#and everything changed when the puyos attacked…

[quirinah]

g=9.8m/s^2 

[elder-sister]

I wanna ramble about Doppleganger Arle.

First off, she is POWERFUL. Her spells are:

Abyss

Illusion

Chaos

Labrynth

Eclipse

Grand Cross

Ragnarok

Armageddon

Her Super Attack is called Void Hole. In Puyo Puyo~n she uses Puppetry Magic to control The Dark Prince, and even changes his spells. Contrast this with Ecolo trying to possess him in 20th Anniversary, where he could not control the power and nearly destroyed everything.

Doppelganger Arle is generally calm, composed, secretive, although prone to fits of laughter. She has a soft spot for Carbuncle, but she hates Arle with every fiber of her being, wanting to kill and replace her, believing herself to be the real Arle, and willing to do anything to achieve this. She works in the shadows, a string puller, a manipulator.

Also her design. When in disguise as Pierrot the clown, she looks like this

Her regular form is this

In Puyo Puyo Quest she looks like this

And has these alts

She is such a cool villain for having so little screentime

WOAH OKAY

I can work with that >:D

[dreamy-baku]

Weeeeeeeeee….!

I have no clue what to title this but I’m just ranting about Squares! Okay soooo, here we go!

Well, I headcanon Squares as being nine. So if you hc him as being older or ship him with anyone non-platonically, I personally don’t agree, I’m not gonna attack you for it, but- I’d rather you to not interact with me? I just, don’t like the idea of him being any older than 9, especially since everyone in the game was like, “This guys a baby?! A toddler?!” I personally call any character who is younger than a teen a baby, so you’ll also need to remember that.

I know you guys’ll probably not like that, especially since it seems a little weird. But I honestly would rather you not interact if you view him older than 9, or ship him with anyone. So, yeah, please respect that wish, okay? I’ll mention his sister Marle, me and my brother hc her as being 21.

And also, Squares wouldn’t hurt anyone willingly. He didn’t even hurt the main cast, but a lot of people make him out to be violent. Sure he said he was gonna erase them, but, that didn’t happen. And likely the only reason he said that was because the heroes where, to him, parasites. Squares thought he needed to erase them in order to fix anything. So that’s what he tried to do.

Yeah sure, you could argue that he hurt Marle when he brainwashed her. But, he loves Marle, she’s his sister, he’d never intentionally hurt her at all. He probably didn’t know that she’d be hurt in any way from brainwashing her! And, the whole forgetting everything thing that happened probably also wasn’t intentional, and even if it was, he only would’ve done it to keep her from turning against him. (I personally believe that the forgetting everything thing that happened to Marle was the writers trying to make players feel pity for her.)

And, you could argue that he’s manipulative, he’s not! The only way he made Marle gather power for him was brainwashing her, that isn’t manipulation. Once she snapped out of the affects she was back to normal. Squares didn’t manipulate her.

The only thing Squares did was hurt himself physically and mentally! He’s not a bad person, sure he merged the worlds and tried to erase everyone, but, that only happened because Marle didn’t teach him. I know Marle isn’t in the wrong either, but she did cause him outburst towards the heroes by neglecting him. She ignored him, she forgot he was an infant.

He literally almost exploded, if the heroes didn’t help him he would have died! He screamed in pain, he couldn’t move, he probably would have cried if the writers weren’t cowards. I hope the next Puyo Puyo game, if they add Squares into it, they let the boy cry! He very much needs it but they seem to think that boys can’t cry! Can someone rewrite the PPT2’s ending exactly how it is but allow Squares to cry? He’s obviously in so much pain, so much pain he’s immobilized! He deserves to cry! (I am just angry, they even made him sound upset! But they didn’t let him cry! Just let Squares cry Sega! He’s an infant, a child, he should cry! It’s only healthy!)

Squares also isn’t overprotective of Marle, in fact, likely Marle is the overprotective one. Squares only reacted how he did in PPT2’s story because he wanted Marle to smile around him again, and the worlds changed and he was scared. He wanted things back to normal. But, he is in no way, shape, or form overprotective.

Squares also wouldn’t use swear words. I get kinda angry when people make him do that, due to personal hc that he’s 9yrs old. Marle obviously would’ve taught him to never do that, and he’d be legally unable to swear.

Also, I hc him as being aromantic & asexual, he physically cannot feel romantic love for anyone or anything. He has no intent of doing anything related to romance, he’s physically grossed out by it. He also has no way to do inappropriate acts with anyone (he also was never taught by Marle, due to him having no way to do them so he doesn’t even know they exist), due to how Marle made him.

I have sooooooo much more I can say but that’s it for this rant, expect more.

[softichill]

would you like to talk about seam?

HI. YES

This cat. This cat. This cat!!!

(random rambling under the cut seriously none of this connects)

I love Seam's whole vibe so so much. Like. They're an old cat, who's purple. Their sprite implies some sort of cloak. They have bright orange against the dull purple and are fluffy literally everywhere, their eye is a button with visible stitching underneath, their nose is lopsided, they're pretty much always smiling and one side of their mouth is stitched so it's always curled up somewhat. Their whole shop is black with orange. Their THEME. All of it

Also this is more abt the Coatrack rather than Seam, but I think that the Coatrack looked up to the magician. Like Seam would casually interact with them and they'd go "holy shit you are so cool" kinda like MK w/ Undyne actually?? Anyways. I also think Seam was just super powerful in general since the magician could keep up with Jevil, and Jevil's attacks are.... like that

Also also their voice like. Always changes in my mind. Sometimes they just sound old, sometimes they sound like Gumi (the Vocaloid), sometimes they sound specifically like the Japanese voice for the character Ex from Puyo Puyo which is. EXTREMELY specific but yeah

Seam is also just like. Really comforting somehow. Like they're super nihilistic and talk about how futile everything is and that everyone's gone mad and stuff, but also they're smiling a majority of the time you talk to them. They offer you tea and biscuits. They don't pressure you into finding the crystals/finding crystals isn't their entire deal, and they're understanding when you fail to get a second crystal ("You're a Lightner. Don't take your life, well, lightly!") despite being disappointed. Their theme again, it's slightly melancholic, but it also feels warm and inviting, while mysterious yet comforting. Truly, like the post that sparked this interest in me, a friend you could watch the end of the world with. They're also a big fluffy plush and that's just rlly comforting to me fjdbjfbdjnf

Fuck I'm thinking abt them too hard and now all my thoughts are jumbling together cjdbjdngjd THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK THO

[evajellion]

Why Suketoudara is (one of) the most well-developed characters in Puyo Puyo

You ever just look back at how far the Puyo Puyo and Madou Monogatari franchise has come, and think about how much the characters have changed over the years? 

Some have become main stay recurring cast members, while sadly some others have been completely left in the dust or remain in Quest or other spin-off titles. Others become more amazing in hindsight, such as Schezo and Rulue (even if most can argue SEGA dropped the ball on their character in recent times), starting off as slightly minor characters, getting their own arcs.

Witch is also pretty incredible to think about, what once was a mere mook enemy became one of the most popular characters, obtained her own spin-off title, and co-starred in a Madou game with Schezo.

Then you have the most interesting case imo, which is Suketoudara. What makes him so incredible? When you look at his actual personality and character, and how it’s changed across games… for the better!

Since I said I would talk about this after seeing @superbuffalo007​‘s post, I decided it’s time the unspoken truth is finally said-- which is Suketoudara’s character across the games.

So originally, Suketoudara started off no differently than Witch and Draco. The only huge key difference was his character design, in which rather than being a cute humanoid girl… Suketoudara was a funny fish with human arms and legs that liked to dance. His design was goofy albeit uncanny (especially in the PC98 Madou), which probably got some designers at Compile to chuckle, nothing more.

He was a blank slate enemy, nothing more, nothing less. And once we got the first two Puyo Puyo games, which had “Manzai” based dialogue for comedic purposes. We learn that this funky fish prides himself and his beautiful legs. I mean, to be completely fair… he does. Usually in these games (and Puyo Sun), Arle was the straight man while Suketoduara was the goof.

Out of nowhere, the guy skyrocketed in popularity. He, Nasu, and Carbuncle were easily marketable characters due to their distinct, funny appearance which I assume made them very popular with younger fans. In commercials, you would probably often see this character be frequently used-- that’s how iconic his design was. His personality though, was about as shallow as everyone else’s.

This changed of course, in 1996 and onward, where Compile decided “hey, maybe we should do more with this character besides just having him dance”.

In 1996, Madou Monogatari Hanamaru Daiyouchi Enji (Big Kindergarten Kids) would be released for the Super Famicom. Rather than the usual dungeon-crawler, this game took inspiration from the likes of A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy, and Earthbound in terms of its overworld design. More importantly though, it took what was once mere mooks, the most popular characters, and made some of them into full-on major bosses you had to fight.

Amongst those characters are Nasu Grave, Skeleton-T, Mini-Zombie, and Suketoudara (called Jr. in this game).

You know who wasn’t? Uh… Witch and Draco, if you can believe that. Yeah, that’s right. Suketoudara was a major, if not the main antagonist for a good chunk of this game, while Witch and Draco remained mere mooks. That’s pretty incredible if you ask me!

