#(and some sprites + one (1) cutscene......... so like basically nothing)

[shadowedresolve]

.......i caved. you can now find (an au portrayal of) aran over at @phantomtorched, my new sideblog where i'm temporarily placing p5x muses before we learn more about their official canon. help me.

[mister-qi]

Mr. Qi Friendship and Romance Mod: 4/19 Progress Update

It's a working title, I'm trying to come up with something less wordy that still will pop up in Nexus searches.

I wanted to be able to track my progress, mainly for myself, but if you're curious, this is the state of the mod right now:

Writing:

Heart Events - the 2 heart event is fully written (with blocking directions), and the 6, 8, and 10 heart events are outlined. The 4 heart cutscene currently has me a bit stumped; I have ideas, but nothing concrete yet. I definitely now understand why Sam's 4 heart cutscene is him dropping an egg. 14 hearts is on the back-burner as a little treat to myself once I get further into things.

Generic Daily Dialogues - about 1/3 done, probably the highest priority for writing. I'm leaving his vanilla casino dialogue as the two heart dialogue, and the vanilla Walnut Room dialogue as his four heart dialogue, with a few small changes. And, since it's me, I have more marriage dialogue written than anything else...

Day-Specific Dialogues - very few written, lower priority. Hoping to have a lot of these made eventually, and I have plenty of ideas, but they aren't necessary for the core of the mod so they're on the back-burner for now.

Gift Dialogues - all 5 generic gift response dialogues are written, with an additional 22 dialogue lines for specific items/groups of items. I'm also up to around item 530 in figuring out what item corresponds to which dialogue/whether or not he likes it. Certain item groups, like cooked food, still need more lines, however. This is definitely something that should be low priority, but also something I'm really enjoying working on. Some personal favorites so far are-

[if given a fish (hated)]: "Eugh, it's all slimy..."

[if given a legendary fish (disliked)]: "If you must give me one of the rarest fish in the valley, can you at least wrap it so I don't have to touch it with my bare hands?"

And I think that's pretty funny.

Art

Portraits - 3 new portraits finished: "deep frown" "glint" and "glasses-less". I'll probably be messing with "glasses-less" for a looong while; it's first shown at a dramatic moment so it needs to look good. Blushing portraits are next on the docket.

Here's "glint" btw, with a background thrown on so I can have a custom icon. You know I gotta make him do the anime glasses thing a few times.

Sprites - no progress yet. Walk cycle is up next after I finish the blushing portraits. Did you know he doesn't have a walk cycle at all? [1.6 spoilers] in the cheated Summit cutscene where he attacks(?) you, he literally just slides at you very fast. Anyways, I may also change his map sprite a bit as well, since it was drawn to match his old portrait and doesn't actually have the same color scheme as his sprites. Note to self: is it possible to make the sparkles on his outfit prismatic?

Maps - no progress yet. The 6 heart and 10 heart cutscenes both require custom maps, with the 6 heart one being a fully custom asset. 10 heart recycles some existing assets but will still need some custom stuff done as well.

Misc Sprites - in my head, there's a dream version of the 8 heart cutscene that has so, so many unique sprites. Like an incredible amount of stuff. I think it'll kick ass, but also that sequence could be done with a few lines of text. So, for now, it's low priority. But maybe in a few months I'll put out a request for help.

Implementation

Not totally sure how to split this into sections yet, as I'm very much still in the preliminary stages so far. To say that I'm feeling overwhelmed is an understatement; documentation on the wiki swings wildly between "an asset is a file in a video game" and "this is an advanced tutorial. Read these 4 other pages first before continuing."

I've started using Ms. Coriel's NPC Creator which has been good for setting up the basic file structure, but ultimately doesn't cover some of the more complex stuff I want to do. EDIT: Turns out it's completely outdated for 1.6! Had to throw out a bit of work, but I still learned from it so it's fiiine.

I think setting up his "schedule" will be a challenge, in that I don't actually want him to have a real schedule like most NPCs. Not to pull back the curtain too much here, but I want him to "exist" in both the Casino and the Walnut Room simultaneously, which is to say, he does not exist in two places at once in the narrative, just in the code. This will change after marriage, however.

My next goal is to set up placeholder cutscenes for each of the heart events, and then to implement the generic daily dialogues once those are finished.

Final Notes

God, this will be a work in progress for a while, but I'm enjoying it! Definitely enjoying the writing more than anything else, but hey, that's how it be. I've got around 70 lines of dialogue written, a bit of art done, and I've started learning how to actually get stuff in game. I've always been more of a designer than a coder, but it's getting there!

ADDITIONALLY I've decided that if I abandon this project for more than 8 months, anyone is welcome to request my work so far and use it for their own mod. If this blog hasn't posted in a long while, feel free to send me an ask or message! I may say no, however.

Ultimately, I want this mod to exist in some fashion. While there is an existing one, I have a pretty different take on the character and I want to share it with you all! Every line of dialogue, every heart event, every little detail needs to share something interesting about a character and their world. Yet, Mr. Qi is a mysterious guy, and I think some things should be left up to player interpretation. And I think it's crucial to be able to match his tone and voice to the vanilla game, while also expanding on his characterization. It's a fun challenge to write, and I hope the finished product, uh, well I hope it gets finished mostly, but I think it'll be pretty good.

Thanks for reading all this. This is largely just a stream of consciousness for myself, but I hope it's...interesting, or something?

[maggplays]

Thank you so much for all your hard work on your Immersive mods, they're a joy to play! You've inspired me to give modding a try, and I've got like a billion questions, but just off the top of my head: 1. What came first for you, the dialogue or the cut scenes? (And how did you learn how to do the cutscenes omg they're perfect) 2. What made you decide to involve other characters in your Sam/Sebastian mod? 3. What other tools do you use to see your additions in action? Is there a command you run to play your cutscenes or to manipulate the time of day to test something? Thank you in advance :)

Wow, you're going to make me think for a second, haha! This is a long answer so keep reading...

I start with the basic heart level daily dialogue first, then move on to dated dialogue. If I think of an event I want along the way, I will just hop over to the events and write that, then go back to dialogue. It's easier for me to keep it consistent if I go back and forth. I do have a basic overall story in mind before I start so I can generally plan events along a heart-level timeline.

I added the characters that are involved in my main character's life the most, family and close friends. Then in Seb I added some stuff for Alex just because I wanted to have a mini story with him. So it's just whichever characters seem to want to be in your story or dialogue. If I were to write one for Abigail, Sam and Seb would be in it along with her parents. Leah and Elliott don't have a lot of town connections, so other characters would be less involved or more at a surface level unless I wanted to add a story/connection for them. Elliott would have something with Willy and possibly Seb. Leah has virtually nothing in vanilla so would have to be all new.

Coding events... that is a real challenge to learn, the online resources are kind of there but limited. I pieced it together from looking at code on other mods, the Stardew modding wiki (articles on event modding and creating i18n files), and the Content Patcher GitHub instructions. I really don't recommend using my mod as a beginner reference, it's huge and full of stuff you probably don't need. I'd use a somewhat simpler one that's updated for 1.6 like Immersive Characters - Shane. The structure is similar, but my mods use a lot of dynamic tokens and conditional code that I added along the way making it much more advanced. Join the Stardew Valley discord, they have a modding help section and they are super quick to answer questions.

I also make custom sprites for events, I don't really advise doing this unless you're prepared for some extra headaches. Players DO NOT like when you mess with their sprite mods and you'll end up either ignoring a lot of complaints or making patches for Seasonal Outfits mod in particular.

To test your events, code it all up the best you can, then run debug ebi eventID in the SMAPI console. This plays your event immediately. There are some twitchy things about this involving conditions you'll learn along the way. You also need CJB Cheats Menu mod, this allows you to skip time, change friendship levels, change weather, all kinds of stuff you need for testing dialogue without actually playing the game. Bottom line, it's really trial and error. And running debug ebi like a million times on each event as you watch your characters literally walk off screen, turn the wrong way, farmer's hair pops off, so many bloopers!

[mestos]

CoAi moments in DetCo games (part two)

cont from my last post

This time the game I'm going to be covering is The Great Deduction of Three People. In this game you can actually play as Ai! Conan takes a more supporting role while the main case is deducted by Haibara. Unfortunately she doesn't have a sprite in this one (takes a narrator vn approach) but like the other game, there is full voice acting, animated sprites provided by TMS.

worth noting that this game takes place before haibara's development with the detective boys. so she's still cold, standoffish a little and ayumi still refers to her as "haibara-san".

since this is basically Haibara Chapter i'll do extremely brief context summaries per moment since the japanese for the case itself is too complicated for me to understand lol

For Context, the detective boys + hakase go to a glass case model exhibit recreating what edo period architecture and life. theyre at edo town museum, where there is a robbery that had taken place.

the opening cutscene is a cute cutscene—the DB all ride conan's skateboard with him but crash except haibara who was just walking lol. she is the POV you play as. the banter between coai immediately starts with their iconic snark to snark behaviour.

as they go in and observe the exhibits, conan asks her for her opinion

after the case figures are introduced, the kids get to see a glimpse of a super secret exhibit briefly—a scroll. haibara feels strange about it.

conan's voice here is really soft (and concerned).

the burglary happens, and haibara is the only one to notice the changes. seemingly there is nothing wrong with the case, but she has a feeling the real and the fake have been swapped. she freaks out a little, thinking it's related to the b.o

the reason that haibara investigates on her own is because she thinks the B.O have a possibility of being involved (since the case involves some wine references LOL). she seperates from the group to ask the case figures a few questions.

she later notices conan is gone heh. but she decides to press forward, and overhears a conversation between two men. but stuff go south when she's noticed, and guess who saves the his wife?

he saves her from being shot and the criminals run away. they go after them, but a series of events happen and the lose the perp. the dude above gets run over and they have to send him to hospital, but in the event he drops the scroll that was stolen earlier. haibara deciphers the scroll, and it leads her to some place, but its just 1 lead. she wants to go investigate it on her own, but the gang find out and insist on tagging along.

conan and ai very sweetly have this exchange

despite his sprite, his voice is actually so sweet. slightly hushed, gentle and reassuring. it's enough to make haibara cave.

conan helps haibara decipher the map by attaching a modern day map, revealing some clues related to the four asian mythological creatures. genta makes a comparison to food and somehow that sticks because the gang literally just start going on a food tour (its because the locations on the map point to, literally, food stores). conan even lets haibara decide where they go.

"oi haibara, you decide where we go."

the player is actually who decides where they go.

they go to ningyo yaki (a type of wagashi, and it has sponge cake texture with red bean filling).

genta: "ooooo, delicious. i can eat so many bro"

monjayaki:

haibara: "so this is monjayaki... this is the first time i've ever had it"

doujo yaki

genta: "oooh, it's here! let's eat!"

ayumi gets nervous about being served live food, and u can choose to make haibara freak her out here or console her. the LP chose freak her out, and she insists conan eats her share LOL

after all 3 visits you have the option to go back to one of the places. in the background of the monjayaki stop, you can actually see shiratori and sato in the background, which the kids choose to talk to them on while they eat their fourth meal of the day LOL they absolutely get No information other than the fact that they disrupted their lunch but it advances the plot

they do some investigating for three more places. theres a festival, with some suspicious ass looking dudes, and you can choose to just run (and investigate elsewhere) or ignore them. ignoring them advances the plot

anyway a few more shenanigans happens until haibara figures out the map and what the symbols mean (GO QUEEN!!!!!). at some point she gets a gun to her head by the perp (AND IS CRAZY CHILL ABOUT IT) but then conan, genta and mitsuhiko save her lol

they do some more investigating which eventually leads them to a warehouse

"WHOA, IT REALLY WAS THERE!!!!"

after conan gives haibara some context (there has been some robberies in the area), a bunch of steel planks start falling

no one gets hurt, and this is actually the moment haibara says her theory.

if you get it wrong, the culprit gets away. haibara's voice is quiet, almost disappointed in herself, and conan gently says it seems like your deduction was wrong, in a very forgiving and sweet way as if to console her lol. and then you can try again

they use the crane to catch the perp. sato and shiratori and take him away, and alls well ends well. conan and ai have this exchange

despite his sprite, his voice is pretty serious here. worried. concerned <3

since i cant add anymore images, haibara responds with

"well, i can't tell you that if i dont have obvious concrete proof" "especially in front of mr-rushing-headfirst-into-danger...." "eh?"

conan tells haibara that he didn't find anything related to the B.O about the perp that just got arrested, and haibara says she expected that. to add, he sweetly says this

haibara: "wow, coming from mr great detective, that's high praise" haibara: "well, if you ever come across a case you can't solve, you can always consult me" conan: "heh, i wasn't complimenting you that far."

the closing cutscene is sato taking the kids out for dinner, and then calling takagi to help her pay for the amount of food these kids ordered LMFAO

but conan and ai have one final exchange during it

(while takagi is mourning his wallet)

haibara: "well, the cold reality of adult circumstances" conan: (chuckle) "as always, cool and collected. by the way, what was up with you today? you didn't seem yourself." haibara: "hmm? what do you mean, i was the same as usual." conan: "where? you were oddly overbearing and nosy today." haibara: "really? then i must have caught it from a certain someone." conan: "huh? and who is this certain someone?" haibara: "who knows? why don't you think about it and figure it out, mr great detective?" conan: "huh?"

