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donelywell · 10 months

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SPAGONIA October 2

> Tornado Defense Act 1

(Use the joystick to move the Tornado-1 to targeted spots on the Egg Cauldron where Tails is automatically firing, meanwhile use the Square or Circle button [ps3 version] to have Knuckles and Sonic knock away Missiles.)

As the trio fly overhead towards Spagonia, they’re suddenly ambushed by Eggman on his Egg Cauldron.

Once they reach Spagonia, they bolt over to the university. Tails opens the door to the Professor's room, and pauses at the scattered paper and books all across the floor. With a human male hiding behind a tipped over table. He pokes his head out and sighs of relief seeing Tails, the human turns out to be the Professor’s Assistant.

The Assistant explains that the Professor has been kidnapped by Eggman a few days before the Earthquake. Sonic and Knuckles look pissed, while Tails and Chip are concerned. Tails is worried for the Professor’s safety (and wasting time getting to Spagonia just to find out he’s been kidnapped), while Chip is terrified that he’s starving to death. Tails reassures Chip that even Eggman isn’t cruel enough to not feed his prisoners.

The Assistant says that they can stay in a dorm room at the University for the night so they can fly out to save the Professor tomorrow morning, but Sonic (finally out of his raging ramble about Eggman) sighs and predicts that Eggman is about to move the Professor somewhere else. He ambushed them getting here, so he’s gotta know that they’re looking for him now. If they don’t find him by the end of tonight, they might never get him.

The 4 head outside of the University to ask the civilians if they might know where Eggman took the Professor. Sonic got distracted when he came across a candy shop, deciding to restock Tails’ constantly dwindling pile of mints. He also spots some Chocolate Bars, and buys a few to see if Chip would like them.

As predicted, the little fairy loved it.

Knuckles finds intel that someone heard a radio from one of Eggman's Badniks that he was going to Mazuri. So after everyone picked up a quick sandwich for dinner, they hopped onto the Tornado-1 to fly over to Mazuri.

MAZURI October 2-3

While flying out to Mazuri, Tails attempts to apologize to Sonic for wasting time, but Sonic simply wasn’t having it. Pointing out that this is Eggman’s fault, Tails didn’t know there was something Gaia related, and he didn’t know that the Professor got kidnapped. Tails thinks to himself that he’s the smart one, he’s supposed to know everything for the team, but just agrees to not upset Sonic anymore.

They had to make a quick landing just a town over to the very obvious base Eggman has built so that Sonic can change form without the fear of him accidentally falling off the plane.

Sonic nervously waits for Knuckles’ reaction, but he just asks if Sonic’s hurt. He signs ‘no’ and they continue on their journey on foot. Knuckles does have many questions, but they have a time sensitive mission at stake and questions can be put on hold until then.

>Mazuri Night Act 1

(Basically exactly how the original game went down, but Tails and Knuckles are there to help you fight now. Knuckles is a good hitter for the base enemies and grabs their attention away from Sonic while Tails does chip damage and hits arial enemies. There is plenty of dialogue in the level.) Through the dialogue, Sonic begins to slowly warm up to the idea of the werewolf form (they're still debating on what to call it) while Tails tries to lift his mood.

Once they make it to Professor Pickles prison, he starts a long monologue about how bad Eggman makes his Cucumber Sandwiches. Knuckles comments about how bland it sounds and the two quilled brothers talk about how they’d improve the sandwich while Tails flies over to help the Professor get out, muttering to Chip that it’s an acquired taste, but he does add that he throws a little bit of mint to his sandwich whenever the Professor doesn’t look.

After the Professor is saved, Knuckles ends up having to stop him from storming up to the Mad Doctor himself to say a few words about his culinary catastrophe.

Meanwhile, Sonic gets the map from the vault, knowing that if Eggman has anything locked away that it must be important.

Now that the Professor is saved and that they’re heading back to the University, Knuckles feels that he can finally ask the questions that have been plaguing his mind. Pretty much every single question is Dungeons and Dragons related, but a few are about how strong Sonic is now. In short, it was a long flight back to Spagonia for the speedster.

SPAGONIA October 3

Finally back at the University with the Professor and Gaia Manuscripts in hand, the group head over to Professor Pickles Office to get as much information from him as possible (and enjoy some tea).

The Professor tells of a repeated legend that has been going on since the planet was born. That there is an entity in the planet's core that has caused all of the monsters to show up and the planet splitting apart.

Tails is keeping note and asking questions such as ‘How do we put the planet back together?’ and ‘Do you think this could be connected to why Sonic changes into this form every night?’

