#(and i'd have to Fuck with my gamecube to allow it to play games outside PAL anyway)

[antirepurp]

my friend came across sonic advance 2 while in japan and got it for me so once they get back im going to have to face the advance series' level design once more to unlock the one thing i wanted this game on a cartridge for: the tiny chao garden

[prismatoxic]

for anyone who is not into metal gear, who is wondering how the fuck my queer military-hating ass got into what appears to be a military shooter series, allow me to explain:

the story of the games (i am mostly talking about mgs but the original 2 metal gears are probably the same) are very anti-military down the road, as in, "i trust and believe in the military, i am a good soldier, Oh No They Have Betrayed Me because the military is corrupt, i am now my own man fighting for my own beliefs"

on top of that, they take themselves seriously only about 50% of the time (mostly 2 and 3, but 1 and 4 have their moments and even 5 is occasionally a little cheeky). these games are very silly, and they know they are very silly. they also know how to deliver an emotional gut-punch that will leave you writhing on the floor. (looking at you mgs3, and side-eyeing you mgs4)

the plot may sound convoluted from the outside, and... well, it is, but probably less than kingdom hearts is. or maybe about the same. if you can handle kingdom hearts you can handle metal gear. either way, the 45-minute cutscenes are not just filler, they do genuinely try and explain everything. i'd say 4 is the most batshit, story-wise, but it also ties a ribbon on the story of the entire solid saga, so it's worth seeing if you like the other 3. (you are then free to disregard or fix as much as you want in fanwork, natch.)

the game does geek out over guns and mechs, i'm not going to lie. however it does not ask you to do the same. there is no mechanic wherein you must know the exact specifications of a gun to win the game. the game also uses a lot of military jargon, and also makes a bunch of shit up. however i personally found that context clues explained most things. suspension of disbelief is also wildly important.

the characters are good. that's it, that's the point of this paragraph. the characters are very good. they are over-the-top a lot of the time and the dialogue is often very hokey and the voice acting is sometimes particularly hammy, and i hear everyone but david hayter phoned it in for the gamecube remake of the first game, but it all spells out a cohesive cast of bozos whom i love.

are there issues? yes. david hayter was shitcanned for mgs5 and all surrounding materials because hideo kojima wanted a bigger name in his lead role, despite david hayter having voiced (almost) every snake in every english voiced game up until that point. (kojima claimed it was to make the game more serious, but the japanese voice actor did not change at all despite being equally hammy, and otacon's eng VA voices otacon's father in mgs5, so. make of that what you will.)

the series also does not treat women well. it tries to, sometimes, but it will still sexualize them in ways that feel demeaning, often detracting from the weight of whatever story they are trying to tell.

the aforementioned 45-minute cutscenes are also... kind of an issue. (they get longer, too, especially in 4.) like, some of us have things to do, kojima.

and of course, konami booted kojima from their company sometime during 5's production; say what you will about the man, but metal gear was his baby. (personally i'd have preferred they stop at 4 anyway, and kojima had tried to quit the series several times, but wiping his credits from 5's box and continuing to make the series without him feels scummy.)

there are other issues, things i've forgotten or didn't see fit to discuss at length, but at the end of the day none of this sours the series for me. (well, maybe everything post 4, but. not the rest of them.) i enjoy the story and characters and settings a lot, and... well, i watched my partner play them, so idk about the gameplay. but i was very enraptured watching, and have already written one fic and am working on another. (both otasune.) i will draw some things when i get my art mojo back, too.

so... i hope that explains it. i mean, i can see why it might appear to come out of left field from a storied fan of persona, but really, it's not that much of a stretch. i have a lot of reasons to be here.

...did i mention the overt homoeroticism? that's. that's there too.

[jessicajagg]

Halo: Combat Evolved (2001) Retrospective

When I was younger my experiences with shooters were limited. Outside of attempting and failing to clear the first stage of 'Shogo Mobile Armor Division' most of my games were of the platformer or fighting variety. The first shooter that really caught my attention, that made me want to buy a console just to play it was Halo.

During the early aughts I was knee deep into gaming news between a subscription to GamePro and infrequent access to G4Techtv, all singing the praises of Halo 2. It was talked about so much that I felt like I was missing out, that I had to play it for myself. I'd constantly read articles and go to the ilovebees arg site. Unfortunately I lacked an Xbox at the time, I had written off the console before then as none of it's early titles really appealed to me.

There was no way my parents were gonna fork over money for a third console (we already had a PS2 and Gamecube) but I managed to get one put in layaway. However there was one caveat. You see I wanted Halo 2, but my mom noticed it had "language" in the ESRB rating on the back. Halo 1 however did not have a pottymouth so that's what I ended up with. After a few months of allowances and probably my parents just paying the rest anyway, I got my Xbox.

