#Not sure how I feel about some of the soundtrack remasters but.

[shima-draws]

I’m not super far into the game yet but DAYUMMMM THE MUSIC THO?? They’ve EXTRA remastered it. REMIXED it even. Also I noticed that they’ve made new tracks for mood changes too, and gave some characters some new themes :’D I really like those little additions in the soundtrack, definitely makes the game feel more modern for sure

Also I laughed my ass off at the Goomba face off bc they censored the FUCK out of it. And for good reason too I mean the original is, um, well,

I guess catcalling isn’t age appropriate LMAOOOO

[ivynivekgames]

Here's something Sorely Kneaded :3c (Sorely Kneaded Update Announcement)

Heads up, this is gonna be a MEATY post! (This is making up for all the time of I've been so quiet).

It has been… checks watch okay, over a year since the original [猫はかわいい (kitties are cute)] demo dropped, wowza! Well, I got a couple of things I wanna mention and talk about, and about the future of this project (ALL OF WHICH ARE IMPORTANT)! I've been pretty quiet on saying anything update-wise, but there's a good reason for that… But first, some context!

Now, when I started work on this, I wasn't sure about what direction to take this. I just kinda winged it and hoped for the best, but as I was writing up ideas and where to take the project in the background--the scope has been getting bigger... And the original ideas I had for the time being just weren't holding up. My ability as a writer has majorly improved throughout this (2024) year (I applied myself, tee-hee).

On top of becoming a better writer and getting a more concrete vision of where to take the game, a new musician has joined in helping with the game's soundtrack (an aspect I was woefully fearful of). Their music will be replacing the old (though there may be a track or two that will be kept from the previous composer, seeing as they're essentially... Perfect). The new sound is a lot more fitting in terms of atmosphere and energy.

Art wise, it is still handled by me, but some of the workload is being taken care of by some good, talented friends that are willing to help make this project come to fruition, they too, have been gaining a better understanding of the artstyle that fits the game best. On my end, I've been getting even better at utilising the hard work that has been handed to me and having it make the most impact.

All things considered, I've realised that with so much improvement on the side of production, the earlier parts of the game would have to reflect my new standard going forward (namely The Void and Emerland). The original story is ill-fitting and its concepts too derivative (and anything original is ill-explored) and tone is mixed.

Hence, I am happy to the Sorely Kneaded update. A total reimagining of the CatJam's vertical slice. With half a year of development already, Sorely Kneaded will aim to show my vision and standard quality for the project going forward.

This update is not an earth shattering or thoroughly exhausting endeavour in the sense of scope, rather, it's a showcase of something much closer to what the final game will be. In the update you'll find:

Remastered graphics of assets that were originally sub-par in quality.

New soundtrack and sound design, more fitting for the game's vibes and vision.

New content, more secrets, etc.

A much more balanced gameplay experience, with more interesting dungeons to navigate and more focus on narrative decisions (though the game will still only have one ending).

Greater focus on characters and their interactions, this is a character-driven game, after all. ;)

And finally, a much more fleshed out story and lore, completely abandoning the original "Hell" related plot. Frankly, even the original game barely attached itself to Christian canon, so I feel this was the right choice.

My goal with this project has always been to make a fun and genuine experience that comes from the heart. I have a vision and ideas I want to show to anyone that's interested, and I couldn't bear the idea that I'd somehow deliver it in a shoddy state.

I want to direct you all away from hell, and welcome all of you to the World of Mu, a place where magic flows like air and one only truly dies when their soul fades...

The update will drop when it's done, currently: The Void is in a near-complete state and Emerland will begin development shortly. I will make a follow-up announcement for when it's released, beyond that--hold tight!

Potential questions:

Q: How big will this update be? A: It will likely be bigger than the original demo, I project about 3~ish hours out of it on an average playthrough (the early parts are fairly story heavy).

Q: How will the new music fare compared to the original? A: The new music will be rad! Er... I mean, it's gonna be AWESOM- okay no. It will service the game's atmosphere and tone much better. You'll just have to like, listen, dude.

Q: How good will the new graphics be, compared to the original? A: It's nothing earth shattering, the art will merely be "spruced up" since I want the graphics to maintain a "soulful" look. I have a vision... Q: Any content being removed? A: Yes. As previously said, all the music will be getting replaced, along with the old sound effects. Story elements will be cut in favour of new ones. You may have liked some old concepts or ideas, but I promise that what's new will more than make up for that!

Q: Will the old [Kitties are Cute] save file work with Sorely Kneaded? A: 99% sure it will not (can never be too sure), disregarding that. I put so much effort into making this new stuff, you GOTTA play it, dude!

Q: What will happen to the old demo? A: It'll be left on the page, available for download. I think it's good to leave it archived as a way to show how far the project has come.

PS: The page will be update when the update is out.

Credits:

Director, Writer, Designer, Programmer: Ivy Nivek

Music and Sound Design: @witchscadence, Ivy Nivek

Art: Guck, Split, Spoop, Ivy Nivek

Want to make developing this easier? Throw me some change: https://ko-fi.com/ivynivek

[alpaca-clouds]

I sure miss .hack/

One anime series - or rather multimedia franchise - I have an immense amount of nostalgia for, even though it was never as big of the thing, as some others, is .hack/

Given it has been a while, since the franchise released something new, let me quickly explain:

.hack/ is a multimedia franchise, that features stories set in a VR MMORPG called The World. Originally the story featured the conceit that some players for some reason got "stuck" in the game, unable to log out, while their physical bodies fell into a coma. Just as there was a mystery featuring the AIs, that for some reason had evolved in the game's mainframe - and a mysterious artefact called the Key of Twilight.

I honestly do not know what it was about this, that spoke to me so much. But I was early on very fascinated by the idea of a VR MMO - even though we of course know today that it is something that is probably not easily achievable. (In a weird way, franchises like .hack/ kinda had the right idea by having the physical bodies turn into a near comatose state while playing, which would probably help the motion sickness...)

It was one of the first anime I pirated back in the. xD Even though I did not get to play the game until I was an adult, given that I was not allowed to have a game console as a child.

I know a lot of people, who found .hack/SIGN, the first anime series of the franchise, rather boring as it has a really, really slow pacing. Like, wow, the pacing is really slow. But... to me it really worked. There was an intrigue about the series and how it explored The World. (Not to mention that from today's perspective the main character is easily read as a trans guy.) And yes, of course the Yuki Kajiura soundtrack played heavily into it.

See, one of my big first online memories is playing the browser based game, that Bandai was hosting back then. A game mostly frequented by Japanese players, so I was trying my very best to keep up with where the chat was going. And when we were "playing" (it was not so much of a game, really) together, it was always a headache to find a timeslot, where me and the Japanese folks could meet up.

Most of all, I think, the series weirdly captured that early 2000s online culture quite well. This is especially true for the more comedy heavy and cutsy "Legend of the Twilight" series. (Man, I need to rebuy that manga at some point.) Which just very much captured the feeling of just meeting online with friends from all over the world, who you might never meet, and... yeah. Just hang xD

But also the plot so often kinda had this undertone of "The World belongs to the players, not the company". Because especially in "Legend of the Twilight", but in the other entries too, one of the central conflicts comes from the company hosting The World trying to control the mysteries - especially the AIs. While the player characters are fighting against it and ending up siding with the AI.

Something, that feels strangely accurate to the modern internet, where the big, near monopolistic companies try control the user experience more and more, rather than letting users decide about their own experience.

The franchise of .hack// seems to be long dead and forgotten by Bandai and development studio CyberConnect2. The last game that released was .hack//Link, the last other media was the .hack// movie in 2012, that apparently passed everyone by either way.

To put it differently: It has been 11 years, since some new media released for that franchise. And it does not seem that anything is in the works to keep up with it. Especially as Bandai has taken the official international website off the net in 2020.

Technically, of course, a Switch Remaster of the .hack//GU games released in Japan last year for the franchises 20th anniversary - but it does not seem as if there are any plans to release it worldwide.

Maybe the franchise had its perfect moment in time in those early 2000s, when the internet really felt like an entire World that was there for us to explore.

But man, I miss this franchise. I had so much fun with it. And I just... love The World.

Also I need to leave this banger opening for .hack//Link with you. Because darn, I love this thing.

PS: If any of you went like "That kinda sounds like Sword Art Online" at this... Yeah, I to this day have the slight suspicion that Reki Kawahara was "lightly" inspired by .hack//. Because really, the entire SAO stuff to me is ".hack// but with less interesting characters and world building".

[0m3g45n1p3r4lph4]

Whats the deal with Bionicle Heroes (Wii)?

Okay so everyone here knows Bionicle Heroes, probably by either the GameCube or Playstation 2 releases. Maybe even the Xbox release (of which all 3 are pretty much just ports with the input graphics changed) or the PC version (mouse and keyboard controls being the most drastic difference). It's many people's favorite (or at least most nostalgic) Bionicle game, competing with or right after Mata Nui Online Game.

The game itself is already quite repetitive - if you're the type to go for 100% completion, you're gonna be hearing the Hero Mode song A LOT. Even the DS version makes better use of unique mechanics by having Hahli use her Kanohi Elda to detect secrets, but that's a different tangent.

When I learned there was a Wii Version I was so excited to play what could very well be the Best version. To preface, I know a lot of people have a stigma against motion controls, but I've always found that the Metroid Prime Trilogy works so excellently with a Wii Remote and Nunchuck in ways that no other control scheme can match! Movement with an analog stick is more precise and comfortable than keys, and aiming with an analog stick is always wonky and imprecise. Mouse is okay, but Prime's pointer controls make those games really slick - just point where you wanna shoot, you can adjust the zones on the edges of the screen for turning your view, I really like it. I play on a close approximation of that style on Prime Remastered, but Joycons even have Gyro Drift so it doesn't always feel great.

So I go into this expecting similar - to be able to point at anywhere on screen and shoot at that. To point at an enemy and have the targeting lasers aim right at them.

Nope. Targeting is locked to the center of the screen.

Despite constantly having your pointer visible, THE ONLY INTERACTION IT HAS WITH THE GAME IS TO ROTATE THE CAMERA. You can't point at anything. Only moving the cursor towards the edges of the screen to turn your view, and whatever is closest to the center of the screen becomes your target.

You can't even adjust these zones.

Prime Trilogy showed me how WiimoteNunchuck can be one of the best control schemes, but I underestimated how it can also be one of the worst. What's the point of having a pointer if you're just gonna treat it as an analog stick????????

Not to mention it's clearly a rushed port of the GameCube release, including any prerendered cutscenes being much more compressed (though including new dialogue in the opener?) and even some missing textures revealing open skybox (luckily just minor stuff).

Like sure, I've got my gripes with every version of Heroes (the dumbing down of the most intense part of the story thus far, turning the Piraka into bumbling fools, you could at least make them intimidating in the part where BALTA TALKS ABOUT HOW INTIMIDATING THEY ARE CMON) but the control scheme makes the Wii version easily the worst. All the DS hand cramps are at least balanced out by the unique content, rahi variety (THEY HAVE FROST BEETLES), etc.