The Professor then tells about the mythical ‘Temples of Gaia’ which used to house the Chaos Emeralds thousands of years ago. He points at a part of the scripture and says that it tells of a being that traveled to each Temple and restored the planet's pieces.

He claims that he has managed to translate and spot one of the Gaia locations, but still has yet to decipher the rest. The Professor then turns to a map on his wall and points at a pinned location. Tails and Sonic immediately realize that it’s ‘Mazuri’.

Before the duo could high-tail it back to the Tornado, they’re stopped by Knuckles and Chip at the door, demanding that they get some rest. Knuckles reminds everyone that the Assistant gave them all a dorm room to rest up in, and they have all deserved a rest after today.

So after they wash up (with Sonic promising he’ll do it in the morning when he knows he won’t clog up the drains), they all get comfortable on the bed and rest. It seems that the Assistant gave them a room fit for Mobian sized well… Mobians. So it became a tight fit with Sonic taking up extra space. He suggested that he could just sleep on the floor, but Knuckles immediately sits down next to him with Tails by his side. So no escape, huh.

With Sonic being slightly more comfortable with his nightly form (aka feeling like he might not immediately harm someone by accident), he’s a little more okay with Tails being closer. But he still makes sure to keep his mouth firmly shut and his hands far away from the others.

Angel Island

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic the werehog #tails the fox #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #chip the light gaia #Professor Pickle #Sonic Unleashed #Sonic Unleashed: World Reimagined #Spagonia #Mazuri #Old man has Old Man taste buds #Flavor is too much for him #Amnesiac doesn't know what a Pickle is so he doesn't know why Sonic and Tails are laughing #Wait I just thought of this did Sonic predict the Pickle Rick meme?

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all-pacas · 2 months

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one random and irrelevant skill for each fellow:

Foreman is a very good baker and cook. He used to help his mother in the kitchen — she always liked to bake something to bring to church Sundays —and he found the precision that goes into baking relaxing and deeply satisfying. Sometimes he still will bake some cookies or a coffee cake from scratch, but he also finds this skill vaguely embarrassing and so has never shared the results or his ability with any of his coworkers.

Cameron was on the track team in high school and has run several 5ks. She's thought about training for a marathon, but she likes being able to not just run but go fast: the physical strength and skill of a marathon does appeal to her, but her event was always short distance sprints, going so fast you feel like you're flying. She does still make it a point to go running. She vaguely looks down on joggers, although she knows it's irrational.

Chase is pretty good at drawing. Like, not was going to art school good, he's never tried painting or picked up a set of pencils, but he'd draw all over his papers and tests growing up, he's got a good eye for sketching, has to put in effort not to doodle on his paperwork even now. It's really just one more way he fidgets.

Taub is a big reader. He is capable of reading and enjoying Literature, he likes nonfiction, he likes novels, he isn't just someone who says he likes to read but never really does, he actually does do it. He and his wife dipped in and out of book clubs over the years. He's capable of having very smart conversations about books and themes and narration. This never ever comes up at work.

13 is really good at video games. She's not even a huge gamer. She played with her brother growing up, she likes games, but she doesn't own a (checks dates) PS3 or anything. But she is uncannily good at fighting games, racing games, anything that involves reflexes and competition. She is unbeatable at Super Smash Bros, and competitive enough that she wants to kick everyone's ass at it. She finds RPGs and story-driven games interesting in theory and boring in practice. When she plays Sim City, she turns disaster intensity all the way up.

Kutner has an uncanny memory for TV shows and movies and trivia. He's a Fandom Nerd, although without the fandom. He remembers the details of things he watched years ago, he can and will argue character motivation and who portrayed what best. This does not really apply to doctor stuff. He struggles to keep the millions of diseases and progressions he's expected to know in diagnostics straight. But ask him the synopsis of an episode to a show he loves and he's there.

Adams is lowkey a Horse Girl. She had a horse growing up. She rode competitively. She is absolutely aware that bringing this up around House or Chase, who would tell House, or Taub, who would tell House, etc., would be absolute social suicide. She is saving up to buy not just a house, but one with a stable.

Park is really, really good at poker. All card games, really. She's played a lot with her grandmother and her old lady friends, and knows how to count cards, and is basically unbeatable and can rake in money. She'd give House a run for his, although she's a little 'over' it, since basically her entire childhood was spent playing cards and board games with her grandmother, who she loves and all, but, you know. Enough is a enough. She's also aware it's a useful hidden skill to have, in case she ever needs to take her boss to the cleaner's.

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iliketangerines · 3 months

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Feeling comfortable now…..that Mk deception alt Ermac Skin had me feral when I played it…..

