#LET ME PLAY THE REST OF THE SERIES SEGA

[wylldebee]

Sega...please....please sega I am begging please let me play the rest of the series I am begging sega

[skaruresonic]

I want to like Amy but her fans make it difficult.

Every other moment they're throwing another character under the bus to make Amy look better when that shouldn't be necessary. It's like they're playing victim over something that people don't do anymore.

If Amy is perfect like they claim then they shouldn't feel this threatened whenever another female character gets any kind of attention or praise. But without fail every single time another female character is girly, kind, brave, or anything else you can think of, it's somehow an attack on Amy.

Imagine if Sonic's fans got mad everytime there was a new character who was confident and athletic. That's how ridiculous this is.

Normally I'd say it's not really equitable not to give a character a fair shake just because their fans are being obdurate, but I can sympathize with your mindset when it comes to how folks gas up Sonamy. If they were chiller about it, I'd probably like it more. While I appreciate Sonic and Amy's dynamic as friends, I swear people portray it as an issue of life or death, and it's so freaking tiring.

Despite not posting about her much, Amy is actually tied with Maria for the third spot in my favorite Sonic characters list. Both girls are great characters for similar and different reasons. It doesn't make much sense to me to claim Maria is boring when Amy displays many of the same traits.

Heck, I kind of think people exaggerate how bad her Battle portrayal is, making it out to be the bad apple that spoils an otherwise good bushel. It's not fantastic, pretty Yikes(tm), actually; yet you'd think she singlehandedly ruined the game based on the way folks hone in on her portrayal at the expense of ignoring the others. ...and idk, I still laughed at a few of her lines. :v

Amy sits in the same boat as Shadow in that everyone holds their own interpretation of the character close to heart and will get defensive if you say otherwise. I've noticed a certain stubbornness among Amy fans that is also shared by Shadow fans. One time I said "I'm an Amy fan, I don't need a crash course on her character" in response to being linked a thread on her character, and got hit with "oh you're just saying what everyone else says." Like? bruh?

I'm just not one of those fans who's like "AMY DESERVES EVERYTHING EVER." She has her flaws and foibles, just like everyone else in the cast. She has a tendency to step on toes, be a bit whiny, overbearing and one-minded... and it can be simultaneously true that her kindness wins over hearts. Amy contains multitudes.

But it's almost like, for many people, taking her as she is isn't enough. She needs to practically be shown curing world hunger in order to be considered as valid as the boys or something… Which I kinda find more offensive to her character than dismissing her outright.

Why does Amy need to star in everything before you're happy, even though of the female cast, she's technically enjoyed the most screentime? Again, not to pit two bad bitches against each other, but Maria's representation isn't exactly sterling, especially considering how often folks objectify her as Shadow's morality pet or treat her death as something to shock non-fans into thinking the series is Deep and Dark(tm). If you're really for better female representation, you should be arguing for better representation for every girl character, not just saying "let Amy get hers and fuck the rest." This shouldn't be a competition. Everyone can have a seat at the table.

First the fandom consensus was "Sega sucks because they didn't include Amy in Origins." Then when they actually did that and included her in Superstars to boot, fans proceeded to move back the goalposts. Superstars doesn't count, apparently, because (insert spurious reasons here).

Maybe it makes me a bad Amy fan or whatever, but I find her crush on Sonic to be the least interesting aspect of her character in part due to how much emphasis people put on it. She and Sonic cannot have a single conversation without fans being like "OMG OMG THEY LOOKED AT EACH OTHER SONAMY IS CANON," even if canon implies that Amy is imposing on Sonic, such as SatBK's manual describing Sonic preparing for their date as "awaiting a stressful encounter."

Although I can acknowledge that Amy's crush is integral to her character, the way people talk about it makes it seem like female representation in the series as a whole is at stake every time she's mishandled. There's apparently a hashtag trending on Twitter called #letamylove that was made in response to what people perceive as Flynn's mishandling of Frontiers!Amy, FFS. They can't just say "Amy sounds too depressed in Frontiers," no, it has to be blown up into a near-political issue.

The other thing is that people who ship Sonamy often ignore Sonic's feelings and comfort in the matter. Ohshima's tweet that Sonic isn't a "real man" due to his reluctance to express his feelings towards Amy exemplifies this. It's like Sonic is considered some sort of prize that Amy earns through personal growth, when really, folks should be arguing for Amy's personal growth for her own sake.

[superthatguy62]

What Is Up With Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars(' Plot)

Storylines in video games can be hard to appreciate as is based on the genre of the game, much less its actual quality. But then you throw localization into the mix and your chances of consistency drastic go down.

The Sonic The Hedgehog series is a prime example. The Japanese versions of the games had surprisingly in-depth manual stories to set up the games: Stuff like how Sonic met Tails, a written out version of the scene in Mushroom Hill that only plays during S3&K, etc. most of these stories were either cut entirely, given a brief summary, or totally rewritten. And odds are, Sonic isn't the only one to experience this at Sega.

Which brings us to Alex Kidd. Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars' plot as written in the Master System manual never sat well with me. Looking at the Sonic plots made me wonder if there was something else going on here. And what about the arcade version? Does that even have a detailed story? And now, after realizing the power of holding my phone up to the screen while the translation app is loaded, along with some minor sleuthing, I can confidently answer:

Yes, but also no.

Typical disclaimer: I cannot read Japanese. I primarily use online translators (with some checking via Romajidesu) and therefore these translations should be considered rough. If you can actually read Japanese, feel free to correct me. This is moreso to get the info out there in some form and I do not mean to spread misinformation.

Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars is comparable to Sonic Chaos in that each rendition of the plot is different between where it's being rendered; specifically there are three different versions:

The Arcade: The Arcade original. As far as I'm aware, this was only shown in Gamest Magazine issue 6. This iteration is the only iteration to feature Stella as she was cut from the Master System version.

Master System JP: The Japanese Master System manual. Roughly the same, but has a few differences. In particular Stella's removal means the story is now focused squarely on Radaxian and Alex.

Master System ENG: The English Master System manual. Keeps most of the same elements, but rewrites the story completely.

Let's start with the arcade manual to finally figure out who Stella is.

(The story text is page 1, the rest is more for prosperity)

Extracting the text via phone and throwing it into the 2-3 main translators (Google, DeepL, the occasional Romaji) gives us the following:

Once upon a time, there were two small countries called Radakhshan and Rubana. In Radakshan there was a brave prince named Alek. Well, Nirvana has a bright and strong princess named Stella, and the two of them have been on good terms since they were children. One day, Alec, in his ignorance, told the priestess about the night sky that comes just once in a thousand years. When he went to visit the priest Dareda, Dareda told Alec that this was the year of the cataclysm./One day, Alec told me that the night sky only happens once every thousand years. When they went to see the priest Dareda, Dareda told Alec that this year seemed to be the year when something strange happened.A few days later, something strange happened.* An extremely bright star in the night sky became brighter and brighter as it crossed the night sky, and in its wake the beautiful constellations that had been visible until just a moment ago were no longer visible. When people throughout the country learned of this, they mourned. When the kings of the two kingdoms saw what was happening to the people, they asked Dareda what would happen next. Dareda read from an ancient book and told them that those of royal blood should go and search for the constellations. Stella, who happened to overhear this, offered to help. “Father. I and Alec are going to go and restore the constellation. With Alec, there is nothing to be afraid of! And so began their quest for the constellations.

^ The joys of relying largely on machine translations is that when you get situations like this, you don't know which one to go with. Even Romaji didn't make it quite clear.

So, let's establish what this storyline tells us:

Stella is the princess of another kingdom. I am 99% sure the kingdom in question is Nibana, which appeared in Miracle World and is shown to be a neighbor of Radaxian. Interestingly, Alex and Stella are said to be friends since they were kids: Miracle World notes that Alex spent most of his life not knowing he was the prince of Radaxian, which has some interesting implications.

I... do not know what this passage is saying. I assume it's supposed to be "Alex heard of the coming of the night sky and went to visit Daleda to know more". If it's even slightly accurate it could mean that Planet Aeris doesn't see night time very often. Don't think too hard about how that works.

The star that steals the constellations away is unnamed in the arcade version.

"The 2 kings" aspect is interesting: At the end of Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex's brother Igul was crowned king in absence of his father, who had gone missing right as Janken invaded. We're not given any indication if Alex's father had been found, as this game predates Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle, where that plot point was resolved. So Radaxian's king could very well still be Igul.

A prophecy is given that those with royal blood should go look for the constellations.

Interestingly, Stella is the one who overhears and volunteers herself and Alex. She's actually decent focus for being the player two character. Then again, her name is (technically) in the title...

Now that we have the base storyline, here is the Japanese Master System storyline:

And the machine translation:

In a great galaxy, tens of thousands of light years away from the earth, there was a peaceful planet called WAKUSEN ARIES. On that planet, in the kingdom of Radakshan, there was a bright and brave prince named Alex (Aukan Lech). One day, when White Alec went to visit Dareda, he found her with a bitter book in her hand and a serious look on her face. When Alec asked him what was wrong, he replied, “Well, I found a book from long ago. I haven't read it all yet, but it seems to be about a great cataclysm that happens every six months. And it seems that this year will be the half year before the great cataclysm. Dareda told Alec, looking worried. ``Don't worry, nothing's going on,'' Alec said, paying no attention to it. A few days later. Alec felt a strange trepidation and went outside the castle. Then, a bright, dog-like mass appeared from the western horizon and began to cross the sky. As it passed, the stars that had been visible until a moment ago lost their brightness and became invisible. Then, when the dog star disappeared behind the eastern horizon, the night sky became completely dark. After this incident, people's hearts sank into darkness due to the pitch-black night sky… If this continues, the people's hearts will be broken and strife will break out. Concerned about the future of his country, the king called Dareda for advice. Dareda is described in an ancient text as follows: “Once in a thousand years comes a greedy star, Bloom, which passes through the night sky. The Bloom takes the light of the fiery constellations of the fiery stars and makes it its own light. The night sky is darkened, and people are disturbed, and strife breaks out. Those of royal blood set out in search of the light. The Ziggurat gains power, and the constellations shine again. All this is guided by the astrological chart.” I told him what it said. I told him that the book said that if I could find the Miracle Ball, the light would return to the constellations. But if I go, war may break out at any moment. But who am I to…?” At that moment, Alec, who had been listening to the conversation, offered, “Father, let me go. Let me go, father, for the sake of the country I love. There is nothing to be afraid of. At first he was reluctant, but Alec's enthusiasm won him over and he allowed him to go. And so began Alec's adventurous journey in search of the Miracle Ball.

