#PS3 games on your PC

[melisssg99]

It's so annoying to go buy older games and dvd, CD-ROMs and seeing how often people completely scratched up their stuff.

How did you manage to do that?!

Are you some wild animal?!

Haven't you been told as a child to take care of your stuff?

I was told by my older brother to basically take care of my CD-ROMs like they're vinyls once!

Literally one warning about how I could ruin my favourite games and there were never any scratches found on our games.

It's literally not that hard to be careful with that stuff🥲

[foone]

AAA games? Pfft. Indie games? Double pfft.

I only play games from the alternate history where Hillary Clinton was elected in 2008 and banned all video games. You can only imagine how weird their underground gaming scene is. People like to call unlicensed games "bootlegs" but they've got actual bootlegged games! I've played games about helping your grandmother in hospice care realize she's a lesbian by reading Sappho to her, at 2am in a speakeasy in Baltimore. The cops raided it the next night, hundreds of Gamers were arrested. They posted pictures all over Friendster of the Baltimore PD destroying the arcades with axes.

I nearly got busted once because I was imaging old disks from a 386 and someone tipped off the gaming cops that there was a copy of Commander Keen in there. I had to prove that I didn't know it, I was imaging the disks blind and then indexing them later, and I would of course turn over any contraband to the proper authorities.

I was already on a watch list because I'd been known to have some gamedev-related activities pre-ban. They can't arrest me for making games back in 2007 when it was still legal, but they do want to keep an eye on me since I have the skills to break the law.

Anyway that universe's bootlegs are mainly PC games. Can't really have console games if there hasn't been a console release since the Wii/PS3/360 era. At one point Nintendo threatened to release the Wii SDK so game devs in the US could make unlicensed games, but that didn't happen as there were quickly no functional Wiis left in the US, except for very rare holdouts that never move. PC games are easy to distribute samizdat and hide on a USB stick or CD-R labeled "nickelback".

Japan's games industry is still going, so the later Nintendo and Sony consoles still exist, but Microsoft got out of the business of course. They sold the franchise to Sega who were hoping to release the 360 successor (the Xbox One in our universe) as the Sega Phoenix but it never materialized, either through their own financial incompetence or because of pressure from the US. There's a lot of international treaties that the US has pushed "and this aid only goes through if you ban games" clauses into. That would have been an official UN resolution if the USSR hadn't vetoed it. For once, thank God for the security council, eh?

I mainly get my gaming news through Japanese gaming sites (through a set of VPNs, since they're blocked at the border firewall), and some tor onion site run by a weird guy in Minnesota who is obsessed with documenting all the underground US games.

There's a lot being worked on, but it's always a tricky trade off. Too much attention and the police might be able to track down the creators, and it's basically impossible to fund underground games, as the VISA/PayPal etc funds get seized immediately. There's a whole task force for that.

Anyway one of the weirdest differences between our two time lines is that they've gone back and edited out gaming from a bunch of movies. Those that they can, of course. War games was just banned because they couldn't remove the tic tac toe ending. The Net just removed the scene at the beginning where she's playing Wolfenstein 3D, by recording some new screen footage and a new voice over. She's fixing a spreadsheet in the new edition.

(Yes, I've seen The Net from this alternate timeline. On Laserdisc, of course. I'm just that kind of person!)

They even edited Star Wars. You know that scene where R2-D2 is playing holochess with Chewie? They edited it to be a board game instead of holograms, because that made it too "video gamey".

Technically it's not illegal to show gaming in a movie, but it needs to be an 18+ film and you have to show the deleterious effects of gaming and/or the gamesters coming to a bad end.

This has affected films less than you'd think, to be honest. They were never great about showing video games even before they banned them.

Anyway, go have fun playing your AAA games with hundred-million-dollar budgets. I only play indie games made by people under a constant threat of arrest for their art.

[gloochi]

This song is so fucking wild to me 'cuz it plays during the first mission and the super fucked up alternate final mission. This is the theme of the killer the corporations wanted you to be, so it plays when you're first proving yourself as a mercenary and then again at the end of the game if you prove that you have no morals and only care about the money by taking a job to annihilate a metric fuckton of civilians. This song represents the antithesis of For Answer's core themes and messages. It represents someone who never found their answer, their reason to fight. It represents greed unrestrained by morality. For Answer is genuinely so fucking good. It's one of FromSoft's best, and I need more people to play it.

I GOT CHROME HEAD FIND IT, POUND IT I GOT STEEL HEART TURN IT, BEAT IT

[ SERENE HAZE ] : We've confirmed all targets destroyed. Mission complete. Well done. Almost perfect. But don't get too high on yourself yet, rookie. These enemies were nothing to write home about.

from Armored Core: For Answer Original Soundtrack (2008)

[dr-spectre]

This is legitimately one of the worst videos about the Switch 2 I have ever seen in my life. This video literally made me go "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?" every 5 seconds. There's a difference between fairly critiquing something, and then there's... THIS.

Misinformation galore, bullying others for how they spend their money, claiming that every single Switch 2 cartridge is a digital copy that you cannot trade to your friends when it's not like that. THE GAME KEY CARDS CAN BE TRADED IN LIKE REGULAR PHYSICAL GAMES AND CAN BE GIFTED TO FRIENDS!!!! Sure, i still don't like game key cards, but still AT LEAST I CAN HAND THEM TO MY FRIENDS, AND THEY WON'T VANISH IF MY ACCOUNT GETS DELETED!!! ALSO! THERE ARE STILL PHYSICAL GAMES ON SWITCH 2!!!! THERES JUST TWO KINDS OF CARTRIDGES NOW!!! Mario Kart World is on the cartridge, DK Bananza is on the cartridge, Cyberpunk 2077 with the dlc is on the cartridge. No updates, no downloads, just plop it in and play. It's that fucking simple. The issue is that a lot of third parties are using the game key cards because its significantly cheaper and that is a problem that needs to be addressed.

He also said that you need to pay NSO TO USE A GAMECUBE CONTROLLER WHICH IS SO FUCKING BATSHIT INSANE TO ME!! LIKE. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!?!?! ITS JUST A ONE TIME PURCHASE! YOU DONT NEED TO PAY NSO TO USE A CONTROLLER!!!! WHAT ARE YOU ON?!?! Sure you need an NSO subscription to actually be able to buy the controller, that does suck i agree, BUT THE CONTROLLER ISNT LOCKED TO THE INTERNET!!! EXCUSE ME?!?!?!

