#did somebody say metroid

[atlas-divide]

Another fakemon I did, this time for an art challenge “Turn a character from a different media into a fakemon” So naturally I went with Ridley from Metroid! All three stages are named after forms of altered information, thought it was clever: Liar, Fraud, Redaction. Probably obvious but just wanted to say in case somebody was curious lol.  There is actually more to this than just what is here, so I will post more from this tomorrow!

[spinningbuster98]

I know that many fans are going with the whole "oh boy Prime 4 is gonna take place after Super Metroid or even after Dread, because in the trailer it says it's the year 20X9, when Super took place in 20X7!!!"

Yeah....no

First off: it can't be after Dread. If it were, then Samus' suit should feature some of its post Fusion Metroidy elements, like the more angular visor shape or the three nuclei on the back, which are not a result of Federation tampering but rather a result of the suit modifying itself to reflect Samus' changes in biology. So it's absolutely not after Fusion and Dread

About Super: that 20X7 date comes from an obscure Japan-only commercial. It is nowhere to be found in the game proper or any other material as far as I know at least, as such I think it's much safer to assume that it has been either retconned or hasn't been canon for years. Generally speaking whatever is shown in the games should generally take absolute precedence over anything else, including external materials because this isn't the first time something like this has happened: some of the extra materials for Samus Returns stated that the game took place right after Zero Mission, which would imply that the Prime games are not canon, except the game itself doesn't agree with that by virtue of Proteus Ridley, so someone in marketing may have fucked up there. When the Prime Trilogy came out it had a big art booklet with a timeline which, at one point, stated that planet Zebes blew up following Samus' first mission which no, that's flat out wrong and would make Super impossible, so somebody must've been sleeping on the keyboard while typing that

Think about it: we see Mochtroids being used by Sylux which, yeah they're from Super, but he almost certainly cloned them from that Metroid he stole at the end of Federation Force, meaning that that Metroid should still be alive most likely in order to produce more Mochtroids from it. The idea of there still being a living Metroid after the events of Super would...kinda undermine the Baby's death at the end of Super and the fact that all of the succeeding games revolved around villanous factions trying and failing at reviving the species...all the while Sylux was chilling with a stolen Metroid?

Think about it: that theft could NOT have gone unnoticed so by that virtue how the hell could the Federation and Samus deem the species extinct after Metroid 2, save for "the Last Metroid"? When they should know very well they had one infant stolen a while back with its whereabouts still unknown until now?

And above all else: the Prime series got put in between Metroid 1 and 2 partly as a way to allow the devs of both subseries to do their own thing without stepping on each other's toes. These games are being developed by two very different teams at the same time at all times, by putting the two sides of the franchise into two concise chronological spaces they are allowed to freely write their story while only having to be generally careful about continuity. If they started mixing up the games then they'd run the risk of contradicting each other and having to do last minute rewrites. Imagine if Prime 4 really DID take place after Dread, but in the meanwhile a Metroid 6 is being made and its writers suddenly realise that their story perhaps heavily focused on the lack of Metroids in the universe post-Super suddenly doesn't make much sense because Sylux has them in Prime 4: they'd have to go back to the drawing board, which depending on how far the game would be in development, may not even be fully possible, it could create a mess! The two teams would have to be in constant communication and be chained at each other, and that's an ideal environment for creative differences to clash and create issues. Remember the whole mess with the origins of the Metroid Prime in the first game, which was likely caused by the devs only learning later in the development that the game was going to take place between Metroid 1 and 2 and not its own universe?

For as much as the fans would love for the two subseries to connect more frequently, from a practical point of view, it's best if they stay canon to each other but also chronologically distant

[anniefelis]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Five, but it ought to be more by now. I've run into a wall with my work, and since I tend to write big longfic, it's taking a while to pick up the pace again.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,413,641

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Legend of Zelda and Metroid, and at one point I wrote Final Fantasy, Skies of Arcadia and Chrono Trigger. I've been writing fanfiction for about 25 years now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Wither with 239 kudos (this is a Breath of the Wild fic, hence the higher amount of kudos)

Into the Twilight with 93 kudos

Midna's Lament with 87 kudos

Blood, Spirit and Hatred with 62 kudos

Soul with 19 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to on my lesser-hit fics, but I didn't bother much with Wither because it's both a story I did not enjoy writing, and one I am not proud of. I don't know what to say to the people who enjoyed something I did not like myself, even if they're very kind and supportive.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I guess the closest I can come is Wither, because the whole story is full of angst.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Blood, Spirit and Hatred. They beat Ganondorf, yay!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've had one guy tell me that I need to make my protagonist unemotional and stoic, to which I replied "ok, tell me how you'd act in these situations if you were 17 years old". Unsurprisingly, I got no response. That's about as close as I've gotten to hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind.

No. There are a million erotica writers on Ao3, and I'd rather write something for the people who aren't looking for them.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No. I do not like crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, somebody reposted a Final Fantasy fic of mine in its entirety on a forum. The guy who did it got banned for being spammy because the thing was something like 80k words.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, and since I'm mostly doing novelizations I don't think I need any translations.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, there was a group writing project on Icy Brian's page called Cold Fusion, where all the writers were assigned chapters and stayed anonymous until the end. It was fun.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Terra x Edgar from FF6. I'm niche. But I also ship some kinds of Zelink now, too.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I had a Chrono Trigger fic about Frog I wanted to finish, but I didn't outline it at all. I pantsed the entire thing and I had no idea where to go with it. If I ever did anything with it, it would need a rewrite.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Realistic emotional responses, believable characters and action/fight scenes. Gimme them action scenes.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I suck at being succinct. Please, tell me how to write less words for the thing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm a dumb American who only speaks english so I am not the person to be asking this.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Pinky and the Brain, in a notebook that was lost long ago. My first fic online was a FF6 story back in 1998 or so.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

The entire Twilight Princess novelization would be it, although that's multiple books...so if I had to pick one of those, I'd have to say Midna's Lament.

[ikroah]

Don't you know that she's had a bad, bad fall? And if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. —“If You Can’t Say Anything Nice,” Roy Orbison (1965)

It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin’ #20 - Freeside IV

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Read IKROAH on Archive of Our Own

Notes / Original Pencils / Transcript:

Notes:

Whewwwwww this one was a project. I’ve always wanted to experiment with doing a multiple-page spread like this, and I’m glad that I finally found an excuse! It basically doubled the amount of coloring work that I had to do, but as you can see the result was well worth the trouble.

That being said, IKROAH will be going on a sort of semi-informal hiatus (which just means it might be a while until the next comic) because I have some other non-fandom comics I want to work on before the end of the year and also I have been working so hard for so long oh my god I just want to hide in a hole and play video games right now. So I will.

Anyway! See you next ish! I’m gonna go beat Metroid Dread.

Original Pencils

Since I work traditionally, it actually took a lot of effort and precision to make sure the background spread lined up correctly on each page. And it still wasn’t enough because I had to correct the alignment a bit on each page anyway during digitization! You can also see my abundance of notes-to-self about little fixes to make during the coloring process, as well as some...uh...”cut dialogue.”

The unique grittiness of the flashback panel in which Agnes confronted Dixon was achieved by leaving it uninked. By scanning it as raw pencil instead of clean black and white, I got a much rougher-looking smattering of black on it during digitization.

You can see how large I drew the flyers on the original pencils at first; I shrunk them down digitally. It was easier to draw them bigger and I knew that I could just reposition them later.

Something that proved surprisingly difficult during the art process was thinking of things to draw in front of the Fort’s walls. On the original pencils here, you can see that I drew somebody tripping over a rock on Page 5 because I thought that it’d be funny, but I replaced him with birds during the inking process because on second thought it just seemed too distracting.

Transcript

JULIE: I can’t believe you...you killed Dixon?

INT. THE OLD MORMON FORT in FREESIDE, the Vegas-area headquarters of the FOLLOWERS OF THE APOCALYPSE. The director JULIE FARKAS is engaged in a shouting match with AGNES SANDS, while AGNES’ companion ROSE OF SHARON CASSIDY stands by beside her and JULIE’s associate ARCADE GANNON frets behind her.

AGNES: He attacked me! What was I supposed to do?

JULIE: I don’t know, not leave yet another murder victim out on the streets of Freeside, maybe?

ARCADE: Julie, please...

JULIE pinches the bridge of her nose, stressed.

JULIE: I thought you'd convince him somehow, not...this!

AGNES: We tried. He said we'd have to pay him off, but we didn't have the caps—

JULIE: You could have come back! And asked for the caps!

CASS: So what, then, the followers just open their wallets for any asshole selling on their block? Shit, Agnes, maybe we should start pushing and get our money that way.

ARCADE leans in to speak to JULIE.

ARCADE: Julie, I hate to say it, but she's got a point. Even if we did give Dixon the caps, it would have set a bad precedent...frankly, we can't afford to be extorted.

JULIE: And this justifies murder, Arcade?

JULIE turns her attention back to AGNES and CASS.

JULIE: Somehow I doubt Dixon just attacked you two for no reason.

