#EVEN MAKING THOSE ADDITIONS DLC MIND YOU

[todayisafridaynight]

Okay why the fuck is like a dragon 60 bucks on download like TF!?!

i hate to be the one to tell you this but games nowadays are like sixty bucks

[seraphdesire]

Regarding Donna Beneviento and her characterisation in the fandom, I think it's important to note that she really isn't the shy awkward adorable blushing mess that everyone depicts her as being.

This got long but I did a mildly extensive read on her character under the break! :)

Here are the notes I took a screencap of, written by Mother Miranda, which talks about the suitability of Donna being a vessel for Eva:

There's the evidence you need that she is severely mentally ill, so babying her just feels... wrong anyway, all things considered.

Note - "and has divided her Cadou among her dolls in order to control them from a distance." While I'm on my 3rd replay of re8 I still don't fully get how the Cadou works, but what I think is essentially happening is Donna is literally splitting off parts of herself and putting them in her dolls.

The main one being Angie, of course.

I always used to consider Angie a separate character entirely but she's linked deeply to Donna on a very personal level. Considering what she's like and what all the other dolls are like - loud, funny, sarcastic, rude, etc - and how Donna is literally the one directly controlling Angie (that's the only way she moves lol, because Donna is carrying her places. Which is also why, when you kill Angie, the illusion melts away to reveal that you've actually killed Donna), I think it's safe to say that's what her actual personality is like.

Also, her only spoken line of dialogue? Please listen to it. For those who are hard of hearing, like me, she says: "don't leave... I can't let you."

Bearing in mind the way she speaks? Her tone? She sounds confident imo. Determined. And perhaps even a little angry at Ethan for thinking he can escape her.

Just a last addition as well, can I say that her abilities as one of the Four Lourds is genuinely evil? Everyone else has physical intimidation - Alcina has her height and her claws and mutation, Heisenberg has his ability to control magnetic fields and metal, and Moreau can mutate into that huge fish-with-legs thing that vomits something akin to acid? Oh yeah and he can swallow you whole too.

Donna, on the other hand, doesn't have physical intimidation like that. She only has the threat of psychological damage (which makes sense considering she's severely mentally unwell). When Ethan goes through her gardens and has to solve the puzzles in the house, she makes him hallucinate about his wife whom he thinks is dead, and about his baby who is somewhere in this unknown country with a bunch of mutants who only have bad intentions.

It's even worse in the Shadows of Rose DLC imo. As Rose, Donna makes her hallucinate the bullies from back home, being called a freak and a weirdo, made to relive the worst moments of her life. And the puzzles too? Hell. Having to actually recreate the scenes of her bullying with wooden fucking dolls. I remember feeling really sorry for Rose while playing through that part.

And yet Donna is still "the uwu baby" because what? I don't know. People love to declaw female villains just because they're attractive (looking at Lady Dimitrescu here). They love to reduce the characters down to their looks and not consider their actual lore or background or the role they play in the franchise (looking at Leon especially...)

Which, ya know, of course people are allowed their headcanons for characters and Donna doesn't get enough screentime to really have her personality even thought of, let alone to be made canon. But I think it's fair to say that Angie and Donna are basically one and the same because they're literally the same Cadou.

This is a quick reminder that you are, of course, allowed to disagree with me. Everyone has their own opinions and that's fine. If you would like to politely debate about this in my comments or in my DMs, or even in my asks, then you're more than welcome to! Please remember debating and arguing are two different things though.

If it really irks you that bad then please scroll, it's not hard. If you don't want to do that then feel free to block me - the button is free of charge after all and should be used more to cultivate your feed to your liking.

[thetombedspirit]

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - Sky Breaker: WARNING: SPOILERS!!!

1. Getting to run alongside the Zakru on Pa'li was the bomb. My GOD! THEY ARE MASSIVE!!

2. My son has made friends 💙 he's even hanging with Nopsi (a zakru!!!)

Nopsi loves him!!

3. My favourite old ladies are back!! (Love Nafiki calling Anufi darling!): side note, I ship it!

4. Ri'nela really coming into the Storyteller part of being Sarentu!

5. Mokasa's back. And he still has the balls to play victim here. Tried coming at Alma and throwing my mother's name in my face as if he wasn't the reason Alma even knew about them in the first place. Ugh! This bitch!

6. Oh don't mind me, just admiring my giant babies as I make them feel pretty💙

7. It's offical guys. Teylan is our little Anti-Gremlin 💙

(Dammit, no more photos!!)

8. The Games were so fun!! My favorite's the horseback archery challenge! And how does Eetu get to places so quickly!?!🤣

9. Teylan rode a pa'li. The both of them were terrified 😂 don't worry buddy, you'll get there!

10. The RDA are back, they seem to be taking special interest in Anufi and Alma. Guess they're not happy she's back in the driver seat as the Kame'tire's leader.

11. Was not expecting us to be knocked out for several days. Thankfully, it seems the core cast is okay. Mokasa is shooketh over Alma pulling him out of the rubble. Still a dick though.

12. They literally made a Valkyrie crash just to take out as many Na'vi as possible. Assholes.

The poor Zakru were either killed in the blast or fled in the chaos, Nesim is furious (rightfully so) and Harding's back.

13. Anufi and Alma have been kidnapped and Teylan confirmed that the brainscap machine could give someone brain damage and kill em, basically meaning that Spider could have literally died hadn't Quaritch pulled him out.

14. Was freaking out so bad during the NeroSect bit that I only got Alma out by 20 secs. And Harding was drowning Anufi in oxygen!?! WTF!!!

Also, Mokasa came in clutch, saving us at the last minute! But he got shot. Yikes.

15. Okay, maybe I get why people felt Harding's death was lackluster, but it certainly wasn't easy, so I don't know what people were talking about there.

But maybe just a cutscene of her crawling toward us with a pistol to give us that final farewell would be notch.

16. Mokasa finally takes responsibility for his actions toward the Sarentu and the Kame'tire and even has a moment of understanding with Alma. He rests with Eywa now.

17. It's over now. All those that remained of TAP are gone, so all that's left is the Secret of the Spires, DLC. And it makes me wonder who that have planned for the big bad. Surely Nor is gonna make a return, but I doubt he is gonna be the bad guy.

Pros; loved everything.

The new legendary tier weapons and gear, the development of the characters (my baby boy Teylan has grown so much) the colours of the Heartlands animals was stunning (pa'li could have been better) and the upgrade skills bonus was a clever way to spend the points you keep racking up (though that stops when you spend a final 5 points every skill bubble)

Cons; Glitches

There were a lot more glitches this time around. First, one of the Contributions Baskets isn't working and it's ironically the main camp one. I've given it like 20 seeds already and still nothing.

And then there was a tremor machine that was freaking out one of the runaway Zakru, but when I went to hack it to turn it off, nothing happened? Only when I blew it up with a grenade arrow did it work. Or maybe that was just me being a stup 😋

Either way, I loved everything about this DLC, glitches aside and it was a good addition to the Sarentu story and I can't wait to see what happens next.

And I'm almost finished with my Sarentu OC, so stay tuned for that. Buh-bye!!

[cloaksandcapes]

Anywhere Bow

Magic Artifact Weapon for Dungeons & Dragons 5e

We here at Cloaks & Capes are BIG fans of the @wildermyth-blog game, and following its recent DLC Omenroad, and the official wrapping of the game, we wanted to give it homage.

So we took Elthiar's Bow, the Anywhere Bow, and made it into a Vestige of Divergence for 5th edition. We hope you like it, it took some work to make all the mechanics and rules feel good, and fit them on the card!

If you use this in your campaign, we would love to hear how it went! Also, go buy Wildermyth on Steam. :)

Anywhere Bow

Weapon (any bow or crossbow), artifact (requires attunement)

“This mythical weapon has a history shrouded in mystery. Even the most learned wizards are baffled by the magic it holds and its ability to fuse the consciousness of the wielder to ordinary items. The structure of the weapon seems naturally occuring and not something made by the hands of mortals.”

Interfusion. Using a bonus action, you can use the magic of this artifact to interfuse with an object that you can see within 30 feet (trees, rocks, furniture, etc.) In order to interfuse with something it must be considered a small, medium, or large object, that isn’t being worn or carried. If an object is destroyed or picked up, the interfusion ends. Interfusion lasts for one minute, unless you dismiss it as a free action. If you move more than 30 feet away from an interfused object, the effect ends.

Dormant

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon, and you can interfuse with one object.

When you hit with a ranged attack using this weapon, your interfused objects launch a magical arrow at your target if it is within 60 feet of them, dealing 1d6 force damage. You can only trigger this effect once per round.

Deep Interfusion. As an action, you can interfuse with an object you can see within 60 feet and concentrate on it for 10 minutes. You can see and hear through this object with your own senses. During this time you are unable to use those senses with your body.

Awakened

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon, and you can interfuse with two objects.

You can make your ranged attacks through interfused objects using your attack and damage bonuses. Attacking through an object deals force damage. The object making the attack does not deal its additional damage, but other interfused objects do. As long as the object has line of sight on your target, you do not need to be able to see it.

Exalted

You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon, and you can interfuse with three objects.

Traversal. You can use a bonus action to teleport to an interfused object, appearing in an empty space next to it. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining expended uses after a long rest.

Open Mind. While interfused with an object you can use an action to send out a pulse of energy from it. Every creature within 60 feet of the object must make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw, or you learn its location. The creatures do not sense this effect. This property can't be used again until you finish a long rest.

Join us in Discord or on Twitch every Mon\Wed\Fri to create new D&D Homebrews like magic items, monsters, or subclasses. If you want to support Cloaks & Capes check out our Patreon for 629+ magic items, monsters, tokens, maps, and more for just $3\month.

We add over 30 new items a month.

[sapphim]

I keep wondering why there's so many DA2 armors, weapons and assets in DAI. Was it easier to add things they had already created - in another engine - into the new game or were they intending to have the DA2 crew actually show up (given half the plot of DAI was for DA2's cut quest). I know you're not a mind reader but I was wondering if you ever had any thoughts about this.

So I am neither an expert nor as you say a mindreader. But it's my understanding that's just kind of the nature of large scale development. There's a period after launch where your game is in support mode for patches and DLC but you're also getting started on the next project right away. And having many people working on many things in parallel there will be many such cases where team A can't start on thing 2 until they get thing 1 from team B; you have to finalize the script before you finalize the voiceover before you finalize the cutscenes, etc. So it makes sense that development would be staggered.

It also makes sense to just, make things you can use? Even if you're not working on the yearly FIFA release there's no sense in not using good assets if you have them. Time not spent replacing those assets can be spent on making something else, and now you've got more assets. (And not for nothing but Inquisition was very much sold on the basis of "wow look at the scale! much large! so world! crafting system!" lol)

And they got smart about this when they started work on Inq. Origins and DA2 share the same engine architecture but they changed the proportions of their body models (sometimes drastically) and they added additional bones to their face rig. DA2 to Inq, while they had to transition to an entirely new engine, you know what didn't change? All that model stuff I mentioned. So even with having to convert your work over for the new materials—and, you know, slapping on some tchotchkes bc you're allowed a higher poly count—it's still a big time save, as modders who have done conversions can directly attest. And again this is time that can now be spent idk sculpting Bull's fat tits or whatever.