He claims that the Switch 2 is using decade old hardware despite it being more powerful than a Steam Deck and it's only 1080p, which is half false, the handheld display is 1080p but when docked it can output to 4k. Saying that a handheld display that runs at 1080p, 120hz with hdr is outdated technology and that "my ps3 can run 1080p" is fucking psychotic. News flash dickhead, the PS3 barely could manage 720p for games. I own a PS3, most games look fucking disgusting and nasty today because most of them ran at a resolution lower than 720p. The Switch 2 is a handheld console and the screen's specs are actually on par with other gaming pc handhelds. (Sure the LCD kinda sucks but im talking about the raw specs here.) He said too that Cyberpunk runs at 720p on Switch 2 which is false. The game targets 1080p and has a dynamic resolution so that the game can maintain a stable frame rate, this is a common thing within these powerful handheld consoles you fucking idiot. Sure the game can go down to as low as 520p, but it'll probably be for only a single fucking second when so much shit is happening on screen.

Also, he said that the PS3 has 500gb of storage while the Switch 2 has 256gb. Um... you fucking moron, the PS3 uses a common storage format of a HDD so it's able to go that high and still be affordable, and even then the console only launched with either 20, 40 or 60gb of storage and only got 500gb IN ITS FINAL YEAR OF EXISTENCE!!!! The Switch 2's storage is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than a fucking spinning hard drive from the 2000s you absolute moronic sub human.

The Steam Deck LCD model comes with 256gb of storage, the other gaming handheld consoles on the market that do have higher storage capabilities also cost significantly more, and if the Switch 2 was more expensive to have more storage then you would complain about that too wouldn't you?

He also said that the Switch 1 games ported over to Switch 2 are more expensive, which is half true. Yes, the Switch 2 version of Mario Party Jamboree is more expensive than the Switch 1 version. But that is because it comes with DLC!!! AND BY THE WAY, THE SWITCH 1 VERSION CAN BE UPGRADED!!! YOU CAN BUY A PRE OWNED COPY OF THE GAME AND THEN UPGRADE IT!!! YOU DONT NEED TO PAY FULL PRICE!!! Plus he fails to mention the free upgrades like Splatoon 3 and Pokemon SV. There are so many Switch 1 games that are better on Switch 2 for free simply because it's running on a stronger console. The Switch 2 is backwards compatible with the Switch 1 and most games will run perfectly fine or run better, but he fails to mention that.

The only thing I agree with him is the price of Mario Kart World. As someone who has played the game, yeah, it's not worth the price. I would rather pay the price i paid for Mario Kart World for DK Bananza instead. And the whole "you can't do a class action lawsuit against us" thing in the terms or service, yeah that should be fucking illegal and not allowed at all.

Also, he claims that Nintendo doesn't care about making fun games anymore which... is a crazy thing to say when we are gonna get Donkey Kong Bananza, Kirby Air Riders, Metroid Prime 4, Splatoon Raiders, Rhythm Heaven Groove and Tomodachi Life Living the Dream.... and of course the eventual 3D Mario, the onslaught of Zelda games both top down and fully 3d, the barrage of Kirby games both mainline and spin-offs, Splatoon 4, next Animal Crossing, new IPs, i could really go on bro.

Also also, he talks about how if you mod your console, Nintendo will brick it, which is half true and has nuance to it, which is something this guy clearly doesn't understand.

Yes, if Nintendo does detect that you are using mods or anything not authorised, ONLINE!!!! They will ban your console. However, you can just put your Switch 2 offline and you can use the eventual homebrew and emulators, just like how it works with the Switch 1. Every single console manufacturer does this too. If they detect you are using mods and cheating online, they will ban you, this has been a thing since the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii, you stupid, stupid boy.

Anyways, I'm done. I needed to fucking rant.

[charkepin]

VIDEO GAME: YAKUZA 0

Charles Gabrielle L. Pineda BSIT - 1A

OVERVIEW

Ref: PressStartOnce - Yakuza 0 Title Screen (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)

Well to explain this game in easier terms… it is very random and very funny. This game is actually a prequel to the original game Yakuza, or mostly known as "Yakuza Kiwami" because it got remastered. Yakuza 0 is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. The game takes place from December 1988 to January 1989, in Kamurochō and Sotenbori, fictionalized recreations of Tokyo's Kabukichō and Osaka's Dōtonbori areas respectively. The game received a lot of praise for it's engaging story, character development, and a rich blend of serious and humorous vibes. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza_0

THE PROTAGONISTS

Everyone knows that a story will never be interesting without interesting main characters... At least that's what they say, right? Well, that's what you get in this game. Your first protagonist: Kazuma Kiryu, a junior Tojo Clan yakuza in Kamurochō who is forced out of the clan due to a murder accusation(This particular arc is very long to explain). While the other protagonist: Goro Majima, a disgraced former Tojo Clan yakuza who works as a cabaret manager in Sotenbori to earn his way back into the clan. Both these men are excellent in humorous scenes in the game. A lot of their movements are very similar from each other. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza_0

 Kamurochō

This is Kamurochō, a fictional district of Tokyo from Sega's Yakuza media franchise. It is modelled after Kabukichō, Tokyo's renowned red-light district and entertainment precinct situated in Shinjuku ward. This location is still used to this day. Last seen in Yakuza: Like a Dragon released in 2020, that it has been updating since time passes by. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamuroch%C5%8D

"KIRYU"SION

https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/comments/ooxf2c/i_cant_stop_fucking_laughing_at_this_picture/

Well overall, this game is a lot of fun like a LOT of fun. If you're into games that balances seriousness and humor. I had no idea about this game before because I wasn't really into japanese games that much. When I first entered the atmosphere of this game, it blew me away. It was like I was missing out a lot. This game really serves the best quality story wise, gameplay wise, and comedy wise. I can confidently say that this game is really a masterpiece.

[blazehedgehog]

Would the Sonic Unleashed PC recompile be at risk of a C&D from SEGA?

I'm willing to believe that they were smart enough to avoid shipping their executable with any copyrighted material in it. That includes code -- code itself is a copyrightable resource.