AGNES: I told you. He asked for a bribe...that we buy him out, basically. And we, uh...we couldn't pay, and so...and so I improvised...and I threatened him—

JULIE cuts AGNES off, pointing at her furiously.

JULIE: —and so you started it!

AGNES: I...no, look, he pulled a knife—

JULIE: No. Stop. I don’t care. It's already taking all of our effort to keep tensions between Freesiders and NCR squatters from boiling over into all-out riots, and everyone's only been even more on edge since somebody took out the Silver Rush*. People are scared, and killing a dealer like Dixon no matter how scummy is only going to make things worse, not better. We've been struggling with our patients' withdrawal symptoms enough as-is.

(NOTE: Julie would know who if she'd read IKROAH #17—Lou.)

JULIE crosses her arms, immense disappointment and frustration on her face.

JULIE: And furthermore? I don't need your perspective on violence in Freeside. I live here. I know Dixon's type, and the Followers of the Apocalypse have worked with plenty of people just like him without ever resorting to threats and violence. Do you fucking get it yet?

AGNES seethes behind her sunglasses.

JULIE: Do you understand what you've done?

AGNES’ teeth clench tight.

JULIE: You're a murderer.

AGNES: I—

CASS (interjecting): Yeah, yeah. Nice lecture. But we did what you asked. That asshole won't be dealing where he's going, guaranteed. You're not happy at all?

JULIE looks at them hard.

JULIE: No. I’m not. I’m not happy that I seem to have put my faith in a pair of hitwomen. You and the Followers have no further business.

CASS: What about the caps for our trouble? Nothing?

JULIE (turning to leave): The caps you were promised will go toward Dixon's burial expenses. Arcade, please escort these two out of The Fort.

Exeunt JULIE as she enters one of the Followers’ medical tents.

ARCADE: I'm sorry about Julie. I mean, I agree with her, but...well, I don't actually know why I'm apologizing, then. Murder is bad, as it turns out.

AGNES: ...it’s fine.

ARCADE: And she really doesn't mean to be so harsh...things have just been really, uh, tense around here lately.

ARCADE smiles sincerely.

ARCADE: Listen, if you're ever in need of help, you can come back anytime. Really. Just talk to me instead of her. All I'll lecture you about are, uh, medicinal herbs. Haha.

CASS (turning to leave): Thanks, four-eyes. We'll keep that in mind. Come on, Agnes.

AGNES hesitates to follow CASS, remaining still. ARCADE turns to rejoin JULIE, but looks back at AGNES with a worried expression.

AGNES: Yeah...thanks.

EXT. THE OLD MORMON FORT, the STREETS OF FREESIDE.

AGNES: I’ll keep that in mind.

AGNES and CASS exit The Fort.

[theancientdoomabyss]

I'm sorry but Kirby And The Forgotten Land is actually a lot better than Mario Odyssey. MO was a big disappointment to me, I didn't understand the hype, it just wasn't as good as Mario Galaxy, 64, World, or 3. It did beat out Sunshine though. It was very forgettable and after I beat it not only did I forget about it but I had absolutely no desire to complete the game. The incentive to find moons was BAD, it felt like filler, compared to the classic incentive to find Stars in games like Galaxy and 64. This new Kirby game is just wonderful. I REALLY wanna 100% it, and as somebody who could honestly care less about graphics, it is such a joy to look at and be immersed in the world, the graphics really improve an already great game. Dare I say, I might even be enjoying it more than Metroid Dread because the bosses aren't so god damn difficult.

[diloph]

I recall Adam Malkovich being an Other M character. I take it you don't like him or Other M?

Oh boy, isn’t that a can of worms?

Yeah, having played Other M all the way through more than once, the shortcomings of the game are pretty much on display from the get-go. Lackluster voice-acting, confusing and sometimes nonsensical plot-points as well as baffling story structure; its only saving grace is its gameplay and even then, I’d only really enjoyed Samus’ mobility and physical ability to grapple/finish opponents.

Of note, the characterization of Samus is all over the place. As I’m going through the E-Manga right now and have seen other characters with similar, I’m not adverse to Samus having some form of PTSD from her traumatic backstory it’s just that it’s done in such a piss-poor manner that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The Ridley confrontation is nonsensical, considering that she’s reduced him to a bloody smear several times over by now. On a ship where everything from Zebes seems to have been cloned (including the Metroids and an android emulating Mother Brain) Samus wasn’t even expecting him to appear in any capacity whatsoever?

I can understand her shock, fear and even hesitance to re-engage, but it’s never stopped her before; why did Meta Ridley not provoke the same reaction aboard the Orpheon, according to canon his first resurrection proper? Or to play into post-Other M events, such as Ridley’s return in Super/Proteus Ridley? Ridley-X?

Why does this appearance of Ridley reduce her to a frozen state?

Spoilers for when I get to it, but the E-Manga does this far better. That’s not to say that perhaps it goes too far as well, I’ve yet to have a good hard think about it, but the execution is far better than what happens in Other M and matches what had happened in the volume by that point. Samus’ life is hardship and suffering and it all comes to a head in those particular scenes.

But that confrontation in Other M is just the start of the odd decisions made that reduce Samus from the incredibly capable woman she’d been portrayed as up to that point, into a naive, shrinking character with nothing resembling her drive or will.

She becomes unable to make even the most minor decisions, especially if they fly in the face of common sense (a reoccurring theme with characters I dislike in “serious” works, as you might have noticed, so having one I like suddenly doing that almost seems like a challenge to get me to dislike them).

I’m supposed to believe that this woman left the Federation to become an independent bounty hunter? It extends beyond her character to even her design; she loses a foot and two inches of height so that she’s shorter than all these guys, all of her established muscle and tone evaporates and high-heels appear on the Zero Suit that, while skintight, was deliberately designed to NOT have them.

And, of course, her general (borderline suicidal) deference to Adam.

It’s so bad that I’ve genuinely come to believe that this version of Samus is a GF clone that was meant to act out her own Shadow Moses simulation, like Raiden did in MGS2, only for her to go rogue and save the day regardless.

As a matter of fact, the whole game feels like a bad attempt to emulate a Metal Gear game, with its rumination and navel gazing, but lacks the talent or focus to actually discuss the topics it wants to.

It’s badly done and what’s worse is, even in Metal Gear’s most nonsensical or badly written moments, they’re at least funny or tragic and Other M is neither.

Which brings me to Adam Malkovich.

Oh, Adam, Adam, Adam.

What the fuck am I meant to see in you? Samus’ dialogue tells us one thing, the actions, visual direction, the way in which he addresses Samus, orders her, controls her and ignores her tells us another.

We’re expected to root for this guy. To agree with Samus’ assessment of him. But all it does is further that idea that Samus is, in fact, an idiot who needs people more capable than her, to do everything for her.

Simply put, Samus, when not doing everything in her power to remember the Baby (another botched take on what was fondly remembered, the bond between her and the infant Metroid has now forever been tainted, even with Samus Returns’ efforts to save that whole thing) talks about Adam, how wonderful this commanding officer is, how patient and kind and caring and-

Yeah, no, he’s a dick and he acts like he can’t stand Samus’ very presence.

Without even going into the hated authorization mechanic, he never once looks at her with anything resembling warmth in his face; you could put that down to the models looking uncannily robotic to begin with, but Anthony Higgs seems to be the most expressive and can do... emotion. Even in dialogue and his VA’s recorded lines, there are no smiles, no change in inflection or in-jokes.

He comes off not as an aloof CO, but somebody who dislikes being in the same room as Samus herself.

And the big part is, for all Other M draws from previous canon and the E-Manga, now that I’ve read further ahead, guess what? Adam is a completely likable human being in it.

By that, I mean he’s an average filler manga character and not a raging asshole; he’s ranked higher than Samus, but is a bit accommodating towards her situation when they meet and later they do seem to have struck up something similar to the relationship stated in Other M.

He jokes with her, smiles, when she goes independent he goes out of his way to help her, she’s quick to remind him of her boundaries and his lack of control over her which he quickly agrees with. Samus and Adam have a much healthier working relationship there and the one in Other M is meant to reflect it? Rubbish.

In short, from what I’ve gathered, Other M was an attempt to canonize or at least further develop the E-Manga and completely shot itself in the foot by contradicting the E-Manga, prior Metroid canon, Samus’ character and archetype and ultimately, itself.

But hey, looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, at least we got a game to put up there with Hotel Mario and the CDI Zeldas that rounds out the embarrassing meme trifecta of Nintendo’s Big Three.

[blazehedgehog]

Why do people critique Sonic harder than other series? Why do we need to step back and say Sonic Adventure was actually a flawed game? No one does that for other iconic games that have aged just as poorly if not worse like Zelda 1 or Metroid 1. Heck, even Mario 64 didn't get it perfect but we never have to put an asterisk on its quality but why do we have to always do that for Sonic?

Because Sonic is special.

Sonic was a franchise that shifted an entire industry when it came out. If you go back and look at platformers of the era, before 1990, everyone was desperately trying to clone the concepts of Super Mario Bros.

