#he’s the final boss and also appears several times in cutscenes

[its-rat-time-babey]

Glitch techs theory:

In the released parts of the Show Bible, you can find this image.

It shows glitches and how they can appear from any piece of Hinobi Gaming Tech, but there’s something else important here:

All the different colours of Glitch shown here are different glitch types that we see in the show!

All the different glitch colours we see correspond to the actual colours of different glitches root forms:

Green is for Entity Glitches, which have green root forms:

(Interestingly enough, there are two green glitches shown in the bible image, which can either mean that there’s a second type of glitch with a green root form (possibly the one seen in Im Mitch Williams with its ability to possess electrical equipment, although this is the more unlikely option) or it’s just done for symmetry in the image (the more likely option)).

Purple is for Possessor Glitches, which have purple root forms. I don’t think anything else really needs to be said there.

The Yellow Glitch represents Mapper Glitches, which are shown to be yellow:

Also worth noting is that although the Mapper Glitch shown setting up a game is yellow, Count Nogrog himself has a purple root form, meaning that he may actually be a Possessor Glitch.

The real mapper glitch may actually be the game that Five and Miko are exploring and it’s environment, being outright destroyed instead of captured when the game is beaten. After all, Phil says himself that “The glitch you’ll face in that house is the game itself”.

But that leaves one colour unaccounted for. Red.

We never see a glitch with a red root form in the show, but based on everything else there must be some unseen glitch type that corresponds to it.

So what if the unknown red glitch type is what Bolypius is?

It’s implied that Bolypius is some type of glitch that can have human intelligence and learn things. So what if this red root form is why? It’s a new, completely different and unknown type of glitch.

[rubywolf0201]

Before I post screenshots about HSR’s Ver 1.2 storyline, here are my thoughts on it

*WARNING*: May contain spoilers for Ver 1.2 so be cautious when reading it

Are we still here? Good! Let’s proceed:

- I instantly regretted being Trailblazer Level 60+ because now the enemies are a struggle and I only got lucky because I got Silver Wolf and Luocha with me.

- Speaking of, it took me around 100 turns to defeat the Sanctus Medicus goon. The wolf enemies are basically the hardest mobs to take down sadly.

- Managed to meet up with Fu Xuan thankfully and my goodness, I ended up taking lots of screenshots of her.

- Anyways, the Alchemy Commission is quite a breathtaking place. Lots of great scenery.

- Did the task of shutting down the machine that spreads mist that’ll turn the Cloud Knights into mara-stricken and thankfully using the Camouflage paint thing I made beforehand to conceal myself.

- Dan Shu’s boss fight was legitimately hard and I only succeeded thanks to the team composition of Luocha, Silver Wolf, Yang and Jing Yuan.

- Was NOT expecting Tingyun to be revealed as the Lord Ravager Phantylia or rather the ‘host’ of it. Also the expression she gave before she snapped her neck gave me the chills. Guess Tingyun being suspicious since the Ambrosial Arbor’s awakening has been pretty well foreshadowed in a creepy way.

- After some time when Fu Xuan send what has happened recently to Jing Yuan and some speculation on what has happened with the real Tingyun whether or not she existed in the first place, we boarded the ship that leads us to Scalegorge Waterscape.

- Meanwhile with Dan Heng, Sushang and Luocha, both arrived at the Alchemy Comidsion where the three of them went their separate ways. For Sushang, she’s reporting to the nearest Cloud Knight captain, Luocha has to be someplace else and our boi Danny is going to search for his friends!

- From there, there were several foreshadowing that there’s more to Dan Heng and I really like it to be honest because of the subtle buildup. Also the boat cutscene is lovely and photogenic.

- Me when I see Blade and Kafka: 🥰😍

- Me when I saw my boi and very first 5 star unit Yanqing: 😆

- I’m quite curious tho I wonder how does Kafka even managed to control the Mara within Blade. That must have taken a lot of power but I’m pretty sure from Kafka’s POV, it’s just child’s play to her.

- Imma say this but the way Daman Mills voiced Blade is quite amazing and very different from his other roles like Yotasuke from Blue Period. The way he just laughed maniacally, the way he said ‘Don’t hide’, man these are so good!

- The boss fight with Yanqing is thankfully story-mandated and the cutscenes for it is quite dynamic.

- Yanqing copying what Jingliu has taught him in his Companion Quest is quite formidable!

- Thank the goddess Kafka stopped the fight because she sense the arrival of Jing Yuan.

- Me when I saw Jing Yuan: I’m not gay for him but- 👀

- Kinda a little sad to see Blade and Kafka go but hey they decided to take a backseat and so.

- Speaking of which, love how Kafka has a bit of a Tired Mum™️ vibes within her alluring and charming prescene at least when it comes to Bladie and Silver Wolf lmao.

- It’s nice to see my OTP of Dan Heng x Jing Yuan finally being real /joke but no fr, it actually turns out that Jing Yuan knew Dan Heng, or rather Dan Feng.

- Actually, I find it pretty funny how Dan Heng kept the Dan in his name and only changed his second name or Chinese character when he reincarnated.

- P.S. I need to know Danny’s secret on how he managed to hide his long hair, pointy ears and different outfit. Though part of me thinks it’s some kind of Vidyadhara magic.

- Anyways, our boi Danny and best husbando Jing Yuan caught up with the main crew and wowzers the way March was the first to speak about Danny’s different appearance is just out of pocket.

- Anyways, using Dan Heng’s true form in story-mandated battles is the best!

- It’s kind of funny how Danny is still the POV character but oh well I have him spoke to March, Yang and the Trailblazer but it’s sort of funny how when speaking to Caelus/Stelle, they just give head nods and remain silent, more or less reflecting the Silent Protagonist trope.

- The cutscene where Dan Heng revealed the Scalegorge Waterscape temple is a sight to behold.

- Seeing Jing Yuan trust Fu Xuan on the duty to General to her if he didn’t make it is just 🥹 (I love these two ok)

- Anyways, avoided the enemies as usual using the Camoflauge tool because I’m severely underleveled.

- The temple riddles are a tad bit annoying but I got through to them alright.

- Reached to the ending and now we’re kicking Phantylia’s ass! And we’re using a story-mandated Jing Yuan as well! (Thank goodness because my Jing Yuan is underleveled as heck)

- Seeing Phantylia’s true form is quite a sight! I love how balance the design is.

- My final team ended up being Luocha, Sampo, Yang and story-mandated Jing Yuan.

- The flowers assisting Phantylia is just straight up annoying because it leeches Skill Points but defeating them can help you recover them.

- Jing Yuan’s voiceline for Phantylia is just pure awesomeness! Props to Aleandrjo for voicing him.

- Having Dan Heng be summoned in the middle of the boss fight like back in Jarilo VI’s boss fight against Cocolia? SUPER AWESOME!!

- Defeating Phantylia is quite hard but we did it-

- Oh fuck oh no!! Jing Yuan is captured and is about to be turned into a Voidranger! Thankfully Danny saved the day!!

- Also you can’t convince me that he was about to Princess carry Jing Yuan too as well!

- Anywho, to conclude, Phantylia is gone for now and Jing Yuan more or less declared a war against her and the rest of the Antimatter Legion before being collapsing from exhaustion and have to be brought back to rest.

- Overall, this quite an engaging story and I hope the rest of the story in HSR is like that as well in future updates!

Anyways, these are my thoughts on Ver 1.2 storyline.m and I hope you like them!

[zody77-blog]

The Villains of Spider-Man 2 2023 For PS5

1.) Kraven and his Hunters

Introduced as only a voice in the first trailer for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Kraven the Hunter finally revealed himself! In the opening cutscene of the recently released gameplay trailer, The Hunter was dissatisfied with his recent prey until one of his goons suggested the villain-infested New York as a new hunting ground. Given a touchpad, Kraven was shown several potential targets, including Peter Parker and Miles Morales, not to mention a slew of past Spider-Man villains, including The Lizard. 2.) The Lizard

The first game established that Dr. Curtis "Curt" Connors had become the Lizard once before but was cured by Spider-Man. Unfortunately, the poor doctor has had a terrible relapse in the sequel, with most of the gameplay showing the Spider-Men tracking down the turned Connors before Kraven's hunters. Another wrinkle is that both Peter and Miles appeared surprised at how big he's gotten, which could suggest that his condition has worsened over the years. But what's more pressing is that Connors is the key to helping Harry Osborn recover from the seemingly incurable Oshtoran Syndrome, hence Peter's fierce determination to turn the scientist back to normal. 3.) Venom

Savvy fans knew immediately that the inky black goo attached to Harry at the end of the original game could have only been the Symbiote, which would no doubt lead to Venom. However, it's unknown yet what origin Insomniac Games will use for the agitating Symbiote. It could have been made in a lab by Oscorp to help his son, similar to the Ultimate Comics, or Oscorp could have found the alien, like the classic origin. However, Peter's first encounter with the Symbiote seems to be at Connors' house, which may suggest he contributed to its creation. Fans seeing Peter's heightened aggression in the Black Suit has led many to theorize that Miles (and the player) will eventually have to fight Peter as a boss. But, of course, Miles won't be the only one fighting a friend. 4.) Wraith

In Marvel's Spider-Man 2 DLC, The City That Never Sleeps, Spider-Man's police contact and friend, Yuri Watanabe, was suspended from the force for attempting to kill Hammerhead. However, at that point, she became so disillusioned with the law that she decided to continue taking matters into her own hands. Moreso an anti-hero vigilante than an outright villain, Watanabe will don a new alias in Spider-Man 2, Wraith, as she does in the comics. There's little doubt she'll be a boss fight or challenge for Peter in the game, hopefully ending with Watanabe seeing the light. 5.) Black Cat

The last time anyone heard from Felicia Hardy's Black Cat was in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales when gone "straight...ish" with Simon Krieger's computer listing her as inactive. Also, it's not as if she was particularly villainous in The City That Never Sleeps. However, if anyone could bring the Black Cat out of hiding, it's Kraven the Hunter. But it could also be as simple as Hardy becoming bored and doing some low-key harmless cat burglary or messing with Spider-Man for old-time's sake. 6.) Taskmaster

In Marvel's Spider-Man, Taskmaster was one of the many optional challenges in the game for players that ended in a boss fight with the mercenary. After being defeated, he revealed to the Webslinger that he was hired by an organization that wanted to "see if worth recruiting" and who'd have paid the superhero "six figures" before disappearing. So, could this mysterious organization appear in this sequel? It would certainly make sense for the game to have multiple criminal factions and that it won't be limited to Kraven's Hunters. 7.) Prowler

At the end of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Aaron Davis, aka The Prowler, corroborated with the police to expose Simon Krieger's crimes, leading to their arrests. The last Miles heard from his uncle was a phone call where he thanked his nephew for making him a better person. It's concerning then that Aaron has escaped prison, seemingly donning his Prowler costume again. Of course, Miles' uncle was possibly released early for good behavior or struck a deal, but this will be one of Miles' side-quests for the game. 8.) Tombstone

After his defeat at the hands of Spider-Man in the first game, it was shown that Lonnie Lincoln, also known as Tombstone, was still imprisoned in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but not in The Raft. So, it appears wherever he was being held wasn't enough to hold him. It'll be curious how Tombstone could even pose a threat again to anyone since Parker originally beat him by creating a counter-drug that neutralized his invulnerability. Perhaps, similar to Connors, Tombstone's condition has evolved, and the Spider-Men will have to make room for him in The Raft. 9.) Shocker

Oh, Herman. Big enough of a villain to have a boss fight but small enough not to be invited onto the Sinister Six. However, it seems like Shocker has gotten the last laugh, as while the rest of the Sinister Six remain imprisoned in The Raft, Shocker is free in Spider-Man 2. How exactly Shocker, of all villains, escaped a facility like The Raft is a mystery likely to be told in the game, but it'll be unsurprising if he just ends up as another two-bit criminal in the story. The Raft Prisoners

One more vague detail shown on Kraven's touchpad was several villains from the previous game stuck in one location: The Raft. According to the map, it seems like Vulture, Rhino, Electro, Otto Octavius, and Kingpin are still being held in the high-security prison. Since it'd just be repeating the previous game to have another big jailbreak, it likely means these villains won't play a huge part in the sequel. Read the full article

[eurofox]

Yakuza 0 review

I’ve finally finished all the Kiryu games and I wanna talk about them.

Loads of spoilers though to follow.

Anyway I figured a prequel would be a good place to start and I definitely feel I made the right choice. I did miss out on references, like little Daigo for example, but that just makes a second playthrough even better. Plus, it makes a lot of the twists and turns a bit more exciting as I didn’t know who was destined to die/survive. Also I wasn’t used to some of the tropes they re-use a lot in this series so it was all fresh.

The good shit:

I really preferred the fighting style in this game, choosing between styles kept things fresh and added strategy. Majima’s styles were more fun, although breaker was nearly broken, no boss stood a chance. I didn’t bother unlocking the legendary styles though.