ANYWAY FOR MY CLOSING THOUGHTS

seeing someone haibara solve the mystery and lead conan along is the roleswap au that i need. and this is, in its own way, canon!

[glowing-gravity]

hey, I've played all the Persona games, I can weigh in!

first up- there's no need to play the games numbered games in order, though you probably would want to play persona 1 before persona 2 because some characters return in minor roles, and play persona 2: innocent sin before persona 2: eternal punishment because that one's a literal sequel. persona 3, 4, and 5 have some very minor references to previous games, but it's nothing major at all, so you don't really miss anything if you don't recognize the references!

a lot of people start with persona 5 because it's the most recent! like previous said, though, if you start with persona 5 and then want to go back and play the others, you'll have to adjust to having fewer and fewer of the quality of life features, haha, so keep that in mind.

onto the specifics per game, which might answer your question a little more thoroughly:

persona 1's PSP port is good! you just don't want to play the original ps1 release of it (aka Revelations Persona) because they REALLY "localized" it with weird errors, edited all the characters' sprites to make them white (except one teammate they made black), and cut the entire second storyline out. persona 1 also doesn't have really any dating to speak of- I think there's maybe once where the protagonist gets asked which female teammate he's interested in? it's very much a dungeon crawling jrpg, that basically goes from dungeon to cutscene to dungeon with little in the way of "breaks" in between, and most character interaction takes place during cutscenes or areas where you can briefly talk to your teammates

persona 2: innocent sin also got a PSP port at the same time! this one's also the best way to play it, and it's honestly even smoother than p1's port imo. persona 2's sequel, eternal punishment, doesn't have an official english release of its own PSP port, unfortunately, but there's a fan group that translated the game if you don't want to play the somewhat-janky original ps1 release! persona 2 is currently the most outright lgbt-friendly persona game, as the protagonist in innocent sin is canonically bisexual, and can pick a male teammate as well when asked who he's interested in, and one of the male teammates is interested in him as well. there's two wlw npcs, and some nameless trans npcs around the city that can be encountered. keep in mind, however, that innocent sin's PSP port came out in 2011, so there may still be some things about the portrayal that feel a little dated. also, persona 2 is still very much dungeon crawling with cutscenes, though there's a bit more freedom to it and what you can do with your time

persona 3 is best played on its PSP port as well (persona 3 portable), with the most quality of life features and a female protagonist option, though only the ps2 rerelease (persona 3 fes) has the epilogue of the game. it does have a remake coming out in early 2024 as well, which should have quality of life improvements on par with persona 5, but lacks the female protagonist option and epilogue, so it's still not perfect. also, please be aware its theme is "death", and it features suicidal imagery (most prominently in that teammates need to shoot themselves with a fake gun to summon their personas), so it may not be for everyone! it's probably the heaviest persona game, and while very emotionally impactful, it's worth knowing what you're getting into. persona 3 is the first one to feature the Social Links prev mentioned, which means you balance an everyday life and friends with the dungeon crawling and story aspects, and can also more properly hang out with and date characters. there aren't any male characters that the male protagonist can date via social link, but there are two female characters that fall in love with the protagonist regardless of the gender you pick, and one male character that states he'd feel the same about the protagonist regardless of gender.

persona 4 is best played in its rerelease form (persona 4 golden), either as its original ps vita release, or its steam/switch port. persona 4's theme is truth, which involves a lot of characters confronting things about themselves they were denying, with a clear LGBT theme. however, it has a reputation as the "gay and homophobic" persona game for a reason- while there's one character who's heavily implied to be gay, and another heavily implied to be trans, the game walks back on these at the last second, and there's a lot of homophobic comments from some characters. it's very blatantly a product of the time it was made, which makes it feel authentic in its presentation of what the characters grapple with to some players, and uncomfortable to others (and sometimes even both at once). the protagonist can't date any male characters, however there is scrapped content where he was originally going to be able to date one. with the steam port, people have made mods restoring this link (along with a mod to stop the game misgendering the trans character), so that sort of thing may be of interest to you if you'd like to try persona 4!

persona 5 is best played in its rerelease form (persona 5 royal) as well! it originally came out on ps4, and was since ported to steam and switch. persona 5's theme is rebellion (against society, primarily), and the playable characters act as phantom thieves who change the hearts of really terrible people in an attempt to reform society. as the most recent numbered release in the series, it has by far the most quality of life improvements, and the best graphics by a distinct margin. there's a ton of stuff to do in this game besides the dungeons, and even besides the social links really. you still cannot date any male characters in it, though. there is a drag queen who runs a bar you can visit (she's great!), but there are also two cutscenes with very stereotypical gay men, where the joke is that they're pushy gay guys (which was at least improved from the original persona 5 game, where they were predatory gay guys).

as for the best place to start, that really depends on you! p1 is perfectly fine if you like to start things from the beginning (or if you otherwise plan to play every persona game, and don't want to feel like you're "losing" features if you go backwards), p2 is what I'd recommend if you're most invested in having LGBT characters present, p3 is a really good place to start if you want to begin with a more "modern" persona game (ie, that has the social link system and isn't almost entirely dungeon crawling), p4 is what really started putting the persona series on the map and probably the goofiest tone persona game overall (despite some of its obvious flaws), and p5 is the most recent one that a lot of people start with simply because it's newest and showcases everything the series has to offer!

sorry, that was a lot of info! I wanted to try to answer the question as thoroughly as I could, both for the anon and anyone else who might be interested, hah! feel free to shoot me an ask if you want me to elaborate on anything; I tried to keep this as spoiler-free as possible while still getting the info in there that felt most important!

Hope this is okay but I'm curious about the Persona games because of this bracket tournament and I'm hoping someone can recommend where to start? Do you need to play all of the games in order? Which game has objectively the best dating options? Which if any games are the most LGBT+ friendly?

I've never played a persona game before but feel free to infodump in here people!

[thelegendofstella]

Sephiroth’s true eye color (among other things)

Ever since I got into FF7 stuff I’ve wondered about Sephiroth’s rather inconsistent eye color over the media he’s appeared in (which is a lot), and I think I finally have an answer for it, as well as answers for other slightly unexplained phenomena. Warning you now, this will be fairly long and full of spoilers for multiple games in the series, yet hopefully informative.

Sephiroth is best known for his green, cat-pupiled eyes, among other things, and that’s generally the accepted eye color for him in fan works and such. But his eyes are actually light blue, and not just mainly in spinoffs. There will be a TL;DR in about the middle of the post for one interesting point, and another at the end for the whole post in general.

Disclaimer: This isn't intended to be a "this is the right way to portray Sephiroth's eye color" gatekeeping thing, this is just an analysis of an element of character design that went way too deep and is breaking Tumblr as we speak hfsdgyfudgfsd

Evidence, theories and such under cut-- all 63 images (yes, you heard me, be warned) either come from various wikis as official art/screenshots/etc. or are my own screenshots:

In Final Fantasy 7, where this mess all started, his iconic official art has green eyes:

But in all other art, models, etc. for the game, even the Ultimania scan, his eyes are light blue (or some sort of blue in general):

Of course, you could argue that Sephiroth’s official art also has blue eyes if you stare at it hard enough, but at first glance it’s more green than blue, and with the amount of green-eyed art I’ve seen, I’m sure many people have just accepted that his eyes are green and nothing more.

Several other games in the main series also portray Sephiroth’s eyes as light blue, sometimes borderline colorless depending on the lighting:

I particularly curse Advent Children for it’s washed-out aesthetic because in the darker scenes it completely masks Sephiroth’s real eye color. Thank the gods for HD screenshots.

However, there is a very interesting phenomenon that only seems to happen in Last Order, the 25-minute animated retelling of the Nibelheim Incident and Zack and Cloud’s escape 5 years after. No one seems to have noticed this yet, to my knowledge, so I’ll go through this as clearly as I can.

When Zack confronts Sephiroth in the reactor, the latter’s eyes are light blue:

It isn’t very obvious due to the mako glow tint and his face being in shadow, but I’d think green eyes would look different here, so they are light blue. They stay light blue for a while after this, until Zack begins to fight him and parries him onto the ceiling (anime physics...), resulting in this peculiar scene:

Light blue into green. Literally, you can see it happening in the actual video. This happens a second time when Sephiroth has Cloud skewed on Masamune, just more subtly:

Again, light blue into green(er). Definitely something funky going on here. It goes back to light blue when Cloud tosses him away, though:

And speaking of Cloud... he, too, shows very obvious eye color change directly after this scene, as seen below:

In the video they are visibly, animatedly glowing, it’s not just me discerning between two different flat shades of color. Keep in mind this is before he gets mako poisoned and Jenova-celled and whatnot, so this isn’t due to SOLDIER enhancements. What gives?

Here’s my take: it’s the Lifestream. People are made of Lifestream like everything else in in the FF7 universe, and it’s common knowledge that Lifestream/mako can do some pretty weird shenanigans. SOLDIERs are literally pumped full of the stuff and have seemingly superhuman abilities, and that’s just the lower-ranking ones. But the series has also placed a lot of emphasis on willpower, which Cloud post-experimentation struggles with due to the J-cells and stuff. A lot of people with particularly bright or “glowing” eyes have expressed an incredible amount of willpower, some of which include Cloud, Sephiroth (unsurprising), and Aerith:

Aerith’s eyes have always been incredibly bright in the series, regardless of which game you reference. Remake especially makes this obvious, as it seems like every close-up shot of her makes her eyes the centerpiece regardless of lighting, setting, etc.:

Like, seriously, they almost seem to glow they’re so bright. But here’s the kicker: Aerith is a Cetra, and the Cetra, obviously, communicate with the Planet... or, in other words, have an incredibly strong willpower that influences things. It’s been stated before by various people and media that Sephiroth and Aerith are two sides of the same coin, but not quite like this, I think. Cloud shows a similar phenomenon in his close-up shots as well, though the artificial SOLDIER glow is most likely contributing to most of it:

Compare these to younger Cloud in the Nibelheim flashback, when he was more innocent and had no need for incredible willpower, artificial or not:

Going back to Cloud in Last Order, the point we can make about him in particular is that when he was stabbed, literally at death’s door, he drew on his inner Lifestream for the strength to toss Sephiroth away. People have wondered for years about how this moment was even possible besides Protagonist Syndrome, and this may be the answer.

If this is the case, then this could apply to anyone: Aerith, Sephiroth, Zack, hell even Tifa seems to have slightly glowing eyes in the Remake sometimes-- and sure, it may be just the game engine making sure we can actually see their eyes in key cutscenes... but it ties into canon lore and actually makes sense, so I’m sticking with that. It’s also not a coincidence that Aerith specifically has green eyes, too, since the Lifestream in general is green-colored and whatnot.

Midpoint TL;DR: people with lots of inner willpower can call on their own Lifestream to give them strength, resulting in “glowing” or even color-changing eyes depending on how much Lifestream/mako they have in them. SOLDIERs, for example, would fall in the latter category... the most extreme being Sephiroth.

Now that's we're back at Sephiroth, another interesting point is that his eye color in Remake is consistently light blue, or some blue variation depending on the lighting, with green centers, as seen below:

Cloud obviously shares the same eye color pattern by this point because it's implied that he has the same if not slightly more mako in him than Sephiroth, which very conveniently also equates to him having the same if not slightly more willpower than Sephiroth.

