#let's take pikmin together

[wiltedphoenix-fandoms]

let's take pikmin together

[centipedecenti]

Proud of you

(Louie x Vincent fic)

Day 34

Louie was never a sociable guy. He often tried to stay away from large crowds or bustling public areas, wanting just solitude with himself, his thoughts, and a snack or two. When invited to company dinners he just stayed silent and ate.

Nobody really understood Louie, or even bothered trying. They just saw him as the “off putting co worker that looks around the vending machine” or bring up that rumor of him eating the golden pikpik carrots when it was obviously the ravenous space bunnies.

But Louie didn't really care what people thought, he was used to being perceived differently than others, as an outcast…

So it surprised him when this new guy at work came along and flipped Louie's world completely upside down.

He was commissioned with him to go back on pnf-404 as a replacement for Olimar when he was out sick.

Vincent.

Vincent was….different, to put it bluntly, he didn't treat Louie like a weirdo, in fact, treated the man with respect, like an actual person. A friend.

It was a nice change of pace.

But Louie couldn't help but wonder why? Why was this sociable, flamboyant, and handsome hocotation spending all this energy befriending Louie of all people? It didn't make any sense to him.

Vincent was confident, loud, eccentric and a bit sassy. The complete opposite of his blonde coworker!

And yet here they are, day 34 of being commissioned together to PNF-404 and just got back into the Hocotate Freight ship after a long gruesome day at work.

“Ughh! Its so hot out there! I swear, all my hairspray totally melted off!” Vincent complained lightheartedly while stretching his aching arms from throwing pikmin nonstop.

Louie hummed in agreement, settling into the air-conditioned space ship as he took off his helmet.

“Gonna take a shower.” Louie mumbled before walking to the small cramped metallic bathroom.

“Don't waste all the hot water! Like LAST time!” Vincent chuckled loudy to himself as he walked to the bedroom, hands on his hips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Louie finally got out of the shower, with a fresh t shirt and sweatpants on, he was on his way to the kitchen for a snack, when in the corner of his eye he saw Vincent in the shared bedroom, hunched over as he stares at the Ko-Pad screen with an expression Louie hasn't seen before from the other.

Louie ambeld quietly into the bedroom, glancing over what the other hocotation was reading.

Louie's eyes widened at what he read, his brow furrowed.

“Dearest son,

I hope you're enjoying your job at Hocotate Freight, though, as your mother I knew this is the best you would've done trying to follow your dreams. If you had only listened to me, you would've been filthy rich by now! Please son, don't let your dreams keep you from reality.

Love, Mother”

Louie had a sick taste in his mouth after reading that, his expression quickly turning from confusion to anger. He couldn't believe what he was reading! Vincent was probably one of the most creative and inspiring people Louie has ever met, and here, his own mother is basically calling him a failure!

Louie admired the way Vincent could turn the skin from a bulborb into something you'd wear to a ball. He was very hard working too, well, At least more than Louie. And whether that be loading cargo, or defeating various beasts, he also always had on a big toothy smile, brighter than the cosmos.

Louie was then abruptly pulled out of his thoughts when he heard quiet sobs from the brunette. Louie an overwhelming amount of concern and worry, reaching out a hand then quickly pulling it back when he realized he no idea how to comfort others.

Vincent clutched the Ko-Pad, tears stinging his eyes as he read the E-mail over and over again, etching those horrible words into his mind, words from his own mother.

He had to say something, anything.

“...Vincent?” The blonde spoke up, rubbing his arm nervously.

Vincent whipped his head around, big brown tearful eyes staring back at him with shock. He quickly wiped his eyes, a forced smile appearing on his lips.

“Oh! Hey, Louie..!” his eyes darted from the email to the young man before suddenly turning off the tablet.

“Uhm…are you…okay?”

Louie cautiously took a step closer, looking down at the young man.

“Oh yeah, yeah, I'm good! I'm Just Uh…checking the time..” Vincent gave a forced chuckle, trying to discreetly wipe his cheeks of the tear stains.

“You're crying.”

Louie walked over and took a seat next to his co-worker, crossing his legs. He looks down at his lap, occasionally looking at the hocotation next to him.

“What's wrong…?” He said, almost in a whisper, glancing over at the tablet.

Vincent let out a shaky sigh, gripping the fabric of his sweatpants anxiously.

“It's my mother…she's just…I just wish she had a little bit of hope in me, ya’ know? She's always so…so...judgmental in the way I live my life! Just once I would like for her to tell me she's proud of me! Just once!”

Vincent blurted out, choking back a sob as he felt his eyes get watery again.

Louie listened to the other, though his expression seemed neutral, his eyes were filled with empathy and concern for the other.

Vincent glanced up at Louie before hiding his face from him, embarrassed from his sudden outburst.

“I'm so sorry, I have no idea what came over me..” The burnett muttered sheepishly, running a hand through his bangs.

“Don't be.”

Louie gingerly placed a hand on top of Vincent's free one. He had no idea Vincent was going through this, on his own too nonetheless. Vincent was always there for Louie but was Louie ever there for him?

Louie felt a pang of guilt, he had to change that.

“M’ proud of you...”

Louie admitted, his hazel eyes meeting Vincent's brown ones. His voice is gentle and tender, wanting to make sure the other knows he means every word.

He felt his chest flutter as he continued.

“Think you're amazing, actually…nice, funny, talented..”

Their fingers subconsciously slowly start to intertwine, his eyes linger on Vincent's, watching how the light from the bedroom sparkles in the Hocotations deep brown eyes. Louie never noticed how pretty his eyes were until now, almost looking like chocolate.

“Sometimes get jealous..”

A small smirk flickers on Louie's lips at the last sentence

A quiet gasp leaves Vincent's lips. This all felt so surreal. Everything the blonde said felt so genuine, so sincere. His cheeks flushed a light shade of red at the admission.

“Louie..,”

Vincent whispered in disbelief, his switching between Louie’s and their interlaced fingers.