By late 1992, Mario clones were becoming increasingly rare, replaced instead by people chasing after Sonic the Hedgehog’s success. Sonic was a tiny revolution in terms of video game characterization. He had personality to spare, whereas most game characters of that time were blank slate player avatars. Sonic was expressive and reactionary when guys like Mario, or Mega Man, or Simon Belmont, or Link all had one single facial mood that carried them through the whole game.

That was paired with rollercoaster, pinball gameplay unlike anything else on the market at the time. It was new, and exciting, and most importantly, it was good, and Sega reaped the benefits of this. Sonic the Hedgehog became a household name. He was more popular than Mickey Mouse, one of the strongest brand identities on earth.

Sonic did not stay good. The environment Sonic was created in – a sort of east vs. west boiler – broke down across multiple levels. Key personnel were scared away by aggressive upper management. The developers that managed to stick around became burnt out over Sega riding them to maximize the Sonic cash cow. The whole thing fell apart in to a million pieces, and each piece went on to become its own microcosmic shard of the Sonic identity.

This puts the Sonic franchise in the unique position where there’s a lot to unpack on the road of “how Sonic was good and what made him become bad.” There are so many angles to view things from, so many ways to tackle the subject, because Sega’s let Sonic become so many different things. That identity crisis has lead to everybody arguing about the “true” Sonic the Hedgehog.

All of this is bolstered by the fact that a lot of “bad” Sonic games aren’t all the way bad. Even in games like Sonic 06, or Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, or Shadow the Hedgehog, somebody was trying to make something cool. They are never actually just bald-faced cash grabs, they’re full of legitimately good ideas that never get the time or money to come all the way to fruition. That, in itself, encourages debates over mechanics and storytelling as everyone tries to parse why the heck they like this stuff in the first place.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a mirror that must be turned back upon yourself, because there’s no way you can play more than a few of these games before you have to ask why you’re putting yourself through this. And I’d argue nobody ever comes up with a good answer, either! I don’t feel like I have. Yet here I am, been here since 1991, and I’ve yet to leave this franchise behind.

And that’s what people want to get to the bottom of.

With Super Mario 64, you say “Here’s why this game is great, here’s how it changed the industry” and you’re done. With Sonic the Hedgehog, it’s orders of magnitude longer or more complex than that, and often hard to accurately define, because it’s almost more of a feeling than a documented fact.

[hypocrisyofandrewdobson]

"You need to work on your lighting"

I admit that normally I don't like to nitpick Dobson's art-- a lot of his stuff is pretty self-evidently unappealing, but when he puts out a piece that he clearly did work on it seems kind of counterproductive to dismiss that he put effort into something and just zero in on the foibles. It only supports his thesis that his trolls look for the most outlandish or nitpicky details and don't deliver 'constructive criticism'. He wouldn't be wrong in this, either; callouts about minutiae really come across as petty.

For instance, I'm seeing (elsewhere) a lot of discussion about his Samus Breaks the Noob Tube fanart focusing on things like her specific armor design (implying he traced it from screencapped footage from Super Smash Bros.) to the fact that her pinky appears broken. These are possible issues, but they're honestly pretty insignificant, especially when 'broken pinky' keeps coming up as the main complaint. (Admittedly, the pinky is probably broken, but the hand's position is still easily readable and I'm not going to crucify him over a digit you can barely see.)

No, I'm going to crucify him over the lighting.

As I said this isn't normally something I would bring up, but it's specifically because of the Lapidot magazine and his response to somebody telling him "[his] lighting needs work"-- he went off on a multi-paragraph screed about how advice isn't appreciated, especially after a work is already done and he's never going to address it again. Because apparently he doesn't understand that you can learn from something you did in a previous work and apply the advice to the future.

I mean apparently he can't. For reference, this is the picture:

At a glance it's pretty impressive, especially for what Dobson's been churning out recently, but something has bothered me about it since I first saw it posted (and no, it's not the pinky). What's the problem?

The lighting.

Specifically, there is no lighting.

The background is the same value as Samus. Samus' shading is almost nonexistent. This might be fine given the underwater setting, except that she has a caustic effect (the water-ripple) applied to her, meaning that there should be a strong enough source of light to provide some kind of directional lighting. The caustics are coming from multiple directions -- somewhere above,and the backs of her arms and legs -- which doesn't make any sense because the caustic effect is a result of light filtering through the surface of the water-- even if there were lights originating from either side of the tube, they would not  be casting caustics.

I could go into detail about why the shadows don't work properly, either, but suffice to say that they are flat-- both on Samus and on most of the environment. This is the predominant issue with the picture as a whole-- Dobson drew the lineart (which is itself solid, although in desperate want of varying line weight), slapped a few solid colors, made a cursory attempt at shading, and then threw on the caustics filter to mask how otherwise simplistic his work was.

This causes the entire picture to feel like it's just on a flat plane-- Samus is at the same depth as all of the glass shards, which are at the same depth as the tube in the back, which are at the same depth as the tube in the front (and I admit, not being at all familiar with Super Metroid, I didn't realize this was supposed to be the opposite end of the tube until I watched a quick playthrough to get context of what he was drawing. Also yes I did research for this); the glass fragments are almost monotonous so it just looks like it's on the same plane as the rest of them. The background is the worst offender, being a pale blue (which... also somehow has caustics across the entire length of the wall?). If you're at all familiar with the density of water, it gets dark further down, and as I understand it the tube is fairly deep underwater, in a subterranean cavern-- the tubes might be casting light, which would illuminate Samus, but the background should be dark and vague (which would help her pop from the background instead of just being absorbed by it).

There's also an issue that water is a physical presence, and if there's a strong lighting coming from somewhere (especially at this apparent depth) it should be holding shadows. Samus, despite the bubbles around her (none of which, I now notice, are coming from the tubes themselves? Seems like that's where most of the air should be), appears to be hanging suspended in air, not drifting through water.

To wit, I spent a few minutes in Paint Tool SAI playing with values and plopping in some (very loose) shadows.

I gave myself five minutes to do this. It's not ideal (the poor placement of caustics and shadows made it difficult to determine which direction to cast Samus' shadow in-- I defaulted to backlighting, given how the caustics fall), but I think it's a reasonable illustration for the difference that can be made just by taking the lighting into account.

Like that guy he blocked told him to.

https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e78f45296af1f133ca166fd324ad05/tumblr_pf4bw9WUqC1r7r8ub_540.jpg

“I think a lot of us were just so impressed that he actually put in effort and clearly actually cared about what he was drawing for once that we were willing to give him some overall leeway. That being said, holy crap did you make it look amazing with the shading added.” -THOAD

[wildknightblaze]

I'm stealing this from Twitter to do on this so I don't run into tweet or thread limits. What's that? I don't have enough followers to fill up enough likes? TOO BAD I’M DOING THEM ALL ANYWAY.

1. I don't like to admit it, but at this point, Waluigi honestly makes the most sense. If he counts as Wario, though, then fuck it - Geno would rule. Show the Mario RPGs some love.

2. Dixie. I was honestly hoping for her over K. Rool. Don't get me wrong, K. Rool is infuckingcredible and I'm thrilled he's in, but some people seem to think it's a binary choice between more female characters or more villains, and that's stupid and weird, but if it's true (which it’s not) then I will always pull for more female characters. Plus she'd basically be Diddy with a bunch of hair-based moves. That would rule.

3. Tetra. Preferably with ideas from her Hyrule Warriors moveset. Flipping around, shooting shit with water magic, and endlessly spinning around with a cutlass is something that should translate to smash pretty well.

4. Adam as an Echo of Zero Suit, jet heels included.

nah, just kidding. Honestly, the Metroid representation in Ultimate is already really good, so it's a tough choice. However, since they did shrink Ridley down to his NES size, maybe they could do the same with Kraid. He's basically the only major Metroid character left who would work. Of course, if Sylux does end up being a part of Prime 4...

5. I don't really know who from Yoshi would be good who wouldn't be better as a part of Mario. I guess Kamek? Or for maximum yuks, a normal-ass Shy Guy. Or...no, wait, I've got it. BABY MARIO.

6. Bandana Waddle Dee. Without question. He basically already has a smash moveset. I'm honestly shocked he isn't already in.

(obviously it's because sakurai HATES any kirby game he didn't personally touch wugjgugjgsuhgjfjfjdjkd)

(for the record I don't subscribe to that theory, it's dumb)

7. Krystal, definitely. Her assist trophy is a good start. What would be cooler would be combining her staff with typical Star Fox gadgets and putting her in a Star Fox uniform (blue jumpsuit, the white jacket) so people would have to work a little harder to be horny about her.

8. Honestly I stopped playing Pokémon so I'm not sure who's good anymore. Decidueye looked pretty rad though. But since we already have a Gen 7 rep, I think Sceptile would be pretty cool too. Either way, grass types need more love in smash.

Though, with the Fire/Fighting overload, it's funny that none of them ever made it into Smash. If it had to be one of them for whatever reason, Blaziken is the best of them.

9. Everyone says Ninten, but ehhh. Would he really bring anything Ness and Lucas don't already do better? Let's do Paula or Kumatora, let's get some kickass black magician girl action in here.

10. Everyone always says Black Shadow. Black Shadow looks dumb and boring. I want Jody Summer. Again, I will always pull for more female characters, and I want to see a kickass lady with an extra-ass Captain Falcon moveset.