It did a good job building up Nishiki for Kiwami, I would not have cared about him otherwise. Same with Reina

Although it was a slow start, the story had me hooked fairly quickly and the cutscenes are really well done. Voice acting and music was great. I feel like 0 had the most well told and realistic story out of all the games. Far less dramatic and illogical nonsense (although there is still some). Some really strong characters and my opinion on them was constantly changing. The 3 lieutenants were standouts. 

I didn’t know anything about Kiryu beforehand and I really grew to like him, even if he made some dumbass decisions. I was slower to warm up to Majima but I ended up loving him too.

Punching money out of enemies never got old

Loads of stuff to do, although I just stuck with the main quests for the most of it

Tachibana, my beloved.

One of the better final boss fights in the series.

brilliant soundtrack. Most of the the games have good soundtracks but I think 0 is the best of them.

Kuze always appearing again annoyed me at first but then I got used to it and even started to like him. Of all the games the first Kuze is one of the only ones to kill me several times. And the last one. IDK if 0 is a harder game or if I just got better but I never had as much challenge with most other bosses in the series.

Great and varied heat actions.

2 cities, and both are good.

Sera gets some time to shine here, and the battle to reach him is funny. He’s easy enough though.

The tojo clan HQ actually seemed really intimidating as a first time player. I didn’t realise what a clown show it what turn out to be later of course. The big fight with Oda and Tachibana is a highlight

None of that dumbass purgatory shite. Never liked the Florist.

Majima awkwardly dancing in silence on teh bridge with noone paying attention is burned into my brain

Little Daigo and Ryuji

Disco dancing is fun, although I fucking suck at it.

The bad shit:

Hiding their ‘legendary’ styles behind mini games. I didn’t like cabaret club management or the real estate thing, found them pretty boring so missed out on all that.

Having to go and track down people for training with some move. Again, couldn’t be arsed. Not just this game, but I went through nearly them all without Tiger drop because I wasn’t bothered with komaki’s training. I prefer to have all that stuff in the level up screen.

No autosave, didn’t realise and had to do the first two hours again, nearly packed it in. Thank God for skippable cutscenes.

Following people slowly on occasion is irritating.

Car chase bit is fucking shit, at least it’s brief.

Gun/Knife enemies in this game are a pain in the arse. Same with Kiwami but never had much of a problem with the other games.

Makoto’s braindead fucking decision to confront the bad guy over the empty lot and demand he kill his 3 henchmen. She is a blind girl all alone on a roof surrounded by armed goons, she knows DAMN WELL how dangerous these guys are considering her past and was warned against it. Does it anyway. Traumatised or not, this is such a stupid fucking moment and I didn’t care that she got shot because what the hell else would have happened? He’d go ‘yeah ok’ and kill his lieutenants for her sake? 

Kazama’s nearly godlike powers of foresight started to get a bit silly. He’s really made out to be some kind of genius but I didn’t see much of that when you finally meet him in kiwami. Shimano as well, so much could have gone wrong with his plan , plus he’s  stubborn and implusive in kiwami, not the 4d chess player he’s made out to be here.

At the time I didn’t realise, but looking back it’s a shame they didn’t explore more of the old guard themselves. Kazama is just in jail, dojima and shimano barely appear. IDK, could have had more. It’s long enough as it is I guess.

Not getting to kill Sagawa. I guess it’s to make him seem ‘untouchable’ right til the end but ugh, I needed the satisfaction.

Where did all pink suit guy goons go when he get’s shot by that policeman? That whole section was a bit odd. Murdering a guy to send a kid to college when you already have a fulltime job and getting bribes? Hard to swallow. Didn’t care for pink suit guy much though so no loss

Not a big deal but no voices outside of cutscenes was a bit disappointing. There is a A LOT of dialogue though so I get it.

Oda was an interesting character but I don’t like how they tried to redeem him. He was sex trafficker, selfish and murderous to the end. IDK why makoto forgave him or why kiryu brought him up at the end along with actual victims.

Fetch quests. I don’t want to go and run around the city buying specific drinks for hobbos WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS FUN.

Should have been allowed to give Dojima a thrashing.

Where the fuck is Yumi, Kiryu’s great love and they don’t explore anything about her? Waste of an opportunity

Wei lee Han , I knew he was gonna blow up as soon as I saw the van :(

They make a big deal about civilians getting drawn in/ being killed but Awano shoots some random woman dead and it’s never mentioned again?

Every goon in town is looking for Kiryu and he goes out in the same crisp white suit and bright red shirt? I saw the joke where they jump a guy in the same clothes but it was silly. Even sillier was hiding in his usual haunt, the FIRST place anyone would look. Also even thinking of going back to his flat, thank god it got burnt out. Not a smart man.

The asian elder says Kazama was part of a raid on Little Asia and not even women and children were spared and Kiryu isn’t all that phased? It’s never mentioned again. Same with Kazama being referred to as a monster by the chairman. I thought the series would build upon that but nah. Strange .Did I miss something?

Ok the bad section seems long but it’s mostly nitpicks. I really had a lot of fun with this and went on to play the whole series back to back. However some of the other entries are showing their age now and some people did say starting with 0 sets the bar very high and I agree with that. The plot in this game has it’s outlandish moments but a lot less than some of the earlier games. It’s more character driven compared to some of the others and I prefer that approach. This one had two characters and I feel that’s the right amount, one can get samey and 4/5 can get overwhelming. 

[porta-decumana]

Contains spoilers for 6.1: Newfound Adventure but will feature predictions for all manner of content, not just things featured in the new update.  Prediction posts are always fun to me because I love looking back and seeing which came true and which didn’t!  I did a megathread awhile back of all of my 6.0 predictions and you can find those here!

The opo-opo following Deryk in the Myths of the Realm series is Oschon.  This is a pretty common theory and I think that it has a lot of merit, especially given that we see some of the gods traveling about in minion form.  Perhaps Deryk is even somehow part of Oschon as well given his resemblance to what depictions we’ve seen of Oschon.

Azdaja has not been turned into a voidsent but has been infected somehow.  When we find her, we will have to save her from turning.

Werewolf boss in the next Pandaemonium tier.

Erichthonios is the Lahabrea we know from A Realm Reborn and Heavensward.

We get insight on how Lahabrea, Emet, and Elidibus “dodge” the Sundering.  I understand the reason for them being unsundered has already been revealed through interviews but I think we’ll get insight on what Venat did to spare them specifically.  IF Erichthonios = Lahabrea, then that leaves Emet as the only unsundered ancient not present in the Pandaemonium plot so there’s a possibility of Emet making an appearance if this prediction is accurate.

The mysterious figure in 6.1′s cutscenes that has a very evident tie to Zenos is not Zenos but the Avatar voidsent he used as a Reaper, which is “our” shard from the Thirteenth.

The scenes with Golbez are on the Thirteenth’s moon. 

The Garleans become XIV’s version of the Lunarians after the role quests.

7.0 takes us to Corvos as one of several new locations.  The Thirteenth will also be a place we get to explore.

Meteion makes a return.  I foresee this happening late Endwalker, perhaps 6.4-6.5 or in 7.0.  She does just sort of fly away but I feel like someone like her will inevitably be attracted to strong emotions... maybe even ones coming out of fissures to the Thirteenth.

Azys Lla is Elpis, or what is left of it.  I think erosion and time have probably done a number to the islands and the reason they’re still somewhat held together is because of Allagan technology.  Bonus: Amon is the one who helped create Azys Lla, calling back to fragmented memories from his time as Hermes.

The next Ultimate is Omega Ultimate (following the pre-established pattern of 2 ultimates built around a single expansion and the pattern of raid-based, story-based, raid-based, story-based) with the bosses being Shinryu, Midgardsormr, Omega, and then another Omega that is somehow more terrifying than Final Omega.  Duty action button makes a return and Nero gets mid-fight dialogue along with Cid.

AST cards reworked in 6.2.

[antirepurp]

ok im ready to sit down and give some real thought to frontiers beyond nonsensical first-impression fueled gushing let’s go gamers

im not here to discuss the gameplay tbh like it’s good and fun and all that jazz but im more of a story kinda guy y’know. anyway.

reflecting on the story while watching the credits gave me sort of similar vibes to the first sonic movie in the sense that, all the building blocks and the ultimate vision were there, but the pacing was just a tad too fast to explore everything to their full potentials. the beginning felt definitely more fluent in that regard, thought this could also be just my experience in wanting to explore/get all the memories and THEN do all the plot shit in one go lol. i do think the ending needed a little something more special, i was hype to be in space but then it lasted a grand total of a single cutscene which was... not as cool as it could have been. same thing with sage, and my goodness i have a lot of thoughts about her

i seriously wish they had explored the whole corruption thing more! it seemed like such a huge deal but then it sorta. got thrown aside at the last moment. like okay fair how else would they have solved this issue without using resources to like idk create new playable characters for a single segment in which they save sonic or something? but i would’ve liked more, hm, spice in the whole situation. maybe the corruption overtakes sonic and, for a while, the story would force us to act against our friends. perhaps sage would be the one to stop sonic when he begins to threaten eggman’s safety, perhaps she is the one who gets shlorped into the corruption to stabilize sonic, perhaps the two of them are, for a brief moment in time, the same entity, and defeat the... whatever the final boss was together uh. it was some, corruption shit right? was that ever really addressed like the mechs and shit were ancients’ tech and there was another threat which was the fucking thanos planet or whatever?? and that planet was like possessing the mechs through cyber space?? did they actually address this or did i take too long fucking around to remember the plot anymore

regardless im overall fine with the story though! i can see why people would have issues with it, it’s far from perfect, but still a step-up from the 2010s sans sonic boom. i loved the interactions with amy and tails specifically, seeing the former become a more fleshed out character from what she’s used to and having a lot of things with tails addressed as well, especially forces. knuckles was a bit more history focused i feel but i think that fits him honestly

sage though... i was left craving more interactions with her and eggman, more direct ones anyway. the egg memos and the occasional cutscene was fine sure but i feel like something is still missing. either way im a sucker for sentient AI characters, i love how both her and sonic operate morally grey grounds for the most of the game and both see one another as enemies more or less (even if sonic is a lot friendlier towards her.) she’s a very interesting character and i do want to see more of her, im very much a fan of the implication that she might return in the future, and that it’s implied that frontiers leads up to a more cohesive narrative within sonic games from what we’ve had! i mean it would be a fucking shame to throw a character like that away, especially with the character development she brings out in eggman as well.

im not entirely sure how i feel about the ancients being aliens, it’s a bit... well, we had aliens before so did we really need more of them i guess? that said i am fucking obsessed that since the ancients are related to chaos, and chaos is related to chao, that chao are just heavily fucking mutated ancients that became babies it’s fucking hilarious to me akjsdhajds

the last thing that like actually bothers me is the goddamn mural that appeared in the sky and in the end on eggman’s machine, i severely wanted it addressed but we never really got that? i mean it has something to do with cyber space and the ancients but the hell is it? also i lowkey hate that every time i see it i read it as “up” but that’s just me aksjdhd

ah. i probably will have more thoughts later on after i’ve let my brain soup sit around for a while. but frontiers is good, pretty fucking good. and sticks confirmed please show her in a mainline game soon i miss her so much

[darkysilverwing]

Last night I had a dream about the latest super mario game. It was seemingly made by a bunch of people who had never actually played a mario game and they were just given a 3d model of mario and told to do what they wanted.

Apparently what they wanted was a 3d platforming adventure that took place on a spaceship where Mario ended up kidnapped and having to fight his way through hoards of robots and genetically engineered super soldiers with the handful of power ups, there was your one ups and fire flowers sure but there was also the void leaf which allowed you to throw mini black holes which would suck up various objects and turn them into coins and a sniper flower that let mario shoot a projectile at an enemy from long range. Also, you didn't have the typical health bars that were present in the other 3D platforming mario games like odyssey or Galaxy, but rather a full health bar that meant different hits did different levels of damage.

The main bad gu was basically a pokemon villain who had hopes of harnessing the powers of different worlds to transform into the ultimate lifeform and after you defeat him he takes an experimental power up and begins mutating, resulting in a final chase scene where you're running back through all the main areas of the ship while the guy chases after you, only stopping to devour the mini bosses you defeated on your way who are still lying where you left them, his body transforming into what looked like if someone poured liquid latex over top some mashed potatoes, letting him squeeze into the different areas rather unset tingly.

Eating the mini bosses gives the bad guy their powers and alters the setting a bit more, so one guy had the power to breathe fire and so the air vents started shooting fire, another would have plant powers and thus the villain would enter a room and vines would spread everywhere, some of which would lash out at mario as they passed by so you had to jump over them, another shot acid so several areas that would normally just be an inconvenient little pit are now filled with acid and so on.

Eventually you get to the escape pods and the space ship explodes, but instead of a grand escape cutscene there was just a text box that said "Congratulations! You Won! Would you like to face an optional Super Boss? They may or may not be bowser!" and do note, at this point mario was the only mario character to appear unless you're counting the power ups. And so if you clicked yes it would load you into the mushroom kingdom, one that was clearly modeled after the kingdom from the movie.

There, as the final boss, wasn't a big turtle man, but rather what looked like a bright green Mii with a red backpack that began running around the map, picking up power ups and attempting to use them on you. if you hit him then he lost the power up and ran to the next one, but you couldn't damage him in his unpowered form meaning you had to whittle away at his health bar one power up at a time. I was literally so bored at the very end that I woke up.