An honorable mention goes to the Remnants, since they, too, follow the light blue with green centers pattern, appearing to fluctuate between the two colors at certain times:

With all of that said and done, I’ll wrap this up by going through Sephiroth’s appearances in side games and other franchises as quickly as I can:

1) The Dissidia series (Dissidia, 012/Duodecim, NT, Opera Omnia) almost always portrays Sephiroth with light blue eyes in art, renders, and models, occasionally with a hint of green in them:

A very interesting exception is NT Sephiroth's Safer Sephiroth costume, which has completely white eyes in all three of its alts. Yes, it's basically just a cosmetic costume, but it's still worthy to note for comprehensive purposes:

2) World of Final Fantasy’s Sephiroth has light blue eyes:

3) Record Keeper Sephiroth’s sprites are very obviously based on the original FF7 official art where he has green eyes (yes, I checked the colors by hand, they're all in the greener sections of the color wheel):

4) The Kingdom Hearts series is particularly unique because it features a blue-eyed Sephiroth but with an explicit reason for it. Kingdom Hearts 1 simply says that Sephiroth is part of Cloud’s past, but Kingdom Hearts 2 literally has Cloud saying “I'll get him. This time we settle it. Me, and the one who embodies all the darkness in me.”, and then explicitly clarifying that it’s Sephiroth he’s talking about. Sephiroth even shares Cloud’s facial shape, which is particularly obvious in KH2 renders:

All other Sephiroth appearances in the KH series also feature him with blue eyes, except for any usage of material from other media.

5) Itadaki Street games feature Sephiroth with green eyes:

6) Puzzles and Dragons features a rare teal-eyed Sephiroth:

And finally 7) All other Sephiroth appearances in spinoffs and other media feature him with light blue, blue, or rare teal eyes, except for sprites, which are (most likely) reused from Record Keeper:

And that’s FINALLY a wrap. All my evidence for Sephiroth’s actual eye color in one place, and even a theory on why it can potentially fluctuate between that and the iconic green.

Actual TL;DR: Sephiroth’s eyes are actually light blue in 90% of his appearances, and the remaining 10% either comes from temporary green-ness or partial green-ness thanks to mako/Lifestream stuff, or spinoffs.

There is one small point I’d like to make at the end of this, and that is the remaining mystery of why Sephiroth’s pupils are even slitted and cat-like in the first place. That... is far more ambiguous in terms of evidence than the eye color. Some series, particularly the Kingdom Hearts series, have them as regular round pupils, while others sometimes if not most of the time give him the cat-like ones. I may make another in-depth analysis post trying to figure it all out, but for now I’ll say that it may just simply be a result of the Jenova cells he has or something along those lines.

If you made it this far down and didn’t just instantly scroll past my massive log of images and sundry, thank you so much for reading all of this! If you did just instantly scroll past, I don't blame you. I guess I'm in proper Sephiroth hell now, lol.

I hope you have a great day and that things turn out well for you fhjksdgfyhughuhyudfs

[radramblog]

On the origins of Shiny Pokémon

Shiny Pokémon are a quirk of the franchise that has blossomed into a huge part of the Pokémon fandom, to the point where content creators (streamers, mostly) have built careers on spending hours and hours hunting for them.

Considering the humble origins of the concept, it’s kind of a surprise how we got here, frankly.

Shiny Pokémon were introduced in the series' second generation, in Gold and Silver. These were the first games in the series to be in colour, basic as the palettes were, and the developers thought that having variations in a species’ colour, kind of like albinism, would be an interesting idea to use this new technology. At least, I assume that’s what happened, I obviously wasn’t there. There wasn’t originally an official term for Shinies, though “Alternate colour” or “rare” were in some of the earlier games- the first official use of “Shiny” was in a promotional TCG card in 2009. Interestingly, Gold and Silver (but not Crystal) were actually playable on an original Game Boy, albeit in greyscale, which is why the twinkle animation and sound effect that gives the phenomenon its name were added in the first place.

The addition of the Red Gyarados plotline was kind of a genius way of introducing the concept to the player and fanbase. After all, the phenomena are typically extremely rare at 1/8192 per Pokémon encounter, and I believe only one very missable NPC alludes to them in the entire game. It’s quite possible that without all the fuss about the Red Gyarados and the Lake of Rage plot in general, Shinies would have been the subject of the same schoolyard rumours that surrounded the early generations, like “Pikablu” (Marill leaking before its official introduction) or the Pokegods.

I know I didn’t know what a Shiny was when I first encountered one. Sure didn’t catch it either, though I know I was trying to. It was a Ponyta, in Fire Red, and it was on the path up to Mt. Ember who’s name I’ve forgotten. I definitely spent a long time running around after accidentally KO’ing it in order to find this “Blue flame Ponyta” again, to no luck.

The introduction of shinies in Gen II led to some interesting quirks in their original iteration, considering the jank of early gen Pokémon. Shininess, like many other things that generation, were determined by IVs, a calculation that would later be replaced by an individualized “personality value” for each Pokémon. A Gen II (or Gen I, if trading is used) Pokémon will be Shiny if its IVs are all 10 except for Attack (2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, or 15) and HP (which is calculated from the remainder), which ironically means the aesthetic bonus that’s not supposed to have an in-game function actually is a result of largely above-average stats. This calculation comes with a few other quirks resulting from other things attached to IV calculations- they can only have a Hidden Power of Grass or Dragon with 49 or 69 power, any species that has a 7:1 male:female ratio such as the starters or Eevee cannot produce a female shiny (Gender is determined by Attack IV, and those species only are female with a 0 or 1 Attack), and, perhaps ironically, only the I and V Unown variants can be Shiny.

That’s a lot of bullshit trivia, isn’t it!

Both in and out of the actual games, it would be a while before Shinies were properly recognized and further integrated into the canon of Pokémon. A few TCG cards featured them, along with a rule in which you could only have one in your deck- I’m not sure how powerful they actually were, but the rarity was at least accurately represented. A handful of trainers in Firered/Leafgreen’s Trainer Tower have them by default, the first (and, I think, only? (nope just checked there’s one guy in Gen VII)) NPC trainers guaranteed to have a Shiny in the games. As well, the Celebi event in Heartgold/Soulsilver would feature a Shiny Pichu, the first guaranteed Shiny since the original Gold/Silver (it also has the Red Gyarados, being a remake), and that generation would feature the series’s first method of increasing the encounter rate with the Poké Radar (as well as the Masuda breeding method), but beyond this, the odds were still and always 1/8192.

It wasn’t until Generation V and Black and White that more effort was taken in the games to acknowledge Shiny Pokémon. This was the first time that the term was actually used inside the game, for one, and Shiny Hunters were given their first real tool in the Shiny Charm- a passive item available by completing the entire Pokédex that effectively triples the encounter rate and stacks with the aforementioned Masuda method (which was also slightly buffed).

This came at a cost, however- the Shiny Lock mechanic. This is an inbuilt feature in the encounter code that prevents certain species of Pokémon from ever generating as Shiny- in this game, that applies to Reshiram and Zekrom, the games’ cover legendaries, as well as the Mythical event Pokémon Victini and anything obtained through the Dream World feature. Shiny sprites for these species still existed in the game, effectively as failsafes, but nothing you could do in the game short of cheating/hacking would let you actually access them. This Lock feature would continue for every main series game that followed, though it would almost exclusively apply to Legendary Pokémon, and would often be taken off of them the generation later- and while I understand the inconsistency between a Pokémon's appearance in story cutscenes and actual battle would be awkward, it is still frustrating that such cool designs like Shiny Victini are completely unavailable.

It wasn’t all bad, though, since through some of these mechanics and the growing popularity of the franchise, more players were exposed to the idea of Shiny Pokémon. Black 2 and White 2 also had the games’ second and third Guaranteed Shinies in the form of a gift Gible or Dratini (depending on version) available through a postgame challenge and a Haxorus catchable in an area unlocked by completing the regional Pokédex. This was also when they were more exposed in other media- more TCG cards, their appearance in one of the movies (and the associated in-game events), etcetera.

Were it not for Generation V’s changes and additions, it’s very likely that Shiny Pokémon would be substantially more obscure than the popular huntable prize they are now. For better or for worse, I suppose. Probably better, ultimately, because they are pretty much just a fun thing to have around? I’m not sure how I feel about people spending hours upon hours for a slightly differently coloured mon (though I have done it a couple times), but it’s just a nice thing that exists for people. A little mystery to a series that’s so utterly picked apart, as it were.

[crusherthedoctor]

Can we have some unpopular Sonic opinions?

I tried to cram in a lot, so I hope this satisfies you. :P I tried to stick to the ones that I haven't brought up quite as often, since by this point, we all know that I think IDW's storytelling is dire, SA2's story is overrated, X Eggman is an embarrassing portrayal (at least from season 2 onwards), Blaze shouldn't be handcuffed to Silver, Shadow's backstory had issues with or without the Black Arms, Neo Metal Sonic looks silly, etc. But anyway, here we go:

- Knuckles may be tricky to incorporate into plots that don't relate to Angel Island, but making him obsessed with his duties is no better than having him forget about Angel Island entirely.

- I like Marine, and never found her annoying. Oh, I understood what they were trying to do with her, but I honestly wasn't put off by her, and found her Aussie lingo more endearing if anything. Since her debut was during the period in my life where where I couldn't stand Sonic himself, I instead thought he was irritating (and hypocritical) for getting annoyed with her for doing shit he would often be guilty of.

- Silver is just as guilty of being shoehorned into games and plots as the Deadly Six are. Having more fans than the latter is irrelevant, since we're still talking about a character who constantly has to time travel in order to be present.

- Speaking of Silver, if he has to stick around, please do something different with him. They've pulled the doomed future routine multiple times now, and it's been boring every single time. I wasn't interested when it involved Iblis. I wasn't interested when it involved Knuckles drinking the edgy Kool Aid. I wasn't interested when it involved a council of dumbasses... give it a rest already.

- The Tails Doll can work as a mildly creepy thing, with maybe more to it than meets the eye when it's time for a boss fight or what have you. But the memes about him stealing your soul are just dumb, and I thought it was dumb even back in my teenage youth.

- “Eggman is supposed to be clownish!” Yeah, well he's also meant to be a genuine villain with a 300 IQ. These qualities don't have to be mutually exclusive.

- “Sonic is supposed to have attitude!” Yeah, well that's not the same thing as being an absolute cunt. Sonic was only ever meant to come off as having an edge compared to Mario. He was never meant to be a GTA-tier protagonist.

- Rouge is not a villain, and never was a villain. Literally the whole point of her role in SA2 was to reveal that she was working against Eggman and Shadow the whole time, albeit using sneakier tactics to do so. You'd think all those people who exult SA2's story would remember this, but apparently not. She barely even qualifies as an anti-hero, since aside from stealing the Master Emerald, she rarely does anything morally questionable otherwise. She's got a lot more good in her than people give her credit for.

- Captain Whisker is a better Eggman Nega than the actual Eggman Nega. And as far as robot characters in this franchise go, Johnny's design is pretty underrated.

- I don't like Iblis or Mephiles, but I DO like Solaris, and it annoys me that it was out of focus for most of the story due to all the time spent on its less interesting halves. Had they kept the backstory with the Duke and his experiments, and worked from there, I think they could have provided an interesting contrast with Chaos (since Solaris can also qualify as a monster with a sympathetic backstory) instead of recycling the surface level schtick.

- Black Doom may technically be just as bad as Mephiles, Nega, Scourge, Mimic, etc, since he's yet another villain with one-note characterization and fucked over Eggman. But because he never gained a disproportionate fandom, he doesn't annoy me to the same extent. It's easier to ignore him by comparison, and his Dr. Claw voice and face shaped like a lady's delicate part make him enjoyable to mock.

- Likewise, while Lyric is also on the same level as these other villains, it's easier to dismiss him because I was never invested in the Boom games anyway, and being an obvious alternate universe (compared to Sonic X or IDW, which retain the Modern designs and plot elements), it never had an effect on the main series. I also unironically like his design, and if nothing else, at least this snake didn't start a hypnotism fetish across the internet.

- Sally - and the rest of the Freedom Fighters for that matter - have had their importance in the franchise severely inflated. They may have been lucky to be the face of popular media (SatAM and Archie), but they're not these magnificent entities that the game characters are but a speck of dust in comparison to. Having a “legacy” doesn't make them more entitled to shit than any other character, old or new.

- Conceptually, the treasure hunting gameplay is one of the better alternate gameplay styles IMO. But it was let down in SA2 by its one track minded radar (the levels may have been big, but I don't think that would have been an issue on its own if the radar was better). If they brought it back and made it more like SA1's treasure hunting, I'd be all for it, although it would probably be better suited for a spinoff title.

- This goes for a lot of games, but when it comes to 2D, I prefer sprites over models. Not that the Rush models are bad (though the ones in Chronicles sure as fuck are), but the sprites in Mania and the Advance trilogy are just so charming and full of character.

- I actually like Marble Zone. Yeah, the level design is a bit blocky, but I love the concept of an underground temple prison, mixed with lava elements in a zone that otherwise isn't a traditional volcano level.