11. Uhhhhh I dunno. They did a lot of good ones already. But since I have to think of somebody... Blaster Master was the other NES game I had, so maybe Jason and/or the SOPHIA tank. I remember the tank being pretty agile too. They could do the original or the Blaster Master Zero redesigns, either works, but I almost feel like the original NES design is more likely considering how they handled Simon in this game - making him hearken back to his original well-loved design instead of trying to do one of the weirder modern interpretations. Either way, a vehicular-based character would be really interesting!

12. ALLLLLLL OF THEEEMMMM

Ok no seriously. I fell in love with Edelgard the second she was revealed (can't beat a sensibly-dressed noblewoman voiced by Cristina Vee with a giant axe), and I want to see people's heads explode when they try to comprehend a Fire Emblem anime in Smash who doesn't have a sword. Celica would also be awesome. Maybe she could be like Robin, but her spells don't break - they damage her instead. Or promote Lyn. Heroes proves she's still a fan favorite.

Whatever the case, I welcome them all and laugh in the face of those who are still angry at so many Fire Emblem characters. Die mad about it.

13. Viridi would be pretty sweet. She did a lot in Uprising, but she still felt held back somehow. Getting to play as her in smash would be a good halfway point. I get that she's a Mii Swordfighter outfit because that was the only way they could do her staff, but I imagine her being an Echo or semi-clone of Palutena ala Isabelle/Villager.

14. If not Waluigi, then probably Ashley. Everyone always says Ashley though! So for some variety, maybe Kat & Ana, as a katana-wielding duo like the Ice Climbers. I'm surprised they're no longer in Ultimate.

15. Raiden, as he appears in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, without question. It's one of my favorite games ever, we'd be spoiled for music choice, and his moveset would rule. I can just imagine a final smash consisting of chopping them into a billion pieces (they wouldn't ACTUALLY be cut apart, of course, this game isn't rated M) and pulling off a Zandatsu while RUUULES OF NAAATURE screams in the background.

16. I was really surprised they didn't promote Shadow to an Echo. He seems tailor-made for the concept. But even then...I'd prefer Tails. Let him claw back some of the coolness he's lost. Give him some gadgets like in Sonic Battle (I feel like I’m the only one who remembers that game), a bunch of tail whip attacks, and a final smash involving strafing the stage with the Cyclone.

17. A Beady Long Legs so I can freak out and stomp on them forever for giving birth to my arachnophobia.

No, really, I have no idea. There isn't really any good idea that wouldn't just echo who's already there. Maybe Louie with a different Pikmin loadout.

18. K.K. Slider. He's just as much of a mascot as Tom or Isabelle are, and I feel like he's underappreciated or forgotten in that regard. I want to smash fools with an acoustic guitar. Maybe he could copy Jigglypuff's up B and play music to lull people to sleep too.

19. Proto Man! Or, if he'd be too similar to his brother, X. X would be pretty awesome, actually. Like a taller Mega Man with a command dash and some of the crazy powerful MMX weapons, with the Nova Strike as a final smash.

20. ...Er. Good question. I never played Wii Sports Resort or Nintendo Land or Miitopia or anything like that, and I feel like those would probably be the best places to draw someone from. Maybe some Miitopia classes. I don't know what that would entail though.

21. Mike Tyson.

No, probably Mr. Sandman or Mr. Dream or someone similar. A big final boss, anyway. Or maybe Glass Joe for maximum yuks. He'd be the joke character.

...No, wait, definitely Mr. Sandman. He'd be the first explicitly black character in Smash! That's definitely worth something!

22. Ms. Pac-Man. Like. Hello???

23. It's probably gotta be Rex & Pyra/probably Mythra too, but the only bit I've actually played of Xenoblade 2 is a bit of Torna. I did like Lora's design though, so maybe her and Jin and...uh, her other Blade whose name I can't remember.

24. Again, people saying stuff like M. Bison or Akuma. Eff that. Let's get Chun-Li in here! Show Fox how the rapid kicks are done! Get another Laura Bailey-voiced character in there! Recreate EVO moment 37! Do it you cowards!

25. Out of all of Final Fantasy, I'd probably be happiest with someone classic, like Cecil or Terra. That said, I generally do like all the games, so I'd be fine with someone like Squall or Noctis or even frickin' Lightning. But the thing that'd make me REALLY happy would be if they double-dipped into 7 and pulled Tifa. Get a kickass soft-spoken lady brawler in there! She's the only one who's willing to put up with emo Cloud anyway!

26. Jeanne, it's really the most obvious choice. Though Rodin would be cool because, again, just to have an actual black person in Smash. THERE IS NOT A LOT OF POC REPRESENTATION IN SMASH. That's an important thing!

27. I haven't even played Splatoon 2 or Octo Expansion, but I love the Octolings, it's gotta be them.

28. Alucard is the obvious choice and would be perfect. But in the interest of not always picking the obvious choice...Soma would be an amazing backup choice. Just as powerful (arguably moreso, he has greater weapon variety) and cool (make one of his victory lines be "I'm a lot cooler now!" like the massive fucking dork he is). And his games were the best ones in the series. don't @ me.

(Ecclesia is a very close second though. Shanoa would also be amazing, but she's not nearly as well-known.)

29. PUT MASTER HAND ON THE CHARACTER SELECT SCREEN FOR REAL, YOU COWARDS.

I uh, don't really know aside from that. Maybe a Fighting Polygon? Gotta respect your roots and all.

30. I will always pull for Isaac for something like this. If Bandai Namco decided to let Tales have further representation than a Mii costume, I would also really fuckin’ love Lloyd or Yuri.

But...to be totally honest, it’s another JRPG that has stolen my heart as of late. I would fuckin love it if any of the Octopath Travelers joined the fight. Olberic would probably fit the best, but I'd love it if they managed to make Primrose or Ophilia work. Ideally, I could have all eight and wouldn't have to choose!

[4colorrebellion]

4cr Plays - Battle Princess Madelyn (Switch)

Gaming has not existed for long enough that we can “pass down” games from one generation of player to the next. This is exactly what happened, in the story of what would become Battle Princess Madelyn. Christopher Obritsch, creative director of developer Casual Bit Games, introduced his daughter - Madelyn - to Capcom’s revered Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, and she fell in love with it. 

In fact, she wanted to be the protagonist OF the game, and defeat the evil “Green Head” herself. Christopher explained that it was somebody else’s game, but offered to make her a new game of her own. She declared that only boys could be knights, but Christopher persisted - asking her what color she wanted the armor to be. 

The end result of this lovely bonding moment is Battle Princess Madelyn - a homage to Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, Wonder Boy III, and the bygone era of the “beat ‘em up”. Even if you aren’t familiar with the named games, you’ve probably played something in a similar vein if you’ve been played any old games. Two-dimensional, move left-to-right and back again, dodge deadly foes, and stab you way to victory. 

The story of Battle Princess Madelyn opens when the titular princess’s hometown is attacked by an evil wizard. The jerk even kills her dog! Madelyn - joined by the ghost of her dog - must defeat the wizard and save the kingdom. Honestly, there’s not much more to it than that. However, the story is charmingly told through a Princess Bride-esque framing device, where the story is told to the actual Madelyn by her grandfather. 

The story is basically window-dressing for the game itself, a tough-as-nails quest through a series of environments filled with dangers and monsters. The game itself can be played in two different ways, a core “story mode” and an “arcade mode”. 

While the traditional inspirations of this game were linear affairs, the story mode of Battle Princess Madelyn is distinctly structured more like a Metroid game, where you can travel between different environments, and progress is gated by the need for certain power-ups. This mode drops you in, and expects you to explore to find the way forward. There is no in-game map - just a few hints to suggest where to go. I’d suggest keeping some graph paper handy and making your own map. 

The arcade mode, on the other hand, is a more direct homage to Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. This mode is more linear, and gives you abilities like the double jump from the start. While both modes share common gameplay elements, both are also distinctly different experiences. I think both are worth playing in their own right, but I found myself enjoying the arcade mode a little bit more.

In either case, this game is tough! It certainly feels like its inspirations. After messing with Ghosts ‘n Goblins on the NES Classic recently, playing Madelyn felt like slipping on a glove. This is great, if you’re a fan of these games. If not, actually playing this game can be a bit daunting. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of this type of game - I get frustrated a little easily. Still, I did find Battle Princess Madelyn to be fairly fun to play in small bursts. This is probably why I preferred the arcade mode - it is a little easier to make progress in from time to time. The story mode requires that you keep track of the structure of the world, which requires more attention from the player.

I also have to say that Battle Princess Madelyn looks and sounds fantastic. The pixel art is richly detailed, the use of color is stunning, and the character and monster designs are really cool. The game does a nice job of balancing homage and modern technology. It looks like you remember these games looking like in your rose-tinted memories, if that makes sense. It also sounds great. You can choose between a retro-style bleep & bloop soundtrack or a fully-orchestrated variant. Both are cool, but I love the orchestrated version. There is just something about fighting monsters to choral chants that gets me into the spirit of the affair.

