eirikrjs

[eirikrjs]

They failed with P3R by denying a definitive version of the game. The good thing about 4 is that this isn't an issue since they only need to make a remake of Golden. They'll do that.....right? Well, honestly, this is a veeeery unnecessary remake. But I'm kind of happy about it because after Reload I was afraid of what they could do with a P2R (They could still do something terrifiy after this one though).

I don't think Atlus likes releasing definitive versions of their games anymore*, when they can do this:

*The second-ever release of any particular game tends to be the best/most fully featured, but remakes like Reload (that are on wholly different platforms/hardware generations) are new territory for nickeling-and-diming.

[eirikrjs]

>no smt nocturne remake but only a remaster Do you think they released it too early?

Does Nocturne even need a remake? I'd say no. It had a distinct, stylized aesthetic to begin with, and older games with such a style of graphics always age more gracefully than those aiming for relative photorealism, which always gets surpassed by new hardware. Remaking Nocturne simply for the sake of adding more polygons to its models, boxy hallways, and myriad cubes would not enhance the experience in any way.

The gameplay still holds up, and I think that's largely agreed upon when Atlus themselves are still making games that use variants of the Press Turn System to this day.

The one area where you might be able to fault the game is the music quality due to the PS2 needing a lo-fi music files for loading purposes. A remake would probably enable a re-recording of the OST at higher quality. But frankly, I've never agreed with this complaint and I think the crunchier in-game music is simply part of the game's identity.

I didn't intend to write a recommendation for the Nocturne HD Remaster, but I guess this ended up being that. It's a totally good way to play Nocturne on modern hardware and should still be for years to come.

My one complaint is that Atlus West didn't seize the chance to translate the untranslated races like Jirae, Yoma, Kishin, and Genma.

[eirikrjs]

Robert Tapert's NOT Dead!

STREAMING THE ROBERT TAPERT EXTENDED UNIVERSE

TONIGHT, August 8th, 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST, we're leaving the major networks and switching to syndication with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (N64) and Xena: Warrior Princess (PS1)! Join us as we lead a population of centaurs on a march through the village square in a bid for racial equity*, visit the birthplace of Jesus**, and utilize our chakram for puzzle solving purposes. Tonight!!!

*this happens in hercules

** this does too

TWITCH | YOUTUBE (ARCHIVE)

[eirikrjs]

[Commission] 45th SF Grand Prize - Oomori Nozomu's Review [Houseki no kuni]

Thank you for the second part of the commission :)

Jury member Oomori Nozomu's Houseki-related review turned out to be the most interesting, what with a few interesting literary and mythological comparisons and all, so here it is!

Oomori Nozomu is a translator and sci-fi critic. Here's an interview with him and Tomino Yoshiyuki.

Here is the post with Ichikawa's acceptance speech and a report on the voting process.

Read here!

[eirikrjs]

For me the most I can say is that Land of the Lustrous wears being inspired by Pure Land Buddhism on its sleeves a LOT later in the series. Along with just wanting to traumatize Phos every other chapter cause they wanted everyone to like them.

I, uh, am only reblogging dijeh's Land of the Lustrous translations to signal-boost. Of all the things that could be considered as Not Really My Thing, it certainly ranks highly among them. And I did watch an episode of it once on Crunchyroll!

[eirikrjs]

Hayataro from SMTV is coming soon to Dx2.

But is it Hayataro from SMT5 or Raidou Remastered?

[eirikrjs]

I just want to say it’s been great and I’m proud of you for all the healing you’ve done since your stroke. I remember when you disappeared and people didn’t know what happened and being very heartbroken for you when I learned. My younger brother had a stroke when he was 10 (genetic issue) and he had a long recovery but has also come very far, so it does hit a bit close to home for me. You’re my favorite SMT blogger and I’m happy you’re here, always take care of your health first and foremost, and I hope that you can stay unaffected by the current administration for as long as possible. I wish you nothing but good things.

Hey @athetos, thanks so much for the kind words!

Your brother had a stroke at 10? That's a fucking tragedy. I was told I was young for having a stroke at 40, but 10??? I'm glad he's OK though. Stroke is such a dumb condition. I mean, it makes sense that they can happen since the brain is such a delicate organ, but disabling/impairing locomotion and fine motor functions for years just because of a blood clot (or hemorrhage in my case) preventing oxygen from getting to a certain part of the brain for a seconds/minutes? At least this squares better with the concept of imperfect natural evolution than an oversight of a creator deity.

I will always hear Apoplexy differently now:

[eirikrjs]

Speaking of the Last Battalion, know anything about where that concept originated? Because I've seen THREE completely different Japanese works that use that same name for the same concept (Magic Cyborg Nazis) despite being otherwise unrelated - these being P2, Hellsing, and one of the Kamen Rider manga. So it's evidently an element of greater Japanese culture.

OK, the first thing to consider:

The Last Battalion (ラスト バタリアン) in Persona 2 is a Rumor; in real-world terms, a conspiracy theory.

Are there similar conspiracy theories to what's in P2, that there are secret Nazis in Antarctica? Yes, actually!

As for the name, I don't know why it would be shared between unrelated works, but my guess is that the conspiracy theory of Antarctic Nazis could have been disseminated under that moniker in some old book these creators read as kids.