Overall the same plot, but a number of differences:

As previously mentioned, Stella has been completely removed from the plot. The Master System version of The Lost Stars lacked the multiplayer of the arcade version and therefore, Stella is absent from the game. Stella's portion in the story was given to Alex.

The night sky only appearing once every thousand of years (assuming that wasn't a translation gaff on the machines' part to begin with) is changed. Instead the catastrophe that befalls planet Aeries is apparently a half-yearly occurrence?

The missing stars effect on the populace has been expanded upon: With the stars missing, the people fall into despair and potentially disorder. The king also expresses concern that conflict may break out if he were to go.

Speaking of the king, Alex inheriting Stella's lines means that the king is identified as his father. The port came out in 1988, predating Enchanted Castle, which came out in 1989. It's possible the latter was in development though.

The greedy star is identified as the Bloom. The MS port adds "bosses" to the end of the stages and the Bloom is the "boss" of the Ziggarat stage, making it the "final boss".

The Miracle Balls are given a bit more explanation, as its implied that they power the Ziggarat, explaining why you to take the balls there and how they return the stars to the sky.

Last, but not least, we have the English Master System Version:

(I am not writing down all of that).

Reading the manual, there are clear differences:

The plot is wildly different. The overall gist is the same, but the actual content completely changed.

A bit of an error, but the writer conflated Radaxian with Aries in its entirety, making Alex and his family the royal family of the entire planet.

Again, Alex's father seems to have been found off-screen despite Miracle World making that into a cliffhanger and Enchanted Castle wrapping up that plot point.

Alex meets with Daleda after the stars have vanished rather than before.

The time frame for the incident is now 5,000 years and it does not seem to be a reoccurance.

The manual creates a whole story about an ancestor of Alex, Halifax Kidd who defeated the Bloom, making the Bloom's return partially an act of revenge.

The Bloom is referred to as "Ziggarat", seemingly due to the writer not knowing what the Ziggarat actually is.

It's explained that Alex is traveling to 6 different worlds

The Miracle Balls are explained as being what the Bloom hid the stars in. The other versions seem to suggest that the Bloom stole the stars' light rather than the stars themselves.

The second loop is actually mentioned in the last bit.

Honestly, the primary reason I made this writeup is because this is one of the few things I've seen to actually explain who Stella is. The few times she's more than a cameo, she's just called Alex's friend. So it's neat that there's more to her presence in-universe than just being the Luigi to Alex's Mario.

(Big ups to SegaRetro and the Internet Archive for the scans of the manuals/Gamest respectively).

[everygame]

Yakuza 4 

Developed/Published by: Sega CS1 R&D / Sega Released: 15/03/2011 Completed: 18/12/2024 Completion: Finished the story and all substories (other than the hostess club ones.)

Well, it’s taken me five years to play another game in this series, thanks to a global pandemic meaning my PS3 was in storage miles and miles away from me, and because one of the main roles, Masayoshi Tanimura, was recast for the remastered version, I absolutely refused to play it first (it’s like wanting to play a Lucasarts adventure in EGA. You want to see the original author's intent!)

Anyway, it’s a good thing too, because–as I mentioned the last time I was on the Insert Credit podcast–Yakuza 4 takes ages to install and while it’s installing it’s the only place you hear the vocal version of the main theme, “For Faith” and it absolutely slaps. They literally just play it about ten times in a row, setting a precedent where I play it ten times in a row. I find it hard to believe there will be a better track across the entire series (though I’m excited to find out if there is) because I have to be honest that nothing from 1, 2, or 3 stuck with me.

You should listen to this while reading the rest of the article, right?

Unfortunately, outside of one of the most hype tracks ever, Yakuza 4 is… kind of a mess? It’s not actively the fault of the Yakuza core, which is all there and accounted for, but simply that the game feels like it’s a billion hours long and the narrative is… genuinely nonsensical.

Taking place a year after Yakuza 3, with Kiryu still running an orphanage in Okinawa, the plot hinges on a massacre of 18 yakuza in 1985 in a botched hit on a clan chairman. We play and follow the stories of Shun Akiyama, a loan shark(!), Masayoshi Tanimura, a corrupt cop(!!) and Taiga Saejima, the guy who did the massacre(!!!) gradually unravelling the mystery of what happened and why it connects their lives, before Kiryu has to show up and (ostensibly) pull all the threads together in a humdinger of a climax.

This does not, exactly, go as you might hope. First let me say that one of my absolute favourite thing about the Yakuza games is that it is a rule that you are playing the kindest, nicest person who ever lived, but who will also, at a drop of a hat, beat you within an inch of your life with the nearest piece of roadworks. It reaches absolutely absurd levels here as our loan shark turns out to be giving his money away without even charging interest [“come on man, at least charge inflation”--Investment Ed.] our corrupt cop turns out to be shaking people down to support and protect immigrants who otherwise have no legal recourse, and our mass murderer turns out to (spoilers!) have never killed anyone at all!!!

This “our heroes are the most honorable men to have ever lived” gimmick is especially funny here because if you look a bit deeper it gets a bit confusing. Our loan shark does a surprising amount of funnelling desperate people into sex work as a condition of a loan (sex work is work, but it definitely feels like coercion) our corrupt cop turns a blind eye to some seriously fucked up stuff to get kickbacks, and Saejima… definitely intended to kill those dudes!

The problem ultimately is that compared to the (relatively) straightforward stories of 2 and 3, 4 gets lost in a web of increasingly unbelievable twists even as it should be following a fairly straightforward episodic form. You have never seen any piece of media where this many characters get shot to death and then turn out to never have been shot at all. Indeed my favourite bit in the game might be when a character says “ok I’m going to kill these two people now” before a cliffhanger, only for one of the characters you just thought were shot to show up in basically the next scene and for another character to attempt to explain away why he said that. It doesn’t work.

The game was written by Masayoshi Yokoyama as the other games have been, but I have to wonder if the script was in flux for a long time, or if there was meddling from the top down. Notably, Kiryu feels absolutely inessential to the plot here. His chapter front loads about an hour of cutscenes and he doesn’t really do anything except any substories you choose to do. It’s possible he wasn’t originally planned to be included, but maybe they just liked the idea of the fourth game having four protagonists.

The game generally feels unbalanced–the first character you play, Akiyama, does seem to have the most interesting stuff to do, and he’s the most charming, interesting non-Kiryu protagonist–and I was disappointed in the substories this time around. Maybe it’s just that I’m four games in, but “go to place, beat up guys, go to other place, beat up guys” isn’t that interesting the hundredth time you do it, and the stories generally aren’t interesting enough to make up for it. 

As usual, there are a zillion mini games, but this time round managing hostesses is made as tedious as possible (you have to walk around the club listening to people and constantly dressing your hostesses differently???) and the only other in-depth mode is a martial artist manager that I wasn’t too excited for either.

This is still a Yakuza game, though, and it’s still entertaining! I love strolling Kamurocho and I still enjoyed the fighting even if I didn’t love having four different fighting styles to remember in the climax. The issues really do relate to the story, which constantly undercuts any opportunity to be moving by constantly being confusing or ridiculous. The game actually ends with an intense one-on-one battle for each of the protagonists to a different arrangement of For Faith and it should have made me so hype but for at least three out of four battles I was confused as to why they were happening.

Unfortunately, I’ve heard that Yakuza 5 doesn’t make massively more sense, but hopefully it won’t take another five years to get to it.

Will I ever play it again? Of the Yakuzas I’ve played, this definitely feels like the most inessential to play. 1 and 2 have Kiwami versions (although I believe that 2 has some cuts and visual downgrading in its remaster) and 3 was chopped to ribbons in localisation, whereas this one has everything in the remastered version. So probably not!

Final Thought: Actually, it might take five years to get there, considering I’ve got two PSP exclusive Yakuzas and Yakuza Dead Souls to get through first. There are so many of these!!!

Every Game I’ve Finished 14>24 is OUT NOW! You can pick it up in paperback, kindle, or epub/pdf. You can also support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi! You can pick up digital copies of exp., a zine featuring all-exclusive writing at my shop, or join as a supporter at just $1 a month and get articles like this a week early.

[spinningbuster98]

Sonic the Hedgehog CD Part 1: Sonic CD is sponsored by Marty McFly

Oh boy, now we’re getting into some spicy territory!

My history with CD is...complicated

Unlike the other Classic titles, while I was exposed to this one at around that same time thanks to the Sonic Gems Collection, I never played it quite as much due to...reasons that will become quite clear in future parts. It’s only with the release of the Whitehead version years ago that I truly dived into this game

So let’s start with the best and most obvious parts

Firstly: the opening and closing cinematics are literally some of my favorite pieces of animation ever. (Well the uncompressed versions anyway, ‘cause the Sega CD was what it was). Not just because they’re animated beautifully but because they feature what is, to me, the gold standard of Sonic’s body language.