Throw something on the plate bc that man’s face, hair, AND arms is out. The fit is slutty…

-Ermac anon💚❤️

a new look

a/n: i am so sleepy right now dawg...spent my entire day out, but i got the mk9 game for the ps3...so you'll catch me playing that when i have the time

pairing: ermac x gn!reader

warnings: suggestive

you wait in the dressing room, kicking your feet as Ermac changes in the changing room, and you call for him, asking how much longer he’ll be

he laughs and tells you to be patient, and you hear the rustle of cloth and the clink of metal, humming as he does so

finally, the emperor opens the curtains to the changing room, and your mouth grows oddly dry as you stare at him in his new outfit

it shows off his thick arms, and his black gloves only manage to make you feel even warmer as you squirm in his seat

Ermac smiles and then pulls up the mask to his outfit, asking how you feel about it, and you clear your throat and tell him he looks fine

his waist is slim in the outfit, and you want to grab onto it, listen to him gasp and then laugh as you press your lips needily against his

he tilts his head, eyes crinkling as he smirks at you and comes in close, face only a breath from yours as he asks teasingly if it was just great

you press your lips together, but your face grows even warmer at the implication

pressing your hand into his face, you tell him to stop teasing you and to just buy the outfit, and Ermac just brings your hand to the side to hold his face, saying that he can’t buy an outfit that his lover doesn’t love

he leans in even closer to you, sitting himself down right on your lap, and you let out a stutter that you love the outfit, eyes flitting to the left and right to find the wardrobe people

they’re nowhere to be found as Ermac grinds his hips into you, keeping himself relatively calm as he looks to you for a reaction that your body gladly provides

your hands fly down to grip onto his waist, keeping him steady and balanced on your lap, and his hands go up to your shoulders, squeezing them gently

Ermac asks again if you love his outfit, he must be completely sure before he buys it, and your fingers flex as you croak out that you love it

he smiles at you, gloved hand brushing up against your neck slightly, and you let out a small whimper, eyes glazing over at the feeling as you lean forward for a kiss

however, he pulls away, gracefully sliding off of your lap and calling over one of the workers to pay them for the outfit

you’re left in a daze, mind reeling from the sudden turn of events, and you find yourself behind Ermac, his hand holding onto yours, still clothed in those gloves

he looks back at you and your hazy eyes, and he says that he has to show the outfit to Sindel first and that they have to get the royal seal of approval

you nod dumbly and let him lead you back to the carriage to the palace, it seemed you were in for a long night

#tangerine writes #tangerine answers #mortal kombat #mk #mortal kombat 1 #mk1 #mk1 2023 #mortal kombat x reader #mk x reader #mk x you #mk x y/n #ermac #ermac mk1 #mk1 ermac #ermac x reader #ermac x y/n #ermac x you

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7grandmel · 1 month

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Rip of the week: 19/08/2024

Apotheosis to Heaven

Season 8 No Album Release (Read More)

Ripped by Neofall

youtube

Requested by eg_9371! (Request Form)

A big part of why I opened up the Request Form, and why I continue to use it for ideas for the blog, is to give me inspiration in areas of SiIvaGunner to which I'm less well versed. There are some games and some rips by extension where I feel completely unable to write anything of substance, because I just lack the needed context for the rip to hit for me - but other times, the form opens my eyes to rabbitholes which I'm all too happy to delve into, through rips like Plantasia 2, mlp racism anthem (comix zone arrange), guess what???????? and more. I've learned to trust eg_9371's judgement on quality as a requestee, and many parts of his massive catalogue of contributions have shown me quality in areas I'd never thought to look, through rips like kris gaming and Plasmaseeker. And so, I said, you know what? Let's give his endorsement one more shake, and approach a rip I'd initially looked past as not being for me. With that, I hit play on Apotheosis to Heaven - and was met with one of the biggest surprise hits I'd yet heard in the season.

Journey is a game that hits home for a lot of people, yet it was just outside of my periphery when it originally released back in 2012 - I was an 11-year old without a PS3. But even without attachment to Journey, Apotheosis as an ending theme to the game hits home to a degree I wasn't expecting, a swelling orchestral piece going through feelings of anticipation, sorrow, bittersweetness, acceptance, all throughout the span of a 7-minute long composition. The overall word to describe it, of course, would be grand. Yet much the same can be said, on the complete opposite end method, for the song with which Apotheosis to Heaven is being mashed up with, Ascension to Heaven by independant artist Xi. Like with the aforementioned Plasmaseeker, this is a song I know damn near nothing about, most prominently being featured in various Japanese rhythm games but seemingly also having a presence within the Geometry Dash community. Yet despite holding even less of an emotional connection to me than Journey did, it cannot be denied just how impressive of a piece Ascension to Heaven truly is, pairing a pounding electronic percussion with mellow strings and absolutely off-the-rails piano rolls - what feels like three entirely different forms of music and speed, mesh together for a piece with a sound I can only describe with the imagery of a lone bird flying toward the sun.

