#that would've been so much funnier and more effective than the way they handled it

[beauzos]

last thing i’ll say about Clone High for now: i know a lot of people hated episode 1 (esp after it leaked online a couple months ago) bcs it was all about Cancel Culture after the 2003 clones have to readjust to 2023 culture, but honestly it didn’t bother me. some of it was kinda ~cringe~ ig but honestly it did a good job not just being like “cancel culture bad!!!” in that boring one-note conservative way a lot of shows do and showed the absurdity of all sides ig?

which is a centrist ass opinion to have i know but it’s a funnie comedy show and thats rly the best we can do in a show like this imo. Abe wasn’t right (they def showed that through Topher Bus and Ivan the Terrible supporting him through it but being terrible people that he shouldn’t get close with), the way the new clones handled Abe having a lot of outdated lingo and opinions wasn’t right, and the way Joan reacted wasn’t right either. funny enough i think Confucius was the one who was closest to getting it right, he just gets bogged down with his obsession with tiktok clout or whatever just to show how apologies / cancellation get wrapped up in this pageantry that’s pretty damn worthless ultimately

the episode could’ve been much stronger but i didn’t find it wildly cringe the way a lot of people did. it was just mad clunky like all the fucking episodes have been.

[echoesofdusk]

I finally finished nirvanA Initiative yesterday and boy. do I have thoughts. mainly mixed. AINI has some cool moments and it did get me laughing at times and nearly made me cry at one point but the more I think about the game, the more mixed and somewhat disappointed I feel

spoilers under cut for both the original AITSF and AINI

the reasons I feel mixed about AINI are the game's big twist and the way it treats the older cast of characters

Date was done dirty in this game. the mask thing doesn't bother me as much as others as when I think about it, it kinda makes sense, but I also understand why people don't like it. I too would've loved to see Falco do the funny unhinged shit. but at the same time, Saito's face was Date's face for 6 years and he didn't know any better, and... Date putting on the mask to attract more ladies is in character. like come on. the man is a hopeless simp. why does he sound like Saito again if he's back into his Falco body? well, in the Japanese version of AITSF, Saito and Falco share the same VA, so maybe in universe, Date can do a Saito impression. or maybe he's using a vochlocho as when he's disguised as gen he sounds just like him. although Falco having the ability to do spot on impression of others is a much funnier explanation and honestly, I kinda wanna roll with that one why does Date seemingly have Saito's physique again? yeah no I agree that's dumb nah what disappointed me was how he was given amnesia which lasted 6 years AGAIN. the amnesia in the first game was a very important part of his character development and although he regained his memories and original body he came out of it almost reformed into a new man, rejecting his Falco/Hayato Yagyu identity and embracing the Kaname Date one. and you're telling me the amnesia he got this time didn't have this effect on him? he just goes back to being the Date we know upon seeing news about Jin Furue's corpse? just throws away whatever changes that happened to him in these 6 years? when the 6 year long amnesia in the first game changed him? it just feels like the amnesia he gains in this game undermines the first one

Mizuki and Date also feel somewhat... flanderized in AINI. I know Mizuki's animosity towards Date is played for laughs, but in the Mizuki route in the original game, when Date wakes up after Mizuki psyncs with him she jumps in the air, ready to punch Date but he stops her (though I believe she was actually holding back like come on, she's stronger than Date, I don't think Saito's body would've been able to stop her), she calls him stupid and the two hug each other. and Date wasn't unconscious for long when this happened. in AINI, he's missing for 6 years and when she meets him again she doesn't react dramatically but instead seems annoyed. yeah I know he's wearing a costume and she's changed as a person but wouldn't she at least be somewhat... moved by seeing her adoptive father? being alive and all that? plus him being missing is her biggest motivator for solving the HB case. like come on. and yeah I get she's 12 in AITSF so her handling of emotions is different but again. we're talking about her adoptive father