- I also like Sandopolis Zone. Again, completely understand why it's not the most popular zone around, but I've been a sucker for the Ancient Egyptian aesthetic since childhood (you can thank Crash 3 for that), and Act 1 is visually stunning.

- I prefer the JP soundtrack for Sonic CD over the US version overall... but I also prefer Sonic Boom over You Can Do Anything.

- SA2's soundtrack isn't bad by any means - I love Rouge's tracks, and The Last Scene is one of my favourite pieces of music - but as far as variety goes, it's a step down from SA1's soundtrack.

- If Sonic X-Treme had been released, it probably would have been unenjoyable and confusing. Whatever your thoughts on SA1, it was probably the better option between the two as far as Sonic's first legitimate translation into 3D goes.

- I have no qualms with Modern Sonic and the other Modern designs and characters, but I also fully acknowledge that changing gears from Adventure onwards - and doing it with a great amount of fanfare - was always going to create one of the biggest divides in the fandom, and fans shouldn't act surprised that this happened. The fact that they felt the need to hype up a new design and direction in the first place (compared to Mario, who has mostly been the same since the beginning, with only the occasional minor change with little fanfare) also indicates that they weren't confident enough in Sonic and his universe being the way it was, which often gets ignored by all the “SEGA have no confidence!!!” complaints you see with their recent games.

- Unleashed did not deserve the incredibly harsh reviews it received back in the day... but it doesn't deserve its current sacred cow status either. It had more effort put into it than '06 to be sure, and I can respect that, but much of it was misguided effort, and even if you like the Werehog, you have to admit that the idea came at the absolute worst time. The intro cutscene may be awesome, as is the Egg Dragoon fight, but 2% doesn't make up the entire game. Chip was also quite annoying, and I wasn't particularly sad when he pressed F in the chat at the end.

- On the other hand, while Colours definitely has its shortcomings, and people have every right to criticse those shortcomings, a lot of its most vocal detractors tend to have a stick up their arse about the game because people actually enjoyed it, and it had a gimmick that people actually liked. Yes, it may have been the first game to have those writers everyone hates, but then SA1 was the first game to give the characters alternate gameplay styles and have other villains upstage Eggman, so...

- Forces is absolutely not on the level of '06. It's nowhere close. A game being flawed does not make it the next '06, clickbait YouTubers. Or should I say, the game they want to retroactively apply '06's reception to, since they've been trying hard to magically retcon '06's own quality...

- To echo @beevean, ALL of the 3D stories have their issues. SA1 is probably the most well-rounded of them on the whole, but even that one isn't perfect.

- To echo another opinion, although I do love SA1, I'm not crazy over the idea of a remake, and would prefer them to just take Sonic's gameplay from SA1 and work from there. Because with a remake, you're stuck in a hard spot: Do you keep it the way it is bar the expected graphical upgrades, and risk accusations of not doing anything to actually improve the experience? Or do you try to address past criticisms, and risk the wrath of the fans who will inevitably go on a #NotMyAdventure crusade about it? What people fail to consider is that the Crash and Spyro remakes were accepted gracefully because their original iterations were still unanimously beloved for the most part, whereas SA1 - and especially SA2 - have always been divisive, and have only gotten moreso over the years.

- People take their preferences for the character's voice actors too seriously. I have my own favourites like anyone else, but I don't make a big deal out of it.

- And with fandom voice actors, they usually focus too much on doing a basic impression of their preferred official voice actor, and not enough on the acting. So you end up getting a lot of fan voices who sound like decent impressions of Ryan Drummond or Jason Griffith on the surface, but they sound utterly empty beyond that impression, because there's no oomph or depth to the actual emotions. They think about the actor rather than the character, when it should really be the other way around.

- The thing with Ian Flynn is that he is capable of telling a decent story, and he can portray some characters well. But he's proven time and time again that everything will go off the rails if he's given too much freedom (ironic, given how quick he is to point the finger at mandates when something goes wrong).

- Ian Flynn and Shiro Maekawa are not the only people in the world who are allowed to write for Sonic. I understand that one should be cautious when seeking out new writing talent, but for all the fandom's accusations of playing it safe, they sure aren't in a rush to experiment outside of their own comfort zone.

- And of course, the big one: You don't fix the franchise's current problems by crawling back to its previous problems. It's much more helpful and constructive to discuss the good and bad alike with each of the games. Less “THIS GOOD, MODERN BAD”, and more “This could work, but maybe without that part...”

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

1, 2, 3, 4, and Jaaaam~!

As time of writing, I’ve faced off and beaten 1010 on Normal. Wooo~!

So, more 1010 stuffz!

Either through updates or I've merely been watching play throughs with turned down graphics; Having now played the section, the 1010 battle and cutscene sprites now have their eyes the proper matching color. However, at this point, I ain't gonna discount or discourage the "White Eyes Synch" HC.

   Turns out, according to Kliff’s brief, Neon J had been a Captain of the Cruiser. Now I don’t know about the time frames of the Royal Malaysian Navy, but for US Navy, it takes a collective of 21-23 years (at an estimate) to get to rank of Captain [No idea if this means starting at the rank of Seaman Recruit or starting as an O1; either way this dude was a full eagle].    Means, Neon J was in the military for a loooong time.

   So, when you destroy a member of 1010, they leave remains behind that can be transformed to face off against other members of 1010 or as something benefitial for the PCs.    Fanfic Writers, do with this as you may.

So only White (Rin) and Red (Zimelu) have parry attacks. Meaning they're the guys our PCs are more likely to go after first (The designated Leader; and the persumed more combative or warlike 1010 member / Bad Boy).

   Barraca Mansion also has those five colored portraits.

   The section of Metro Division leading up to the Boss Fight is just covered in dance-dance games.

According to the NSR-Post, type 4 Battledroids are still in service, and do in fact have background memories to hold in combat. In a previous post, I've already speculated that 1010 may have Neon J's memories...

Consider what it took to actually get to the boss fight. That's not just one limo, that's an entire floating fuckin escort with god damn canons. And not all of them were cars, half of em were akin to the Battleship Limo. Basically, Neon J didn't just command one ship, he had an entire fuckin Fleet.

   Part of Neon J’s voicelines do call 1010 “robots”.

I know the section was mean to play for laughs, as a break from the character driven plot, but really reeeeally look at this level: - When you defeat a body of 1010, you can transform the remains to go against the other members. - You are actively being photographed / recorded fighting and doing all this damage to 1010. - The fact that Neon J acknowledge Yinu and had an entire escort, means he already knew you were coming and was actively preparing to face you - Which is probably why he had his factory out. Let's face it, 1010 are Battledroids with weapons included, and most folks don't even come to their stomachs in height. Unless a fan is wearing full Halo MJOLNIR power armor and wielding a Fallout Fatman, you don't need to break out an entire robot factory if anything happens. Plus, shields. Neon J knew that BBJ were coming, and prepared accordingly, hell, 1010 was actively waiting on you (even though none of it was enough) - Consider everything. Neon J was a captain who faced what might've been some pretty historically bloody and brutal wars, and while he did break out weapons... ... None of these weapons do ANY personal or permanent harm to you / BBJ. Not even the sawblades or the missiles. ... Hell, consider the jump over. Nearly none of the other boss security levels have flash when you fall off edges, you just sorta pop back up, but 1010's? There's a red flash that pops up when you fall off, as if something was actively teleporting you back on to the car platforms. ... Think there might be a chance that, while Neon J knew you were arriving, he might have had more sympathies for BBJ than previously considered? ... Consider 1010. A Mohawk (Red) is, after all, a very Rock based Hairstyle. And Yellow? Its a pompadour, a "Rockabilly" hairstyle. How bout Blue's Lennon Specs (The Beatles were a Rock Band)... And the biggest boy bands of the 60s were Rock Band. ... Neon J goes over the top with his loyalties to NSR, like, uber over the top. And even the game acknowledges that he's paranoid. Its almost like he's playing a Role...

Time.    According to descriptions found by playing Zuke, NSR (at least) takes place after the 90s.    While for Neon J, he has fought since the 60s (68; It sounds like he might’ve just gotten out of basic training, the way he talks).    This leaves a 30-40 year time frame to consider.    Take into consideration, however, that this world has flying battleship cars, robots, a virtual idol that isn’t holographic glass, and folks have duper supernatural powers.    This could be in the 2100s or more for all we know.

A Change of Pace, HEADCANON TIME!

White is the Default Droid. Not so much in 1010, but in battledroid standards. You program in what you want the bot to be or do after the fact, and the color will indicate such. All battledroids have combative abilities, but their out of combat jobs are: - Red    - Maintenance. (Believe it or not, a saw is pretty useful on a ship) - Blue   - Parade (?). I mean, batons? - Green  - Grenadier is kinda hard to find outside of the niche combat, but consider Fallout GOAT. Probably does a lot of background jobs, like laundry. - Yellow - Missiles. Probably a Bridge stationed bot, and does a lot of calculations. Missiles are a calculated effort to aim and launch. They're not Grenades where you pull the pin, and hope that it only goes off at the designated 5 seconds (and not sooner). - White  - Default, and as we've seen with Rin, probably the kind that commands or acts as VIs (Virtual Intelligence, basically a smart interface).

1010 = Superhero fighting squad Oh please, a bunch of "young men" with color coded appearances and color coded weaponry, lead by a Captain with a Factory that actively replaces their bodies? And you're telling me they're ONLY a boy band? These dudes are fighting crimes like the god damn Power Rangers with all that equipment.

Neon J supported BBJ Consider all the above suggested. The Dude knew full feckin well that NSR wasn't the greatest of the great, and half the 1010 level proved that he was pretty much prepared for your arrival, and possible his own defeat. Let's face it, the dude was a Captain for a long damn time, and like commanded a small fleet in that time (not unlike the 1010 Level). You don't do stuff like that without some major strategy and awareness, ESPECIALLY, if you've survived entire wars and terrifying / inhuman conditions.  Plus consider his over exaggerated speech. With all the evidence in mind, and all the visuals, the dude was definitely playing up his NSR schtick. There was nothing stopping him from just unleashing an entire army of invulnerable and shielded 1010 bots to root you out and stomp on you mercilessly. Believe me, this dude had the resources, the weapons, and the experience, to put out two brat indie bandmates.

He threw the fuckin fight.

... Though I'm pretty sure he didn't like the Breaking Yinu's Piano Part. At least for everyone else it was either a justified humiliation or just... unplugging stuff, not outright destroying priceless heirlooms. Notice how that's the only thing he mentions, and he's the only Megastar to take into account another Megastar (and that's excluding Tatiana).

1010 Memories The dance, the shared voice, the synchronization; oh yeah, 1010 probably had a share of Neon J's memories (though likely not all of them).

This goes hand in hand with the popular Fanon that 1010 were based on former Squadmates of Neon J's.

ITS CYAN Sorry, but we've seen the direct difference in Sayu's fight with the Glowsticks and we see Purl-Hew's bright cyan blue next to an actual neon Blue. Purl-Hew is Bright Cyan Blue, he's not Regular Blue. ... So you see, I like color theory and have a set and unbreakable idea of color patterns.

Rin's weapons I believe Rin's capabilities is Synchronization with his bandmates, and the capacity to use Shields. Remember that there is no Rin phase for the Factory, and the shields fall out of the fight immediately after Rin is perma-defeated. Plus, the quasi-Purple-Magenta color matches Rin's poster seen in both the fight and on Barraca Mansion.

[retphienix]

I Have A Lot To Say So I'll Read More This.

The short of it?

I'm glad I played Joker- I played it because I wanted to know how DQM evolved when it reached the DS and I got my answer.

It's mediocre. Not bad exactly, I enjoyed playing it, it adds some REALLY appreciated features to the DQM series and if you were playing it at release it had online play which plays well with the post game content which I haven't touched by the time I wrote this:

-but there are some engine/console specific things that made it a drag and there are some parts of the game that are just weaker than the previous games which is amusing since the previous games were simple GBC titles.

And finally, I don't really recommend playing through Joker 1. Can't speak on the sequels, but Joker 1 was a pretty middling experience for me so I'm the wrong person to get a positive recommendation from.

And since the opportunity presents itself: If you like monster RPGs and haven't tried it- go emulate Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 for the GBC, it's really good and also if you emulate you can fast forward the GBC era grind if that's your taste- really a win all around.

On to my rambling:

I debated on writing, rewriting, rewriting, and better presenting my thoughts on this game and the series as a whole but nah, Joker ain't getting that, I'm ramblin'- lol

I will split it slightly between "The ending" and "The game as a whole" though.