He was in so much disbelief, he didn't realize his heart was racing when he leaned closer to the blonde, fluttering his eyes shut.

Louie cups Vincent's cheek gently as his lips meet Vincent's, closing his eyes as he pulls into a firm but gentle kiss.

Vincent kissed back, holding Louie's hand that was cupping his cheek. He takes the lead into the kiss as he realizes Louie is adorably inexperienced.

This felt so normal, so right. Vincent has always felt differently for Louie than any other typical friend. Whenever they would talk, it felt like Vincent knew him for years, he adored the way Louie would get excited over trying new recipes, eating new foods, or inviting the other to try out a dish he made, cherishing every moment with the other hocotation.

After what felt like eternity, the two young hocotation men break the kiss, both of Their faces bright red and wide-eyed.

“Wow.”

Louie spoke up, not sure what to say as he was still processing what just happened.

Vincent broke out in a laugh, holding onto Louie's shoulders while doing so. He wasn't laughing because it was funny, rather because of how happy he was…and maybe because Louie's response was pretty funny.

Louie slowly started to join Vincent in his laughing fit, softly chuckling at the absurdity of the situation.

It wasn't long until the laughter settled down, now back to the comfortable silence of the spaceship.

“I had no idea you felt that way..”

Vincent grinned shyly, lightly fixing his hair.

“Me neither..”

Louie replied, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

“So…what does this make us?”

Vincent looked up at him with those same big brown eyes.

“What'd you wanna be..?”

Louie lightly squeezes Vincent's hand.

“Boyfriends…? If that's okay with you, I mean..”

Vincent responds, flickering his eyes from the metal floor to Louie anxiously.

Louie gives a small smile, then a nod.

“Like that..”

Vincent smiles back, his cheeks flushing red again.

“Me too..”

Vincent's mother is very ignorant.

[ropasart]

i know its a bit out of the blue but I recently started playing pikmin bloom. if you play the game too lets be friends and maybe we could take a walk together in ✨cyberspace✨

my friend code is 445959760053

[collabwithmyself]

More Pikmin AU writing yahoo!

Maybe fifteen minutes later, Hito finally shoves open the escape hatch. He gets a glimpse of greenery before overbalancing and toppling out onto the soil.

The tumble doesn't do his aching body any favors. His head spins, and his mouth starts to water like he might get sick. Dirt crunches beneath his body as he rolls over, looking up at the sky and what's left of his ship.

It's smoking and seared, looking like a skeletal parody of its former self. It's a miracle it's even partway recognizable. Hito cringes.

According to the pack attached to the back of his suit, he's got thirty days' worth of battery before it stops filtering the air for him. One month to put his ship back together enough to send a distress signal, or better yet, take off entirely.

It feels horrifically daunting. Even thinking about it intensifies his nausea. He has no idea where to even start looking, let alone how he'll get any of that heavy machinery back to the ship...

But he can't just give up. If he dies alone here, with no one having any idea where he went, then... that means...

...

Hito grits his teeth, digs his fingers into the earth, and gets up.

Gravity weighs heavily on him here. He doesn't think it's safe to even jump, with the state of his sore body right now. It's with agonizing slowness that he plods forward, squinting into the wilderness.

The flora here is... huge. Mere blades of grass tower over him. He can make out flowers thrice his height, not far off. It makes him feel like he's found himself the size of a bug in his own backyard. It's not a comforting notion.

His steps are hesitant as he gazes around, pointed ears pricked for sounds. If the plants here are this big, the animals aren't something he wants to run into.

He's so busy looking up, he doesn't notice the object half-buried in front of him. Well, not until it erupts violently from the earth, spraying dirt every which way and pulling a shriek from Hito's throat. He stumbles back and flings his arms over his face as long limbs snake out, jabbing into the dirt on either side of him.

...then it goes still. Hito hesitates, and slowly raises his head.

Above him is a plantlike contraption the size of his body. The shape and bright red shade make him think of an onion. Three green stalks suspend it in the air, several units above his head.

It jolts, and Hito yelps, stumbling back several paces. He gets a glimpse of white petals on top of the onion as they curl inwards- then they spit something into the air.

He watches the object descend to the ground and bury itself in the dirt. His gaze flicks between the onion and its spawn, and he startles a third time when said spawn abruptly sprouts.

The leaf is maybe the size of his hand, swaying gently in the breeze as though beckoning him forward. Hito, frankly, has no idea what to do with it. Should he take a closer look? Is it bait so the onion can eat him? He's wasting daylight, deliberating over this...

Curiosity wins out over self preservation. Hito creeps closer to the onion and the sprout, muscles tensed and eyes wide. When the great structure doesn't move again, he kneels to examine its creation.

The leaf is startlingly warm when he reaches for it, radiating heat like a fire that he can feel even through his glove. He hesitates, but presses a hand against it.

It twitches. Like it's alive. Hito jerks his arm away with a gasp.

But nothing crawls out of the dirt towards him. The sprout remains where it is.

He reaches out a second time, for the stem. The plant twitches again, like it's nudging itself into his touch. His fingers curl around it.

Then, gently, he pulls.

The earth parts around the sprout, revealing a bulb the same color as the onion above him. It's got a sharp protrusion, and he moves his arm so it doesn't slice his suit open-

Just above it, two little eyes crack open and blink at him.

Hito blinks back.

"Um," he says.

The sprout squeaks at him.

It doesn't... seem to be trying to bite him, or wriggling out of the dirt to claw at him. So after a moment's hesitation, he keeps pulling.

The dirt parts around spindly little arms, a thick torso, and squat legs- then he's got a full creature dangling from his hands, looking remarkably like a red carrot with a nose. It doesn't fight him at all, dangling placidly from his grasp.

"...good afternoon?" Hito tries.

"Ihwo!" the sprout squeaks back.

He sets it on his feet, then grunts as he straightens up. The creature watches him curiously, its stem flopping over to hang behind it.

"Right, um..." Hito feels the urge to wring his hands, and instead folds his arms to trap his fingers under his armpits.