This Sonic is quick, adventurous and fun loving when he’s zooming around, but dead serious and determined once he notices Eggman’s effect on Little Planet

But most of all: he’s cool. He’s effortlessly cool in the way he runs around and toys with badniks, while at the same time still retaining a cutesy side to him to remind you that this is still a light hearted and fun loving cartoon character

While I’m not one of those people who thinks that Sonic should never talk (specifically Classic), there is a case to be made on how in just a few minutes’ worth of animation CD is able to tell us literally everything there is to know about Sonic’s character without having him utter a single word while the Storybook games had to devote hours long narratives to get the point across. It also further lampshades just how backwards Sega’s recent handling of Classic as a character has been, focusing completely on his cutesy side while completely neglecting his cooler one, or at least downplaying it, while one of the main reasons for the switch to Modern was because they feared that Classic was being perceived as too cute by fans at the time, but whatever that’s a topic for another time

From a graphical standpoint...yeah this game is above and beyond the best of the classics, both in general spritework (though bosses in Sonic 3 actually look better, but that might just be due to that game having actual bosses that look more imposing in general), color variation, level of detail and artstyle, which is without even mentioning the way that the game manages to tell a simple yet subtle narrative through its backgrounds but I’ll focus on that at a later time

But personally I’ve...actually never been head over heels for these graphics unlike everyone else, mostly due to a personal thing, since Sonic game move so quickly it’s usually hard for me to really focus on background details and whatnot, which isn’t helped by the one thing you’ll be looking at the most, Sonic’s sprite, pretty much being ripped straight from Sonic 1 and looking so out of place compared to the rest of the game. But again: it’s not a knock against the game, it’s just me

Musically I...think it’s good, it’s certainly the most varied and smartly utilised soundtrack in the Classic games (or even in the whole series) due to how each track ties very well to the feel of not only each Zone but also each era, but personally? When it comes to Sonic music I tend to prefer more upbeat, fast paced tracks. CD’s OST is much slower and usually pretty calming and atmospheric, which works very well for what it’s trying to accomplish, it’s just not what I personally prefer to hear in a Sonic game (and yeah I’m talking about the JPN score, it’s been ages since I’ve listened to the US tracks)

On the other hand however I like all of the vocal tracks

Sonic Boom was the first I was introduced to and it still sounds great, but over time I also gained a lot of appreciation for You can do anything. The lyrics are really cheesy and are bordering on nonesense half the time, but I like the energy it has

My absolute favorite however is Cosmic Eternity. I really wish more people would talk about this one because this is, and I’m not kidding here, one of my favorite Sonic songs in general. Right up there with the likes of Open your Heart, Live and Learn and What I’m Made of. It’s just so upbeat and uplifting, it fits both this game’s happier aspects and Sonic’s character like a glove, the latter more in the sense that it sounds like something that Sonic would sing someone to cheer them up

[blazehedgehog]

Not all that related to the last question outside of the name drop, but what are your thoughts on Donkey Kong 64?

So generally I'd get consoles when they were new and relevant. Not brand new, like I'd never have them at launch, but at some point during that generation, my Mom would find a sale somewhere or save up enough money or whatever.

So, for example, 1992, I got a SNES. 1994, I got a Genesis. 1995, I got a 32X and a Sega CD, because in both scenarios, Toys 'R' Us was having an overstock fire sale and you could pick the hardware up for about $30 each and games for around $2. 1996, I got lucky and had enough money to buy a Sega Saturn for myself. 1997, I got a Playstation for Christmas. So on and so forth.

The one time that did not happen was with the Nintendo 64. The N64 was the rich kids console. A Playstation game was about $30, maybe $40. A Nintendo 64 game could be $60, $70, even $90+.

Not something you get when you're a family that has more or less lived paycheck to paycheck for basically their entire lifetime.

So I think it was after I got my Gamecube in 2004 or 2005, my Mom surprised me with a brand new hot pink Nintendo 64 and a huge number of pre-owned games. At the time I was confused and a little let down, but in retrospect it was actually kind of awesome, because she got me Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Pokemon Stadium (with the Gameboy attachment!), Ocarina of Time, Diddy Kong Racing, Perfect Dark, and lastly, Donkey Kong 64.

She had fond memories of the year I got Donkey Kong Country for Christmas, and swapping the controller back and forth as we played. She wasn't very good at those games, but she thought the game looked beautiful, and hoped DK64 would fill that niche. Unfortunately, outside of the two racing games, she struggled to understand 3D analog character movement and it kind of soured her on all video games, forever.

I was already well acquainted with Super Mario 64. I was the kind of kid that latched on to in-store demo kiosks and would stand there playing for hours as long as nobody else was around, and I'd played quite a lot at a friend's house. I'd seen almost the entire game by this point. So, I dove right into Donkey Kong 64 first.

Well. That's a lie. Gamestop had sold my Mom Donkey Kong 64 without the RAM expansion cart. She knew the game required it, and they claimed to have included it at the time, but it was nowhere to be found. So we had to wait a day for the store to open back up.

But when I finally sat down to play it, the first impression I remember having was it taking over 20 minutes for me to get my first golden banana and thinking, "I hope the rest of the game isn't like that." Because, you know, 30 minutes in Super Mario 64, and you probably have enough stars to be halfway to the first boss fight. Each star (and in this case, golden banana) is tantamount to the game's "level" and opening with a level that took me 20+ minutes to figure out and complete is kind of outrageous.

But the rest of the game is actually worse.

Donkey Kong 64 is maybe the first and greatest example of quantity over quality. As legend goes, the game began development with Tim Stamper handing the team a list of items he thought needed to be collectables in their next game. If you have so many collectables you need to make a list to hold them all, that's your first mistake.

DK64 is a grind. It's a slog. Individual ideas don't seem so bad when viewed in isolation but everything around them is so watered down and stretched so thin that it's exhausting to deal with. It is a game about testing the limits of your tolerance for tedium.

My second strongest memory is opening up the final level and it taking me close to an hour. It's kind of a series of challenge rooms and minigames tailored to each Kong. The thing is, you get a time limit to finish the level. For every blueprint you've found elsewhere in the game, the timer gets extended, which is how I know how long it took me to finish the level.

Except... I didn't finish it. I got all the way to the final door, and with only a few minutes to spare, realized you needed both a Nintendo coin and a Rareware coin in order to open it and reach the final boss. I think I only had the Rareware coin.

Knowing how long it took me to get through this level, combined with the fact I'd have to find that Nintendo coin, and everything else... I gave up. I thought, "naw, I'm good."

And I didn't touch the game for 15 years.

Sometime in the last couple years, for whatever reason, I began poking at DK64 again in an emulator.

Not like, a lot. Just every now and then. But then I got up to Gloomy Galleon, and that level is the first one that really, actually, massively sucks so I haven't gone back to it in like six months.

Anyway. Awful game. Rare had really messed up priorities and the game is a massive disappointment. Sometimes it's a wonder Nintendo gave them the Donkey Kong license.

[crmsnmth]

Finding Comfort

My favorite game growing up was Bubsy: Claws Encounters of The Furred Kind. I didn't realize the awful controls, or that Bubsy never ever stopped with one-liners and quips, only comparable to the absolute worst of bad puns and shitty pop culture references. I didn't realize that the momentum and snaps of camera weren't all the best for feelings of motion sickness. I had no idea that it was repetitive and kind of a boring game overall. I didn't feel like the hit boxes around enemies was utterly damaged and sometimes you die from heights and sometimes you don't. The very basic rules of the game are flawed with bad design choices and even worse programming.

But I loved it. I only had five games for my Sega Genesis, and Bubsy was the one that held my attention. It held it over Sonic The Hedgehog, over Tailspin, over Bio-hazard Battle, and definitely far over Cutthroat Island. I could never get past the third act on Marble Zone. I couldn't keep up with the patterns of Dr. Robotnik. And I never could get past the first flying stage in Tailspin, until I learned it's easier as Baloo and not Kit. I never was all that great at the side shooting space ship games, but I played the crap out of the first level. It took me years before I ever beat the first boss. And Cutthroat island was impossible for a kid more excited to be playing a video game, then to be any good at it.

But Bubsy was different. It was playing a cartoon, with it's ADHD gameplay and constant cartoon physics that it enthralled me. It hooked me as a kid, and I played it all the time. I figured out every path through it, and tonight I was going to beat it, come hell or high water. I think my parents were having a party that night, because I never was allowed to play more than an hour a day. Unless there was a party, and there were a lot of parties. Which meant I went to my room, closed the door, and played Bubsy on a little combination VCR/TV combo that sat with small screen atop my dresser. And I'd play Bubsy instead of listening to the sounds of snorting, and laughter, and talking that seemed to be way to fast to be normal. But Bubsy's little one-liners would mute out the sound.

And I'd play late into the night. Even as a kid I was an insomniac. I'd have my light off and just be in the glow of a digital world that I enjoyed so deeply. It was there on nights where my parents weren't having a party, but instead shouting and screaming and throwing things. It was there when I learned how to entertain myself, because there was no one willing to do anything. You can only ride your bike in the driveway for so long before the scenery gets boring. It was there when I started to realize that that's how life was, and you had to learn to love your isolation. It was there to make me laugh at the horrible cartoon animations, especially of the death sequences when nothing else seemed bright. I never did beat it.

I grew, and eventually moved on with consoles, old one's being stacked at the foot of my closet, forgotten for the next generation, with shoe boxes filled with old games and cords. And I learned of the awfulness everybody thought of one of my all-time favorite games. I learned about all it's actual major flaws, and as soon as it was pointed out to me, I couldn't help but agree. But I agreed, sheepishly. Like a cat owner telling you how much they love their little asshole. My cat's a pain in the ass, but she's my best friend. I learned it had sequels that I'd never played, and when I did eventually play the rest in the series, I was let down. The magic wasn't there like it was in that over sized black Sega Genesis cart. And as dramatic as this sounds, that was the day my childhood officially ended.

Then life came, and I traveled. I suffered loss and heartbreak and addiction and have started over more times then I can count. I've had some triumphs, but a lot more failure. I've lived isolated, and I've lived always outside. And life got hard. It got hard and I didn't know what to do. I searched inside myself, trying to remember who I was. Who I was supposed to be. I searched through months of alcohol induced sleep. Through the dance between dealer and user. I searched through rehabilitation, and through relapse. I searched through loves, both real and imagined. I searched through razorblade traces, and through far too many little yellow pills. I searched, and I searched, and I searched.

I couldn't find myself, so I sunk deeper into myself, as if my brain was sentient quicksand, knowing exactly where I had to step to save myself. To actually learn myself. To remind myself that no matter how hard life kicked me down I had to stand up and never fall down that route again.

While stoned and alone with the internet, I found an emulator one day, a Sega Genesis emulator. I'd never even thought about that little black box that kept me company on thumping rock music nights, in so many years. And as I looked through rom files, stoned and staring at lists and lists of games, I downloaded one here and there, the usual games people get. Sonic, Gunstar, the one's that top every top ten list. And there was a picture of the stupid annoying bobcat. I downloaded it, as a joke, because Bubsy is so awful. I wanted to see how bad it really was, you know, for funsies. I know it's awful. Everyone says it's awful. Everyone lists it as one of the worst games ever made. But as soon as that download finished, I was loading it.