Ending:

1:07 - This is slightly a 'game a a whole' thing but honestly it's funny to me that you unlock a permanent repel in this game by doing the main quest. I entered this dungeon feeling strong enough to beat the game, so I just avoided 90% of encounters entirely.

5:00 - I genuinely got a laugh out of Sparkpug's whole deal in this finale. Not story wise, that's fine, no complaints- I mean that Sparkpug is clearly built to be a monster that can carry an ineffective team. He's clearly meant to be bred a few times and a god tier member of a potentially inexperienced player's team- but I literally never used him after the intro.

So during this scene it's supposed to be like "I'm a demi-god monster, you can't possibly beat me" and I'm thinking "Dude, you're like level 10 and shit tier, you can't win, this is hilarious."

Obviously it's a real boss fight and not 'face the monster you once had' but I was having fun roasting him behind the scenes of this recording.

45:00 - What an entirely unexpected change of pace.

Like, I had it spoiled for me by a screenshot that Dr. Snap becomes a monster or something- but I thought maybe he was always a monster or something, and also I got a bad look at him.

HE TURNS INTO A BODY HORROR BEAST, THAT'S NUTS.

Genuinely a highlight of the game.

52:00 - I fucking laughed what a meaningless exchange where the payoff is saying "He was stupid!", it's honestly just silly and dumb but not necessarily bad just dumb lol

55:00 - Not a great 'you won' victory lap. Like at all. Kinda feels like they should have just made this all a cutscene where I appear back at town and see that Solitaire is the leader now etc etc.

I kinda don't understand why it's a victory lap at all? Because all anyone says is "They picked a weird successor to Snap >:(" or "Snap went to the island? I bet he was stopping the calamity :)"

If you have 2 lines of dialogue prepared, maybe don't make a victory lap???

1:00:00 - What a fucking stupid payoff lol

Like sincerely, Solitaire does NOTHING the entire game! She's meaningless from start to finish! And the 'surprise' is that she's the new commish??? And she got the position because she's a rich spoiled brat??? Like LITERALLY that's why????????

What a stupid fucking ending lol

Now her proposed evolution of the contest is fair enough, I mean it's childish as hell, but to be fair- more contests is a fine idea especially since prior games and this game demonstrated the public's interest in watching monster fights. And the goal being to fight her as the final fight is fucking egotistical and stupid- BUT- it does play into the fact that the player didn't get to fight her the whole game so it's whatever?

1:03:00 - This is both the best and worst lol.

This game has no story, like at all, it's fucking empty front to back, and only explodes with like- 1 event at the very end.

This moment is a montage of memorable moments with your 'best friend' Sparkpug. It's cinematically very nice to be honest! Even includes a moment I don't remember at the arena which probably didn't happen lol.

So visually it's cool- I dig seeing the camera zoom out as we run across the beach, and the flashback moments intersplice over us making our way to the scout memorial- that's very well done.

The content is empty lol

As I said there's no story, these moments are nothing lol

And that's that.

All said the ending was a very nice challenge to face with my team- I had to abuse items like mad but I MADE IT! It was a GOOD fight.

The rest I've already said.

On to the game as a whole:

I have issues with this game, but there's good too. It's really like 4 steps forward 6-7 steps back it's weird, it's really weird.

Positives are neat!

> First and foremost- TRAITS!

Monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters have always had a problem with keeping their identity for long. The way I'd explain it to an outsider to the series is that Monsters DO have special stat variance and intended movesets and all that jazz- but the breeding system completely and entirely destroys that relatively early into the game.

While a monster might normally have really high defense and low other stats while knowing buffing magic- breeding, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY, will have that same monster come out with 9 billion attack and all ice magic.

Monsters in DQM have a habit of becoming canvases for the breeding effects rather than their own mons- and this is undeniably a downside. It makes the game feel unique, it doesn't 'hurt' it, but when by mid-game monsters are more easily identified as sprites rather than strengths and weaknesses or even types (family) it's a slight downer on the series.

Traits fix this a lot by making every specific monster have unchangeable traits which offer things like "immunity to x type of damage" or "higher crit chance"- it's small, but it gives each monster more identity.

> Second and secondmost- SKILLS!

The older games didn't use trees, it used each individual spell as a potential pass on during breeding.

Each monster could have 8 spells, and when you breed two monsters you pass on all 16 spells to the offspring (they don't learn them all at once, they learn them as they level up) as well as the natural spells the monster would learn by level up.

So in the older games it is really easy to end up with a refined and overpowered list of 8 spells on each of your monsters.

Now spells are tied to Skill trees and your monsters can have 3 skill trees total (which are passed on as OPTIONS when breeding).

All to say skills do a lot for removing the "Master of all, weakness of none" spell lists that the older games made trivial to make, now you have to limit your builds and be more specialized- also they added skills like "Attack up" to add more variance to a build- instead of having spells you might just have high stat buffs as skill trees.

Overall I think Skills are an improvement because coupled with Traits it makes each monster feel much more specialized and unique and less like a sprite with no identity.

> Breeding is improved.

This is very much because of skills and traits- again- but also the system is just improved in general. Instead of being told "That's a monster you haven't had before!" and judging your decisions based on the name of the offspring breed, now you get to see a small sprite of the resulting monster to help you decide- ALSO instead of getting 1 result for every combo (to the point where you have to back out and choose Monster A + Monster B and Monster B + Monster A as separate options), you now get up to 3 results to pick between for every breeding opportunity.

It's just better.

> The engine is impressive.

At least to me. This is a DS title using (from what I read) a rework of the DQ8 PS2 game's engine- it certainly looks like it.

Combat models are nice, using moves looks nice, overworld exploration looks nice- it looks nice.

Now for some negative and general nonsense- all of which is more often than not 'weird'.

> I gotta be unfair and say "The Story" first and foremost.

DQM 1 and 2 are not intense story games. They aren't.

But they both knew how to handle their story well for what they wanted to tell, I can and will praise both for their narratives because they know what they are and do it well.

DQM:J does not. It's fucking bad.

Basically: The overall story doesn't exist- you're told to be a spy, but that comes up 1 time towards the end of the game and LITERALLY doesn't matter at any other moment INCLUDING the one time it comes up.

You have NO meaningful objective from the start up until near the end of the game. You show up and have no goal- so you get told to get some crystals with no meaning behind it (not even a lie because they are clearly evil- not even a lie to motivate you! NO MEANING IS PRESENTED! JUST DO IT! TO DO THE CONTEST I GUESS! WHY? SHUT UP!)

So 90% of the game time you're not doing anything meaningful. So what about the islands? Any small narratives to keep things moving?

NO!

NOT AT ALL!

So you go 90% of the game having no real objective, just kinda wandering forward mindlessly- and then the game suddenly goes "Oh! Guy who seemed sus! He's evil! He's gonna unleash the calamity that you were 'kinda but not directly' working towards with your dog! You know, that plot point that's kept vague and paid 0% attention to the entire game? Yeah it's happening! Aaaaand you're done! GG!"

Basically there's just nothing going on in this game, it's all background noise until the last 10% of the game. And that's lame.

DQM1 had a light story- but from the very intro cutscene you have a clear objective which makes every action you do seem relevant as you are working towards that goal.

From the start of the game you know "My sister is gone! The king says a magic wish can get her back! I'll go do that!" and then you do!

DQM2 has a much better story!

You have a goal from the start (The kingdom is physically dying and you have to save it by getting a new plug!) AND it has stories for each world you visit!

THAT'S MILES BETTER! THIS GAME COULD HAVE DONE THAT FOR THE ISLANDS!

Anywho. Story is lacking and empty and lame especially when DQM2 has a similar format but does every part better- you have a clear objective you're working towards AND side stories to keep the light narrative moving!

WTH!

The spy plotline doesn't matter! It could have been used to build suspicion on who's the good guy!

The islands are so empty of story!

DQM2 has a fun mix on how a rival character works which makes every world interesting to see how they get involved!

This game has a rival that does NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

It's just such a step back from the previous games, it's weird to see DQM 1 land a solid simple story and DQM 2 build a great format to expand the story going forward- and then DQM:J just slams its head into the dirt and wipes out.

> Game's slow.

The engine switch is a good thing overall, but it makes combat slower (a lot), adds loading screens to combat (primarily), and they didn't bother speeding up the grind from previous games.

Because of the grind still existing which isn't a problem in and of itself- the game becomes SLOW AS HELL because the engine makes that grind take longer.

Also world exploration is slow which is to be expected when moving from 2d to 3d, but this is countered by adding things to the world to find or do- and Joker tries but it's still noticeable. The world exploration isn't a problem, it just stands out alongside the combat being slow as hell.

The engine change was a great thing- but it feels like they should have put more work into speeding up combat to counter the slowdown of load times and flashy animations.

A GOOD WAY TO FIX THAT MIGHT BE XP!

> Music ain't great in my opinion.

DQ has amazing music. This game has some weak renditions in my opinion. The CELL HQ theme song is a pretty good poster child for the worst there is, but just in general even the better music is lacking compared to the chiptunes of the GBC or the better mixes of the main series.

Maybe it's unfair, it's a DS game, I don't know, I just know I ended up just muting most of the game because it didn't sound great. I played the GBC games OSTs instead for a large portion of my playthrough. I listened to videos instead for the bulk of the game.

It's just not pleasant to me, sorry to say.

> XP!!!!!!!

I'm being a spoiled ass on this but yeah!

XP SUCKS IN THIS!

There aren't good placed to grind until you beat the game! (apparently)

The first level blatantly has too low xp which makes you grind before you can tackle the boss of the island- and the late game has you mindlessly grinding low xp rewards in order to be ready to face the final boss.

It's WEIRD!

Why is it so low!

> Tech is weird!

I could ramble on this alone but here's the short version:

DQ has a unique fantasy world aesthetic that each game has explored in its own way. It's basically "swords, magic, monsters, and charm- things feel light but aren't afraid to get scary sometimes :)"

This game... doesn't.

This game has fuckin' tech watches, jet skis, TOWER PCS????

This ISN'T dragon quest on a world building level.

It's like, contemporary modern world but with slimes.

And that could be good I guess, but it feels so fucking weird to see PCs right alongside swords and axes and a dracky.

Like... why?

It's a poor aesthetic according to my tastes. Maybe I'm an ass for that. The tech is weird.

All to say, in a poor rambling "I gotta get this out of me" kinda way, is Joker was fine.

I enjoyed breeding. I enjoyed seeing the engine. I enjoyed the unique additions like a 'hero monster'.

But I also had to grind mindlessly on a slower game.

I had to endure a story that forgot to show up until the very end.

I sat there thinking about replaying the older ones the whole time.

It was fine.

It's mediocre.

I'm glad I played it.

I'm done now :)

[animal-moon-harvest-crossing]

AWL remake maybe?

Seeing this post by @moon-dumplings has got me thinking about one!! Obviously, this isn’t concrete evidence that AWL will be the next game to remake, but seeing Forget-Me-Not Valley get name dropped within the game is exciting all the same!

So now it makes me think, what would I personally like to see in an AWL remake? And here’s what I’m thinking right off the top of my head:

The same marriage system as present in SoS FoMT, but with the inclusion of the bachelorettes and bachelors of HMDS and DS Cute. DS Cute gave us Griffin, Carter, and new character Skye as bachelors for Forget-Me-Not Valley alongside Gustafa, Marlin, and Rock. I would love to have them back again, as I think having a set of mostly older men as bachelors would actually be really nice to have again! And on the girls side, we’d see the return of Flora, the mermaid Leia, the mysterious Kiera, and the Witch Princess as returning bachelorettes. And then make them allll bisexual af. As it was meant to be anyway!! (And give us an in-game sprite for Mason, the hidden bachelor you meet on the phone.) I feel like the Mineral Town crew wouldn’t be included in this game as Mineral Town would then finally share a console with Forget-Me-Not Valley.

FoMT and AWL connectivity! Again, since both games would now share the same console, swapping data between them would be much easier, I feel! Maybe Lou/Ruby and Van would be able to bring back and forth more exclusive items to the games?

An open world again! AWL stands as one of my favorite HM games because there are no “grids” and invisible barriers to pass through to get from area to area. We know the switch is more than capable of pulling this off, and if Marvelous stays true to their mission of remakes being 1-1 recreations, we could truly see Forget-Me-Not Valley in full in beautiful HD. One of my favorite features from AWL was pressing the Z button and looking around the world from a first person perspective when outside. I would love to be able to do the same inside as well, BUT IN HIGH DEFINITION!!!!!

If the same crop system were to return, then I would hope to GOD that they make the hybrid system much, much easier to use. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than finally getting crops to grow, only to waste them and get a seed bag of the crop you just put in. And I would wish for a better way to befriend Tartan and make ways to influence a better outcome when hybridizing seeds with him.