[kaialone]

Kirby Planet Robobot Translation Comparison: Meta Knightmare Returns

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover all the cutscenes that appear in the Meta Knightmare Returns mode.

You can also watch these cutscenes for yourself in English (1, 2, 3) and Japanese (1, 2, 3).

For the comparison, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

--

Encountering Star Dream:

Star Dream:

……R…E…A…… ……D…Y……………・＞

...R...E...A... ...D...Y... ->

L...O...A...D...I...N...G...

Star Dream:

……………………。

...

.........

Star Dream:

アナタが…新しい… ゴシュジン様…デスネ。

YOU must BE... the new... MASter.

You must be... the new admin.

Star Dream:

……ナルホド、とても ツヨイパワーを お持ち のヨウデ…。

...UNDERSTOOD, it APPEARS that you possess quite TREMENDOUS POWER...

Yes. You possess incredible power...

Star Dream:

……………… OK＞

...OK >

...OK.

Star Dream:

…デハ、ソンナ ゴシュジン様ガ ノゾム…

...THEN, AS SUCH A MASter WOULD DESIRE...

As a new admin, you must supply your credentials...

Star Dream:

コノ星でも… カナリの 強サを持つ…

YOU SHALL be given... THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLASH with a "sword USER"...

to the strongest warriors of this planet.

Star Dream:

「剣のツカイテ」と、 タタカワセテ…さしあげ マショウ。

WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH... even for THIS planet.

Executing Sword_Master.EXE.

-

Before Battling Sectonia Clone:

Star Dream:

……おみごと デ、ゴザイマス。

...MasterFULLY DONE.

...Impressive.

Star Dream:

ゴシュジン様には ショウショウ モノたり ナカッタ かも しれマセンネ。

Perhaps THIS was A LITTLE UNsatisfactory for you, MASter.

That may have been a bit too easy for the admin...

Star Dream:

ソレでは 次に、 美シク まうようニ 剣を アヤツる…

SO then, for THE next one, the most powerful queen...

Next up is one whose swordplay resembles a beautiful dance...

Star Dream:

最強の女王を、 ヨミガエ らせ マショウ。

WHO HANDles her blades liKE A beautiFUL dance, shall BE RESURRECTED.

Let us bring back the most powerful queen from the void.

Star Dream:

ソノ たぐいまれな 戦いのセンスと 王たる オーラ…

HER exceptional APTITUDE for battle, and her majestic AURA...

Experience her royal presence and unparalleled fighting skills.

Star Dream:

ドウゾ ゴたんのう クダサイませ。

PLEASE, ENjoy them thoroUGHLY.

She will be a fitting test for you.

-

Before Battling Galacta Knight:

Star Dream:

サスガ、ゴシュジン様デス。 では サイゴに…

WELL DONE AS ALWAYS, MASter. Now, FOR THE LAST one...

You are mighty indeed. Now for the final test...

Star Dream:

かつての ゴシュジン様にハ キンジられて イタ…

THE "Spacetime Transfer Programm", WHICH the previous MASter had FORBIDDEN...

This was prohibited by the previous admin...

Star Dream:

「時空テンイ プログラム」を アンロック シ、

SHALL BE UNLOCKED,

Preparing to boot the Space-Time Transport program...

Star Dream:

イニシエの時代ノ 剣士ヲ、 ヨビダシ マショウ。

TO CALL FORTH A swordfighter from ANCIENT TIMES.

Let us bring back a legendary swordsman from a forgotten time.

Star Dream:

…カレに コノあたりノ 星ハ ホロボされて シマウと 思イマスガ…

...IT STANDS TO reason that HE is LIKELY TO DESTroy the SURrounding planets, BUT...

He may end up destroying a nearby planet or two, but such is life.

Star Dream:

キット、 サイゴノタタカイを 楽シンデ イタダケル ことデショウ。

You will MOST CERTAINLY find THIS LAST BATTLE to be enjoyABLE.

The benefits of this final battle outweigh the collateral damage.

Star Dream:

ソレでは………！

NOW then...!

Prepare yourself...

Star Dream:

時空テンイ プログラム… アンロック… 異空間ロード… リブート…

UNLOCKING... Space Time Transfer Program... REBOOTING... Another Dimension Road...  (1)

Executing Space-Time Transport... Extra-dimensional road... Booting...

Star Dream:

…………３

3...

3...

Star Dream:

…………２

2...

2...

Star Dream:

…………１

1...

1...

Star Dream:

…………………GO!!

...GO!!

...BEGIN!

Translation Note:

I’ll go over it in more detail in the section below, but the term I translated as “Another Dimension Road” is called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese. This term previously appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.

--

Comparisons & Thoughts:

Since the cutscenes of Meta Knightmare Returns all occur towards the end and are pretty short, I decided to cover all of them in one post like this.

Still, just because they’re short doesn’t mean there is nothing to talk about.

-

It’s only mentioned briefly in these cutscenes, but I want to go over the term I adapted as “Another Dimension Road” in slightly more detail.

In the original Japanese version, the term is 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, which first appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.

To start off, 異空間/Ikūkan by itself could be translated as something like “different dimension", “different space”, “different realm”, or anything along those lines, 異/i meaning “different”, and 空間/kūkan meaning “space” or “dimension”, and the like.

This term has come up a few times in the Kirby series since Return to Dream Land, and the Japanese version of Star Allies actually gives it the English reading “Another Dimension”, which is why I also like to adapt it as that.

The term 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, adding the English word “road” to it, also comes up a few times in Return to Dream Land.

Given what I explained above, I like to adapt it as “Another Dimension Road”.

Magolor mentions this term when he talks about his home, saying that it’s far away, but that it’s connected to Pop Star via 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo.

The English localization of the game adapted this as “interdimensional tunnel” in this instance.

Also, the cutscene that is called “Final Battle” in the English version is simply called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese.

Going by that, it seems safe to assume that this term can refer to the “road(s)” that connects different dimensions, realms, or the like.

Now, there is a lot more I could potentially talk about with these two terms and how they come up in the Kirby series, but it would be too long for this section here.

I might make a dedicated post just for that at some point, if that would interest people.

So, most relevant to Planet Robobot, is the fact that “Another Dimension Road” is a term we had seen before in Return to Dream Land.

The English version might be trying to keep the connection to Return to Dream Land by adapting the term as “Extra-dimensional road“ here, possibly referring to the Extra Mode of that game.

-

Back to Planet Robobot, here’s something potentially interesting about Star Dream in these cutscenes.

You’ll find that in both Japanese and English it uses about the same speaking style as it did during its appearance in the main story.

And the English version actually adapts it in the same way as it did back then, so I appreciate the consistency there.

Like before, the English version has it use some more computer-like sounding phrases here, like saying “admin” instead of “master”.

Most notable as a change is probably the phrase “Sword_Master.EXE”, which would imply that Star Dream might have a dedicated program just for either cloning Dark Matter Blade, or sword users in general.

But what’s really interesting to me is something else.

Now, I don’t know if this is just a coincidence, but Star Dream does not refer to itself in first person at any point in these cutscenes

With the way the Japanese language works, this isn’t all too uncommon, but it still stands out a bit, because Star Dream referring to itself in first person during the main story was a notable trait it had.

A machine wouldn’t normally refer to itself like that, so Star Dream doing that seemed like a result of it gaining a sense of self during those events.

And keep in mind that those events, namely Star Dream fusing with Hatlmann’s spirit, don’t actually occur during the story of Meta Knightmare, meaning Star Dream actually should not have a sense of self in this scenario.

So, Star Dream not referring to itself in first person during these cutscenes could be meant to reflect that? But that’s just my guess.

In any case, because of the above, I decided to adapt its dialogue in these cutscenes without using any first person either.

And from what I can tell, it looks like the English localization may have thought the same thing, since they also don’t use any (singular) first person for Star Dream here.

I realize this means there isn’t any difference between versions when it comes to this aspect, but I still wanted to mention it, because it’s easy to miss.

-

In the Japanese version, Star Dream’s dialogue here contains more direct references to Milky Way Wishes, with it using several of the same phrases that Galactic Nova used.

Most notably, this includes it counting down from 3 and finishing the counter with the words “Go!!”, which is also referenced during its boss battles.

In the English version, these phrases are slightly rewritten and don’t match Galactic Nova’s dialogue from either English version of Milky Way Wishes, with the countdown in particular ending with “Begin!” instead.

As a result, that final line also no longer matches the visuals of Star Dream’s final boss battle.

If you only look at the text in this game right here, it does make sense to rewrite these phrases slightly, “Begin!” certainly sounds more appropriate than “Go!!” out of context.

But this, combined with the fact that any other subtle reference to Milky Way Wishes in the text so far has been glossed over in English makes me think that the English localizers either didn’t realize that these were references, or ended up ignoring them for some reason.

Whatever said reason may be, I still think it’s a shame, because when you add all of them up, there is a great deal of connections to Milky Way Wishes in this game’s text that are lost in the English version, leaving it only with the visual and musical references.

And those are still nice, don’t get me wrong, but it still feels like you’re missing out just a little.

-

Somewhat related to the above, Star Dream’s reasoning for its actions in these cutscenes is quite different between versions, changing a lot about the context of what is happening.

In the Japanese version, Star Dream seemingly comes to the conclusion that Meta Knight wishes to fight strong opponents. So, the reason why it proceeds to summon several powerful warriors is specifically because it is attempting to comply with that desire.

And that really seems to be all there is to it in the Japanese version, no apparent additional motivation other than to satisfy its new master Meta Knight.

At most you can speculate whether or not Meta Knight really was actively wishing for this to happen, or if Star Dream was misinterpreting him, but...

Considering this is a direct parallel to Meta Knightmare Ultra, and Meta Knight did wish for something exactly like that over there, I’d wager it’s safe to bet Star Dream’s assessment of him was at least partially accurate.

And of course, this also gives Star Dream another direct parallel to Galactic Nova.

In the English version, Star Dream instead states that Meta Knight has to supply his credentials, and thus all the battles that follow are portrayed as “tests” for Meta Knight.

This also implies that Star Dream would probably test any potential new admin in such a manner, in contrast to the Japanese version, where Star Dream seems to accept Meta Knight right away without question.

I know that this particular change has caused English-speaking fans to speculate what sort of test Haltmann may have had to pass, which can be interesting of course.

But for the reference, no such tests seem to exist in the Japanese version.

-

And still related to the above, in the English version, Star Dream states that Meta Knight must supply his credentials “to the strongest warriors of this planet”, which might even be a small translation error?

Because in the Japanese version, Star Dream only states that Meta Knight will have the opportunity to “CLASH with a sword USER… WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH… even for THIS planet”, so that latter part is only referring to the clone of Dark Matter Blade.

There is no clear plural in Japanese, so one could interpret the Japanese line as referring to all three warriors that Star Dream ends up summoning, but since it gives a little introduction for Sectonia Clone and Galacta Knight, I think it’s more likely this line right here was just its introduction for Dark Matter Clone.

The English phrasing also makes you wonder why Star Dream would even summon Galacta Knight, who’s not taken from this planet, or even this era for that matter.

It just kinda doesn’t add up when you think about it more.

-

And that’s about it for these cutscenes.

The most notable change is the completely different reasoning behind Star Dream’s action here.

I personally feel it gives this entire ending scenario a different vibe, and potentially the implication of what Meta Knight’s role in it is, considering the parallels to Meta Knightmare Ultra.

With that, we have covered all of the cutscenes of Kirby: Planet Robobot, but we are not done quite yet.

There is still more story to this game, so for the next part, we will start tackling the pause screen descriptions of the boss fights!

Feel free to check it out!