Halo CE's title screen is the definition of iconic. A panning shot of the titular ring and the theme plays, I can't help but let it play for a bit before starting a new playthrough. The story does a good job of letting you know what's going on without over explaining lore details. I love how the games opening level goes out of it's way not to show you any of the covenant before one jumpscares you after opening a door.

I can't say much about the core gameplay aside from shoot gun feel good. It's as simple as that, Bungie nailed the control and feel. There are few pleasures that rival feeling the controller vibrate in your hands as you unload an assault rifle clip into an Elite.

The weapons give you a good selection of options on dealing with enemies. For example the Jackals have a sheild that can deflect bullets. You can either overload their sheild with a charged plasma pistol, lob a grenade at them or just run up and beat them.

The stages start off varied and unique, with my absolute favorite being "the silent cartographer". Unfortunately around the halfway point you can tell the devs were crunched for time. You start seeing the same environments from previous levels popping up and run through the same copy pasted room again and again.

Combat also becomes less varied when the flood are introduced. The parasitic enemy mainly consists of infected who charge towards you and little spores that try to jump you. The game basically locks you into using the shotgun to 1 hit kill the big guys and the assault rifle to pop the spores.

The final stage sees you racing in a warthog against the clock to evacuate before your ship destroys the ring. I still remember the first time I playing, I was extremely tense and struggling hard against the vehicle controls. I was kinda dumb as a kid and didn't usually beat games so I felt really proud of myself as I watched Halo go boom, even if I was playing on easy.

Despite the flaws in the later portions of the game, I was hooked. I was officially a Halo megafan, constantly replaying the campaign and playing multiplayer with my friend and cousin. And ofcourse it only made me want to experience Halo 2 even more. The e3 trailers were included in newer printings of CE and I'd watch them constantly.

Eventually I'd finally get to play it but that's a story for another time. Tl;dr Halo's fucking good.

[tomyo]

Pokemon Snap

For years now this had been one of those games I decided I'd buy for virtual console. I don't really see myself as a collector of games but the problem is is you fall into game collecting by virtue of wanting to enjoy an experience. Snap was one of those games I knew I'd be annoyed with if I didn't own and overall I've tried to avoid more consoles in my life. Outside of handheld consoles, I already live my life with a Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U, and now Switch. I know for a lot of people that isn't a lot of anything but I do have a ridiculous amount of other collections, lots of odd electronics and old school toys and and figures and pokemon merch and an ungodly amount of books. Which in itself isn't actually that much when you see how people collect those things but fuck it, I am an independent artist who lives majorly in a 10x10 ft space. As much as I'd love to own a special edition 64, I try to keep my ownership to a minimum which is ironically why I bought my Wii U last year. It just takes up less space and gives me more right now. To be honest I still regret not buying snap on the wii when I had the chance for the sake of the wii board feature but oh well.

The actual game itself I'd say gives for what its worth. As suggested, I didn't actually grow up playing this game and by now it finally got the sequel everyone was screaming for it to be on with the Wii U. Honestly I think there was a lot missed that it in fact hadn't ended up on the Wii U. I don't think it'd be surprising to say based on the list of games in this backlog adventure that I'm much more involved with handheld than home consoles. Even most of my Wii U usage is through its screen. In some ways systems like the Switch have been a great means to catch up on a lot of those games I've missed growing up because it's often the grounding to a TV that stops me from playing many of them.

At the same time I've come to realize a flaw when it comes to the size of graphics now. Would I have played Snap if it wasn't basically handheld on my wii u? No, probably not. Is it an enjoyable experience from the handheld? Kinda also not. I think I could've made it a more engaging experience if I had been playing it on a large tv. Imagining what it would have been like if I had done so all this time or what it would've been like playing as a kid with a tube tv just sounds so much much more appealing.

Currently I'm not really invested in playing beyond the cave level. The biggest thing is knowing some photos aren't good enough to unlock more in it but I can't save the photos I've taken outside of the game. I adore the photo of Jigglypuff I've taken but I'm aware there are higher scoring photos I could take to progress. Again if I could've saved these photos outside of the game I wouldn't be as heartbroken as I kind of feel. In hindsight, the wii u one is the worst port for being the only one that can't allow it.

Outside of that, the experience is fun and easy to pick up. There's just things in my head now telling me how much more I likely would have loved it if I had played it when I was younger. Not as much to say it isn't an enjoyable adult experience as much as how used I am now to smaller screens. Might keep this in mind when playing earthbound and go for playing it on my docked switch more than through the 3ds copy I bought.