He’s the typical schoolyard bully/delinquent, going around causing problems for several towns and even stooping as far as to steal eggs from dragons. Suketoudara constantly meddles in Arle’s quest, and it only comes to an end one day after sending Arle a letter, in which he challenges her directly at her school. Turns out he just happens to have the last Secret Stone.

And at the end of the game, after Arle defeats Devil, the true main antagonist? Suketoudara has a complete change of heart, asking for Arle’s forgiveness, realizing he focused too much on his training, even saying he wants to be Arle’s henchman instead.

He even calls her “sis”, in a relatively friendly way, after everything he had done.

Whether or not you consider this game canon, it added a lot to Suketoudara (if this is the same as the one in the Puyo Puyo titles, and not Jr. as in a child of his). Suketoudara was a foul-mouthed bully in his youth, a complete contrast to the innocent, playful Arle. But he changed for the better after Arle told him to reflect on himself. That is way more characterization than Draco has ever received.

Suketoudara got fleshed out further in a couple of DiscStation games, both a year before Hanamaru and two years after, we would get some really interesting development, which would of course come from his interactions with another character.

DiscStation Volume 9 is (presumably) when we would first see Suketoudara interacting with Serilly in the game “Madou Sugoroku”, a Mario Party-esque game that seems to have no real story, pairs of characters are just competing while Harpy serves as the game hostess. This would be one of the earliest instances of Suketoudara being shown to have a crush on Serilly.

DiscStation Volume 18 would give us Serilly’s Happy Birthday, a game where Serilly uses a magical stone to go up to the surface in the hopes that she’ll make a friend that will celebrate her birthday with her, rather than leaving Serilly to celebrate it alone.

While I am sadly uncertain about the full details of this visual novel, it seems that in Suketoudara’s route, he collapses due to a drug Witch had made, so Serilly nurses him back to health by making an antidote. This leads to Suketoudara, a normally brash and selfish character, to become warmer and open up to Serilly. Again though, this is a loose translation of what transpires.

Lastly for DiscStation, we have Madou RUN! 

A game featuring Arle, Schezo, Witch… and not Satan, not Rulue, not Draco, but Suketoudara! In this game, our four protagonists compete in a game of tag set up by Momomo, for an object known as the Dragon Ball, which can grant any wish.

Oddly enough, rather than it being about his dancing, the only wish on Suketoudara’s mind is that he wants to be closer to Serilly. Mind you that the other three characters are more interested in the power of the Dragon Ball to become stronger, while Suketoudara just wants to improve his relationship with a friend he has feelings for.

His attitude in this game is notably far less aggressive when compared to how overly competitive Witch and Schezo are, a far cry from how Suketoudara used to be in the earliest Puyo Puyo games.

In Puyo Puyo~n, we have yet another cheerful Suketoudara, as opposed to the grouchy, territorial one we saw in past mainline Puyo titles. Much like the previously mentioned DiscStation games, Suketoudara is primarily just interested in Serilly’s presence, stuttering in a shy manner around her, and feeling crestfallen when Serilly says that he’s only a friend.

He only starts to lash out against Arle once he thinks that Serilly only called him a friend because another person was embarrassing her. To be fair, pretty rude of Arle to make comments or butt in. Overall? It seems that Serilly has had a positive influence on Suketoudara, but he still had some of his temper.

In Puyo Puyo Box, nothing interesting happens, but Suketoudara definitely mellowed out in the Quest Mode. Similarly in Minna de Puyo Puyo, Suketoudara only wants Arle to watch him dance, which she ignores in a rude manner.

After a couple years of going missing, Suketoudara returns in Puyo Puyo! 15th, and is arguably, the most friendly of the returning Compile characters next to Zoh Daimaoh.

Unlike Satan, Rulue, and Schezo, who are rude and dismissive of the Fever characters, Suketoudara seems happy to meet new faces and actively encourages them through dialogue usually related to dance. No mention of Serilly is made, but that just proves that unlike Rulue, he can go without thinking or talking about his love interest for every two scenes.

And also unlike 90% of 15th’s roster, he doesn’t get screwed over by the fake wishing medal. He makes a simple, short wish where he says he wants to be first to do solo dances.

Puyo Puyo 7, in my opinion, is the peak, friendliest Suketoudara has been in any game. Ringo runs into him, and rather than being actively antagonistic, he explains that he was with Arle (possessed by Ecolo) and got lost, so he asks for her help. In exchange, Suketoudara assists for a short period of time. He tries to persuade Rulue out of attacking him, manages to hold a decent conversation with Satan and Carbuncle, even showing concern about Arle’s strange behavior! 

He, along with Satan, are the only Madou characters in 7 that were genuinely worried about Arle. Schezo, Skeleton-T, Draco, and Rulue did not care in the slightest. He has grown from not wanting Arle around at all to being a friend that does care about her!

Puyo Puyo 20th… sadly took a step back, with Suketoudara obsessively searching for his shoes. A lot of the characters were jerks in this game though, so it’s not a problem exclusive to him. If anything, I’d argue he’s the tamest example and just being plain comedic.

Thankfully, in Puyo Puyo Tetris and Puyo Puyo Chronicle, Suketoudara was back to being his cheery self, unlike in 20th. He just wants to show off his dance moves, has friendly enough conversations with Arle, Ringo, and Ally-- playing Puyo just for fun rather than an offense reason…

Ess on the other hand… yeah, she’s straight-up rude to him, and he rightfully defends himself. I should note that through all of these games, Serilly went completely unmentioned, which might mean that Suketoudara actually got over his infatuation for Serilly. Even with her grand return in Puyo Puyo Chronicle, the two never have a conversation.

That being said, I definitely do think that Serilly’s kind personality, and if taken as canon, Suketoudara’s rivalry with Arle in Hanamaru, definitely molded him into being one of the most grown characters in the entire series. He went from being the typical jerk with only thing on his mind, to being an upbeat, helpful character that is willing to put dancing aside when there are greater matters at hand. Puyo Puyo 7, Tetris, and Chronicle are the arguable proof of this.

That’s why I like this character so much. That’s why I feel the fan-base kinda takes him for granted-- they don’t know about his evolution throughout the games. He went from a funny jerk, to a guy with a crush, to someone with a confident and friendly personality.

Because of that… I am honestly completely fine with Suketoudara staying for future mainline games. Even if he doesn’t add much, at least he isn’t as actively unpleasant as he was in Compile’s early run.

[cyberramblings]

Sonic & Tails: Ideas for a new Sonic Plot and Partner System

So, first off, there is a game called Sonic & Knuckles. It is basically just the second half of the overly ambitious Sonic 3. It is not Sonic 4, but it is a standalone game. Anyways, there isn’t a game called Sonic & Tails yet, so let’s make that happen.

Regardless of that, I wanted to talk about my vague conceptualizations of a Sonic game plot. I WANTED to continue my thoughts on other Sonic characters, but my stupid brain can’t stop thinking about “what if Sonic and Tails fought?” Again, this is getting into some borderline fanfiction territory, but I write the blog AND the rules.

Piggybacking off my previous post detailing my thoughts on Tails, I had said that I liked the idea of Tails taking over Robotnik’s lab after he is defeated once and for all (or temporarily, I don’t expect Sonic Team to kill off the main villain, as much as I’d pseudo-ironically love Sonic Adventure 3 to open with Eggman’s funeral while Sound of Silence plays like the overly edgy funeral scene from Watchmen 2009).

Now, this is also getting into some serious Marvel Civil War or Batman v. Superman territory, but stick with me. I feel like one of the most underutilized aspects of Sonic as a series is the cast of characters. Maybe it is just me, but I feel like Sonic fans want to see their favorite obscure character return or see as many characters as possible. Even the most trivial characters have a cult following in the weird Sonic fandom. It was really cool to see the obscure Sonic the Fighters characters return for a boss fight in Sonic Mania, even if they were just an illusion. I am proposing a Sonic game where nearly every characters returns to make up the boss fights.

Now, the first issue with this idea is that typically the “rival” battles in Sonic are a bit hit or miss. Fights against playable characters in the Adventure IMO felt pretty flat and uninteresting. Now, 2D Sonic has some better boss battles against the likes of Metal Sonic and Knuckles and the same goes for Generations, so maybe those could be emulated. Regardless of gameplay, I’d like to see all the weirdies like the playable cast of Sonic Heroes, The Fighters, Emerl, Blaze, Gamma E-102, etc. return at least as boss fights, if not as playable characters, even if they are just piloting the mechs that would typically be piloted by Eggman. I get zero excitement from fighting Eggman anymore, but just put Rouge’s model in the cockpit and suddenly its way cooler with more potential for unique boss dialogue.

So far I have proposed a Civil War-style plot where Tails goes a little bit off the deep end and a Sonic game where the boss fights are all the beloved recurring characters. It should be obvious how these two parts fit together. Perhaps the dual story structure of Adventure 2 is overplayed by this point, but obviously it would fit in with these ideas.

To get into the nitty gritty and provide an example of what I am imagining, consider Metal Sonic. I can easily see a plot that starts with Tails reconfiguring Metal Sonic to be “good”. This bring back a classic character in a new way and allows for a lot of angles for the plot to go, of course borrowing from various Iron Man plots and the Buffy-bot from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

One idea from Sonic Adventure that I would really like to see return is the ever-evolving nemesis concept. Even if Sega never really brings back Chaos, I’d love to see a rival that increases in power as the game goes along. This could totally tie in with my previous idea, with Metal Sonic becoming more powerful over the course of the game, possibly with the acquisition of the Chaos Emeralds like Chaos does. Metal Sonic already has been shown to take on a few different forms, such as at the end of Sonic Heroes.