The sprout tilts its head. "Haa?"

"It's... nice to meet you? But uh, ha, I'm... kinda busy right now," Hito chuckles nervously. "So... I gotta go. Haha."

"Ih."

So Hito turns to examine the area, figuring the creature will just... wander off. Just grass and rocks, and the smoldering remains of his ship...

...wait. There's smoke trailing from just over the stone ledges walling him in. Could that be...?

His gaze roves over the clearing, searching for some spot he can climb over. But the only break in the stone is shielded by a giant wall of... something.

He heads over to it, testing its strength. Though the wall towers over him, when he scrapes his fingertips against it, it lets out the unmistakable hiss of a cardboard surface.

Is this a box? It's got a little give when Hito throws a shoulder up against it, but there's no way he's moving it alone. He'd need the strength of ten men.

"Huh?"

Hito swears and whirls around. The sprout has followed him like a puppy, standing at attention a couple paces behind him.

"Stars, bud," he sighs, "don't scare me like that. What's up, huh?"

The creature glances back towards the onion, which has remained still, looming over the clearing.

"...you need something?" Hito prompts. When the creature doesn't reply, he starts walking back towards the structure, and the flowers surrounding it. The sprout trails along eagerly behind him.

The onion doesn't respond when he places a hand on one of its legs. And there's no way he's climbing up to its main structure.

"There more of you guys in there?" Hito asks the creature at his heels. "Ha, maybe they can help me move that box."

"Unh," the sprout replies.

"Right," he says, as though that made any sense.

He gets bolder with his attempts to jostle the onion into releasing another seed. The sprout watches with what he suspects is amusement as he tries to shove at the support legs.

"Come on, please," he grumbles, "just gimme something to work with--!"

One frustrated kick has him hopping backwards in pain, and he falls back against the stem of one of the flowers blooming above him. The petals rustle, then--

Hito yelps as something thuds into the dirt right in front of him. It's like a giant seed. Did that come from the flower...?

Before he can get up to examine it, though, the sprout darts towards it, seizing it and starting to drag it towards the onion with little high-pitched grunts. Hito watches it work in bewilderment- it's a startling change from following him around.

As it drags the seed beneath the onion... a light shines down like a tractor beam. In an instant, the seed is sucked up, and Hito looks up as the onion's petals finally curl again. It spits out one leaf, then another, and he watches the sprouts float down to plant themselves.

"...huh," he says.

Somewhere in the very back of Hito's mind, a plan begins to form.

[maybeher0]

fuck it, Momo time

was born on Karut, as game states, but in actuality a child of Koppaite immigrants (second gen). As such, has a lot of both siblings (he's second oldest, has older brother and like 6 younger sibs of various genders) and cousins/uncles and aunties. despite that, barely keeps contact with any of them.

mid 20s, ended up enlisting in Rescue Corps by a lucky accident after several failed job searches.

trans AND autistic. wasn't diagnosed about autism until adulthood, had problems with ID change until Collin noticed and helped out with proper replacement procedure.

extremely autistic about biology (mainly zoology than botany), wanted to get xenobiologist degree but parents insisted on engineering (which he doesn't really use anyways). most of his research was done on his own in spare time.

as Koppaite, he does has frutarian preference in foodstuff, but is willing to try vegetables and meat on occasion - especially if they are sufficiently sweet.

mostly stays quiet when around people he doesn't know, speaks a lot around animals or alone. this habit is the reason Minmin's speech is much better than a regular Pikmin's, even tho they can't form proper sentences and even have troubles with pronunciation

dog lover. one time managed to befriend a family of stray dogs and brought them home begging parents to let him keep them. they've freaked out and forbade any unauthorized pets from now on, so Momo has been only feeding stray animals since then. was very afraid that captain Shepherd was going to take Oatchi away after being rescued, but after she assigned them to work together he was very relieved.

not the most creative when it comes to naming things. (nicknamed a weird mutation of a Winged Pikmin he found "Minmin" because "it's like two Pikmin in one" and Ancient Sirehound "Fluffy" because it is fluffy.)

[sillypau]

a blog post about "Stargazing Pancakes"

hiii! long time no see ehehe ^^ i would like to write about the recent mini animated series i published: "Stargazing Pancakes"

click here for the playlist with all of the episodes!!

Stargazing Pancakes is a few skits written by me and @HEYimHeroic,

the idea of "stargazing pancakes" was first brought up from another idea i had, i had this idea of alice and pau going on fun adventures together, but i quickly realized i wasn't capable of doing long story episodes, but!! i could still do short little skits, so that's what i wanted to do. "anything goes"! i said when i first "pitched" the idea to alice, and they immediately wrote "Pikmin Doom" within like, 5 minutes of me sending that message, and, i got to work ahaha. more ideas started pilling up, which is the episodes that i published. both alice and i changed and wrote and adjusted each one to make each one better c:

"why did you call it stargazing pancakes?" you may ask!!

well, it wasnt just pulled out of a hat, i just thought itd be a silly name because the premise of the "show" is just alice and pau in a room doing silly things, and i asked myself: "what exactly can you do in a little room?" (its been 13 months and i still ask myself this) not much, you can stare at the ceiling, you can stare at the wall, and feel lonely, slowly loose your head, but that's as much as you can do, right? well, you can also get hungry, and alice and i like pancakes, and i missed that, i missed that every day i woke up to alice heating up yummy chocolate-chip pancakes on the microwave and we'd watch youtube videos or the ace attorney anime while we gobbled them up: a perfect start to a day full of fun; so i decided to stargaze pancakes; as i fell asleep every night, i would dream about those nice memories we made, those warm embracing memories with syrup on top. So, that's what stargazing pancakes is. ehehe.

Originally, we wrote 6 episodes, but, by the 5th (Meeting Multiverse Variants) something bad happened, and, I found myself admitted to a Psych Ward, where I had a lot of time to think about things, when I came out, i decided i should just publish the 5 we'd already made, and take some time to recover from everything.