Battle Princess Madelyn is a well-realized, content-packed homage to the action sidescroller that should delight both old school players and the new generation. Be prepared for a good challenge, get out that graph paper, and settle in for the quest, and you’ll enjoy the ride. 

A copy of the game was provided for this review by the publisher, Hound Picked Games.

Nintendo eShop

Official Website

[twh-news]

25 Things We Learned from the ‘Kong: Skull Island’ Commentary

by Rob Hunter | July 26, 2017 | Commentary

“This whole movie is basically just my huge, expensive infomercial for why people should go visit Vietnam.”

Warner Bros.’ giant monsterverse is two films in so far, and the visible improvement from Godzilla to Kong: Skull Island bodes well for whatever comes next. The latter film understands that the big draw here are the big monsters, and it delivers an abundance of big monster action. The film was recently released on Blu-ray/DVD, and in addition to numerous featurettes and deleted scenes the supplements include a director’s commentary.

Commentator: Jordan Vogt-Roberts (director)

1. The opening title sequence featuring WB and Legendary logos was originally meant to feature “throwbacks to 70s vector-based and illustrated company logos,” but not only could they not get them right but the companies were also “very protective of their logos.”

2. The American pilot falling out of the sun is meant to suggest Icarus, a world of myths, and the loss of mankind’s connection to them.

3. The opening on the beach is tonally inspired by the likes of The Good the Bad the Weird, and he adds that “I love the idea of this crazy David Lean movie.”

4. The title credits are done by Kyle Cooper who also did David Fincher’s Seven.

5. The image that Bill Randa (John Goodman) hands Senator Willis (Richard Jenkins) was originally of Godzilla, but he fought against that as he felt the film needed to be about Kong from the beginning.

6. Jenkins, Corey Hawkins, Toby Kebbell, and John Dykstra are all “the man.”

7. Three of his Kings of Summer stars — Nick Robinson, Erin Moriarty, and Moises Arias — appear in the background at the 12:10 mark. It was the last day of filming, and he flew them out to Hawaii for the cameo.

8. Thomas Middleditch is the voice on the phone with Brie Larson.

9. The ship named Athena is his “dumb, unnecessary” nod to Alien via the lettering font. It’s the first of several “dorky” nods in the film, and he promises to point some out while leaving others for the viewers to find.

10. Chuck Jones’ “Now Hear This” is playing in the background of the briefing scene. He’s always loved it and took advantage of this being a WB film to toss it into the movie.

11. Video games mentioned as inspirations include Shadow of Colossus, Metal Gear Solid, Journey, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid, and Call of Duty.

12. He had dinner with Park Chan-wook, and the main question the Korean director had about the film had to do with how believable the flight-deck crew were on the ship.

13. Vietnam is one of his favorite countries, and he hopes the film encourages people to visit similar to how the Lord of the Rings films increased tourism to Middle Earth.

14. The helicopter occupant falling into Kong’s mouth is an homage to the 1933 film version where Kong actually ate people.

15. It was a massive undertaking to attain permission and arrange filming in Vietnam. He says this was the first American film to shoot there since 2002’s The Quiet American.

16. Directors mentioned as inspirations include Terrence Malick, Steven Spielberg, and Hayao Miyazaki.

17. Kebbell’s facial motion-capture work includes the scene where Kong munches on the squid — which yes, is obviously an Old Boy reference — and for the shot he was actually chewing Red Vines.

18. Hank Marlow’s (John C. Reilly) jacket says “Lizard Company” on it which is a nod of sorts to Travis Bickle’s jacket in Taxi Driver saying “King Kong Company.”

19. The script originally included a section where they find a “boat city” which was a steampunk-like village consisting of people who’ve washed up or capsized on the island.

20. The writing atop the record player is a design nod to the serial number and writing on the box holding the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

21. The montage showing the boat head off down the river away from the village was originally longer and set to Cat Stevens’ “Wild World.”

22. One of his main goals with the film was to create images we’ve never seen before… like a .50 caliber machine gun mounted atop a triceratops skull or Tom Hiddleston slicing prehistoric flying creatures with a katana while running through a poison cloud in a gas mask.

23. The scene where Kong approaches James Conrad (Hiddleston) and Mason Weaver (Larson) at night in the fog and has glowing eyes lead to some behind the scenes disagreements. “Somebody actually quit production over this, ‘I don’t understand it! It just doesn’t make sense to me!'”

24. He says Vietnam is ready for their version of The Raid, suggesting their film industry is growing and ready to bust out, but he’s discounting the political climate. The filmmakers behind the excellent Clash followed it up with another action film called Chinatown which was immediately banned by authorities from being shown anywhere inside or out of the country without severe consequences.

25. The post-credits scene almost didn’t make the cut as several voices felt it didn’t fit, but he argued successfully for its inclusion knowing that audiences would love the tease into the bigger monsterverse to come.

Best in Context-Free Commentary

“I love the Peanuts and Snoopy.”

“The stuff these guys do in helicopters is insane.”

“This is one of my favorite shots in the movie as it turns into a very anime like Evangelion you know long lens like several layers of parallax as you’re running by shot.”

“I love the idea of them kind of being the crackheads of the island.”

“Brie runs like a movie star.”

“That moon should not be that big, but why not.”

“Sometimes you gotta change stuff to avoid vomit.”

Final Thoughts

As flawed as the script may be there’s no denying the appeal of the imagery throughout Kong: Skull Island. It’s a visually exciting movie, and Vogt-Roberts splits his enthusiasm evenly between what we’re seeing onscreen and the people involved. He loves his cast and crew, and he’s complimentary towards them all — with the exception of Samuel L. Jackson whom he only mentions briefly a couple times before his character dies. He’s also not shy about sharing his pop culture interests from video games to anime to Asian cinema, and if you take nothing else from his numerous references know this… he *loves* Evangelion. It’s a solid track with minimal silence, and he shares a lot of information regarding the production choices making for an interesting and engaging listen.

[tophatlucario]