Another story beat that I’d like to see replicated is the end of Adventure 2 where Sonic and Shadow have to team up. Now, in this hypothetical Sonic & Tails game, that would obviously be Sonic and Tails teaming up, but I’d also love to see them bust out Mecha Sonic as a kind of retconned prototype of Metal Sonic from Sonic 2/3 as a last resort too.

I also love the story beat of all the playable characters at the end of Sonic Adventure bringing the depleted Chaos Emeralds to Sonic for the final fight. I would love to see something like this but a little more weighty. I have a clear mental image of something like the Breath of the Wild loading screen that shows your level of progress though the game, but instead with Sonic endlessly walking towards the camera as the game loads, surrounded by more and more characters walking towards the screen as you rescue/recruit them.

Personally, it seems like Sonic games struggle to balance multiple playable characters, so I’d settle for something like Advance 3 where you pick a partner that enables new moves. I would prefer to find a way to include every possible character as playable, but I would settle for a 3D Sonic game where Sonic (and maybe characters that control near identically like Metal Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, etc.) is the only playable character, with characters like Tails, Knuckle, Amy, Big, etc. are relegated to the partner role, but swappable.

Playable Characters:

Sonic: Everything normal

Metal Sonic: Just make him control like he does in Adventure 2: Battle, so faster than Sonic but with less moves. I don’t think Metal Sonic has ever been canonically playabe, only appearing as a boss fight or playable in racing games or bonus modes, so that would be my biggest request.

Shadow: Just Sonic but slipperier and please give him a teleport instead of a homing attack

Silver: Again, just Sonic but make his double jump more offensive to represent his telekinetic abilities

Blaze: Her name is BLAZE and she has FIRE POWERS in Rush and Rush Adventure, so please just make her control like Sonic but with a fiery homing attack or her fire hover from Rush

Espio: Just give him some kind of limited invisibility or maybe the tornado attack as a reference to Heroes

Mighty: He could probably be thrown in with his moves from Mania, but this is reaching

Jet: Probably asking too much, but he’s never been playable in non-racing game, so even seeing him with his board in a main game as a kind of joke would be cool

Assist Characters:

Tails, Cream, Charmy: Obviously, limited flight with slightly different characteristics. Cream could alternatively have the Chao attack from Advance

Knuckles, Rouge, Tikal: Either a limited glide or the digging

Amy: Piko Piko Hammer as an attack or as a big jump. She could also maybe be a Sonic-like characters, but I feel like she was shoehorned into the speed role in Heroes

Big: I just like seeing this dumb idiot return. It seems like asking a lot for the fishing rod to be used as a grappling hook, so maybe he could just have a big area attack

Fang/Knack, Bark, Bean: I mean, maybe just show up and fistfight some enemies?

Vector: Something music based, realistically

Chaos: Again, this is reaching, but maybe this ties into Tails taking over Eggman’s research

E-1XX Alpha, Gamma, Omega, etc: It is asking a lot to have all the robots return, but I’d love to see them all as slight variants of “shoot a bunch of missiles” or limited hovering

Omochao: Personally I’d love to see this little guy as an assist who just never shuts up, maybe with some hidden secret-unlocking potential

Vanilla: She doesn’t have a lot of game appearances, I’d take anything

G.U.N. Commander: Again, I just think this would be kinda funny. He could summon robots or just fire missiles

Eggman Nega: Not sure why he would help the main characters, but I’m always rooting for weird stuff like this

Wave, Storm: They could function like Tails/Knuckles or grant a temporary board for tricks or whatnot, maybe like the skateboard powerup from Sonic Generations

Tails Doll: This is dumb, but it would be fun to see as a little throwaway easter egg

So, that was a bunch of random nonsense directly from my brain, but you probably get the idea: find a way to include a lot of characters in the plot and the gameplay. Do I expect any of this to ever happen? No. And honestly, I’d prefer to see another game where I can actually play as characters like Rouge, the robots, Amy, and Cream.

ONE LAST THING: There should really be a Sonic rhythm game. They have so much music, both the classic songs as well as the Crush 40 songs, with tons of remixes of both already existing and even more possible. It would fit perfectly with the gameplay of Sonic, you could just have the notes appear as obstacles or powerup boxes. There are a million different ways to slice it, but it just makes too much sense to ignore. I don’t have enough ideas to make a separate post, though. Maybe I’ll make a playlist sometimes of songs I’d like to see included, but the issue is that it would be way too many songs. As with the main point of this post, I would love to see many different playable characters with very slight changes to their properties.

ONE LAST LAST THING: Since Sega hates localizing Puyo Puyo games, they should just make a new Mean Bean Machine with HD graphics and all the various Sonic characters represented somehow and then release it internationally either as Mean Bean Machine or just Sonic Puyo Puyo. Again, I didn’t have enough ideas for a whole post.

FINAL FINAL FINAL RAMBLES: I kinda wanna play Sonic 06 since I actually just recently found out that Rouge, Omega, and Blaze are playable, but the disc is 20 bucks at gamestop for 360. I also kinda wanna play Unleashed, but not enough to buy it. I really get more excited when more characters are playable, which makes me wish I enjoyed playing Sonic Battle more. I also have my eye on Chronicles if I can ever get the patience to actually sit down and play it. At this point, I should just make my own dang original game or story inspired by the things I like about Sonic.

[transmorolians]

last night i had a dream where i was playing the sims 3, watching my posh and elegant victorian-styled sim do things. everything was normal except the graphics were hyperrealistic and, when she got in her car to go to work... she had to drive up and down harsh slopes to get to her job, and oh did her car go flying. 

and the last time her fancy vintage car crashed down to the ground, suddenly everything changed, except that we were in the same town. but everything was puyo puyo-styled. and i was puyo puyo-styled. huh. 

i was like, “hmm, this is weird.” before the world changed to minecraft. then i was surprised. but i was even more surprised when i saw my minecraft body in first person, because i had an andou ringo minecraft skin.

i was pretty okay with this turn of events until i felt, not thought or heard, “Minecraft_Jesus has joined the game”

and i was like, “wait, minecraft jesus? who the heck is minecraft jesus? hatsune miku? jeb?” until i saw him. herobrine. flying around like a filthy hacker with an enchanted diamond sword, dead set on ending my minecraft life. i had the hardcore mode health bar...

so i booked it, running. i knew i had a full set of enchanted netherite, but he could fly. this hacker i wanted nothing to do with, especially if he took up the mantle of a minecraft creepypasta. i had no blocks, so it would be difficult to escape his wrath---so i ran into the forest... which was warped like the nether for some reason. but that was good, because it increased my chances of survival.

“bro, help me!” i cried. my voice was not my own. i barely dodged herobrine’s attack---he hit a bunch of grass instead. i heard, “bro, other here!”

my brother, as sasaki maguro, was standing on a tree, and threw a trident near a pressure plate that he obviously wanted me to step on. so, i stepped on it.

i was immediately taken underground. it was dark and sparsely illuminated, but the foliage was dense. i would be able to escape from herobrine here, right?

nope! because herobrine was right behind me. immediately i broke into a sprint, benefitted by multiple nearby beacons giving me a speed buff. with every lunge forward herobrine took, i did my best to dodge, just missing his attacks by mere centimetres. eventually, i was cornered, and my only hope of escaping was a ladder. i loaded my crossbow with a splash potion of harming, and lit a nearby hunk of tnt before climbing up.

i shot herobrine square in the face and made my way out of the cavern before it exploded. i ran and ran, feeling relieved... until an attack by herobrine came that would’ve knocked me off balance, had this not been minecraft. i turned around and looked him eyes, and prepared myself for attack...

until i was woken up by my mum yelling at me to do my schoolwork.

[modmamono]

A Dark Arle (and by extension Ecolo) thinkpiece

I love Dark Arle, probably next to Doppelganger Arle my favourite villain in Puyo Puyo. I tend to view her as Puyo Puyo 7′s Final Boss figure like Satan, Doppel, Popoi, and the possessed Klug before them. Despite Ecolo being that.

But I’m biased, the only way I can swallow the Ecolo pill is with the water that represents Arle. Not a fan of the dominant force of Dark Arle on his own. That’s my opinion, I am not here to crack on the guy, don’t worry.

As I’ve said. Dark Arle is one of my favourites. Should she finally make a return in a game... Well, I finally would have a main.

But I like them on concept alone. Because in execution... They’re’s kinda wasted. Ecolo acts all dark and mysterious. And that’s so unlike we know him today. Plus Ringo has no real attachment to Arle for Dark Arle to be really effective.

So will you read my reasoning on why Dark Arle’s even more underwhelming then you may think? Can a rewrite of Puyo Puyo 7 using Puyo Puyo 20th, and Puyo Puyo Quest solve it? Click for more.

Note: I’m calling them Darkle for short  I came up with it myself before I saw someone else use it. Also: Valkyrie Dark Arle = Varkle. I think that one is unique.

Also when I say them/they in reference to Dark Arle I mean Ecolo and Arle together. So you know when I say Her/She in reference to Arle, and Him/He/ to Ecolo. Normally Darkle is a she to me.