This 6th episode is also a bit different, so, if I do end up making it, it'll have a bit of a different tone ^^

Also, little note: it came to my attention as each episode released that alice's character is very antagonistic in each episode, which was not at all my intention, hahaha... and "Alice's Gym Club" really sealed the deal on that... (although, let it be known, alice is like, the number one protector of Pau, and i hope i can show it in the future, because that's the way it is in real life, too ehehe ^^)

Thanks for watching!! hope Stargazing Pancakes brought some small joy to the world ^^

[closetextrovert]

It's a relatively small thing that I'm trying not to read TOO much into, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how medical consent is touched on in Pikmin 4 wrt the Leaflings? (spoilers below cut, obviously)

Yeah, you're curing everyone you find, but it's always either immediately after they were transformed, or an indeterminate-but-probably short amount of time later. Olimar has more lucidity about him, but he does express a desire to go home (implying he wants to be cured) once you win his final dandori battle.

Meanwhile when the Rescue Corps brings up the possibility of curing the Sage Leaf, they're all "nah, I'm good like this," and the Corps immediately go "we don't get it, but respect your decision and won't push the issue." Moss' situation is more of a gray area considering she's an animal and can't really consent, but they acknowledge and accept that it would be worse to put her through stressful medications or treatments that might not even succeed.

(I absolutely have the headcanon that the Sage Leaf adopts Moss and the Sirehound, btw. Let them be a big dog dandori family together with the pikmin!)

The best way I can describe my take on the situation is the difference between a medical team going "this person had a stroke, but we were able to treat them immediately and prevent long-term damage," and someone who had a stroke 20 years ago going "hey I appreciate you offering to restore my old self with your new sci-fi meds, but I've made my peace with what happened and it's shaped most of my personality at this point, so I respectfully do not consent to treatment," AND the medical team isn't a bunch of judgey assholes about it!

I just think that's neat. c:

[c7thetumbler]

Quick Game Reviews: September - December 2024

This is the game review post for the remaining 4 months I got too lazy to keep up with during the year! I'm going to skip my favorite game I played this year part for now, but I hope this provides some insight to someone somewhere.

Let's get it going!

Screenshot from my Gameplay

Colossal Caverns (Pikmin 2 mod)

^link to PikHacker's download site with all their mods.

Hot off my Super Mario Eclipse playthrough, I finally decided to give this a go! For those unaware, this is a Pikmin 2 hack that puts every boss, enemy, and treasure in a single, gigantic cave level and the challenge is to escape. The REAL challenge is to get all the treasure, and the REALLY INTENSE challenge it to defeat all the enemies. There are a number of customization options such as including the Onions underground, max Pikmin limit increase to 200, and some enemy health adjustment, but I would recommend you do those for one playthrough and then really try it without those changes so you really have to learn enemy behavior and feel how intense it can get.

This is a really fun hack, and I'd recommend it for Pikmin 2 vets. this isn't something you hop into if you've only played 4 though.

image stolen from a redditor

DOOM Eternal (Steam)

I'm a big OG Doom/Doom II fan, and Doom 2016 was pretty good, so I figured it was about time I played this single-player game.

Then I launched it in steam, already a layer of DRM that requires a login, and was immediately greeted with another login screen!

I uninstalled, may ask for a refund. Is it petty? Idk. The game may have a multiplayer component or online features, but there's 0 reason why I need to do that for a single player game. Hell, I feel like I have a pretty low bar given I've hooked up my Ubisoft account to Mario V Rabbids and Rayman, but that's also optional and the games work independent of it. I suspect if I looked for a pirated version, I could play this game without giving them my email address and logging in, so why are we doing this. The game doesn't even let me adjust options or take a screenshot without logging in

Splatoon 3: Grand Festival (Switch)

The final splatfest!

But not really!

This was actually a really cool in-game event. Not only did they extend the "finale" to the full 3 days and bring all 3 idol groups into play, they made an entirely new overworld map that adjusted and actively changed over the course of the three days.

The amount of love and polish that went into a very short, non-repeated in-game experience that fans from the past 10 years would absolutely enjoy is just unparalleled. In the first 2 days you could visit one of three stadiums which rotated which group was playing, but in the final day all three groups were performing together on the main stage with pyrotechnics and flying platforms and it was nuts. Over the course of the evening, the other venues actually caught fire and burned down while it continued, making it a more clear reference to Burning Man than it already was.

It did however fall to the typical downsides of a Splatfest in terms of gameplay. Even with three teams it was quite easy to get paired against your own team and have that entire battle not count towards your clout or your team score, and even though I played like 20 triple battles only 3 of them were against other teams. This is something of a long-running bug bear; I understand you want people to play frequently, but there should either be an option to say "Yes I will wait longer to fight against other teams" or a rewards incentive to play against your own team instead of just throwing it or being dissappointed when it happens. It also unfortunately suffers from the lack of matchmaking, and this was pretty clear when team past started getting prestige ranks in the double digits on day 2 vs a normal teams as well. That's a little trickier, as genuinely I can believe that people who picked Past are genuinely long-time players, but it's an unfortunate issue with competitive games with ladders.

The stage for the triple battles though was also cool. Personally I wasn't a big fan of it's layout, however if your team secured the Ultra Signal your idol group would actually come out and cheer you on, which was rad af. The whole event was just one big hypefest that really fit the style of the game, and the best send-off to date. I wish more games were able to do a big send-off like this rather than just slowly deteriorate and fall-oof, but that's an impossible standard and made me excited for the series' future.

Also, there was a Splatfest in October and they're still doing balance patches so it wasn't really a send-off but still

Image from download page

Super Mario and the Rainbow Stars (PC)

I forgot what pointed me to this game, but it's pretty good! definitely made by people who love the series and want to see a more cohesive world and Mario RPG level story inside a platformer. It's pretty fun and has a great amount of content despite only having 1 world so far!

Gameplay wise I do have some criticisms. The game tries to bring Mario Odyssey gameplay into a 2D platformer, and while sometimes that can work, it does feel a little out of place here. It's not bad, and the levels do a good job of showcasing it, but it feels a little out of place and I personally had issues with the movement options and the star throw at the same time.