It's not good enough to say "our executable scans for the retail data to verify a purchase." No, it has to be all 100% completely original code. But, in theory, that's why they tell you to rip the game data from your Xbox 360. Their executable is a translation tool, nothing else.

And that's the truth, right. This isn't a decompilation, it's "static recompilation." Unlike the Mario 64 decompilation, which required you to feed a Super Mario 64 ROM into a decompiler, then compile a native Windows executable in Visual Studio, this is basically one of these:

...but for Xbox 360 code. And, specifically, the Xbox 360 code that Sonic Unleashed uses and nothing else. MattKC has a video that explains it better and much more in depth than I do:

But as long as UnleashedRecomp.exe is just translating and does not contain any of Sega's original assets or code, they should be in the clear.

In theory, if Sega wanted to be Nintendo-levels of pedantic, they could go after them for using official character art in the installer:

The 4 or 5 images they use in the installer are officially copyrighted to Sega and would be grounds for a C&D... but removing them would be an easy fix. This installer looks nice (and it's based on something Sega was considering for the PS3 version) but it doesn't have to look this nice. And removing the art won't stop the installer from being able to do its job.

I think they're fine.

[otternalremnant]

Switch 2 Price: Objectively

Before I get started let me just say that I absolutely agree that $450 is a lot of money, not denying that one bit. Please do not be mean in the comments, I am mildly autistic and was abused as a child so I cry stupidly easy.

It goes without saying that some of this price has also been adjusted due to the new 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. (This has not been confirmed by Nintendo but it follows the market trend of companies passing those costs directly to consumers).

With that out of the way, lets look at the hardware specifications of the Switch 2 that have been confirmed by Nintendo and nvidia.

4k 120 FPS when docked

7.9" 1080p HDR LCD screen built in

DLSS, ray tracing, and g-sync support

256GB SSD storage

These specifications put the Switch 2 firmly above the capability of a PS4 in the form factor of what is essentially a tablet. The Switch 1 was about as capable as the PS3, which is also somewhat impressive for the formfactor. While we likely won't have actual benchmark tests until review units go out near launch, we can still see that the hardware is quite good based on the info we have. Now let's take a look devices with similar capability of Switch 2 that are currently available on the market.

PS5

The PS5 is a more powerful system than Switch 2 without a doubt with Sony originally toting 8k resolution support. However it is also a much larger device and is notoriously sold at a loss as has been the trend with all console manufacturers since the 1970s. The PS5 slim comes in at the same $450 as Switch 2 due to its lack of Bluray drive. It also cannot be played anywear other than your home unless you invest in the $200 Playstation Portal streaming handheld.

Xbox Series X/S

While the Xbox Series S comes in at $150 cheaper than the Switch 2, it has also been notoriously hard for developers to get their games running in 4k on the device and is widely considered a non option for others, with Microsoft having to wave certification requirements for certain games such as Baldur's Gate 3 in order for Larion Studios to even consider porting it to the Xbox.

These are also not a portable system and are likely to be discontinued soon due to Microsoft shifting focus away from console exclusivity and on to their GamePass streaming service.

Laptops

The lowest price I could find on a laptop that features similar performance to Switch 2 will cost you around $650. And while laptop PCs can do much more overall due to the nature of the Windows desktop environment, I'm looking at this from a purely gaming performance focus. These lower end devices often suffer from performance dips due to lack of proper cooling and the overhead of the OS as well.

Handhelds/Steamdeck likes

The Steam Deck is a pretty incredible value starting $400 with access to a vast amount of the Steam Library. However it struggles with running complex games in 4k and its ray tracing support is quite lacking as well, but to be fair the device was not really designed to do that. It also only has a 720p 60hz display and is quite a bit bulkier than the Switch. Steam Deck competitors such as the ROG Ally and Legion Go are a bit more capable, but have notoriously poor battery life and are much more expensive in the $700-800 range.

Switch 1

The Switch 2 is also bound to compete with the Switch 1 for sales due to pricing and availability in the first couple of years of its lifespan. While the system is 8 years old, it still has quite a vast amount of support from developers and publishers due to it having a great lifetime sales figure. It has unfortunately been notoriously under-powered since its initial launch in 2018 with developers often having to greatly pare down their games in order to get them running on the system and often releasing 1-2 years after they have already launched on other platforms. The system also hasn't dropped its price from $300 outside of rare holiday sales.

The extra power of the Switch 2 should allow for more games to run on the system at a much less compromised experience compared to PS5/PC ports.

TLDR; Yes $450 is expensive, but the cost of the hardware is a fair market price.

$80 for the games is batshit insane tho.

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

My cat was diagnosed with lung cancer today 3/10/2024. Nothing can be done to stop it. I'm looking through photos of him this eve & found a bunch of him sitting around my desk and even on my head while I played DAO & DA2. DAI wasn't out yet. Time with someone you love is so precious. I'd give ANYTHING to go back in time and be with him while I gamed for thousands of hours. He'd even sandwich himself between my back & the chair and nap. I love my cat so much. He's even named after a minor character in 1st game. I never had much money for pc's, so I had to play DAI on my old PS3. I have pics of him laying on my bed while I played that! I don't know how to let him go. If anyone suspects their cat has a severe hairball or asthma, get an x-ray asap. Bloodwork didn't show anything. This started about 1.5 months ago, and now I have to be parted from him this week and can't stop crying.

Dear Confessor,

As a cat owner I just wanted to send you my sympathy and to let you know I 100% understand how you are feeling. I've grown up with pets my whole life and its painful to lose them. This is my cat and he's going to be 15 this year. I got him around the time of Origins. He used to bat the screen with his paws when certain scenes came up when I was playing. He still likes hang out with us when we play games and he provides a calming influence. Cry as much as you need to! There is nothing wrong with that. And keep all those memories in your heart.

-SMC

.

[boringkate]

Did you ever hack your switch

Nah. It was slightly too new for the RCM jig hack and too up to date for any of the other softmods (those other ones I think only ever enabled homebrew anyways and not piracy tho I haven't looked into that in ages). I have zero soldering experience (or equipment) and getting someone else to mod chip it seemed a mix of sketch and expensive. I was pretty hyped about the Mig Flash carts, but the site I preordered mine from was clearly never gonna deliver (in their defence they seemingly never received the carts they were supposed to get and were I think pretty inexperienced at running an online store like that), so I disputed the transaction with paypal (successfully) and figured I'd wait for cheap clones to become available (which never materialized).