Then of course there is the fact that Japanese pop culture's treatment of Nazis is decidedly different from the West's, leading to downright playful things like this that might be taboo elsewhere:

But if there is some Showa-era tokusatsu show that had an element of secret Nazis, that may have played a part too. But I think the simplest answer is that a Western conspiracy theory made its way to Japan. It's the kind of thing MU magazine lives to print.

[eirikrjs]

you probably don't have the reach to be controversial to begin with, but did you ever piss people off with an article or otherwise?

Oh, I think every article I've written--save the Mystery Demons one--has pissed off at least one person or another. Check out the comments and you may notice a certain pattern.

[eirikrjs]

I'm trying to find interviews and or concept art about how apparently a scrapped persona 2 thingy was the last battalion being made up of cute nazi girls. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about???? I remember this existing

I swear I remember a Soejijma comment about the cute Nazi girls, but I can't remember exactly, so I'm putting this out there hopefully for someone who does know.

[eirikrjs]

Relax guy!

Well, uh, it is my opinion that this is not an era in which one can easily relax, unless you completely shut yourself off from all news and social media. But I don't like to live in ignorance. If a little anxiety is the price of being informed, I'll have to take it. Plus I live with very poorly informed people, so at least one person in this household should know what's genuinely going on in the world, even if it's the stroke-addled one with high blood pressure (me).

It's not like I can never relax, though, thankfully.

^This is from 2016, if any of you remember it. I'm sorry it was so prognostic.

Last year, I was optimistic enough to fool myself into thinking I could maybe have 4 additional years of relative non-chaos during which to further recover. But nah, the US has become addicted to diving headfirst into an empty swimming pool. So far, I'm fortunate enough to say I haven't been affected so far (I rely on Pennsylvania state Medicaid for my various therapies, Medicaid itself being a very popular target to face potential funding cuts.) Anyway, I think "hold it together" has become the new "Relax!" and to that end I think I've been doing quite well.

[eirikrjs]

Oh my god, it's that time of the week where I suffer from amnesia because my brain forgets what happens in this game. It's honestly fascinating how this game achieves this, it's practically worthy of study.

SOUL HANKERS 2 WE GOT SOUL MATRIX SUBWAY AND DARK SUBWAY AND THAT'S IT

TONIGHT, August 3rd, 8:00 PM EST/7:00 PM CST, we are, for the fourth time, playing Soul Hackers 2! Join us as we continue to look for Mangetsu. This is the part of the JRPG where you keep arbitrarily tripping over plot flags while looking for a guy. Tonight!!!

TWITCH | YOUTUBE (ARCHIVE)

[eirikrjs]

so why's your internet name sorenblr? have you answered that question on here?

Probably. In any case, when I was a teenager I saw the name "Soren" on Cracked.com and I thought it was cool and now it's the name that I'll use online probably until I die. I wish it really were from Kierkegaard like people tend to assume because the reality just sucks so much. Cracked.com. Give me a fucking break.

"-blr" is, you know, it's Tumblr. I feel like that was a semi-common naming scheme when I started this blog 12 years ago.

[eirikrjs]

VIKING: GAMING IN THE TWILIGHT OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

TONIGHT, August 1st, 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST, we're acting improper at the thing in Viking: Battle for Asgard! Join us as we go absolutely ballistic on some jarls in this unsung classic of 6/10 dumb guy entertainment. Tonight!!!

TWITCH | YOUTUBE (ARCHIVE)

[eirikrjs]

is there a streaming knowledge discord server? I haven’t really been using tumblr much lately

There is! And It's pretty chill--perhaps because it is invite-only. It's a nice, curated collection of folks. Lemme know who you are and we can work on setting you up. DMs are ok!

[eirikrjs]

Another Odin, Sleipnir and a bonus Grimnir (on the right, who I've just learned is also Odin). What do you think of bishie-Odin?

This is where intent matters. Is it actually supposed to be the god (like SMT/ God of War) or just a being with that name, free of any terrestrial cultural context (like FF)?

If the former, a bishounen look misses the point of Odin completely. Which is to say, Odin is a figure of wisdom, and the best visual representation for wisdom is to be old. So youthful prettyboy ain't it.

However, Shadowverse does seem to be the latter, so i can't say it's inappropriate for its aims.

It otherwise does nothing for me; I would have to judge it completely on its art style, which I find uninspiring. It's that kind of visual style that screams "free to play", like a watermark but without actually having one.

[eirikrjs]

I always wondered why two of Thor's designs in SMT give him dark skin and dark hair. Well, the other day I came across a copy of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and I couldn't help but notice that the guy has 1) darker skin than the bikini armor babes he's paired with 2) sky blue eyes 3) long dark hair. It sure would be cheeky if this was a legitimate inspiration for Kaneko, going for a Marvel reference... just not the one you'd expect.

Oh hey, you're right, Marvel Conan does have pretty ruddy skin! It's completely plausible DS Thor could have been influenced by both the Conan movie and comic. Same goes for the hair, and it's not difficult to see a creative through-line for elements of Conan in SMT1 Thor that would fully crystallize in the DS version.