A recipe book for the kitchen would be very nice so I don’t have to constantly remember/look up which ingredients I need and in what order to put them in when cooking.

More animals for ranching! But also some fixes to the ones already existing! Like, the goat continuing to produce milk after her first year, or duck eggs being distinctive from chicken eggs. Other than looking real cute...There wasn’t any real reason to have the ducks, especially since the hens would sit on their eggs for them. I would love the ducks to have some more purpose than just looking cute (but I still love them lol). And for the goat, maybe she too could have her own breeding system?? Multiple goats perhaps??

Okay so the big question would be- How to handle the aging system with your child. Would it be the same, having you influence your child interests to push them into a certain career as they (and you, and everyone else) get older? Or would it be like DS/Cute where they grow into being a teenager and then stop?

Assuming the former on the previous bullet point, I would love to a more in-depth system. Things that just kinda make it clear where your child is heading, and maybe more cutscenes within chapters that show them learning from their chosen mentor, as opposed to waiting for the between chapter cutscene. But also, a way to push your child towards farming/ranching without having to basically forsake everything else in the game to achieve that lmao.

In DS/Cute, there were rival marriages! I know we’re probably never going to get these back, but if they could for this one game, I would want the ones they introduced in DS, and maybe those couples could also have children of their own! So say you marry Muffy at the end of ch1, and then Marlin and Celia, and Rock and Lumina, and Nami and Gustafa (so on and so forth) all have respective, unique children together (ala Tree of Tranquility/Animal Parade). Their kids would grow up alongside yours, maybe becoming rivals with one another based off their interests?? It’s a stretch of a wish, but I feel like it would really make Forget-Me-Not Valley feel more alive, especially as since the Valley is already full of older folk who realistically shouldn’t have outlived you (like Ramona and Sebastian). It would just be nice to know that F-M-N Valley gets left in younger hands once the protagonist passes away.

Whoof, that post ended up way longer than I anticipated! What do you think so far? What other features would you like to see in a possible AWL remake that I didn’t mention here? I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts and ideas!

[grimmshollow]

i know this game was made in rm2k3 but im very curious on the process!! i love this game very much and it has inspired me greatly. ive only made tiny games in the newer version of RM. How did u do it??

This is a big question, so I’ve been sitting on this one for a while so I can answer it properly (sorry anon). I’m not sure what you would like me to focus on specifically, but I would say the rough development journey went like this:

1. Prototype.

Grimm’s Hollow started off as me figuring out what mechanics I could implement in RM2K3 using the picture feature. So at first I made a QTE and a skill tree, but in order to test it out I made some playable fights using those mechanics. This was the prototype - many of those fights carried on to the first cave of Grimm’s Hollow.

This is what the prototype looked like (really rough gif):

It’s all just default RM2K3 assets. No story, nothing but the core gameplay mechanics. But I knew I wanted to explore a “spooky” setting, so that’s why you have stuff like ghost themed skills in that gif. (I’m not posting what the skill tree looked like because it’s very cursed). 

2. Story

From there, I started thinking of a plot, so I did a few sketches and wrote a few outlines, then picked one and refined it. 

3. Writing and implementation 

I then wrote some of the game’s opening scenes. Once that was done, I started making the maps, the character face sets, the system menus, the player sprites, dialogue boxes, and other basic graphical tidbits required for the game’s opening cutscene. Once I had all the resources, I implemented the scene in-game.

Everything from that point on was a mixture of:

1. Writing the scene.

2. Creating necessary graphics for that scene. 

3. Implementing in game. 

4. Playtesting it. (Pro tip: RM2K3 has a built in debug console for playtesting mode. For centuries, I did not know this. You just have to press F9. Also, you can skip dialogue boxes by holding Shift.)

You can mix it up - sometimes I would write like 10 pages before doing the next bit, or sometimes I would create a bunch of graphics before something else… there’s really no shortage of things to do!

4. Devblog

I started this halfway through development. For me, dev blogs are a little time consuming to upkeep and I preferred to spend more time making my game, so I started this about only somewhat over halfway through development so I could inform people about my game. For others though, devblogs are very useful diaries to keep track of their progress, so it depends on the person! At this stage, I also started working with Natbird and Hibarist for the game’s music. 

5. Testing

This is the most important bit, and I made the grave mistake of rushing it. I asked plenty of people to playtest the game and record their playthrough, then fixed what I saw, patched it, rinse, repeat for a month. What I didn’t do enough of, however, is playtest through the entire game myself - and this was partially because I was feeling very burnt out, but had a deadline to release the game soon. Feedback and testing is important, and really the earlier you get feedback the better. (Important note: your game does not need to be completed in order for you to get feedback from someone!)

6. Final

Really anon, starting with small games isn’t bad at all. If anything, it’s important. At the end of the day, the game can be beat in slightly over an hour - but I tried my best to make that hour fun instead of making it longer. 

I hope this helped, and good luck on your development journey! 

[airlock]

alright folks, I’m back for more of those results from the anniversary poll; once again, I’ll be counting them as properly as I can because IS sure as hell can’t, and in the process, I will also judge whether the fans have spoken good choices

this time, we’ll be counting and criticizing the top 15 dancing duos! (disclaimer: I don’t dance. I still will attempt to comment on everyone else’s dancing)

#1: BERKUT & RINEA (9313 votes)

tumblr won’t let me simply put two images next to each other in a text post, and I can’t be fucked to put them together in such a way that doesn’t make them un-transparent, so I’ll be putting them together with a simple color background; it’s a spot uglier and I will probably fail to spot some wonky pixels, but c’est la vie

anyways, I don’t like it, but like Byleth before, this is a natural afk pick; they’re some of a very small subset of characters in the series that we actually see dancing with each other, in a proper cutscene. a cutscene that, in fact, basically exists to tell us that they look good dancing, so one’s not wrong to vote for them here, I suppose. there are, in fact, a lot of people in this world who are fantastic performers and also would throw their spouses in a fire if they figured it’d make them feel good about themselves again

#2: OLIVIA & INIGO (2474 votes, including Laslow)

this is actually sweet, though, mother-son dancing duo and all. one thing I do have to mention, though, is that you’d have to hope that our hypothetical dance-off was announced plenty of time in advance, there’s so much that could bring a performance between them crashing and burning if they don’t hash it all out for themselves first

#3: EDELGARD & DIMTIRI (1871 votes across all appearances, possibly with uncounted change)

they sure do look fantastic, dancing with other people with their backs completely to each other,

might as well stuff this strangely popular nothing-of-a-choice with a little additional note: these paired votes are going to be especially harrowing on the split vote front, because any combination of two characters who both have split votes means they can be combined with each other in 4 different ways. like, most people probably won’t combine, say, someone’s PoR self with someone else’s RD self, but properly unsplitting votes in this is going to be a lot more of a challenge. and that’s to say nothing of byleth; there is a whopping 16 different ways to combine Byleth and any one Three Houses character

ETA: I. completely forgot about the thing where edelgard tried to teach dimitri to dance when they were young. okay, that kind of tracks. but also like, whomst the fuck got the idea that whatever they were doing there was building up to elegance

#4: ELIWOOD & NINIAN (1495 votes)

I’m getting the lingering feeling that this fandom is a lot better at pointing out good dancers than good teachers-

this one’s another amazing pick; sure, not one you have to think a lot about, since they’re oft-shipped and one of them is an actual dancer -- but the beauty of it is that even the ostensible weak link still has much offer, between his flawless elegance and a love of dancing that we at the very least knows is in his lineage

let’s just hope eliwood would still prefer to keep the “special dances” private though-

#5: BYLETH & CLAUDE (1163 votes across all appearances, possibly with uncounted change)

speaking of the ballroom cutscene again, man, Claude sure has left an impression on us all back there-

still, we don’t actually see the dance, and it’s probably better that we don’t -- I wouldn’t bet that Byleth is any more expressive with their moves than they are with their face. there’s really not very much of a reason to vote for this other than wanting to insert yourself into a situation where one dances with Claude. and I mean, mood, but let’s focus, please-

#6: OLIVIA & AZURA (996 votes)

this is just a copout, though. this is like if I asked you about the best food in your town and you just told me that technically Gordon Ramsey was born there. ooo, hot take alert, two unrelated professional performers can probably put on a decent performance together!

at least their theme colors together make the trans flag, so I’ll give all 996 of you that much-

#7: ALM & CELICA (990 votes)

was there like an actual thing where they dance, or were people picking this just because they’re good-looking and married? because like, in the absence of evidence, I cannot and will not assume that Alm is a remotely passable dancer.

in fact, here’s the drill: for this section, I can’t actually blame people if they’re just hornyvoting -- being hot is kind of a point-plus for this -- but I can and will blame them if they’re voting for their ships with no regard as to whether they’d look good dancing. so, accusations of hornyvoting shall make way -- to accusations of shipvoting! I believe that’s also going to happen on the other paired category, even if that one is a lot less about the chemistry (presumably)

#8: NILS & NINIAN (884 votes)

this kind of a copout again, but it’s also a family dance again, BUT most importantly one of these two is not actually a dancer. like, sure, he plays the flute, but this isn’t a flute-and-dance duo poll, it’s a dance poll! although I mean, it does mean he must have a good notion of rhythm, and from the sprites we can definitely tell he’s got a spring in his step when he plays, and Ninian can teach him too, so... maybe? oh well, it’d be cute to see them try

#9: SIGURD & DEIRDRE (790 votes)

eh, I’m gonna call shipvoting on this one too. like, sure, they’re both hot and they’re in love with each other, but even if you leave aside the likelihood that Deirdre was raised too shelthered to have danced like ever, any dancing they’d know of would be totally incompatible, considering their entirely distinct backgrounds.

I suppose I will lend credence to the idea that Sigurd’s at least experienced as far as dancers go; it’s not like he was studying back at that academy,

#10: BYLETH & EDELGARD (735 votes across all appearances, possibly with uncounted change)

since most of the votes on this are for post-timeskip edelgard, this appears to be unrelated to the ballroom scene, for once

that said, I can’t think of anything to this other than regular shipvoting -- and not even shipvoting of much quality, because besides the above-mentioned on whether byleth can dance, I have a nagging feeling that the kind of dancing Edelgard would genuinely be interested in would be strictly for fun, without any sort of elegance or other things that an outside participant would enjoy watching

#11: TSUBASA & CAEDA & KIRIA & THARJA (687 votes)

don’t let the fact that I found a transparent tsubasa but not a transparent kiria distract you from the absolute trainwreck that resulted from the naming scheme used in FEH for TMS#FE characters crashing into the notation I’m using for the duos here- ahem, well, please be distracted from both of those things, anyway

assuming this is just between the two mirage users and we’re not talking about the most awkward foursome in history, well... I once again have not played TMS#FE, so uh, they sure are both pop idols and I think people ship them, I guess?

#12: MARTH & CAEDA (596 votes across all appearances)

I mean... there’s a lot that can be said about their individual qualities and their dynamics, but I have absolutely no idea how any of it would translate into a ballroom. and if we’re any inclined to believe that skill with words and skill with bodily expression tend to be opposite skillsets, then theyyyy are both screwed.

#13: PENT & LOUISE (508 votes)

I get it, I do. they both look sparkly beautiful and haute and classy and like everything around them is prettier for them being there. but let me categorically tell you that neither of these two dance.

neither of these two dance because one, Pent is an absolute potato, and two, Pent specifically chose Louise because she didn’t try to impress him with a dance.

#14: SAUL & DOROTHY (495 votes)

regardless of any merits they may or may not have, this is 100% just to get them into heroes, isn’t it. alright, I can respect that

but as for whether they can dance... sure, maybe? Dorothy is full of hidden talents, and Saul has probably tried to dance enough times to guide her along at least

#15: CORRIN & AZURA (476 votes across all genders)

alas, there’s no way this can work out, because we all know corrin has two left feet.

thank you, thank you! I’ll be here every night!

HONORABLE MENTIONS (highest vote in their continuity, without reaching top 15)

Ike & Soren (344 votes across all appearances): disappointingly, of the stark few Tellius pairs that got on this list, the best-ranked of them is 100% blatant shipvoting. I mean, sure, Ike’s got moves, but Soren?? at least vote Ike & Ranulf you cowards

Eirika & Ephraim (323 votes): first, we’d have to extensively train Ephraim on how to not make this experience entirely embarassing for Eirika, but that can be said of most anything they could do together in public-

Triandra & Plumeria (280 votes): yep, still unfunny. and now all of you 280 assholes are stretching it

Ferdinand & Lorenz (95 votes, possibly with uncounted change): I’m just mentioning them because I’m one of these 95 people. and so should more of you have been! don’t you know elegance when it’s right in front of you? huh? huhhh????

and that’s it, you’ve endured me attempting to talk about dancing for several minutes when I have no knowledge or experience on the subject! I eagerly await your input in my replies and reblogs, especially from those of you who do dance.