I ended up selling it a couple months ago. Which I think was the right move. I never used it anymore, hated the feel of it as a handheld, and emulating it isn't too demanding (my PC does struggle with a bunch of games, but I'll be upgrading my PC at some point). It was cool to have back when I first got it tho!

I still have my original xbox, Wii, PS3, and PS4 though (which are all soft modded) + handhelds etc.

[simciara]

★彡[ THINGS ABOUT ME ]彡★

↪ name : ciara (see-air-uh) 【❖】

↪ pronouns : they/them 【❖】

↪ age : 21!! 【❖】

‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - EXTRAS - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵

┊ ➶ my sims journey : i've been playing the sims franchise since i was around 11 or 12! my first introduction to the game was a video by James Turner and Deligracy where they built a huge mansion in the sims 3. i immediately fell in love and had to play but, unfortunately, i didn’t have a pc at the time. i did the next best thing and asked for the sims 3 for the ps3, and i’ve been hooked ever since! later on, i got to experience the sims 2, and now i mainly play the sims 4. right now, i’m fully focused on one save file and hoping i can finally stick with a family for more than 3 generations 🦍

┊ ➶ my hobbies : penpalling, playing the occasional game (the last of us, monopoly go, call of duty, genshin impact, spiderman), going to the gym, journaling, collecting stationery, decorating literally anything with stickers, and watching movies ｡˚ °

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [ Thank you for your time ] ࿐ྂ

( template credit: @rizh )

[sleepyserena]

demos i've finally gotten around to playing recently

steel judgment: what if ultrakill was a roguelite? you've got your dash and your parry and your style meter and weapons with cool alt-fires, but also a hub where you can buy new upgrades and unlock items after each run! the main mechanic is taunting enemies, which when killed, will give you health, and taunting augments your basic movement abilities if you time them after a taunt. really cool stuff! i am quite bad at it! game does not have a release date

metal eden: majoring in doom 2016/eternal, minoring in ghostrunner, this game struggles to run on my aging PC but it's still pretty cool. weapons feel fantastic and are appropriately punchy, but combat flow is a little weird in that i'm just running around waiting for my core cooldown so i can get my super punch back to strip armor, when i think i should just be shooting? i don't know, when a game introduces a mechanic to me, i want to use that mechanic as much as possible, sometimes to my own detriment. game comes out in Q3 2025

reignbreaker: isometric action roguelite, if you like hades, you'll like this. spray paint artstyle is really sweet, characters are... okay i suppose, not really compelled by any of them from the demo, and the main gameplay loop of keeping your combo up and balancing your fists and javelin is engaging and fun. and the full game is available now for only 10 bucks!

unbeatable: ohhhhhhhhhhh i have a bias because i backed this game on kickstarter in 2021, however i played the new demo (not white label) and it's soooo cool. each character has a distinct personality, presentation and cinematography is striking and evocative, there's side quests and minigames and optional dialogue everywhere. and that's just the story mode! there's also, ya know, the traditional arcade rhythm game mode, which is excellent. the only bug that bothers me is that the controller just... stops working in the arcade menu? other than that, pretty much flawless two button rhythm game, backed by an incredible soundtrack. game comes out sometime in 2025

haste: i think if i were to describe this game in one word, it's "joy". like woody from toy story said, it's not flying, it's falling with style! one of those games where it's easy to learn, hard to master. you run fast and you control your falls so that you hit the slopes of hills just right so you can gain even more speed! the levels are just challenging enough to make you think about your trajectory, but not to break your momentum. character art and colour palette is wonderful, dialogue is pretty charming, soundtrack is banging. bonus points for having unique dialogue specifically for the demo. genuinely a really good time! game is out now for about 20 bucks

peripeteia: immersive sim very much inspired by ye olde deus ex (no clear objective markers, complex mechanics, multiple ways of interacting with the world and accomplishing tasks, interesting worldbuilding and characters), you play as a cyborg woman waking up in a scrap pile in poland and scrape together whatever you can to survive. game is in early access, so it's a little barebones, costs about 30 bucks, but it was rejuvenating to play this kind of game again

--

playing through these demos today brought me back to when i was younger and i was browsing the PS3 store and downloading whatever demos were available, and my dad subsequently yelling at me for exceeding the data cap

i'm glad i got around to these, and i hope you check out some of them too

[escherstrange-ffxiv]

Because @lynxden somehow missed [this post], I am going to make up for it with a slightly longer, wordier post, because, well, nine years, folks.

This involved digging into my external HDD and Facebook for old pics since everything pre-SB was lost. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Feb 2015

When I finally jumped into the PS3 Free Trial (it only had 20 days playtime and would delete your chara if you didn't buy the game in 90 days so no meme) I was in a very shitpost-y mood, giggling during character creation.

Pink hair so healers could see him a mile away. Make pink his thing. Give him facial hair because SE men don't have enough facial hair. The scar is from a shaving accident (you can tell I don't shave).

There was no gpose function, only hide HUD but back then screenshots were only to show funny ingame things, not as a form of photography. He wore this robe for AGES because apparently no other gear was better.

2017

"What do you mean I have three lights and they all shine into his face- oh."

The first Gpose I put on IG! This is special because I read a guide that told me how to position lights.

And then I learned how to pretend he was taking a selfie. The world of Gpose was opening up.

I also removed Escher's facial hair because it didn't go with the Aymeric hair. Suddenly he was ✨handsome✨!

Oh no.

2019

Permanently free from my mother's voice in my head telling me to be a functional member of society, I dived into FFXIV with a gusto I never had in any other MMORPG in my life. I actively spoke to my FC, joined raids at 3 AM because EU, started looking up screenshots on Twitter wanting to replicate certain shots for practice.

And then the prevalence of shaders and mods hit me like a brick to my PS4.

A new feeling was born: Spite.

Spite converted my FC room into a studio. Spite that said I would take good shots from my PS4 as the biggest middle finger to anyone who said, "oh vanilla pics will never be good without shaders/mods".

Spite earned me almost USD 50 worth of Mogstation credit from winning screenshot contests so don't knock it until you've tried it!

Escher also turned into a Lala! Lalascher was suuuper cute but it made ingame relationships weird (their words, not mine) and I didn't like the jump animation so back to-

-I MEAN I BOUGHT A SET OF 3, MIGHT AS WELL USE IT?!