LET ME FOLLOW YOU

I need more blogs to follow, so if your blog is associated with any of the topics below, please reblog or like this post. — Nintendo — Sonic — Splatoon — Kingdom Hearts — Xenoblade Chronicles — Videogames in general — Sonic Mania — Sonic Forces — Sonic — Fun stuff — Sonic — Xenoblade Chronicles — Sonic — Artwork — Cute artwork — Sonic — Classic Sonic — Sonic Forces — Super Mario Odyssey — Splatoon 2 — Kingdom Hearts 3 — Kingdom Hearts 3 — Cats — More cats — Cute cats — Funny cats — Evil cats — Sonic — sanik — Dogs — But more cats — I'm allergic to cats — That's why I want cats on my blog — sinic — sonic — more sonic — tails also — & Knuckles — SEGA — Kingdom Hearts III — KH3 will never release — Metroid — Samus — Metroid... — Paper Mario — Xenoblade Chronicles — Kingdom Hearts — Sonic — Sonic — Sonic — Sonic — Sonic — Sonic — Sonic Mania — Sonic Forces — Nintendo Switch — Reggie — More Nintendo — Kingdom Hearts III — SANIK — SONIC — AAAAAAAAAAH — Kirby — Did you know that I like pancakes? — I should start to work out — But I'm a lazy crap — I also have a job with terrible work hours — Sonic — Sonic — LIVE AND LEARN — HANGING ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW — SINIK — Xenoblade Chronicles — Sploon — Xenoblade Chronicles 2 — Nintendo Switch — But I need money for Switch — So that's why I have my job — Are you still reading this? — sinik — u can stop now if you want to — or not — sonik — I seriously need blogs to follow — lots of blogs — i also like music — mostly instrumental music — also videogame and movie soundtracks — Kingdom Hearts III will release — on November 30th 2018 — I have my sources trust me — I also like Disney — Forgot to tell that — Big Hero 6 👌👌👌 — I have a labrador retriever — His name is Pontiak — He's 4 years old and super nice — Sonic — Sonic Mania — For real Sonic Mania is HYPE — And Sonic Forces too — I need my OC to get real — The moon landing was fake — I'm actually Neil Armstrong — Also Elvis is alive — Sonic Sonic Sonic — Super Mario Odyssey — Xenoblade Chronicles — Kingdom Hearts III — SEGA — Nintendo — A little bit of Mega Man I guess I like too... — Memes — Cats — Dogs — But especially cats, remember that. — my sister is hazzling me — Cuz I said Wreck-it Ralph is a little slow — but I love her anyway — The Mario & Luigi games are hype — Super Paper Mario has a better story than TTYD — Also better music than TTYD — Sonic — Xenoblade Chronicles — Kingdom Hearts III — Sora — Roxas — Music — Videogame music — How to train your dragon — not the 2nd one — It wasn't as good as the first — I seriously need a Nintendo Switch — I saw a squirrel today — It had light brown fur, almost red-like — It was so cute! It was eating a nut — I screamed "SQUIRREL!" when I saw it — Like in the movie UP — Are you still here? — I'm pretty sure you have got an idea of what I like — Sonic — Sonic — Don't — Autocorrect — I dunno how "Sonic" became "Don't" — Maybe it's fate telling me something — Nah — In that case fate can screw itself — Sonic is BACK AND HYPE — My fingers are tired — I don't know how much longer I will go on — Sonic — Super Mario Odyssey — Super Mario Galaxy — Rosalina — Also I don't like Rosalina nowadays — They made her into fanservice material — It's disgusting really — Rosalina was one of my favourite characters — But not anymore — Well she is still my favourite in SMG — That game is ACE 👌 — Super Mario Odyssey looks dope tho — Especially Bowser — Super Smash Bros. — I still need to play the MGS games — SNAAAAAAAAKE EAAAAATER!!! — I spoiled the main theme — sorry.... — But Snake is handsome — Nice dude — Wanna play as him and stealth — Sonic — Donic — Donic — Sonic — Cinos — Sanik — Melee — No not Melee — The Melee fans scare me — Mario Kart is also good — Splatoon — Hey!! — Do you think this is a joke? — I still need lots of blogs to follow — So don't forget to like or reblog — Otherwise I wouldn't know about you — I dunno what else I should talk about — I could tell a joke, but that would be terrible — I am bad at jokes — Also we are doomed — I had to get it out there — Just look around yourself — We will get nuked any day now — Somebody gotta be real here — I'm almost done — Let's write more saniks — Sonic — Sonik — Sonikku — Sanik — danik — sank — dank — memes — Sonic — Sonic Mania — Sonic Forces — My favourite meme is We Are Number One — I like swimming — And skiing — And sports in general — Anyone wanna play some sports with me? — I just sneezed — It felt goooooooooood — Sonic — Super Mario Odyssey — Xenoblade Chronicles — Kingdom Hearts — Nintendo — SEGA — ^^ — Those are pretty much the real ones — OH and Splatoon too — I'm sure I missed something — METROID — I WANT A NEW METROID GAME — A game that takes place after Metroid Fusion — We need Metroid 5!!! — Spoilers ahead: — Samus is freakin' hunted!! — By the United Federation — I want a game where Samus is — Fighting against the government — That would be AWESOME — Also please make Samus badass again — She's not just fanservice — Sonic — Sonic — Xeno — Blade — Shulk — FIIIIOOOOOORAAAAAAA!!!!!! — If you are still here — Congrats — You deserve a medal — But I don't have any — I'm a cheap jerk — But honestly good work — When I was younger — I used to roleplay as Sonic characters — It was weird — Atleast it helped me learn english — Also what happened to Detective Pikachu? — I honestly wanted that game — It looked fun and weird — I like those kind of games — Do you think I should change me URL? — And my pfp? — I think so — It's pretty old and irrelevant — But I want Detective Pikachu... — Wanna see what happened — Did they cancel it? — That would be a shame if they did — Almost done here — Sorry — I may have teased you for a little too long — I'm pretty sure I will lose followers — This post is gonna take forever to scroll down — But I will take it — I have already come this far — And I will not just throw it away — IT'S ALL OR NOTHING — So... — How have you been? — I like your hair — Did you go to the barber recently? — Maybe you cut it yourself — And and your shirt is 👌👌👌 — I have a shirt of my own that I like a lot — I got it from the KH Orchestra On Tour — It has Sora on it — Super nice shirt really — But your shirt really takes the cake — Anyway — I'm almost done here — Only a few more lines — Sonic — Sonic — Sonic — Sonic — Sonkc — Tails — Knuckles — Amy Rose — Shadow — Rouge — Dr. Eggman — Dr. Robotnik — Tikal — Metal Sonic — Cream the Rabbit — Chao — Espio — Charmy — Vector — Silver — Blaze — Are there any more charact— EGGMAN NEGA — He's weird — Also his name is just begging to be misused — in inappropriate ways I mean — I think you can imagine what I mean — ALRIGHTY! Thank you for sticking around. — It's been a long ride — I'm sorry it has to end — But this is the start of something new — I want to follow you! — So — Lastly before I go — I have one last thing to say — Sonic & Knuckles

[kullijuustosiivu]

hei aion olla paska anoni ja sanoa siihe kysymys meemuun että kaikki

Tää menee lapset jo ihan höpöksi, viimeksi meni yli tunti ja oli 50 vähemmän kysymystä

1: Name

Tero2: Age

243: 3 Fears

Myöhästyminen, rahattomuus ja se etten keksi mitä tällä elämällä tekis4: 3 things I love

Kaverit, kalja ja kokkaaminen (hah, keksinhän mie kaikki koolla alkavaksi)5: 4 turns on

Alkkarit, tissit ja sixari (saatte ihan ite päätellä puhunko kaljasta vai masuista)6: 4 turns off

Ärsyttävä persoona, sana “daddy”, en keksi kolmatta. 7: My best friend

@viviun8: Sexual orientation

Joku siellä bissen ja panin välillä, tierä häntä. Kaikkiruokanen homo ^_^9: My best first date

Emmie oo käyny ku yhillä reffeillä nii en tiiä. 10: How tall am I

noin 185

11: What do I miss

Sitä ku töitä oli enemmän ku kerkes tehä12: What time were I born

vappuna? Tarkemmin sanottuna joskus 06-08 välillä 1.5.199313: Favorite color

Vihree14: Do I have a crush

Täl hetkel ei15: Favorite quote

”Cat-in-pants-annoying”16: Favorite place

Kilpisjärvi on aika kiva :)17: Favorite food

Poron ulkofile medium -, lohkoperunoilla, tuoreilla kasviksilla ja riistakastikkeella18: Do I use sarcasm

No arvaa19: What am I listening to right now

Katon Shamelessiä20: First thing I notice in new person

Simmut21: Shoe size

4422: Eye color

tommonen ihme ruskee-vihree-mössö23: Hair color

ruskee24: Favorite style of clothing

noin 2 kertaa liian isot t-paidat ja hupparit 25: Ever done a prank call?

Useammanki mutta siitä on 17 vuotta aikaa varmaan27: Meaning behind my URL

Pikku Dimish 12v luki väärin sanan “Diminishing returns” ja loppu on historiaa28: Favorite movie

Hot Fuzz29: Favorite song

Hammerfall - Dragon lies bleeding30: Favorite band’

Tällä hetkellä Sabaton, joskus oli tik tak, joskus oli Rise Against, joskus oli Machinae Supremacy31: How I feel right now

Ihan jees, semmonen 7/1032: Someone I love

ööh.... @viviun, @duskminded, @iskelmavaris 33: My current relationship status

sinkku34: My relationship with my parents

Oikein hyvä35: Favorite holiday

Vappu for obvious reasons (Saan vetää perseet ihan olan ylikki ja sanoa vaan että hei mulla on synttärit, anna armoa)36: Tattoos and piercing i have

1-up sieni oikeas rantees ja triforce vasemmas käes37: Tattoos and piercing i want

Screwattack metroid sarjasta vielä oikeaan käteen38: The reason I joined Tumblr

Halusin viviunin pöksyihin ja siitä se idea sitte lähti39: Do I and my last ex hate each other?

En usko, en mie ainakaan ruttista vihaa :o40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?

juu41: Have I ever kissed the last person you texted?

Olen42: When did I last hold hands?

juhannuksena43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?

noin 4 minuuttia44: Have I shaved your legs in the past three days?

en oo koskaan45: Where am I right now?

Istun kotona46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me?

Viviun se on ainaki ollu aiemmin yleensä :D47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?

helvetin kovalla48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad?

En oo viiteen vuoteen49: Am I excited for anything?

Rick and mortyn kolmos seasoni, qstockiin ens viikolla, duskmindedin tupareitaki ootan aika innolla :D50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?

Usiampi (enkö mie vastannu näihin jo viimeksi melkein kaikkiin...?)51: How often do I wear a fake smile?

Erittäin harvoin, vain jos se tekis kavereiden elämästä vaikeampaa jos en oo ilonen, oma elämä ei kiinnosta niin paljon että jaksaisin feikata olevani ilonen jos en oikeesti oo :P

52: When was the last time I hugged someone?

Tääki tais olla juhannuksena

53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me?

Kait mie olisin ilonen ruttiksen puolesta että se löys uuen poikkiksen? :)54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not?

Isoveljeen luultavasti ei kannattais mutta enhän minä ossaa sanoa ei (On myös syy miksi mie vastaan näihin kaikkiin saatana taasen)55: What is something I disliked about today?

On mutta se on vähän TMI, ette halua tietää miksi mulla ei oo ollu vessassa kivaa56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

En tiiä, gordon ramsey vois olla ihan kiva57: What do I think about most?

”Onkhan mulla rahaa tarpeeksi ens kuussaki”58: What’s my strangest talent?

Osaan lervata baari-illan aikana koko napani tyhjäksi ja jatkaa ryyppäämistä?59: Do I have any strange phobias?

Ei tietääkseni60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

No en ainakaan eessä61: What was the last lie I told?

”En jaksa nyt” (Saatte ihan omassa pienessä päässänne miettiä minkä suhteen, sen verran voin paljastaa että seksistä ei ollut kyse)62: Do I prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

en oo tainnu koskaan omistaa webbi kameraa nii varmaan puhelin :D63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

En haamuihin, alieneita nyt luultavasti on mutta ei ne täällä ole käyny. Sen verran iso universumi että eiköhän ne oo just toisella puolella64: Do I believe in magic?