At least it's still got the good soundtrack.

[1001albumsrated]

#12: Machito - Kenya (1958)

Genre(s): Afro-Cuban, Latin Jazz, Cubop

Staying in the Afro-Cuban vein from the last entry in 1001 Albums, this time around we have Kenya, by Machito. As I mentioned in my Palo Congo review, this kind of music is a big blind spot for me. This is the second album on the list that I truly have never seen.

To my light understanding, Machito is a pretty big deal in this scene, and influenced many of the American jazz artists who took on some Latin trappings (there was an era where this sound was extremely trendy: see Miles Davis & Gil Evans' Sketches of Spain for a prime example of it done well).

Kenya, in contrast to Palo Congo, feels much more like jazz in a traditional sense, whereas Palo Congo seemed much closer its Afro-Cuban roots. Aside from the percussion, the rest of Machito's band is a fairly standard jazz orchestra, and plays with many of the American bebop trends and styles of the time in mind. That being said, these guys are anything but a schmaltzy big band. While the band is very tight and clearly well-composed and rehearsed, they pull no punches. When Machito puts the gas pedal down, it goes all the damn way down. The opening track, Wild Jungle, is a great example of the sort of blistering, frenetic energy the band can conjure.

This is an interesting listen, partially on account of how popular these sounds became in filmmaking in particular. These driving congo rhythms have soundtracked many a high speed chase scene over the years. The difference is, this is the *real thing*. There's a sincerity and authenticity here that the Hollywood imitators always seem to lack, a true driving energy behind the music. Add in some lightning fast bebop solos and you're in business. And even when they drop the tempo back for a song or two, there's still a powerful driving force behind the slinky lounge tunes on the disc.

Unfortunately, like Palo Congo, this album is long out of print (a situation that well predates the original 2005 release of 1001 Albums). Also, when doing some digging on the release history, I discovered that everything I'd read about this album to date really buried the lede that Cannonball fucking Adderley is on this thing. That explains the excellent sax solos. I'm surprised he didn't get some kind of callout on the cover. Anyways, I ended up listening in hi-res on Qobuz, and will be keeping an eye out for a copy of the album. Sonically, the recording is kinda rough. I'm not sure if the master that made it to streaming was a later generation tape copy, or if it was just rough to begin with (supposedly the version on Qobuz is a 2000 remaster, so it's fairly likely the original tapes were lost or damaged in the intervening 42 years). In particular, more dynamic moments often sound completely blown out. It's possible this is an artifact from later tape generations, or it's equally possible the engineer thought this would be some laid back Nelson Riddle sort of affair and just had his gains set too high. I'd be curious to hear an original if one ever crosses my path to see if those problems persist on it.

Regardless, sonic warts and all, this album is loads of fun. Again, like Palo Congo, I'm in no place to judge the historical or cultural significance of this one, but aesthetically it's a great listen and well-worth one of our hotly contested 1001 slots. Really pleased to have discovered this album.

Next time: the energy stays high with Little Richard's rock n roll landmark album, Here's Little Richard!

[jaythelay]

Crapcom stealing from artists, again, for Dead Rising's Remaster

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ecix71GvyU

Context: MySonicFoundry created the song "Justified" used in Dead Rising's Credits.

MySonicFoundry: Ok folks, so I am now starting to see other artists from the game saying in articles "we have not been contacted regarding the remaster and weren't contacted before the 2016 remaster either." I can confirm this as well. It would seem that CapCom wants to keep releasing our music and not contacting or compensating the artists. Question to all of you, does this seem fair to you? I realize that life ain't fair, but that seems like some world class bullshit to me. Please leave your thoughts in the comments and let me know how you feel about this. Should we gather all the artists and address it as a community with CapCom? Sound off my friends and let me know.

Follow up comment

MySonicFoundry: That is a great question. Every artist signed what they were presented. I know our deal was by all measures shit, but that said we signed it and independents don't get these kinds of opportunities anymore at all. The biggest problem with what we signed is that it was very ambiguous and is held under Japanese law. I am talking with my publisher regarding the language. Licensing and copyright are very complicated in normal situations and can be incredibly confusing. I have to say, I don't have a concrete answer for you as I am still attempting to get one myself. I can say for sure that we never received any compensation from the release of the soundtrack. I don't want to come off like a needy crybaby, but honestly I've been getting fucked my entire career as that is what they like to call "industry standard". Say "Thank you!" for the opportunity to provide you with material you weren't capable of creating, and smile while we fuck you out of any fair compensation. It's the way of the entertainment world. To quote the great Joe Perry of Aerosmith "If you want to trade your art for money, you're gonna dance with the Devil". Shit, it's Spotify's entire business model! I will be digging in to see where I stand, and in the end it will be what it is. Once again, great question and no disrespect at all. If ya don't ask, you'll never know.

Please do not support Capcom.

I don't know why you would if you already know about them, but my god, this is disgusting, on top of not using Frank's actual voice actor because he's Union, there's a Voice Actor Strike in the gaming industry again, after SAG completely threw them to the wolves during the writer's strike some time back.

Now's the time to demand better.

This is Crapcom. The company that sold DLC Day One that was ON THE DISC.

This is Crapcom, the company that waited til everyone's reviews for the RE4 Remake were out before sneaking Microtransactions in and selling once free content as DLC.

This is Crapcom, they waited til people's Let's Plays were several parts deep into their Resident Evil Wii game before copyright striking them into suspension.

This is Crapcom, they don't give a shit about their employees, they care none for art nor artist, and you best bet they give less of a shit about you as a consumer and person.

Do Not Support Capcom if you respect yourself or others.

[teddybeartoji]

oh btw would you like a spring wedding or a summer wedding orrr???

u were drinking coffee i am drinking tea hehehe actually what a good opportunity to ask about your drinking prefrences yk what kind of coffee do you like what kind of tea what kind of a husband am i if i don't know this smhh

EMILY MY ONE TRUE ICON!!!!!! SHE'S SUCH A BADDIE I LOVE HER SOOOO MUCH EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and i like sam a lot too she's a little baddie too she's just not mean enough lmao oh and i cannot stand ashley................... i mean i am obviously very biased bc she was the one to start bitching about emily being bit and all SIGHHHH SILLY GIRL YOU OUGHTA WATCH YOUR TONE AROUND MY WIFEE omfg and JESSICA EEEEE MY GIRLYPOP GFFFF I LOVE HER TOO i hope she'll get more screentime this time around she deserves it!!!

NO BC AGAIN UR SO RIGHT (as always) MIKE IS SUCH A PRETTY LITTLE PRINCESS AND HE WOULD 10000% GIGGLE WHEN YOU'D TWIRL HIM AROUND EEEEEEEEEEHEHEHHEHEHE SO MANY GFS IN THIS ONE GAME WOWAWEEWAAA and and and i also love josh!!! our brains really are connected huh....... we can pay for his therapy sessions together yayy

okay also i'm pretty sure it's not gonna be a simple remaster but a remake instead??? this is the important little tweet!!! but i'll just point out some things real quick anyway "new perspectives to make the story more nuanced and emotional" + new locations and new interactions EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THEY'RE CRAZY FOR THIS I'M SOOO EXCITED I CAN'T FUCKING WAITT "bla bla the game now allows the player to really feel the experience of that fateful night." WHAT THE FUCK WERE WE FEELING BEFORE THENNNNN?????? i've never screamed as loudly as i did when i was playing this game..... my brother had to come and check up on me and my friend like four times.................... now now now being the soundtrack professional... this next piece of information is crucial to the upgrade "... featuring a new score from legendary horror composer mark korven." AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH A GOD THIS GUY IS GREAT i'll just give u two little examples bc why not the lighthouse + the witch (i love love love both of those films btw)(but i won't recommed them to u bc they're horrory lmao) aaaand last but not least "we've seized the oppurtunity to expand upon unexplored emotional parts of the story" i think it's safe to say that this will be my game of the year hehehehehehe

IT'S TOTALLY NORMAL TO JUST WATCH OTHERS PLAY BTWWW!!!! i watch gameplay vids all the time hell i rewatch the same gameplay vids lmao

i'm so sad that i didn't get to play this game without ever seeing the gameplay though... i think i watched markiplier play it just when it game out so i remembered a few things from it.... actually now that i think about it i still might've gotten jessica killed right at the start my first time around but then i refused to accept that so i immediately did it again lmao and then i managed to save everyone YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BADLY MY FUCKING HANDS WERE SHAKING AND HOW I WAS LITERALLY SWEATING AND MY HEART WAS BEATING SO FAST jfc it was as if i was there in the game hashahsaghsghah yeahhh anyway i really fucking love this game and i'm so happy i get to talk about it with youu hehehehe

omggg and on bsd!!!! i have now officially watched all of it yayy!!! and i liked it a lot a lot a lot NIKOLAI IS SO FUNN WHATT man i love all of the characters i just ahhhhhhhh wanna start writing for them but that's a little scary looool BUTTTT do let me know if u do start watching it so i can bother u some more hihihihihi

HIIIII ARI ANGEL!!! how are you??? what are you doing?? i NEED to know. anyway i am bringing u this sweet little tiktok bc it made me think of u LOVE YOUU<33333333

https://www.tiktok.com/@nakanoic/video/7318401900146117894

- @softgirlgonehaywire

MICKEYYYY MY BELOVED <333 FIRST OF ALL TYSM FOR THE KUNIKIDAZAI FOOD WAHHHH THEY R MY SWEETIES 🥺🥺🥺🥺 kunikida is my wife so true i miss him sm :(((( my meowmeow… the light of my life…….. IT REMINDED U OF ME??? mickey pls watch out i am sending a big fat kiss ur way LOOK OUTTTTT

AND i’m doing well!! i don’t have to do any uni reading til like . tuesday so i’m planning on writing + reading some fics from my tbr >:33 i dunno if i’ll succeed but i really wanna finish the knight!sugu fic by suguru’s bday… i’ll tag u in it either way hehe so trust that u will be the first to know 🙏🙏 i’m also a lil depressed bc of jjk leaks T-T BUT super excited bc the jjk fighting game drops tmrw!!! i’ve already preordered it and i’m sooo excited to play it !!!!

HOW ABT U MICKEY….. what have u been up to?? how does it feel to be a free full-time tumblrina??? 🎤🎤🎤 i hope u’ve been resting and celebrating a bunch !!!

(ALSOOOOO MICKEY MY SOULMATE EXCUSE ME U LOVE UNTIL DAWN????? UR FAVES ARE EMILY AND MIKE???????? i had no idea it was getting a remaster that’s so fun I LOVE IT TOOOO even tho i had to look away for a lot of scenes phdjsh…. AND AND AND believe it or not but my favorites are ALSO emily and mike <333 i like my women mean and my men silly.)

[moviemunchies]

I only got into Uncharted recently. I had never been that much into the games–I don’t think I had even heard of the series until the third game came out, and I was astounded at how many awards it won in the yearly GameTrailers awards that year (shows you how old I am, that I remember GameTrailers of all things).