Also DA2 is really the first time we see where the visual identity of Dragon Age started to form. The visual language of Origins was... derivative. A faux medieval nothingburger. 00s era brown. Most of the stuff that we think of as comprising the "look" of Dragon Age as a whole really didn't start appearing until DA2. Did the Dalish look Dalish in Origins? Did the Wardens look like Wardens? It's been an ongoing process to make Dragon Age look like something instead of nothing (god bless).

Even without getting down into the weeds of Inq being the sequel they originally planned during the development of Origins, and questions about what their state of development was when they got the word to sunset the game and scrap that DLC, and the pivot to Inq. Like whatever they were thinking throughout working on 2 and whether or not they were also thinking ahead to Inq throughout and whether or not that influenced any of their development decisions on 2 particularly toward its end of life... Yeah, it's just pragmatic. And pragmatism is the thing that gets games out the door.

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

In Derek's DLC, when he remembers the marriage pact, what different responses can determine how the DLC is? Because I thought I picked a response that make it one big slowburn but we stayed only friends throughout the whole thing.

I'm presuming that you accepted the marriage pact in Step 2 since otherwise Derek won't make mention of it? So I'll go with that.

There are technically three options for a confession in Derek's Step 4. Either you can confess at the very start, you can talk about the pact at the very start, or Derek can confess to you near the end.

(Also, goes without saying but of course you have to be at Crush/Love; agreeing to the marriage pact in Step 2 isn't enough. In addition, avoid any options that imply you don't want things to change or that you're happy where things are. Sounds obvious, but yeah, options like those lock you out of both you confessing and Derek confessing later because the game assumes that you don't want the relationship to change beyond being friends.)

If you choose not to remember the deal and don't press Derek to tell you about it, the MC has the option to confess ([At the very least you were certain you wanted to be with him...]), but not if you do press him to tell you.

If you choose to remember the deal instead, then you have multiple options to pursue:

Confess ([You wanted to be with him and it had nothing to do with that deal!])

Date by joking about the deal ([You joked about the whole thing.] followed by anything except ["We were crazy to make a deal like that!" you laughed.] will work, and then after the fact don't pick [You shook your head in amusement. He was being silly.] or ["Now that'd be really crazy."] either)

Be serious about the deal (anything except ["I'm really sorry. I can't go through with something like that."] will do, followed by anything except [The conversation was too nerve-wracking and you glanced away.] or ["I think it was a bad idea."])

The difference between confessing yourself and joking about/seriously discussing the deal is that the deal is treated more as a "dating test run," and then you can confirm that you want to continue being together for real at the end of Step 4 (anything except ["I think so too. We're better off as friends."] will suffice).

If you want Derek to confess to you instead though, you need to make sure that the game understands that you're interested. Any of the following will confirm that:

With either two options I listed to have the MC confess (not remembering the deal, not pressing Derek to tell you about it, then being certain that you wanted to be with him, or remembering the deal and wanting to be with him even without the deal), choose to back out instead of confessing with words or kissing him ([You did not want him to guess what you'd been thinking.]).

If you choose to remember the deal, you can then choose [You really, really hoped Derek wanted to be with you for reasons other than that deal.], or if you choose not to remember and don't press Derek to tell you, you can choose [You really hoped you were right and he did want to be with you.]

If you chose not to remember and didn't press Derek, you'll have to reaffirm your interest after he asks you to go to the water park with him ([You had been hoping that he might ask you on a real date...])

You'll know you did everything properly if, after the scene in the park when you're playing ball with Derek and he rants to you, but before he goes and retrieves the ball he sent off into the distance, he'll start to tell you something but will "Never mind" it away.

In addition, after you wake up from gaming late with Derek and have properly woken up (specifically after you've had breakfast), Derek will talk about today being big and how the two of you should do something you "couldn't do anywhere else."

If he mutters, "Wait..." afterwards, then something has gone wrong, but if he mutters, "The last chance..." instead, you're golden. Nothing can go wrong at that point besides the obvious of you rejecting him once he's confessed.

And that should be everything covered! Hopefully all goes well for you on your next try at Derek's Step 4. ;D

[snorpdawg]

And Now, An Unnecessarily Long Post Guesstimating How Long The Events Of Bugsnax Took Place

TLDR: My best guess for how long Bugsnax transpires is either between a couple months at least or a year at most.

So here’s the thing. The reason I even did all this meticulous research was to answer a question someone had in a Discord server. I figured I should probably make my inane ramblings a public post as a means of archiving for future usage, so here I am.

Please keep in mind that these are all educated guesses. I have both researched in my own time and scoured the depths of the Bugsnax Wiki to try to put together a coherent explanation of my thoughts. So inevitably there will be things I've messed up on or left out altogether. Any feedback or additions are appreciated!

In addition, this post will contain spoilers for the events of Bugsnax. If you haven't already gone through the main story, I strongly advise you not to read onwards, so as not to spoil your playing experience.

With all that jargon out of the way, let’s dive in!

Let’s go over what we already know. It is established that the expedition team has been on Snaktooth Island for roughly a year. During “The Quake”, around the start of the climax, when the Grumpus pairs are talking amongst themselves, Triffany mentions that the expedition group “only made it a year [on Snaktooth Island]”. This can also be backed up in the flavor text for the Lovely Sweetiefly, where Eggabell mentions that Lizbert gave her a bouquet of Sweetieflies for their anniversary, implying that the team had been on the island long enough for it to be celebrated. During the Major Celebration, Chandlo mentions that he would’ve come back “weeks ago” if he knew Snaxburg threw parties like this. This implies the town disbanding was several weeks prior to the events of the game, presumably months given how quickly Snaxburg ran down when the inhabitants left.

Here’s where things err on the trickier side; the prologue. In it, two weeks prior to the events of the game, The Journalist watches a tape sent by Elizabert encouraging them to come to Snaktooth Island. This simple scene actually brings up a lot of plot holes. For starters, we can tell from the background (no buildings, Cromdo still setting up his Cromdo Mart sign) that this tape presumably was made in the early days of Snaxburg. Presumably a couple days or weeks after Tape #0 (in the DLC, at least). So it begs the question; how long did it take for the tape to get sent to the Journalist? It makes Filbo’s observation of the Journalist being “a bit late” a big understatement if it took them well over a year to receive the tape and travel to the island.

Supposedly, “a bit late” can refer to those two weeks before the games events to about three month. It’s established that the Journalist presenting the tape to Clumby and them arriving to Snaktooth took them two weeks. When arriving back to the mainlands, Snaktooth Island can be seen in the horizon at not too far a distance, meaning the Journalist took more time in preparation rather than the journey itself.

A big point of contention is the epilogue, where Clumby tells the Journalist that while they were missing, they were declared “legally dead”. This is where I hit a bit of a fork in the road in my research. When I searched for information about how long it takes for missing people to be declared legally dead, a lot of conflicting information came up. The most common estimates are about seven to ten years, which is inconsistent with the fact that the expedition had only been on the island for a year. Perhaps the Grumpuses have a different law system when it comes to missing Grumpuses? Your guess is as good as mine.

There also other smaller details that also raise more questions than answers. When the player enters Snaxburg for the first time, most of the buildings are empty and in poor condition, with wearing paint and decomposing structures. According to my research, it takes between five to ten years for paint to fade and it can take up to five years for a wooden house to decay, which, again, raises inconsistencies with what is already established.

If I had to absolutely guess, if we’re to assume the tape was sent exactly two weeks before Snaxburg disbanded, and we’re to guess every in-game time skip via sleeping counts as days passing, the game would’ve taken roughly several months to up to a year to transpire. Pretty anticlimactic results, no? Well, that’s the best we’re going to get for now. 

Again, a lot of this is educated guessing so there’s definitely more finite details I’ve might’ve left out on accident, so I’d really encourage any and all feedback if possible, as well as your own additions!

[demifiendrsa]

Stellar Blade - NieR:Automata DLC Trailer

NieR:Automata DLC Launch Trailer

The NieR: Automata collaboration downloadable content for Stellar Blade is available now alongside a new update that adds “Photo Mode,” new outfits, and more.

Latest details

Collaboration with NieR: Automata

The moment you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived! A fantastic collaboration where the worlds of Stellar Blade and NieR: Automata meet.

NieR: Automata significantly inspired Stellar Blade. The collaboration between director Kim Hyung Tae and director Yoko Taro, marked by mutual respect and creativity, led to this successful outcome.

In the center of all this is Emil (voiced by Maii Kadowaki), the strange character from NieR: Automata. Emil’s Shop makes a surprise appearance in the world of Stellar Blade where eleven different collaboration-special items will be available. Items that intertwine the best of both games, leading you to a more enriched world.

Click! More Fun with Photo Mode

You can now transform each moment in the game into your personal masterpiece. Beautiful landscape, thrilling battles, those emotional moments with the characters… Capture these moments to your heart’s content. Meticulous camera work and various filters allow you to create unique looks.

Go through different poses to discover new looks that you never knew Eve and her comrades had. Share these photographs of special moments to enjoy a new kind of amusement.

Patch Updates You Shouldn’t Miss

Four new costumes and one new accessory are added to bring more personality to the characters.

The new accessory, “Symbol of Legacy” changes the appearance and presentation of the Tachy Mode when equipped. Revitalize your gaming experience with updated cosmetics.

Also, lip-sync support for six additional languages (French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Latin American Spanish) will let you enjoy the vivid dialogues even more.

Your camp break just got more fun—you can now pick a specific song from the turntable to listen to.

We also expanded character customization for Eve and added a “No Ponytail” feature to the list from Ponytail Length.

More fun is added to battle. Auto-targeting and ballistics correction features will be applied to the enemy insta-kill skills. This will make the already intense and dynamic battles even more exciting.

Paying Back for All Your Support

This downloadable content and patch updates were prepared by our development team with one heart and one mind, and we are absolutely delighted to share this with you. We hope that the NieR: Automata collaboration items and the new Photo Mode will bring more joy to your gameplay. We will continue to do our best to keep up with the anticipation and love our players show us.

[eight-freakin-gids]

A review of Another Crab's Treasure where I also talk about Slay the Princess  

I've finished* playing two very different games recently, and my experiences with them are such that I feel compelled to share my thoughts on them. This is a long post, so here's a Read More.

      The first of these games is Another Crab's Treasure, the indie Souls-like action RPG. I want to preface this by saying I'm not really a negative person by a lot of standards. My friends and family will occasionally joke that I think everything is "fine," and there's some truth in that. I tend not to hold anything to an exceptionally high standard. I am not overly critical of anything that doesn't meet my standards.

      With that in mind, I did not like this game, and I feel bad about that.

      For some background, I got into the Dark Souls series sometime between the releases of Bloodborne and Dark Souls III. I started with Dark Souls II, and had a hard time getting into it (but later revisited and finished it). Contrasted with that, I got really into Bloodborne, and still consider it one of my favorite games of all time. I played Dark Souls III when it came out, and played the Painted World DLC when it came out. However, I didn't play the Ringed City, and I have yet to play any other souls-like after that point. No Sekiro, no Nioh 2, and not even Eldin Ring (despite literally everyone and their dog playing it). I think a big part of this is due to life circumstances. I don't own my own PS4 or PS5, nor do I own a gaming PC. I could only play Bloodborne and Dark Souls III because I lived with my siblings and could conveniently borrow theirs.