Let’s begin!

The Mystery

Let’s start with that Arle being possessed was never a surprise to anyone. What reason would Arle have to turn evil? Having a headache in front of a redhead?

Even if PP7 was your first game and you know what possession is, you know Arle’s possessed.

About the only thing to show it could actually be Arle is that his fondness of Carbuncle seems true. (I’m going off memory here.)

Arle: Emotive. Especially back in the Compile days. Darkle: Not really. Not outside of the Arle’s spell animations, and even then.

Ecolo doesn’t even pretend to be Arle on-screen beyond saying they are Arle. It wouldn’t have hurt to act a little like a person, I’m assuming that’s all Ecolo knew Arle as. It wouldn’t have hurt his plans.

Well. The reason Darkle doesn’t emote is... Because Ecolo didn’t emote... Not physically anyway.

Pretty sure they needed a bad guy for having bad guy’s sake in PP7

This is all assumption of course, but Ecolo is barely a character himself in Puyo Puyo 7 just an obstacle. He wasn’t a fleshed-out character, and since he is in the driver’s seat neither is Darkle. Take a look at Darkle and Ecolo’s wide array of emotions in 7:

(FTW: Ecolo relies on other characters’ animations for his attacks and such while Darkle just does Arle’s. Darkle doesn’t even change shape during transformation. And Ecolo changes into Feli or Klug. Who’re only barely space-related like he is)

Compare to Arle in the very same game:

She has more than one! To be fair, anyone not named Ringo gets the short stick. Let’s show their expressions and poses in the next game, where everyone gets the spotlight and more importantly where they actually had a decent idea what to do with Ecolo (To make it easy for myself I’ll just put their faces on their skin colours, but trust me that Arle has two lively poses to go along with them):

Arle’s lower right one is my favourite in the game.

And look at Ecolo’s face... Gee. This backfired. He only has one extra expression... Take note, fanfic writers.

Actually, this didn’t backfire.

Imagine a world where PP7 went down but no Dark Arle. And then 20th with its more fleshed Ecolo and he became Darkle for kicks? Him having access to Arle’s emotional range. Pretending to be her, causing a ruckus in the town Arle love so much. But giving away it’s him through their expressions because 20th Ecolo wouldn’t be able to hold a poker face in a human body? (Someone, make that Fanfic, please.) I’ll get back to that, though it should be obvious where I’m going with this...

...Meh, I forgot my next point. I’ll get straight to it.

Puyo Puyo Quest and Darkle

I don’t follow PPQ actively, so I could be wrong about things.

I don’t know if Darkle has any story relevance, does Quest even have a story? I just like to see characters in costumes.

They gave Darkle an alternate form: Varkle (That almost sounds like “pig” in my language.) (Also: Dark Arlematsu, but let’s ignore that, not relevant.)

Atop of this blog post, you see the six pictures (sans Dark Arlematsu) so far.

What you see here in order are: *4 Dark Arle *5 Dark Arle *6 Dark Arle *7 Dark Arle *6 Valkyrie Dark Arle *7 Valkyrie Dark Arle

Aside from the Costumes... See the difference?

...

...

Is it because Varkle actually looks like someone foreign with his own personality is in Arle’s body?

That’s what I see. And that’s not all. From what I’ve been told. They actually sound like Ecolo using Arle’s voice. That was not the case in 7.

Ladies and gentlemen!! I present to you: Dark Arle fully realised without drool!! It’s Ecolo’s true face channelled through Arle’s.

It’s a really mischievous one. Big surprise. It actually fits with both, of Ecolo’s personality. And the freakiness of heroic Arle pulling sinister faces like that.

Meanwhile, regular Darkle is left unemotive (outside of *4 but that’s an attack of Arle’s, I think). Why?

Darkle is Arle as possessed by Ecolo as shown in 7. Varkle is possessed by Ecolo as shown in everything post-7. One is a concept. The other is a character.

I don’t see post-PP7 Ecolo to have the patience to have to play the unemotive game that long.

In other words, Darkle is an artefact of the only game they were ever relevant in. And they are hesitant to change it to be more reflective of what Ecolo turned into in 20th. Something they had no trouble with a new iteration of Dark Arle.

Rewriting Ecolo and Darkle with what we got post-PP7

That should be obvious by now. But PP7 is a mess. Not an unfixable one. All I advocated for was to make Darkle more interesting and have a more emotional pull. For Primper should they be more active, and the reader. Perhaps have Dark Arle tag along Ringo’s quest while secretly undoing it behind her back. Pretending to be friendly, earn his fascination on Ringo? Have Amitie or Suketoudara be suspicious.

Should I write Dark Arle again, I am basing it in Valkyrie Dark Arle. That’s for sure.

That ends my think piece.

Thanks for enduring.

I do wanna say that I appreciate PP20th’s writing more.

[yopalonso]

Arle Nadja for Smash Bros. 2: An addendum!

GO READ THE FIRST PART IF YOU DIDN’T YET

So! We’re back! With yet another Arle in Smash post. Didn’t I say that I wasn’t a believer of Arle in Smash, then why am I back at it again with another post? Well, to not only share more info on the topic, but to also emphasize on the details I left vague on my first post, without having to reconstruct the entirety of it from scratch. Or without having to add on top of it and then tell you to go read it again, hoping you’ll find the new details on that post.

Número 1: More ideas equal more fun!

Let’s get things started then with my first addendum: more moveset ideas! Ever since posting mine, I’ve stumbled upon plenty of other moveset ideas that I think deserve more attention. All of these which were shared in the #ArleForSmash Discord server, so if you’re still not there, go do it.

My highlight from the ones shared goes to the moveset concept by Celerity910. I took a read to it way after I finished up mine (considering that the Tumblr post went live almost three months after I finished up writing it down), and I noticed the subtle nuances and similarities later on as I kept on reading it. Celerity inspired it fully on the SEGA side of Puyo Puyo, referencing stuff from Puyo Puyo Fever onwards and basing the whole moveset under the rules of Puyo Puyo itself, and under the assumption that Arle would be included as a base fighter in Ultimate. It even includes a mention on Amitie as an Echo Fighter! It’s a fantastic read, honestly.

But upon reading it I was left with an impending question on my mind, that I had to write down after my original post...

Número 2: What does No COMPILE mean for my moveset plan?

Shocker. This is what struck me like lightning. What would happen to my moveset if I had to remove all of the COMPILE-era references? What would become of it? I then found out that nothing on that matter, well, mattered. SEGA isn’t too afraid to reference the COMPILE-era Puyo Puyo games specifically, so the moveset wouldn’t fall apart if moves taken from games like SUN or Puyo Yon are considered. The only two I could think of that could give me trouble, would be the ones from Madou Monogatari: the proposed Down Tilt and Forward Smash attacks, since those reference Madou in its fullest (and, c’mon, a tackle attack isn’t truly a reference, the body does like, what, 70% of the work there?). If these had to be cut, they could perfectly well be replaced by similar moves in motion: a Nuisance Puyo pop as her new Down Tilt (from the Puyo series), that could work exactly like the proposed one, and a four-Puyo pop for her Forward Smash, keeping the motion and replacing the fire with the popping Puyos. Everything else could very well be kept without sacrificing anything that was established before. Other things such as animations and the like would need to be changed, but that’s par for the course, and the animations would most likely be similar.

Now that those two are said, it’s time for...

Número 3: Her playstyle.

Now that we have a moveset, and since we have a notion on how she behaves on the battlefield, it’s time we addressed how she would play. This is something I omitted in the last part, already due to how insanely big that post ended up as, so it’s time to address it now.

Even though her main gimmick is Chaining through her Down-B move, that doesn’t mean that her neutral should be ignored. Her whole kit, when looked at separated from Diacute, is perfectly capable of putting enemies at a disadvantage. Her Up-Smash is perfect for catching landings or a missed air dodge, her Down-Smash is a good shield-pressuring tool that could very well lead to some crazy shield breaks, and her projectile game should keep opponents on their toes when trying to approach, mostly considering Fireball’s explosiveness on contact. I couldn’t say more about Ice Storm, her Side-B move, but this could lead to some crazy 2-frames, ledge traps or stage spikes if placed accordingly. Her stage control would be insane if the players learned how to properly lead their foes into some traps, such as anticipating a recovery with Fireball, only to then trap them with Ice Storm and sending them off with an Up-Smash. And her aerial game, while mostly situational due to how three of those moves have some anticipation, would be useful when attempting to stop some landings or when trying some follow-ups. Like, I’m just creating scenarios, imagine a Fireball into a spike combo. How crazy would that be, eh? Her off-stage game would be very balanced, too. Given how she could chase down her foes for an off-stage aerial or set up traps with her Neutral-B and Side-B would be ideal for her, too.

So, her regular plan seems really interesting and enticing. And the Chaining mechanic makes things even better. Most of these moves don’t necessarily have kill power or follow-up potential. So, the regular increases in knockback and damage from Arle’s chains could get things from regular to interesting to downright insane in a couple of minutes. Things like chaining together some aerials to then finish it off with a special would be sick. Or connecting some attacks at first and gaining the necessary buffs by keeping your distance with some Fireballs, then catch up a landing with a buffed Up-Smash. Sounds crazy. I mentioned it in the first part, that her grabs do not get affected by the buffs of Diacute, and that they do not increase the chain counter. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be used to extend or start a chain. So imagine the follow-ups you could do from starting up a grab after the first Diacute!