Loneliness, bittersweetness, strife, failure, perseverance - the emotions distilled into me through these two tracks are ones that were no doubt eons stronger for someone with attachment to either of the works from beforehand, and most definitely strong within ripper Neofall upon creating Apotheosis to Heaven. These are two songs that are both pulsing with emotion, yet accomplish it through very sonically different methods, one through swelling orchestral resonance, and the other through a pounding piano-driven rhythm. Yet that emotional core remains, and through some miracle and no doubt tons of love for the pieces featured, Neofall found a way to blend the two pieces into one grand feature - leveraging Apotheosis' atmosphere and grandure in order to use it as background scoring to Ascension to Heaven's insane melody. Even with one piece falling to the background and another to the foreground, however, it never feels as if one is overpowering the other - the two leverage one another's strengths seamlessly for a listen that manages to hit harder than just the sum of both's parts.

Without a thorough understanding of music creation or of either track's true sonic makeup, part of me does still feel uneducated, in a sense, to be writing about a rip of this quality in sound and scale - it's a mashup like many others, yes, yet every part of it feels ironed out and sandpapered to sheer seamless perfection between two tracks that would otherwise feel borderline incompatible. Yet...seeing such quality persist within areas of the channel that I remain uneducated on, feels like part of the magic of the SiIvaGunner channel. We are currently on SiIvaGunner's 8th year in the running, with its rippers having grown all the more able to express their passions and interests than ever before - and Season 7 and Season 8 have, in turn, given us some of the most ambitious, personal rips we've yet seen on the channel. Be it Luna, mi Amor, A Balcony atop the Labyrinth of Lights, The Paragoomba and the Wiggler, or so many more, we've had an onslaught of rips still only made by one to three people that feel creatively driven and magical enough to be justifiably mistaken for months-in-the-making passion projects. And even without a direct tie to its source material, Apotheosis to Heaven gives me that very same vibe: Of one ripper seeing what can be done through utilization of two tracks close to their heart, and going absolutely hog-wild in ensuring the execution be up to the standards raised by so many other parts of the SiIvaGunner team.

It is a blessing that we can be eight years into this channel's life, and still have rips of this caliber slip entirely through the cracks as if they're nothing but everyday, average rips. Today, the hearts of the SiIvaGunner team is on full display at just about every day of its operation - and I am eternally grateful that such seemingly niche pursuits like Apotheosis to Heaven remain part of that.

#todays siivagunner #season 8 #siivagunner #siiva #Neofall #Journey #Journey game #thatgamecompany #ascension to heaven #rhythm games #geometry dash

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caltria · 1 year

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happy anniversary to the quirky fighter jet game series where:

You're a mercenary pilot hired to splash down terrorists in a vehicle that wouldn't look out of place in Hot Wheels

You do the Fire Emblem 3 Houses concept in a Ghost In The Shell setting before it was cool

You play as Jet Jesus

You and your squad are thrust into a war that you ultimately put an end to despite no one knowing your sacrifices until much, much later

You and your Buddy create a notorious legend for yourselves that ends up in one of the coolest Arthurian-flavored battles ever (with Flamenco music!)

You pull a Fire Emblem again but this time in the classical manner of leading your country to liberation from the disgraced and misled angry country next door that invaded (and some other stuff happens)

You play Call of Duty (This ain't Ace Combat bro)

You play once again as a mercenary who has to take down a bunch of giant flying objects in a world similar to ours (closest this series got to a gacha game on the PS3)

You are a soldier, a prisoner, and a savior. You take down the enemy's greatest forces and come out on top despite everything thrown your way.

You are Jet Jesus again but in South America

#ace combat

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zeldamomoe · 1 year

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We survived the Orlando NieR concert hunger games and came out attacked for sure, but satisfied with our mezzanine seats. As much as I'd love to meet Yoko Taro, since I've loved this series with all my heart since I played the PS3 version of NIER in 2015ニーアゲシュタルト, VIP is just not in the cards at the moment. I'll keep an eye on the site, but I had one in my cart that someone put back earlier on the day of public ticket sales, and then it slipped through my fingers so fast 😭 But who are we seeing there in March??!! I am scared to fly for the first time post-pandemic, especially to FLORIDA 💀 but my friends were like let's go! and we were already planning a trip there, and it's the best concert date, timing wise for work for me. So I couldn't say no lmao. Thank you @shrubbyprincess for securing our tickets! I just ordered a new human Emil cos too because I am outgrowing this beautiful suit that Caroline Krunchy made me a tad bit (Lady Zero and FinalFlick Videos were there first hand to see the pants rip even and that was in 2017 the same year it was made lmao; I blame myself for giving bad measurements) 🤣