But then when the pandemic started the Playstation Store offered the original trilogy remastered for free! And I am ALL about free games and so I thought I’d give it a shot and they’re pretty darn good! I was vaguely interested when a movie was officially announced and once it finally came out, I thought I’d give it a go.

Uncharted is the story of Nathan Drake, a small-time thief with an interest in history. While he’s working as a bartender in New York City, a thief named Victor Sullivan asks him to help him find the treasure of Magellan, something he and Nate’s now-lost brother have wanted to find for ages. But there’s someone else after the treasure: Santiago Moncado, whose family has been after the treasure for a long time, and his hired mercenary Jo Braddock.

At some point, this movie was being billed as a prequel to the games. I’m telling you right now: it’s not. It’s an alternate continuity. There are a lot of things that don’t square up with the backstory of the games, and that’s fine–movies and games are different experiences. But if you’re expecting a faithful adaptation of the story from the games, then you’re in for a disappointment.

Alright, so right out the gate, I wasn’t a huge fan when they announced that the lead role would go to Tom Holland. It’s not that I think he’s a bad actor, but I was of the opinion that he was way too fresh-faced to be Nathan Drake. I revised my opinion a bit upon seeing the first trailer, but having seen the movie, I tend to think that my first impression was correct. He doesn’t do badly, but he doesn’t feel quite right as Nathan Drake. He comes across as much more innocent than the Nate of the games. And yeah, Drake is at his heart a good guy, but he’s also a thief who knows his way around firearms and dangerous situations.

I understand that they toned down the violence for the movie so a more innocent Drake was perhaps called for. And I understand that fan favorite Nathan Fillion is probably too old for the kind of story they wanted to tell. But I don’t think Tom Holland was the best choice for the role here, and I suspect he was only chosen because he made it big off the MCU. Like I said, he doesn’t do badly, just not as well as a more fitting choice might have been.

[Also, there are a surprising number of shots in which Nate is shirtless? I don’t think there are any shots of shirtless Nate in the games, so it looked like they only wanted to show off how in shape Tom Holland is. It was a bit weird.]

There’s a plot development in which Braddock does a thing and I don’t know why? It definitely felt like the kind of thing an Uncharted villain might do, but they usually get a lot more motivation to do so. Here she just does it, and I don’t get why. For the treasure, I guess, but it’s not like she was hurting for the money before. Eh. Just didn’t work for me.

I had fun with this movie though. I don’t know, I think if you saw the trailers, you’ll know exactly the kind of movie you’re getting. Most of the major beats are at least hinted at in the trailers (even the mid-credits scene, which is an odd choice). Yes, there’s treasure hunting. Yes, there’s over-the-top action sequences and chases. Yes, there is considerably less shooting than in the games (I’m not even sure how all that gunplay would be worked into a film). I think it works overall. Not as a brilliant, memorable movie that sticks out from similar treasure-hunting adventures, but it’s not a bad flick. Still, with the massive reputation that Uncharted has in gaming circles, I imagine they were hoping for something a little 

Although would it have been too much to ask for the movie soundtrack to use more of the motifs from the games’ soundtracks?

You would get a more unique story experience from watching the cutscenes of one of the games on YouTube, but this is an enjoyable enough movie.

[amysteriousmessenger]

cinema date with zenny!

my laptop crashed and this got deleted and I had to start again so I hope this is okay ;-;

Cinema Date with Zen/Hyun Ryu Headcanons

Date nights with you are some of Zen’s very favourite evenings. He enjoys staying in the apartment with you just as much as he loves going out, so he leaves it up to you for what your preference is on that day. When you say that there’s a new musical movie that you wanna see, Zen’s more than happy to take you on a date to the cinema. 

If it’s not a musical he’s familiar with, he’ll definitely look up a stage production on his phone beforehand on Youtube so he can get a feel for it. Of course, this was after you told him that he could watch other performances of stuff on Youtube. He had to be informed of this fact, he did not discover it organically. As most musical theatre fans are, he’s tentative about movie adaptations so he wants to know what to expect in advance. He has seen some horrific performances.

However, you saw that the cinema was running a remastered version of Dirty Dancing, so you didn’t have to worry about whether the both of you would enjoy it or not. You knew you’d both like it! 

Zen likes to buy your cinema tickets because he likes to be the one taking you out on the date and treating you right. It just feels more chivalrous to him and it’s how he likes it. If the two of you go on a day where the tickets are on sale, even better! He’ll use the extra money to upgrade your popcorn size. Zen isn’t one for snacking, but he always makes a point of buying you some popcorn, soda and a water. He’ll also get a water for himself too. He doesn’t usually buy any popcorn for himself but he’ll steal a handful or so of yours, especially if you feed it to him. Look how cute you are, how could he ever say no to you?

He always prefers to go to the later showings because they’re less busy and feel a little bit more romantic to him. Plus, if he can sneak an extra kiss in the dark cinema while it’s empty then that is most definitely a bonus. 

As you both settle down into your seats, Zen’s arm is immediately around your shoulders and pulling you close to him. If there’s a divider between the seats it might be a little difficult to do so, but if you’re able you can nestle your head into his chest and wedge the popcorn between the two of you.

When the movie starts, you’ll catch Zen mouthing the lyrics very quietly humming along to any of the songs that he knows out of habit. It’s never loud enough for other people in the cinema to hear and you enjoy it far too much to ever tell him to stop. It’s super sweet and comforting, especially since you can feel the vibrations from him doing it whenever you lean onto his chest. 

He always manages to keep his voice hushed when making comments or jokes about the film, and knows how flustered you get when he brings his lips close to your ear to make sure you capture every word over the movie, so he makes a point of doing it even more.

When Dirty Dancing ends, you can absolutely guarantee that Zen is going to have the soundtrack playing that night when you get out of the shower. He wants to dance with you to ‘Hungry Eyes’, The Beast seemed to like that song a lot.

[bihet-dragonize]

oh wait other updates. nothing interesting or funny like the source port thing. but I saw Doom (2016) & Doom Eternal on sale for Switch so I got them, since I don't own a PC that can run either one or a console besides the Switch. I'm Doom anon again btw

also I bought the first 4 Doom games (Doom 1993, Doom II, Doom 64, Doom 3) on Steam on sale because I figure I might try mods or source ports, or maybe make my own levels. probably I'll just play them on Switch though, except maybe Doom 3, I might play it on PC

I still haven't actually played through Doom II all the way, or Doom 64, or Doom 3. actually I hadn't read about or played any Doom for like, a really long time I think. they updated the "official add-ons" system for the Unity shell Doom & Doom II ports though so now every add-on is downloadable in either game

the Quake remaster has a similar thing, with curated mods downloadable for consoles (because reasons, console manufacturers are not big fans of mods on consoles and they need to make sure mods available aren't doing a copyright violation), and that has the Quake 64 campaign downloadable

see, when they made Quake for Nintendo 64, it wasn't a straight port. it's a bit different, though the levels are more or less the same, so it's nice they included it, even if it's not substantially different in most ways. it had its own soundtrack too

here's how this relates to Doom: the same thing happened with Doom on the Atari Jaguar. a downgraded port of Doom was made, tweaking or cutting levels from PC, as well as adding 2 brand new levels (which used the same names as cut levels for some reason). that port was then the basis for other console ports, including PlayStation's Doom, which was actually Doom and Doom II

PlayStation Doom includes all the Jaguar levels, adjusted a bit for PlayStation and adding Doom II enemies on the Ultra-Violence difficulty, plus levels from the 4th episode of The Ultimate Doom, plus most of Doom II (no Icon of Sin though, sadly). all the levels are tweaked again from PC, though less than on Jaguar because it was a more powerful console than Jaguar. the most interesting part imo though is that it had 6 new levels in addition to the 2 from Jaguar, for a total of 8 console exclusive levels

now, what disappoints me with the Unity shell remasters is, there's no official add-on for the Jaguar or PlayStation levels (which on PlayStation also had its own unique soundtrack just like Quake 64 -- same devs, actually, and the same composer; same people all did Doom 64 after they ported Final Doom to PlayStation, which was actually a mishmash of levels from the 2 Final Doom campaigns and the Master Levels for Doom II). anyway I feel like if they can release Quake 64 in Quake, why not for Doom also? put PlayStation Doom and PlayStation Final Doom on there as add-ons. why not?

like. I get that the version of the engine used on PlayStation isn't identical, it had fancier lighting effects and other differences and it was on a console. but you could port the levels over easily enough. PlayStation has an exclusive enemy too but it's just a reskin so that's not a problem

it just bugs me that if you want to play those levels you gotta play the low-res PlayStation version with its terrible framerate, which I can't do on my Switch

You said there's nothing funny in this message but then you named like 8 (is Final Doom a difficulty or an actual game?) different Doom games 😭😭😭😭😭 djdjsfjjfjdkskfjfjkfjfj also you have like all of them???? That's so cool!! And yeah I'd be mad as hell if I was stuck playing any low-res version of ANY game lol

[the-shared-brain-in-retrograde]

Guardians of the Galaxy

What a bunch of a-holes...

A Joint Review

Its well known that @becksxoxo and the Mouse are quite tight, so I'm sure you'll appreciate how we managed to get them to show the What If... T'Challa was Star Lord episode to coincide with our rewatch and judgement of Guardians of the Galaxy. You're welcome. (JK, we're not sure how in league with the What If...? series we want to be.)

Skipping over the death of a family member, this film employs that tried and tested method of great cinema the world over: if you can't start your film with a forward role make sure there is a dance routine (may we suggest Get Over It)

As we watched Peter break and enter into that temple our minds glazed over with thoughts of Indiana Jones. We would like to stress it was a sub-par Indy, mind. Peter's outfit is very good, we love a swishy leather coat, however his mask is a little creepy. The big eyes conjure up The Fly Man vibes, which we don't like, and we are worried that the flatness doesn't allow for the nose, but he seems to be getting alright so we'll leave him to it.

Peter Quill is a lot. We bet he'd be fun to be at a party with, but incredibly stressful to be with at any other time. He's always on, and I can guarantee he is not going to be turning up at the fountain in town at 11am, when that's the plan. He's a fun main character but neither of us really connected with him. He's funny at times, and we enjoy him being part of the group but we're a bit meh. @cassandrafey says that part of this for her is just knowing what he is going to be like and do in the future films, of which she is still furious. @becksxoxo has no idea what she is talking about as all she can recall from Infinity War is Cass SOBBING most of the film. Also, at the end, like we got that his Mum and Gamora said the same thing, "take my hand," but we really felt the ick when they superimposed his Mum over Gamora. We know there are some parenting issues in the MCU, but this was too much. He does have his moments, but then he ruins them. Bloody men.