Her prevalent problem, however, lies within her archetype. Magical characters aren’t speedsters when it comes down to their attacks, so Arle players would have to be mindful on that at every minute. Her fastest attacks to get out of certain situations, would be her Side and Up-Tilts, her Jabs, Up-B and her N-Air. Every other attack could be interrupted from other angles, or before the attack even comes out. And in some cases, the endlag from a move could be catastrophic for Arle. Not to mention, if the player depends way too much on Chains, this could lead up to several, terrible mistakes that could potentially mean disaster for Arle, more so if you consider how chains work and your attacks don’t land. Her Up-Air move has a small shield that could stop attacks from above, but that still leaves her unprotected from the sides and from below. Another important thing to mention is the endlag on Mind Blast, both her Down-Smash and Up-B variants: it’s huge. So if you miss it, you’re left in a terrible situation that could lead to a hard punish, or even, an early KO. Not to mention counters and reflectors, Arle would have to handle extremely carefully against reflector-type characters, considering how Fireball and Ice Storm would be treated as projectiles. And there’s nothing worse than meeting your end by your own medicine. Not to mention how feeble certain characters are against rushdown or fastfallers, and Arle wouldn’t be an exception to that.

But if you learn the playstyle, then knowing when to push and when to retreat will be second nature to you.

Número 4: What if... she had an Echo?

I’ll say this short: I was not prepared for this type of scenario. Her moveset does come with a strong variety of attacks that could very well suit up a character like Amitie to take her role as an Echo Fighter. However, I’d have to rethink what to do on spells that Amitie logically doesn’t know or that have no equal on her. The ones that do have an equal would be easy to pass over: Flame over Fireball, Blizzard over Ice Storm, Lightning Bolt over Thunder, Fairy Fire over Heaven’s Ray, Explosion over Judgement, Reflection over Counter, and Accel over Diacute. Stuff like Mind Blast would have to be reworked to be compatible with Cyclone or Tempest, and maybe have Wind properties instead of shield-pressuring. Most of her other moves would also be changed to better fit Amitie’s happy-go-lucky personality. And as for her colors, well, I was not prepared for them, but they’d have to be inspired on her classmates, as well as on other characters of the series, or on obscure Puyo colors, like the Chu Puyo or the Block Puyo. Maybe give her that sweet Puyo Quest Fever alt? Who knows.

Número 5: More flair!

I didn’t mention on topics like a Guidance (mostly because DLC Guidances are out of the question), or her Boxing Ring title. I’ll get the second out first: The Apprentice Sorcerer (魔導師の卵 [Madō-shi no tamago] [”Magician’s Egg”, in context, this refers to a magician still growing, thanks, Celerity <3])

This title isn’t really seen in Puyo games at all, the Japanese one is used as a passive skill in Chronicle. So where does this translation come from? Surprise surprise, it’s from Hatsune Miku: Project mirai Deluxe, Stamp #110, the hint reads “Put on your best impress of the apprentice sorcerer”. The Japanese one reads similarly:「魔導師の卵になりきってみた。」(loosely translates to ”become like the apprentice mage” [thanks for the translation, Kei <3]) thus tying the titles together.

As for her victory theme, I was thinking maybe a shortened version of her titular theme could work.

And as for Carbuncle... Well, I wasn’t too keen on sharing this idea before, but I wouldn’t feature him as an important element of her moveset. Much like Morgana or the Slime, Carbuncle would be more visible on her Down-Throw, her taunts, and her victory screens, but outside of those cases, it’s Arle, all by her lonesome.

Número 6: Special thanks and additional notes.

Ok, I swear, this is the last time I’ll address this topic. I have a hunch feeling that Arle won’t be in the game, but... it’d be really cool if she was. She’s a character as important to SEGA as Sonic and Joker. It’d be horrible if by any reason SEGA decided it was better to go with a Sakura Wars character instead. C’mon, let Arle have this one, SEGA.

By the way, I’m not sure on what Hosoyamada-san thinks in regards to Arle in Smash Bros. or anything the like. It would be really cool if someone could ask him what he thinks, maybe, just maybe, he’s silently wishing for that as much as we do, like Phil Spencer with Banjo. We just have to wait and see.

If you made it this far, then congratulations, you’ve made it yet again through a wall of text, and I couldn’t thank you enough. I also have to thank Kaite20, Celerity910 and Schezoroark for their small, yet incredible contributions. I promise I won’t touch on the subject ever again. I had my fun, I had my time in the sun. Now I need to sleep.

Did you know? Arle Nadja knows more spells than the ones she shows in the Puyo Puyo games, including one called Contia. I wonder if she ever used Contia to pull off an all-nighter...

©SEGA. 2019.

[tojohq]

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life Review

The end of Kiryu’s story. As ominous as it sounds, that’s one of the biggest selling points of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. The character that has been leading the series since its very first game finally has an ending chapter to its saga. As an old-time fan, that made me worried and intrigued: How do they plan to end its story? What’s the series going to do moving forward? And, more importantly, how does the game compares to its predecessors, with all the changes made to its engine?

The following review aims to be as spoiler-free as possible, but be advised some spoilers may occur for previous games of the series, like Yakuza 5. Read at your own discretion.

Kiryu Kazuma, the series’ main character, spent several years in prison following the events of Yakuza 5. He is released only to find out that Haruka is in a coma after having been hit by a car. She also had a kid, Haruto, who is at risk of being taken to an orphanage. Kiryu must fight for and maintain custody of Haruto, while investigating the strange mysteries surrounding Haruka’s accident. The stage is set as we initially enter Kamurocho once again, and after he begins his investigation, the trail leads to Onomichi: a peaceful town that is more than it seems.

The new Dragon Engine was introduced in Yakuza 6, bringing several innovations to the series. For starters, the graphics got a revamp compared to the older engine (used from Yakuza 5 to Yakuza Kiwami), being the first game developed exclusively to PS4. The level of detail in textures, character models, and the world itself, is outstanding. A common complaint about Yakuza 6 is the presence of screen tearing on the game, but I must say I wasn’t able to notice said issue. It’s worth noting that the game runs at 30fps, compared to 60fps on Yakuza Zero and Kiwami. New physics were added, both to the open world exploration and the battles. Exploration-wise, Kiryu can now jump over things, climb stairs, and even fall down from certain buildings. The inventory has also changed. You don’t need to send items to a hideout-like place, like in previous games. Your inventory can store as many items as you like; however, you can only hold 5 of each health/heat restore items, or 10 of each food/beverage items.

Things have changed - the year is 2016 and even Kiryu has a smartphone now, which acts as the game’s menu. Through it, you can find your current tasks and missions; access your inventory; check your stats and mail; check your completion list; change settings; and even take photos or selfies.

With the new graphics engine, Kamurocho has been completely reworked. We have new explorable areas, like Millenium Tower’s rooftop gardens and the Kamuro Theater. We can enter and explore several random buildings, making the city more alive than ever before. We have the same number of taxi stops as before, but more destinations as a whole. It’s worth it to note that certain portions of the map have completely changed. Little Asia is a primary example, and some underwent… peculiar changes, like Pink Street, which is in a diagonal orientation now. However, not everything is good news: some explorable areas that have been around since the first game have been removed, like the Champion District and the Kamurocho Hills/West Park area. We also have fewer stores than before (Kotoburi Drugs, for example, is gone).

Onomichi is considerably smaller when compared to Kamurocho, and has less shops, restaurants and entertainment spots. This more accurately reflects the cities’ real-life counterparts. It’s a port town based on a Hiroshima city that goes by the same name. Here you can access the spearfishing and baseball mini-games, as well as the Snackbar Gaudi. Snack bars are, on that note, popular places on Onomichi to hang out, considering the city doesn’t have Cabaret Clubs. You can also find a few restaurantes, a temple, and a pawn shop.

We have quite a few new minigames compared to previous games, like the Live Chat, which - more than just being sexy - manages to be funny and quirky due to Kiryu’s reactions; full ports of SEGA games, like VF5FS and Puyo Puyo; and classic arcade games from the 80s, like Space Harrier.

The RAAP Gym features a series of minigames where the player should press the buttons accordingly to make Kazuma exercise. After a session, the trainer recommends a dish you should eat, which impacts the evaluation you receive. Before you attempt to train again, you need to engage in a random encounter in the city.

There’s also a baseball team management minigame.  You can recruit new members through substories or around the city and train them. On a match, you can manage your players and sometimes control the hitter. It’s a bit confusing, and, honestly, I didn’t manage to find it too enjoyable.

The Gaudi Snack Bar - unlocked during the baseball team quest line - is actually one of the most fun addictions to Yakuza 6, mini-game wise. For it, Kiryu is invited to a small and familiar bar in Onomichi. In the minigame, you speak with NPCs about their problems, enjoy a few drinks with them, and can even play darts or sing Karaoke. All these things help you develop your friendship with them. Each NPC has its own story, and each one of them is enjoyable, and some of them are tough nuts to crack - you will will need to be persistent with these. I’ve gotten so invested in this specific portion of the game I started to think about the NPCs as close friends of Kiryu, and it made me like Onomichi itself a lot more, since some of these characters are shop owners. It’s a simple yet great addition that gave even more life to the city.