Level design is another thing. I'm not sure if this was a limitation thing, a deliberate choice, or just coincidence, but basically every level has similar feel and recurring layouts. Specifically, you'll find yourself going up for a few jumps, then a part where you need to ground point or descend vertically, and then back up again in the next area. But the levels themselves aren't vertical, and in fact pretty limited in that direction, so seeing that same layout repeatedly makes it feel more like a fan game than a real one. It's difficult to describe, but picture the heartbeat line on an EKG and that's how your path typically seems to pan out. With this many movement options and gimmicks in the game, it would be cool if they took a more open-level style approach where you could skip some of these sections through some more technical, high jumps, branching paths, etc.

All that said though, it's still a very good fangame! Visuals are great, Music and Sound design are great, and there's a lot of love put into it. I'm hoping that the level design continues improving over time, and this could be a really iconic fangame.

Screenshot from the Steam Store Page

Spark the Electric Jester 2 (Steam)

This has been floating around my backlog for a while; I've tried it before but I got distracted by collectibles and didn't give it a real shot, so I figured I'd give it a go this time and just go through the game without obsessing.

Spark the Electric Jester is an indie game series that's based off of Sonic, and 2 is the first 3D one that builds off of Sonic Adventure 2's playstyle. It adds in combat as well, with combo building and timed parries which open up the attacker to your assault, but ultimately the game shines the most when it's just the classic Sonic 3D platforming.

Like real Sonic it's a little Janky; sometimes when you try and run up walls it doesn't quite stick right, some jumps are a bit strange, enemy targeting is finicky, but overall it's a fun time. The game itself is very short, taking me only 2.4 hours to beat between both my attempts, but I also didn't focus on doing the achievements and gathering the collectibles, of which each level has a few in their branching paths. Plot-wise, it suffers a little bit from taking itself a little too seriously and being a bit too complicated for my tastes, but that doesn't detract from the gameplay.

If you have a Sonic Adventure itch and this is on sale, it's worth a pick-up I'd say, but if you don't the game is just okay by its own merits. 3 is where the series really gets into its own.

Screenshot from the Steam store page

Spark the Electric Jester 3 (Steam)

This is like 2 but way better!

An actual, really well-polished love letter to Sonic Adventure 2, Spark 3 goes back to Spark being the main character and a less-linear level structure. Each level has a few challenges within them to keep you coming back and replaying, and the combat as a whole feels way better with some unlockable moves and even alternate characters to play as.

Again, the story is convoluted but you won't miss much if you skip straight to this one as they do a good job of recapping enough so you're not totally lost. I still think it takes itself a little to seriously, and I'm not a huge fan of how it gets near the end, but as a game it's a great experience.

Highly recommend this over the 2nd one for Sonic Adventure fans, though both are great games. The replayability and polish on this surpass even SA2 in those regards, imo.

Screenshot from Steam store page

Neon White (Steam)

Reminds me of Lovely Planet but with more polish and care placed into level design! I'm not too big a fan about how long the between-worlds sections can take with the plot, but I also haven't gotten very far in it.

Gameplay-wise, it's an FPS where you pick up cards to use guns/abilities to quickly defeat all the enemies and get to the end of a level as fast as you can. Replaying the level will open up other opportunities to get goodies or complete it faster by showing you a hint somewhere in the level that will save you enough time to get the highest rank. I really liked this game, but my attention span prevented me from getting very far. That's a me-problem though; this is a great pick-up for precision platforming and execution fans.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch)

I don't know how I feel about this game to be honest. I mean, I really like it but after I was done I was torn between "this game dragged on" and "I wish there was more to do".

To get started, this is a Zelda game where you play as Zelda, and instead of attacking directly you use a magic wand to copy and paste items and enemies to attack other enemies and solve challenges. It's a very fun concept, and I think they executed it well, but it runs into a few problems. First, when you find items and summons that let you bypass multiple things, you end up only ever using those. These get mitigated after a while with a few rooms and bosses that require specific elements, heights, wind obstacles etc. to get past, but "grab spider and climb wall" is a fairly early game discovery and a faithful one throughout nearly the whole game.

Second, narratively the game could use some work. I like the idea that Link is silent through the whole game, canonically, however Zelda really shouldn't have been. A game from Zelda's perspective has a lot of unique potential to tell a familiar story from a new angle using its own gameplay, but what really seems to have happened is we got "what if Link didn't have items but instead was kirby, and then also you can be Link normally sometimes." The game certainly shines in a lot of places with clever puzzles and copy interactions, but Zelda being the main character isn't explored upon and feels more like the gimmick than the gameplay gimmick. That on top of the entire game being about people fawning over how cool Link is and nobody outside of the castle knowing the princess of Hyrule somehow really cements that she can be done better, Nintendo. This point is also tough to bring up because it could easily be misconstrued as me saying "why ruin this game by making me play as a girl, UGH" but I would like to stress that I'm definitely not making that point; I'm saying they picked a character who is always crucial to the plot and arching theme of every game and didn't use that to the game's advantage. Also, every other Zelda game you should've been able to play as a girl don't @ me

As for the good parts though, they did a good job of world and puzzle design despite the issues with dominant solutions. I did 100% the game and run through areas multiple times to discover fun puzzles I hadn't seen before and cool hidden things that I would've missed had I not been so thorough. Ultimately this is a good game and I'd recommend it, but if possible try and find a way to play a bit of it first before dropping full price on it, as it may not be for every LoZ fan.

Super Nintendo World (Universal Studios Hollywood)

That's right; I went to a REAL LIFE VIDEO GAME!

And it was pretty cool! I'll open up top with a few caveats though:

Universal Studios struggles in comparison to Disney when it comes to immersion in their theme-parks, with their employees being not so much in character as much as people who are trying to keep a theme park going. In most areas this is fine, but SNW's facade and experience necessitates a bit more character work than they're clearly paying these people for.