--

< Previous Part | Start | Next Part >

--

[idiotwhotalkstoomuch]

Part 2 of my Fatui au, Mondstandt from entering the city of freedom up stealing the Holy Lyre with Venti

Tagging: @multi-maker @yuu-says and @genshin-obsessed because they asked so hiiiiiiii they’re reactions to the au really gave me energy to write

Mild spoilers regarding the archons but it’s nothing serious as you are told this info before you enter their nation

Edit: Also spoilers to the weekly/final boss unlocked in Liyue, I make a mention of it to justify something I’m gonna say however considering you’re on tumblr 9/10 times y o u ‘ v e a l r e a d y b e e n s p o i l e d

I put the post under cut cause it’s pretty long

Also if I missed something on the recountin gc of events in the Fatui au....... sorry

That’s about it so now the story in bullet form since I can’t write

• Paimon still acts as the Traveler’s guide for the most part however the Traveler was given a map of the whole Teyvat by a Fatui agent so they know where they’re going for the most part

• The Traveler and Paimon were allowed to travel around Teyvat as long as they reported back to the Fatui anything new they learned regarding the archons weekly

• They were given a rundown on how every archon is, Barbatos not having been seen for years, Rex Lapis has a yearly rite of descent, Shogun Raiden’s vision hunt, etc. so that they won’t report back about a children’s story about the archons

• Since they aren’t an official member of the Fatui, the Traveler does not have a Fatui mask or uniform which works better for the Traveler and Paimon since they are partially aware of how others outside of Snezhnaya react to the Fatui thanks to stories from Fatui grunts

• The Traveler enters Mondstandt, able to wield Cryo and goes with Paimon to the Statue of the Seven and is shocked to find that they can wield Anemo as well

• This means that since canonically the Traveler can use multiple elements at a time shown in the cutscene after beating Childe’s second stage (Traveler blocks Childe’s attack with Anemo before using geo to get him off them and they wield geo differently to how they attack in game so the way the Traveler wields Cryo is left ambiguous until we learn how they use it), they can cause elemental reactions of swirl thanks to having Cryo and Anemo

• Paimon reminds them to inform the Fatui of this and while talking about it, they run into Amber and they’re meeting follows canon events since there’s no real reason it shouldn’t

• When entering Mondstandt, the Traveler was going to go to the goth grand hotel in order to inform the Fatui of their newfound ability but go to get the gift from Amber first since it would be rude to leave her hanging like that

• Then of course Dvalin attacks and after meeting with the Knights of Favonius, they are called by the Fatui about their situation now as they appear to be the “Hero of Mondstandt”

• Note that the reason why all the Fatui will know about the Traveler and Paimon is because they managed to get into a private meeting with the Tsaritsa thanks to their ability to wield Cryo without them being granted a vision so they are something of a celebrity, and they always tell a Fatui agent where they will go before leaving

• The Fatui diplomats will remark that they’re new position is something of great importance and could be extremely useful and that they should maintain their hero image as much as possible since they believe they can use this as leverage in the future

• They go to the Four Winds’ temples in order to weaken Dvalin’s power and Kaeya will “jokingly” remark that the Traveler seems to be a little quick in agreeing to help the Knights of Favonius so quickly after their arrival in Mondstandt

• When Diluc shows up later after the Traveler leaves, he will ask what the hell Kaeya is doing with a Fatui spy and Kaeya will play dumb in the scene

• The Traveler likely already knows of the adventurer’s guild through their time in Snezhnaya but only joined it in Mondstandt since they’ve finally managed to properly relax in Teyvat since falling into the freezing and cult like Snezhnaya

• Later on during Kaeya’s pirate quest, he makes several mentions and ponders on what it’s like to be work for someone despite being loyal to another which ended up being enough for Paimon to ask Traveler in private, rather afraid about whether or not Kaeya knows

(Lmao funny idea but the dialogue options could be like)

“No, it could be a coincidence”

“Yes I’m afraid he must know....”

“We’re dead”

(Most positive Paimon reaction could be the second one since Paimon likely does not believe the Traveler in the first one but has the funniest reaction on the last one.)

• When they catch Jean having a “diplomatic discussion” with a Fatui diplomat (different from the one who encouraged the idea of the Traveler being the hero) and they quickly hide because they don’t think they can act well enough to fool the Acting Grand Master

• When Jean dubs the Traveler, “Honorary Knight”, Paimon almost slips up about the Traveler being an Honorary Fatui but quickly stops herself and makes some excuse about a competition which appeases them as the Traveler will cover for her

• After meeting Venti, Paimon worries that the Traveler is getting themselves into way too many messes than what they need to be involved in since they’re affiliated with the Fatui, be Mondstandt’s hero, helping some random bard steal a very important artifact from Mondstandt, the very city they need to be the hero of and look for their sibling

• The Traveler will probably give a remark that this world is troublesome but it’ll be worth it in the end

• The stealth mission is much easier for them as they did have practice when training to be an Honorary Fatui but is surprised when a Fatui mage gets the lyre and wonders what’s going on

• While they hide in the second floor of the Tavern, Paimon freaks out about the Fatui and the guards wondering just how grievous of an offense they did and when Master Diluc covers for them, sighs a breath of r e l i e f

• After Venti explains the story to Master Diluc, Diluc asks Venti if he could leave for a moment and insists that he just wants to talk to Mondstandt’s new honorary knight

• “What is the latest new star of the Fatui doing here in Mondstandt? And working with the Knights of Favonius of all things.”

- To be continued

[satoshi-mochida]

Some thoughts on my last Gamefly rental, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.

*Though most people are familiar with DBZ, especially the three main Sagas in this game, given how often they’re played out in games, I’ll put a spoiler warning here just in case. Also, I didn’t try out the DLC stories, yet, so this will just be about the base PS4 game with it’s current updates. I may buy the game and try those out in the future. I also say a lot about the game.

The game spans from the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Buu Saga(not counting DLC). Pretty much every important scene is played through, though a few parts are skimmed over or skipped, like:

Goku traveling Snake Way, his brief fall into Hell, and training with King Kai(shown a bit and mentioned but not playable) 

Piccolo using Hellzone Grenade against Android 17(you can have him learn the move and do it yourself, though).

Future Trunks’ battle with Cell where he found out the speed-loss disadvantages of Super Saiyan Third Grade(that moment isn’t shown or mentioned, though he does still fight Cell in that form)

Vegito still attacking Super Buu after being turned into candy(which means we don’t get to see him beating Super Buu up as a high-speed jawbreaker). Also, Goku and Vegeta freeing everyone trapped inside Super Buu happens offscreen.

And possibly a few smaller moments. They aren’t too important in the long run, though, plus some were probably for better pacing or something.

There was some added stuff, too:

Several times, you’ll be able to meet, and occasionally do sidequests for, several older Dragon Ball characters, like Nam, Eighter and Launch.

A new fight for Goku against Kid Buu to end the main story before he launches the Super Spirit Bomb at him.

There's a fairly small amount of playable characters(who can also be put in a party as Support Members): 

Goku

Gohan

Vegeta

Piccolo

Future Trunks(Android/Cell Saga and Epilogue, only)

Gotenks(only in two battles against Super Buu)

Vegito(in one battle against Super Buu, which, considering how powerful Vegito is, is more of an epic beatdown than a fight)

And a few characters that are support only:

Krillin

Tien

Yamcha

Chiaotzu

Goten

Kid Trunks

Android 18

All characters, Main and Support Only, have a ‘Super Attack Skill Tree’ that you can use Z Orbs that you find/earn to give them new skills and attacks. What you can get increases based on the character’s level and story progress(example, you can’t get Super Saiyan 2 for Gohan until he unlocks it during the fight with Perfect Cell).

Throughout the game, you’ll collect ‘Soul Emblems’ to place onto several ‘Community Boards’ to increase various ingame bonuses, like more EXP or cooking benefits. You get Soul Emblems both from the main story and side quests. They can be leveled up with Gifts to increase the Community Level, giving more bonuses. This seems to be the best setup for all of the emblems that I found.

At campfires and at Goku’s House, you can make food from items/materials you have to give yourself a stat boost. And Chi-Chi can be asked to make the party Full Course Meals at her home, which also increase the Base Stats of whoever eats them.

A certain filler episode from the original series where Goku and Piccolo are forced to get a Driver's License also happens in this game(though unfortunately without the outfits they wore in said episode). After doing so, you unlock the ability to make cars and battle walkers from Bulma, as well as Time Attacks for both types of vehicles(which I didn’t do much of).

Like the first Budokai game, this one has story’s events shown in cutscenes, which the later ones just had them happen in dialogue to speed things along, probably. And they did a really good job of animated said scenes, matching the look and feel of the series VERY closely.

The flying also feels well done, and true to the series. Aside from flying normally, which is fairly slow, you can hit L3 to start flying faster, at the cost of your Ki slowly going down and not being able to sense Ki with R1. This is the best way to travel the the large maps. Goku and Gohan can also use the Flying Nimbus, though you can’t pick up items that you need to hit Circle while doing so. Also, ramming into weaker enemies while flying will defeat them instantly and give you EXP. It’s a bit hard to aim yourself at enemies correctly, sometimes, though. 

Going underwater functions the same as flying, except with an air meter to keep an eye on. If it runs out, you get kicked back above where you entered the water as the only penalty. Take a peek down under whatever bodies of water you find; there’s always stuff to see and collect, depending on the map, especially on maps with oceans.

You can also dash on the ground by hitting L3, and unlike when flying, you can still sense Ki while doing so. 

I feel like this game’s flying controls are about what it should feel like for a Superman game. Probably might need a few tweaks to fit more with that series, but this feels like a good base for that kind of game.

The game’s many maps are pretty large, with lots to see and explore, including towns, caves that you need to be a certain level to enter, materials to gather, fishing spots, and more. They include plenty of well known DBZ locations, insulting Kame House(and the ocean around it), West City and Capsule Corp., Korin’s Tower and Kami’s Lookout, and so on.

Floating around these maps are enemies you can fight. They grow in strength as you do/the story progresses. If you’re strong enough and are fast-flying when running into an enemy, you’ll defeat it and gain EXP right away.

Speaking of Korin’s Tower, you can eventually unlock the ability to grow Senzu Beans there, which fully heal you. Once they’re unlocked, they will gradually grow and can be collected from Korin, with a Senzu Bean icon appearing next to it on the World Map if there’s any available. He will hold up to 9 at once, so check back once in a while.

Fishing is pretty easy to do; just hit one of the face buttons(X, Triangle, Square and Circle) when the marker is in a marked area, then hot one again when the closing circle is within another marked circle(this might make more sense when you see it yourself). You’ll get items for cooking from fishing, and some sidequests need them, or just certain types of fish, to clear. An amusing detail when fishing is that Goku and Gohan, even when he’s a teenager, use a fake tail as a lure while Vegeta and Piccolo fish like normal people(I forgot to check and see what Future Trunks does, but probably the latter).

After clearing the Frieza Saga, you can collect the Dragon Balls on Earth during Intermissions. They give off a small orange slow when sensing for Ki, and you’ll hear a low humming sound when you’re close to one. You can get several different wishes from them, with three of them always being for Z Orbs, Zeni or Rare Material Items. Other wishes are reviving certain dead characters to fight them again, and can only be done once, unlike the three listed above. At first, you can only make 1 wish at a time, but as the game goes on, it gets upgraded to 2 then 3 wishes at once. After making a wish(s), you ‘ll need to wait 20 ingame minutes before the Dragon Balls can be found and used again. They seems to have a couple set locations on whatever map they end up on(two locations are west of Orange/Satan City, for example).

Speaking of Mr. Satan...I know that his actually Japanese stage name, but I always end up calling him Hercule due to hearing that for so many years(and just liking how that sounds better). Also, ‘Satan City’ just sounds really funny. XD

You probably won’t need to really grind in the base game; you should get enough experience from doing sidequests and story events to get by. Gohan especially; he ended up quite a few more levels than everyone else just from the story EXP alone, and his Unleashed Potential ‘form’ from Elder Kai makes him do quite a lot more damage. Also, gained experience is shared among all party members, even those not currently set to fight.

One of the sidequests you can do throughout the game is defeating ‘Villainous Enemies’, who are fairly strong, and are covered in a red aura. You should at least be at or around their level before fighting them, since you can’t run from fights in this game. It may be best to do them during Intermissions when you can select your party members, and bringing someone who can stun with Solar Flare(like Krillin), can be really helpful. 

In the epilogue/postgame, in addition to being able to play as Future Trunks(talk to him outside of Capsule Corp.), you can also use his time machine to redo Boss fights, and do any sidequests you may have missed.

The game’s opening has the old opening for the show, ‘Cha-La-Head-Cha-La”, and this is the first time I really listened to it. It’s really good, and kind of reminds me of the opening to Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, too, for some reason.

There’s a few parts where there’s some nice attention to the series’ details:

At several story points when Saiyan characters are healed, like with Senzu Beans or the healing pod on Namek, they gain experience, while others, like Krillin, don’t get that bonus, which does make them, admittedly accurately, start lagging behind in strength.

If you use Ki Sense on Androids, and a certain researcher in Capsule Corp., you won’t see anything emitting from them.

If you have Piccolo and/or Android 18 in your party while eating a Full Course Meal from Chi-Chi, they won’t eat any of it. Saiyan characters(again, forgot to check Future Trunks) eat it ravenously(even Vegeta), while human party members eat normally.

Only Goku and Gohan can use the Flying Numbus.

These aren’t really important observations, but some events in the game made me think:

Did Piccolo destroying the Moon to stop Gohan’s Great Ape form have any effects on Earth? Or did nothing really happen?

How in the world did Supreme Kai and Babidi survive being so close to Majin Vegeta when he used Final Explosion while Piccolo and Krillin hightailed it out of there with Goten and Kid Trunks? 

I noticed a possible(intentional) goof at the end. In the cutscene after beating Kid Buu and going back to Kami’s Lookout to reunite with everyone, Dende is a kid again for some reason. Apparently, both the original anime and manga made this goof too, so maybe it’s a nod to that? It is kind of jarring, though. XD

A couple technical issues I found were that sometimes when loading a map, and in some battles later on, the game would hang for a couple seconds, and one time it crashed while it was loading into an area after traveling to another. Thank goodness for autosave. Also, be careful using the stronger version of Goku’s Spirit Bomb attacks; it caused major lag for me a couple times.