      But I also tell you this because there's a chance I'm just not a SoulsBorne guy. I haven't really had the motivation to seek out these titles I've missed. This could explain why I feel the way I do about A.C.T. But at least, I want to be clear I don't need to git gud either.

      So anyway, we get this new Crab Souls on the Switch, and I think that I might as well try it out. 

      Credit where it's due, Another Crab's Treasure crafts a nice world. It's colorful, it's funny, it's charming, and it brings attention to the real-world problem of polluted oceans. But subjectively, I can't say I enjoyed the game very much. To sum up my biggest issue in one word, it's options. I am a player who values decision making in games. I want to express myself through the choices I make, be it narrative decisions or choice of strategy. Another Crab's Treasure didn't make me feel like I had many choices, and those choices I did have didn't feel like they mattered.

      The game invites us to compare it to its inspirations, so I'm going to compare it to Dark Souls III. I like Bloodborne more, but I want to do Crab Game the favor of trying to create a more direct comparison. 

      In Dark Souls III, you immediately begin with the option to choose between one of a few base character options. Each one offers different tools in order to tackle the incoming challenges. After navigating the opening area and defeating the first boss, you are immediately given access to the game's central hub. In addition to anything you find in the opening area, you can buy more weapons, ammo, and consumable items to help you on your way. The options available to you only increase as you continue to play the game. So many weapons, spells, and armor sets at your disposal, free to mix and match to your heart's content.

      When I played Another Crab's Treasure, I felt stifled. You don't get any starting options. You have one weapon. It has two attacks: light and heavy (compared to Dark Souls games, where you usually have light, heavy, fully-charged heavy, dodge attack, roll attack, running attack, and plunging attack at least. None of that even considering the game-specific movesets like Trick Weapons, Weapon Arts, dual wielding, or Power Stancing). Oh, Crab Game has plunging attacks and running attacks, but you have to unlock them in a skill tree after beating the first boss! Yay! Isn't that awesome?

      I think Crab Game's first boss is really when my opinion on it began to sour. They introduce the Shell mechanic to you, and I do not care for it. What little choice for customization the game would have in this system is offset by the inconsistent nature of it. You can never guarantee access to a specific shell, because you're limited to what you can find in the environment. Even something as simple as a preference between Small, Medium, and Heavy is not something you can guarantee. This lack of consistency only gets worse with the introduction of the Umami system. I hoped that acquiring this game's magic system would help ease my pain, but no. Your "spell" (singular) is tied to what shell you're using. Did you like that spell? Too bad, you weren't perfect, and now you have to manage with something else. Why bother even learning what all of the spells do? It's not like you'll have any of them for long.

      But I'm getting ahead of myself. The fact that Shells have durability also bothers me. Blocking feels like a complete waste of time. You move so much slower while blocking (regardless of what your shell's weight is), and you lose effective health even when you successfully guard against an attack. So. Why. Even. Bother? Also, they throw this entire shell system at you immediately before you have to fight the game's first boss. Better figure it out quickly, fucker!

      It took me an appropriate amount of time to beat Crab Game's first boss. I didn't hate the game, but I was having less fun. Progressing from there, you unlock the game's skill tree system before reaching the second boss. But before that, I want to talk about this game's performance issues. I probably didn't do myself any favors by choosing to play the Switch version. The frame rate drops considerably during certain scenes. And I normally don't give two hoots about performance in a game— I love Bloodborne in all of its 30 FPS glory. So when I bring it up here, know that it means I thought it was considerably distracting. 

      So I'm making my way through the corrupted Fort Slacktide en route to boss #2. At this point, the game's map choices became a mixed bag for me. The implementation of the Grappling Hook was intriguing, but ultimately made it feel like a Legend of Zelda item in the worst possible way. Rather than using it as a generalized tool to navigate any obstacle, you only ever use it to overcome a Grappling Hook Obstacle(tm). I have a few other nitpicks with the Fort Slacktide experience, but I'll spare you some of those. This review is long enough as is. I reached the first shortcut for the area, died, and then never figured out how to use that shortcut. This was also the first and only time I lost all of my Microplastics. So after giving up on finding the shortcut, I try to make my way back up through the same path. And then, I get hit and clip through a wall directly to the fort's second shortcut. I'm not going to hold a bug against this game too much, but know that it happened. With that, my time at Fort Slacktide came to a premature and unsatisfying end. I fought the boss and beat it on the first try. Why is this significant? Because I stopped caring. I just mashed dodge and light attack until I won.

      I have yet to make my way to the alluded-to Big City area. Judging by my collection of Corruption Crystals, The Shallows is likely one area out of fourteen. I'll admit I've played a comically small amount of this game. If you argue that I haven't played enough, I don't think I'll disagree with you. Maybe all of my problems will be solved if only I go a little further, but I don't feel like rolling the dice on that. That doesn't change what I've experienced.

      More than anything, this game has solidified a rule for me: any time a game makes me say aloud "This game is fucking stupid," my enthusiasm for that game is cut in half. 

      Sorry, Another Crab's Treasure. I sincerely hope that I'm in the minority here. I hope your game is the delightful souls-like romp that it looks to be. I hope to give it another chance some other time, but I won't be finishing it now.

      I've written a lot, so I'd like to summarize my points for anyone who doesn't want to read all my hogwash.

Another Crab's Treasure offers considerably less meaningful decisions compared to its contemporaries, and that is in direct conflict with one of my core desires for playing games.

The choices that the game does offer are shallow and come at a slow trickle.

The Switch version has performance issues bad enough that it bothers me, the guy who never cares about game performance so long as the experience is fun.

The systems that set this game apart from its contemporaries (namely, the Shell system) do not serve to improve the game experience for me.

I feel like the game has rewarded me for not engaging with its mechanics. I just did whatever was simplest, and it was the most effective.

I haven't been given any reason to believe that these problems will meaningfully improve if I keep playing.

      Now, I don't intend to talk for long about the other game I played. Partly this is to avoid spoilers, but it's also because I've already written a lot. Above all, I want to leave off on a positive note, so I want to talk about Slay the Princess.

      Slay the Princess is a visual novel. It's a horror story. It's a love story. It's a monochromatic game that features time loops, so how could I, an In Stars and Time enjoyer, not like it?

      I think the biggest reason that I wanted to talk about this game alongside Another Crab's Treasure is to contrast the decision making between the two.

      Slay the Princess, like many other visual novels, features choice of dialog as the primary "game" mechanic. Normally, I enjoy games with complex systems that I can really sink my teeth into. And yet, visual novels are also a favorite of mine. In spite of their simplicity, the impact of your choices is a central pillar to the genre, and that appeals to me greatly.

      This game takes that a step further. It does a thing I love: it makes your decisions matter even when you think that they won't matter. In any given scene, you roughly have two choices: select an "Explore" dialog option, or choose an option that advances the scene. Generally, an Explore option will provide you with new information. Sometimes, it also adds even more dialog options.

      But sometimes, the Explore options will secretly be the options to advance, for better or for worse. Sometimes you can back out, and sometimes you have to live with your decision. I could see that element of the game frustrating some players, but that's the reason why I love it so much. Adding stakes to all dialog invites the player deeper into the role play. You're not just here to mash through all of the text until you reach your next signpost decision. Every line of dialog has consequences, so you need to think carefully. What do you want to say? What do you want to do? Choose carefully. Sometimes, the game will remember your choices even when those choices don't seem like they would have mattered.

      There are a number of other things about this game I adore. It offers an intriguing narrative that had me speculating like a madman, so needless to say I think the story is good. The artwork is gorgeous and haunting at the same time. And, it features the voice talents of Jonathan Sims of The Magnus Archives fame.

      I played this game alongside my younger siblings, and I loved it enough that I will happily revisit it in my own time. 

      If anything I've said here encourages you to try out a new game, than that's a win for me. Maybe you disagree with me about Crab Game. Maybe my reservations about Crab Game give you enough heads-up to better work through it's problems. Or maybe my vague praises of Slay the Princess have piqued your interest. In any case, I hope I can contribute a positive experience to your life.

[beesmygod]

What is your ranking of the 'souls' fromsoft games you've played and why? I SUSPECT bludbornt takes the number 1 slot for reasons.

this is actually really really hard because while i love the bloodborne story, some of the structural and pacing issues can result in an awful gameplay experience. like if its your first time playing the game the last boss you're going to fight is mergo's wet nurse which is a huge wet fart of a final boss with a dogshit soundtrack. some of the boss fights are rank as well. like laurence is fucking awful. rom is a SLOGGGGGGG i dread having to fight rom every time bc its just a test of my patience instead of a skill check. defiled watchdog and amygdala are terrible. not fun. very bad. great dlc tho

it ties with dark souls 1 which i dearly, dearly love so much i could play it forever except once you play literally any other fromsoft game it is so hard to go back to. the quality of life additions in later games like "being able to fast travel without needing to complete half the game" and "being able to move at a reasonable pace instead of plodding around like the gravity on planet dark souls is stronger than earth" are completely absent. is...almost a little too mean. some of those boss runs are real rough. also great dlc. i love broken pyromancy so much. wait i just remembered centipede demon i hate that fight. fuck him. and fuck his ketchup kids

ds3 is a close second bc its ds1 but they gave it a bunch of quality of life fixes that make it much less frustrating to play. however, the pay off is that it has one terrible dlc and one thats just ok. i hate the final boss of the base game i think it sucks. nearly everyone disagrees with me so dont listen to me. but i think it's a stinker lol. the midir fight is grueling, unfun. ive done it and it was awful. i think there are too many "puzzle" bosses (wolnir, yhorm, ancient wyvern) that feel like they were imported from a zelda game. i do not like those at all. dont waste my time from! im here to kill monsters by the skin of my teeth!!! not play donkey kong!!!

i took a long time to warm up to sekiro and really disliked it until it "clicked" and then it became mind-blowing. i really hope they make more like this with this fighting system. maybe even a sekiro 2 (tomoe story PLEAAASSEEEE FROM. it was teased so hard...). it has an incredible plot, world, means of delivering its story, heart pounding battles, and the single best fromsoft final boss fight ever. bar none. sword saint isshin is an unbelievable experience.

but...fromsoft what the fuck am i supposed to do with all this currency ive amassed lol. they forgot to give me things to buy. you dont have this problem in souls games because you use them to level up, but in sekiro you have to fucking git gud. there's no level system and defense bonuses are tied to defeating bosses. if you can't defeat a boss you are absolutely fucked and have to throw yourself against the wall over and over, which can truly be a terrible grind.

some of the boss fights are h o r r i b l e. most fromsoft games have me chasing down minibosses to beat for fun but the headless are literally dreadful. i just skip them altogether now because if it wasnt enough that they cast a "remove fun" AOE spell, but the items they drop are worthless. i will never use these lol. what the fuck from. the second fight with the ape is stupid. im never going to fight the demon of hatred sorry lol. you can't put a fucking bloodborne beast in a game almost entirely revolving around human enemies.

never finished ds2

[linuxgamenews]

Cassette Beasts first major expansion is coming next month

Pier of the Unknown the first major game DLC for Cassette Beasts is due to release soon on Linux, Steam Deck, and Windows PC. Thanks to the ongoing work and effort from developer Bytten Studio. Due to make its debut on Steam. Cassette Beasts is an open-world role-playing adventure where players can collect and transform into a wide range of fantastic creatures. All due to engage in turn-based battles with new content in Pier of the Unknown. If you're familiar with games where you capture creatures and have them battle for you, think of it like that. These creatures come from cassette tapes. Yes, the same ones your parents might have listened to music on. Now, for fans who have been eagerly traversing the world of New Wirral, there's some exciting news. Bytten Studio, the developer behind game, have paired up with Raw Fury to deliver the Pier of the Unknown DLC. The DLC adds new content to the existing world. And this Pier of the Unknown DLC promises to be exciting. Coming October 4th, 2023, for Linux and Windows PC. Since this expansion will deepen your adventure on Linux and Steam Deck. Brightside Pier is the setting for the Pier of the Unknown DLC, once bustling with life. But has since been forgotten and taken over by nature. It's got a spooky carnival theme, and within its attractions, you'll find new mysteries and stories. This isn't just a casual stroll on the beach; it's also full of suspense and anticipation.