Catscher lasted even shorter than Lalascher. I REALLY couldn't stand the tail sticking out of everything, even long skirts (shouldn't a tail technically be under a skirt and pop out like a bustle or-).

2021

In 2019 my house burned down so I had to get an emergency laptop. I finally had a PC capable of playing games so I installed FFXIV on it...with Gshade.

But then stuff happened. You know, the point in every FFXIV player's life where interpersonal relationships affect their mental health. Yeah, that.

I resubbed wanting to use more shaders EXCEPT my laptop's framerate would drop to single digits if I activated anything above gameplay presets so my laptop was only used to log RP chats.

I still play on console because I can play on a big TV screen while still looking at Discord without the overlay wigging out on me. So if I take pictures in new expansions it's always going to be vanilla.

The spite had calmed down a LOT but I already knew what I was capable of. The next step was just figuring out more new and interesting shots.

I also went back to taking pictures of interesting things in game.

2022

I bit the bullet and built a PC. For Gshade. I am 100% serious. Then the whole Gshade thing happened but I ALREADY HAVE A NICE PC FOR THIS, YOU THINK SOME DRAMA IS GOING TO STOP ME? FOOL, SPITE IS MY BLOOD. (I use reshade now)

So have more vanilla pics!

Also Escher became a bani! He was very handsome but the lack of hats was a dealbreaker. Bunnyscher lasted 6 months and was incorporated into the lore as Campanella Strange, First of Their Name, who kicked Escher's soul into the lifestream and borrowed his body-

I'll stop here. Feel free to ask for more details.

Learning to use crime tools meant I could take an alt to JP studios and pose different characters in them. Guilty? Yes. Thrilling? Hell yes.

2023-2024

Aka "The Moon Years". That's it, that's all you need to know. Gosh, there sure are some beautiful clothes out there. Also Escher finally changed his hairstyle after...five years???

I will still die on the vanilla hill though.

Bonus shot of Escher's hairstyles:

And that's it! Thank you for reading the great wall of text, I hope you found it worth your time!

Tagging? I don't know, looks like everyone on tumblr has done this by now, but I'd tag @furys-mercy just because I'd like to see what Mercer looked like in the early days.

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Video game console and case design

Today's hyperfixation is on the PLAYSTATION 5. Because I want one, but I really shouldn't buy one, so I am just looking up everything to do with games consoles and burning my brain out.

I used to be a proper xbox player, until I got my PC, then I never really touched by xbox again. I got a PS4 to play Persona 5 and since then it's been a blu ray player for my Adventure Time boxset, not much else. But the current gen - PS5, Series X - is arguably more powerful than my gaming PC, and I still have a lot of friends stuck on PS5, so I am considering investing in a unit.

Anyway is it me or did they really shit the bed with design in this generation?

Look at these chunky fuckers! They do not fit smoothly under your television at all. There is no detail or decoration breaking up their unnecessarily large faces, which makes them look bland and ugly. They look like they're made of cheap plastic, with the two controllers being the highest quality thing about them. I can attest the xbox controller is unbeatable, but playstation really made their shot this generation. A shame I can never get used to the dualshock joystick positioning.

The Series S and the PS5 Slim are almost NO improvement on the base designs.

For some reason they made the Series S look like a speaker???

The new PS5 slim FINALLY has a line across that massive faceplate, but the half matte half glossed finish is not doing it any favours. I think it would've looked much better if, for example, the matte and gloss plates were different colours. Like black and white! It also has an even MORE out of place disc drive, which I think is part of Sony's agenda to go digital only, and the two tiny "feet" for its horizontal positioning are pathetic! Personally I like this more than the original but not significantly, disappointing since I was really looking forward to it.

I want you to compare these nasties to the previous generation - the PS4 and the XBOX One.

....Now, what's hilarious about this image is the consoles look ALMOST IDENTICAL from this angle. And, I guess, that would be why Sony and Microsoft decided to make such a departure with the space heater PS5 and the fridge Series X.

But they both look very premium and advanced, and they fit very nicely in your living room.

The companies tried to look a bit more distinguished in their followup versions in the previous gen too. The white PS4 Pro looks a lot closer to PS5 with its quirkiness, but without the atrocious shiny plastic. Sony tended to add or remove a layer whenever they altered the PS4, I wonder what they would look like all stacked on top of each other.

It's not just the games console designs that suffer - Look at the game cases! I know that the companies want to incentivise you to go digital, but Xbox Series X cases are just awful.

So if you're confused - You should be!!! Microsoft have two kinds of case for the Series X. One of them is the EXACT SAME CASE as Xbox One, but with Series X printed on the front. The second newer version foregoes the sexy Xbox logo entirely and just has Xbox Series X printed in some default font. Awful awful awful.

Playstation is doing better, but barely.

They are reusing PS4 cases with a different print on them. It doesn't look as horrible as Xbox's, and it at least has a different colour on the logo, but damn, the jump between PS3/360 and PS4/One was really impressive, and now they've stopped bothering because they want everyone to go digital. If your game cases look like shit, why bother with physical?

I want to contrast with physical media kings Nintendo, who did an outstanding job in 2017 with designing the case for the Nintendo Switch.

These bad boys are mine. They're super thin, easy to stack, decent quality, and F U N. The red colour pallette makes them pop out. You can see one from across the store and go, "damn, that's a Nintendo Switch game".

I just want a thousand of them.

I would say a disadvantage, especially compared to the Gamecube games next to them, and even compared to 3ds, is that you can't tell what game you're looking at without going right up to them. These cases are TOO uniform, and really tiny, so i have to triple check I am picking up Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and not Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Meanwhile you can tell exactly what Gamecube games I have by colour pallette alone. Like, you can instantly tell that's Windwaker.

The switch in general is a very fun looking games console, much nicer looking than its predecessor the Wii U, though I'm not sure how I feel about the white of the OLED. But every time I see a Switch Lite in stores, even though I know it's worse than my Switch, I want to buy one. It just looks so FUUUUUN.

And finally a special mention to the 3DS and its games case. The console itself was pretty stylish, if... rudimentary for its release period, but the games cases are high quality and almost make me want to have 3ds games just so I can have the cases.