📸 my partner Raph, edits by me Emil sash & suit made by @carolinekrunchy Emil staff made by ZomNom Studios Bro Nier is @shrubbyprincess Bro Nier cosplay made by Harv Cosplay Weiss made by Mecchan-chan

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windor-truffle · 9 days

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Oo I wonder which version of facial expressions the remaster is going to use for the lineage and legacies arc, the original japanese or the english versions? 👀

For those unaware (understandably, as this isn't common knowledge and I don't think I ever actually reblogged the posts where I learned this), @flightstone made several posts denoting the differences in character model's facial expressions between the two versions of the game. You can read their observations and speculation here (and here and here, they have a whole tag for it too) since they explain it better than i could but tldr it's possible that the resychronizing of lip flaps for the english language version resulted in the differing expressions, thus altering the tone slightly in some scenes.

I'm just wondering if the remaster is going to maintain that, polishing up the preexisting versions of the games with their respective differences, or if they'll use the original japanese expressions for all versions and redo the lips flaps. I'm guessing the former as it's less work, but it would be interesting to see.

...Actually wait, if the game allows you to change the spoken language anyway, wouldn't that mean the cutscene will change to match the audio, meaning you could see both sets of expressions? Though I'm not sure if the language change will be something you can toggle on the fly (like PS3 Symphonia making it an option in the systems menu), or if you'll have to select one language at the start and be unable to change it later (Vesperia DE on Switch does this iirc, but Vepseria DE on Steam lets you change the language with each system reload).

#dolphin noises #remaster #sorry if this seems worded poorly it's late here 😅 but I am once again having Thoughts and Feelings about this game #who could have predicted.

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hardcore-gaming-101 · 6 months

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Metal Gear Solid Touch

Console games and mobile games are often distinct experiences, and what works on one doesn’t necessarily work on another. A high flying big budget game like Metal Gear Solid 4, for instance, doesn’t really translate well to a small screen. In 2009, Kojima Productions put out Metal Gear Solid Touch, exclusively on iOS devices. It’s a rough approximation of the PS3 exclusive, becoming a shooting gallery rather than the stealth action the series is known for. Compared with some of the other mobile experiments from Konami at the time, it works as a pick up and play game, but ultimately ends up uninspired.

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jamesskidd · 9 months

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im back on assassins creed tumblr to say that playing mirage feels like it's 2011 and I've come home, picked one of my favourite asscreed games (only a couple of them at the time) and fired up the ps3 but with higher definition. im obsessed because sometimes a bigger map isn't better. and honestly the way that I'm accidentally flying off the buildings and having to find handholds to climb??? nostalgia in the best way. LOVING it!!!!!

#assassin's creed #assassins creed mirage #mirage #asscreed #rambles

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smbhax · 2 years

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Daytona USA (PS3)

Game play session: https://youtu.be/uho52Nf_B1I

Karaoke mode, Autopilot = ON

#seagull #weird #clouds #blue sky #sega #daytona usa #driving #driving game #video game #video games #flying #flying high #feeling good #karaoke #autopilot #ps3

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jupiterswasphouse · 3 months

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WASP REVIEW - FENDERSAX/NEEDLE WASP (RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART)

[Image IDs: Two pieces of official artwork from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart depicting the Fendersax/Needle Wasp /End IDs.]

Here's that personal pick I mentioned not too long ago! I actually really love the Ratchet & Clank games, having played through all the mainline games not too long ago. In fact, my playthrough of Rift Apart (One of my favorites in the whole series tbh) is what got me doing these wasp reviews in the first place. I sent a review of these guys to one of my friends while I was liveblogging through the game.

I wanted to say all that as a preface, though, as that initial review of these enemies (Which I will now be exclusively be referring to as 'Needle Wasps' since you hear that name more often throughout the game than 'Fendersax Wasps') didn't exactly end in a high rating.

First, a few things I can excuse just on the pure fact that these are aliens. They don't have antennae, are missing a pair of legs, have four eyes that are seemingly visually implied to be compound yet are still able to turn in their sockets, and don't have any ocelli.

In terms of the body shape, I'd say that, in terms of wasps, they most resemble those of the genus Baeus, with wings. But even then, I'd say that Needle Wasps are more comparable to flies in shape, apart from their four wings as opposed to the two wings and two halteres of a real fly. If anything, Baeus wasps remind me more of a particularly wide-bodied Zoni (from the PS3 R&C games)

[Image Sources: BugTracks, Tom Murray | Image IDs: A photo of a brown wingless wasp with blue eyes in the genus Baeus, followed by an official render of the Zoni from Ratchet & Clank Future /End IDs.]