The Clan Creator is another minigame first introduced in Yakuza 6. It involves recruiting NPCs to your very own Kiryu Clan and using them in battles - but Kazuma himself doesn’t fight, he just commands them like in a strategy game. You can set your hierarchy: Captain, Lieutenants and so on. There’s also an online mode available, where you can fight other player’s Clans. You can, also, add new members to your Clan by entering codes, made available at several different places and through the Yakuza Experience website.

Another feature is the opportunity to help a Cat Cafe that… happens to have no cats, since its owner doesn’t do well with the animals and they all ran away. It’s up to Kazuma to find new cats in Kamurocho or Onomichi for the shop by giving them food and earning their trust. After you max out the trust gauge of a cat, someone will go get the felline, which you can always see in the Cafe from then on.

The spearfishing minigame is basically a shooter with a fishing theme. You can earn money from the fishes you catch, and there’s a spearfishing level: the higher your level, the higher your HP in this minigame. You have different spears to choose from and three different areas to fish in - both selections make an impact on the mini-game difficulty.

Some classic mini-games have been removed, like bowling, pool, UFO catchers, and gambling. Changes have been made to Karaoke and its song list: they are all new this time around. The batting cage minigame has also changed slightly. The Cabaret Club minigame has also been reworked, with a new card-based system that has made it more enjoyable.

Yakuza 6 has 52 substories in total, from which a considerable amount is tied to mini-games like the Snack Bar Gaudi, the Clan Creator, and the Baseball team. We also have 40 different Trouble Missions. Trouble missions are picked through the app ‘Troublr’ on Kiryu’s phone. They usually require the player to battle against an enemy or a group of enemies who’s causing - as the name implies - trouble in Kamurocho or Onomichi. Trouble Missions usually spawn nearby you, are time restricted, generally under 5 minutes, and are considered failed if you engage in another event  (like a cutscene or a minigame).

The soundtrack and effects of the game are once again memorable. Differently from previous games, there’s no opening theme this time. On the other hand... some of the songs really stand out, like Joon-gi Han’s theme, several battle themes, and some of the karaoke songs (prime examples would be ‘Hands’ and ‘Today is a Diamond’).

With the new graphical engine and physics also came a new combat system. The very core of it - characteristic to the series - remains the same: fight, do combos, use heat actions. However, the changes run deeper. It was reworked from the ground, with completely new combos, actions and Heat Actions. Unfortunately, Heat Actions are one of the biggest flaws of Yakuza 6 in that there are very few of them. That said, the new physics also make the combat both hilarious and satisfying at times: it’s not rare to see objects being destroyed simply by running through them, or enemies being thrown far from you by doing a combo finished with a kick.

In Yakuza 6 - once again - we see a new leveling system. We have five different experience points: Strength, Agility, Spirit, Technique and Charm. Different activities award different amounts and different kinds of experience. For example, you will get more Strength and Agility by fighting than by doing entertainment activities. You can spend experience points on basic stats (Health, Attack, Defense, Evasion, and Heat Gauge), battle skills, heat actions, and other skills.

We also have an in-depth buff system this time, like increased experience gain, increased money drops, increased stats, and so on. They can be achieved through different means (such as temple blessings, statue offerings, food buffs, and machine drinks) and last a set amount of time or battles.

What was played:

A full playthrough of the main story, 40 substories, and all minigames at least once. Around 60 hours of game time.

Pros:

Graphics are gorgeous and detailed

Great OST

The cities seem alive and as detailed as ever

Several new minigame addictions are fun and rewarding

Good story with likeable characters - both on the substories and the main plot

Cons:

Certain classic mini-games were removed

Areas that have been accessible in Kamurocho since the first game, like the Champion District and the West Park/Kamurocho Hills area are off limits now

Combat seems simplified compared to Zero/Kiwami: less combos, less heat actions

No system to craft weapons, or even to carry then

Verdict: A fitting end to Kiryu’s story, with great graphics, OST, and side content, but not without a few hiccups. Fewer heat actions and the removal of certain minigames detract from it, when compared to previous games of the series.

Score: 8.5/10

Disclaimer: Reviewed on a standard PS4 model using a review code provided by the publisher.

[provenescapades]

Super Bomberman R sold me on the Nintendo Switch

I follow a blog that taught me a general rule: Don't buy a game console unless it has 5 games you're sure to buy and enjoy. Try them out in any way you can, but don't buy the console until you're sure of those five games you want to play on it.

I didn't have 5 games. But while following that blog there was a game that just fell onto that list today: Super Bomberman R

So my initial thought to the Bomberman Switch game was that I'd get bored of it fast. I couldn't remember liking Bomberman, and so it was one less Switch game I was willing to buy, which also made me lean more on not buying a Switch until much later.

Then I watched the Bomberman videos you linked. And it all came flooding back to me. Bomberman 64 was the second game I was ever introduced to on the N64. I didn't even own one back then, but I remembered the commercials and as they played with Saturday morning cartoons they were designed to be just as catchy and adventurous looking. Same with that Bomberman Hero game that later released.

Here's that first commercial, done to the style of the old Spider-man theme song. I didn't even know the Spider-man song back then, so Bomberman was stuck in my head for years.

When I finally did get an N64 some years later, one of the games that constantly got rented out from Blockbuster (remember those guys!) and eventually bought was Bomberman 64 2: The Second Attack. My little brother and I played that game to death. Don't get me wrong, we sucked at the game. It also was very Zelda like with lots of puzzles, secrets, RPGish ways to grind out strength, and combat at nearly every step. The bosses were hard. At least for our young middle school selves. I can't even remember if my brother and I ever beat the game.

Here's a review that touches on everything that made the game special to us.

Pros: The game had co-op. Sadly, it only had that "second player plays as an invulernable pet," but throughout the game you could make your partner stronger and stronger. The game was also very Megaman-like, in that there were eight bosses and beating each boss gave you a new weapon. Which also added a few Metroid elements, as you could go back to earlier levels and find things using the different abilities those bombs had. And the bosses you had to beat were crazy. They'd dash, they'd drop explosions in their wake, they'd kick your bombs back at you, surviving was just half the battle! We played the game to death, and eventually would be able to beat one boss and unlock more of the game to us. Figuring out how to get your pet to evolve was great; you could even get them to evolve to a dragon. It got to the point where I wanted to play 2P as much as I wanted to play Bomberman.

I don't think the game required a memory card, but because we would intermittedly rent it from Blockbuster, a year or two later we eventually bought one so we'd stop losing our progress! And progress was important because of the other major part of the game, the multiplayer! The multiplayer was much like it was in other Bomberman games, where you had the different grid reskins and different Bomberman colors you could use. But as you beat the story mode, you unlocked more types of levels, including levels that had multiple floors. You would unlock other game modes. You would even unlock the ability to use some of those cool bosses as your character, which was super cool even if mechanically you were just playing a different colored Bomberman. This game along with Smash Bros. were the primary reasons my brother and I eventually got a third and fourth controller for our N64, and would often invite our friends over to play with us. The game was so found that we eventually found another Bomberman game that was on the Playstation (the Playstation was a gift, the N64 we saved our allowances for almost a year to buy), and then that game was one of the reasons for us to get a multitap and four controllers for our Playstation!

The game was so fun that we actually looked for other Bomberman games once the N64 went out the back and was shot. The GCN had none (although it did have the Smash Bros) so we started looking at the portable games. There were a few here or there my brother tried out when we could rent them from Blockbuster, but they didn't have any easy multiplayer, so they never lasted that long for me. The DS and Wii changed this. The DS came out with a Bomerman game that allowed single-pack multiplayer, which was an instant buy. The Wii had a Bomberman game on the VC (I think it was the Turbographix version?) that allowed more than 4 players, as long as you also had GCN controllers to plug in. We scooped that up as well.

So why did I forget how much I used to enjoy Bomberman? Because, I sucked at it. One of the reasons Bomberman was extra fun was because, like Smash Bros, my brother and I could go into the multiplayer mode, play against CPUs, and play team battles. So for Bomberman, in both Story and Multiplayer we could do co-op. Every Bomberman game I played after the Second Attack would neither have a co-op story mode, nor much in the way of team battle options. Since I sucked, I didn't want to play FFA all that often, even though I could occasionally win or had the ability to practice more. For me, fun games, especially party games, are best as team games. You feel less bad when you lose with others, and you feel great when you manage to cooperate and win together. That's one of the reasons I love Overwatch.

The video that brought back all of the memories

So, let's recap on Bomberman R. It has a co-op story mode, which will do for now. It has 8-player multiplayer, super awesome. In my wildest dreams it would have single-pack play, but then again not everyone is going to have a Switch right away. Being able to play with a single Joycon, and being the right amount of complexity leads me to think I could even play this game with my girlfriend, and there's a good chance she might love it!

But even with just FFA this game looks fun

So now I want a Switch at launch. All the pre-orders have been sold out for weeks. We'll see if I can get one.

Games on my Switch to-buy list through Summer:

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Super Bomberman R

Hasbeen Heroes

Splatoon 2 (w/ public testfire coming in March)

(maybe) Arms

(maybe) The Binding of Issac: Afterlife

(maybe) Puyo Puyo Tetris

Three maybes are good enough for right now. I'm leaning away from Mario Kart 8, but if enough friends get it I can see it ending up in my library. I know in the far future I'll be buying the No More Heroes game, spinoff or not, and Xenoblade 2 for sure. So I'm set.