[razzyoftherats]

PIXELS, PIXIES & POWER-UPS: A FULL-ON LADS MAG RETROSPECTIVE ON FAERIES IN VIDEO GAMES

Alright, lads—grab your joysticks, fire up those dusty consoles, and pop open a cold one because we're diving head-first into a wild and whimsical world: the history of faeries in video games. From sparkly, winged sprites delivering 8-bit wisdom, to mystical enchantresses that'll charm your PS1 polygons off—faeries have played a bigger part in your gaming life than you probably realised. Let's rewind, mash start, and give these tiny heroes their due respect.

Level 1: The 8-Bit Sprites (NES, Master System & C64)

Back when your controller only had two buttons and life was simpler, faeries were there dishing out sweet bonuses. Remember that floaty little faerie in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on the NES? Yeah, the tiny blue fairy was basically your life-support, reviving your sorry arse whenever you got smashed by a stalfos for the thousandth time.

Then there was Bubble Bobble—those happy little dragon dudes blowing bubbles all day and rescuing their girlfriends turned human again by faerie magic. The arcade classic Gauntlet featured a faerie companion too, tagging along, giving you mad invincibility bonuses and making sure Death didn't rip your limbs off too early.

It wasn't Shakespeare, but fairies back then were proper lifesavers—cheeky little angels of mercy that stopped your parents from tossing your NES out the window in frustration.

Level 2: The 16-Bit Revolution (Mega Drive, SNES & Amiga)

The 16-bit era was peak faerie hype, lads. You got more colours, bigger wings, and even cheekier personalities. Let's start with Secret of Mana (SNES). Popoi, the sprite companion, was a fae legend—slamming spells, mocking bosses, and making your journey through Mana’s gorgeous pixel-landscape actually fun. Sure, technically a "sprite," but we know a faerie when we see one.

Meanwhile, Sega’s Shining Force II (Mega Drive) had Sarah, the adorable healing faerie. Without her, your battle strategy would've been "run away crying," every time.

Amiga fans will remember Faery Tale Adventure, where you'd rescue pixies from evil wizards while running about looking like an absolute fantasy lad. Pure 16-bit gold.

Level 3: Enter the Polygons (PS1, N64, Sega Saturn)

Fast-forward to the glorious PS1 era—the golden age of awkward polygons and dodgy voice acting. Faeries got sassier and strangely sexier. Who could forget Spyro the Dragon (PS1)? Those pesky little fairy checkpoint guardians giving you kisses, making your dragon lad blush brighter than the controller’s buttons. Class.

And if we're talking faeries, you've got to bow down to the queen herself: Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64). "Hey, Listen!" was etched into your brain forever. Sure, she annoyed the absolute piss out of you, but you'd be dead in Hyrule without her incessant nagging. Love or hate her, she defined that era.

Also, honourable mention to Rayman, where Betilla the Fairy gave you essential moves like helicopter-hair gliding. Yeah, faeries gave us helicopter hair—how's that for legacy?

Level 4: Faeries Go Mainstream (PS2, Xbox & GameCube)

By the PS2 era, faeries were going Hollywood. Let's talk Jak and Daxter (PS2)—the sages, the Precursor Orbs, and a heavy sprinkle of pixie magic. Naughty Dog knew faeries weren't just fluffy: these winged fellas packed attitude, magic, and laughs.

Then there’s Dark Cloud—who could resist Xiao, the half-cat, half-faerie sharpshooter? Deadly with a slingshot and basically your best pal when rebuilding an entire world, faerie style.

Even Xbox players got their slice of faerie pie with Fable, where magical sprites and mischievous pixies mocked your decisions to save or massacre entire towns. Moral choices? Nah, just banter from glowing winged beings.

Level 5: HD Pixie Power (Xbox 360, PS3 & PC)

The Xbox 360 and PS3 generation took faeries and made them downright cinematic. Take Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning—packed with fae courts, fate-weaving, and more glowy wings than a Vegas nightclub. These faeries were serious warriors, not just glitter-spraying mascots.

And let’s not overlook Dragon Age: Origins. The mysterious and somewhat psychotic Lady of the Forest was basically a woodland fae who made you question your entire life choices with every dialogue branch. Deep stuff.

Even classics like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) featured Spriggans—woodland faeries with a taste for violence and literally turning trees against you. Faeries weren’t just cute anymore; they’d grown teeth, claws, and questionable moral compasses.

Level 6: Modern Magic (PS4, Xbox One, Switch & PC)

Today, faeries are still living it large. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt made faeries cool again—though usually nightmarish and likely to eat your face. Ever seen a Godling? Johnny the Godling, a cheeky spirit-fae lad, was pure gold, helping Geralt find his way while being delightfully creepy.

Ori and the Blind Forest redefined pixie-like gameplay—beautiful, emotional, and harder than your mate's new year's resolution. Ori’s forest spirits were faeries in all but name, turning grown men into blubbering messes.

Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild brought back Great Fairies as fabulous, over-the-top, absolutely mental pixies who buffed Link's gear while creepily laughing like maniacs. Fair play Nintendo—those faeries left a lasting impression.

And let's give an indie shoutout: Hollow Knight. Dark, moody, and faerie-infested—this modern Metroidvania showed us a whole new world of grimdark pixie legends.

Summary: Small Wings, Massive Impact

From pixelated 8-bit rescuers to modern-day dark fantasy warriors, faeries have evolved alongside gaming itself. They began as humble power-ups and mascots, transitioned into complex, funny, and sometimes terrifying characters that gave your adventures soul, sass, and sparkle.

Next time you encounter one of these tiny heroes, raise your pint (or controller) in respect. Faeries aren’t just extras in your gaming story—they're bona fide legends, fully deserving their place alongside the likes of Mario, Master Chief, and Solid Snake.

So cheers, lads, to the pixies, sprites, and fair folk who’ve charmed, saved, and sometimes annoyed the absolute hell out of us for decades.

Game on, faeries—game bloody on.

Raz

[tackyink]

This was supposed to be for @asususasa but in the middle of writing I thought this could be useful for someone else, so here's Tacky's general list of otome recs. It took me over an hour to write so I'm not proofreading it.

DS

Not much to say here because back in those days otome games didn't get localized. The stand outs are Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1st Love Plus and Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2nd Season, who have English fan translations. Slice of life games where you play as the protagonist through her three years of high school. And if you feel like a student-teacher romance that would make Sakura Kinomoto's mom proud, these are your games.