This ended up being one of my favorite DBZ games that I’ve played, close runners up including 

Budokai 3

Budokai Tenkaichi 2(mainly for just how many characters that one has, including most of the movies from around that time, outmatched by Budokai Tenkaichi 3, which I didn’t play)

Legacy of Goku 2(I didn’t get the chance to play Buu’s Fury back then)

Next game being sent is: Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel

[commenter2]

New Rift Apart trailer breakdown

We finally got a new trailer for Rift Apart and it is filled with TONS of new info about the story and gameplay. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p_gg9UW9k4

Like I promised here is a breakdown.

Like some people were theorizing, the trailer opens with what I think will be the opening cutscene of the game as Ratchet and Clank, and probably Qwark given the balloon and holograms, are being celebrated at a parade to thank them for saving the universe time and time again. We then see Ratchet and Clank presented with the Dimensionator which I bet the people of the parade gave to them (after Clank and others fixed it) so that Ratchet could go visit the Lombaxes in there dimension if he wanted to as part of universe's appreciation. However to there shock Dr. Nefarious (whos mech was hiding in a Dr. Nefarious balloon which is clever and funny) takes it.

The next big cutscene I think takes place at the end of the gameplay demo we got in August as Nefarious’s mech is damaged here, likely as a result of crashing after the Dimensionator blew up. Here Nefarious opens a portal to the dimension where he always wins and Ratchet and Clank get sucked into it, though I bet the end up somewhere else first. Ratchet calls out to Clank and is shocked to discover another Lombax and we see that Clank lost his arm somehow and he meets the female Lombax. An interesting note here is that Clank lost his right arm, just like the female Lombax did, which is intriguing and a relief as I was nervous that Ratchet was going to lose his own arm during the adventure like she di if it turns out she is just a female version of him. I wonder if Clank gets a replacement arm and because of it being made of materials from an alternate dimension, he gets his new interdimensional powers ?

After all this time we FINALLY learn the female Lombaxes name which is………Rivet ! I’m still kind of meh about the name but I bet I’ll learn to love it.

Were quickly given two bits of gameplay info here, one is that Clank WILL be teaming up with Rivet just like he does with Ratchet and we get a new gameplay mechanic obviously inspired by Insomniac Games’s Spider-Man as with the aid of the gravity boots Rivet (and likely Ratchet) can run on metallic walls. We also see that Rivet also has a swingshot AND a rift tether and can use it on yellow rifts.

Speaking of rifts if you look closely at that swinghsot scene, there seems to be a blue rift ! I wonder if they can only be accessed by Clank or after doing a hacking puzzle like I mentioned before ?

We then get a few scenes of some of the levels that Rivet and Clank will be able to go to in the game, one looks like AU Sargasso, one looks like a shipyard with a building with a Mr. Zurkon statue on it, a market on AU Torren IV, and some kind of asteroid field.

That last one is the most interesting as after Rivet hits a crystal it with her hammer, she and Clank seem to go to a new dimension. Maybe unlike Ratchet she has to use them to travel the omniverse ? Another idea is that this is an example of Clank’s interdimesional powers as the area that Rivet and Clank appear in does have some similarities to that weird area they were in before hitting the crystal. Maybe there in some sort of space between dimensions and hitting specific crystals can take them to specific dimensions ?

We then hear and later see a female robot surprised to see Emperor Nefarious return, followed by our Nefarious lying about being the emperor. I wonder if she’s the AU Nefarious equivalent of Lawrence ? By the way where is Lawrence ? This is interesting as it seems that the real Emperor Nefarious is gone, meaning he will probably be introduced later on in the game and when he does he will have something big planned.

We then get a scene that reminds me of a scene from ACIT as Ratchet sneaks up on Nefarious and after seeing a troubled Clank (which makes him sad) he accidently reveals himself, surprising Nefarious and we get a funny scene of Ratchet shushing him and hitting Nefarious across the face. I wonder if just like in that scene from ACIT this will cause Nefarious to get another crack on his dome and eye, but this time on the other side of his face XD

After a scene of a ship flying on Torren IV, we then hear Rivet talking about how Ratchet and Clank’s Nefarious is just like hers and is also surprised to see another Lombax. A quick note, I believe that segment of her gameplay from earlier in the trailer is the gameplay that leads to Rivet and Clank back to her base of sorts. We then see Ratchet take a Nefarious ship, likely the same one I mentioned earlier. Could this confirm that there will be space battles and if so could we ride Aphelion ?

While a battle take place on Torren IV while the giant robot shoots down a ship, just like in his bio card from twitter we hear Clank says that every dimension could be lost if they don’t get the Dimensionator back. During that screenshot of the shot ship going down, there is a statue of someone on the bottom right corner who I think could be a new character. He could be an AU character as he kinda looks like captain slag on a Vorselon like body.

We then see that the robot will go after Rivet and Clank (who is still missing his arm) as it is about to stop them while on the rails. This kinda reminds me of that Kerchu guardian boss fight from TOD which mean its seems like this will be a multi step boss fight which I love. I also feel like Torren IV is the place in the game’s story where Ratchet and Clank reunite and where Ratchet meets Rivet.

The next few scenes happen quite quickly but there are some interesting things here.

HOVERBOOTS CONFIMRED ! It also seems that he acquires them while Clank is still with Rivet.

Some new gameplay as unlike Ratchet , when Rivet dashes to the side we see her make several hologram versions of herself which actually seems to draw fire from the enemies ! We also see her wielding a new pistol weapon of sorts. Maybe it could be a modified or V5 Burst Pistol ?

There is a scene of Rivet ALONE riding a bug as she chases a bug shaped ship.

We see Ratchet AND Clank on Ardolis, specifically a remake of that room we break into in the caves to get to the Lombax artifact in TOD, blasting robot pirates with a machine gun weapon. This scene seems to confirm that maybe at certain points during the game Clank will switch between partnering up with Ratchet and Rivet. That or they are together because this is early in the game and like in the August gameplay they get separated when they get on that ship being attacked by that squid.

A Clank less Ratchet uses a grenade launcher of sorts at an enemy. Instead of exploding though the ball seems to move around pretty fast, striking the enemy multiple times.

The trailer ends with that bug shaped ship from earlier crashing and Rivet about to hit the driver with her hammer. I think that will be another multi step boss fight as a part of the ship was missing.

An awesome trailer for sure but thanks to VTNVIVI there is more info about Rift Apart. Thanks to him I found a link to PlayStation blog filled with new info: https://blog.playstation.com/2021/04/26/meet-rivet-the-mysterious-new-protagonist-in-ratchet--clank-rift-apart/

One minor thing stated here is that the level ruled by Emperor Nefarious is called Nefarious City, which I’m surprised we didn’t call it that before, oh well.

Its confirmed that Mark Mothersbaug composed the music. He was behind the music of Crash and Jak and Daxter which is interesting. Speaking of music you can actually listen to some of the soundtrack on the PS Blog, one of which is called “Ride Though the Omniverse” which on a minor note confirms that there calling this an omniverse instead of a multiverse, just like in ACIT.

We get to see the 5 armor sets that comes with preordering the game digitally. Its confirmed that they are cosmetic and you can “mix-and-match” sets of armors. Though theses armors are cosmetic I still think the Carbonox armor will work like regular armor and reduce damage.

This trailer was very needed but guess what were getting more Rift Apart news ! We will be getting 15 minutes of new gameplay at the next PlayStations State of Play which is this Thursday the 29th at 2pm Pacific/5pm Eastern ! I'll probably be busy around that time but do expect a breakdown of it later this week.

With that said what were your thoughts on the trailer and the blog news ? What was your favorite moment from the trailer ?

Did you notice anything that I missed and what theorizes do you have about Rift Apart ?

[maxerikson]

The Character Development of Sonic the Hedgehog: A Character Analysis

The Sonic the Hedgehog video game series is one that does not require very deep or complicated stories to go with their games. Due to the simplistic nature of the franchise, its characters are probably best described as two-dimensional, which would be fine, because they don’t require that third dimension of depth. The main character himself, Sonic the Hedgehog, doesn’t even have much character development throughout the series; at least at first glance that would seem to be the case, but I am here to tell you all that Sonic the Hedgehog has gone through a lot of character development throughout his adventures, making him very three-dimensional. There are four key character arcs that Sonic has gone through over the course of the main series, and I’m going to go over all of them while examining Sonic’s development in the major installments.

-

From Loner to Team Player

I believe at the very start of the series, Sonic the Hedgehog was a loner, who had trouble making friends and might have even closed himself off to others. In Sonic the Hedgehog 1, Sonic was the only playable character, and the only other character in the whole game was the villain, Dr. Eggman. More characters appeared in later titles, many more, but none of them are people Sonic knew before Sonic 1. They were all strangers to Sonic when they first appeared. Another piece of evidence comes from Amy Rose. Several years ago now, Sega did a mock Q&A with Sonic, and one of the questions asked of him was why he wasn’t interested in Amy. His answer was because he was too busy with his adventures to have a relationship (although there’s also an inappropriate age difference between the two, with Sonic being 15 years old, and Amy being 12).

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that this makes it hard to form any relationship, whether romantic or platonic. Being able to move as fast as he can, the world around Sonic is just too slow for him, and the people that were in his life before Tails and Amy likely just couldn’t keep up. Not only that, but his powers and his status as a hero likely make him a target, which would make him dangerous to be around, as if his super speed didn’t make him dangerous enough already. However, Amy would force her way into Sonic’s life, not minding the danger, and in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic met Tails, who was able to keep up with him thanks to his propeller-like twin tails, and tagged along on his adventure to stop Eggman from destroying West Island in his search for the Chaos Emeralds. Tails may have been Sonic’s first real friend in who knows how long, maybe even ever.

That being said, Sonic still saw Tails and Amy as people he had to protect, and he had trouble getting along with people like Knuckles, who was also quite the loner, although much more so than Sonic. Then Sonic Adventure 1 took place, and it seemed like Sonic’s fears were coming true. When the Tornado 1 was shot down during the first attack on the Egg Carrier, Sonic and Tails were separated. Sonic had no idea if Tails was OK, so he needed to find him quickly, but Amy just had to show up asking for him to help a lost birdie. Sonic never agreed to this, but when Zero arrived to capture Amy and the bird, Sonic was determined to rescue them, but Zero escaped with them. Sonic had failed to protect his friends, and he wouldn’t have needed to if he was their friend in the first place.

Sonic didn’t have long to dwell on this failure, however, because Tails almost immediately appeared in his Tornado 2, which he and Sonic used to attack the Egg Carrier, and this time successfully made on board, where they find out that Amy had already escaped custody...with help from an Eggman robot, no less! In this moment, Sonic has learned that his friends can take care of themselves, meaning he can have friends without putting them in danger.

The story for Sonic Adventure 1 had a central theme that was used as the inspiration for the main song, Open Your Heart. The story was all about how you need to open your heart to others, because closing yourself off will create a cycle of pain and hatred. This lesson was put into words when Sonic gave his speech to Tikal before the final boss battle, telling her why they shouldn’t just seal Chaos back into the Master Emerald. I believe Sonic wouldn’t have been able to make this speech at the beginning of the game, because it’s a lesson he’s been learning since the beginning of the series, and it had just sunk in. That speech is the climax of Sonic letting his friends be part of his life, but it isn’t the finale.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic found himself framed for a crime he didn’t commit and thrown in Prison Island. How did he escape? He didn’t—at least not by himself. It was actually Amy who released Sonic from his cell while Tails was keeping Dr. Eggman busy. Not only could Sonic’s friends take care of themselves, but they can even be relied on to save the day when Sonic can’t. Sonic is shown to have learned this lesson when he gets trapped on the ARK, and about to be jettisoned to his apparent death; during that scene he tells Tails to take care of Amy, letting him know that Sonic has full faith in him to be a hero in Sonic’s absence. By Sonic Heroes, Sonic has become a true team player, treating Tails and Knuckles as equals as they worked together to stop Eggman.

A lot of this is intertwined with the next area of development I’m about to talk about, which is….

-

Sonic’s Confidence

Sonic the Character is well known for his confidence. A lot of people view him as cocky, but I’ve never seen him as such. However, I believe that’s because by Sonic Adventure 1, he’s already lost a good chunk of that cockiness (all games before SA1 had what I like to call ‘video game stories’, with little-to-no dialogue or cutscenes). One way a person can combat loneliness is by convincing themselves that they don’t need other people in their lives—they’re awesome enough by themselves! Sonic in particular wouldn’t need to try that hard to convince himself of this. He was able to defeat Eggman and destroy his base in Sonic 1 all by himself, and no-one even died. He got some help from Tails in Sonic 2 and 3, but he was basically support. Speaking of Sonic 3, this game basically started with Sonic, as Super Sonic, getting the super knocked out of him when Knuckles caught him by surprise. That definitely would have been a blow to Sonic’s ego. First Metal Sonic and now this gullible Knucklehead? Sonic keeps finding opponents who can actually go toe-to-toe with him.