Universal Studios Hollywood is cramped for space since it's actually a functioning Studio with over 20 sound stages and in the middle of an incredibly cramped city. As a result, there is only 1 ride, vs Japan's 2 (soon 3) and Orlando's 2. I also doubt they'll be adding the Donkey Kong Country to it.

This land requires that you pay $42 for the power up band, as without it you can only ride one ride, and the minigames/interactable content don't do anything if you don't have one. For families that didn't realize this, this is a huge bummer for kids who get to see a bunch of other people having a blast hitting blocks and getting coins, only for those same blocks to do an empty thud if you don't have one.

The space is way too small and without other rides. Since it's clearly USH's biggest draw at the moment and the ride easily gets to over an hour long wait and the missions encourage you riding it several times, it makes for an overwhelmingly crowded and anxious experience.

That all being said, I had a fun time there. With the power-up band and a smart phone, there are over 132 stamps to collect, including secret interactables in the world, collecting keys and coins to fight Bowser Jr (the biggest minigame in the area), completing minigames such as an interactable block wall that will stop a thwomp from falling, hitting timers to keep a piranha plant asleep, and timing a pow block hit to knock a koopa shell into a key. It's a really cool, well-done immersive experience and I appreciate that they made the whole place a game rather than a reference.

That being said, the band interactions could use some work. The Mario Kart ride is an interactable, AR 3D shooting game where you use koopa shells you get from item blocks to try and beat bowser's team, and while it's fun in its own right, the visors aren't wide enough to get a good view of everything, and the employees make no effort to tell you where to scan your band so that the ride actually counts in your app. As a result I had some fun with the ride itself, but my progress was not tracked and I was left wanting to try again only to be met with the 75 minute wait time, which we weren't doing. This would be mitigated with a much bigger park; you can encourage guests to re-run the same rides over and over again if all of them had similar band interactions, but with just the one it really grinds it all to a halt. The employees not explaining band interactions was a recurring issue; you'll spend a lot of time wondering if you're doing it right for some minigames and you don't know that somethings don't count as being completed, like character meet-ups, unless you make a point to ask and they let you scan something specific.

All-in-all, it's a fun experience but there's not too much there unless you're a freak like me, and it could still use a lot of work. I had a good time though and would go again, but the park being restricted to such a small space with only one real ride limits its potential, and on the whole it's an expensive experience.

If you do go though, I would highly recommend getting the early pass and going on a Tues/Wed/Thursday; Those are the cheapest, least crowded times, and the early pass will let you get in the Mario Kart ride without a wait if you're there on time. Avoid any times near holidays of course

Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch)

Super Mario Party gets a sequel!... I'm not sure how this is different branch than Superstars though. I guess more sub-modes and focus on switch-only motion controls? It's fine, that's a nitpick.

I'll start out by saying that its core Mario Party game mode is pretty good! Most board have their own gimmick, but as a whole it's pretty close to the style of Mario Party everyone knows and loves without trying to reinvent things to the point of over-complication. The inclusion of "Pro mode" is also nice, as it allows you to play solo without feeling like the computers are robbing you and makes every decision you make on the board actually mean something. I have yet to play this with friends, but this feels like a fun game night experience and a good entry in the series for sure.

I will say that pro-mode feels like a necessary option in this one though. Mario Party is known for having a lot of randomness, but this game in particular has a TON more minigames, random events, and just un-counter-able nonsense than Superstars did. It's a little frustrating because I want to play with more minigames, but a lot are dominated by what are basically that exploding bowser minigame in terms of luck. No idea why "Select a key, select a door, hope for the best" is in there.

It also boasts having a ton of minigames in its own right, which technically isn't wrong, but when you split it by game mode it comes up severely lacking. On the box it says there are over 100, but when you play the main mode, exclude the completely random ones, and while I try not to personally I understand that a large chunk of players exclude motion controls, You'll be seeing repeats within the same game over 10 turns, and there are really at most 40 available. That sucks! I feel like I speak for a lot of people when I say I don't mind them bringing back more mini-games from Superstars; they add more variety, are nostalgic, and genuinely people appreciate non-repetitiveness more than they would appreciate having "new" minigames that they end up seeing way too often.

In terms of some new mechanics, the free-roaming team mode and buddy system present in Island tour and then in Super Mario Party has been replace by a "Jamboree buddy" system. Roughly half the characters (The unique, non-minion ones) have the chance of appearing on the board, and passing them initiates a unique minigame that if you win lets them follow you for 3 turns and grants you special perks. Events will proc twice when you have them, including shops, coins from spaces, stars, and even Bowser spaces, which is a fun risk-reward feature. They can also be stolen after being won, which is a bit frustrating because all that takes is passing the player with them. Would've preferred a duel minigame, boo, and/or an item to challenge them instead. But regardless, the gimmick is fun and most of their special minigames are cool because they're uniquely tailored to the character. My main issue with this is that it would've been cool to have minigames for every character, but I understand that time constraints would make that difficult.

The lack of the previously mentioned team/partner modes is a little sad though. Those modes were definitely my favorite "new" game mode the series introduced, and the unique dice per character added some fun and strategy to the otherwise simplest aspect of the game: rolling the dice. I would've preferred it over a couple of the Game modes they added, which I'll get into.

Party-Planner Trek is their single player mode, where you select a character and wander across the 5 main board completing challenges and mini-games to collect stars, each board ending in a boss minigame where you team up with characters you may have found along the way. It fine as a game mode, not too exciting and introduces you to each board, but also not really that difficult or entertaining in its own right. It'll only take a couple hours to complete, and the story itself is pretty low stakes

Para-Troopa flight school has you holding the joy-cons out to your sides like wings and flapping/gliding with them to move around in game. Unfortunately this is where my experience with it gets in the way; I have essential tremors which unfortunately means that my small, constant shaking easily meses up the sensors and I have to make much bigger movements to compensate. It's not for me, and Toad's Item Factory I've not even tried for similar reasons. Rhythm Kitchen is also similar to a Super Mario Party Game Mode, but again I found it improperly reading movements I made so I'm just passing on all these.