And the screen went black and to the publishing screens, and there was a twitch in my head. A quick blinking of my lids. And I pressed start. And that familiar music started playing. The graphics which are still an odd choice instantly brought me back to being eight years old again. And I played. I ran through the first three levels, because those are the ones I played the most. I jumped on dumb enemy design, watching them puff into a fighting scuffle of smoke. For the first time in years, I was safe. I was in a place I knew for a long time. I was with something I had forgotten knew how to comfort me. And it comforted me. The fairground levels made me tear up, feeling a sense of ease I didn't know actually existed. By the time the swamp levels began, I wasn't the person I disliked anymore. I was that quiet kid, who was more excited to be playing a video game, then I was to be any good at it.

I beat the game that night, in one simple cathartic moment. It was over. The game was finally over. This horribly made annoyance of game was over. I had finally tackled a beast. And I cried. I know how pathetic that must really sound, but I cried. It was a release. A chapter finally closed. The exaltation of beating a game I once held so close to my heart was such a release. And it may have been because I no longer heard the sounds of a lower case home. It was quiet when the credits rolled. And I slept as the game played its animations over and over again. Unwatched by closed eyes with quiet dreams.

[iloveabunchofgames]

#JakeReviewsItch

Alone With You

by BancyCo

Price (US): $9.99

Included In: Bundle for Ukraine

Genre: Adventure

Pitch: The sole-survivor of an off-world terraforming colony must work with an A.I. to scan the wreckage and build relationships with hologram reproductions of deceased colony leaders in order to escape the inhospitable planet. Inspired by Sega-CD adventure games and described as "Space Quest-meets-OK Cupid."

My expectations: A romantic, Sega-CD-style point-and-click adventure with a gorgeous art style? Um, yes, please! My only hesitation is that the developer calls this the follow-up to Home, a critically acclaimed game that I'm pretty sure I played and didn't like at all. It's possible I'm misremembering, though.

Review:

Alone With You is one of the best-looking games I’ve reviewed for this page.

Now that I’ve said something nice, let’s move on to the rest of my thoughts.

Here’s the short version: No. Alone With You is beautiful, and it knows it. While most of the game is displayed from a distant, three-quarters view, many actions cut to dramatic, tightly framed, full-screen animations. They look outstanding!

The first time.

The first 10 times, even.

I can’t watch the same unskippable clips more than that. I can’t.

A typical in-game day consists of waking up, walking through several rooms to a vehicle, watching a few animations while getting in and out of the vehicle, walking to an abandoned facility, tapping every object in every room (accompanied by a whole buncha words, saying nothing of interest), maybe solve one “puzzle” (a generous term), tap more stuff, and head back.

By night, there are dialogue scenes with dialogue options. One or two choices might be vaguely meaningful. In all other cases, you have to go through every option, one by one. Folks, I give you…video games. Boring environments. Boring story. A game that practically plays itself. Torturous repetition. But it looks nice.

+ It looks nice. + Good controls. The "initiate dialogue button" is never a "choose dialogue button." Even high-budget, high-profile games from major studios routinely get that one wrong.

– Repetitive. – A visual novel with no writing chops. A dating sim without dating or characters. An adventure game that plays itself. – Every facility looks the same except for one thing. Did the person in charge like books? Then her building has books. Did the person like plants? Then you guessed it, plants. This doubles as the character's entire personality. "Hi. I like plants. Do you like plants? What an interesting thought. It's kind of like me with plants." – Repetitive.

🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍

Bottom Line: Gosh, it looks nice. (Except for the faces. I don't like the faces in Alone With Me or Home. Anyway, the rest of it looks amazing.) I gave it a couple hours. Skipping all the text, I'm sure I could have powered through to the end in one or two more, but no. I don't care what I missed; I can't spend another minute with this game. Don't waste your time.

#JakeReviewsTwitch is a series of daily game reviews. You can learn more here. You can also browse past reviews...

• By name • By rating • By genre

[crystalmaiden77real]

The Games are 6% of Sonic pre-IDW:

Do the people who only like the games of Sonic like most of Sonic? Do they like even 51% if they hate the comics and cartoons? Long story short, no, they don’t even like 10% of it. There are just 74 official Sonic games and 1531 pre-IDW alternate continuity stories that aren’t untranslated manga. The list of 74 Sonic games includes games that most Sonic fans would dismiss anyways, like the Game Gear games and spin-offs. How many games do casual Sonic fans like? 14, give or take. 1531/14=109.3, less than 10% of it. Define a fan of something. Is it, “ hating everything but 1 section in it? “ The dictionary definition of purist is “ believing in and following very traditional rules or ideas about a subject. “

To each own, I’m sad about it because they’re missing out on a lot of great stories, but they don’t have to like all of it. I notice all of the big problems in every alternate continuity too, so I’m not passing judgement on them just for that. The problem is these people seriously claim with a straight face that they are Sonic fans and think they should be catered to by Sega exclusively. By that logic Sega should cater to Mario fans instead. This is why some fans have taken to calling the haters of Archie and SatAM, “ Canon Nazis. “

It makes more sense to only cater to the fans that like most of a series and ignore the others because only catering to purists will only alienate the ones actually buying its new products. Archie pre-reboot isn’t mandatory to like, it’s only 623 stories. 1531-623=908. But fans that like enough of the rest of the series and not that are rare. 1531-623-27 SatAM stories=881. While that’s still more than 50% of the stories, what are the chances of someone who hates Archie and SatAM liking EVERYTHING else in the franchise?

Archie and SatAM have some big problems which I don’t like either but I look past them because there’s so many well-written stories I’d hate otherwise. The type of people that can’t look past them aren’t gonna be very forgiving of big problems that are obvious. Chris Thorndyke’s not gonna be tolerable for them. That’s -78 episodes there, getting at 803. Sonic X also had a 40 issue comic, and there is no way they wanted to read that. That’s 763, 2 below 765. Less than 50% of the franchise. The people who hate SatAM and Archie are extremely unlikely to have even found out about the translated Sonic manga, let alone liked all 16 of them. That’s 749.

And it’s likely for a game purist to hate all of even the mostly game-like Sonic the Comic because Sonic and Tails aren’t enough like they are in the games in it. Minus 367! That’s 382! Sonic also isn’t like himself in Sonic Prime since he’s a big idiot. It also wouldn’t be surprising if game purists tended to hate Sonic Boom AND its comic, since its main gimmick is having most of the main characters be Out of Character in annoying ways. That’s minus 104 episodes and 12 stories of its comic.

These people hate most of the franchise. Quantifiably how are they Sonic fans? They’d be the type to wish all of these alternate continuities didn’t make up the franchise or say they don’t count, and now imagine someone said that about the Batman Animated Series. After all, it’s an alternate continuity of Batman. At the same time, imagine if someone said Batman should only be that one show. I don't claim to be a Final Fantasy fan when I've only played the first 2 games. I'd never be mad at it for not trying to cater to just me either.

[gamerdadchronicles]

The Beginning

This space is intended, really, for me. However, if you find it, please know this is a documented thought experiment and something I have talked to one of my best friends about. It is an attempt to understand my own enjoyment of video games and how fathers my age view and enjoy video games. The success of this site and this content is not the end game. I am going to be journaling in this space as I play through some of my favorite video games of all time. This experiment, as I am calling, is very organic. I know of one or two titles I will be playing through and have thought only that far.

It is my intention to add merit to enjoying a form of entertainment that has evolved tremendously over the course of my lifetime. I believe myself to be an academic of sorts and let’s be honest, the idea of executing an experiment focused on video games is something that piques my scholarly side, my gamer side, and through writing and hopefully some video editing, my creative side.

There are currently no sponsors for this experiment , no deadlines, and no grand expectations. I want to find out what it is about gaming and certain games, in particular, that have affected my life and have made gaming my number one form of entertainment.

For background, I am a husband, father of two beautiful daughters, and a lighting/performance engineer. That last title is something my company has developed for me. I went to college for Music Education and then obtained a Masters degree in Theatre.

Enough with the formalities, I want to get to the goods. I began playing video games at the age of five when Santa brought my a Nintendo Entertainment System on Christmas. Now, at the time, the system was definitely for my father who was the ripe old age of 24. A kid with kids having an exciting buy video games. Fast forward quickly almost 35 years and I too now buy my five year old video games so she, I mean I, I mean we can play together. Along side the NES, I was blessed to add an original GameBoy some years later. From there I owned a Sega Genesis, bought my very own PlayStation (lots of yards were mowed to dang that bad boy), a PlayStation 2, an XBOX, a PlayStation 3, an XBOX 360, an XBOX one, and a PlayStation 4, before finding my sweet spot with a Nintendo Switch, an XBOX Series S, and yes even gaming’s master race, the PC. Over the past three years, my switch has seen the most play. The convenience of being able to play on the big screen and then take the game with me with little to no stops cannot be beat. Also, as my family has grown, the ability to stop most games and turn them back on when I have a minute is amazing. Again, no sponsorship here, but the Switch has been the most clutch during the period of diapers and bottles for our family.

I digress. The point is, I have played a lot of games across a lot of platform forms and there have been a select few that have transcended the rest. The first two games I want to run through this experiment are World of Warcraft and Skyrim. In the next post I will lay out my World of Warcraft data collection, goals, and my history with the game.

[guerilla935]

My Favorite Fishing in Video Games Where Fishing is Not Core Game Play

A really awesome surprise for me is always to boot up a game that is full of action and suspense to be introduced to a fishing side activity. I have toiled away at fishing in games for hundreds of hours at least. It has gotten so bad in some instances that my friends have asked me why I haven’t just taken the plunge into real fishing. It’s definitely because that is a lot of work and in real life I don’t catch a fish every 30 seconds. They have also wondered why I don’t just play a fishing simulator like Planet Fishing (Shout out to Planet Fishing that’s a great game). And that’s where I have to think for a while. Fishing while you have better things to do like save the world is very special. You aren’t fishing because it’s the objective of the game or because that’s why you are there, you are fishing because it’s fun and maybe you need a break to swing a fishing rod instead of a sword. And then you can stop, and get back to fighting or whatever the rest of the game entails. Below are games that have fishing in them for mostly no reason at all. I have shamelessly spent way to long with my bait in these waters and absolutely loved every second of it and I hope that you (the reader) can find a lot of relaxation in these waters as well.