Still, as far as Sonic was concerned, he needed to be as unstoppable as he believed himself to be. No-one else can do what he can, which means saving the world was his responsibility alone. Now I would like to point out something I said in the previous section: “Sonic had failed to protect his friends” in Sonic Adventure 1. Sonic experienced his first real failure, and what happened? Tails and Amy turned up OK without Sonic saving them. Sonic doesn’t always need to protect them, something that is further proven in Sonic Adventure 2, which also featured more of Sonic’s failure. First, he’s captured by G.U.N. after being framed by theft, then he meets Shadow—the guy who framed him—and learns that this lookalike can outclass him. First Knuckles, now this faker? Sonic keeps meeting people who can make dents in his ego. Speaking of which, he’s immediately captured by G.U.N. again, and needs Tails and Amy to rescue him. Then there’s the final boss battle, during which Shadow—who was fighting alongside Sonic—apparently dies, and although the two of them saved the planet from destruction, Sonic couldn’t save Shadow.

Sonic has realized that he’s not invincible, but he also doesn’t need to carry the whole weight of the world on his shoulders, because his friends can help. We know Sonic has learned this lesson, because at the end of Team Sonic’s story in Sonic Heroes, Sonic admits to Knuckles that he wouldn’t have been able succeed in this journey without him and Tails, and thanks him; and you know this is a big deal because Knuckles responds with an expression of utter shock! Does this mean Sonic Heroes is the end of this particularly character arc for Sonic? No, because now Sonic was underconfident. Once someone realizes they’re not as amazing as they believed themselves to be, they begin feeling inadequate. This is best illustrated in Sonic Unleashed. At the beginning of this game, Sonic is at his lowest point. Eggman  not only defeated Sonic’s super form, but used the power from it to split the planet apart. As a result of this failure, Sonic was turned into a beastly werehog, and he accidentally gave someone amnesia (or so he believes).

Later in the game, Sonic is found by Amy, but she thinks she’s confused a stranger for Sonic, so she apologizes and runs off to find her crush. Considering how much Sonic finds Amy’s crush on him annoying, you’d think Sonic would be delighted by this, but nope! He’s clearly saddened by this, and we get a mopey werehog. That’s because his werehog form is a reminder of his failure, and of his self-perceived inadequacy; but then Chip regains his memories and reveals he’s actually Light Gaia. Sonic theorizes that this is why he’s still himself on the inside when he turns into a werehog, because Chip was with him that whole time, but Chip tells Sonic that it was all Sonic. It was Sonic’s own willpower that kept him sane. I would also like to point out that this is the first main series game in a long time in which Sonic is the only playable character. That’s why I think it’s very important that the main theme of this game’s story is about Sonic realizing the power he had inside himself all along, regaining his confidence and becoming Super Sonic once more to defeat Dark Gaia.

In short, Sonic went from being overconfident to underconfident to confident. However, he’s still very impulsive.

-

Chaos Impulse Control

It only makes sense that someone with super speed would lack patience, and while Sonic has always been shown to be pretty impatient, it wasn’t until Sonic Lost World that it came to be an important part of a game’s story, at least explicitly. I feel like there are examples throughout the main series where Sonic’s impulsiveness was reflected in gameplay and level design. The only examples I can think of from the top of my head though are two from Sonic Adventure 1. Perhaps one of the reasons that orca attacked was because it was startled by Sonic running through its enclosure at such high speeds? Maybe Sonic was the one who accidentally caused that avalanche he had to snowboard away from? Who knows? All I do know, is that Sonic Lost World was the first game that really made full use of Sonic’s impulsiveness.

In SLW, Sonic recklessly got rid of the conch Eggman was using to control the Deadly Six, which made things worse. Sonic’s impulsiveness then got Tails captured and almost roboticized. In the end, Sonic acknowledged his mistakes and apologized to Tail; so does that mean Sonic has learned his lesson? Well, yes, but I believe this will continue to happen. Allow me to repeat myself: Sonic has super speed. Living life with such a power is definitely going to be like living with attention deficiency and hyperactivity. The world is always going to feel too slow for Sonic, which means he’s always going to be in a rush to make things faster. It’s something he’s probably going to live with for most of his remaining life, even if he’s aware of it. Luckily, he has friends who can support him by helping him reign himself in, or by helping him fix his mistakes when he is unable to.

-

Before I move on to the fourth and final area of Sonic’s character development, you may have noticed that there are three major Sonic games I haven’t mentioned so far. That’s because Sonic doesn’t go through any development in Sonic Colors or Sonic Forces. On the surface, that seems to be the same for Sonic Generations, but just think about it for a few seconds: Sonic is traveling through his past during this game. He is seeing a lot of reminders of his past, which could make him think back and reflect on the lessons he’s learned since beginning his adventures on South Island, reaffirming those lessons onto himself; and don’t forget, there are two of him in this game. While Modern Sonic is reflecting on his past, Classic Sonic is getting a glimpse of his future; of the person he could eventually become and the lessons he’ll need to learn to reach that point.

Still, that’s mostly headcanon. It would have been nice if it were more explicit though, and Sonic actually talked about this stuff at least a little. At least we got Sonic telling his past self that his future “is going to be great,” clarifying that Sonic is happy with where he is in life, and that he doesn’t hold any regrets. Which begs the question: What else is there left for Sonic? Well, there is one more part of himself that Sonic is still learning about….

-

Sonic’s Powers

How is Sonic able to move so fast? So far, fans haven’t been given an answer, and Sonic doesn’t appear to know either. Remember when I said Sega did a mock Q&A with Sonic? Well, in that Q&A, Sonic revealed that he was able to run at super speed for as long as he could remember, with no idea how or why he has this power. Although we have yet to be given an answer in these games, we have  gotten at least one game where Sonic was shown to be thinking about it, and one where he might have been.

When Sonic and Shadow were working together during the final boss battle in Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow exclaimed that he figured out that Sonic is the ultimate lifeform, not Shadow. How...is this possible? Shadow was supposed to have been created by Prof. Robotnik to be the ultimate lifeform. There are hints in the game that Robotnik took inspiration from Angel Island’s hieroglyphs, which we know from Sonic & Knuckles depict Sonic, but I want to focus more on the game’s final scene, which shows Sonic thinking about what Shadow said, and how Prof. Robotnik was trying to create the ultimate lifeform.

“Am I really the ultimate lifeform? What does that mean exactly? Does it have anything to do with my speed?” These are likely the questions going through Sonic’s head after these events. That scene hinted at Sonic having questions about his own origins, and he might have been given his first real clue; but has this come up again at all during the series? Perhaps it did, in Sonic Unleashed.

Remember how Chip said Sonic was still Sonic even when he was a werehog because of the power inside of him? Is that just Sonic’s inner strength and willpower, or could it also have something to do with him being the ultimate lifeform? That’s probably what Sonic’s thinking at this time, but who knows?

-

Conclusion

Sonic began his adventures as an arrogant loner with impulse control issues, but over time he has grown into a humble team player with impulse control issues. It doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but I think it’s pretty important. The next, logical thing to do with Sonic as a character is to explore the origins of his powers, at least if we want to see more character development, but it isn’t the only option. Another path writers could take is relapse, and I think Sonic Forces has created an opportunity for this route, despite its awful story. At the beginning of this game, Sonic gets defeated and imprisoned for six months. During that time, Eggman conquered most of the world, all because Sonic was there, basically proving Sonic’s former belief that he needs to be the one to save everyone as correct.

If I had to choose though, I’d rather see more about Sonic’s powers. Still, what should Sega do if Sonic’s character becomes fully developed? Is it time for a reboot? No, not necessarily. There’s nothing wrong with a flat character arc, after all. Instead of having Sonic improve himself, future stories could exclusively portray the characters around them going through character arcs as a result of Sonic’s actions and his relationships with them. That’s technically already something we see in most Sonic games, but that’s while Sonic is going through his own character arcs, at least in the major installments. In minor main series Sonic games, like Sonic Rush, it doesn’t seem like Sonic goes through any development, but the characters around him do. That could become the norm if Sonic completes his development, and that’s OK.

Here’s the big question though: Was any of this character development intentional? Probably not. At the very least, I doubt it was planned by Sega’s higher-ups, and more like the result of individual writers each trying to create the best stories they can, and then all of that work put together created a happy accident. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Sonic lived and learned to open his heart, and to work with his friends to become stronger together, while also acknowledging the endless possibility of what’s inside of him. Sonic the Hedgehog is my favorite video game character, and realizing all of this just makes him even better in my point of view. With this analysis, I hope I’ll get people to appreciate his character as much as I do.

[eurofox]

Yakuza 7 (like a dragon) review

I was dreading this one because of the turn based combat (I’m not keen on dragon quest for a start) and having an all new cast plus I had a major plot point spoiled beforehand but I decided to give it a chance anyway. Still prefer brawler style overall, but I did get used to it

The good shit: 

I ended up really liking Ichiban, he was just the character that was needed after Kiryu. He’s still as dumb ofc, but he’s really enthusiastic about everything he does. I still prefer Kiryu, but he was pretty subdued when it came to almost everything and he really did seem fed up by 5 so Ichi’s a breath of fresh air.

The villains were good this time round and Ichi’s connection to them made it all the more interesting. 

Sleep minigame was mad

No stupid enemies grabbing guns left about in cutscenes

Another great soundtrack

Lot’s of enemy variety, they really got wacky with it

I eventually got used to the combat. It’s ok, just a huge change. It does get a bit repetitive later though.

The special moves are all fun. Daigo and Majima especially. I think Majima was a sonic adventure reference?

Dragon kart is a nice distraction, wish we got more characters though, maybe next game

More locations and the uber app was handy given how big yokohoma was

Bringing back old theme songs was nice

I’m glad Watase made a re-appearence, he had a lot of potential and I’m glad he didn’t just get forgotten

Great news Wagi fans, he’s back (although how the fuck and why did no-one realise, did daigo not notice his captain never came out of hospital?)

The goon pokedex is a great 

Finally, playable female characters. Both are fine, although there was a strong smurfette feel to the group at times. Also I love that neither can be attacked by Kiryu in the boss fight, cool attention to detail. Seong hui was also cool but I wish she fought, it’d make more sense for her than the other 2 in all honesty.

The CDs are nice

I loved the whole dynamic with the group and the little bar chats. Kiryu’s chats in 6 were more awkward and brought back bad memories for me in school trying to add to  conversations so it hit to close to home. Ichi has more charisma. I hope they keep this for the next game, I’d love to see the Tojo gang discuss stuff, especially with Daigo as he never got to do much outside of chairmanning

They had a reasonable explanation for Han sorta coming back. He was OP tbh but still cool.

Date cameo, always good to see him

The kiryu fight was good fun

I got into Ichiban confections, but I did need a guide to get started. It wasn’t explained very well.

The tojo and omi being gone opens up a lot of possibilities.

Onomichio my beloved

The Bad shit:

OMG the fucking Majima fight is an absolute bullshit difficulty spike. Worst in any game I’ve played in years.  I was comfortably beating enemies/bosses before that, there was no real indication I was severely underleveled except a hint that I should use the arena (and i was halfway through on my first attempt). I get they are meant to be Tojo legends but that felt cheap. Then I overlevelled and it wasn’t fun. Kiryu’s and tendo’s fights were far more balanced

Dungeons are pretty samey, although they are mostly optional I suppose.

The stop motion cutscenes they used sometimes made me feel sick for some reason. Didn’t care for that design choice at all.

Ok, maybe Kashiwagi could have survived, but no way lau ka long should have.

Mirrorface was dumb as fuck, he only played a small role thankfully

Graphics seemed like a downgrade compared to judgement at times, maybe I’m imagining it though

That annoying noise adachi and saeko make when you stand still for a second drove me nuts

that same ice clink sound effect in the drinks (minor quibble, but yeah)

Food does not give experience, why does it say that.

Switching jobs was a massive pain at times, I just stuck with enforcer, idol, hitman and hero.

Some attacks just seemed pointless

Poundmates are way too expensive

Yokohoma isn’t as nice to look at, but that’s not the games fault. Lots of bland office buildings.

Nanba’s betrayel for a brother we don’t even get to see annoyed me. Didn’t let that fucker back in my party after that lol. And if he wasn’t actually homeless why does he carry on like a hobo.

Geomijul are filling in for the florist . i thought they got rid of him for being too convenient a plot device but here we are again.

Arakawa and Daigo seemed to leave a lot of shit up to chance imo.

Crafting felt kind of limited

Ichi’s capacity for forgiveness seemed a little delusional at times, it is pointed out and I guess he says himself there’s no logic to it.

Trying to make the brothel owner out to be some swell guy felt a bit cringe, it’s the whole grey area thing I know but he still seemed like a dick.

Substories took too long at times and there’s a few pretty boring ones

I’m happy I gave it a chance anyway and it’’ll be interesting to see where they go from here. No more ‘traitor in the Tojo clan’ ‘someone shot/abducted daigo’ or ‘omi vs tojo’ plots from here on out. IDK how Kiryu will fight as he isn’t a gaming addict so how are they gonna square that when he joins? 

The characters were well fleshed out and like judgement you can see they’ve gotten better with their story telling. 