These opening scenes also showcase just how great the soundtrack to this film is. We think it might even beat Captain Marvel and that had some bangers. Our favourites are:

Gamora has beautiful hair and is good with her knife throwing, and as we have mentioned, many times, these are two things we greatly appreciate. We think she's quite cool, but there are times we worry that she is a little bit stupid. The whole scene with her, Peter and the walkman is meant to be romantic, but don't lose your mind over the first idiot who plays you a song. You're better than that. It also falls on Gamora to be the moral compass of the group, which is a great responsibility for someone with such a murderous reputation. We respected her decision to do the right thing, rather than use the resources to get away from her dickhead of an adopted father.

Rocket and Groot, the MVPs of Guardians, our favourites. Which we're sure is a kick in the balls for all those actors who had to turn up and sit for hours in make up and work for their pay. But they are hands down the best characters in this film. We love them. The backstory, the character development, their relationship, WE LOVE IT. We love the rage that Rocket is filled with, and then the abject sadness of what was done to him. He makes us feel things, which is more than can be said about the other characters in this film.

We have heard that Vin Diesel takes this role very seriously, which is cute, but it is confusing that such a big name was used for a three word role. But even in those three words he says and emotes more than others, and in the end he sacrifices himself to save them all. (Now we won't go into who else sacrifices themselves during the other MCU films because that way lies disagreement and mammoth rants. We may have been dancing on the verge of argument last night in fact...).

We would love to know more of their origin story, how they came to be a team, and if Rocket will ever get to keep any of the artificial body parts he sees (we don't know if we should like this as much as we do, but its really funny and we are horrible people). Also these two have the best lines in the film, 10/10 love them.

A tangent happened here... it should be mentioned when discussing this last night @becksxoxo said although she loves Rocket, she has heard some things about Bradley Cooper that aren't great, then proceeded to say but have you see How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which was funny because it turns out he isn't in it. @cassandrafey thinks that Bradley Cooper looks like a Hollywood Lee Mack and as a consequence is always sort of disappointed it isn't Lee Mack when she sees him, because as we’re sure you can appreciate, Lee Mack is very funny. The fact that Cass can’t actually see Bradley Cooper in this means that for once she doesn’t think about Lee Mack at all and can therefore say it’s probably his best role. Again, we know that this is likely a bit of a kick in the teeth for old Bradley.

Then there's Drax. Drax the Destroyer. There he is. We like him being part of the team, and he does say sorry when he fucks up in the giant celestial head. Maybe there is something to be said for being so literal. Because friends do say sorry to each other, and some groups of superheroes could maybe take a leaf out of their book...

I think them being friends, and a proper team, does add to our enjoyment of the film. Also we would like to break out of a prison with our friends, what a bonding experience. Getting to ride a office through a corridor like Baba Yaga in her pestle and mortar. What japes.

What personal item would you risk you and your friends life for to go retrieve?

@becksxoxo Peter, my childhood soft toy. I realise I'm a grown adult but that rabbit means more to me than you will ever know.

@cassandrafey I have struggled so much with this and when Becks asked me this question I did blurt out the name of my childhood soft toy (Dumbo) in such a way that it sounded like I was making a vicious attack on her. But in actual fact he currently resides in my parents house in Yorkshire so I’m not sure it’s true. But Becks says I have to pick something so I said fine, that keyring she made me for my birthday, which sent her almost hysterical because it’s a handmade TFATWS keyring and she’s threaded letters on to it so that it says ‘Sam and Bucky forever’ (among other things) and it’s in pastel colours and there’s little hearts and it’s totally adorable. I do carry it everywhere with me, and sometimes I look at it when I’m in despair at work and just feel better on two levels; a) the thought of Sam and Bucky is cheering and b). the fact that a grown woman sat there threading these letters together for another grown woman’s birthday gift. (Becks scooting in here to say the keyring is cursed. It's massive, illustrated, and includes other phrases outside the one Cass has shared. Also kissing fish? And yet not the worse thing I've ever made...)

Fucking Thanos. HATE HATE HATE. When @cassandrafey sees him in this film, all she can think of is the fact he looks like he's sat in a stair lift chair, which is amusing, and she enjoys it because she likes to belittle him as much as possible. Also @becksxoxo husband says he likes Thanos, and that he thinks snapping half the universe away is the right thing to do. She wishes Thanos would snap him away, idiot.

We're sticking Nebula in with the villains, but is she really? Or is she just a very damaged young woman? She is a baddie, she is. We do feel a bit sorry for her, as she is constantly over shadowed, but she is a maniac. She shouts get "out of my way!" at nobody at one point, so clearly very angry. Also she did something to annoy @becksxoxo in Dr Who one time, and as such she holds this against any character she will ever play, its like Imelda Staunton all over again.

Another day, another shit Marvel villain. Much like the incident with our Ecclescake, he’s had most of his features covered and had to put on a funny voice, and it’s hard to come back from those things. We don't understand why Ronan is out to kill planets, and have just put it down to religious zealousy. At least Thanos states his points clearly (@becksxoxo found that very hard to type and didn't care for it at all). The two things we did enjoy about Ronan was a. the noise he made when he died, and b. in the outtakes he does do the dance off with Star Lord and it was good.

We have a friend who really likes The Collector. Like REEEEEALLY likes him. (And we shall out her here; everyone say hi to our star guest and President of the Collector FanClub @acelucky 👋). Which we do not see, but also do not judge. As showcased in our previous reviews and personal tags we all have our little issues, our winter soldier-style code words that send us spinning into financial difficulties. The Collector did let us in to important information regarding the Infinity Stones, and how it was all going to start tying in together, unless you had left the room at that vital moment and missed useful information once again. God damn it Becks. How do you ever expect to understand these Infinity Stones with that sort of attitude?

What collections would you like to exhibit?

@becksxoxo would be:

My collection of precious things, all my crystals, coins, ornaments and candles (everything my husband deems as tat)

My collection of beautiful books. Have I read them all? No. But do they look good? Yes. Also the featured book would be the leather bound tome of all the people who have ever wronged me. A very long list. And the pages would be turned regularly so you could get the full effect. People could also make appointments to check the book to see if they, or their ancestors, were included.

My cross stitches. With a highlight on my halloween poem, my snowy winter landscape and portrait of Ron Swanson.

My fandom merch. My tie in novels, my lego figues, funko pops, tshirts and hoodies, my Grogu bop it (why yes Din, I will pull it - just thinking about that silly little game sends my finances spinning)

All the items I'm taking from Cass once she's dead.

@cassandrafey has noted Becks’ cunning ploy to get at the things she’s taking from me when I’m dead whilst I’m still kicking. I would exhibit:

These reviews. Our life’s work should be properly displayed.

Our proverbs. Me and Becks write them on the side. For example, ‘if you sleep now you won’t feel the benefit when you’re dead.’ That kind of thing.

Gifts I have received over the years. Which would include all of the things Becks has made for me (in an ideal world this includes the disembodied papier-mâché head of Noel Fielding she once lovingly crafted, although in real life this had to be got rid of following a terrible incident with my mother. I don’t want to talk about it.) And all the Christmas ornaments from the terrible Xmas ornament competition myself and The President of the Collector FanClub have been involved in over the years.

My favourite books

The final room would be called The Bad Boy Gallery, and it’s just photos and reels of all the villains and scoundrels I have ever loved. There would be quite a bit of leather involved in the decor. On the walls are painted the insane things I’ve said to excuse these men over the years. Such gems as ‘oh he’s just misunderstood’ and ‘he’s a desperately lonely man’ and ‘I kind of think he had a point there’ and ‘do you he grew that hair out for the part?’ amongst other unhinged ramblings. Criminal by Britney Spears is playing discreetly from the speakers. Exit into gift shop and buy a little postcard of your fave.

@becksxoxo: oh my gods, I didn't even think of the gift shop. Which is shocking in itself because I fucking love gift shops. I bet you could get yourself a pair of Binky Barnes shorts, candles scented like our favourite financial instabilities, and prepare bottles of my sangria and cocktails. Also attached would be a coffee shop that strictly sold autumn/winter beverages. I'll start looking for the gallery space now.

We do have a soft spot for Yondu and the Ravagers. We loved the constant threat of being eaten, and that he should be grateful he wasn't eaten. We love that they're essentially space pirates, and who doesn't love pirates? @becksxoxo loves anything than Sean Gunn does, the odd little oaf. We also learnt through Yondu, and his nifty arrow, that @cassandrafey can't whistle and its brought great amusement. She can rap the entirety of The Bad Touch though, so she's not without skill. Also, at the end, when Yondu is sad down and all the Ravagers are drinking and cavorting around him we got strong Jareth and the Goblins vibes, and that warms our hearts no end.

Other people of note we'd like to say we enjoyed were:

Glenn Close calling that man a prick.

John C Reilly regretting all his life choices when letting those idiots leave scott free.

Peter Serafinowicz. We know he is being a serious actor in this but we both just wheezed about, laughing, thinking of Black Books and Brian Butterfield.

What song would you have a dance off with somebody to?

@becksxoxo Saturday Night by Whigfield

@cassandrafey The Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang. And I’d rap whilst I did it too.

In conclusion, we reet enjoyed the movie. It was light hearted and fun, and we managed to not get too many feelings involved. Which at times is all you can ask for. We will be joining them again next week, so fingers crossed we enjoy it as much. We've both only seen volume 2 once, when it first came out, so it will practically be a new one for both of us on account of apparently terrible memories.

[creativenicocorner]

Did you ever create a Playlist for your 3 acts fic? Like I know Barb is musical nerd in the first act and you had godsdamn abba running in the background while they were running away from angor in what wouls theoretically be the angor management arc but...curious if you follow an actual Playlist or is it just vibes?

Thank you so much for asking!! ♡(´⌣`ʃƪ)

It sort of depends in a sort of "What came first the chicken or the egg?" kind of way. As sometimes I'm inspired deeply by a song or a music piece for a certain situation or characters. Is the piece situationally appropriate? Character appropriate? Both? - I go into more detail about that here.

Take the Gimme Gimme Gimme (a Man After Midnight) not only is it appropriate (I believe) in terms of the lyrics, in which that man after midnight is most likely Strickler should he ever get his shit together (he will in the future), who is currently acting as their getaway driver while being chased by another Midnight man of a different sort (Angor). But also coincides with Barbara's love of musicals! Its very conceivable of her to have a CD soundtrack of the Mamma Mia musical (maybe even a remastered one at that). Sure it's played as a goof to alleviate the tension, but it also paves the way for other Mamma Mia moments that Barbara could have (The biggest one I'm excited for being The Winner Takes it All. Great potential for a future Walter and Barbara situation. or EVEN, Barbara contemplating her ex-husband James.)

Then there's the song the section is named after Roundabout. Which, is the goofy Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure meme song, but also an incredibly good song when listened to in its entirety - and the lyrics feel incredibly fitting situationally, and leaning towards Strickler some. Not to mention the lyrics are incredibly telling in a Stricklake sort of way...

We the readers know that between the two of them it will be Strickler who remembers Barbara - and it foreshadows Barbara's own change as she starts to deviate from canon.

