OKAY
so I went through the Side Order trailer a gazillion times, so it's disorganized thoughts/theories/opinions time!
we're just gonna put a cut here in case folks don't want to read a quite long post lol
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okay, so I think the whole thing of this campaign is that it's not real. nothing that happens is actually happening to Eight, Pearl, and Dedf1sh. I mean obviously it's happening to them, but it has no affect on the real Inkopolis Square
so, I think it's either (1) a simulation/virtual "what-if?" scenario(probably created by Marina) that got corrupted or (2) that "world of order beyond comprehension" Marina mentioned that probably also got corrupted
either way it's gonna be weird, and is probably connected to computers somehow
my main reasoning for that is that every time we(as in the player) enter an area it literally loads us into the area(bringing in essentially an LoD model, then becoming the player/weapons), which most likely wouldn't happen if we weren't in some sort of virtual world
as well as this trippy glowy matrix-lookin' room thing
also the fact that Pearl is literally a drone clearly designed to look like her, and it doesn't appear as if we see her normally at all in the campaign. so my guess is that the drone is Pearl's "avatar" in this virtual world. this is further proven by her description on the Japanese website
this is a janky translation, but still, interesting wording
but why a drone? and why does it look like her? my only guess is that Marina made that avatar to look like Pearl, so she could be safe in this weird environment? I have no idea otherwise
why do Eight and Ded look normal then? why is Ded here in the first place? I have no idea, other than Ded saying they and Marina "go way back" and Eight maybe choosing to have an avatar that looks like themselves?
obviously a lot of that part of the theory relies on this world being something that Marina created and/or has/had some level of control over. I saw a theory somewhere(unfortunately I don't remember exactly) that was "maybe Marina's being controlled by whatever is all that black stuff and what's controlling the robot fish." which like, that'd be pretty dope ngl, and it'd tie into the "Marina made/discovered this place and it got out of her control" theory. and we've seen Marina precisely one (1) time, and it was in concept art that kinda made her look all glitchy and stuff
so like, I dunno guys, I think 'rina might be in danger...
sidenote: I don't really like the "Marina's the antagonist/villain" theory. it just doesn't feel in character for her to do something like that on her own will. I'm down for puppet Marina, but I just don't think she'd cause this herself
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something that I've seen bounced around a lot is "you can play as either an Inkling or an Octoling!" using this as proof
my honest opinion? this is a reused text string for the Run Speed Up ability. I don't think we're playing as anyone other than Eight, who is canonically an Octoling
which sucks because I'd be down to play as Agent 4, but whatever, guess they don't get adventures anymore >:(
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we're gonna go back to Dedf1sh(or, Acht, I guess) for a second:
this line is weird
sucked into what? the simulation? how? why? did Eight and Pearl get "sucked in" too? or is she referring to the metro?
and how does she know so much about the tower? like the color chips and whatnot? have they been here a while?
SO MANY QUESTIONS AND SO FEW ANSWERS!!
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also, the color chip they hold out in that cutscene appears to say "AGNT" on it
it could also say "ACHT", but I don't see why
what does this mean? does it mean anything? who knows!?
wait I got another picture of it in Eight's hand:
it kinda looks like it says "AGNT 7" on it? I dunno maybe I'm just reading things I wanna see lol
it does more strongly resemble the Latin alphabet than the other scripts in this series though, so it's definitely worth pointing out imo
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gameplay opinions: looks fun!
folks are saying it looks like a rougelike, and even after looking it up multiple times I still have no idea what the fuck that means
skill tree thingy with the chips and stuff looks cool, hopefully it's implemented well, or at least not in a way that makes it more inconvenient to use it than go without
a bit of a bummer that it doesn't look like you can attack while flying around with Pearl though lmao. but I do like how she looks like she can use bombs(folks have pointed out a hyperbomb in one shot too :3c), and even (maybe, the shot's kinda weird) a singular killer wail speaker
also the design of the drone is fuckin' adorable
like lookit this thing
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aesthetic-wise, not bad, I like the muted, pale tone of everything
...except for Acht for some reason?
like, I love Dedf1sh, and am very excited for their inclusion, but also:
octo kinda sticks out like a sore thumb
maybe that's the point, maybe that's why she's helping us, to restore the colors to this simulation or whatever it is, hence the color chips and the soundboard looking thing....
hey wait a second am I onto something?
whatever, anyway, I like how it looks, and the small portions of soundtrack we've gotten so far sound great
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also, something pointed out in the comments on the trailer and I thought was morbidly interesting:
those appear to be meat grinders.....
uh, yeah
not sure what kind of substance is coming out of them, but uh, yeah those strongly resemble meat grinders
Eight's gonna die because they were unable to use any small kitchen appliance and starved lmfao
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alright, that's all I've got for now I think lol
I wouldn't be surprised if we got one more trailer in like January or something with the release date maybe a Splatoon direct? probably not
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The trees lumbered across the field.
It was a weird thing to watch. When a tree settled to rest or sniff at an interesting crocus, she could almost believe that it had been rooted to the spot for years; then the huge body would raise up on spidery roots and trundle forward with stupid placidity to follow the herd. When they all had settled to rest in the morning light, it was like the field had been turned into a misty woodland in seconds.
A sapling bounded up to her and sniffed at her wrist before bounding off again, spindly roots kicking with delight.
"It's pretty simple work," said the farmer. "We let them out to get some fresh air and sunlight, check them for blight. Every so often we have to lay out some manure, but that's pretty much it."
She watched the sapling. It stumbled on its own limbs and limped into the shade of its mother.
"It's pretty similar to raising cattle," said the farmer. "We raise them up for a couple years, and when they get big enough we take them down to the slaughterhouse and have them butchered."
"Wouldn't you send them to a logging mill or something?"
"Nope."
A chickadee whirred through the air and lighted onto a branch.
"There's good money in it, too," said the farmer. "There's a lot of demand for certain cuts of tree meat."
"You mean wood?"
"Nope."
There was a blur of branches. The tree ate the chickadee.
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To all the Anarchists who don't read, could you please understand why people would like you to answer basic questions on the principals of how your planned future society functions. You don't have to produce a hundred pages of technical documents and 5 year plans, but at the bare minimum when people ask "Could you produce the things I/my loved ones need to not die badly?" you need a better answer than "Yeah man we'll work something out. I gotta buddy who's really into biochemistry I'm sure he'll cook something up". If you are unwilling or unable to provide said better answer, then it's only natural that people will be unsympathetic to your ideology and getting mad about it only makes things worse.
Like if you wanna pursue Anarchism as like some sort of Philosophy/Lifestyle/Mindset or whatever that's your business, it's not as though I can send you to a re-education camp* or anything. But doing that is not a very effective way to bring about actual change in the world, and you look fucking ridiculous when you act as though it is. You need to take your ideology serious if you want anyone else to
And to all those Anarchists who do read, do keep in mind that the largest and most vocal contingent of self-identified "Anarchists" are the various political illiterates and LARPers who therefore provide most people's primary point of reference for Anarchism. I'm sure it's very infuriating to see all the contemptuous mockery directed towards the the most weak and incoherent version of your ideology, but you have to understand this is mainly a reaction to what people actually experience rather than a deliberate attempt to strike at strawmen. Like if you're sick of seeing this then getting mad isn't gonna do anything either; your only real option is to improve your collective efforts at education and agitprop. And not only towards the "Statists" and undecided, but towards your supposed Anarchist comrades as well. It's worth preaching to the choir when none of them show up to church
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