The combat was jarring at first but I got good at it eventually and started enjoying it a lot more. It helps they were so creative with attacks but I’ll always prefer brawling

[aion-rsa]

Godzilla Singular Point: The Weird History of Jet Jaguar

https://ift.tt/3jvPBwC

The latest take on Toho’s iconic, building-crushing lizard comes in the form of Godzilla Singular Point, an anime series now available in dubbed form on Netflix. Taking place in the not-too-distant future, this reimagining of the King of Monsters involves a group of human characters becoming aware – through rather bizarre ways – of a coming apocalyptic event. Now the only thing that can save them is a behemoth out to punch monsters and look out for the little guy.

No, not Godzilla. He’s actually the apocalyptic event. No, our hero is none other than Jet Jaguar.

Yes, it’s finally time for Jet Jaguar to get his due.

A concept nearly 50 years old at this point, Jet Jaguar is one of those characters who was initially doomed to fail, but lives on due to nostalgia and the golden notion of, “I realize most people hated that thing from my childhood, but I bet I could make it good!” At best, he was a rad addition to the Godzilla mythos. At worst, he was a dumb idea from a dumb movie. For the most part, he’s remembered as something goofy that gets laughed at, despite having some genuine earnestness.

Jet Jaguar was created from both a fan contest and a corporate game of telephone. Back in 1972, to jump on the bandwagon of tokusatsu giant superhero/robot shows, Toho asked fans to design their own superhero design. The winner was a half-man/half-bird robot with a lengthy neck resembling a stack of rings named Red Alone. The concept was turned into a full-on rubber costume, but they changed the color scheme, which upset the young winner. They later decided to just scrap the whole thing, keep the color scheme, and make their own new design. And so, Jet Jaguar was born.

The superhero made an entire one movie appearance in 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon. As the urban legend goes, this was initially intended to be a standalone Jet Jaguar movie that the studio just didn’t have faith in towards the end and they hastily threw in Godzilla and recurring Godzilla villain Gigan. While the claim is dubious and unproven, it certainly is easy to understand where the allegations come from.

Everything about the movie feels rushed. As the last-minute replacement for another Godzilla film that didn’t pan out, filming took several weeks and production was a mere six months. Even the Godzilla costume was whipped up in record time. As for the story, outside of the intro, the preexisting elements (Godzilla and Gigan) aren’t thrown in until about 2/3 into the movie. Up until that point, it feels like a Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon movie with the production team hitting the panic button.

The plot of Godzilla vs. Megalon is that a scientist Goro Ibuki is working on a robot called Jet Jaguar, along with his little brother Rokuro and his best friend Hiroshi. They get wrapped up in a plot involving a group of beings from Atlantis-But-Not-Really, who are annoyed at all the nuclear bomb tests going on in their neck of the woods. They steal Jet Jaguar and use him to guide their insect god Megalon to different cities for the sake of smashing them up and punishing humanity.

Goro and friends get their hands on Jet Jaguar’s controls and use him to lead Godzilla to where Megalon is. Then the Seatopians call some alien friends for a solid and have them send in Gigan. Jet Jaguar is able to break away from all control and becomes fully sentient, as well as revealing the ability to turn into a giant. It becomes a big tag team battle, mostly remembered for Godzilla doing the silliest dropkick you’ve ever seen, followed by a second one for good measure.

The villains escape, Jet Jaguar and Godzilla shake hands, they go their separate ways, and Jet Jaguar reunites with the humans heroes after shrinking back down. He gets his own snazzy theme song to close things out.

In Japan, the movie wasn’t all that successful. As the thirteenth title in the Godzilla series, it brought in the worst returns yet. Between public burnout and the movie’s lack of quality, it just wasn’t grabbing people. That said, it came out at just the right time in the United States. Released in 1976, it came out months before the anticipated King Kong remake. The American movie poster for the movie even bit on the King Kong poster by featuring Godzilla and Megalon duking it out while each standing on a different Twin Tower, even though the movie at no point took place in the States.

A year later, the movie would be cut down into 48 minutes so they could broadcast it on NBC in prime time, across an hour with commercials. The only reason I mention this at all is because it was hosted by John Belushi wearing a Godzilla costume, which is sadly somewhere in the abyss of golden lost media.

Getting back to Jet Jaguar – the topic of this article – I feel the need to bring up Germany’s handling of the movie’s translation. Rather than call him “Jet Jaguar,” they referred to him as “King Kong.” I mean…sure, why not. Even weirder, when the next two movies introduced fellow giant robot MechaGodzilla, Germany once again referred to the robot as “King Kong.” Guys, I know what you’re going for here, but it doesn’t work that way.

Anyway, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla and Terror of MechaGodzilla followed Godzilla vs. Megalon and closed off the classic Showa Era of Godzilla movies. Not only did Japan need to rest Godzilla as a concept for nearly a decade, but this also meant that whenever Godzilla would come back, it was going to be some kind of reboot or new “only the first movie counts” installment. Jet Jaguar was never high on the list to be brought back, especially since MechaGodzilla completely overshadowed him.

He would at least get a little more exposure in 1991 when Godzilla vs. Megalon was featured in the second season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. While much of the episode is spent making fun of one of the Seatopians for looking like Oscar Wilde, they toss plenty of jokes at Jet Jaguar. Most memorably, they “translate” Jet Jaguar’s ending theme, which notes that his mother never loved him and he looks a lot like Jack Nicholson.

Due to rights issues, Godzilla vs. Megalon is one of the few MST3K episodes that is no longer legally available for viewing. This does make the original MST3K Collection Volume 10 box set (which included Godzilla vs. Megalon as one of the four movies) a collector’s item, as it was later discontinued and rereleased with The Giant Gila Monster taking its spot.

A stranger use of Jet Jaguar comes in the form of Certain Distant Suns’ music video for “Bitter” in 1995. While there’s not much of a narrative outside of the band playing, footage of Godzilla vs. Megalon being shown, and a few shots of guys walking around in Megalon and Jet Jaguar costumes, I really insist you give the video a look due to the ending. It certainly goes in a direction I wasn’t expecting.

In 1997, Jet Jaguar made his next official appearance in another frankly bizarre spectacle. In Japan, a series called Godzilla Island appeared on TV in three-minute increments. While it only lasted a year, there were a whopping 256 episodes, meaning almost 13 hours of footage. If you’ve never heard of Godzilla Island, you might be thinking, “Wow, almost 13 hours of Godzilla stuff? Why isn’t this more well known?”

Well, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that instead of using guys in rubber suits, the kaiju action was done with action figures. Yikes.

Not only did Jet Jaguar show up during these adventures, but they gave him the 90s superhero action figure treatment. Much like how they released as many figures of Batman as possible for different crime-fighting scenarios, Godzilla Island gave us Silver Jet Jaguar, Medical Jet Jaguar, and even Fireman Jet Jaguar. Collect them all!

Read more

Movies

Godzilla vs. Kong Writer Talks About Spending 8 Years in the MonsterVerse

By Don Kaye

Movies

Godzilla vs. Kong Director and Writer Talk Future of The MonsterVerse

By Don Kaye

In the early 2000s, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee was released for the GameCube and Xbox under the Atari brand. It was a fighting game featuring various characters from Godzilla lore and though Atari wanted to include Jet Jaguar, Toho refused. Still, at least Megalon was included in the game. There would be two sequels in the form of Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed. FINALLY, Jet Jaguar was playable, because if there’s anything you can count on, it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel when you’re working on multiple installments of a nostalgic who’s who project.

He’d also return in 2014’s Godzilla game for PlayStation 3 and 4. The producer of the game didn’t even plan on putting him in there, but he saw that the programmers already were working on him and just shrugged it off. There was a special trick to summoning Jet Jaguar as a boss character. By ending up in three different Godzilla vs. Jet Jaguar scenarios and winning all three times, you would then unlock a special cutscene of the two shaking hands while a confused military woman would wonder about their history.

Around the mid-2010s, IDW Publishing was all about releasing a bunch of comics with the Godzilla license. Their mainline series was Godzilla: Rulers of the Earth, which went on for 25 issues. Early on, Jet Jaguar appeared out of nowhere during a fight between Godzilla and the team of Gigan and Orga. In human size, Jet Jaguar flew into Orga’s mouth, then expanded into giant size, causing the beast to explode. Especially awesome was that it came with the cliffhanger text, “Next: PUNCH! PUNCH! PUNCH!” a reference to Jet Jaguar’s theme song from the movie.

Jet Jaguar showed up regularly in the series, coming off as Godzilla’s designated driver friend and handler. What I mean is that he seemed to be out to protect Godzilla, but that meant having to keep his violent ally on task (ie. pointing out that Gigan was nearby to stop Godzilla from attacking Jet Jaguar) and throwing punches when the situation absolutely called for it.

This continuity played up Jet Jaguar as more enigmatic than anything, as although he was mechanical, the only human character who knew his origins was killed off before it could be explained. Even one of the invading alien villains saw him on a screen and basically went, “Oh crap. It’s THIS guy!” Regardless, he still came off as a total badass, winning fights against Godzilla, Gigan (the chainsaw-hand version), and Destroyah.

Then again, at one point he needed to be saved by the 1998 American Godzilla, which at least proved as a reminder to the robot hero that there are Toho characters far more hated than him.

Toho started using Jet Jaguar again, albeit in sillier ways. In 2019, as an April Fool’s Day prank, they put up a teaser on YouTube for a Jet Jaguar movie. They also had him appear a few times on Godziban, a Godzilla web series for kids that, once again, used dolls and action figures to tell its stories.

Now Jet Jaguar is a major part of Godzilla Singular Point. To get into specifics on the plot would be like explaining advanced calculus, but to keep on-topic, Jet Jaguar is the creation of Goro Otaki as both a way to ward off monstrous threats and as a company mascot. Considering King Kong’s role in King Kong vs. Godzilla was “kidnapped to be a company mascot,” maybe the Germans were onto something with the rename.

Anyway, this version of Jet Jaguar is more mechanical in appearance instead of having to rely on making him look like a human in a costume. Jet Jaguar is there to protect the heroes from the endless supply of monsters, usually taking some extensive damage. Still, the robot gets rebuilt stronger and stronger and becomes advanced enough to become self-aware and speak in…well, the voice of a teenage girl.

I don’t know, I guess I just figured he’d sound like Astro Guy from King of the Monsters.

There’s a big hard-to-explain twist, but the main thing to know is that Jet Jaguar becomes a full-on badass by the end of the series, turns out to be a huge key to the plot, and has a completely kickass showdown with Godzilla. In a way, Jet Jaguar’s journey in Singular Point is a lot like in real life, going from a lame idea that appealed to kids and gradually being understood as a respected part of the Godzilla mythos. Something initially representative of the worst of the franchise, proven to be something genuinely cool in the right hands.

Now it’s time for America to return the favor. Once again, timing is on Jet Jaguar’s side. The Monsterverse was on its way to the graveyard after the box office intake of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but Godzilla vs. Kong came out at just the right time in the tail end of the pandemic to be a big success and keep the series going a little bit longer. There aren’t too many names in the toybox left to pull out, but at this point, Gigan and Jet Jaguar have to be high on the list.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Make it happen, Hollywood!

Godzilla Singular Point is available to stream on Netflix now.

The post Godzilla Singular Point: The Weird History of Jet Jaguar appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3h787JV

[ganymedesclock]

Ghirahim and gendered expectations of sensuality

So, as people who’ve seen my previous Zelda posts might gather, I have a mixed relationship with Skyward Sword. On the one hand, I think many of its characters have tremendous potential. On the other, I feel like the game largely did not live up to that potential, and in some areas, it feels rather deliberate. But suffice to say, elements of Skyward Sword have meant that certain characters- Batreaux, Groose, Fi, and Ghirahim are not far from my mind.

A brief primer, for those who might be unfamiliar: Ghirahim is the main antagonist of Skyward Sword, and a bit of an aberration in the common Zelda formula, which tends to introduce a ‘decoy’ or “lieutenant” antagonist who dominates for most of the game and then bows out towards the end as the prelude to the true final boss- usually Ganondorf, in Skyward Sword’s case, it’s the demon god and a figure we are clearly supposed to scan as Ganondorf’s divine progenitor, Demise.

Ghirahim is quite openly a harbinger of, and servant to, Demise- where he breaks script is by being extremely proactive. We run into Ghirahim in most dungeons in the game, where he is not waiting idly for us, but doing actions that veteran Zelda players might recognize as comparable to Link’s: he breaks into dungeons either chasing Zelda, or chasing information that will allow him to proceed. We also have not one but three different fights with him, personally, and several other times he concedes that he doesn’t have time to play with Link and instead sics a boss monster on him.

The other thing about Ghirahim is, I will outright say it: He is written as a caricature of a predatory queer man.

He’s shown to be literally bloodthirsty, and presented by the narrative ostensibly as someone who has a sinister, perverse interest in both Link and Zelda, a contrast to their saintly, chaste union (which is supposed to read as a union; pursue a romantic sideplot with Peatrice, another girl in the game, and Fi will pretty much openly admonish you for cheating on Zelda, saying that Zelda wouldn’t be happy to know Link’s seeing someone and that Link should know that)

This is, really, a bit jarring, when Ghirahim’s actual dialogue suggests that he has very little interest in Link and views him much like a butler tending the master’s house while the latter is away might view a feral golden retriever that’s running loose in the place and getting mud on everything. His emotional range runs from warmly patronizing to exasperated to a truly dangerous degree (since, in this metaphor, the butler has also been tending the master’s house in near-total isolation for something like several centuries not having real conversations with the other servants and nobody’s at their psychological best in those situations even if they weren’t implicitly born and raised to murder).