Pokemon Series

Since the very first Pokemon game there has been fishing. You get the old rod from some guy and then you are free to fish up as many goldfishes that you want hoping that one of them will grow up to be a 21 foot tall dragon. Pokemon has combined their fishing with their main game play and makes you at least start a battle with the fish you drag onto shore. Now fishing in Pokemon is pretty subpar mainly because a single Pokemon game hasn’t really been known to have more than a handful of Pokemon that you can fish for. Also if you are looking for a strong water type Pokemon you could do a lot better than fishing for it. Typically a Pokemon player will fish about 5-10 times total. And although fishing for Pokemon isn’t all that great it has been in every game for over 20 years and that is pretty impressive. It’s a small detail that makes the world of Pokemon feel like a real world of wild creatures.

Sonic Adventure DX

In Sonic Adventure DX you are given the choice to play as a lot of different characters, one of which is named Big the Cat. Most of the characters are combat characters that rely on speed and attacks to get through levels, some even wielding rocket launchers and extremely oversized hammers. However when you start the story of Big the Cat you are thrown in a completely opposite direction. Big the Cat is a giant purple cat who lives in the jungle with his best friend Froggy. Froggy accidentally swallows one of the most powerful objects in the Sonic universe and Big the Cat must chase him all over the world trying to fish him out of where he is hiding so that he can eject the Chaos Emerald out of him and they can return to their life in the jungle. The fishing mechanics in this game actually are really good and this is probably because Sega had just put out a series of mildly successful Bass fishing games before releasing this game. Either way its absolutely hilarious that Big the Cat gets to defeat Chaos 6 right before Super Sonic has his showdown with Chaos Perfect.

Final Fantasy XV

In Final Fantasy XV you play as Noctis and his favorite hobby is fishing. When I first played this game I sped through it and never fished once and reached the end of the game never indulging Noctis in his hobby. When I replayed Final Fantasy XV I fished for 50 hours and then ejected the disc from my console. The fishing in Final Fantasy XV is surprisingly deep with a lot of the vendors supporting what you could call a fishing road trip. In the game it is extremely dangerous to be out at night so I would plan day trips to lakes to maximize the amount of fishing I would get to do. I would prepare days in advance to make sure I could afford the trip and that I had enough supplies to both protect myself at the lake and have enough supplies to last the whole day. Final Fantasy XV really is a game about getting really distracted and fishing is probably its best distraction. My days on the lake were the perfect balance of peaceful and rewarding, this game offers an awesome reward of well planned trips and a good haul of fish.

Final Fantasy XIV Online

Final Fantasy XIV is the only game I have ever played where the fishing played exactly like its combat. When you are fighting enemies in a dungeon in FFXIV you are constantly adding buffs, landing hits, using consumables, and managing resource bars. When you are fishing in FFXIV you are constantly adding buffs, landing hits, using consumables, and managing resource bars. Note you are doing so at a much more leisurely and less life threatening pace but you are still doing it. I never maxed out the fisher class but I got it into the expansion content which was a really long and relaxing experience. Yet another Final Fantasy title where the real meat of the game is in getting distracted. When you fish you also sell on a player market that fluctuates based on market price just like real fish. You get the relaxing fishing side of the game and also an aggressive economic number crunching side as well. I spent way too long with a real pen and paper deciding how much I should sell for on any particular day and bossing around my two cat girl employees.The MMO aspect of the game adds so much to what you would expect to be a very solitary experience.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Have you ever gone fishing for hours to receive an empty bottle? That is exactly what kick started my addiction to fishing in Twilight Princess. An empty bottle in Twilight Princess means another way to heal yourself, another way to add oil to a lantern, another way to carry useless water around. The only way to get the 4th bottle in the game is to go to a dedicated fishing spot and fish until you pulled it out of the pond. The actual fishing is pretty weird, it involves motion controls which I still am not entirely sure what they do or how to properly use them but it is really fun to hold the pole in gyroscope and set the lure in the water waiting for fish to come get a nibble. Although the physics with the water make it difficult to see if you have actually gotten a bite or not it still is enjoyable the other 85% of the time it works.

Stardew Valley

So this one is at the top of every other “fishing in games” list and there is a big reason for that. It’s really good. I think in my first Stardew Valley farm I gave up farming entirely and fished all day every day and stopped to buy food to replenish my energy and go back at it. I really didn’t care about getting rich or making enough money to expand the farm or get to know everyone I actually spent about 50 hours just fishing. The fishing takes some skill and a pretty keen eye but the random jerks of the fish and the rhythm of the game play are so fun to try to master. It’s a part of Stardew Valley that I felt like I was continuously improving on as time went on and it was really fun. I mean I don’t recommend it because you’ll end up moderately poor but it was really fun.

Fantasy Life

Fantasy Life offers you 12 potential jobs, you could be a brilliant blacksmith or a devious potions maker, a lumberjack or a knight, a hunter or a seamstress. However your inner dad is calling and you decide you want to play through a fantasy RPG as a fisherman, hell yeah. the story is relatively short so you can quickly unlock a lot of locales to fish at and there is a manageable economy system that lets you deal in fish in advantageous ways. You can even pick up cooking on the side and make fancy dinners and sell the fish for higher you can do that as well. Fantasy Life is like a clever mix between Animal Crossing and Final Fantasy XIV and it kind of succeeds and falls short of it. The fishing also takes a good amount of skill and rhythmic approach to master so it doesn’t get boring almost at all until you have cleared the game.

Maple Story 2

Maple Story 2 is one of the most expressive and cutest games that I have ever played. And the fishing is no different, its all about style. The fishing in Maple Story 2 is monotonous and can get old but you do it for the chibi clout. Because much like the rest of the game you can look however you want and do whatever you want and sometimes you just feel like kicking back and throwing lure in the water at the beach. I never got super into the fishing in this game but it won me over with its adorable design and stylish atmosphere.

Animal Crossing Series

Of course I had to include the most popular game right now. Animal Crossing has become something of a connection between people when we can’t leave the house. A thing we all have in common on social media and with our friends. My first experience with Animal Crossing really starts with New Horizons and I was completely blown away. The fishing isn’t super complex or difficult but the range of what you can pull out of the water and what you can do with it is absolutely breathtaking. For a game about cartoon people living with humanoid cartoon animals the fish looking photo realistic. And the museum where they can be kept is stunning. The museum looks like it was designed to capture the feel of being in a museum and matches the design of all the great real life aquariums and observatories. Although it is a bit frustrating when your rod breaks it is easy enough to make one (or worst case buy one) to get your bait back in the water.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Tell me I’m wrong, you can’t. Isabelle getting added to Smash brought a very powerful fishing move that isn’t practical all the time but is really funny. Wouldn’t recommend this game if you are looking to relax and fish but I do recommend hooking your friend with a fish hook and send them flying off screen if you had to.

Minecraft

I have a very special role in Minecraft when I join a friends server. A role that I assign to myself. While everyone is off getting awesome swords, spelunking for diamonds, and exploring the infinite landscape, I build a small wooden shack and I set up a farm with an irrigation canal and start fishing. A steady supply of food is necessary and while I’m hanging out with my friends in a server I’m happy to be the one to provide it. The fishing in this game is probably the slowest of all the ones on this list but is the most useful. just throwing the fish in the oven creates food that can help keep you and your companions alive for a long time. I think I definitely have my limits with Minecraft fishing and I couldn’t do it for hours on end it is rewarding to set up shop and find a nice place to settle down for a few hours to fish.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

This is the only Tactical RPG in this post. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has sections between combat where you can go and talk to your students and do other activities. We aren’t here to discuss other activities though we are here for the fishing. The fishing allows you to catch fish for some reason that I’m sure is good but never intrigued me enough to learn. All I know about the fishing in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is that it’s fun. I started to bust through combat just so that I could get back to fishing. The funniest part about this one is that the fish has a health bar. Pressing the A button at the exact moment finds a way to become easier and still find ways to mess you up. Either way, I’m not that interested in tactical RPGs but I heard there was fishing in this game so I had to play it and it was worth it.

Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

In Jak & Daxter, Daxter gets turned into a small animal by dark eco while exploring a dangerous island off the shore of his home with his best friend Jak. To get back to the island to investigate, the pair have to borrow a boat owned by a fisherman who is troubled by an invasive species of poisonous eel that is ruining his haul. He asks Jak to catch fish for him without catching any eels. This fishing mini game can only be done once but it is going to either be something you think is very unique or a huge waste of time. All I’ll say is that the sound that the fish makes when it goes into the net is absolutely a reward in itself it is so satisfying. But anyways, more intense than some other options here but get it done so you can get back to absorbing eco powers and jumping on stuff.

Shovel Knight

Shovel Knight is a 2D action platformer but you can also fish. And you fish for the best kind of fish, money. You can get some other stuff too like health pickups and magic replenishers but we know what you want. You see that little glint and you pop out the fishing rod and pull out those money bags. If you are devoted enough you can even get a surprise from the Troupple King (long live his highness) if you fish out the right stuff. I don’t even know if I fished all that much when I played Shovel Knight but it’s hilarious that you can.

NieR: Automata

I did not play a lot of NieR and that’s because I was fishing. I don’t know why all I did was fish but you throw your little robot in the pond and you lean on a magical stool so honestly it was good enough for me.

Club Penguin

If you know then you know. In hind sight there really wasn’t a whole lot to do in Club Penguin but this mini game really messed me up. You basically get to move up and down, catching fish and avoiding trash and other hazards. Basically trying to do this and catch as much fish as possible to avoid having to ask your parents for real money to pay for snacks to feed a virtual ball of fluff with eyeballs. I don’t really remember how challenging it really was but I remember getting decently high scores to about like 100 fish per round so I guess it was pretty easy if I could do that at age 10.