En :65: Do I believe in luck?

Onko se uskomisen aihe? Luulin ihan faktaksi :D66: What's the weather like right now?

Kauhee rotanilma, +22 ja aurinko paistaa67: What was the last book I've read?

Tales of symphonia chronicles (ainoo kirja jonka oon lukenu)68: Do I like the smell of gasoline?

Hä?! No en o.069: Do I have any nicknames?

Dimitri, Terppa ja Terttu70: What was the worst injury I've ever had?

Käteni mursin 8 vuotiaana71: Do I spend money or save it?

Kaikki mennee jotka kerkeen saamaan72: Can I touch my nose with a tongue?

en oo lisko :73: Is there anything pink in 10 feet from me?

Peiton täkissä on pinkkejä kukkia, lasketaanko se ku se on piilossa tuolla lakanan alla?74: Favorite animal?

Koiro :>75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM?

Pelasin overwatchia76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is?

Kekkonen77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?

Tik Tak - Heilutaan78: How can you win my heart?

Tarjoa kalja ja sano mua söpöksi, oon aika halpa lutka :D79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone?

”Ajoi järveen väistäessään oravaa”80: What is my favorite word?

Sipuli ja sen erimuodot (Sibali, Sipuleisson, Sibal jne.)81: My top 5 blogs on tumblr

emmie ossaa tähän vastata, sori :82: If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?

Antakaa trumpille potkut, en jaksa lukea sen hullun tekemisistä enää83: Do I have any relatives in jail?

Ei84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power?

Se todennäköisyyksien manipulointi oli ihan siisti mut se taitaa olla huijaamista joten otetaan shapeshiftaaminen85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

En tiedä, en oo saanu vielä semmosta kymysystä86: What is my current desktop picture?

Genderbendattu Reaper Overwatchista87: Had sex?

jep88: Bought condoms?

jep89: Gotten pregnant?

en90: Failed a class?

en91: Kissed a boy?

jep92: Kissed a girl?

jep93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?

jep94: Had job?

jep95: Left the house without my wallet?

jep96: Bullied someone on the internet?

en ainakaan tietääkseni97: Had sex in public?

en98: Played on a sports team?

Lasketaanko roomalainen paini?99: Smoked weed?

oon100: Did drugs?

oon101: Smoked cigarettes?

joka päivä102: Drank alcohol?

joka päivä103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan?

en enkä tule olemaan104: Been overweight?

Tälläkin hetkellä105: Been underweight?

ala-asteella ennenku löysin wowin ja aloin syömään vitusti pakastepitsoja106: Been to a wedding?

joo107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight?

nyt on 14. tunti menossa108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight?

useampaan otteeseen109: Been outside my home country?

vähintään kerran vuodessa, euroopan ulkopuolella en oo käyny110: Gotten my heart broken?

Ei se nyt ihan paskaks oo menny, pari säröä tullu kerran tai kaks111: Been to a professional sports game?

Kerran kävin kattoon lätkää112: Broken a bone?

Oikean käen113: Cut myself?

Tarkotuksella? En. Vahingossa? Töissä vähintään kerran kuussa114: Been to prom?

en115: Been in airplane?

en muistaakseni116: Fly by helicopter?

oon117: What concerts have I been to?

Kävin provinssissa viime vuonna, kattoon turmion kätilöitä oulussa kerran ja siihen se tais jäähäkki118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex?

kyl119: Learned another language?

Miten muuten mie lukisin näitä kysymyksiä?120: Wore make up?

Jep121: Lost my virginity before I was 18?

kuukausi sen jälkeen ku täytin 18122: Had oral sex?

Jep123: Dyed my hair?

pari kertaa124: Voted in a presidential election?

en oo tainnu muistaa125: Rode in an ambulance?

Joo mut en asiakkaana126: Had a surgery?

Joo, juoksin taaperona lasiovesta läpi nii suuta piti vähän leikellä127: Met someone famous?

Annoin mie turmion kätilöiden kitaristille pusun kerran128: Stalked someone on a social network?

Mitään en myönnä129: Peed outside?

Mulla on pippeli, arvatkaa oonko kussu pihalla130: Been fishing?

Pari kertaa (Kerran sain hauen joka oli yhtä pitkä ku mie mut olin vaan 130 senttinen sillon)131: Helped with charity?

Oon mie Awesome Games Done Quickiin antanu pari kertaa rahaa (Ne menee Doctors without borderssille)132: Been rejected by a crush?

kertaalleen133: Broken a mirror?

En sentään134: What do I want for birthday?

Nintendo switchi olis ihan kiva :D

Nyt saatana loppuu tää, en jaksa aina vastata kaikkiin xDD

[stop185-blog1]

I was tagged by @otpinmybrain THE LAST 1) Drink: water 2) Call: my mom 3) Text message: my sister by heart 4) Song you listened to: i dont remeber so Sia - Don't give up 5) Time i cried: yesterday (but that was for nothing) 6) Dated somebody twice: didnt even date somebody 7) Kissed someone and regret it: nope 8)Been cheated on: nope 9) Lost someone special: too much 10) Been depressed: probably 11) Gotten drunk ans thrown up: nah. 3 FAVORTIES COLORS: 12-14: Marine blue; black, white. LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15) Made new friends: oh yes 16) Fallen out of love: perhaps 17) Laughed until you cried: yup 18) Found out someone wqs talking about you: no 19) Met someone whi changed you: oh yes 20) Found out who your friends were: more than ever 21) Kissed someone in your Facebook list: i dont have Facebook 22) How many Facebook friends did...: i dont have Facebook 23)Do you have any pets: one male cat. 24) Did you wanted to change your name: i used to but now that s okay. 25) What did you do for your birthday: absolutely nothing 26) What time did you wake up: 8:10 AM 27) What were you doing at midnight last night: chatting with my friend and listening some ASMR 28) Name something that you can't wait for: JAPAN. 29) When was the last time you saw your mom: right now 30) What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: my languages. Talking english as my mother tongue, chinese or japanese like english, and the other as third language. Even if i give up french. 31)What are you listening to right now: my family discussion 32) Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: yes i did. 33) Something that is getting on your nerves: arrogant peoples humiliating the others. 34) Most visited websites: Google +, 9gag when there was content 35) Moles: i guess i have some 36) Marks: birth marks on my belly, looks like a half soace invader. 37) Childhood dream: live in my dreams 38) Hair colour: brown 39) Long or short hair: short 40) Do you have a crush on someone: yes i do 41) What do you like about yourself: i am empathic and patient. Peoples say if i cant stand somebody, the person has a problem. 42) Piercings: No 43) Blood type: O+ or B-, gotta check 44) Nickname: the only i got last a week. "Mont Blanc" 45) Relationship status: single 46) Zodiac: Sagittarius (duh) 47) Pronouns: boi 48) Favorite TV shows: Spongebob Squarepants (childhood), Attack On Titan (adulthood), Gintama (humour) 49) Tatoos: no 50) Right or left handed: Right 51) Surgery: teeth? 52) Piercings: already asked 53) Sports: walk. 54) Vacation: 5 weeks a year now 55) Pair of trainers: shoes? Black Dr Martens. MORE GENERAL 56) Eating: everythign except banana 57) Drinking: warm: tea. Cold: almost everything 58) I'm about to: play Metroid Prime 2 59) Waiting for: somebody to give explanations 60) Want: ... move to Japan 61) Get married: first find a girlfriend to marry. 62) Career: i dont care about this WHICH IS BETTER? 63) Hugs or kisses: should try kisses. 64) Lips or eyes: i dont know yet 65) Shorter or taller: shorter partner 66) Older or younger: not too much 67) Nice arms or nice stomach: i dont really know 68) Sensitive or loud: sensitive 69) Hookup or relationship: relationship 70) Troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant i guess HAVE YOU EVER: 71)Kissed a stranger: never 72) Drank hard liquor: only tasted 73) Lost glasses: no 74) Turned someone down: nobody asked 75) Never dated but no 76) Broke someone's heart: no 77) Had your heart broken: maybe 78) 79) Cried when someone died: *cries on a corner* 80) Fallen for a friend: i dont know DO YOU: 81) Belive in yourself: *idiotic laugh* NEVER BELIEVE IN ME YOU FOOL HAHAHAHA! 82) Miracles: not now 83) Love at first sight: why not 84) Santa Claus: who? 85) Kiss on first date: i have no clue 86) Angels: yup OTHER: 87) Current best friends: Katalwíņćka and Thomas 88) Eye color: dark 89) Favorite movie: Inception

[eludum-a]

Dear future me,

[ letters from nanami // accepting bc why not ]

Dear future me,

so… how are things? I didn’t really think about a specific time frame for this time capsule thing, but I guess I should if I’m gonna ask the others to write and bury their letters with mine… Let’s say, ten years from now? Does that sound about right, future me?

Well, first of all, what are games like in the future? Did they ever make that Hey You Pikachu remake I was hoping for? Is the Metroid series doing alright? Is Kojima-san still an unfathomable genius (or an absolute lunatic, I was never sure which)? What about your dream of working for Nintendo beta testing their software and games?