Koopathlon is a fall-guys esque? game mode. Not sure if "A lot of players bumble around trying to get further than the rest" is a genre yet, but also it's a little different, like Super Mario 35 was. Basically you go against 19 other players and play 3 "solo" minigames in a row where you try and rack up more coins overall before a bowser minigame that can even the playing field more, as you're playing directly against the other players and if you get eliminated you get sent back more and more spaces depending on your current lead. The minigames then come back a difficulty level harder. It's fun, but not really worth more than a couple replays, in my opinion.

And then finally Bowser Kaboom Squad has you working as a group of 8 players trying to take down imposter bowser before 5 rounds are up, running around and breaking crates to load bombs into a canon while environmental enemies and bowser himself tries to take everyone out. This is the game mode other than the main one I spend the most time in. It's not too difficult or stressful, and I much prefer the cooperative nature of this rather than the chaoticness of Koopathlon, but again this suffers from a shallow mini-game pool and only 3 levels.

Thematically this game also suffers from being a recent Mario spin-off, where they're not allowed to stray far from the Mario formula. Indeed, every NPC is aa different color toad or a basic enemy with a hat, which makes the game a lot more bland when those characters are already playable. It's frustrating that in the Gamecube era they were very willing to embrace the variety of wacky characters they had like Piantas and wacky hosts, but after Odyssey, 3D world, Wonder, all the Luigi's Mansions, Princess Peach Showtime, and their RPG games we're back to "Kamek is the host, everyone is a toad or bad guy, and we made a fake Bowser." The Mario world has a lot of creative things in it; please start using them

Overall this sounds like a bad review, but I still quite enjoyed it as a Mario Party game. I think Superstars is still a better core Mario-party experience, but this definitely stands up in it's own right. But if you're looking for a lot more variety in minigames, I'd maybe pick this one up on sale or something later down the line.

Screenshot from the Steam store page

Shadow Generations (Steam)

Ohey, the best 3D Sonic game, which previously I would've qualified since Generations, but it's EVEN BETTER?

I had a lot of things on a Wishlist for a Sonic Generations remake/sequel, but I wouldn't have ever said "side expansion about Shadow" as one of them. But lo, it was a wonderful decision! Plotwise, the story is somewhat hampered by the fact that it takes place before Lost World, meaning nothing can substantially change with Shadow's character/ knowledge in future games like Forces, but they did a great job with his characterization none the less. His voice actor, whose been on the job for a while, still feels like he's trying just a bit too hard to be edgy, but not so bad that it detracts from everything more than just being like "Haha, edgehog"

Gameplay wise it's a vast improvement over the baseline Generations. It's in a different engine (more on that in the next review), but it's close enough to stay familiar while also being much smoother. Shadow's Doom powers add the sort of progression that Sonic's been flubbing with for quite some time, offering options that both improve movement and attacks in ways that allow you to properly branch paths in ways more interesting than "did you jump when the spring wasn't visible on the screen" that Generations liked to do.

Length wise, it's also pretty decent. I would say that I would've liked one more "world", something like Prison Island from Shadow the Hedgehog and a boss fight with a GUN robot. It was actually surprising that that game didn't get any level representation, and they opted to instead shove Radical Highway in every level. It was the first level you play as him in the series, but Doom being like "That's some nice platforming you're doing, shame if it were suddenly RADICAL HIGHWAY" every time got old. I would've rather they stuck with themes in the level, like Rail Canyon could shift to have weird gravity and parts from Mystic Manor, The ark could have you planet hopping like you did in the Rouge/Knuckles levels, Forces could've had the ruby fucking with everything. It would be more novel anyway.

But for those who like the boost style gameplay of 3D Sonic games, this is the best outing yet and worth picking up for $30 at least. If you've not played the original Generations, this is a great bundle.

Screenshot from the Steam store page

Sonic X Shadow Generations (Steam)

This is for the "remake" part of the bundle, which is just a slightly updated Sonic Generations. I did 100% both of the games in here.

I consider these to be separate games mostly because even the game considers them to be separate. Instead of remaking Sonic Generations in the engine they had access to, they really only did some slight, almost mod-like changes to the version of Sonic Generations that was already available on steam to account for Sonic being an asshole to Amy (for literally no reason, originally framing Sonic shoving his hand in her face to talk to tails as "cool", so a good change actually) and then plot changes for Shadow Generations to fit better in. This version of Sonic Generations is then launched after you select it in the starting menu, as if it was a launcher itself.

On the one hand, I'm okay with this because it was likely a rights/age of the engine issue that prevented them from updating the game significantly or remaking it entirely in the new engine. On the other... Modders have used Generations as the base for like 12 years now? It would've been cool to see them add in more levels, if only just the 3DS levels that now are unplayable through any modern means. Granted, the 3DS levels weren't good, but they had game representation in there that's now just completely lost.

Adding in new levels would've also been nice. Sega re-used, and will continue to re-use assets from the Sonic Generations, so there's justification for adding more substantial content from games that are overwhelmingly popular in the series and were missing from the original, ie anything from Advanced, Rush, 3D Blast, to newer games that never made it to 3D like Mania.

Gameplay wise, it's still pretty good. It definitely shows some of its age with level and mission design, but overall it was the best 3D Sonic experience since Adventure 2, and then undefeated until Shadow Generations in my mind.

I would recommend picking it up if you don't own Sonic Generations anyway, but if you've played it at all, especially recently, don't buy it for Sonic Generations; Buy it for Shadow

Screenshot from Steam store page

Sonic Origins (Steam)

So now I'm on a Sonic kick, and while I waited a while to pick this collection due to its price and also misleading release, I'm glad I did now the plus version is out and it was on sale.