There goes my wallet.

[ddrkirbyisq]

Life has continued to be pretty good these days...

Took another crew out to the deep for Space Alert and we managed to successfully complete all of our missions, including a hilarious SNAFU where we managed to end the mission with the right side of our ship completely falling apart and two of us knocked out by a plasmatic fighter...

DJed for FNW again yesterday!  Man it is really warm these days, sometimes I forget since I'm always indoors with A/C at home now (spoiled...).  It wasn't as stressful as last time, maybe I was just nervous that day or something *shrug*.  Anyways, my next gig will be JaSmix, going to make sure to cram all of the best songs into my set for that of course!

I've started trying to work on my JaSmix workshop as well.  Thinking about teaching these things has actually definitely given me the impetus to actually improve my dancing, which was sort of a pleasant surprise.  I guess it's as good of a motivation as any to try something a bit different with my dance and really explore it so that I can talk about it effectively.  Well, hopefully anyways.  We'll see how it goes.

Was really happy with my OHC entry this past week, had a sort of System Shock 2 vibe going with some neat rhythmic filtered pads.  (Speaking of System Shock 2, been thinking about going back and finishing that Ponterbee Station playthrough...)  I've started on the next composition on my plate which is another VGM remix -- that one is coming along, but fairly slowly, which is slightly concerning, but I guess not all of these can be things that I knock out in a single hour...

Studied Puyo a bit for PPT and it's definitely been more than good enough to cover my butt when I totally screw up in Tetris and fail to do anything meaningful lol.  There's still a lot of experience that I need on both sides to really understand a lot of effective play though.  Sometimes in Tetris I still just sort of blindly downstack without really doing anything effective.

The other week I was thinking a lot about tactics games and why Tactics Ogre really impressed me, even though in some aspects it was less "cool" than FFT.  I went and looked at some FFT mods actually, seeing if there was anything that was maybe worth playing through, but in the end decided not to.  I think the thing about Tactics Ogre (or, the One Vision mod specifically), is that it really managed to bring "Tactics" to the genre, which I appreciated.  In these tactics games, both class design and equipment choices should always be about tradeoffs and specialization.  It doesn't make sense to have a unit that is a jack-of-all-trades because you can only do a single thing per turn, so specialization is the name of the game.  But there always needs to be strengths that are balanced out by weaknesses, and each unit needs to have a defined role.  There can be mages that have high magical attack, but really weak defense.  That creates the need for knights which are really good at defending squishy units -- and in Tactics Ogre they even come with movement-inhibiting abilities that prevent enemies from just waltzing right past them and attacking your squishy mages.  But then you've also got archers which can attack the mages from afar without having to deal with the knights, but only if they have good positioning.  Again, it's all about tradeoffs.  That's an area where FFT definitely falls short -- FFT is more about just making cool combos and doing the most damage with everyone.  In FFT if you deal more damage, you do more damage to EVERYTHING, and class and equip configs just become a matter of who can out-DPS everything else and have the speed to apply it.  In Tactics Ogre on the other hand, you have Ninjas that can dual-wield daggers/katanas, which are excellent against squishy targets like mages and archers.  So the ninja is this specialized assassin unit whose role is to use high mobility to take out the high priority targets, and use high evasion and one-time defensive abilities to avoid getting killed along the way.  But ninjas can't really do nearly as much damage to tanky knights, because knights have a lot of defense, and that defense gets applied to BOTH of the hits of your dual-attack.  So what do you do if you need to take out these heavy knights?  Well, you either need mages, or you need a berserker unit that can wield a massive two-handed hammer/maul to chunk through their defense.  Again, more specialization.  Even in unit formations, there are tradeoffs -- you want to have your tanky frontline units surrounding/protecting your DPS dealers in the back, and you don't want to just leave holes in your formation everywhere, but at the same time if you clump everyone up that's just asking to be hit by AoE magic spells.  Tradeoffs!  That kind of thing is just not possible in FFT since you only have 5 units or so...

I finally got a "god run" in risk of rain 2 with Rex, and unlocked the final achievement, so now I've unlocked everything in the entire game!  It started off with an early 57-leaf-clover (best item in the game) and ended up spiraling way out of control when I got another 57-leaf-clover, some other good items, a ceremonial dagger, shaped glass, etc.  The early game was a bit stressful since Rex needs very careful HP management, but once I got to a certain point the shaped glass + ceremonial dagger was just sort of decimating everything and I also found a teddy bear printer and got myself 13 teddy bears so I had a ton of evasion as well.  After a while I ended up stacking FOUR shaped glass so I was now dealing 1600% damage and things were just melting even with just my auto-attack (not even my secondary attack!).  It got to the point where the ceremonial daggers would just insta-kill everything that spawned, including the teleporter bosses, and I basically only ever had to attack at the very beginning of a level to get things started.  Pretty insane.  Even after leaving my computer running overnight (perched in a safe spot), I was still pretty much instantly killing everything.  The only thing that could possibly kill me is Happiest Mask, which is currently bugged and sometimes the ghosts actually end up attacking (and dealing damage to) you for some reason.  So after getting bored, that's how I ended up going out.  (Would have liked to go to a shrine of order at some point for the lulz, but didn't find one.)

Went to see the 3rd Hibike movie a couple weeks ago....it was good, enjoyable, but certainly not up to the level of either of the anime seasons, nor Liz and the Blue Bird.  I think there were some really interesting feelings that got evoked with how much things changed, and how inconsequential some things seemed when put into the perspective of transience (or maybe that's just how I feel about everything)...at the same time it feels like the movie was not really saying that much, and some of the themes really felt very muddled, especially when compared to some things that happened in earlier seasons that were very very very strong.  Their performance was certainly beautifully rendered, I'll give you that...

[nazih-fares]

After a successful port to the PlayStation 4 of the excellent Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami, recently reviewed on our site, the Yakuza franchise is back for its ultimate and final episode, supposed to put an end to the Kiryu Kazuma saga. Released back at the end of 2016 in Japan only, the game is finally available in the West thanks to SEGA, with numerous localization updates and changed for our region. Is this the final chapter the series deserve?

If you are reading this review, you are probably familiar with the Yakuza series. For the brave few who would like to start straight away with Yakuza 6, here’s a short summary of what happened so far. In the Yakuza games, you follow the adventures of probably the classiest and most badass of all yakuzas, named Kiryu Kazuma. When he does not kick ass and beat goons, Kiryu takes care of his adoptive niece, Haruka Sawamura. I will not dwell on her story, to avoid any major spoilers, but I will just say that numerous people wanted to see her dead throughout the series.

Yakuza 6 starts right where the 5th game ends. Kiryu is in a bad state and Haruka decides to leave her dream job of being a pop idol to return the orphanage she opened with our favorite Yakuza. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned, with Kiryu sentenced to 3 years in prison for his actions as a yakuza. At the same time, stalkers start attacking Haruka and the orphanage where she is living a peaceful life, mainly because her choice to no longer be an Idol is much more difficult to assume, with heavy harassment in the media and on social networks. Haruka decides to flee the region to avoid bringing her problems to the orphanage. Three years later, when Kiryu is finally released from prison, he discovered that Haruka is in a coma after a car accident, and that she gave birth a year ago to a baby boy named Haruto.

This 6th episode of the Yakuza franchise is a heavy load of emotions. You’ll be dealing as mentioned with subjects as sensitive as that of young teen moms, but also a Kiryu that cannot relax, as he needs to fight against the Chinese mafias and Korean, while improvising his skills a newfound adoptive father to Haruto. If the storyline may seem absurd, it’s because it is, but that’s the beauty of the Yakuza franchise and their insane plots! Faithful to Japanese crime movie influences, with its effective dialogues, its controlled sets and a gameplay of a rare quality in video game productions, the story of Yakuza 6 is a beautifully rendered one. The Dragon Engine, specially built for this episode, does a great job at transcribing the emotions and details on each of the protagonist’s faces. However, I’m slightly disappointed by the rigidity of characters in some scenes, especially when you start comparing them to other Japanese productions that are close to lifelike such as the recent Final Fantasy XV.

The Yakuza series is not only famous for its storyline, but also for its fighting system that is inspired by street fighter games and other beat’em all. Kiryu will not hesitate if necessary to take on three or even ten opponents at the same time, with a facelift of its fighting system and camera features which were one of the weak points of the saga. Much less capricious than in the past, it now features the typical mixtures of quick and heavy attacks, with grabs and new contextual actions such as crushing an opponent’s head against a wall. Unlike previous versions, there is no loading time when you take part of a fight, a transition takes place naturally and instantaneously. Passers-by gathers around you and your opponents to create a makeshift street fighting arena. Chain the basics with the square button and finish your opponents with powerful shots by pressing the triangle button. The fighting is enjoyable and, although there is only one fighting style, it is rare to feel that Kiryu is overpowered in front of enemies. In addition, any object within range can be used to defend you whether it is a bike, a traffic cone or even a beggar sleeping in the street. While it’s definitely not the rigid battles of the previous games, there’s still a lack of fluidity at times where other games like Sleeping Dogs managed to shine.