Cassette Beasts | Pier of the Unknown DLC Trailer

And for the collectors out there, prepare to be thrilled. This Pier of the Unknown DLC introduces 12 never seen before creatures. With these new additions, your collection potential shoots up to 141 unique creatures. You can also mix and match them to create fusions. Simple math here: with 141 creatures, you can craft a whopping 19,881 unique fusions. The combinations are nearly endless, and the strategies you can come up with are mind boggling. Additionally, the Pier of the Unknown DLC brings a fashion element, letting you spice up your avatar with five fresh costume choices. The new content is expected to add between 4-10 hours of exploration. That all depends on how you approach it. Earlier, the developers release a free update titled “Catacombs”. Adding a new location, the Abandoned Mine, along with eight additional creatures, plus 10 innovative moves for battles. While the Pier of the Unknown DLC will take things even further. And for those that to share their games with friends, Bytten Studio has something exciting in the pipeline. They've teased an online multiplayer feature, so that up to eight players can join forces. Due to trade, challenge each other, and unite for large scale battles. Cassette Beasts is an imaginative adventure taking place on the island of New Wirral. Where cassette tapes are your gateway to amazing changes. Dive in, explore, fuse, and experience a story like no other. And with the upcoming Pier of the Unknown DLC, there's even more to look forward to on Linux, Steam Deck, and Windows PC. Due to be priced at $6.99 USD / 6.89€ / £5.89 on on Steam. Releasing on October 4th, 2023.

[flecks-of-stardust]

A summary and analysis of my thoughts on Rain World: Downpour

Since I've beat the game pretty thoroughly now, I can actually do this. The short version:

Campaign whose gameplay I enjoyed the most: Artificer, by a long shot Campaign whose lore I think fits into the preexisting world best: Gourmand Most interesting story concepts: Saint Heaviest hitting story: Three way tie between Rivulet, Saint, and Artificer, all for different reasons. Honorable mention to Spearmaster Cool specbio possibilities: Spearmaster

I definitely enjoyed Downpour as a whole, both as a DLC and for the additional lore it provides even if some things may not be objectively canon; some things have more wiggle room than others, but considering Downpour is essentially Videocult endorsed, I'm willing to put stock into certain aspects. The new mechanics were fun to learn and mess around with, the stories were overall very interesting, and I had a lot of fun losing my god damn mind over these slugs. There are some major issues I have with Downpour though, one of the most major being how some campaigns diverge explicitly from the core theme of the vanilla game. I appreciate what Downpour added, but this is definitely not going to be all cheers and praise.

The rest of this will be going under a cut cause it's gonna be long.

This will be split into sections for easier reading and for easier writing for my poor sleep deprived brain. Saint's campaign broke me, yall. I've been operating on 5 hours of sleep all day.

Raw gameplay enjoyment

This one definitely goes to Arti. Her movement is practically unmatched; while Riv goes really fast and Saint lets you climb a lot of surfaces, Arti's bomb jumping combined with her permanent spear pulling ability makes her able to traverse almost anything. This is the first time I've ever dared traverse the Underhang, one of my favorite areas, without bringing a grapple worm with me. It was honestly amazing.

Her whole campaign is also just really, really fun for me. I like fighting things, but being forced to learn how to fight scavengers was honestly a delight. This is the most fun I've ever had repeatedly dying in a game, and it was for a multitude of reasons too, be it a stupid platforming death (happened a lot while I was learning how to use her bomb jump), getting overwhelmed by enemies, or just cackling at some wild lucky hit by a scav. And even beyond scavengers, fighting other things that would normally make me shriek and run away as other characters just became... average, really. I took down my first king vulture in Arti's campaign, and all it really took was an explosive spear (and the KV wedging itself into the wall, but shh).

Mechanically she's just... fun. She's so fun. And! You have basically no consequence for dying anyway! You have food EVERYWHERE and it's extremely easy to kill things to eat, explosives thrown at point blank range do little more than stun you, and aggression is encouraged. So even if you fuck up and die 200 times (literally my count was 200+ in 27 cycles LMAO) there's like... zero bearing on your progress in the game. And I really like that. It was still brutal, don't get me wrong. I think around three quarters of those 200 deaths, probably more, were from scavengers. But part of Rain World's original difficulty was that losing karma would lock you out of traversing regions eventually, and Arti kind of... removes that restriction. I will say it's really fucking annoying to have to look for karma 5 scavengers if you're trying to pass a karma 5 gate, but I really only had to do that twice and that was because I wanted to explore. It's kind of just... natural, I guess, for the structure of her campaign. I'm not good enough at combat to really do it cleanly myself, but I imagine people who are even more confident in their ability to go full on warpath mode with scavengers had less of an issue with this.

Gourmand quite easily takes second place after Arti, with almost as much combat ability as her if you use their abilities right and the added benefit of being able to make like half the game's items if you have the right things. Their food requirement was kind of daunting at first, but I was almost always able to eat up to full food, and it really wasn't that much of a challenge. Mechanically, too, their body slam move is really fucking funny, and I will forever be sad they patched out the tendency of Gourmand launching enemies across the map when rolling into them. Shoutout to that one white lizard on the wall that I landed on and totally crushed the spine of without me even seeing it, because I was trying to go fast and was not expecting an enemy one screen down. The exhaustion mechanic didn't bother me too much and honestly made me more confident with the starving mechanic, which I'm grateful for; that was probably the only reason why I even tried to starve on Arti when I had to shelter because of the rain. And overall, Gourmand's campaign was pretty chill, a nice middle ground of difficulty between Survivor and Hunter. It was a good stepping stone after finishing my Hunter run.

Least favorite mechanically was Saint. It got really irritating really fast to not be able to throw spears, and not even to kill things. I can stun things with rocks, sure, but that doesn't help me if I'm in a narrow space (which Saint has a lot of) and the place I want to go to doesn't have alternate paths (which Saint has a lot of). It got so, so fucking tiring to have to wait for enemies to fucking move, especially with the ridiculous abundance of spiders and spitter spiders everywhere I went. This campaign was the one I used dev tools the most on because I genuinely just got sick of waiting, because not only did that mean I wouldn't get anywhere when exploring, I would also waste time that would otherwise be spent eating food—which is also harder to get because Saint is strictly vegetarian!—or finding a shelter so I didn't freeze to death. You can only get spawn camped so many times before you get annoyed and all. Except instead of spawn camping you get the same fucking enemies camping the same fucking pipes forever. Good luck trying to get anywhere if you don't have karma 10. My god. The tongue was fun, but again, it does Not help if you're in a cramped space.

Spearmaster and Riv were... eh. Average. Fun in that I enjoyed them, average in that they didn't invoke any particular feelings in me. Definitely irritating that they introduced Spearmaster's dual spear wielding gimmick and then. Took it away from you. Lmao. What the hell honestly. But I had fun with all the campaigns overall.

Vanilla Lore Compliance

Gourmand takes this one easily. I like it because it's one of the most removed from the iterators' stories, similar to Survivor and Monk's campaigns. While that's a little sad, I'll admit, it fits a lot better with the core theme of the game. You're not the protagonist. You're a slugcat, trying to survive in this hostile world that was never designed for your existence. You can stumble your way into the lives of beings truly godlike in comparison to you, but you're not even a speck of dust in the grander scheme of things. You're nothing.

But you are you, and Gourmand embodies that very well. Literally too fat to give a shit, good for them. Their whole journey is just to eat well and sleep well and that translates so well to both gameplay and lore, and it's lovely. Lore wise, I also really like that ascending Gourmand gets you almost nothing, and doesn't even count as a proper game clear, because Gourmand is so so removed from anything to do with the ancients as a whole, which is actually something i had a bit of an issue with even in the vanilla lore. Who gives a shit about ascending? You're a slugcat, god dammit. The only things you think about are food, shelter, and danger. And maybe shiny pearls. What does the cycle matter to you? You're just trying to survive. So I really like Gourmand's true, Outer Expanse ending, especially the story implications of the ending cutscenes if you also finish their food quest. You're just exploring this new land, looking for food and safe places to rest in, because you're a slugcat with a family. What more could you want as a slugcat?

Arti is also fairly lore compliant, mostly because she. Uh. Has like no bearing on the lore lmfao. Her story is the most isolated from those of the iterators; she would have done what she did regardless of Pebbles' input. (Gourmand too, but that's not relevant here.) But her story also doesn't really tie back into the original theme of the game, so I can't really comment much on her campaign in terms of lore compliance. Still loved it though! Really liked the reasoning behind letting Pebbles read pearls for you.

Riv and Saint are terrible in terms of lore compliance, and it's a big issue I have with both their campaigns. I'm sure everyone's thought along these lines already, but both of them go directly against the core theme of the vanilla game, which again, is that you are not the protagonist. Riv is probably worse than Saint in this regard, because the events of her campaign require her direct input to occur, while Saint, you can argue they're just an observer of the world in the distant future. But they're both really really bad on this. I still enjoyed the story, but seriously? You're going to tell me someone purposed a slugcat to intentionally go inside an interator to retrieve possibly the most dangerous item in this world to date? And apparently, according to dev notes, Riv wasn't created by an iterator. Which makes no sense and I've elected to ignore that piece of information considering Riv spawns in with the mark of communication and a pearl with schematics of the inner workings of iterator cans. This is peak protagonist behavior. It's nice to get character development on Pebbles, but this really is just... bad. Lol. For canon lore. I really don't take anything Riv does in her campaign as objective fact.

Spearmaster is kinda just there. Not implausible by any means, given Hunter's campaign, though there's some timeline inconsistencies with Moon's collapse if you look through the vanilla pearls and compare the years. It's not that big of an issue though.

Story Concept Execution

As much as I have issues with Saint's campaign, I have to give this one to them. From start to finish it's just shock after shock, blow after blow after blow of oh god, the world's so different. Every change was at least interesting, even if I don't approve of some of them; I liked piecing together that the rain cycle doesn't exist anymore, and rather it's now based on whether you're freezing or not. The little details in how the world has changed are really charming too, especially in how lots of things are now fluffy because it's bitterly cold. Though Riv, Spearmaster and Arti have marked world changes, none are quite as striking as those found in Saint's campaign. It's truly like exploring a new world, except you can still see the old one in it, and it's a strange, somewhat bittersweet, somewhat melancholy feeling to go through the various areas, especially when Saint's campaign naturally takes you through most of the regions. The Undergrowth as a whole, where it used to be Drainage System, really hammers it home I think. You're witnessing the world reclaim itself from what the ancients did to it, for better or for worse, and though it's sad to see the old world go, it's kind of a relief to see it start to push back.