Rune Factory 4

I’m gonna be very honest about this one and say that the fishing in Rune Factory 4 is basically just Animal Crossing fishing but more anime. The fish react to the pole the same, the fish almost look the same, and the buttons to respond are the same. What makes this one special is where you can take it. You can fish in the little moat in town, in the lake, in a dungeon full of monsters, in a lake that is eternally the season fall, anywhere. You are constricted by the boundaries of Stardew Valley and that is how much energy you have and how much time you have in the day. It’s still fun to fish but I wish that they had used their fun fantasy setting to give the ability to fish up some cool made up fish instead of strictly things that exist in real life.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Ok, diving, fishing, same thing. Diving in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is just fishing with your whole body. It works a lot in the same way as Pokemon where you fish up monsters to fight and get the rewards from them. It is a completely optional activity however if you decide to undertake the grind of scavenging in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 then you will never hurt for money ever again. It makes my wonder why Rex stopped being a salvager to do odd jobs because this was PROFITABLE. The main incentive is that there are spots that spawn a certain enemy that drop cores. Cores are like gacha or loot boxes that contain new anime girl partners that deal huge damage in fights. They even have their own side quests and story lines. I spent maybe 30 hours grinding before giving up on this game and while it does become tiresome I really enjoyed the random rewards of possibly getting a new companion or a really cool weapon.

It’s been tossed around that every great RPG has fishing in it. I won’t argue that point but a lot of great RPGs certainly do have fishing in them. Everyone needs a break sometimes and fishing is the perfect activity to remind us to stop and take that break. Even games can get long and without these distractions it might be so much harder to complete these harrowing tasks. Don’t forget to take breaks and just enjoy the sound of the water every once in a while because there’s no rush playing video games.

Honorable Mentions:

Kingdom Hearts: Sora fishing with his bare hands on Destiny Island

Persona 4: Weird aqueduct fishing

Persona 5: Marina fishing life

Sea of Thieves: A pirates life for me

[skaruresonic]

I've been sort-of lurking and sort-of anonning your tiny corner of the internet for a bit (not a lot tbf) and I have to say...although there's a lot of harsh words you guys have for Sonic adaptation fans/adaptation media, and although I'd fall into the not-really-a-fan category (i just think Paramount's version of Sonic is adorable and a bit deeper than a puddle, ok?? i'm not good at games enough to dip my feet into them) and should probably feel more offended that you'd probably consider me fake...Seeing all of the random, toxic shit you guys take regularly from other Sonic/Flynn fans, enough to force several of you offline or out of the fandom (Crusher, Colony), as well as a weirdly aggressive push that Game!Sonic has zero good characterization and Sega is the worst company in the world, instead of having bad translations and honestly very subtle character traits that get wiped out of the dubs...I mean, I get it. Y'all are dealing with some extreme weirdos and it's colored everything. I wish more people could leave well enough alone, but I guess Sonic is considered one of 'those' fandoms for a reason. Aside from that, I wanted to say that I think your OaS VN is cool and interesting, I look forward to playing it some more, I like lurking Beevan and Dark's tumblrs because I think they have neat things to say, and please don't let the trolls and haters get you and your friends down for long. I'm sending this off anon so you know I'm serious, but this is a super old tumblr account I only use for lurking.

Ahh, sorry for not responding sooner. I wasn't really sure what to say. Rest assured, I appreciate you taking the time out to send this message and appreciate your kind words. ^^

and although I'd fall into the not-really-a-fan category (i just think Paramount's version of Sonic is adorable and a bit deeper than a puddle, ok?? i'm not good at games enough to dip my feet into them) and should probably feel more offended that you'd probably consider me fake…

When I say "normies," I mean non-Sonic fans. Specifically the kind of non-fan who has a preconceived notion of what Sonic is like. Often, it's not a flattering one.

Likewise, it is not my intention to gatekeep when I say "play the games": it's just a plea for the general public to stop throwing games canon under the bus and try to see what is actually there.

I don't have beef with film fans in general. The people I have beef with continuously assert that their favorite spinoffs are better than the games. That they're equal replacements for the games when the games form the core canon.

Personally, I don't think the films are faithful to the games; they have been seriously watered-down to appeal to a mainstream audience and appear to be afraid of leaning into the "Sonic-ness" of the series on which they're based.

But, at the same time, I'm not gonna go around dictating what people can and cannot like. My nephew watches the films every day. I'm not gonna tell him "YOU'RE A FAKE FAN" over the media he enjoys. I just think if you (general you) are going to enter spaces for Games!Sonic discussion, then it would behoove you to be as familiar with the source material as you can.

Heck, at this point, I'd take people watching LPs of the games. Not a perfect system, but it's better than nothing.

---

Seeing all of the random, toxic shit you guys take regularly from other Sonic/Flynn fans, enough to force several of you offline or out of the fandom (Crusher, Colony), as well as a weirdly aggressive push that Game!Sonic has zero good characterization and Sega is the worst company in the world, instead of having bad translations and honestly very subtle character traits that get wiped out of the dubs…I mean, I get it.

It's just frustrating and tiring. When I was ounger, I assumed Sonic discussion would be awesome once I grew old enough to manage a social media account, but now it's like we have to trip and stumble over every misconception littered about on a daily basis. Can't go anywhere without folks insisting that the games are deficient somehow, even if they couch it in softer terms like "Sonic is inconsistent." Okay, but what if I don't agree with that idea?

People call us a cult while forgetting that we're just a group of friends who so happen to really like blue zoom-zoom hedgehog games while agreeing to disagree on other aspects. We don't even all like the same games, lol. We allow each other the space to disagree, whereas in larger spaces, you can't really speak your mind without somebody hounding you.

That's literally it. Everything else is frustration that anti-Sonic bias is so rampant that you can't even post screenshots or point out facts without someone thinking you're trying to start a fight.

And I know we aren't perfect, but like… At this point, I'm just really tired. That cannot be understated lol.

---

Y'all are dealing with some extreme weirdos and it's colored everything. I wish more people could leave well enough alone, but I guess Sonic is considered one of 'those' fandoms for a reason.

Sometimes I wonder if BITE model of social control applies here, the extremes to which more virulent fans cannot handle the presence of different opinions. I know I'm an offender in overgeneralizing, too, but I swear you hear some variation of "Sonic fans suck because they all think [insert argument du jour]" on Twitter almost every day.

---

Aside from that, I wanted to say that I think your OaS VN is cool and interesting, I look forward to playing it some more,

Thanks ^^ Glad you enjoy it.

---

I like lurking Beevan and Dark's tumblrs because I think they have neat things to say, and please don't let the trolls and haters get you and your friends down for long.

Thanks. Recently I've been banging my head against a wall because of SH2 remake stuff moreso than anything else. Kind of wonder if this whole cycle of "hype new thing up and strawman any criticism as the product of diehard haters" is just how fandom operates now. It's a little disturbing to see the same dynamics play out in vastly different fandoms because I'm already really wiped out by this one >.>

[mashounen2003]

Sonic opinions - 1

Honestly, I think it's time for me to give closure to the “Sonic fan phase” of my life. I’ll keep playing the games if they pique my interest, but in terms of the stories they tell and how their characters are portrayed, these games no longer appeal to me. The comic currently published by IDW isn’t complete garbage nor does it have so much drama and controversy surrounding it, in addition to having Whisper and Tangle, two characters I really like at least on a conceptual level, but the story and characterizations are leaving me deeply disappointed and sometimes fall even lower than the recent games written by Pontac & Graff, namely with regard to the characterization of Sonic himself.

The continuity of the TV series Sonic SatAM and the comics published by Archie was always the branch of the franchise that truly caught my attention and is my main source of inspiration for writing stories; in fact, SatAM was the way I found out about Sonic and became a fan in the first place. But this “North-American continuity” is already as dead as the Mega Man Legends saga, and it looks like the vast majority want to forget it as if each and every one of its elements and ideas inherently had just been a massive nightmare regardless of its execution by the writers. At best, the fandom currently sees this branch of Sonic as some silly “edgy” attempt to take the franchise seriously, something that may have been laudable but was always foolish and doomed to fail and is such a risky gamble that it's not worth trying again.

I'm also getting fed up with the Sonic fandom in general, despite sharing a lot of opinions with some individual fans. Yes, I know there are already many who have declared this for the most varied reasons, be it the “shipp wars”, something in Sonic or even the franchise as a whole suddenly becoming “cringe” due to a whim of a majority portion of the fandom, or the way Sonic reuses "hackneyed" tropes in an alleged demonstration of lack of originality; however, when someone gives Sonic the middle finger for this kind of reasons, they usually do it hypocritically.

No, what got me tired of the Sonic fandom is the way everyone becomes obsessed with picking one branch of the franchise, calling it "the true Sonic", claiming this is the only pure and genuine incarnation of the “soul of Sonic” (if there really is such a thing), marking as “foreigner” every character, concept or element from any other branch of the franchise, and demanding from the fans of those other branches to get on their knees and be thankful that the "True Fans (TM)" even allow them to stay in the fandom. Note that I’m not accusing fans of only one specific portion of the franchise: there are such people among fans of the videogames’ continuity, @skull001 being probably the worst offender, but there’s also that kind of people among the SatAM and Archie-Sonic fans, such as the “nostalgic” delusional pissbabies, blatantly homophobic and conservative, who are now supporting Twitter hashtags like “Rally4Sally” and “Udon4Sonic”. You may think this is actually something typical of all fandoms, but it’s not: this is truly something unique to the Sonic fandom; I don't see huge hordes of Mega Man fans bullying the Legends fandom or making fun of them for the way their favourite saga ended two decades ago; even in the Dragon Ball fandom, despite constant discussions about what is canon and what is not, there’s some kind of tacit consensus that GT and Super are two offshoots of the franchise, equally valid although not coexisting in one same fictional universe (although Shūeisha itself seems to officially support this view, which certainly helps prevent some discourse), while the only part of Dragon Ball universally despised (and rightly so) is Dragon Ball Evolution.