I never thought much about the future when I was younger. It was just living from one day to the next, trying to get as much play time in as possible while avoiding my parents arguments. I didn’t care about my grades, which I’m pretty sad about now. I know I should have tried harder. If not for Hope’s Peak, I wouldn’t have a future.

There’s this new girl that’s been hanging around with my classmates… I don’t know what to make of her. She’s really pretty and famous. Enoshima Junko. Is she still around? She seems nice enough, but a lot of the time when I want to hang out with somebody, they’ve already made plans with her… I just want to stay friends with everybody, in the future. It’s okay if those other things I mentioned don’t happen. I think I can be happy with just that.

Did you ever find out what happened to Hinata-kun?

I’ll end it here with a wish… I guess. I hope, no matter where everyone is ten years from now, they’re still able to smile and have fun together. If I’ve only ever done one thing right in my life, I want it to be bringing everyone together so they can take care of each other. They won’t forget. I know they won’t.

Nanami Chiaki, Age 17.

[symbianosgames]

Metroidvania. What image did that word create in your mind? Super Metroid? Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? Or a newer title from an independent developer, like Chasm or Axiom Verge?

1986's Metroid and its SNES sequel, in particular, are touchstone titles in what has now unquestionably become its own genre. The first in the series introduced many console gamers to the idea of a large, explorable 2D platforming world; in 1994, Super Metroid refined that gameplay immensely while adding deft storytelling. Three years after that, Symphony of the Night expanded this formula in all directions, adding both complexity and depth at every turn.

"First off, I didn't like the state of action games at the time," says Koji "IGA" Igarashi, when asked where 1997's Symphony of the Night came from. "Titles divided into discrete stages were tending to get more and more difficult, leading to the situation where good players quickly finished them and beginners were no longer getting their money's worth. There was also the fact that the people on our team, including myself, really liked The Legend of Zelda, so we wanted to create a game in that style."

In retrospect, it's little surprise that this game launched a genre; it was a clear attempt to break away and create a holistically enjoyable game for a wide audience. The result worked too well to remain unique.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Though retro game fans can point out any number of similar titles, Igarashi and his team arrived at a functional, repeatable design -- and Symphony of the Night came quickly enough on the heels of the acclaimed Super Metroid that it could become entrenched as a formula.

"I think it wasn't until Symphony of the Night and its sequels melded Super Metroid and Castlevania that the classification narrowed to mean something like, 'Side scrolling action-adventures with a obstacles in a continuous map that you can surmount only after finding the requisite items and backtracking,'" says Tom Happ, whose upcoming Axiom Verge is one of the most promising new titles in the genre.

The next turning point for the Metroidvania was the seminal 2004 indie title Cave Story, created by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya all on his own. It wasn't just a highly creative evolution of the genre; Amaya's ethos of building the game by himself made it a title that is inextricably linked with the rise of the indie movement, and the game's art and design have proved as influential as Amaya's D.I.Y. production style.

Cave Story+

2009's Shadow Complex, developed by Chair Entertainment for Microsoft, is also worth mentioning. Its massive commercial success as the console market for independently developed games began to take off showed that the genre had a viable future.

That's not the only reason it's notable. "One moment that always stood out to me was when Donald Mustard said (to you, no less) that Super Metroid was 'the pinnacle of 2D game design'; I kind of feel that was the first moment somebody really tried intentionally to make a 'Metroidvania' rather than just an action-adventure with aspects of Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night," Happ says, referencing my 2009 interview with the Shadow Complex creative lead. 

Now that it's an entrenched genre, developers are trying to capture the essence of the Metroidvania -- and to extend it further. I spoke to a number of them to find out why and how they're doing it.

My first stop was to ask these developers what makes the genre so enduring -- why does it fascinate today's independent teams? After all, it's been a niche for years and years; it's only recently, post-indie boom, that the number of games exploded.

"The concept is universal," declares Erik Umenhofer, developer of Temporus. James Petruzzi, of Chasm developer Discord Games, agrees: "I think the core mechanics are timeless: exploration, character improvement, platforming, and combat."

Chasm

"I figure it's the excitement of enjoying the adventure, mixed with gameplay that's easy to get comfortable with. I think the exploration element makes you feel like you're moving the story along yourself a lot better than with titles divided into stages. That, and I think having character-growth elements allows gamers to enjoy the story right up to the end," says Igarashi, when discussing the genre's appeal.

"Platformers have always been an easy, up-front genre to get into... Compounded to those simple mechanics, the addition of backtracking, upgrading, power-upping and accessing new areas... adds a lot of spice to how the adventure opens itself up for the player, giving her/him the impression (even if it's a false one) of being inside a very big context that's ready to be explored in a multitude of ways," says Alonso Martin, developer of Heart Forth, Alicia.

"You are the story. You are the adventure. It is up to you to discover where to go and unearth the mysteries of the world you're stuck in," says Renegade Kid's Jools Watsham, who recently launched his own Metroidvania, Xeodrifter. He sees the genre as a way to offer players a game that focuses on "exploration, freedom, self-improvement, and overcoming previously impossible challenges."

It's the genre's blend of elements that has made the Metroidvania so enticing to players and developers both, says Umenhofer: "It's everything that you want out of an indie game. Not a huge time commitment, easy to play, fun and challenging, and usually relatively cheap to make and buy."

Symphony of the Night's map screen. Source: GameFAQs

The focus on exploration that Watsham touched on is a major part of the genre's appeal, if the words of these developers are anything to go by.

"In this genre the phrase 'knowledge is power' -- something we are taught all our childhood -- is true in a literal sense," says Andrew Bado, developer of the upcoming Legend of Iya. "At least that's why I love the genre -- to explore and discover and learn about the world I'm let loose upon by the creators."

"I think it's extremely important that players guide themselves because, ultimately, it is something the player should do. Personally, I prefer, instead of going to a park to play, I would rather go to ruins to play. Because you can think, feel, and search, for yourself, your own way to play," Cave Story creator Daisuke Amaya told me in 2011.

"Nothing is more exciting than possibility," says Matt White, developer of Ghost Song. "True discovery is only possible if you can find things that you may not have, and have experiences within a game that you may not have."

"I like it when you play through the game and learn things piece-by-piece, and that's very important. There's things like the gameplay system that you just learn it as you go along," Amaya says.

"Giving the player a sense of discovery is a crucial part of good game design, even if it's a 'fake' sense of discovery. ... Metroidvanias are at their best when the players are progressing on their own accord, or at least that's what I think," says Jo-Remi Madsen, of D-Pad Studio, developer of Owlboy.

Happ concurs: "The semi-openness of the map design gives it the feeling that you're not just experiencing a scripted sequence of events, but causing the events (in some cases not always in the same order)." And that "allows players to really get lost in the world," says Petruzzi.

Guacamelee

There's a long-term advantage to this kind of design, too: These "labyrinthine worlds filled with secrets encourage healthy communities of dedicated players who continue to play for years," says Jason Canam, game designer at Guacamelee developer DrinkBox Studios. And that capacity for replayability "is where a game can go from fun to legend," Umenhofer says.

"Well, certainly, when we were making Super Metroid, I thought, 'I want to make something lasting that will be fun even if played much later.' All I can say is I'm really happy that we succeeded in that goal. But, if I had to take a guess as to what the lasting appeal is, perhaps it's the impression left on people by the drama of the game," longtime Metroid series developer Yoshio Sakamoto told me in 2010. 

If anything, Super Metroid's reputation has actually increased since 1994. That natural drive toward replayability -- which anybody who's given Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night a second, third, or fourth spin knows well -- energizes hardcore communities, says Canam: "The genre lends itself quite well to speed-running and gameplay optimization... These games are continuously mined for new strategies, exploits and shortcuts."

[embedded content] A Super Metroid speedrun race, from Awesome Games Done Quick 2014

While the developers I spoke to are fans of classic titles in the genre, that's not the only thing that drives them toward developing new Metroidvania games.

"The child-like sense of wonder and exploration is something that can be very magical. That is what draws me to the Metroidvania genre. It can be exciting, scary, thrilling, and extremely rewarding," says Watsham. His approach to designing Xeodrifter was a case of "looking inside and seeing what my inner child wants."

Xeodrifter

As White has it, "I want to pretend the game world I'm playing in is indifferent to my presence -- I want it to feel as though I'm just a guest in this world, and it'd go on existing and being there whether I set foot in it or not."

Happ also makes a subtle but significant point about how these gameworlds function for players: "In a way the beaten path of the game exists just as an established baseline to allow off-the-beaten-path exploration."

The world-structure of the Metroidvania allows designers to add a variety of ideas, Amaya says: Cave Story is "everything that I like; whether it fits the world or not is secondary, and comes after I decide. That's why there are so many different elements to those caves. I really like how the fans see all of those different elements and reconstruct a world for themselves."

Canam offers another perspective on what the gameworld can be: "Level design is, at its core, all about how the player interacts with an area or locale, but in a Metroidvania game, since the storytelling is related to the player's progression, then the level gets to be a character in its own right. I think of the level as an adversary that the player will encounter, explore and eventually overcome. It's very satisfying to create and (hopefully) very satisfying to play!"