The layout of the world on a more meta sense is also really, really cool. I loved the detail of the old Underhang-Five Pebbles The Region gate now being the link between Silent Construct and Frigid Coast. I loved seeing, despite how horrifying it is story wise, how Pebbles' can has decayed and changed after all these years, and how life has reclaimed his arrays and chambers. I also really really loved the fact that each area has been renamed to reflect its current state; going through Sky Islands (Windswept Spires) to Farm Arrays (Desolate Fields) to Outskirts (Suburban something, I missed the second word) and beyond... it's very haunting in a way I thoroughly enjoyed. It felt a lot like picking through shattered pieces of glass and trying to piece them back together into a coherent shape again, while also knowing that it's never going to be what it once was.

Additionally, I absolutely adored the monologue changes of the already existing echoes, just mentally comparing the differences between what they say in Saint's time and what they say to the other slugcats. And the new echoes too! I keep thinking about the Undergrowth echo, how they mention they never wanted to ascend. It hits you so so hard with how the old world the ancients built is nothing but rubble and ice now. How they, too, were just people, trying so hard to do what they thought would bring them peace, and some of them not finding it even after what they thought would be an eternal rest. It just adds to the overall melancholy feeling of Saint's version of the world.

I don't think I have a clear second place or last place campaign for this category. They all held up on story execution in their own right, but none stood out quite as starkly as Saint's campaign did. They did well to force you to play Spearmaster and Rivulet first before Saint would be unlocked; without the context of both Spearmaster's pre-collapse time and Riv's post-collapse, heavily Rot infested time, Saint's story wouldn't have hit as hard.

Story Impact

It's really hard for me to pick one definitive favorite for this category because all the Downpour cats have such good stories for such different reasons, but Arti, Riv and Saint's campaigns definitely gripped me really, really hard. Spearmaster's did too, but a little less so, and not for Spearmaster himself; I was in it for Moon.

Arti held my interest from the start. It's no secret I'm an avid tragedy and horror enjoyer, and Arti's whole campaign is painted in the blood of her pups. Besides just being mechanically fun, I found myself constantly on the edge for more of her story, always wanting to find out more about what happened to her, what happened to her pups, what happened to make her hate scavengers so much she committed to killing them all. Though the final execution of her actual story felt a little flat, I still really loved the ideas behind her story, and she was the first one to make me destroy my sleep schedule to try and finish her campaign. The whole concept of a mother's rage extending so far that it locks her out of a true release is so so sad and I love it. I love her rage, I love her grief, I love her ceaseless violence that only perpetuates the cycle further, I love how hard it hits when you kill the Chief Scav and how little you get out of that. Her story is an exercise in futility and yet you will root for her. It's gutting and it's beautiful. I also know most of what happens in her other ending, and that just drives it home even more, I think. That her love and her grief is so strong that it prevents her from obtaining a true rest, forever separated from her pups after fighting for them for so long. It's heartbreaking and yet it fits so well. Very fitting for Rain World's overall melancholy world.

Riv and Saint both went for my throat with Pebbles' state, but in different ways. With Riv you get to see the horror of how much the Rot has overtaken his can. It was a fun and horrifying moment to enter via the wall and drop down, and then get stunned by the fall to finally realize that wait, the zero gravity is broken. And then seeing the proto daddies at the end and then encrusted over the pipe that would normally lead to GSB, and also the gaping hole in the side of his chamber and him just sitting on the floor, dejected. He sounds so defeated from the start, so frustrated but in a way that's more just tired than angry, or angry at himself rather than at the world. How desperate do you have to be as something so powerful, wielding so much knowledge, to ask some random critter that flopped into your chamber to save your long time friend (whose state you yourself caused)? And to ask them to go deep into your systems and remove the power source keeping you alive, no less? It drives home the passage of time between Monk's campaign and Riv's, and really nicely shows how Pebbles has changed as a person, even if it took everything literally falling to pieces around him to finally get there. I really get it, though, the fear of yourself and your actions and knowing you objectively messed up, but being too afraid and ashamed to ask for help. It's very brave of him to even ask Riv to do what he did, when he spends the last six campaigns telling slugcats to fuck off in no uncertain terms because he's so certain he has to fix this on his own. And the post game too, when you go back to his chamber and he just looks sad and finally agrees that he doesn't have to do this alone? Gut wrenching. They really went for everyone's hearts with Riv.

Which is just driven further home in Saint's campaign, when you find him sitting out in the snow in the remains of his can, his chamber not even a chamber anymore, and with barely enough of himself together to greet Saint when they stumble into him. He has only his music pearl left, and even that is distorted by time, and if you take it to Moon she pleads you to bring it back to him because it's all he has left. Any of his former bite is gone, replaced only by stuttering curiosity and confusion, and he even thanks you for keeping him company if you return enough times. You spend so long seeing him as this unreachable, untouchable presence that gives you some directions in an aloof way and maybe helps you out a bit, just to see him in this state of ruin, barely alive. I've never had a more visceral reaction to seeing him than I did in Saint's campaign, nor have I ever been more determined to find him. Like, stepping into what used to be Shaded Citadel, finding the Husk and realizing Pebbles collapsed because of course he did, he tells you that when you play as Riv, realizing why it's not shaded anymore, and seeing the state of his can... it's heartbreaking. The fact that there's so little of him left is heartbreaking.

And then on top of that, you get to actively choose to end his misery. To grant him the one thing he spent literally his whole life toiling for. And to me, it felt cruel, almost. It didn't even feel like mercy. And you can choose to do the same thing to Moon, too. It's all framed in such desolate but clear terms: the old world is dying, and a new one is emerging. Is it better to leave Moon there and allow her to slowly decay? But is ascending her a good option either? Is Pebbles truly more at peace like this? And it just makes me think about how both iterators may have felt watching Saint start glowing and flying, and then suddenly their souls are wrenched out of their bodies. And then after you reach the end of Rubicon, if you ascended either one or both of them, you can find them at the end, talking to you and telling you, perhaps a bit vaguely, that none of this is real. That none of what you did has lasting impact, that Pebbles is likely still out there in the snow, that Moon is still going to slowly decay like he did, that Saint, despite it all, is still trying to do this over and over and over again, because that is what an echo does. I haven't cried this hard at a game in a really long time, and I immediately started sobbing when I poked my head into the chamber and saw both of them there, the way they looked when in their prime, just to be told that my actions meant nothing in the end. It was absolutely devastating, but that really just cements how powerful Saint's story is. And here I realize that probably means Saint has the most powerful story impact, but it's truly hard to compare to Arti's and Riv's because the impact is different for all of them.

Then you have Spearmaster, where you get to explore Moon before she collapsed. I sobbed when I got to Neural Terminus and saw Moon's gorgeous blue and pink interior with Reflection of the Moon playing, just mourning all that she lost, all that Pebbles took from her, and despite it all, somehow, she's still kind and patient. Getting to see her as powerful as we will ever see her, while also knowing how much she loses and that this is not even close to what she would have been like in her prime, was just so so gutting. We're never going to know what Moon was like before it all happened, but this comes close to it, and it hurts. In a sense, it's a nice juxtaposition to what Riv and Saint show of her and Pebbles, and also just draws on an objective fact. Before and after the events of the vanilla game, Pebbles and Moon were or will be different. We only get to see glimpses of it.

Gourmand really doesn't have any stock here. Their ending is sweet, for sure, I cried twice at their ending, but the impact of knowing how Moon and Pebbles change and also the impacts of Arti's grief and rage really stuck with me more.

Uh, a section just for Spearmaster?

As you may have been able to tell from the analysis and summary above, I kind of didn't really think much of Spearmaster's campaign. I personally did not find it too hard (though I had experience dragging around two pups before that, so I was used to only having one active hand by then), but it's just frustrating to be introduced to a cool mechanic and then have it removed from you if you give a shit about the story. I do, however, thoroughly enjoy the concept of them as a purposed being. Why do they have no mouth? Why are they able to secrete spears? How and why do they have to eat from these spears? Why did Suns choose to create this creature? Wouldn't it have been easier to just take an existing slugcat and modify it like Sig did? So many questions. Their biology is funky and I enjoy it.

That's sort of it, though. While I did like Spearmaster's campaign overall, it really doesn't hold up to any of the other campaigns. Which is a bit disappointing, but oh well.

Downpour Overall

The concepts and stories introduced here were absolutely stunning, and I had a blast playing through all the campaigns, even if I did employ the use of dev tools a fair bit in certain campaigns (mostly Saint and a bit in Riv tbh), and I also turned on 'keep key items on passage' to speed things up. I do have a little bit of an issue with how certain parts of some campaigns cough Spearmaster and Saint cough felt very much like you'd need your karma to be high to be able to effectively traverse the map, while also really limiting your options for actually gaining karma, but maybe that's a bit of a problem on my end for not being a good enough gamer lmao. I dunno. I just don't enjoy karma grinding on something so story focused. On Survivor and Monk it's whatever, but I know the world and the story by now. I really hated having to just eat and sleep just so I could move on in the story, and eventually I just resorted to spawning food in with Beastmaster here and there so I could actually fucking save my progress. But overall? It was so so fun.

I am a little miffed that some of the campaigns directly go against how the vanilla game was structured, but I'm also delighted that we pretty much have dev approval for character development of characters like Pebbles and Moon, and to some extent Sig(!) and Suns. I personally work with the iterators a lot with stories, so I'm just piling up all of this information and shoving my face into it. I'm so happy about this asdkfgkklsdkl and generally, I think I'm just going to take the different timelines you can see with the various campaigns as snapshots of different moments in time. Do I honestly believe Riv could have achieved what she did? Do I genuinely believe Saint could or should have helped either iterator ascend? No, not really. Spearmaster I could believe more, but he's really a footnote in the broader story, an observer to this world that he really has no say in. I think that would capture the nature of Rain World better. You may not be the main character, but you can still view this world through the lens of something that exists in it.

Difficulty wise, it was okay for me personally, and mostly the dev tooling and assists were to help with me getting irritated more than objective difficulty I'd say? Like, I definitely could have done it legit, but it would take about three times as long and I just wanted to explore, for fuck's sake, and I wanted the rest of the story. Saint and Spearmaster were definitely harder in some respects, and Arti is a difficulty Cliff for some people, but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy the game, especially with remix options now.

Remix is definitely something I really really love though. For the longest time, I could not securely recommend Rain World to people because of the glaring accessibility issues it had. It still has some, but it's a great deal improved from what it used to be, and I'm very glad about that. Rain World's never going to be an easy game, but it's a really great one that deserves to be enjoyed by more people, and Remix is a great option for those who need more help along the way.

Some of the new creature concepts are really neat, honestly. I loved caramel lizards, these goofy little red x green lizard mixes with six (six!!!) legs, and also tiny cute pretty strawberry lizards. The Miros Vultures, as much as I fucking loathed having to deal with them, are so so cool conceptually. I just wish they didn't chase you across rooms :/ and, while terrifying, MLL was cool. I like the progression of the Rot. It's just cool details overall.

Would I recommend Downpour to people? Absolutely, but definitely play the base game first. Downpour is, as other people have put it, sort of its own game that shares mechanics and certain aspects of lore with Rain World. It was a mod originally, after all. But I think the MSC team deserves the money for the sheer amount of work they've put into this. It was an experience that was well worth the price and more.