[plottwiststudios]

Why “Women of Xal” is Taking so Long: An Essay

Women of Xal. In 2016, we held a successful Kickstarter for a humble visual novel with quite the story to tell. We made just under $14k for the project, giving the staff funding to see the project brought to life. For those unfamiliar with the visual novel Women of Xal, or people who haven’t seen any visual updates in a good, long time. Here’s the last trailer we dropped a few months back that hopefully tells you just enough about what kind of game it is. IF YOU WANT TO PLAY EITHER OF THE TWO DEMOS WE HAVE OUT FOR THE GAME (The recreated 2016 Demo and the canon 2018 Demo), PLEASE VISIT THIS ITCH.IO LINK WHERE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THEM FOR FREE!

With that out of the way, let’s get into the nitty gritty! From art to sound to text!

If there was any chance of a second major delay, it’d be because of the art assets. That’s not because the sprite artist or animator are intentionally delaying the progress of the game or simply not trying hard enough -- on the contrary! In reality, here’s what the visual team have been dealing with:

Way more art to do than they signed up for.

Arm/Wrist injuries. Both of them.

CG Artist had to take on the task of animator after the initial one stepped down.

CG Artist is also one of the BG artists.

Did I mention how unfair it was for the CG artist to have to do all three tasks?

To clarify, the CG artist, Geckos, doesn’t have to tackle it, the backgrounds, the animations, and she is being compensated for her time, but that brings us to the project-related dilemma: No matter how much I represent a producer’s mindset, even I know that she has a ton on her plate, and in no way am I going to make that worse by telling her she “HAS to be done by the end of 2019 or else!” I’m just not going to do that to someone already working so hard and producing some beautiful results. 

We couldn’t promise anyone animated cutscenes when the Kickstarter concluded. Not with a modest $14k budget. (It was an unmet stretch goal) So the fact that we have access to any sort of animation is a blessing that we won’t take lightly. If I need to bite a bullet later so the project can see her at her best, I believe it’s definitely worth the price of admission. You can see a sneak peek of her work below.

As for the sprite artist, well, let’s just say she’s been giving the team 1-5 character sprites every week ever since we were Kickstarted, save injuries/travels. Let that sink in.

That’s to say nothing of her character sheets (With quality matching the image above!) and the fact she’s on board to create the art book after she finishes up the sprites and expressions. She only has a digital mile to go, but do encourage these lovely amazing artists if you can!

...Well I think it’s going swimmingly. (It’s a Soundcloud link)

I could start the soundtrack the last two weeks of production and still have it completely done with the quality you hear in that link. Of course, I’m giving myself way more time to compose the score, especially if we want to hear tracks anymore complex than this one. (Fun fact: I do, and already have several tracks that show off more of my technical skill.)

So basically, don’t worry about the music. It’s going to be just fine. And it’s going to sound better than the Kickstarter demo’s score if it doesn’t already. As for the sound design (sound effects), that’s an ongoing programming-based affair, but we do have 4 sound designers that can switch in and out when needed, so much like music, we’re doing fine. (Though worry not, discerning ears! The sound design in the sneak peek animations above do NOT represent the final product. Nowhere near.)

Once upon a time, in 2016, I told myself “50k words is more than enough!” And indeed it matched some other visual novels’ word count for an entire campaign. Oh how young. How naive I was. Where to start unpacking!

First off, 50k words was legitimately less than what was needed just to get the script to the point where players can truly branch out and start romancing/friending specific characters. Over a dozen characters. In visual novel lingo, experts call this a “stupid move.” Especially without a writing budget or a writing team. But wait, the folly has branching paths -- all of them of which I have taken.

For those who have played my demos, you might have noticed I tend to hate restricting myself to options that may not be relevant/fitting to you or me. That’s why one particular segment in the Kickstarter demo gave 7 options at some point, and each of them took their dear, sweet time rejoining the main script. And that bad habit carried over into the main game, plus additional ones. The best way I can explain this will be to give a simple example with less branches than I typically throttle myself with:

See these two images? The first one features that “cute guard”, Liz. Liz is adorable. We love her. She wasn’t even in the Kickstarter, but she got popular with the staff and now she’s a minor-romance option. This is good. This is pure.

However, to date Liz is to be alright with her not being monogamous. (Because she’s not.) If you at ANY point tell anyone that you aren’t personally alright with it or that you are fine with lovers having partners, but you only personally want one at a time, the game creates a note of that. Now all of your poly options are locked/greyed-out from you until you have a chance to change your mind (an option that will be locked if you are confirmed poly). If you change your mind, the game takes note of that exact thing, too.

Now, the game so far keeps notes of such decisions and brings them back up several, several, several times. Which means every time I need to write a separate conversation that many players will never even know exists. And some of those conversations create little notes for the program to keep track of as well, depending on the choices you make in said path you might not see.

And that doesn’t even take into account the smaller alternative dialogue changes that happen, like how in the second image Axay references your decision to date Liz.

AND CAN WE. TALK ABOUT. WHAT HAPPENS. TO THE SCRIPT. IF YOU DATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON?!

In just a few words: That means that one note and another note got together and created a beautiful third note together. That note, in this example, being: “So you decided to date Axay and Liz at the same time”

Now I’m spending additional hours writing a pretty specific route, that only certain players will see, and, you guessed it: Hidden conversations with more player choices that lead to more notes for the programming to make! Notes that may meet other notes and create more hard(er) to reach paths!

And of course if you take none of these options because you want to go on a platonic/ace run, the game has to create a path just as unique for that campaign. And those come with their own note taking because Women of Xal does not ignore your choices, and it references them constantly, no matter the path you choose, no matter the decisions you make.

This is, of course, all happening while there’s an actual plot going on in the background. All of your decisions can help or hinder you becoming Matriarch of Xanasca. You have someone essentially hindering your dreams. There’s a growing unease with some pretty aggressive liberals/conservatives around Xanasca. And that’s just the main story!

You can spend most of your days choosing to study With Hilde, do paperwork in your office, sleep in the library so you have energy for other activities that may be locked if you don’t (See: That Liz image.), you can grow physically stronger with Yaxata, or follow up on day-specific activities. These are all options that build your stats and change Xjena’s immediate reactions/decisions (Yes more note taking.) If you miss a lesson with Hilde, you just miss it. It doesn’t wait for you to return. Every single time you go there, she will have a different lesson written, and it’s the same for Yaxata’s training. No loops. No halting waiting for the player to visit again.

All that, just to tell everyone that right now the script is just over 90k words and approaching countdown. Most of it is dedicated to allowing flexible player choices and giving the player a list of options every single day. It’s allowing plenty of opportunity for players to be rewarded/punished for even the smallest decisions they’ve made. But that takes so much energy to do. I could spend literal days just writing a single day worth of content. And the script’s timeline wouldn’t technically move any, either. Because it’s still the same day, just taken in a wildly different direction.

So imagine writing a novel that you’ve been writing chapter after chapter on, but it’s just talking about how the main character would have done Day 4 differently for the sixth time, with mild and not so mild variations -- all of which you have to write from scratch. It can mess with you something bad. Especially once depression, computer, and financial/job troubles get involved.

But the script IS winding down. The character-specific routes are being finished one by one at a far faster pace than the main script was being written, and from there, we can write the finale and consider the script portion completed. And don’t worry, you can do multiple character routes in one playthrough, and you can complete them in any order you want, without having to complete one to start the other.

And yes, yes the game does keep track of the decisions you make in a character route as well! And double yes, it does alter snippets of other character routes! But after the time sink that was the first 80k words, I’ve decided to not give it the same level of complexity to the branching paths.

I hope that better explained everything happening with the team and project! And I hope to share more exciting news with you all soon! And never forget, I am one inbox away from answering your concerns and questions! A vanishing dev I am not!

Best Regards,

John

[captainfawful]

 With the year coming to a close, that means it’s time for me to do my “Nobody Cares Awards” thing I like to do! Check under the cut for some hot takes I may or may not have!

Hello, hello! It’s me again! Third year in a row I decided to jot my thoughts down on the years various game. I decided to change things up more from last year, kind of eliminating most of the categories in favor of writing more about the games I enjoyed. I tried to write at least something about every game in the Top 10 this time, even if it’s the bare minimum. Let’s see how it goes!

BEST MUSIC

This entire thing was first created because I wanted to write about how good Death Road To Canada’s soundtrack was. So no matter what changes with my format on this, there will always be a Best Music category. I’ll be honest though, there weren’t a whole lot of games this year with amazing soundtracks. The only real contender for most of the year was Celeste, which OST is very good, and fits perfectly with the games tone and style, but it’s not... The Best music. They aren’t songs I’ll put on loop and listen to multiple times throughout the day. They’re not the hard hitting tracks I would typically put at the top of this category, despite how great the music is. That’s how I felt until about August, when The Messenger came out. Messenger is not a game that will be in my Top 10 by any means, but it’s a pretty good game nonetheless with a couple of really weird twists. But the OST is phenomenal. Easily my number 1 favorite of this year. Just about every track in the game is a total banger. But don’t take it from me, take a listen yourself! A little later in the year I played through Just Shapes & Beats. I have a personal stigma against saying a thing with licensed music should qualify for Best Music, which is why JS&B did not make it into my top 3, but rest assured that it is sitting comfortably in the 4th place spot. Almost immediately after I played JS&B, Deltarune suddenly came out. I don’t think I have to tell you why that’s on here, right? Toby Fox cannot make bad music.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

THE MISSING:J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

It’s hard for me to talk about what makes The Missing so special without diving deep into spoilers. There’s a reason it’s in the special mentions, and not the Top 10: And that reason is because the gameplay isn’t great. The Missing is a side-scrolling puzzle game, in the same vein as Limbo or Inside. Unlike those two, however, the puzzles you have to solve are not that hard, and most of the difficulty around it revolves around how slowly and janky the movement is. However, the overall story and twist is what makes this game great. There’s not a whole lot for me to say about the themes this game presents, so if you want to play The Missing, play it. If you don’t want to play it, then maybe take a look at some writings from actual queer women who could talk about its subject matter in a way I never possibly could.

The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man is a terrible game. When I first saw the trailer during Suare Enix's E3 presentation, I was super interested. I've always wanted a game that transitions from FMV to gameplay with as few seams as possible, and The Quiet Man promised that. Not only that, it promised a compelling story told from the perspective of its' deaf protagonist. The way I saw it, this game would either accomplish what it set out to do, or fail miserably. Either way, it was a win/win scenario for me! Little did I know just HOW miserably it would fail.... Oooooh, how miserably it failed... The gameplay is absolute trash, the graphics leave much to be desired which makes the "seamless" transitions from FMV look unconvincing and bad, the story is needlessly complicated despite how generic it is, the acting ranges from decent to awful, and it requires you to play it twice in order to actually understand what's happening. And all of those problems are the LEAST offensive parts of the game. It's racist, misogynistic, somehow ableist against more than just deaf people, semi-incestual, and also kind of pro-abuse??? I mean, it doesn't take a stance to be anti-abuse, and certainly doesn't condemn abuse, so does that make it pro? Maybe? Probably? I have a headache. I've watched this entire 2-4 hour game be played 10 or 11 times, and I still don't understand how this exists. Square-Enix published this. They dropped Hitman and IO Interactive not even one year ago, yet threw money at this horrible abomination of a video game! Oh by the way, you might be wondering why I said you have to play it twice to understand, and that's because the first playthrough doesn't give you any sound. Yup, aside from the intro cutscene and the credits song, the entire games' audio is just muffled ambiance. This includes all of it's cutscenes, of which there are MANY, and they are LONG. Entire MINUTES of dialogue happening at a time that the game just doesn't want you to hear or have subtitles for. The only way to get audio is to beat the game once and replay it. Not only that, but the New Game + with sound and subtitles didn't even get patched in until a week after it's release!!! Who does that!!!!! And the version with audio has some ATROCIOUS writing. Just about every scene has at least one line of dialogue that makes no sense, almost as if the writers were only told about how humans speak, but never actually heard one themselves. I’ve heard a lot of people saying it’s The Room of video games, and I sort of agree. Much like The Room, it’s not the absolute worst of it’s form of media, the game is playable start-to-finish, extremely straight forward so you can’t get lost, no bizarre puzzles to figure out, the FMV cutscenes are at decently produced. Hell, I wouldn’t even say The Quiet Man is the worst game to come out THIS YEAR. Crying Is Not Enough released in June, and boy oh boy is that game a trash fire. But it’s just BAFFLING that this game exists. That’s the perfect word to summarize my feelings on The Quiet Man. Every single thing about it is just, baffling. I need to stop writing about this game. This whole paragraph is probably going to be longer than anything from my Top 10, which feature a few games I ADORE, but no. All my writing energy is going to how terrible this fucking video game is. Don't play The Quiet Man. Or do, fuck if I care. Maybe watch someone else play it, I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.