Aiba's character also feels assassinated in AINI. in the original, she was specifically made for Date, acting as a replacement for his left eye, though she was also really important for him as he had been swapped into a body with a brain that couldn't secrete its own oxytocin, so she had to supply him with it. and it's really important as the body Date is in belongs to Saito, who became a monster as a result of having a malfunctioning pituitary gland as well as his father not taking appropriate care of him, and he's so far gone that even switching into bodies with brains that can secrete oxytocin doesn't help. Aiba sacrifices herself to save Hitomi, and her revival at the end of the resolution route is a huge deal, and one of the options when she appears is having Date cry! in AINI, not too long after she's returned, she and Date have an argument and Aiba leaves Date because... he watches inappropriate VR videos (not saying the P word I'm so tired of reporting bots). like come on, she's probably seen worse when she was with him for the 6 years when he was in Saito's body. and this was the straw that broke the camel's back? really? eyepatch Date looks cool but... come on

seeing how bad of an influence Date was on her when Aiba is with either Mizukis is funny though (I seriously can't believe she says "big tiddy" when you examine the receptionist lady), and while either Mizuki isn't as much of a clown as Date is, the dynamic between either with Aiba is still enjoyable but yeah, even when Date's back after these 6 years Aiba would rather be with Mizuki. it just doesn't feel right. it especially feels insulting when Aiba says she's home when she gets back into Date's eye socket, only to leave him a few minutes later. I know character development can happen but ashdfhasdfh this just doesn't feel right. it feels so forced. I get why Aiba was with either Mizukis, and especially in Mizuki Date's case. he was missing and I think it's actually kinda cool as it's the biggest thing she has from him. but idk

now, the twist

boy, where do I begin. I get what it's supposed to be and that it's supposed to tie with the game's overall theme, but it makes me feel like I was being gaslit. the twist doesn't work for me bc it's the player who's being misled and not the characters. plot twists in general work for me when the audience and the characters are figuring out together what's going on, and it makes the story more engaging in return. in AITSF's case it works beautifully bc you're figuring out the mystery with Date and Aiba. in AINI you're left in the dark and nobody questions why some things aren't adding up. if AINI instead had a character you were following who was trying to piece together what's going on and had the same confusion as the player it would've been different. I wouldn't have felt as crazy. hell I thought I somehow had accidentally sequence broken the game at points by doing something ultra specific bc of where the narrative jumped and how the characters acted at times. or some crazy time displacement or a loop or whatever was going on. the abandoned chemical plant in particular did. I really don't feel like I'm journeying with the characters in this game even though I'm also trying to figure out the HB case with them.

I also don't get why Ryuki being alive is supposed to be a fun surprise gift for Bibi and Mizuki as I don't recall them being particularly attached to Ryuki. hell Bibi knocked him out on a few occasions

also why is Bibi's name also Mizuki. this is dumb. I know the twist hinged on this but come on

with that said the game isn't all bad. I like the new cast of the characters and I think they're actually the strongest point. I LOVE how expressive Aiba's hamster form portrait is compared to the original where... she isn't expressive at all (is it just a static image?). Komeji's death actually stings, and in my case it did so even more as I got the Komeji/Shoma ending before the explosion one. the QoL is great and the somniums in this game feel even more creative than the ones in the original, although they don't feel as atmospheric. the Kizuna and Gen ones are probably my favourite, and masked woman's is cool as well though god I hate stealth. the VR sections are cool and I kinda wish the original had them as well as I absolutely would've LOVED to see Aiba pushing Date into acting out crime scenes. eyepatch Date is good and I love the expressions he makes in this game. the nods to the original game are cool (although they got grating towards the end). and Gen. just Gen. he's so good

Kusemon Go was great. how about Kusemon Mystery Dungeon too?

also surprised that this game never brings up quantum entanglement or gnosticism as it feels like these two would've absolutely been home, although I suppose the focus was more on Buddhism. but quantum entanglement not being mentioned feels strange considering the game's theme

anyways, by the end of the day, the original AITSF was a good standalone title and didn't need a sequel. I also kinda preferred it when Mizuki's superhuman strength remained unexplained. man who's perpetually horny on main with an adoptive daughter who can easily bench press 100kg with no explanation provided is much funnier. why is this girl so strong? who cares, she can kick ass and is useful in taking down goons so just roll with it

I don't know if I want AI3, but if it becomes reality, I'd love to see Falco more. I REALLY want to see him doing the funny Date faces and the funny unhinged Date shit. like fuck it give me catboy Falco! but I know it's probably not happening as most people are used to the Saito look. oh well. at least fan art exists, and I do want to draw him as well...