My plot dictates the music, and sometimes I'm dictated by the music, in a very "chicken or the egg" way haha. Sometimes I have songs set and ready put aside

For instance in ACT II when Nomura and Jim inevitably fight for Gunmar's amusement deep in the depths of the Darklands I know for a FACT I want to use Bizet's "Toreador" from the opera Carmen. As the fight is not only a show for Gunmar like watching a bull fight. But also, to the surprise of no one, Nomura will have a lot of association to Opera. So the piece will be not only situationally but also characteristically accurate. The real question might end up being, between Jim and Nomura, who is the bull? And could the bull be someone not even in the rink? (Gunmar).

What music pieces I have leading up to that is foggy and vague, I have other music pieces set aside, especially for Nomura, but it likewise depends on how the plot will evolve while I write it too! Maybe down the line I'll think of something I hadn't while planning and BAM there's a whole section based on the soundtrack to The Legend of Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess or something lkgdlkfj (As to me, Jim as a lot of LoZ vibes musically, among others!)

Another one I have planned but am unsure what other music pieces will happen until I reach that point is the dreaded S3 Merlin scene where he tries to convince Jim to become a troll. In my own morbid humor (mainly to cope) I have set aside Neon Genesis Evangelion's "Cruel Angel's Thesis" cause 1 the song fucking slaps, 2 I couldn't stop associating Jim with Shinji when I watched that scene. Specifically the joke "Get in the fucking robot Shinji" Cue Jim and Shinji having a Bad Time Indeed™ ;w; (Don't worry, Merlin is planned to have an even WORSE time afterwards). (ง •̀ω•́)ง✧

And maybe that'll change!! I remember for ch15 I had originally planned on the song section to be Mitski's Crack Baby. As it felt VERY fitting for both Barbara and Walter. Not only for Barbara's memory loss, but also that changeling feeling of missing something that you're not entirely sure about.

And YET Samba Em Prelúdio felt hauntingly right to me, it was soft, delicate, the lyrics are tragic, and the way Vinicius de Moraes ,Maria Creuza, Toquinho sing it gives me goosebumps every time.

ANYWHO! I hope that helped answering your question!! Thank you so much for asking!! It really means a lot to me!! ヽ(o♡o)/

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy VII Remake Review

Year: 2020

Platform: PS4

I finished this game shortly after posting all my main single-player series Final Fantasy reviews. I was still digesting it and thinking about it to put together my review.

Synopsis:

The Shinra Electric Power Company rules over the city of Midgar, and the eco-terrorists AVALANCHE stop at nothing to try and prevent the life essence of the planet from being used as energy. Barrett, leader of AVALANCHE, hires a mercenary named Cloud Strife for their bombing mission on a Shinra Mako Reactor. Cloud doesn’t care much for the greater cause and only wants his pay. But then, after a mission goes awry, he meets Aerith, a flower girl who is the descendant of the Ancients. He quickly finds himself wrapped up in the greater conflict against Shinra.

Gameplay:

Final Fanatasy VII Remake has one of the best gameplay styles of any Final Fantasy game. It’s that good. It seems like after all these years, this is what Square really wanted to do. Since this was released after Final Fantasy XV, it’s pretty much the successor to its gameplay. While Final Fantasy XV has you more or less spamming the attack button with occasional spell casting and item usage, Final Fantasy VII Remake has you much more involved with the Materia system, abilities, and guarding/evading. One notable example is that Final Fantasy XV always told you when you should guard in order to counter, but Final Fantasy VII Remake has you figure that out on your own.

The abilities are so goddamn flashy and cool during gameplay. Tifa’s moves are quite possibly the most awe-inspiring.

My only complaint is locking onto the enemy during battle. You have to press down on R3 to lock onto an enemy, and I sometimes found that jarring with the camera controls. Sometimes I accidentally disengaged from an enemy and missed an attack. Since your moves are dependent on an Active Time Battle system, you can waste a turn if you get hit while conjuring a spell or taking out an item. That sometimes made me go “REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”. But in the long run, those were very small gripes. The battles are so much fun.

Since the game follows only the Midgar portion of the story, it’s linear. But you reach sections where you are free to roam around and do sidequests before continuing with the main objective. I’m sure the later releases of the remake will feel much less constrained. But this remake does a good job at expanding upon Midgar without feeling too redundant.

Graphics:

Jesus Christ. This game is gorgeous.

Both in-game graphics and pre-rendered cutscenes. The switch between a pre-rendered cutscene and in-game cutscene has become much more seamless than ever before.

If you remember my Final Fantasy XV review, I mentioned how NPCs and other in-game animations seemed stiff and stilted. Final Fantasy VII Remake takes steps to remedy that. Characters have more fluid movements and everyone’s lips move a lot more. However, lip movements can come off as awkward. My friend was watching me play, and during one in-game cutscene they said “Something looks weird with their lips.” At times, lip movements seem too dynamic when the character is standing relatively still, which comes off looking like Mr. Ed the horse trying to talk.

Despite those small awkward things, the rest of the game is extremely polished. Remember how blocky Final Fantasy VII was? We now finally see these characters and the world of Midgar brought to life in beautiful HD graphics.Like holy shit. Everyone looks so beautiful.

Before I played this game, I was a Tifa stan, but now, ho man, they made Aerith so much more appealing.

SO.

MUCH.

MORE.

APPEALING.

And Tifa shines better than ever. I’m very tempted to just gush about her but here is just a couple enticing gifs.

Imagine playing this game and still thinking gamers are oppressed.

Story:

Final Fantasy VII Remake follows from the start of the original game up until the party leaving Midgar. Square plans to release the rest of the remake later.

I have to say, they made the story a lot more engaging than the original. That may seem like blasphemy, but the dialogue and voice acting was just so damn good. Some of my favorite moments included the banter between Aerith and Cloud. Like I said, I wasn’t into Aerith that much until I played the remake. She’s just so damn cute and charming. One of my favorite parts was when she said, “Shit” and almost fell, after mentioning how she didn’t need help climbing a ladder. Her voice is so lovely and amusing to listen to. The growing romance between her and Cloud doesn’t come off as forced or cringey, because we now spend so much time with Aerith.

Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie have much more important roles in the story. This gives us a greater sense of Avalanche as a ragtag group.

Entire chapters focus on them, especially Jessie. I cringed a bit at Jessie to be honest, despite her popularity. She now comes off as a copy of Aerith in the sense that she comes on strong to Cloud. But really strong. Like “I want that D right now” strong. Cloud has officially become your usual anime boy who is good at everything that can make any woman magically fall in love with him. So that whole thing made me roll my eyes.

There are some new characters inserted, such as the SOLDIER Roche. I thought they were going to do more with him but, apparently not. The new characters can be a bit “meh”, such as Chadley. Johnny isn’t a new character but may as well be since his role is so expanded. He was probably the most annoying, constantly calling Cloud “bro”. That gave me some bad flashbacks of Prompto’s modern-speak in Final Fantasy XV.

The remake adds a certain new plot element that you’re not sure at first where it’s going until it’s revealed at the very end. The ending can be a bit out there, as the original storyline is changed significantly. SIGNIFICANTLY I was curious if this game would make sense to first-timers, but, probably not when you reach the end. The ending heavily relies on you knowing the original game.

My only complaint about the story was how they started the motorcycle chase cutscene. That was my favorite cutscene of the original game, with Cloud driving down the stairs and the group getting into the car. I liken it to the barrel scene in the original Hobbit novel. But like the Hobbit movie, they made the motorcycle scene pretty outrageous. Like so over-the-top that my initial reaction was to scoff at it. It also struck me as awkward, because there were many moments when the bad guys could have shot them but just. . .stood there watching Cloud kick their asses.

Some people may be upset by how the remake ended, while others find it cool. I thought it was cool. But at the same time, now I want an official “remastered” Final Fantasy VII too. Just a game strictly like the original but with vastly improved graphics.

Music:

The music was pure eargasm. There were many moments when I fanboyed screaming “THIS IS THE SONG! YESSS!” They remixed the songs so well, from the battle theme to the Shinra theme, and the Wall Market theme. Everything you loved about the original soundtrack but MORE gusto, more pomp and circumstance.

A couple complaints though.

1 – I think the focus on making the music more orchestrated takes away the mood of the original music. I missed some of the synth and electronic from the original game because it related well to the technological city of Midgar. The synth and electronic featured in the original game gave off a brooding, darker mood.

2 – I didn’t like what they did with the Crazy Motorcycle music.

Notable Theme:

It’s difficult to find pieces of the original soundtrack as of today, because Square is taking them down from YouTube. Still, some people have managed to keep up some of the coolest tracks from this game. Unfortunately, the videos have gameplay footage, which could be spoilers, technically.

I’ll just leave it as this:

The Jenova battle theme is a much longer piece in this game, but it pays off at the final quarter of the song.

Trust me.

Verdict:

The remake does the original justice. We waited so long for this game and it delivered, unlike Final Fantasy XV.

I don’t think a first-timer would really appreciate it though as much as a fan of the original game would. Sure, there’s nothing stopping you from just going into it without knowing the original game, but there are things that one wouldn’t understand unless you played the original game. In that sense, the word “remake” is a bit misleading. Maybe they’re “rebooting” the entire Compilation of Final Fantasy VII? It seems like they’re going for what they did with the newer Star Trek movies, if you catch my drift. But I can’t say for sure exactly where they’re going with it until the next game comes out, but it seems that way to me.

[sapphymayeyeplease]

With the S1 remaster coming out tomorrow, I’d like to shed some light on the original first season. I know that this isn’t the most popular opinion, but Sam & Max Season One (Save The World) was actually good. Sure, Beyond Time and Space and The Devil’s Playhouse introduced amazing characters and fan favorites to the series, but S1 had a hypnosis plot involving the US government, a local (totally not a) mafia, a talk show host taking her audience hostage, a joke portrayal of the internet that actually kinda still holds up today, and a malevolent bacterial hivemind trying to take over the world. What other game could have something so elaborate and ridiculous building up episode by episode? 

And can I mention the amazing soundtrack? Seriously, the intro music, Cogs In Motion, Consecutive Office, Just You And Me (And Ted E. Bear), all still get caught in my head. Also??? REALITY 2.0!!! They took all the jazzy music and make it electronic and techno to fit with the setting, tone, and whimsical futurism of that episode and the virtual reality. Go on and tell me that isn’t at least a little bit cool.

And let’s be honest, it was testing the waters for everyone, really. Save The World was the first in the duo’s Telltale series, and as such, players and the developers alike were getting warmed up to what Sam & Max was all about. You can see as you get further into the game how the tone gets more comfortable with being unorthodox and outlandish. The Soda Poppers were annoying, Hugh Bliss was a bit eccentric, and the graphics weren’t amazing, but in my honest opinion, that’s just what it was; a good run that has a lot of flaws.

While we’re playing the remaster tomorrow, I hope to feel at least a bit of nostalgia. The first season set the scene for the seasons to come, and it just deserves more credit.

[tumbling-odyssey]

Games I played in 2020

Just felt like getting my thoughts out on all the games I played this year. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for years but I always let it pass me by. Well not this year! Fuck you laziness! 