Next, the "stinger", typically a modified ovipositor on a wasp, making its position, on the head, extremely awkward. Except, this is not used to sting. As for its defensive capabilities, it's used to shoot acid, which isn't exactly an unknown thing among wasps, with acid as a projectile being found in at least one wasp family, the ants (notably Formica and yellow crazy ants). However, outside of combat, the Needle Wasps are later found in Zurkie's bar, using this supposed stinger to drink, making it clear that these are mouthparts! This too is more similar to flies. While flies do not use acid defensively, they do use their spit for predigestive purposes.

The next thing you might notice, is that pair of fangs. It's clear to me that these are not the mandibles of a wasp, but the chelicerae of an arachnid, especially when combined with that inner pair of eyes almost creating a "second face", which is much more spider-like than the rest of the face.

[Image ID: A photo of a brown and black woodland giant wolf spider on a leaf, being held up to the camera by me /End ID.]

In the end, the most wasp-like thing about them might be something that's only implied, rather than shown. In a sidequest, you are intended to fend off a swarm of defending Needle Wasps as Chef Tulio extracts honey from a hive below the caverns of Blizar Prime. The hive itself is never shown, nor are any other hives outside of this one part of Blizar Prime despite these wasps appearing elsewhere, but at least there's one thing! Of course, many real world wasps create nests, and many also make and store honey (honey bees, several paper wasps, honey pot ants).

Now, in my review on Metroid Prime's War Wasps, I said that I couldn't rate them based them based on their merits compared to real wasps due to them being aliens. This time, though, I have to go against that. Metroid Prime came from a pretty good understanding of what wasps are, but the Needle Wasps, despite those few similarities, have too many aspects that don't line up with real wasps and/or aspects that more resemble other arthropods to be truly considered good representation of their supposed real world equivalents. I do find the design itself quite charming, though, at the very least.

Overall: 3/10

Leave your wasp review suggestion in the replies, tags, or askbox!

Make sure to tune in next week when we cover the Cazadores from Fallout: New Vegas!

#Wasp House Review #WHR: Wasp Review #Bugblr #Wasps #Arachnophobia #ratchet and clank #rift apart

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srhunt · 7 months

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Thoughts on Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

Shadow has been my favorite Sonic character for years. My earliest exposure to Shadow was at my local Boys & Girls Club. We had a GameCube where kids would take turns playing games. I distinctly remember watching several kids try to beat the final boss of Sonic Adventure 2, though I didn’t fully click with it at the time. My first real exposure to him was through cutscenes posted to YouTube in the early 2000s because I didn’t have a gaming console growing up. I would watch Sonic X when I was able, specifically seeking out the episodes with Shadow. When I finally got a PS2, I got Shadow the Hedgehog because, well, Shadow.

I was not great at it. I struggled a lot because of the slippery controls, flying off stages, and bombardment of bullets. I maybe got through one ending if that.

And for the longest time, that’s all I really had. I got a PS2 towards the end of its lifecycle, the PS3 was already out and I struggled to find other titles.

I had other Sonic games like Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic and the Black Knight, but outside of party games like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing, Shadow the Hedgehog is still the only story driven game I own where Shadow is playable*.

So, when the recent news about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic x Shadow Generations dropped, I decided to finally beat Shadow the Hedgehog after all these years.

Over the course of 4 days, I worked my way through the 8 remaining endings I had left (having completed the true hero path and the semi hero path a few years prior). And after a decade of owning the game, I beat it.

So what are my thoughts?

While I can acknowledge the game’s flaws…I still don’t hate it.

I’ve watched several videos that explain why this game is terrible, from the mechanics to the butchering of Shadow’s character. And I agree.

Chaos Controls

The game is hard to control, I recognized this even growing up, but I mainly chalked that up to “I’m bad at Sonic games”, which is also true.

Until I beat Shadow, I’d never beaten a Sonic game because I lacked the reaction time. We’ve come close, we’re at Eggmanland on Sonic Unleashed, but I had never beaten a Sonic game.

I even tried to play Radical Highway on my friend’s copy of Sonic Adventure 2, and I struggled hard with the controls.

Shadow’s controls are indeed wonky. Multiple times my homing attack would send me flying off the stage, Shadow wouldn’t aim at the enemy right in front of him, and I’d miss jumps because Shadow would stagger on the edge of a platform.

After I learned how to better manage these flaws, the game became much easier. I began to slow down my homing attacks so I wouldn’t fly away, and started jumping before the edge of the platform. This didn’t erase these problems, I still fell off the stage from time to time, but they didn’t happen as frequently. I got so good that I got A Ranks on the neutral paths for Westopolis and Prison Island.