[doubleddenden]

Anxiety is rampage tonight, so it is time to hyperfocus on pokemon

Specifically I'm going to be thinking about the next 3 years of the franchise. It's long, so you're welcome for the read more

I know pretty much 90% of the fans want them to slow down (with 9% wanting them to stop all together and 1% wanting more games of lower quality, which yes is a take I've seen (source for these numbers: me I made to those numbers but it feels accurate yknow?)).

That being said, we know Game Freak are stubborn. In fact, TPC has said, on record, they want to maintain their cadence of releases while "ensuring quality."

So if nothing is changing in terms of pace of release, then oh well, all we can do is wait for more releases and judge from there.

But with that knowledge out of the way, let's get talking.

I'm gonna make a radical prediction. Gen 9 is going to last 4 years rather than the usual 3. SV released in 22, and guess when the 30th anniversary is?

2026.

Now here's the thing. They COULD drop gen 10 in 2025 on regular schedule and drop dlc in 2026. But let me ask this: would that be AS profitable? My take is that Pokémon has succeeded because of genius marketing strategies and timed releases, so the 30th anniversary, being a huge year for them, would probably boast much better profits by dropping a new generation, which would also give them an extra year to develop the game.

Let's also keep this in mind: the Switch 2 is almost upon us. It's not in the wild yet, but devs have been talking about getting dev kits for a while, they've been talking about ps4 level specs or close to it, and how they want it to be an easy transfer from Switch 1 owners to Switch 2- name not final obviously.

If that's not enough, there was a very accurate leak regarding Indigo Disk a few months back on 4chan that stated they were working with a new system for performance tweaks.

So basically what I'm getting at is that by 2026 we will have the Switch 2 or Switch U or whatever, and gen 10 will launch on that- but it won't be a launch title. Pokémon mainline games don't really do that for some reason.

Let's back up a bit before I go further. Assuming gen 10 releases on the 30th anniversary in 2026, that leaves a blank period in 2024 and 2025. Make sense?

This has been very long winded, but this is what I think will happen.

2024

Pokemon reveals intent to revisit Unova in 2 separate instances of games.

Nintendo reveals the Switch 2 to the public and announces a launch for late 2024 or early 2025.

The Unova revisitation titles are the last mainline pokemon games for Switch.

2025

Johto revisits are announced as the first mainline titles on the Switch 2. Most likely Crystal reremakes, but I'm not sure if it'll be precisely Let's Go style.

In addition, pokemon Switch 1 titles will have some better performance, particularly gen 9 games.

They might do a Legends title, but not just for Johto.

2026

Lots of Pokémon celebration, music videos, ports, and eventually gen 10 as the finish line of a huge celebration.

Now you may be asking "why 2 remakes in a row? Didn't they just remake gen 4?"

Hence why I said "revisits" instead. Because of Legends Arceus, we truly don't know what kind of curve ball could come next for us. Could be straight up remakes, could be new games entirely. We can't even say that they'll just 1 game a year because Legends Arceus and SV both dropped in 2022.

Something else that complicates things is this: Unova didn't have a Platinum or Emerald that they can just ignore the enhancements of. Well. They CAN, but I'm pretty sure we all agree that if they just remake BW1 and completely ignore BW2- aka a game most hardcore and long time fans hold as the GOAT of all Pokémon games in the same area as HGSS- fans will be absolutely livid.

That is... if they choose to REMAKE BW1 at all.

The Revisit clause opens the door for alternative takes. Perhaps a BW3, a BW0 or prequel to BW1, or perhaps something completely different all together like Legends Unova by itself. Or Paradox versions.

My personal predictions

BW1 remake, Legends following

BW1 and 2 combo remake, Legends following

A completely new game set in Unova that acts as a soft sequel to SV and its DLC, possibly merged with the concept of a Legends game OR a Legends game following said soft sequel set in either the past or future.

How do we know Unova is coming anyway? I mean it's kind of obvious if you've been paying attention to the DLC recently, but it's pretty much the most obvious hints since the KANTO KANTO KANTO re remake flags they kept waving in gen 7.

Blueberry Academy is in Unova

They keep highlighting and singling out specific Unovan pokemon such as the Unovan dragons or the starters, particularly Tepig and Snivy after giving Oshawott love in Legends Arceus.

There's an area that strongly resembles Chargestone Cave, apparently.

There's characters that may or may not be related to Unovan characters, like Drayton and Drayden

Ingo is in Legends Arceus

Now you may think all of this is easily explained because of the first point. Let me counter with this:

Why put BBA in Unova specifically?

Now are the gears turning? Sure there's a chance it was just a name thrown out- but if it were a nothing name, why not something different? They could've put Blueberry Academy near Kitakami, they could have put it in the real life chain of islands called the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain, they could have just left it unnamed in the middle of the ocean, heck they could have made it the Indigo Academy from the anime or place it in Kanto in general and nobody would have batted an eye. Or Sinnoh for that matter since we know that's a done revisit.

So the fact they choose Unova has to be of some significance.

Here's something else: the concept of the paradoxes blends seamlessly with Unova's tradition vs futurism that's present in certain areas such as the desert area, Opelucid, and Black City or White Forest.

Plus... cmon guys, Game Freak LOVES money. That's EASY money. Idk if I want it because I'm still in shock of how bad BDSP were and just how abysmal SV perform, but they generally follow the money, whether the game is finished or not. They have multiple teams, they are willing to use outside studios, they can and will do anything for the dollar.

My next point actually leads quite well with the next remake topic

The specific choice of paradoxes for Violet are the Unovan Musketeers

Now this is the clincher: why choose these specific pokemon for future paradoxes? Perhaps a hint to the future? For that matter, there's also plenty of Paradox Pokémon from gen 5 (Brute Bonnet, Slither Wing, Iron Moth, and Iron Jugulus) and plenty of gen 5 variants and cross evolutions.

Perhaps the musketeers pair nicely with the Johto Beast paradoxes given their similar purposes and design styles.

... so why the Johto Beasts for Scarlet?

Now comes my argument for JOHTO revisits, and granted the points aren't as strong as it is with Unova, but I still think there's a compelling case.

The idea was already brought up in the ending for Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee.

I'll pause: "but Game Freak said they weren't making another Let's Go game-"

Lying is a thing. My name is Pinkrillabussy von Skalkatrass, I'm a Capricorn born in July of 1757, and I have 10 wives from Canada and Antarctica. See? Easy

They changed their minds because money

They maybe had no plans at the time

NDAs are a thing

It might not be specifically a Let's Go game

Now, back on track

The Switch 2 will launch in the next year or two, and let's be honest, GSC re remakes would sell the console like hot cakes just like Yellow remakes did for Switch. Pokémon is a system seller after all. Let's not kid ourselves, it will/would outsell Unova.

In SV, there are various gold and silver colored items. By itself that's not a huge hint, but 2 prominent items are sets of mirrored sunglasses- no other mirrored glasses are in the game, and they both show some odd reflection of other locations.

In Teal Mask, Kitakami is in Japan, same as Johto, and has a decent chunk of Johto representation.

Also from Teal Mask, we got some photo music, including 2 very specific remixes from the GSC games, including very muffled versions of the Johto wild Pokémon battle musuc, and the Pokémon March song from the Pokegear. Muffled as in maybe pretty far off, but soon ish. Probably the strongest point.

Billy and O'Nare, the rich assholes we chase around Kitakami and Paldea. They dress in golden colors, have some silver under tones to their hair, and give out a ton of nuggets- gold- and pearls- kinda silver in the menu.

In the same way that paradoxes line up well with BW, the use of the time machine itself is also relevant to Johto, given that the original GSC games had backwards trading compatibility with RBY via a time machine trading system- the exceptions being that you couldn't send a gen 2 Pokémon or a gen 1 Pokémon with a gen 2 move back to the gen 1 games.

While not exactly damming evidence, the variants, Convergent species, and cross gen evolutions- Wooper, Tauros, Wiglett and Wugtrio/Diglett and Dugtrio, Toedscool and Toedscruel/Tentacool and Tentacruel, Annihilape, Farigiraf, Dundunsparce, Clodsire- with exception to Kinggambit and the other cross gen evolutions and covergents introduced in the dlc, these are a lot of Kanto and Johto pokemon or derivatives that can easily be brought to gen 2 re remakes in the same vein as the Alolan forms and Megas in LGPE. For that matter, there's also Certain Hisuian Pokémon, and certain Paradox Pokémon that line up with this as well.

Lastly, johto now is the main region we have spent the longest time since last revisiting. Go figure, Unova is second.

So what could a revisit to Johto look like? Unlike Unova, Johto isn't as complex to approach. In fact, there's several directions they can go, but most likely they'll try to stay true ish to the originals.

Let's Go Johto

Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee had a few signs pointing towards its creation from gen 7, but one of the funnier ones was the phrase Let's Go written directly on the box of Ultra Sun and Moon.

In SV, we have the Let's Go mechanic.

I personally don't want a Let's Go game because I hate motion controls and the Go aspect of it all, but I won't deny the possibility.

An ILCA style remake of HGSS

Hang on, a remake of a remake?

Well, BDSP were straight up just Diamond and Pearl with a few extra bells and whistles, almost frustratingly so. In fact, they even have the same glitches as the originals, and the coding is basically just ported directly to the Unity engine.

HGSS were DS games as well, and most hard-core fans will say they're the absolute best of the franchise- I'm not included, but I do respect just how much shit is cram packed into these games by Morimoto. I'm pretty sure most people would be just fine with straight up ports with modern amenities to reduce the grind.

Different Gold and Silver remakes

This is the deal- HGSS were already Crystal remakes split into 2 versions. They could just remake GS and remove the crystal isms, but that seems unlikely to me

A new take on gen 2

A Legends Kanto and Johto game since they're connected, a revised version of the original ideas for Gold seen in the Space World demo, etc. By now, GF have to be aware that WE are aware of that demo and several of the beta pokemon and chamges. Some fun could be had.

Personally, my bet is a safe Crystal remake split into 2 again. Nothing too fancy, just gen 2 in 3D. Don't wanna scare genwunners or og fans.

Anyway, that was a lot for what could ultimately be nothing at all. In fact, they could follow SV with Johto first and then Unova, or do neither in favor of something new. I'm not gonna deny the possibility of one happening and the other not, and hell, they could drop gen 10 in 2025 on schedule. Could also do a Legends Unova game or similar by itself, then Johto by itself, then gen 10. Could even be a second set of dlc. Who knows, man.

Anyway thanks for reading if you've come this far. Anxiety is a bitch and rambling about this series helps me relax.

[mashounen1945]

So... I've been on a massive Kirby brainrot ever since the release of Kirby & the Forgotten Land (which combined with a Metroid brainrot I already had since the announcement of Metroid Dread, so you can imagine what kind of horrifying chaos my brain has been for the last few months, but that's another story). In that unenviable situation (depending on your point of view), I had this wacky idea of how I'd like Tails's story to go once Sonic Frontiers gets all of its DLC this year.

[If songs from outside the Sonic series are mentioned, they're supposed to be taken only as an inspiration.]