I played the first half in 2019 but finished it in 2020 so I guess I'll count it. DQ11 was my intro to Dragon Quest and what a good starting point. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best traditional JRPGs on the market. Characters, story, combat, it all clicks in just the right way to make a flawless game... until the end credits roll that is. 

I have no idea what happened with the post game but by god does it dive off a cliff. It undermines everything you worked to do in the main plot. The characters act brain dead and it shamelessly reuses events from the main game. Please pick up and play DQ11 but for the love of god just stop when the credits roll.

Doom is a game I knew I'd like. The heavy metal ascetic and soundtrack were right up my alley, but I just never found the time. With Eternal on the way though and having found it on the cheap at a pawn shop I figured there was no time like the present. Needless to say but I was right. I loved everything about this game. The thrill of combat, the screech of the guitars, and the silent take no shit attitude of Doomguy. Make no mistake though, I SUCK at this game. I played on easy but still got my ass handed to me on the regular. But I don't care, I was having way to much fun.

I flipped my shit when this game got leaked at the tail end of 2019. Zero 3 is my all time favourite game. To celebrate this getting announced I went and 100% Zero 3 as I hadn't done it on my current cart, and Zero 3 was still the first thing I played when I got this collection! I love that game to death and I’m glad to have it on modern consoles again. As I was under a bit of time crunch with other games releasing soon I only played 2 other games in the collection Zero 4 and ZX Advent. Until the DS collection those and 3 were the only Zero/ZX games I had so I have a lot of nostalgia for them. 

Zero 4 hold ups better then I remember. Not as good as 3 but a damn solid game with tweaks I honestly wish hit the series before its end. I remember having issues with the stage design and ya it’s not perfect, but it’s far from as bad as I thought. For ZXA this was the first time I beat the game on normal difficulty. For some reason the ZX games have always given me more trouble than the Zero games, so finally beating one on normal was very exciting. Maybe I can now finally go and beat ZX for the first time...

The Mystery Dungeon series rising from the depth to punch all those unexpecting in the face was a very welcome surprise. I had a lot of hype going into this one as I have very fond memories of my time with Red Rescue Team and even more with Explorers of Darkness. And the game lived up to it! The remastered music is great and crazy nostalgic, the 3D models are well used and don't feel as stiff as they do in the core series, and the QOL changes are near perfect... So why did I drop this game like a rock once I finished the main quest? 

Anyone familiar with Mystery Dungeon will know that the post game is the real meat of it. The story is short and all the really cool shit comes in after it's done. But I just couldn't bring myself to put more time in after I finished said story mode. I'm definitely chocking that up to me just not being in the mood then an issue with the game. Here's hoping we get an Explorers DX sometime soon. That will fucking hook me for all it's got.

Second verse same as the first. I loved this game and sucked at it horribly. Out of all the games I've played this year Doom Eternal is the one I want to go back to the most. I was not the hugest fan of some of the changes made and retained a stance that I liked 2016 better. First person platforming has never been a fun experience in my opinion and Eternal did little to change that. And I know this a lukewarm take at best but fuck Marauders!. They are so unfun to fight and ruin the pace. The Marauder in the last mook wave took me so long I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish the game. But the more I've seen of Eternal after my playthrough makes me think I was being far to harsh. I haven't played the DLC yet either. Mostly cuss I haven't heard great things about it. Gonna wait for the rest of it to come out to see if it's worth getting. Might just replay to whole game at that point to see if it clicks with me better.

This was my second favourite game of the year, and was going to take the top slot until a certain other game came out. Addressing the elephant in room right away, I hated the ending. But I was expecting something like that, I think we all were. I won't let the ending ruin the rest of the game though. Not gonna let 1 segment colour everything that came before it. We have to see how the later parts play out to truly see if this ending was trash or not anyway. 

It took Square over a decade but they finally got an action RPG battle system that works and feels good to play. This may be my favourite battle system in an RPG period honestly. All four characters are a blast and it only gets better the more time you spend with it. Figuring out the nuances of each character’s skills and how to combine them not only with the skills of the others but how to enhance them with the right Materia set. This makes fights thrilling and satisfying when you finally best whatever was giving you trouble. Tis was the best way to bring 7′s mechanics into the modern landscape while also fixing the BIGGEST issue the OG had. The fact every character feels the same aside from Limit Breaks. 

All this on top of graphics that just look fucking stunning, a few glitched out doors aside. Fuck I still feel blown away looking at the characters models (mostly Tifa) and see how god damn pretty everyone is. Also Tifa’s Chinese dress is gift from the Gods and I still haven’t picked my jaw up from the floor after I first saw it.

In my circle of the internet there was a lot of hype for this game. So much so that I ended up buying it to see what all the hubbub was about. I had never played a Streets of Rage game before and my only experience with beat'em ups was playing a LOT of Scott Pilgrim and last year's River City Girls. Turns out Streets of Rage plays quite a bit different and it kicked my ass! So sadly I had to switch to easy to make it through but I still had a fun time with it. 

I started playing mostly as Blaze but once Adam hit the scene oooooh fucking boy. I didn’t play anyone else. There's a deceptive amount of content in this game. You can unlock almost every character from the previous games and all of them rocking their original sprites and moves. If I had more of a connection with this series I'm sure I would have gone nuts on unlocking everything. I stopped after my one playthrough and I was happy with that. Always glad to support a long overdue franchise revival.

To properly talk about P5R I think I need to air a lot of my feelings on the original game and the importance it has to me. You see, prior to 2017 I barely played games, only sticking to specific franchises. AKA Pokemon and Mega Man/Mega Man like games. Until 2016 though I still bought a lot of games. Eating up Steam sales and deals I found at pawn shops. This lead to a Steam library and shelf filled with games I've never touched outside of maybe an hour or 2. So in 2016 when I took interest in the newly released Kirby Planet Robobot I made a deal with myself. I could get the game but I HAD to beat it.  And I did just that, gaining not just a new fav Kirby game but a new rule for game purchases. If I knew I wouldn't beat a game I was not aloud to buy it. Now what does ANY of this have to do with P5 you may ask? Well... almost everything.

 I was immediately interested in P5 when it hit the west in 2017. I loved the 20 or so hours I but into P3 years ago and really liked the P4 anime I had watched around the same time. So of course with all the hype around it I wanted to dive into the series full force with P5. But I knew myself. Putting over 100 hours into a game was beyond me and I had a weird relationship with home console games as I was predominately a handheld gamer. Add in the fact I didn't even have a PS4 and I was convinced P5 would be something I always wanted to play, but never would. So when I went to the mall with a few friends and they showed me that P5 had a PS3 version, I had a dilemma on my hands. I knew I wanted to play it and I now had a way to do so. But doing that would require me to change 2 HUGE hang ups I had with games. Would I being willing to waste 60 bucks with so much working against me? Apparently I was. I immediately started going to town on this game. Making sure I spent no less then 2 hours a day playing NO MATTER WHAT. Which may not seem like a lot but it was to me... at the time.. I also had just moved to my current house, so coming home from my still relatively new job and going straight into P5 was the first real routine I formed during this heavily transitional part of my life. 

I of course ended up loving P5 and put 200 hours into it. As such my outlook on gaming was forever changed. Console games were no longer out of reach and I knew I could handle playing monster length game. I started playing way more games then I ever did before and trying out generas I never thought I would play. P5 is the main reason for this and why I'm able to make a post like this. To actually touch on Royal though? It's unarguably the better version of the game and Atlus learned all the right lessons from P4G. The new characters are great and the added section at the end is possibly the best shit Atlus has ever written. I only wish Yoshizawa joined the party sooner so I could play as her more. 

The release of this really came out of nowhere huh? Wayforward announced it was being made mid way through 2019, then there was its weird half release on the Apple store... and then suddenly it was out! Very little fanfare for this one. Is that indicative of the games quality? Luckily no. Seven Sirens is a solid addition to the series and follows up Half Genies Hero nicely. The game goes back to Shantae's Metroidvania roots and makes a TON of improvements. 

Transformations are now instant instead of having to dance for them (don't worry dancing is still in the game) making the game feel more like Pirates Curse in its fast flow. They also added the Monster Cards which take heavy inspiration from Aria of Sorrow's Soul system. A feature I'm happy to see in any Metroidvania since Aria is one of my all time favourite games. Sadly though the game does not take the best advantage of these improvements. 

Over all the game feels kinda empty. The dungeons aren't super exciting to explore nor are they challenging in any way. And the plot is very repetitive, with each dungeon repeating the same beats. Really this game feels more like set up for a better game down the line. The mechanics are all here and Wayforward has a solid art style with the sprites from Half Genie Hero. Hopefully they capitalizes on this for Shantae 6 and we get the best game in the series.

While it may not have been the most thrilling game, Seven Sirens really put me into a Shantae mood. So much so that I went back to play the 2 games in the series I had never touched. This being the first game and Risky's Revenge. Shantae 1 really is a hidden gem in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, it's the definition of jank, but there's a lot of heart to this game. The sprites are great, the soundtrack is good, and the characters are funny... but it's still on the OG Gameboy and that's a massive hindrance for any game. I'm hard pressed to recommend this with how poorly its aged but I think it's better then it looks. 

Risky's Revenge on the other hand was a game that shocked me by how little it had to offer. I know this game went through a hellish development and what we got was far from what Wayforward planned to make, but it's hard to imagine a world where this was the technical BEST Shantae game. It's not a bad game by any stretch... just a boring one.

For the record my ranking of the games goes Pirates Curse>Half Genie Hero>Seven Sirens>Original>Risky’s Revenge

Sword and Shield are mediocre games at best. I know, real steaming hot take there. I managed to make my Sword playthrough a lot more fun by not spoiling myself on the new Pokemon designs for the first time since Gen 3. Either way, I enjoyed myself enough that I didn't mind playing more of it with these DLC campaigns. Plus I love the idea of Game Freak switching over to this method as apposed to making a third version, so I wanted to support it. 

Klara is a fucking top tier Poke Girl both in design and personality and is probably the highlight of Isle of Armour. GF actually went out of their way to give her multiple expressions to sell her toxic bitch personality and I love every minute of it. She sadly drifts into the background for the second half of the DLC’s story which hurts an already rough section even more. Not more then having to grind Kubfuu all the way to fucking level 70 though! That put a serious hamper on my motivation to finish the story but I pushed through anyway. Having to solo the tower with Kubfuu was at least a fun challenge though, as was the final fight with Mustard. Fuck the Diglett hunt though. Ain’t no one got time for that.

Crown Tundra may be my fav of the 2 though even if there isn't a character as good as Klara in it. The hunt for the legendaries was just pure adventure and I had a fucking blast doing it. The joy I felt when I figured out Registeel’s puzzle put a smile on my face unlike any Pokemon game since I was a kid. The whole Regi stuff was honestly a nice Nostalgia trip to my times with Emerald. The story around Calyrex was enjoyable, even if I still hate its design. Not revealing the horses before release was a good call to as it gave an honest surprise. Having to chase down the Galar forme Birds in the overworld is a great way to evolve the roaming legendaries idea and I hope GF sticks to this. Plus the Galar forme birds are some of the best legendary designs since Gen 5 and I love Chocodos way to fucking much. 