PSP

Still well into the no localizations era with one exception: Hakuouki Demon of the Fleeting Blossom. Not recommending it on PSP because there are better versions. Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 3rd Story Premium also has a fan translation and should be played over its DS counterpart because it has added functionalities. Sadly this time around the teacher is a secret character and a shota.

3DS

There's Hakuoki Memories of the Shinsengumi. Still not recommended because we can do better.

PS3

Hakuouki Stories of the Shinsengumi includes the original game and the fandisk with some neat animations added. This is the version to play if you want the original experience. If you want even more routes, go for another version.

Vita

Hakuoki Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms, Collar x Malice and Amnesia are the best games you can get for the Vita imo. Some people dig a lot the Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk and Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly (I've only played BB, it was good but wasn't the best; wouldn't rate it as high as the others). There's Code Realize and its two fandisks (Future Blessings and Wintertide Miracles) and many people swear by them, but while I liked the common route in the first game, the rest didn't do it for me. You can find all of these except CxM and the CRs on Steam, and the Hakuoki games get dirst cheap on sale. Best bang for your buck of the saga. The CR games have PS4 ports and CxM has a Switch one, which you already know.

Switch

*rolls up sleeves* LET'S GO.

To get it out of the way: Hakuouki KW and EB are getting a Switch rerelease and a new translation and will be released as a single game, Hakuoki Chonicles of Wind and Blossom, on August 1st.

Collar x Malice fucking nails the mystery and lowkey horror vibes with and excellent plot that's interconnected in every route. CxM Unlimited is its fandisk and only recommended if you really have the CxM itch, because it's mostly fluff and the little plot there is is at most functional. It has a route where Ichika joins Adonis and you get to see its inner workings though. That was very interesting.

Bustafellows is 100% found family vibes with a very assertive protagonist. It's a mystery/action story and the team dynamics are sort of Ocean's 11-ish. Hilarious, heartbreaking at times, I've never felt more dread in a game than heading towards the basement in a certain's guy's route. There are two unlockable stories after you finish the routes of the guys, one of which I thought was glorious, another which sets up a sequel and is a big downer but I also really liked. It gets heavy at times with murder, suicide, sexual assault, human trafficking, among other kinds of violence, but despite it, it's generally a very funny and upbeat game. We're getting the sequel next year. Also available on PC.

Café Enchanté baits you with the premise of being a girl who manages a coffee shop patronized by handsome supernatural beings, so it's a real surprise when the cannibalism shows up. Anyway. Great game, but I'm afraid saying more would kind of defeat the point. Reminds me of Megami Tensei games, so if coffee shop AUs with supernatural world-ending threats are your thing, go for it. Just be warned that the fandom has kind of collectively agreed that poster boy's route never happened.

Birushana is a hidden gem that goes on sale super cheap and is also probably a hit or miss thing. You play as the legendary Yoshitsune, who in this game is a girl disguising her gender, but she's an amazing warrior as in history. It has the best otome couple I've ever seen, bar none, with Yoshitsune and Noritsune. The game is worth the price just to see them fall in love on the battlefield and watch Noritsune chug down Respect Women Juice all the way through it. The thing is... the rest of routes aren't great. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed how utterly unhinged they got at times, but the plot got worse as it deepened. Still. Noritsune. And I loved that most of the guys respected her as a warrior and were aware she was as capable or a better warrior than them and she didn't need a man to protect her. Very refreshing. One of my faves got done dirty by the translation because they started pulling lines out of thin air to make him creepier. Just him. Why. It's not like he needed the help.

Virche Evermore Error Salvation is also a good one if you can handle continuous drama and see egregiously bad science and say, "You know what? It's magic. Humans in this world are just built different." The worldbuilding is really interesting and the characters very enjoyable, though they don't feature a lot in each other's routes or aren't that friendly with each other. The continuous tragedy may tire you out, or maybe it'll work and emotionally destroy you. It didn't get any emotional reaction out of me until a certain point near the end, but I enjoyed the game a lot, nevertheless. We're getting the sequel this November and I'm really looking forward to it.

Variable Barricade: a fun romp where a young heiress has to chose a fiancé among the four disaster bachelors her grandpa has selected. It's not really similar to Ouran, but it reminded me a little of it at times. It's a pretty light game. The BFF is a gothic lolita otaku who has the time of her life shipping you with the guys, and the butler... oh boy the butler.

Amnesia, as I mentioned earlier, has a PC port as well as the Vita version, as well as two localized fandisks for the Switch (Amnesia x Crowd) that I can't speak of because I haven't played them yet. The protagonist has supernatural amnesia and must piece together her life while avoiding that other people realize she's lost her memory. It's a super intriguing game the first time you play, really nailed the being completely and utterly lost in the protagonist's shoes. A required play to get in on the cage jokes. It's sort of a rite of passage for otome gamers.

Jack Jeanne has probably the best group dynamics of any otome I've seen. I think some people have issues with the protagonist because they find her passive, but to me she felt the complete opposite. Everybody is adorable. A sentimental story of hard work, being young and and fighting for your dreams, 10/10, no notes. I lied, there's a note: Tanakamigi deserved a route! Where is our Tanakamigi route! щ(゜ロ゜щ)

Last but not least at all, the two Piofiores. Mafia games where all trigger warnings you can think of apply. Well, maybe not the cannibalism, that's still Café Enchanté's crowning glory. Fated Memories, the first one, has its ups and downs, but has very enjoyable characters, rock-solid worldbuilding, an amazing atmosphere set in 1920s Italy with a jazzy soundtrack that ends up living rent free in your brain. The last routes of the first game, Gil's and Finale, are worth the full price of the game alone. Piofiore Episodio 1926 is a masterpiece of the otome genre. It doesn't have a single boring route, and the final stretch (Advent Calendar-Alternativa-Secret Character route) has the best writing I've seen in an otome. Lots of points of view and situations interconnecting, an excellent final couple, top notch interactions between the main characters. Just the best.