Ori and the Blind Forest

Back on the topic of good games, I finally got around to playing Ori and the Blind Forest! I played it for a little while after it originally came out around 2015, but it just didn’t stick with me at the time. There wasn’t any real reason why it didn’t stick, I just got bored and stopped playing, which isn’t that uncommon for me to do. But for whatever reason I decided to go back to it super late last year. It may have been the excitement for all the cool looking Metroidvanias slated to release throughout the year, I don’t know. But I played through it, and it’s fantastic! Most Metroidvanias tend to go with around a 60-40 split between platforming and combat. Different games have different splits, sure, but most of them tend to keep those somewhat even. Ori is like an 85-15, greatly favoring tight platforming over fighting enemies. Your main attack automatically locks on to nearest enemies, and boss fights are replaced with autoscrolling or stealth segments. The traversal is also super smooth and fun, making that 85-15 split much more favorable than others in its’ genre. Great controls combined with some amazing visuals and music, Ori is definitely a game I regret not playing earlier.

2019′S COMING IN HOT

Spelunky 2, Wargroove, Indivisible, Hypnospace Outlaw, Ooblets, UFO 50, Kingdom Hearts 3, Overland, Sea of Solitude, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and  Get in the Car, Loser!. These are all great looking games that are supposed to be coming out in 2019. I remember last December when I last did this, I couldn't think of THAT many games I was really excited for, and despite that I ended up with a pretty damn good list of games for 2018. So who knows what next year will be like?!

And now... The Top 10!

#10: Spider-Man

It’s been a great year for Spider-Man. His best buddy Venom had a pretty good movie, his new video game is good, and he has a new movie that’s fantastic! Yep, it’s been such a good year for Spider-Man in which nothing bad has happened to him or the people who created him.

#9: Megaman 11

2 > 4 > 3 > 8 > 11 > 7 > 5 > 6 > 9 > 10 > 1. Don’t @ me.

#8: Iconoclasts

Iconoclasts has been in development for a very long time. Officially, development for it began in around 2010, but there is a seemingly earlier game by Konjak that shares many similarities. Basically, Iconoclasts began development at least 8 years ago, and it shows, for better or worse. On one hand, the game is gorgeous. Grade A sprite work all around. The characters are interesting and well written with their own morales and arcs, and the story is surprisingly deep and compelling considering the type of game it is. On the other hand, the gameplay feels very outdated now. The combat is super simplistic, the puzzles aren't terribly challenging or rewarding, and the weapon/ability upgrades are very limited. The traversal can be sluggish and boring, which is a red flag for a game where you have to backtrack a decent amount. If Iconoclasts came out 4 or 5 years ago, I feel like it would've been at least a cult classic. But in 2018, it's a decent Metroidvania in a year of great Metroidvanias. Overall, I'm glad Iconoclasts finally came out. I just wish it either came out sooner, or got more updated for modern game design.

#7: Slay the Spire

For all intents and purposes, I shouldn't like Slay the Spire. I always hated card-based RPGs, and always hated RPGs with only one party member. And for the most part, the issues I have with both of those are still very much present in Spire. So why have I sunk 50 hours into it so far? Beats me! If I had to guess, I’d say it’s the similarities it shares to Darkest Dungeon, one of my favorite games, that ultimately drives me to it. Now, you might be asking why Slay the Spire, a game that came out in 2017, and won’t be in 1.0 until probably 2019, is in my top 10 for this year, but Ori & the Blind Forest isn’t? Well, I started Ori last year, and didn’t start Spire until the middle of this year! Also, they’re my awards, and I can do whatever I want!

#6: Just Shapes & Beats

Just Shapes & Beats’ concept is simple: A rhythm bullet hell. Certainly not the first of it’s kind, and not even the first one to use simplistic shapes as the obstacles/characters. But there’s a bit more to it than that. JS&B has some good personality to go with it. It has some fun characters, all of the levels are demonstrative of the areas you’re in on the world map, it even has a couple lightly emotional moments! It’s much more than you’d expect from a game about Just Shapes & Beats. When I was younger and had vague dreams to make games, I always imagined making one that was basically “What if a Windows Visualizer was trying to kill you?” and also be themed around a world and a story, and JS&B is basically that.

#5: Pipe Push Paradise

What happens when you take Pipe Dream, an iconic puzzler which has given inspiration to countless others, and mix it with Stephen's Sausage Roll, arguably one of the greatest puzzle games of all time? You get Pipe Push Paradise, of course! That’s all I really have to say, and all I NEED to say.

#4: Dead Cells

Go play Dead Cells. Really, it’s the closest thing to a perfect Rogue-like (that isn’t Spelunky) out there right now. It’s a game so good, Filip Miucin couldn’t look away from it long enough to write his own review!

#3: Subnautica

If I had the opportunity to become a Fishman and live underwater, I’d probably take it. As long as you take out the jellyfish that can kill you .0001 seconds after stinging you, I have no qualms with open water. In fact, the isolated feeling from it is really relaxing to me. That’s what initially drew me to Subnautica. Survival games are usually hit or miss for me, but the ones I like I really dive deep into (Heh heh), and Subnautica is one of those. Also, I was rewatching the Super Mario Bros. Super Show on Netflix as I played this, so now I’ll have those two permanently linked in my mind from now on.

#2: Into The Breach

I love tactics games, especially Advance Wars. While I do still love others in the genre like Fire Emblem or X-COM, there are some intricacies of the AW series that most of the others don't have. When I first heard about Into The Breach, I thought it would be exactly what I wanted, a true successor to the series I'd been waiting for. And it was not! But it's still pretty damn good. It's not so much a tactics game as it is a puzzle game, described by Waypoint's own Austin Walker as a "tactical dance". You know at the start of each turn where each enemy is going to attack, and it's your job to navigate and attack with your 3 mech units in the exact right way to minimize or even straight up prevent any damage that would befall you or the cities you're protecting. You aren't trying to advance a map during combat, or conquer any enemy bases. You are merely trying to avoid damage for a certain amount of turns and move on to the next level. And it's all super fun! I've let the game sit for 10, 20 minutes while I try and figure out every possible option I have after being backed into a corner, and coming up with the absolute perfect solution and getting through to the other side is super satisfying. The biggest gripe I have with Into The Breach is the same one I had for FTL, the developer's last game, which is I don't think the unlockable mechs/mech teams are as fun as the default ones. I played most of them once or twice and went "Yeah, that's a thing" and migrate back to the first mech team. All in all, Into The Breach is a fantastic game, it just doesn't scratch that Advance Wars itch I've been feeling. Oh well, at least there's still Wargroove!

#1: Celeste

Celeste is a game I got 100% completion in. For those of you who might not know me well enough to know how I play games, that’s something that never happens. I think the last time I purposely got 100% on a game was in Uncharted 2, and even that was only to get a skin for multiplayer. Despite that, it’s been really difficult for me to write up a whole thing about why I love Celeste so much. It’s just a compilation of everything. I love the look of it, both the sprite work and the character portraits. The music, as mentioned before, is fantastic and perfectly fitting for all of the levels themes which deal in different forms of anxiety or self-doubt. The levels are hard, but not too hard. The secrets hidden throughout the game are so satisfying to figure out and find, very reminiscent of Braid. I feel confident in saying that Celeste has cemented itself as one of my favorite games of all time.

Well, that’s all I can handle writing for this year. Thanks to the few of you who skimmed through all this, and extra thanks to the fewer of you who read all of it! I’m not 100% sure if I’ll do this whole shpeel next year or not; maybe if 2019 turns out to be an incredible year for games, and definitely not if I have to move to Twitter in the off-chance Tumblr dies out completely. Hope you all had a fun holiday season, and have a great 2019! 

[glapplebloom]

Four games remastered and they’re still people mixed about it.

Sonic Origins is the Latest Re-Re-Re-Etc. Releases of the Classic Sonic Series. This time, remastered thanks to the Team Behind Sonic Mania and the Mobile Ports of Sonic 1, 2 and CD. This is basically the PC and Modern Console Release for those three games and after so many years, Sonic 3 (and Knuckles) is finally getting the same treatment. So for this review, I am going to give my thoughts on this game. But before I do, some biases on my end.

For Pro-Biases, it should be no surprise I’m a Sonic Fan. Ever since the original Genesis Release with the Sonic 1 Pack In Game and the Free Sonic 2 Mail Order. The Classic Series is my preferred gameplay style as well. And of course Sonic 3 Sprites are the style I like the most. The most important Pro-Bias is that I got the Deluxe Version of the game for cheaper than the Base Game. So I am not bothered by the price of it as others. Plus, brand new computer so I probably have the best chance of running it.

For Con-Biases, I got these games already for the original Genesis. I also got them for the Gamecube via the Sonic Mega Collection. And I know of “less reputable” ways of playing said games with similar features and more. And sadly my first attempt to play it had an outside complication. With my sister taking some time off, that meant I had to help take care of three kids, so my time was interrupted. So, does Sonic Origin deserve its price point for the convenience of not setting it up to play those games in other ways?

The Re-Releases

The Four Games in this collection are Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 (and Knuckles). They’re widescreen, fixed glitches and added the Drop Dash. I played one zone of each to see how it is. First was Sonic 1 and the first thing I did was beat it in about 5 minutes. That’s because the Level Select Code (Up, Down, Left, Right, Hold A and Start) sort of works. Except A and Start are the same so the moment you press A it works. And it’s the Level Select Menu Screen a la Sonic 2. 

Basically when I played the games as I remembered, it felt like nothing changed other than the controller I was using. It's only when I try the new stuff that things get thrown off. I never used the Drop Dash in Mania and trying to get Tails to fly me with one controller baffled me. I haven’t played the levels with the music changes, so I can not comment on how it sounds when playing it. But a complaint I heard is that the Special Stage Music for Sonic 3 doesn't speed up after a point. Playing it didn’t change anything for me, as those levels are as difficult as they always have been.

Speaking of Special Stages, a BIG plus is that they let you try again if you fail as long as you have coins to spare. So, to quote the Sonic Origins: Speed Strats joke, “there’s no worry if I mess up the first time, the second time or the 25th time.” To Earn coins, basically do all the requirements to get an extra life for one or a continue for 3. How to earn more points?

The Extra Stuff

There is a mode called Mission Mode where you complete challenges for coins and rankings. There are multiple for each game, ranging from reaching the goal after doing criterias to trying to reach a specific number in a limited time. Getting S Rank is generous from what I’ve seen but I only tried one mission each game. There’s also a mode where you can play all four games as Sonic one after the other as one long continuous story. The new Animated Cutscenes (which are awesome) takes the place of the originals. But don’t worry, you don’t need to beat that mode to see them. Play any Anniversary Version to see them, and the original cutscenes too.

There’s also a gallery that has a lot of stuff. The Normal Gallery unlocks while playing the game and doing certain things. The Premium Gallery requires coins to buy them. Since I’m not a gallery guy, I’m not into it. Maybe when I beat all the games. There’s also a Boss Rush Mode for each game where you have to beat the bosses within 3 lives and no rings. I tried this with Tails and got to the Third boss but died because I tried to use his flying ability to cheese him.

What I didn’t get the chance to play with

There’s a Mirror Mode which does exactly what you think it does. You can play as Tails or Knuckles in Sonic 1, Tails and Knuckles in Sonic 2, Tails in CD, Super Sonic in 1, a Full Screen Competitive Mode for Sonic 3, new sprites for Super Sonic and the rest of the cast, the animations are so fluid now. They gave Tails a cutscene in Sonic 3, you can’t cheese the first boss super easy anymore in Sonic 1, so many minor changes that really make these games feel better. There’s a lot of good things to come from this Collection.

Final Thoughts

Basically if you’re a Sonic fan, you should get this. For me I got it on the PC since there will be a modding scene for it, but for Consoles you would probably get the best versions of these games. If you’re not a Sonic fan, maybe wait for a sale if you’re interested. I really doubt this will make people fans since even with the Modern conveniences these are old games.