Here we are folks, my GotY. I love Panzer Paladin so fucking much. A combination of mechanics from Mega Man, Castlevania, and Blaster Master? Sign me the fuck up! This game is tailored made for me and I knew I had to play it once it started making the rounds on social media. I'll admit though, I was a bit worried when the the first full trailer dropped and showed the weapon mechanics. Breakable weapons that you have to sacrifice for checkpoints and power ups? I'm not sure about that.... Luckily I was being a complete moron and those mechanics are near perfect. 

I love the set up of each boss being a mythological creature from different cultures. They didn’t just pull the easy ones either. A lot of these things I learned of for the first time here. I love how Grit controls. Using the upward stab as a double jump and being able to pogo off enemies Shovel Knight style just felt great and satisfying. Flame was limited but it made her sections feel tense. She does more damage then you think she could at first glance. Also the only way to heal Grit being to use pods that only Flame could access was a cool idea. 

I am begging you Tribute Games, you have to make more Panzer Paladin games. Slap some new upgrades on Grit and expand what Flame can do and you have an even better sequel  on your hands. Also maybe not have so many 'gotcha' moments with enemy placement. That's really my only complaint about the game. Great music, great sprites, giant robots, unique premise, and a reference to Canadian legends. The ultimate self indulgent game for me.

It felt super out of left field for Curse of the Moon to be getting a sequel. The games fucking amazing but it was really just a tie in for the main Bloodstained product. Not something I expect to get a continuation. Either way I was pumped. If this was even half as good as the original then I was in for a great time. Which held true... cuss this legitimately is only half as good as Curse of the Moon. I still like the game, quite a lot actually. I mean how could I not with a fucking Corgi piloting a Death Train Mech. 

Something was just missing here that never made this click like the first game. Maybe it was the stage design, maybe the bosses, maybe the fact that it's a bit to long. I'm not sure. All I know is I couldn't bring myself to play all the modes like I did in the original. . Stopping part way in to the one where you can get the first games characters. I want to go back some day... I just don’t know when someday is.

This was an announcement I never saw coming. A Gundam Verses game coming to the west? That hasn't happened in the entire time I've been a Gundam fan. I had played a bit of Full Boost on my old roommates PS3 thanks to him having a Japanese account and I played Force on the Vita a few years ago. But to have the latest version fully translated with open servers? Holy hell that's a dream come true. 

Having the open betas every weekend leading up to launch was some much needed fun during this shit hole year. I had a lot of fun just fucking around with different suits and seeing what I could do with 'em. Absolutely trashing two Bael players as the Kapool is a memory I'll keep with me for a long time. Fucking danced on their graves. This gave me some new appreciation for suits like the Baund Doc and Hambrabi, the later becoming a lowkey fav as it was my main.

I've fallen off with the game in the last few months but I definitely want to go back. I hope to start learning the game and take parts in tourneys when cons aren’t death sentences anymore.

It felt like everything in my life was SCREAMING at me to start the Yakuza series. From 2 of my friends playing 0 recently, a youtuber I following live tweeting as he played through the WHOLE series back-to-back, and Yakuza 2 having a run at AGDQ 2020. Plus the constant pleas to play this series you get from following Little Kuriboh on Twitter. I finally broke and picked up 0 in the middle of August. Boooooooooy howdy did I not know what I was getting in to. And no I don't mean the content. I knew Yakuza was a series of wildly conflicting tones between the main story and side quests. What I mean is the length. I legit thought this was gonna be a 20-30 hour game. When i reached hour 30 of my playthrough and realized I wasn't even close to a conclusion, I think I knew I had bitten off more then I was planning. That misstep aside I ended up loving this game and want to play the rest of the series.... I just need to rest up first before I dive into Kiwami 1.

 Let's actually talk about the game for a moment here. Kiryu and Majima quickly clicked as likeable characters to me and I cared about their stories. Combat is fun and the multiple styles are all great.... though both the default styles take a while to get there. The mad rush I felt at the end was fantastic and the last bosses are a joy to fight. Only real complaint is the pacing of the side stories. I loved being able to just stumble into various different events while on route to the next plot objective. But this became less common as the game went on and side stories started getting more tucked away. Also hot take here, the host club mingame is more tedious then fun and I like Kiryu’s business stuff as I could do that in the background. I’m excited to dive into Kiwami and probably Kiwami 2 this year... Though I’m not sure when just yet.

Just gonna say it flat out, I think this is better the the 2018 game. The smaller scale helps in this style of game and Miles just naturally has a better move set then Peter. I'm not sure if they actually tightened up the combat system or if they just threw less bullshit enemies at you but fighting feels so much better in this one. Traversal is better too,  simply because they changed the button for tricks. In the original you have to hold down 2 face buttons to enter trick mode??? In hindsight that was such a bad call. 

Having both the heal and venom powers run off the same meter was a good idea. Making the choice between keeping yourself alive guaranteed or potentially ending a fight quicker/disposing of a problem enemy is super fun. The player having to make small choices like this during combat is what helps it not be brainless. I love all the different venom skills you get. While they all achieve the same thing in stunning opponents, how you achieve that goal is up to you. Do you want to just slug the bastard, throw 'em up in the air, tackle the shit out of them? The choice is yours. 

Only real big complaint is certain upgrades being NG+ locked. I know you want to encourage replays, but this is a shitty way to do it I feel. Also can we retire Rhino for the next game. Man has had 2 shitty boss fights now and I need a break. Between this and Spider-Verse, I'm honestly starting to like Miles as Spider-Man more then Peter.

I got this game more on a whim then anything. I was definitely interested when it was first announced for the west. Vanillaware's beautiful art style in a story about giant robots beating the shit out of Kaijus? Sign me the fuck uuuuuu-oh wait it's an RTS? I had never played an RTS's before, mainly due to the sheer concept stressing me out. So I let it fall to the wayside. The game started coming up again though towards the end of the year with GotY on everyone's minds.  This revived my interest, especially as what I HAD planned to be playing around that time was... well. Cyberpunk. Don't think I need to say much more. Also I had worried for nothing as the Real Time Strategy was not that Real Time. 

This game really lays on the analysis paralysis once you're out of the tutorial. Do you want to fight, do you want to do story, who's story do you want to do, what branch should you follow, how much should you play with this one character? It's very overwhelming at first. I decided to not go ham on just one character and swap around all the time. The twists in this game are equal parts exciting and infuriating. Learning something new always came with the caveat of more questions, or something you knew 'for sure' being disproven. Like when I learned 1 characters was actually 4 separate ones! Anyone that's played knows exactly what I'm talking about. 

Natsuno ended up being my fav and not just because of.... obvious reasons. BJ was cute if unfortunately named and her relationship with Mirua was my favourite in the game. Not that there was much competition except for maybe Ogata and Tomi. I ended up really liking the combat but I can see why RTS fans say it's the weakest part. It's far from complex and I had a winning strat by the third or so real fight. Aka spam turrets and have the Gen 1′s gank all the bosses.

One quick thing I want to share was how I beat the boss at the end of Area 2. The one where Inaba is singing. I had Hijiyama use the limit break skill to bum rush the boss right off the hop. I took out half its health in one hit but Hijiyama’s Sentinel was on death’s door. Only thing that saved him was sending in Amaguchi to blow up a bunch of missiles. Hijiyama took it out on his next attack but lost his Sentinel at the same time. It was a real clutch victory and crazy fucking anime. 

The best way to really describe Carrion is that it's a fantastic proof of concept. Can you make a game where you play as The Thing? Why yes, yes you can. Carrion just needed a bit more tweaking to really bring this concept home and be the A+ game I know it can be. As it is now the game is a bit empty. The level design is super samey and the lack of a map is fucking brutal at points. I know it would make no sense for a blob monster to have a map but somethings you just have to gameify for convenience. The level design must have done something right as even though I was completely lost I still moved from area to area properly. Hell by the time I actually looked up a map I had 1 more item to get and I learned I was one door away from beating the game. 

I love the idea of losing mass as you take damage and gaining more by eating people, but having abilities tied to size was a terrible idea. It just leads to tedium as I have to go and shed myself to the right size, do the puzzle, then of course I'm going to go back and rebuild myself to see if I can do the next segment at full power. Just make it so you can swap between abilities using the d-pad or something. I hope this game gets a sequel just so this sick ass concept can be fully realized.

[casualotptrash]

Why the Persona 3 FES vs Portable Debate Makes Me Want to Fly Into the Sun Pt. 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Da da da daaa!

Part 3 of this lovely emotional rant is here, for anyone who wants to spend their time reading these. With the last two posts, I have mostly tried to be informative or just complain a bit about why this debate makes me want to fly into the sun, but for this post it’s going to go a little different. Perhaps a bit more subjective than the others.

In this post, I’m going to go over everyone's favorite clusterfuck...a definitive version of Persona 3.

Now, as we established in the previous post, we know that the argument of FES vs Portable is essentially pointless because everyone’s opinion on either game is subjective. However, I have neglected to bring up this topic that puts a huge ass nail into this dusty old coffin: the fact that there is objectively no definitive version of Persona 3.

Everyone can argue all day and night about which version of P3 is better, but no one can deny that either version are “definitive.” By definitive, I mean that the game has the most content that is offered, like Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 Royal. The reason none of the P3 games are definitive is because base P3 lacks stuff from FES and Portable, FES lacks stuff fro Portable, and Portable lacks things from FES. It’s a gamble of whether you want to experience cutscenes, an overworld, and The Answer, or a whole new route with the FeMC and the brand new option of dating male party members and saving...you know who.

One might be able to say FES is definitive because it has The Answer, which I believe is considered canon according to the Arena games. Another could say Portable is the definitive version because it came out after FES, added the FeMC (who is technically canon as per the second Persona Q game), and removes The Answer (which a lot of people said The Answer messed with the core theme of P3). However, the definition of definitive in this case, and with all of the other games, is that the game offers the most content. Arguably, FES and Portable provide the same amount of content, just in different ways. This is why this whole conversation of which one is better, or which to play first, spawned in the first place.

The reason I am bringing this up in this post, about why this whole discussion physically pains me, is because having a real, definitive version of the game could finally put this discussion to rest. At least, it somewhat would. People would probably still argue that FES is the best for some reason.

Now, the argument becomes...well, what does a definitive version of Persona 3 look like?

I have seen quite a bit about this topic, and people seem to really miss some common sense points. For example, they get caught up in whether it would be considered a remake or a remaster. I know some use those terms interchangeably, but the “official” definition for each is that a remake is a game that is made from scratch, while a remaster is made by updating the existing assets and engine. For example, the upcoming Nocturne HD release is a remaster. Personally I find it difficult to neatly fit the typical persona definitive editions, like Golden and Royal, into either of these categories. It may just be me not fully grasping the differences between the two, but I believe they would fit into more of the “remaster” category. It is true that there are new assets and content being added to the game, but it’s so minor that I’m not sure it could be considered a remake. On the other hand, because new content is added it couldn’t just be defined as a remaster because typically the effects and such aren’t even changed that much. It’s just gameplay and story content that is tweaked.