Basically: that Ghirahim has no real interest in Link- not his body or appearance or anything. In his own dialogue, he seems confused by the idea that he’s at all interested, is apologetic that he’s wasting his time or dawdling and in his final scene, offers a genuinely flummoxed “you... who are you?” He offers colorful, violent threats, but when Link obstinately faces him again, he’s shown to be almost embarrassed and disgusted by them, and tries something else that almost no Zelda antagonist does: on multiple occasions, he tells Link to just walk away from the situation with what appears to be every intent of letting him go.

Ghirahim does not want Link for himself. He seems to, begrudgingly, against his own intentions, value Link as someone to fight against, but this connection does not actualize within the story- they are not really rivals. He isn’t even that deeply fond of the idea of Link’s blood, though he’s a proponent of blood as a vague concept.

Now, I like Ghirahim. I don’t think that even the read of Ghirahim as a queer man is a terrible one. But it definitely is interesting the lens in which Ghirahim’s implicit sensuality is cast. Basically, he is depicted as creeping on Link, without any real sense that he wants Link. Because it isn’t about what he wants- it’s about that implicitly he has a sexuality, and the idea of a man who might be attracted to other men is threatening, evil, and scary. Ghirahim wasn’t made queer-coded for representation’s sake. He was queer-coded to suggest he was depraved and motivated by a sinister lust. And the cruelty of this depiction is I think made immediately clear by- Ghirahim’s actual interests, passion, or preferences do not factor in here. That Scene Where Ghirahim Does The Tongue Thing is about how it is expected to make the player feel, and how implicitly Link feels.

What is Ghirahim’s type? Does he consider Demise beautiful? He makes it pretty clear he considers Link a brat. These are questions that aren’t asked, because it’s wrong that Ghirahim seems to have any sexuality at all- and, since Link is our lens and our guidepost for how we’re supposed to feel about characters, if Ghirahim behaves in a sensual manner it happens to Link, and to Zelda, invasively. Even though it is shown he feels no desire for any of these people, so that sensuality basically comes across like the game is firmly expecting us to find the idea of even an e-rated sensual male antagonist repulsive.

This led me down a very odd sort of rabbit trail.

Because Ghirahim- a bit indirectly- is inspired off a figure skater.

Specifically, Fi’s design was stated to evoke a figure skater, and we even see her ‘skating’ in several of the cutscenes. Ghirahim’s design matches Fi’s quite strongly; they were designed to be two of a kind.

I am not, myself, a figure skating buff, but a while ago, I happened across youtube videos of a skater named Johnny Weir. 

Quickly, you can see the sword spirits’ inspirations; the close-fitting leotards, the lithe, acrobatic capabilities.

But here’s the thing about Johnny Weir: this is a guy putting on a sensual performance that is not a gross-out, a joke, or a threat. It’s basically impossible to find nothing suggestive in his choice of backup movement or the movements he makes running his hands along his body- his costume even asserts these more with the mirrored details on his gloves. This is a dude, acting in a way you could say is objectively sensual even if it may or may not stir every viewer given the individual nature of preference.

But there’s a world of difference to Weir’s performance. Not just that this is a voluntary choice made by a real person, while Ghirahim’s choices, even if they have in-game logic, are largely about Link and about the player- but Johnny Weir is having fun. He has a charming energy to him and is performing to a song he loves.

Watching Johnny Weir, it occurred to me, that regardless of Weir’s own orientation- that I do not know and will not speculate on- there’s a preconception around “being sexy”. Women are seen as supposed to be sexy (but, in many circles, not too sexy. Can’t insinuate they know what they’re doing, or have opinions and tastes...), or, more, “sexy is seen as a job that women do for men specifically.”

So, to homophobic audiences... a man deliberately enacting a sensual performance- a sense of what sensual looks like from a dude- is seen as weird, wild, and out there. If you’re not shocked by the implications that Ghirahim may be attracted to men, may be into Link, may be into the idea of torturing Link- then a certain amount of his writing kind of falls apart. 

And comparing the way Ghirahim is animated and shot to Johnny Weir’s performance, it’s kind of... weak? Like, at one point in Weir’s routine, he lifts one leg and slides his fingertips down it in a smooth stroke from knee to thigh. It’s a steamy looking move, and this coming from someone who is so prodigiously ace I thought sexual attraction was made up for the first seventeen years of my life.

Ghirahim does not do that. He’s got thigh cutouts in his very close-fitting outfit, and has lines in his second fight about his body and how beautiful it is, but he does not make these movements that deliberately catch and draw the eye along the planes of him.

To me, I feel like besides this being a general affront against real queer people- the Zelda games have a concerning habit of depicting “eccentric, effeminate” men as either neutral characters or open villains and virtually always with this air of being the brunt of a joke (it’s very hard to imagine ALBW’s Yuga was designed by someone who earnestly loved this character)- it is also a bit rude to the character of Ghirahim himself.

Because Ghirahim, at the end of the day, is someone who ends the story heartbroken literally and figuratively. The entire game, he is driven by loyalty to Demise. He does not care who he hurts or threatens- and this comes back to the seeming implication that he is somewhat bloodthirsty, but vastly plays up his appetite for torture. When he thinks his goal is out of reach, he continues slogging away at it anyway, but listlessly. Everything he does, is for Demise. He is devoted enough to, late in the game, throw himself on Link’s sword for the third boss fight purely to stall for time until Demise revives.

Demise does not speak to Ghirahim, or acknowledge him, or even seemingly notice or care that by the time he comes back, Ghirahim’s metal heart has been torn open by being repeatedly stabbed by Link. (third boss fight is not kind.) Instead, he rips Ghirahim’s sword form out of his chest.

Ghirahim is a danger to Link, Impa, and Zelda, because he attacks them, and his own subordinates, because he threatens them. But to his master, he’s just a disposable pawn. This is a character driven by passion such that many of his poses and scenes show him nearly breaking into an actor’s soliloquy as he explains something to Link- and this is one way he does seem to like having Link around: he craves an audience.

And his passion is, in two ways, depicted as completely futile. First, in the dubious amount of oo scary gay man, watch out Link, he’s doing something weird with his tongue- and second and far more seriously, that everything he works for leaves him with nothing because his life never mattered for a second in the eyes of the person he lives and dies for.

Ghirahim is made a sensual character, but in a manner that feels bad faith- that feels like it has not thought about male sensuality in any direction besides “that’s wrong and icky, so we’ll attach it to our villain, who we want to be wrong and icky, and absolutely not suggest there’s anything particularly sad about what happens to him. His fault for being wrong and icky.”

[despair-ninja-everything-agency]

Land of The Unnamed: A Concept

Believe it or not, rebrowsing Beksiński's artwork inspired me to think of an FFXIV raid based on his artworks (the paintings more so than the photographies or the photoshops). Given that, beside Edda's story, I don't see straight up horror elements borderlining eldritch beings (Sky Pirate raids came close with Void Ark and its Giger aesthetic) so I kinda want to think of something a little different.

Elaborations under the cut:

The Concept

The concept of the raid itself is a bit different than the traditional 24-man alliance or 8-man normal raids in that it's more like the 4-man dungeon run instead but with more miniboss or, alternatively, zero boss dungeon but with significantly strong "trashes" than the traditional 3 boss per dungeon and a more open world feeling environment. However, there's a duty closer to a trial but with a more dynamic environment than the usual circular stage most trials tend to have, naturally with a more complex mechanic as well. As of now, I can't decide whether to make the dungeon section and the trial section into one continuous duty or making them separate but I'm leaning toward the former since doing the latter would make it too similar to a normal dungeon and/or trial duty.

The amount of duties in this raid will be 6 duties, twice as much as an alliance raid line but half the amount of a normal raid line.

While player can do it with other players with the Duty Finder, it's also possible to do it like a Trust or Squadron in that it's with NPCs instead of other players.

In lieu to the story I would elaborate below, the questline would render the player unable to return to the rest of the open world areas. In exchange, there would be some sort of hub areas within the world of the questline where you can do non-combat sidequests, gather stuff, uncovering mysteries from puzzles or riddles, rest, buy stuff, etc. So you still have something to do in the areas while not having to worry about stuff like buying potions or crafting armors and weapons.

In the same vein, given what will happen to the player in the story, there would be some sort of interface screw in that player can't see anything but darkness and their surrounding is "seen" with literal echoes (think of a bat's echolocation).

The Story

In an ambiguous timeframe, the Warrior of Light suddenly gets transported into an unknown world alien to them. Worse still, Hydaelyn's blessings somehow wont reach them there, leaving them without the protection of the Crystal. While roaming, they met with 3 other people who are similarly trapped in there, 2 in which are not a species the WoL familiar with (one is a burly Roegadyn-like man and another a small goblin-sized boy) and one is a Midlander Hyur girl... at least that's what she looks like but she reveals she doesn't know what a Hyur is.

So the four of you tries to find a way to get out of there, searching high and low and occasionally slain the horrific creatures they meet if they feel they threaten them.

It is then discovered that one of them has to sacrifice 3 of their senses to escape the alien world they're in. Neither want to do so, including the WoL. However, the first trial renders the WoL deaf, leading to them becoming the unwitting sacrifice. Along the way, they start to lose their sense of sight and sense of touch (the "Hyur" girl helps them when they lost the former) each from the subsequent trials. Despite that, there's no exit in sight. The group become frustrated - the WoL moreso since their loss seems like it's for naught - until they met a mysterious man under the moniker of Bezimienny who leads them to a building filled with impossible maze-like structure despite from the outside it's nothing but a thin and tall structure. In the greedy and/or desparate attempt of escaping, the other three unknowingly (or knowingly?) left the WoL alone in their disabilities. However, the managed to get out despite it. How did they managed to get out depends on if you have DRK job unlocked or not (not necessarily having to equip the job).

If you have DRK job unlocked, the WoL's heart seems to resonate into one direction which is getting stronger and stronger until they mentally hear Fray's voice in their head. He helps them using another means to identify their surrounding (the aforementioned literal echo, representated by an red outline of Fray spamming Unleash and creates red circles centered from him that outlines the room they're in) and they exploit it to lead them to the exit.

If not, while it's not stated, the WoL implied to have simply stumbled into a field filled with grave stones. The maddening voices in their head (presumably from the dead corpses in the graves) almost drive them crazy but due to them standing their ground, they finally can "see" their surrounding (again, the aformentioned literal echo. This time only the echo outlines coming from the WoL themselves without Fray initiating it). They use it to their advantage and finally able to get out of the maze.

After that, a mysterious voice cryptically congratulates them. At the same time, the WoL finally regain their lost sense back. When asked what happened to the other three companion, it is revealed that they're separated and lost within the maze, doomed to never escape it and slowly turned into the denizen of the nameless land (WoL don't seem to be purturbed because they left them to fend themselves in the maze while having lost 3 of their most crucial senses). The voice then task them with one last trial: climb up the waterfall flowing from a frame held by the one holding the frame. Despite the difficulty, they manage to do it and finally returns to their world with seemingly no time has passed since they went to the alien world.

(Finer details, like the background of the 3 companions beside that they're not from Hydaelyn or any world of FFXIV, will not be discussed for now. Just the general story)

The Creatures

(Oh boy, I saved several Beksiński paintings just for this. All paintings courtesy of Zdzisław Beksiński himself)

I could say every creatures ever existed in Beksiński's art appear here but several special mentions. Firstly, the first boss.

The idea of losing senses came when I'm thinking of this dude as a boss. In the following cutscene after his defeat, he blows his trumpet again very loudly and WoL have an unfortunate position of being right in front of him, rendering them permanently deaf (well, not permanently per say but you get the idea).

Another is this dude(s).

They're either a trial boss or an end dungeon boss. Their gimmick is that while in the first phase and last phase they attack as one entity, the phases in between has them separated (though some may still clumped together) and fight the party members individually. The ghost faces also don't come out until the last half of the fight.

Then there's this little guy.

Undoubtly a "trash" mob, with several of them scattered through the dungeons either in small groups or just by itself.

I could list everything in his paintings but I figured it would be to exhaustive to list.

The Drawback

I'm very aware this is not without drawbacks. One thing for sure is that the locked area system would be pain in the ass especially if you want to do something else (that is not within the locked area, they can only do so much) while waiting for duty to pop up. Another is that the proposed 4-man raid system would be no different from normal dungeon run and the first 3 ARR primals' 4-man trial.

Lastly, the matter of copyright even if this can be circumvented by not making it too obvious to be a carbon copy of Beksiński's work.

If you read it till this far, then thank you for reading. The idea is just a burst of inspiration (not helped it's originally very WoL!Cole centric), so it's not very fleshed out. But regardless, I might want to expand on this if I had more to say.