooded energy

+ Satisfying battle system requires creativity, forethought, and efficiency to truly fight like Kenshiro

+ Wealth of minigames and side quests never feel like filler because they're just that damn good

+ Shoutouts and callbacks for Fist of the North Star and Yakuza fans alike

+/- Explore a larger map with the buggy, but the buggy is also just not fun to drive

+/- Character models look so close to Buronson's art, but this also makes their animations kinda wonky

- I legitimately don't feel any connection toward the game's original characters

- Hidenari Ugaki (Majima) deserves so much better than playing Jagi

-----

Nate Ming is the Features Editor for Crunchyroll News and creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com