Tails's moveset could bring back his skills from Sonic Battle. A few of them (namely the Magic Upper and the Flick) imply he can summon small Warp Rings to make more efficient use of some of his inventions. It could also let Tails have a dedicated Dodge move or even be able to parry enemy mêlée attacks with his tails, as well as making him able to do combos. Sonic Frontiers already has those combos, but only for Sonic for now; besides, before the game's announcement, I was already thinking of something with much more hand-to-hand combat and mêlée weapons, perhaps inspired by Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance or Advent NEON or Bayonetta, rather than relying on ranged attacks or other actions from a distance (in short: if Sonic's gameplay focuses more on "travel speed", Tails's gameplay should differentiate from Sonic's by focusing more on "combat speed").

He fights easier versions of the Titans, but each fight against them is followed by a battle inside his own mind where he fights some nightmarish creature representing his inner demons: his own fears, flaws and limitations. These "special bosses" aren't towering constructs inspired by Evangelion, like the Titans from the base game; instead, they're smaller, meant to be fought "one versus one" rather than being a seemingly very unequal "David vs Goliath" fight, heavily based upon special bosses in Fark's Story of Spark the Electric Jester 1, and they periodically switch between two forms: one of them is essentially a Mobian but much more agile, harder to hit and more unpredictable, and the other one looks like your average Kirby Soul enemy (I told you I was in a middle of a brainrot) and is pretty easy to hit but uses overwhelming attacks that barely leave space to dodge them; the Mobian-like form of each special boss looks like one of Tails's friends and also uses a few attacks from their moveset.

Additional notes: The battle music for these unique bosses would be, of course, "Special Boss" from Spark the Electric Jester 1. When defeated, right before Tails is taken back to the real world, each one of them briefly reveals a magenta gemstone with the form of a Platonic solid: one is a tetrahedron, one is a cube, and one is an octahedron.

Tails's body, just like Sonic's, gets corrupted during the story, but unlike the hedgehog, he doesn't bottle his feelings or even try to stay optimistic, instead openly expressing how much he hates this whole situation. At some point, after helping so many Kocos basically go to the afterlife, having to do all this with no help from Sonic or any of his friends, and having to deal with Sage being like "You're making a mistake" but refusing to elaborate, Tails can't take it anymore: he goes on a whole-ass rant where he just starts insulting everyone and everything, admits not to understand why he's the one having to save the world this time instead of Sonic, wishes to simply go back to his life before arriving to Starfall Islands, and ultimately gives up, lying on the ground, looking up at the sky and eventually falling asleep, no longer caring about the corruption that slowly but steadily consumes his body.

During a dream, he fights another special boss, one that isn't linked to any of the Titans and looks and moves a lot like Shadow but also includes modified versions of a few attacks from the moveset of a certain jackal from a previous Sonic game. When defeated, the magenta gemstone briefly looks like an icosahedron, only to quickly morph into a great stellated dodecahedron and later take Shadow's form. As the background clears itself and stabilizes, this apparition of Shadow —based upon Tails's memories of him— encourages the fox to follow Sonic's example, not give up and also remember his friends are still supporting him and willing to help him however they can.

When Tails is about to die from his body's corruption, his friends cure him and restore his body at the cost of their physical forms, just like in the original story. However, Tails doesn't accept losing his friends again and having to keep fighting alone, so he decides to "kick the playing board": when the de-corruption process is almost complete, he goes Super, uses his powers to create a Warp Ring that leads to Angel Island, and uses that Warp Ring to directly touch the Master Emerald with his hand and go Hyper; recalling what Tikal had said about the power of Chaos (that it comes from the soul and turns thoughts into reality), he brings Sonic, Knuckles and Amy Rose back from the Cyber World with no side effects, although this consumes all of Hyper Tails's power and makes him fall back to his base form. Later, the battle against Supreme has the entire quartet working together to defeat the Titan, with Sonic eventually going Super and dealing the coup de grâce; when Tails has to fight within his mind the special boss linked to Supreme —which uses a deadly combination of the best of Sonic's and Tails's movesets—, he surprisingly receives Sonic's help and both of them defeat the special boss together.

Additional notes: When Sonic intervenes in Tails's special boss fight, "Special Boss" from Spark TEJ 1 is replaced by "Live & Learn". The mysterious gemstone of this special boss is revealed to be a dodecahedron when it's defeated.

Right before the final battle, Sage warns Tails about a possible great threat he might have to face while she and Sonic deal with The End. He finds a bright purple whirlpool-shaped portal, goes through it, and arrives at a place very similar to both Null Space and Egg Reverie. There, he meets another version of The End; this one and the one being fought by Sonic in space aren't really one and the same, since this version of The End is still a disembodied voice and seems to be from an alternate universe. "The Other End" tells Tails that it will send him to face three powerful enemies in environments made ad hoc by it for each of those battles, and he shall defeat them in order to ensure Sonic's success against his own universe's version of The End.

Additional notes: Background music for this pocket dimension: "L86" from Kirby: Planet Robobot.

The first enemy summoned by The Other End is Mecha Sonic Mk.2, who's also provided with a replica of the magic sword Caliburn, and the environment looks like the top platform of Sky Sanctuary during a thunderstorm with strong winds and heavy rain. In his 2nd phase, he periodically switches between his normal form and something more like the Death Egg's Red Eye (the mid-boss at the end of Death Egg 1, in Sonic 3 & Knuckles), with the light in Mecha Sonic's visor being repositioned in his chest and revealed as his main plasma cannon.

Additional notes: Mecha Sonic battle theme: "Reproduction of Darkness" from Planet Robobot. When defeated, he decays into a formless body of liquid metal and starts convulsing while saying "There can only be one Sonic" in Morse code, then says Tails's name with a robotic voice that surprisingly sounds very similar to Sonic's, before immediately dissolving into the air.

The second enemy is Perfect Chaos, and the environment is a reconstruction of Station Square's ruins during the real Perfect Chaos's rampage, including the water. The battle goes roughly the same as in Sonic Generations.

Additional notes: Perfect Chaos battle theme: "Open Your Heart"; I'd like the original version to be remixed into something rather sad or "darker", with altered lyrics, or remade as a "muddy" remix (like "Faded & Flower" in Planet Robobot, a remix of "Dirty & Beauty" from Kirby: Triple Deluxe); Circuit Freq's remix for Sonic Generations would be fitting as well. When Perfect Chaos is defeated, Tikal's voice is heard in the distance, saying "Thank you" as the water monster goes back to their base form, reunites with a bright orange hitodama and ascends to the sky.

The third enemy initially seems to be merely a giant magenta icosahedral gemstone —a bigger replica of the Phantom Ruby—, which seems to have someone sealed inside, and the environment is a simple circular arena with a bottomless pit in the centre. The gemstone rotates to point one of its vertices towards a fixed point in the void surrounding the battle arena, then the five faces that meet at that vertex open up like a flower, a cutting blast of radiation is fired from inside the gem (just like Ramiel opening up and firing its laser in the Rebuild of Evangelion movies), and this blast hits something invisible in that void, opening a fissure in the space-time fabric while an ethereal scream of agony is heard: the gemstone has just killed The Other End by actually cutting it in half and then letting it be sucked into a dimensional rift. After this, the gemstone closes again, positions itself above the hole in the centre of the arena, generates a vertical cylindrical shield and officially starts the battle against Tails.

In its 1st phase, the battle against the giant Phantom Ruby is pretty much like Phase 4-A of Star Dream Soul OS but with a few added elements from the battles against Mother Brain in Metroid 1 and Super Metroid. The Ruby summons pillars throughout the circular arena, which start moving along it; each pillar has a much smaller Phantom Ruby replica with the shape of some other regular polyhedra, which moves up and down and has to be destroyed in order to be able to get through the hole left by it; each of them also has weapons installed at the top and the base, one of them is a turret firing blaster shots, and the other is a cannon similar to the one on Mecha Sonic's chest firing energy rings (like Super Mecha Sonic when he's a couple of hits away from being defeated by Knuckles). Every time the Rubies of all pillars are destroyed, the Phantom Ruby gets rid of those damaged pillars and summons new ones, and these can also start moving in reverse or even close the distance between two of them in an attempt to crush Tails or force him to jump into the void; on the other hand, every time all pillars are neutralized, Tails can do some damage to the cylindrical shield while the Phantom Ruby is in the process of summoning new pillars. After destroying three sets of pillars —each with more of them than the last—, the 1st phase ends.

Additional notes: Phantom Ruby's 1st phase battle theme: either "Soul 0 System" from Planet Robobot, or Heart of Nova's remix "STAR NOVA SYSTEM" from SilvaGunner's album Super Star Symphony. The three sets total 20 pillars, and every time a pillar is neutralized, a needle pierces one of the faces of the Phantom Ruby. A disembodied voice (not The Other End's voice, but still familiar) does a countdown, starting at 20 at the beginning of the battle and going down as more faces of the Ruby are pierced by needles.

Once all pillars are destroyed, Tails manages to break the shield, but the giant Phantom Ruby moves higher, all the needles are removed and the Ruby opens up again (this time, the opening points upwards instead of towards the horizon) as the bottomless pit at the centre of the circular arena is covered over and made part of the arena. Crimson smoke emanates from the Phantom Ruby's exposed core and starts condensing until forming the body of a Mobian jackal: Infinite.

Infinite's moveset here is mostly just a rip-off of Galacta Knight's, including the Time-Border Great Slash Flash from Planet Robobot (opening a dimensional rift, referenced when the Phantom Ruby opens up for the 1st time and banishes/kills The Other End), but also has some stuff from the final boss fight against Raven Beak in Metroid Dread (I tried to think of a way to adapt the three actual boss fights against Infinite in Sonic Forces somehow, but two of them only work if the player's character is running, and all of them look kinda disappointing anyway).

Additional notes: Phantom Ruby's 2nd phase battle theme: any version of "The Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy".

When Tails lands the last hit on Infinite, the jackal turns into crimson smoke again and vanishes, but then reappears standing on top of the giant Phantom Ruby —which has moved back to its previous height—, starting the 3rd and last phase.

The battle's 3rd phase starts with Infinite —still standing on top of the Ruby— summoning a sequence of combinations of attacks taken from different boss fights: Infinite's moveset in his own 2nd boss fight in Sonic Forces, Galacta Knight's Revolution Sword, Energy Shower and Rising Spine, and Heartful Tears from Phase 4-B of Star Dream Soul OS. This is followed by more combinations of Galacta Knight's and Star Dream Soul OS's moves, where both Infinite and the Phantom Ruby enter the circular arena and move through it —usually being on opposite sides of the arena while moving— to attack Tails directly. The first sequence of attacks can be repeated at some point as well.

Additional notes: Phantom Ruby's 3rd phase battle theme: any version of "Vagrant Keepsake of Oblivion" (itself a part of "Vagrant Counting Song of Retrospection"), including the cover made by GaMetal and the remix "R-E-P-R-O-G-R-A-M" from Super Star Symphony.