Shadow’s air shoes make him slippery to control, but I feel like all Sonic games are slippery? Maybe that’s just me, but even with Adventure 2 and Unleashed, I felt like I was slipping and sliding all over the place. So, with Shadow, I’d slow down a bit if I felt like I was going out of control. Granted, this is still a Sonic title where speed is key, so the advice to “slow down” is not really the best if you’re going for all A Ranks.

I Think You’re the Fake Hedgehog Around Here

This is the game where Shadow gains his “Edgy Hedgie” status.

He has guns!

He says “damn”!

He hates humans for killing Maria! (Even though…that’s not what Maria wanted)

He wants to learn the truth about his past cause amnesia’s a bitch! (Even though…he already learned hakuna matata in Sonic Heroes, apparently)

Yea, I admit this game is a huge step backwards for Shadow’s development. Post-SA2 Shadow cares deeply for his closest friends, mainly Rouge and Omega, but is reserved around others. He’s a hedgehog of few words. He has respect for Sonic, a little bit of a rivalry, but it’s not to the extreme where Shadow hates him. He doesn’t hate humans, but if push comes to shove, he will defend himself if they attack him first. This side of him is well illustrated in the cutscenes for Sonic Heroes and, yes, even Sonic ‘06.

However, this is not the Shadow we see in his titular game. Shadow’s cold towards Sonic, he sounds annoyed anytime he shows up. Depending on the path you take, he becomes downright cruel. He never really talks to many of the other characters outside of the ones in cutscenes. And when he does speak to them, it just feels out of character most of the time. Shadow has a distain for humanity, commenting how they’re pathetic and he doesn’t have time to for them when the Black Arms begin destroying Westopolis.

However, there are a handful of parts where the Shadow of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes can be seen.

Any level where Maria is your companion is a good example. Especially the cutscene before Lost Impact.

Cryptic Castle Hero, you help save Cream and Cheese, afterwards he heeds them to stay away from Doctor Eggman, showing he does care about them.

The Pure Hero path is probably the closest you get to Shadow’s true character, even though there’s still a few moments that feel off. “This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me” is probably the most out of character line, and you’ll only hear it by doing Hero missions.

Apparently this line still relevant to Shadow, as he steals popcorn from a Chao in an official Sonic Team Racing animation.

This might be a hot take, but the Dark Path on Final Haunt didn’t feel like a sudden betrayal to me? The way Sonic talks during and after the fight makes me feel like he saw it more like a friendly competition. Especially when you compare his dialogue to the other endings where you fight Sonic.

Final Haunt Dark Path

(Before the Boss)

Sonic: “Shadow! Why are you siding with those black creatures?”

Shadow: “Siding with them? You’re joking, right? I’m just siding with whoever goes against you! This time you’re going down, Sonic!”

Sonic: “hehehe, if that’s how it’s gonna be, Shadow, then bring it on!”

(Start Boss Fight)

Sonic: “Alright. Ready to do this? Come on!”

(After the Boss)

Sonic: “…Man…I didn’t think ya had it in ya…”

Sonic’s delivery makes it feel like he’s not angry with Shadow, but that he’s impressed. At least that’s how I read it anyway. He doesn’t sound distraught or scared like he does in the Pure Dark Path, he just sounds exhausted cause Shadow put up a good fight.

Sonic even offers Shadow a “friendly competition” if you do the Hero Path in Westopolis, but Shadow declines because he’s got other priorities at the time. He still doesn’t agree with Black Doom’s mission, he just wants to take Sonic up on his earlier offer.

Regardless, this game has had a lasting effect on Shadow’s character that he’s still trying to shake off. He went from a solemn hero who cared deeply for his closest friends, to an angsty anti-hero who only cares about himself.

Thankfully, it seems like he’s starting to get back to his old self in Sonic Prime (I’ve only seen season 1 and a handful of clips from the recent seasons, haven’t been able to get caught up, so correct me if I’m wrong).

Let’s hope Sonic 3 and Sonic x Shadow Generations continue to repair the damage.

In His World, Your Choices Don’t Matter

Shadow’s gameplay has three paths you can take; Hero, Dark or Neutral, with 10 possible endings. You can mix and match these paths however you please. You can start Dark then redeem yourself, turn on your friends in an act of betrayal, or just say “nah, imma do my own thing”. This freedom of choice was a massive selling point for the game. Do you want Shadow to be a “black-hearted evil” or “brave-hearted hero”?

This freedom of choice is present in a handful of my favorite games, like Epic Mickey and Undertale.