I'm sorry if this hurts some people’s sensibilities, but if I decide to write a story with any given set of characters, elements, concepts, setting, internal rules and whatnot, the only thing in my mind will be to write a mildly decent story. I'm not here to “honour” -let alone honour at all costs- some supposed legacy and traditions that some people say should be upheld by each and every Sonic content creator. And let’s be brutally frank: we’re talking about a franchise that started as platformer 16-bit videogames whose sole purpose was to show SEGA’s consoles were better and handled speed better than Nintendo's; SEGA never really intended to tell a story or portray its characters consistently, only later did the cast begin to receive more defined personalities and the games start telling stories because SEGA suddenly saw this would make them sell more, and even that varied wildly according to whatever seemed more convenient at the time; not to mention SEGA's unique habit of entering vicious cycles of failure and over-correction, where Sonic Team makes a few mistakes in a game that did everything else more or less well, SEGA throws away the entire game along with the foundations on which it was built and the story that was told by that game, Sonic Team makes a new game with absolutely everything replaced and makes mistakes again but those mistakes are different from those of the previous game, the process is repeated ad nauseam and no-one is ever satisfied with anything. A few Sonic fans trying to impose on every other fan a supposed single Sonic canon with some kind of official approval seal by SEGA & Sonic Team is something quite backward, because that single official canon almost never really existed, and if it does exist, it makes no sense and is internally inconsistent, dependent on the creation of new games, and very likely to be retconned, overwritten and modified at any time.

There are other "bad habits" of the Sonic fandom that have led me to break ties with them. One of them is the way many fans take one trait of a character, be it simply one of many facets of their personality or even a physical trait, and turn that into the entire personality of the character; many of those same fans are also massive hypocrites, complaining (albeit rightfully) about how SEGA oversimplifies Shadow into either “Sasuke the Hedgehog” or “Vegeta the Hedgehog”, but then they do the same as SEGA. One of the cases in which this is most evident is when they make Sonic's personality boil down to "gotta go fast" and "be a free spirit"; based on that, they denounce that Sonic saying "I would slow down for you" to one of his closest friends (even if Sonic and Sally weren’t a couple when he said that and/or you don’t support that shipp, it can be said she was at least one of his closest friends in the SatAM-Archie continuity) contradicts the very essence of the character, or they do something even worse: saying that "being a free spirit" means being away from your friends and not having "ties" (like... literal ties, made with ropes, the ones that are actually a bad thing) with anything or anyone. It's like when Goku is portrayed by Dragon Ball fans as far more insensitive than the actual way Akira Toriyama had conceived him and always wrote and portrayed him in his official work.

There are also the plainly disturbing ideas many fans seem to have about personal relationships, judging by the opinions they give about the relationships of Sonic and the rest of the cast. In addition to making everything revolve around vaguely defined words and concepts they throw right and left almost without thinking about their actual meaning, they also seem to believe that having friends and caring for them, or any kind of responsibility no matter what kind it is, is nothing but a drag, like rat-s*** stopping you on your way to "freedom" (this is just amazing: they say the entire Western canon is edgy and the British comic’s Sonic is a jerk, but if you think about this for a bit, these fans’ version of Sonic turns out to be even edgier and more of a jerk than Shadow in his spin-off videogame); in the case of Archie-Sonic, there are all the abuse apologists supporting Scourge and Fiona being a couple, even though you don’t need any “meta” analysis to see he’s (at the very least) verbally abusive towards her and had attracted her by posing as someone else in the first place.

[zippityzap]

My Top Ten Favourite Moments in Sonic Games

The past 30 years the Sonic series has had a lot of memorable moments, too many to list fully, so in celebration of my recent follower milestone, today I’ll be presenting and explaining my personal top ten favourite moments. I would like to emphasise that this list is very subject and is highly influenced by my personal experiences with the Sonic series. It’s not intended to be objective by any means, and I would love to hear what moments you guys would put on your own lists! Additionally, this list is only for things from the games, in the future I’ll make another list for other Sonic media

Without further ado, let’s get started!

10) City Escape’s GUN truck

Interesting set pieces and small scripted moments in levels have been a staple in the Sonic series since the beginning. Sure, they’re not always challenging from a game-play standpoint, but they’re always an entertaining spectacle. One of the most ionic of these moments (and one of my personal favourites) is being chased by the GUN truck. City Escape is already a highly memorable level from the get-go, but the truck sequence is the cherry on top. An additional shout-out to both of the Generations versions of the level for not only bringing it back but changing it up just enough to surprise you and keep you on your toes!

9) Escaping Null Space

Forces is one of those games that I would describe as a truly mixed bag. Yeah, there are a lot of things about the game that kinda sucked or were disappointing, but when it hit a high, BOY did it hit. While I agree with many people that having the Null Space portion of this level actually have gameplay in it would’ve made this moment impact a little harder, I’m just in love with that transition from the silence of null space to the bombastic chorus of Fist Bump. I thought it was a really exciting moment that hypes you up for the rest of the level.

8) Sonic Heroes’ opening cinematic

Heroes was my first 3D Sonic game, and consequently it was my introduction to a lot of things that are staples for the Sonic series. Vocal themes, an extended cast and their interpersonal relationships, story routes that connect to each other. These are some of my favourite things about the Sonic series, so even if some aspects of the game aren’t that great, I could never ever hate or even dislike Heroes. I feel like the opening cinematic to Heroes (the one with the theme song as the music) is the aspect of Heroes that really encapsulates those feelings best. I must’ve spent hours as a kid letting it play over and over again singing along to it.

7) Shadow the Hedgehog (2004) title screen cinematic

Before you laugh, here is where I must remind you that this list is extremely subjective and highly influenced by my personal experiences and memories. Ok now imagine this: you are a 7-8 year old kid, and your experience with media that isn’t mainstream radio or educational children’s tv shows is fairly limited. You’re getting deep into the Sonic series for the first time thanks to playing Heroes and seeing some of the cartoons and you’re interested to know more about the series. You visit Sonic Central, the official site at the time, and they have a music player with a variety of songs from the games. One of the songs it plays is I Am (All of Me). I won’t lie, I was a little blown away because I’d never really heard anything like it before, so I go to find out more about the game it’s from and I come across that opening cinematic.

I think it’s very, very, easy as an adult to laugh at the Shadow the Hedgehog game and it’s… direction, but adult me was not the target audience of that game, kid me was. Say what you want but the effect that game was going for I think is something that just hits best with sheltered little kids, and I’d be curious if anyone else had a similar experience.

6) The ending of Sonic and the Black Knight

I won’t go into too much detail on this one, since this is very much a fan favourite moment and many others have gone into detail about why it’s so great. Black Knight is certainly one of the games that captures Sonic’s character the best, and his words at the end of the game certainly encapsulate this. Followed by the amazing credits theme of Live Life, the ending of Black Knight is certainly one of the most emotional moments in the series.

5) Sonic Generation’s credits

Anniversary games can be a bit of a controversial subject for the Sonic fandom; 06 was one of the games released for the 15th anniversary while Forces is often considered to be a 25th anniversary game. I think Generations really achieved the feeling and the specialness of a celebratory event though. It’s one of my favourite Sonic games and the whole game is full of brilliant moments but I feel the credits really evoke the celebration vibe: a Sonic 1-esque music melody as the credits song, showing footage from the original games each stage is from, and the cherry on top: a ‘Happy Birthday’ message to Sonic recorded from fans who attended the 2011 Sonic Boom and Summer of Sonic conventions. It genuinely warms my heart every time I finish the game.

4) Metropolis Capital City level

Forces gets another representation on this list! Honestly, I believe the parts of Forces that were exciting, such as this, really demonstrate my opinion that Forces had a lot of potential to be a really good game. But I digress, this was my favourite level from Forces because it shows how fun of a villain Infinite could be. The way that Infinite follows you for most of the stage and uses illusions to fuck around with the stage itself? That’s really fun, and it’s not just stage gimmicks for the sake of having a gimmick, it ties into the powers of the villain and makes the player feel involved in a way because Infinite is messing around with you specifically and is having to make to think on your toes. Granted, part of makes this stage stand out so much in a good way is because it’s so different from the rest of the game and it takes you by surprise, so maybe the impact wouldn’t be as hard hitting if this sort of design was used more in the game, but c’mon when you have a villain who’s powers are illusion-based, the sky’s the limit!

3) Sonic Unleashed’s opening cutscene

Can you believe this game came out over a decade ago and the opening cutscene still looks this stunning?! Depending on who you ask, some might even argue that this cutscene has yet to be topped, and honestly, I’m in that camp. Not only is the rendering beautiful and the choreography of the action exciting, but this scene does a wonderful job of setting up for the viewer regardless of how much prior experience they have with the series who Sonic and Dr. Eggman are, as well as setting up the events of the game. I recall being very happy when I heard the animation team for this cutscene would also be handling the animation for the movie.

2) Beating Sonic Unleashed for the first time

So, this is another pretty personal one. I played Unleashed for the first time a few years ago and it is in my opinion, one of the most difficult Sonic games. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes for completely bullshit reasons. My first ever run of Eggmanland was around 40 minutes long and apparently that’s considered a pretty decent time for your first go, but christ it was a nightmare to finish (looking at you, that one section where you have to platform on pipes without a drop-shadow). The following boss sections weren’t much easier- I don’t rage much with video games, I tend to whisper swears under my breath at most but that part where you’re running on the Gaia Colossus had me screaming in anger every time I lost a life.

BUT when I finally beat the difficult sections? Felt like finally cracking your back after feeling stiff all day. Like taking the first sip of water after a walk on a hot day. The relief and satisfaction I felt was indescribable and slowly winding down while Dear My Friend plays as the credits theme was blissful. I don’t play difficult games that often so Unleashed is one of very few games that I have this sort of memory with.

1) Watching my dad get the good ending of Sonic 1

Here’s a small amount of backstory for this pick. My dad got his first job at 19 and he used his first pay-check to purchase the then newly released Sega Mega Drive. He had a lot of games for the console including Sonic the Hedgehog. He kept the console and games in good condition, and they were still perfectly playable by the time his first child was born (aka me!). Sonic 1 was the first video game I can remember playing at roughly 2-3 years old. I wasn’t good enough to get past Green Hill Act 3 but I loved watching my dad play through the game.