When people get so caught up in what it would be considered, logic seems to...go out the window? For example, in a debate between a P3 remaster or remake, a person made a comment that if a remake was to happen then people would demand that all of the social links be available to anyone. Now, that just isn’t possible for a variety of reasons. There’s no way we could ever mix and match social links to get a preferred grouping. Another issue with this is that if just a remaster was made, then one of the two games would be left out.

This is why I don’t really think about whether a definitive edition is a remaster or remake, because using such strict labels make it harder to judge what could, or should, be in one. This is why I’m just referring to this process as making a definitive edition. That being said, I would consider a definitive P3 game to be more of a remake (not that it really matters) because my ideas would essentially combine FES and Portable, in a way?

So here we go, into my idea of what a definitive version of Persona 3 would look like. (Warning: This will contain spoilers for all of the P3 story and *gasp* may be a bit biased toward Portable because I like it more)

1. Presentation

In simple terms, I would want the game to essentially be Portable...but with updated graphics, cutscenes from FES, and an overworld. It’s easier to use Portable as a base because it’s already closer to the format of P4 and P5, so then adding in the good parts of FES with the cutscenes and overworld are par for the course. As far as graphics go, I would like the models and environment to look more like P3D (aka whatever engine they used for Persona 5?) because damn did the characters get a glow up.

2. Gameplay

Along with the format of Portable, I would also want the gameplay of Portable to be in this definitive version. That means no jealousy system, no fatigue until after you leave tartarus, the vision quest, and the other changes I mentioned in the first post. Sorry FES fans, but yes...I would still want the option of controllable party members. However, a new change that should be added is backup members earning exp. I don’t think baton passes or anything should be added, we don’t want a clone of P5, and the combo attacks in P3P kind of fill this role anyway. The idea of having social links give certain perks with ranks, like how confidants work in P5, is interesting but I don’t think it would be necessary. I would also say that the soundtrack should be exclusive for each side, like how it is in Portable, and that there should be an option to choose which skills are inherited.

3. Social Links

The stance I would take with social links would essentially be how Portable did it, but with a slight tweak. No matter how much it would be cool to date Rio or Saori as the Male MC, or vice versa with Kaz or Keisuke and FeMC, I don’t think any mixing of the two sides would really be feasible. However, I would love to see cameos of those characters in the opposing routes. For example, you see Yuko and Kaz in the female route, but in the male route you could see Saori and Rio at school. That being said, and this is probably one of the biggest issues, I would want the male protag to be able to have social links with the entire party, men included. This brings up the issue of what social links you would cut out because you can’t have two social links be the exact same arcana. Unless they want to add more arcanas to the game, which would probably not go over well either, the best option is probably to prioritize the male party members and then have who would usually be in their place just show up sometimes. For example, Kenji would show up in the social link with Junpei instead of the magician social link just being about one or the other.

I know this seems weird, but it does kind of avoid shafting one or the other. If it was too hard to fit the two together (such as Chihiro and Ken both being Justice), perhaps a few more school scenes could be added where the MC interacts with the school friends that are not seen as much (Kenji, Chihiro, etc.) However, and this might piss off 1% of people but whatever, but the moon arcana with Nozomi (Gourmet king dude) could just be completely taken over by Shinji. Nozomi is a meme, but he is not needed in any way. Also, I would prioritize Yuko in the male route over Koromaru since, although he is a very good boy, he is still a dog. Also, please get rid of the option that you’re forced to romance every girl in the male route, and personally I would say keep in the fact that you cannot date Junpei. In a headcanon sort of way, I totally dig the idea of the MC being able to help Junpei through his rough time after Chidori dies (if she dies?) and feelings grow from there, but from a story perspective I think it’s integral to his character that he friendzones the player if they try.

So TLDR; who the social link is about would mainly stay true to the original route (male route with Kaz, etc. and female route with Rio, etc.), however in the male route the party members would take priority (so Akihiko would take the star arcana place and Mamoru (track guy) would just be featured in the link sometimes), and in both routes Shinji would take Nozomi’s place as the moon. Important note that besides including the other character, the main substance of the social link shouldn’t be changed; aka they should not change the format of the social links to operate more like P5 social links where the MC is just solving all of their problems.

(Sidenote: This is imply my idea on how to include party members into the social links for the male route, however if they just decided to keep the social links the exact same as Portable with no male party member social links with the male route then I’d be fine with that too. It wouldn’t really take away from the game as a whole for me, personally.)

4. Romance Options

Riding off of the social link talk...and I know this is like the least likely option of happening, but please make some gay options Atlus? If we can romance every single girl in the male route, why not just add the romance option for the men too? Yes yes there’s the whole argument about the issue of “making everyone bi” (thanks for erasing sexuality that care more about connections rather than gender?), but I say look no further than how Dragon Age 2 did it. Every romanceable option in that game can be romanced be either the male or female main character (barring a DLC character who is only romanceable by females), and it works just fine. Turns out, no one really gives a shit if it’s “realistic” enough (aka only having one or no bi/gay people apparently?) because it’s a video game and people want to romance whoever they want...because it’s a video game. Even if you really, really don’t like this approach there is also the option of going the Dragon Age Inquisition route, where characters are able to be romanced by certain genders and not by others (race also plays a role in this in the game, since there are elves and other fantasy races and such, but this is not applicable to Persona obviously). This is simply a hypothetical example, but how this would work is that like Fuuka can only be romanced by the Male MC, Akihiko and Yukari could be romanced by either MC, and Mitsuru could only be romanced by the FeMC. Obviously social links specific to a run would be a romanceable option to the MC in their route (as in Yuko would only be romanceable by Male MC because she’s only in her run, and social links like Saori could be a romance for FeMC because she’s specific to her route). I have a gut feeling this would cause an even bigger uproar with the fandom, so having any romance option (barring route specific social links for the route they’re not in) be available for either male or female MC is the best option in my opinion.

Take out Ken’s romance option altogether though. I know some of the language is different, so it doesn’t say you “spend a long night together” or whatever, but that doesn’t really make it any better. I do think it’s fine if Ken has a crush on the MC, and maybe has a whole Kenji thing of thinking they are together cause he’s 10 and kids can be like that, but the MC wouldn’t actually act on this and the player could be given the choice to actively dissuade Ken. The only good thing that came out of Ken’s romance option was the fact that him and Akihiko can argue in Tartarus if you romance them both, and I don’t want to lose that hilarious dialogue.

5. Tartarus

Tartarus...uh...to be honest I’m not really sure what to do with this beast. It’s boring and tedious in the first place, probably by design for symbolism in the game, but I’m not sure how to make it interesting without copying the dungeon/palace format. Perhaps the blocks could be restructured to act more like a big puzzle that needs to be solved, like certain sections of palaces in P5, but also have bosses and shadows thrown in. For example, perhaps one block could be more reminiscent of hide-and-seek stealth tactics while another is formatted like a series of arena-esque gladiator fights. Also probably lower the number of floors you need to climb? It gets a bit ridiculous when you realize there are 264 floors of Tartarus and 99% of them are the same but just with more funky music and slightly different decorations. This job is suited for someone with actual video game making experience though, and not me.

6. Awakenings and Pacing

Let’s talk about some quick fixes to awakenings and pacing of the game. Now, since this is a definitive version and not a true remake, I wouldn’t want them to rewrite the entire story or something. Most of the party member’s original awakenings happen off screen, which can be kind of lackluster. The MC’s and Fuuka’s are the only two we really see, and those moments were really cool in my opinion. Obviously we wouldn’t see Mitsuru’s, Akihiko’s, or Shinji’s original awakenings, but that is fine. Yukari and Junpei also fall into this boat because Yukari awakens before the MC gets to the dorm, and it would be hard to show Junpei’s awakening while also having his whole “reveal” moment when he comes to the dorm to live there. I don’t know if it’s ever mentioned when Ken awakens to his persona, but making a scene to show both his and Koromaru’s would be helpful instead of just saying Ken has the potential and he’s joining, and hearing about Koromaru awakening but not actually seeing it. As for the pacing, I’m mainly talking about the summer time where you can’t hang out with a good number of social links. I would just change this so that you can hang out with school social links during this time more readily, like if they’re just hanging out somewhere in town if they’re not at school. Like I said, this isn’t a remake (and I’m not a video game designer) so I didn’t want to get into how to fix the overall pacing of the story, which can be pretty slow until October or so. My one suggestion is maybe adding in a few extra scenes with Strega before October so it’s not like we run into them a couple times and suddenly they’re a major villain.

7. Shinjiro

(Spoilers for after October) I know certain people will definitely not like this point, but I think the option to save Shinji should remain in the game (and Chidori too). I’ll go into this in another post, but my main reason for keeping this in is because some people really do like this option, so it would be kind of unfair just to get rid of it because other people don’t like it. However, I would suggest a change to his social link so that there is the option to save him or not while also being able to complete the social link. Perhaps after rank 10 would be when you could give him the pocket watch, so that people could get the rank 10 and not be forced to save him. 

8. Extra Content

(Spoilers for the ending of Persona 3 and The Answer) Each definitive version has extra content in the “third semester” (because Persona 4 and 5 both essentially end after December), but in Persona 3 the natural game ends in January. I am not sure if they would try to add another whole months or so on, but because The Answer already exists, but I assume they wouldn’t add extra content in February or something for the MC. For The Answer, I would keep this in the game as sort of the “extra content” but add a FeMC version of this. Obviously it would be largely the same, except with the FeMC and perhaps the male party members could get more of a focus since the female party members get a larger focus in the male route (ie. Yukari breaking down with the keys. Maybe Junpei or Akihiko could take on this role as the people who don’t want to let go). Also, as a possible new addition to The Answer, Shinji could be a part of it if he is saved during the main game. In the NG+ run of Portable FeMC route, if you romance Shinji he comes to the rooftop for that final scene, so in a way it could be possible for him to recover by the time The Answer happens in March.

Now, if Atlus decided to add a more typical “extra content” thing, I hope they wouldn’t try to cram The Answer in on top of that unless they were able to do it cohesively. It might be a lot to have the whole ending of the game in January, come up with a reason to have extra content in February (presumably with the MC still alive, but also combat would need to be a part so then the issue arises of Tartarus coming back or something?), and then have the answer take place right after near the end of March.

Well that’s the end of that I think. This will also be the last post in this little “series” because I pretty much went over everything about this debate that makes me want to fly into the sun. I know the things I talked about in these posts will probably never stop, but I really hope that if a definitive version comes out at least the discussion will change to saying what is good or bad about each game rather than FES supremacy or whatever. That being said, above all I really hope this debate doesn’t discourage new fans from Persona 3 or the series in general, because that would probably be the worst outcome from all of this. It’s a great game, and it’s a shame that the game itself is kind of held back by being split into two (I’m not counting base Persona 3) different forms.