But, Shadow fails at this “choose your own adventure” format. Yes, your choices impact which of the 10 endings you get, but none of these 10 endings are the true ending.

This is apparently left over from the Sonic Adventure-style games where you had to play everyone’s storyline to unlock the last story, where all the characters join together and fight the Final Boss.

However, this format does not work when we follow one character for the entire game.

In order to unlock the true ending, you have to complete all 10 endings. And if you’re someone like me who always goes for the good endings because being mean makes you feel bad, then this will be a hard pill to swallow.

The Last Way begins with Shadow already in possession of all 7 Chaos Emeralds, we have no idea how he got them, so basically every path you spent hours playing mean nothing. They’re not canon. Only a few parts here and there are still relevant past this point.

No matter what you did, Shadow will always turn on Black Doom, destroy the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon, and save the world. Which kinda negates the whole “choose your own adventure” gameplay.

Epic Mickey’s ending is also the same no matter what you do, Mickey still defeats the Blot and frees Wasteland. However, you’re still shown how your actions impacted the residents of Wasteland. For example, if you choose to paint the Clocktower boss, you see it happily playing with some Gremlins. But if you destroy it by thinning its arms, you see it lying in ruin.

Shadow’s endings are more like the ending from Clue.

The only parts that remain canon are the Chaotix story, and conversations Eggman had with Shadow on the Neutral path.

Throughout the game, the Chaotix are digging into old files. Charmy is looking for secret disks on Prison Island, Vector is looking for the notorious computer room on the ARK, and all three were hacking into Eggman’s computer before Digital Circut. The data they found contained a video message from Professor Gerald addressed to Shadow. Gerald explains the purpose of the Eclipse Cannon, and we’re shown it was recorded before Maria’s death, as she pops in at the end.

That is one revelation that enhances Sonic Adventure 2’s story, in my opinion. Professor Gerald created the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet when it returns in 50 years, only using it against humanity after Maria was killed.

If you battle Devil Doom past the 9 minute mark (which I did a handful of times because I’m a terrible shot), Eggman will tell Shadow he lied about him being an android and that he rescued Shadow at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, and he is, in fact, the real Shadow. Which…I feel like was obvious because our Shadow had more polygons than the androids.

Also the Sonic Heroes manual straight up says that he is the real Shadow and he survived the events of Sonic Adventure 2, so…

Where There is Shadow, There Must Also Be Light

I’m the type of person who always tries to find the good, even in the worst things. So here’s some things about Shadow that I did love.

The pre-rendered cutscenes look amazing. Almost 20 years later, and they still hold up.

By the way, guess who worked on these amazing cutscenes? After watching the credits 11 times, I noticed a couple names in the credits, Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller. Not ringing any bells? Well, Fowler went on to direct the live-action Sonic movies, and Miller was a producer on them. This is their only Sonic credit outside of those movies, so I think it’s safe to say we wouldn’t have these awesome movies if it weren’t for Shadow.

The soundtrack is also great. “I Am…All of Me” is still one of my favorite Sonic and Crush 40 songs, “Never Turn Back” struck a cord with me, and the rest of the lyrical songs had me vibing while I took a breather during the credits.

It might just be because I had to replay the levels multiple times, but I’ve had a handful of those tracks stuck in my head for years. Circus Park, Sky Troops, Lava Shelter and Cosmic Fall are a few that stick out. “Vengeance is Mine” from Sonic Adventure 2 returns as the soundtrack for the 2P Battle Mode. Yes, it took me a long time to realize it was the same song. Even when Sonic games are “bad”, they never slack on the soundtrack.

Goodbye Forever, Shadow the Hedgehog

I consider Shadow the Hedgehog to be one of my guilty pleasures. I recognize there’s a lot of things that don’t work. Shadow’s character took a drastic turn that he’s still trying to recover from, the controls feel like roller skating on ice, the “choose your own adventure” gameplay forgot about the “choose your own” part, and it’s so edgy you can slice your hand open just by touching it.

But despite all of this…I still enjoy it? Even though I was annoyed and exhausted by the game, I still had fun. The good parts are still good enough that I unironically enjoy them. And the bad parts at least can get a laugh out of me with how dumb they are. “Where’s that damn FOURTH Chaos Emerald?” and “Find the Computer Room!” are classic Sonic memes.

Do I recommend beating Shadow? Oh hell no. Not unless you’re a serious Shadow stan or a masochist. I’d say play as much as you can tolerate.

*in the time since I wrote this, I got a copy of Sonic Heroes. Currently stuck on the Power Plant level with Team Dark. HOW DO I GET PAST THE LAVA??? 😭

#shadow the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog 2005 #shadow the hedgehog game #sonic the hedgehog

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