I’ll admit; his playstyle’s a little odd, he avoids speed when he can and instead, he likes to search for as many rings and extra lives as possible, but it was so enjoyable to watch nonetheless. The best bit was whenever he would manage to get all the chaos emeralds in a playthrough and be able to get the good ending. Sure, the only difference between the good and bad endings is just some flowers, but it was nice to see him be happy that he was able to achieve that ending.

And that’s the end of my list! Upon looking over it I realise most of it is either openings or endings to games…oops. I suppose they tend to be parts of games that get special attention during development since they bookend the journey. When I get around to making the second list, I’m sure it’ll have more variety, and as I said before, I’d be very interested in hearing what everyone else’s favourite moments are!

[steven-falls]

The Strengths of serialization: A Disenchantment analysis

Note: this is a script for a video I’m making. There are some generalised statements in this script, that will be accompanied with visuals in the final video to help specify what I am referring to.

So, Netflix just dropped part 3 of disenchantment, and with the new batch of episodes came a slew of worldbuilding, lore, characterization, laughs, adventures, and Elfo abuse. But, instead of giving an overview of everything that happened in the season (or part) I want to focus on one specific aspect of part 3 and compare this to parts 1 and 2 and that is, the serialisation of Disenchantment.

In television shows, there are two main formats a show can take: A serialized format and an episodic format. A serialized format has continuing storylines that span over the course of the entire season. Think of pretty much every drama show. By contrast, an episodic TV show presents each episode as a self contained story. Meaning you could jump in at any point in the series without needing much prior knowledge to understand what’s happening. This is the format that most animated sitcoms, such as Disenchantment’s contemporaries, The Simpsons and Futurama, went for.

Disenchantment was an interesting case as it seemed to be going for a mix of both serialization and self contained episodes throughout its first two parts, which made up season 1. The first few and last few episodes of both parts 1 and 2 had a serialized format, where the cliffhanger ending of one episode would lead directly into the opening of the next. For example part 2’s opening episode ‘The disenchantress’ ends with Bean walking down a staircase to hell, which is picked straight back up on again in the next episode, aptly titled ‘Staircase to hell’. It’s required that an audience member watches these two episodes in order, otherwise they would be confused by the opening of the latter.

But then the middle episodes of parts 1 and 2 were stand alone episodic adventures, that didn’t always directly tie into each other. For instance, the heist plot of ‘the Dreamland job’ has little to nothing to do with Derrik’s character journey in the following episode, ‘Love’s Slimy Embrace’. So not much would be lost on an audience member who watched these two episodes out of order. The main throughline between them is Lucie buying and owning the bar. But that’s a rather minor element of ‘Love's Slimby embrace’, it’s not like you need an explanation of why Lucie owns the bar to understand what’s happening in that episode.

Where Part 3 really differs from the previous two parts, is that it sticks to a more serilized format for most of its run. Pretty much every episode develops on something meaningful established in prior episodes. For instance, In the first episode of part 3 it’s revealed that Pendegast has been murdered, so the third episode ‘Beanie get your gun’ is spent investigating what happened to him. They find out it’s the priestess, and chase her down in the next episode, which naturally leads into the steam land sega covered in episodes 4 and 5, and then the boat trip back to Dreamland in episode 6. Even when an episode doesn’t end in a cliffhanger, the events that occurred in the previous episode will still be playing on the character’s mind in the next, keeping a constant narrative flow throughout part 3.

Now, I do not believe that serialized Television is inherently better than episodic Television. There are shows that owe their success to their episodic format.

But I think in Disenchantment’s case, serialization fits the tone and scope it’s going for.

Disenchantment is basically a mystery show, Part 3 opens with several overarching mysteries that are investigated over the course of the season, and Bean literally plays detective in two episodes.

Part 2 also presented several mysteries in its opening episodes, like Bean’s heritage and the secret treasure the elfs are looking for. But this became a frustration I had with part 2, as it felt like it was presenting the audience with several tantalising mysteries, but then avoided expanding on them, in favour of more non sequitur adventures. Take the episode ‘the lonely heart is a hunter’ for example. That episode has a subplot about Bean investigating some old runes that are hinted to have a connection to her mother. But this basically leads nowhere as Bean gets scared and gives up on investigating them. We don’t find out anything about them for the rest of part 2, halting that story in its tracks. What the episode chooses to develop instead is the relationship between Zogg and a bear woman named Ursula, a character who has only appeared in this single episode to date. I do actually enjoy this plot line, I think it’s funny and gives Zogg some decent character development. But when the episode prioritises a somewhat frivolous love affair over expanding on the mysteries it’s already set up, it can be frustrating to sit through, because I’m just waiting for them to get back to that mystery.

There are still some instances in part 3 where they bring up an unresolved mystery or plot line but don’t follow up on it straight away. Like it should annoy me that they mention Leaveos quest early in the season, only for it to not develop any further until the last episode.

But it doesn’t, because there’s a narrative excuse for the other character’s to abandon Leaveo and his plot line. They have the more pressing issue of Dagmar to deal with in that moment, and after that I’m so swept up in the murder and betrayl stuff that I don’t mind them leaving Leavo’s plot thread for a little longer.

Another result of part 3 taking a more serialised approach is that it makes meaningful changes to the Disenchantments status quo

After part 1 ended with several series altering cliffhangers, that seemed like it was taking the show in a radically different direction, I was disappointed by how in part 2 everything reverted back to normal by the end of episode 3. Sure, there were a few status quo changes, but for the most part, part 2 still followed Bean, Elfo and Lucie’s shenanigans around Dreamland, not that fundamentally different from part 1.

But this isn’t a criticism I can level at part 3. For one thing there are no episodes of Bean just goofing around drinking, she’s always trying to get somewhere, figure something out, or face some threat to the kingdom. The constant rising urgency prevents the show from feeling as if it’s in some stagnant status quo.

The only time I was in fear of Disenchantment resetting to a status quo was at the beginning of episode 3, ‘Beanie get your gun’, when Derrik reinstates power to Zogg, the towns people don’t care about Bean supposedly being a witch, and Zogg’s forgotten about Odvals and the priestess’s coup attempt

The characters even comment on how weird the situation is.

With Bean and Zogg being reinstated it almost seemed like the whole coup subplot had been entirely pointless, especially as the opening of the episode hinted that Pendergast might not actually have been killed.

But the episode’s ending underlines the lasting impact this coup had, by confirming Pendergast’s death and having the priestess become a fugitive from the kingdom, basically writing out two major supporting characters.

On the subject, Pendergast’s death is the first one in Disenchantment that I was genuinely shocked by. Just because of the show’s willingness to kill off a recurring character without going back on it. They have done similar deaths before, like when Jerry was killed. But Jerry was divorced enough from the main cast and the setting of Dreamland that his absence didn’t feel as noticeable. It’s not like his death bared any repercussions on how Dreamland functioned as a kingdom for example. But Pendergast’s death does, you’re reminded of his absence any time you watch a scene with Zogg losing his mind, or see turbish and Mertz without their commander. Even if Pendergast is somehow brought back later, his death was still felt throughout the whole of this season.

Part 3 of Disenchantment managed to capture my intrigue, by taking its story and characters to interesting new places. My hope for part 4 is that everything part 3 built toward gets a decent payoff. By the end of part 3 most of the plotlines have still been left open ended, with even more opening up and others being teased at. In one case it looks like they might be rehashing an older plotline.

My fear for part 4 is that all these storylines are going to trip over each other. That part four has to juggle so many different plotlines that it’s not going to be able to devote enough time to each of them, making their resolutions feel rushed and underdeveloped.

I think its on part 4 to intertwine all these plot threads, so everything comes together to form one satisfying conclusion. Unless they’re planning on continuing the show after part 4, in which case I hope part 4 is a more streamlined and focused version of part 3.

Speaking of satisfying conclusions… I couldn’t think of one for this video! So let’s end off by discussing three times Disenchantment part 3 referenced 3 other Matt Greoning cartoons.

Starting with the most obvious, the ‘Trip to the moon’ rollercoaster seen in the episode ‘Freak out’ is a reference to the second Futurama episode ‘’The series has landed’, where the planet express crew visit a theme park on the moon. In particular the rollercoaster’s moon face bares resemblance to the mascot crater face. Look, it even has part of the rollercoaster going through its eye, just like how craterface always has a beer bottle shoved through their eye. Which itself is a reference to a silent film from 1920 called ‘A Trip to the moon’. Wait actually maybe the rollercoaster is just supposed to be a reference to that.

Seconally, the joke about the kings servants Vip and Vap living in unlawful cohabitation is a reference to the characters Arkbah and Jeff, who are a gay couple from Matt Groening’s comic, Life in Hell. They also share similar character designs.

And finally, I don’t think this was intentional, but Elfo skating on Dagmars oily back reminded me of Bart Simpson skateboarding. Now try and get that image out of your mind! Good night everybody.

[latin-dr-robotnik]

On one hand I’m extremely happy, since I’m going through the Yakuza series for the first time and I can rest easy knowing I will be able to play the entire Kiryu saga (+ Like a Dragon, when time comes) without switching platforms. I can build my Yakuza digital collection, and I’m sure I will do it as soon as possible.

But on another hand I’m just bummed out, since this shows just how quick SEGA is to port some things but not others. In the past three years they ported 6 Yakuza games to PC and Xbox, yet they are silent as ever when it comes to Sonic ports. Yes, I’m going there again.

And it kinda shows the priorities going on behind the scenes. SEGA’s gaming priorities are put anywhere but the Sonic back catalog. Yes, they could be working on something for the 30th anniversary next year, maybe the fabled “boost trilogy remastered” is a reality and maybe it could be announced as early as March next year; but as of right now, December 2020, there are no news on Sonic ports, and it’s such a shame, since most of the past Sonic games could use a small remaster effort or even some modding thanks to our incredibly talented community.

As a Sonic fan I’m kinda let down by this, but as a general SEGA fan I know I’ll have tons of stories to go through for at least another year, maybe more. I’m really enjoying SEGA’s recent output overall, I’ve been loving Yakuza non-stop since I first started playing last year and I’ll keep loving the series going forward, that’s for sure. So, a kinda bittersweet night for me.