When Infinite and the Phantom Ruby are one hit away from being defeated, the jackal transforms into crimson smoke once again and re-enters the Ruby, which then goes back to the centre of the arena and starts spinning in all planes of rotation while firing several successive triangular energy blasts from all of its faces, shooting lasers from all of its vertices and sometimes even shooting cutting blasts from all of its edges (a combination of Chaos Elfilis Phase 2's Planetarium Dream Tour —which is, in turn, based on Void Termina's Crown of Evil and Obsession—, Star Dream's Fatal Error, and Star Dream Soul OS's Heartless Tears), which Tails will have to quickly dodge and/or parry while trying to get closer to the Ruby. When Tails is close enough, the attack stops and all that's left in the centre is Infinite, who has a normal-sized Phantom Ruby embedded in his chest and looks like he's embarrassed and furious but also literally boiling on the inside and about to explode. Infinite desperately summons a massive energy polearm (which would be a mix between a poleaxe, a halberd, a spontoon/partisan, a voulge or couteau-de-brèche, and other real-life polearms) and tries to finish Tails off; if the player guards successfully, Tails uses his namesakes to parry Infinite's attack and snatch the polearm from his hands, and immediately uses it to accurately strike the Phantom Ruby, killing the jackal with his own weapon.

Infinite is thrown far from the arena and stays floating in the void, then starts convulsing and bouncing across the pocket dimension's space as he becomes more unstable and the Phantom Ruby's power is closer and closer to atomize both itself and its user. Eventually, both the Phantom Ruby and Infinite explode, flooding the entire place with light and leaving no remains afterwards.

Additional notes: Music for this scene: any version of "Kirby's Triumphant Return" (of course).

Tails wakes up back in Starfall Islands, where he has an emotive reunion with Sonic and their friends after the hedgehog came back from saving the world; the fox admits to his adoptive brother that he'd rather take a break from the action for a while —and Sonic accepts this without objection and supports Tails's decision—, but also assures the hedgehog that this isn't permanent and he's now much more certain of what he can and wants to do with his life. The story ends with Sonic piloting the Tornado for the first time since the events of Sonic 3 & Knuckles as Tails takes a well-deserved rest in the plane's backseat.

Additional notes: Ending theme: either Fuhi's mash-up of versions of the credits theme from Milky Way Wishes, or GaMetal's cover of "My Friend & the Sunset".

[risu5waffles]

EXCUSE ME? No one was gonna tell me it was TEN yesterday?

Honestly, y'all just left me hangin' out to dry there. i still love you, but i'm holding on to these cupcakes. [ed.'s note: risuko has no cupcakes]

It's like JplusK made this level expressly for me. Just look at that puppet! Look at it! Seriously, tho', the level is cute wivout being twee, and quirky wivout being overbearing. It's got that over-large, heavy angled build style i love so much. It's expansive, but moves along quickly enough it doesn't feel like it was overstaying its welcome. The power-up introduces a fun gameplay mechanic that can be a little challenging, but not so much you find yourself questioning why. i could have maybe done wivout the fart jokes, but that's just 'cause i'm such a classy gal. But that's really my only complaint, and it's not so frequent as to be too off putting. i tried another of JplusK's levels to see if this was a one-off, or their general idiom, and unfortunately that one, while it looked neat, was heavily focused on doing... clever things wiv jetpacks that may, in fact be clever if you're good at it, but mostly wound up being frustrating to me in the end. There might be a physics difference in there too, but i'm more than willing to say it just didn't click wiv my skill set.

We talked about this last week, and it continues to be what it is, tho' as of writing it continues to be what it is wiv the addition of a pink ribbon. It's nice to know i called it in my review.

This is just a giveaway level for some logic bits we got screwed out of in LBP3, because someone at Sumo forgot (i'm being charitable here) to enable the tutorials that would unlock them. It leaves me pretty salty, tho', seeing as they were part of the DC and Move Pack DLCs; like if you spent money on those, you should be able to get the lot of it, you know? Not that Sumo seems to really care.

We took a play through chairoCAT's CAT RESTAURANT way back in LittleBite-sizedArchive #137, but this one is a very different kettle of fish. Instead of a tightly contained series of minigames, we've got a quite expansive pseudo-underwater platformer that is a lot of fun (even if it gets a touch long in the tooth by the end). But the red thread between the two is the presentation. Highly detailed, wiv a lot of charm. All the little fish you interact wiv are just cute as buttons, and it really elevates the whole affair. Those porkypine fish, tho', gods but i could die. This one's really, really good.

i played this one for the old review show waaaaaay back in the day, and just fell in love wiv it. The gameplay really isn't much of much, but it's far more interested in showing off Kimuko's chops in environmental design and custom stickering. Seriously, the art here is just something else. i wish i could say the same about the music selection; i get what they're going for, and i don't not appreciate it, but gods i just hate every single one of the 50's pop tracks. Easily (personally speaking) the worst part of LBP3's story mode. Which is a total shame, because the Manglewood levels have some of the nicest level design in the game. Not directly related to anything, but i've played this level a bunch of times at some very different periods in my life, and not once have i been able to not make friends wiv the AI. It's just impossible. i challenge you to do it. Go ahead and break her poor heart. You monster.

This one'd actually been suggested by a viewer ages ago, and it just slipped my mind, and would have continued to slip my mind if they hadn't reminded me. i'm glad they did, 'cause i had a blast wiv it. Some really inventive mixing of gameplay and simple, physics/mechanics-based puzzles. This was definitely an unexpected gem for me.

Oh my gods, you can hear me coughing, because i didn't realize the PScamera had a mic on it. At least i wasn't swearing or anything. There were a couple of neat ideas in this one; the time slow-down was a cool effect, but ultimately it was just kinda ok? Like, not a bad level, i don't want to give that impression; but there's not much in the presentation to really sink your teeth into, and the gameplay is, for the most part, pretty standard for an LBP2 level. i certainly don't regret the time i spent wiv it, but i don't really think it's going to stick in my memory all that much.

i adored this level. There's just so much great detail work going on. The gameplay can be a bit fiddly sometimes, but it should be pretty clear at this point that a strong presentation will win me over almost every time. i hate that you can hear me coughing again here. i must have recorded this right after the last one. Also, holy crap, but am i loud on the controller. Like you can hear the button presses, and that can't be good for hardware longevity.

No matter how long it looked in the mirror, it remained Taser Temple.

It is super impressive that tyrew12 managed to pull off this animation in game, but it's such a shame that LBP's audio compression just takes a steaming turd all over the actual song. That's been a problem since 2, so i can't throw shade on Sumo for that for once. Still it's worth a watch because the level is quite a feat.

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And that's our ten this go about. Some real good ones in the mix, that's for sure. i am so, so tired tho', and i need to sleep. Before i crash, some fun(?) useless trivia. i made some subplaylists for folx who're interested in stuff from just one game, and it turns out the 226 levels we've played so far 48 have been from LBP, 92 from LBP2, and 86 from LBP3. The LBP2 numbers don't surprise me much, but i honestly thought LBP and LBP3 would have been flipped. It just felt like i was spending a lot of time wiv the really old school stuff, but clearly that's not hardly the case. i'm going to have to do a binge it seems. Anyhoot, i really am beat, it's Sunday, and that's always my chores and errands day on top of a full day of work. Didn't even get my curry made, it's gonna have to be tomorrow morning, 'cause i just have nothing left in the tank, and i still got to get my head shaved up. Hope you're all taking care of yourselves out there and staying safe. Love ya!

[isolaradiale]

Isola DLC Pack: New Game Plus

For part 1 of 2 of the last day of our anniversary, we'd like to introduce some new Isola content!

Please keep in mind that these updates are optional, so if you don't wish to partake in them, you don't have to! But for those looking for something new to add to the Spirale experience, here's what we can offer:

(Don't worry, there's a tl;dr at the bottom of the post)

New Game Plus

Sometimes we've seen our members reset their muses who have either been in the group for years (or have been transferred in at max rank from other RP groups) for a change of pace and new challenges in a familiar setting. While this concept is nothing new, we decided to make that an official feature.

Affectionately dubbed "New Game Plus," you can now reset your Hypergiant-rank characters back to their starting abilities and nerfs, and return their abilities to them on your own terms. Effectively, you won't have to submit asks to the Galaxy Blog to unlock your characters' abilities (because you've already done that once already, right?)

This allows you to take full narrative control of your muse's abilities, and return them (or take them away!) as you deem fit throughout their RP journey. No need for permission! This also applies for your muse's memories of their previous time in the group, which you can give or erase as you'd like.

If you'd like, you may make an additional NG+ Stats Sheet on your blog so other RPers (and yourself) can keep track of what you've given/taken away from your muse.

Please note: You may not add or subtract abilities of your muse in the middle of an event, unless that event grants a character back their abilities. Before participation, you may determine whether your muse will retain their abilities or not, but please don't change this stance unless the event itself states otherwise. The rules of the event will take precedence over NG+, unless otherwise stated.

You may also re-visit your muse's challenges from Isola (or other previous groups your muse has been in) if you wish, now that your characters have grown and developed past their original hardships. Unlike abilities, however, you do have to pose the challenge idea to the Galaxy Blog to get the okay from us. (This is because some challenges affected large areas of the city, had large-scale consequences, or otherwise needed mun permission to function.) However, the turn-around on these should be relatively quick, as we only have to grant permission rather than come up with an entirely new challenge!

Additionally, you may ask for an additional "Hypergiant Rank Challenge" that you can complete, if you so choose. The process is the same for your Giant challenge, except there's a new form you can submit instead (you can find it here, under the typical challenge form.) You won't get any powers unlocked this time, obviously, but you may get something else for your troubles...

To opt into New Game Plus edition of Hypergiant rank, all you need to do is go into your stats page (where your rank should be listed) and put "New Game Plus" or "NG+" next to your 'Hypergiant' rank. (Additionally, it may be helpful to list it somewhere on your blog description, though this isn't mandatory.)

Probably Asked Questions:

"Do I have to NG+ if I hit Hypergiant rank?"

Nope! It's completely optional. You worked hard to fully unlock your character's abilities and weapons, you're allowed to enjoy it.

"Does NG+ only apply to powers?"

Nope! You can choose to add/subtract your muse's weapons, important items, powers, or even memories if you so choose.

"Do I have to give my muse everything back all at once?"

That's up to you! You can keep them in the dark until they do something you think is worth earning their powers back for, or you can grant them bits and pieces as they go along. (This also works in reverse, and you can take away their powers all at once or bit by bit.)

"If my muse doesn't have powers and abilities, can they still opt into NG+?"

Of course!

"Can I opt out of NG+ once I've already put it there?"

Sure! Just be sure to delete it from your stats page, and return all of your muse's abilities back the way they are.

"Can I keep my muse's powers, but erase their memories (and vice versa?)"

Mix and match to your heart's content!

"Can I submit a Hypergiant Challenge request more than once?"

For now, no. We're limiting those to one per muse, sorry!

"Can I re-app a Hypergiant-rank character to use NG+, or does it only apply to people already in the group?"

Sure, you can bring an old max-rank muse back to use NG+! Just make sure there's proof of your original rank on your stats page.

TL;DR

We've added a new feature, New Game Plus, to those who have hit Hypergiant rank in Isola

You can use it to 'reset' your muse's powers/abilities/memories, and you do not have to go through the Masterlist to do it

Instead of asking the galaxy blog for abilities, you can give them back to your muse yourself on your own terms (when they reach personal milestones, once per month, etc. Dealer's choice.)

You can re-do a past challenge, but you do have to summarize the challenge and submit it to the Galaxy Blog so we can grant permission (and balance it if necessary).

You can ask for a new Giant Challenge instead if you would prefer!

NG+ is optional, and you don't have to participate if you don't want to

That was a long post, so thanks for sticking with it until the end! For now, thanks for sticking with us, and we hope this brings some refreshing new pain content for you!

-- The Island Stars