Each end of a fight will give you experience points divided into different categories to assign as you see fit. This small RPG component is nice but anecdotal because all of your actions in the game give you experience points. Players are never short of experience points and I can maximize Kiryu’s skills a bit too easily (especially with the grinding system). That’s the thing because fighting, completing sidequests and activities, or even taking care of baby Haruto will gain you experience.

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On the front of side activities, few titles are as generous as Yakuza 6. The amount of sidequests available is simply breathtaking and the storyline behind them are sometimes hilarious but can be emotional as well. These quests involve things like managing a cat cafe (which I probably wasted too much of my time in), or just simply have fun in one of the Kamurocho arcades. The latter has a fine list of Arcade versions games such as Space Harrier, OutRun, Puyo Puyo and even Virtua Fighter 5 which are all playable as two players! For those wishing for something more “mature”, then you can always go out with hostesses saga, or even play a new minigame which is a live chat app with real women ready to get naughty.

Finally, how can I finish this review without speaking of the way Kabukicho and Hiroshima were reproduced in the game. Yakuza 6 is a beautiful love letter to Japan and all its peculiarities that make it a country as intriguing as it is charming. The sounds, conversations, billboards, bright neon and the architecture of buildings are just amazingly redone in the game. The environments are finally at its best and every little change is appreciated at its true value, offering much more freedom than previous episodes, and you will take a pleasure to get lost in the streets and alleys of these two cities, even if there’s rare invisible walls in some parts. The majority of stalls and shops are accessible without loading time, helping deeply with the immersion, and you can simply order food, or play a little bit and then resume the course of your core activities.

YAKUZA 6: The Song of Life was reviewed using a PlayStation 4 digital download code of the game provided by SEGA. The game was previously only available in Japan, released on the 8th of December 2016. We don’t discuss review scores with publishers or developers prior to the review being published (click here for more information about our review policy).

The most beautiful experience in the series, YAKUZA 6: The Song of Life is great way to close the Kiryu's story in style, with a fun and long adventure, full of content and side activities. Even if you didn't play the previous games, you shouldn't miss this goofy yet also mature and serious game. After a successful port to the PlayStation 4 of the excellent Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami…

[linklinkado]

So by this point there's an absolute ton of Neo Geo games on the eShop. I'm a big fan of obscure old fighting games so I've wound up with half of the fighting games they've released so far. I feel like I don't see enough love for these games on this sub so I wanted to rank out my favorites and recommend em. I only have 7/14 and plan on getting Fatal Fury Special soonish, but most of the other ones I've skipped out on are different versions of King of Fighters or whatever, that said if I passed on anything great let me know!Starting with the worst of the bunch: Galaxy Fight: Universal WarriorsThis one's just bad... It's one of the earliest of the bunch and you can really feel it.Pros:Good graphics (this is what lured me in on the eshop)The characters, the cast is pretty unique due to the space setting, sadly they're not in a better game.Cons:My god it's so clunky.There's only one bar, and it's the health bar. This game has no supers.The Neo Geo only had 5 face buttons if you count start. Most of these games assign taunting to start. This one doesn't, so besides only having 3 buttons for attacking unlike all the others one of the face buttons will lock your character in place for a few seconds. Perfect.I really wish this game was good, of the group it's the only one I regret buying. I basically only bring it out as "the bad one" between the other games. Skip it unless you're dead set on catchin' em all.Next up: World Heroes PerfectSo this one is actually ok. It's another early one so it's a bit clunky but that's ok. This one has 3 punches and kicks unlike most, and every character has a unique action that ranges from shrinking your opponent or catching a projectile to throw it back.Pros:Interesting roster based on historical figures (and some fictional characters).One of the only 2 so far that let you change your character between rounds.Cons:Kinda clunky.The graphics aren't great.All in all I'd recommend this one if you're ok with something that's a little weird and a little clunky.Samurai Shodown IVThis one's pretty neat. Roster is nicely varied, all the characters feel pretty unique. Everyone has 2 move sets as well because of the Slash/Bust mechanic. Every character uses a different weapon which they drop when hit with certain moves, unhanded fighting is cool though ineffective. There's a cool swooce behind opponent move and a disarming counter that every character can use and it's pretty neat. Instead of 2 punches and 2 kicks, there's 3 slashes and 1 kick which is interesting.Pros:The universal dodge and counter moves feel good to use.Good roster.???s:The damage seems all over the place? It seems like a lot of the time a regular slash is going to do a lot more damage than your projectile. Not necessarily bad but it's something I noticed.Cons:Graphics are a little sloppy, but for the most part the characters look fine.Extra Tidbits:You can kill yourself by doing back, forward, down, start, I mostly end up doing it as a joke but it does actually fill up your rage bar in the next round.If you push start 3 times you'll taunt and drop your weapon, good if you wanna fight unarmed anyway.I'm not sure which of these next 2 are better, but King of Fighters 2000 just came out so I haven't played it as much yet so it's here.It's King of Fighters, you know what you're getting for the most part. The only real problem I have with KoF is that I feel like the 3v3 rounds drag on too long, luckily you can change it to 1v1s. 2000 added in the striker feature that lets you call in other fighters MvC style for an attack a few times per match. The roster is huge at 35 characters, but you have double the options for strikers (a lot of em from other SNK games).Pros:Striker system is coolThe option to choose between 3v3 teams and 1v1s is great.This is the other game that lets you change your character between rounds.Cons:Having to input the code to play as Kula EVERY TIMEWho's Kula? She's the cutie with blue hair you can see on the thumbnail on the eShop, and if you expected her to be playable, you'd be right, but since she's a secret character you'll unfortunately have to put in a code on character select anytime you wanna play as her.The code has you press start while highlighting 6 characters in a specific order (Whip, Vanessa, Seth, Maxima, K', Random) then press up then down. For your convenience here's the quickest input: starting from Whip: start, down, start, left, start, right x 3, start, right, start, right, start, up, down after that she should show up under Random. Have fun doing that every time.King of Fighters '98Its King of Fighters, you know what you're getting for the most part. Like I said, it's 3v3 but you can change it to 1v1s. The roster sits at 38, making it the biggest on the list. Despite many of the characters being the same between '98 and 2000 there's characters unique to both and even characters who are in both have some different moves (which really messed up my Ralf going from 98 to 2000). There's really not too much to complain about here y'know?Pros:Huge roster.Choice between 3v3 and 1v1.Cons:The win screen art kinda sucks? Idk I'm reaching here there's not much wrong here.Honestly it's a toss up between this or 2000 for me, apparently this one is well regarded though. Oh yeah, I should probably mention that the in game manual for the KoF games are pretty half assed, there's so many characters that they wind up leaving out a lot of moves so you're better off looking up a guide for those.Waku Waku 7This is the good shit right here.Waku Waku 7 was one of the first Neo Geo games they slapped on the eShop and I got it back then and kinda hated it. "There's only 7 characters? Gross" is probably what I said, but I went back to it with a friend after getting some more controllers and it's a blast!There's so many moves that eat meter in this game it's insane, your special moves can all be powered up into supers by pushing both buttons, and you can power up into super mode by mashing all the face buttons at once. Every character also has EX attacks and Hara Hara attacks, EX being your standard fighting game super and the Hara Hara move very blatantly announcing itself while charging before blasting off an incredibly strong unblockable. Strong moves can send your opponent flying across the screen and if they kick off of the wall they'll come flying back, it's very chaotic.The graphics are so bright and colorful, probably the best of the bunch, and the character designs are all pretty cool too. Again, the fact that there's only 7 characters really hurts here. There are 2 boss characters who are playable in the home release, but unfortunately they're not playable in this arcade version.Pros:So much fun to play.Best graphics of the bunch imo.Top notch characters.Cons:Only 7 characters, smallest roster on the list.If you passed on this one for some reason I highly recommend it!And finally: Garou: Mark of the WolvesThis games a dang masterpiece, probably. Everything in this game feels great, supers are easy to pull off and feel devastating, specials are flashy and impressive and T.O.P moves are neat too. The T.O.P system lets you choose a section of your health bar to be powered up during, and defending at the right time can let you regen health too. For how simple the game seems there's a lot going on here when you dig a little deeper. The graphics are great, there's some sick pixel art on display here. Roster is a good size and even has 2 extra hidden characters you can play as. I don't really have as much to say about this one, it's just really really good.Pros:Very good game feel.Good sized roster.Very good graphics.Extra Tidbits:Wanna play as Grant? Hold Start while highlighting Dong Hwan and press up, up, down, down, up, down.Wanna play as Kain? Hold Start while highlighting Jae Hoon and press down, down, up, up, down, up. (Way easier than Kula, huh?)Just buy it, even if you're not interested in any other Neo Geo titles, if you like fighting games you probably won't regret it.Well that's it for now I guess. I'll probably do another one of these once the Neo Geo games stop popping up on the eShop. Hopefully this has been a good use of my time seeing as how there's not too much talk about these games on here and I feel like you might be missing out if you ignore them entirely. If I missed any good ones be sure to let me know!Bonus shout-out to Magical Drop 2, it's not at all a fighting game but it's the only other Neo Geo game I have so far. If your friend group likes Puyo Puyo Tetris at all this might not be a bad addition to your library. It's a really fast paced color matcher and its pretty frantic and fun. via /r/NintendoSwitch