[8bitsupervillain]

When the PS2 Mod of the 2009 Higurashi Cry Ch. 8 Matsuribayashi pt. 92

Matsuribayashi, as well as the rest of the series was ported over to various other consoles. The first seven chapters got ported to the PS2, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Switch in addition to the PC originals. Matsuribayashi meanwhile was excluded from the PS2 release in favor of a different final chapter. Initially my intention was to give each of these console versions a try if only primarily to see what the difference might have been translation wise. Since these console ports never saw release outside of Japan they would invariably have to just be fan-translated, but alas I overestimated the lengths fan translators and the fandom would go to for the series. I don’t blame them, as you may have noticed Matsuribayashi is a beast and a half, I can only imagine how long the effort to translate the game would take. Looking at the release dates of the new translations on Steam and GOG there is roughly a year between releases, and that’s people whose job it is to translate all of this text. So I think it’s understandable that the fan who isn’t getting paid for their Herculean efforts might not want to bother, especially when there are at minimum two perfectly fine translations right there for you to enjoy on your computer. Because let’s be honest, you wouldn’t play the DS version of Higurashi on an actual DS, you’d emulate it.

One of the interesting things about the DS ports of Higurashi is how the game divvies up the actual gameplay. The characters and backgrounds are on the top (left) screen, and the dialogue is on the touch screen. Another fascinating thing it does is that it takes a page from the way the game Hotel Dusk handled its gameplay/dialogue by making you hold your DS sideways like a small book. You just tap on the screen to advance the plot, choose fragments in the Connecting Fragments, and so on. The other console versions I can only speculate on, as nowhere has the roms available, and a lack of translation made me feel like it was a moot point regardless.

To sate my curiosity I went and had a search around to see if anyone had made any sort of translation of the series back around 2004. Well before Matsuribayashi, sure, but you never know what a fan-translation of Onikakushi might yield. This too ended up cold, the earliest English translation of Higurashi I could find started with the MangaGamer efforts in 2009. That I could find anyway, perhaps there’s a fan-translation hiding out there somewhere that was made in 2005 or so.

One of the amusing things about the 2009 to 2010 MangaGamer translations, in addition to the fact you can’t get them officially any more, is the fact that most of ones that are available for the most part use the PS2 graphics.

Obviously I’m not going to do a complete playthrough of 2009 version of Matsuribayashi and post it here. As much as I’m sure you’d love to see another ninety parts. There will be posts about it sure, but it’s going to be some of the more important scenes as well as me mentioning minor translation differences between the versions.

I mentioned it way back towards the start of this chapter but I find it kind of interesting how each version of Matsuribayashi has its own variations on the names of the punishments the children at the orphanage get. You can sort of tell with the 2009 translation here this was meant to be a more literal translation of the source material, rather than something that tries to make it a more palatable read for Westerners.

Regardless the escape from the orphanage plays out similarly to the way it did earlier in the playthrough, only this time around the mysterious voice that communicates to Miyoko is missing. Thus making it seem even more like straightforward divine intervention led her to the phone booth.

I find that these scenes involving Takano talking about Irie behind his back are actually quite more venomous in tone than the way the later translations handle it. That’s actually something I couldn’t help but notice looking at the PS2 sprites in this version of the game compared to later variations, there’s a lot more angry or annoyed looks with the sprites. I don’t know why they redid them and removed them in the version that was used as the basis for the 07th-Mod, perhaps they somehow lost access to the PS2 versions of the games and just had to redo them.

Some small translation differences I noticed between the 2009 versions and the later 2015-2020 versions are somewhat minuscule. With the original translation they do the regular thing where the characters go Family name, Given name. Houjou Satoko, instead of Satoko Houjou for instance. But later translations flip them around, now this just comes down to personal preference, but I don’t particularly mind if they switch it to Satoko Houjou from Houjou Satoko. But having read and played thousands of Japanese games and so forth I’m kind of more used to the Last name First Name, naming scheme. It’s not the end of the world, and I don’t think it’s really worth making that much of a fuss over.

Also I mentioned I’m not doing another in-depth synopsis of the entire chapter again. But another difference between the 2009 and the current translations is they called it the Connecting Pieces section. They still refer to them as Fragments, but the name of the section was changed.

Another change was the name of the Mountain Dogs. In addition to being called the Mountain Hounds in the 2009 translation, later parts of the chapter gives the members of the Hounds names and not their bird-based callsigns. It doesn’t make much difference in the slightest, but it is in fact one.

There’s not much difference in the translation of this fragment. I don’t recall in the version I read the first time if she railed against the stupidity of the common man or not. I do know that she didn’t refer to him as Father Koizumi though, so that was an odd choice to go with originally.

The conversation with Nomura occurs more or less the same as it did in the 07th-Mod, there wasn’t any particularly noteworthy deviations in the translation. It’s slightly more stilted, the dialogue and text in the 2009 version of the game and I can see why they felt the need to give it another once over later on.

Something I find interesting about this variation of the conversation about Hanyu’s past is the fact that Rika says that she’s “still too young” compared to the later translations “she hasn’t had enough training.” It’s an interesting and deliberate change from the original translation.

Also you may or may not have noticed but they changed their spelling of Hanyu between versions, adding the extra U to her name in the newer translation. Something similar happens with Rena, they change it from Ryugu in the 2009 version to Ryuugu in the 2015+ translation. I don’t remember off hand if I had the presence of mind to screenshot them calling her Ryugu Rena in the PS2 version of the mod or not. Or if I caught any of the times Mion refers to herself as Uncle Mion instead of this old man.

There’s a part coming up when I talk about the anime adaptation of Matsuribayashi that throws some rather unnecessary confusion onto the matter about Hanyu and her people. Also the anime calls her Hanyuu. I’m trying to keep the spellings consistent with the version I’m presently talking about.

I don’t know why, but the "the" in front of Oyashiro-sama there just bugs me. This is from the scene where Akasaka, Ooishi, Kumagai, and the forensics scientist meet up, and Akasaka asks about the various deaths that occurred around Watanagashi.

I know it runs counter to the message of the chapter, but honestly just straight up killing Takano before Watanagashi would probably solve Rika’s problems.

I don’t think I screenshotted them in the PS2 version, but the 2009 version of Matsuribayashi lacks Ooishi’s distinctive laugh. It’s just a na ha ha ha, and not the nfu fu fu. I guess I should also point out that even though it’s a modded version of the 2009 original there is no voice acting with the PS2 sprites. I don’t know if that’s because there wasn’t any voice acting back then period, or if it was just they only ripped the sprites for the mod.