Full disclosure, I'd never actually 100% CD and 3 & Knuckles. CD was a bit to complex for me (and I had no idea you had to go back in time and destroy the generators on every level), and I only ever had &Knuckles to play with originally. The removal of lives (optional) and the ability to use medals to replay levels and specials stages really allows for exploration of levels without fearing losing all your progress, and to makes a much more enjoyable experience on the whole. The music they had to replace is definitely worse than the originals, but easily overlooked. Otherwise, the games play well, the inclusion of Amy was a good choice (though I would've liked to have seen more classic characters for the price) and the other quality of life features are good as well. The 10 Game Gear games are nice, but none of them are really that memorable or play well on their own so that's passable.

If this is on sale for $5-10 and you haven't played all these games to death, I'd pick it up, but if you own these games in another form this is certainly a more polished way of enjoying them but nothing to drop too much on

Image from srb2 website

Sonic Robo Blast 2 (PC)

After an attempt to revisit Forces to continue my Sonic 100% streak up to 7, I decided to pick up one of the most beloved Sonic fangames which started out as a DOOM mod (and I think still is? I didn't research this tbh).

Overall I'd say it's pretty fun; the multitude of characters to play as cool and the levels feel more or less true to what a 3D classic sonic would be. I however didn't finish it, as I kept getting frustrated with the thok move, camera, and controls, and after all those 100%'s I kept needing to restart to find those chaos emeralds. Ultimately, I made the experience worse for myself to achieve an arbitrary goal.

The game is free and a really fun fangame, so give it a try but also understand the controls and movement aren't for everyone

Screenshot from my only god pack pull so far

Pokemon TCG Pocket (Android)

I hate Gacha Games. Blind Boxes are gambling. Therefore, this blind box F2P game is the worst thing I've ever downloaded on my phone.

Except it's not? I really can't explain it past Nostalgia for when I was 5 collecting Pokemon cards, especially since I suck at battling as much now as I did then, but there's just something cool about collecting all the pokemon and seeing all the cool card art. I am not immune to the dopamine rush of opening 2 card packs a day and a 1/5 chance of picking from friend's packs.

Gameplay wise it's a little simpler than the in-person game, but as a result smaller balance issues make greater impacts. In most cases for example, it's much better to get tails on the initial coin flip to go second, as the energy advantage is usually way more useful that the evolution advantage that the first player gets on turn 3. Also, a large number of decks rely on coin flips going well, and that can get frustrating very quickly when you're already relying on card draws being in your favor.

This game is a dangerous gateway drug into getting into TCGs for real. Use responsibly, and understand that when you drop your first buck on any gambling game you have crossed the biggest line to cross and it will be hard if not impossible to go back.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch)

I was so excited to see the series not only return, but in stylized 3D! I was very concerned this series was dead after the studio shut down.

That being said, this one is just... alright. The way it's structured with the constant return to hub and the disjointed islands is not doing it any favors. It might be more... "streamlined" I suppose, but what I really liked about the series was for the most part the world was interesting to explore and really bizarre and wacky. With every dungeon essentially being a rather small island among a vast, mostly empty ocean, it kinda feels a bit shallow.

It also unfortunately suffers from the issues that prevented Dream Team from being on of the greats, mainly the constant tutorials all the way up to the final boss and cutscenes explaining what just clearly happened on screen to you in case you weren't playing during the playable section where you did the thing.

Gameplay wise it's pretty solid; It can get pretty repetitive, especially in the first half the game when you're missing a lot of your kit and mainly just focus on jump attacks. But it's a M&L game, so even that feels really solid, and the battle plug system also adds a lot to the game. The characterization of Bowser, Jr., and his minions is also really solid.

Overall this game suffers from dragging on way too long, which I can't even say is because it's just too long a game or the dialogue and constant explanations really stretch it for all it's worth. I'd place this below Dream Team, as not a bad game but one with a number of flaws preventing it from being good. Worth a pick-up if it ever goes on sale, but also not a necessary experience like Superstar Saga, SMRPG, or TTYD.

Official Update Artwork by Hibachi (@HibachiX1)

Dead Estate: GOOD NIGHT! (Steam)

The final update for this game! I decided now would be as good a time as ever to catch up on those achievements. I never did, but only because of Assignment Anya (the last update I covered earlier this year).

This update adds a Dream route, which include 4 floors, a bonus floor that can appear in the main route, and some insane bosses leading to a unique ending for each characters and even more costumes! It's a really solid cap on the game and a great note to end on; I thoroughly enjoyed almost every moment with it.

If you've not picked up Dead Estate yet, it's now "complete" and definitely worth the purchase. If it's been a while, it''s worth a revisit (but warm up on some basic runs and challenges first)

Screenshot from the Steam store page

ATLYSS (Steam)

Once again it's proven that randy furries can make some of the best content known to man (I don't know if the creators of this, Pseudoregalia, or Dust an Elysian Tale are horny furries it's a joke I should probably delete this when I proofread it).

Atlyss is a Diablo-like game combined with a 3D platformer, where you can pick one of 6 races and then 3 classes to get a variety of skills, weapons, and attacks to overcome enemies, dungeons, and complete quests. It's very fun despite only having 2 dungeons in it so far, and even better when you grab a friend or few to do some dungeon runs. I'm very excited to see where the game goes!

This game really took off of course because of its character customization, which lets you slide bars all the way to the right to get absurd proportions and wear some pretty thirsty clothes. That being said, while its character designs are definitely what you would expect with a game that lets you do that, the amount of options lets you create some really cool looking characters. The game even makes a point to give you scrolls that let you learn the skills other races have innately pretty early on, so there's really no reason not to make your favorite character look how they want and then play them exactly how you want (because imp's life drain is insanely powerful)

You could wait for more content, but honestly there's a good 8 hours in there right now to mess around with a some built in replay ability, I very much recommend this one

Screenshot from the Steam store page

UFO 50 (Steam)

I'm gonna have a couple controversial reviews on this list I think, but maybe not too controversial.

This is a collection of NES style games, with on overarching narrative about this being a found classic console with these 50 games released in order in the 80s. The games themselves for the most part feel very modern in a way that's hard to describe. They lack that classic jank that NES games used to have, like the sprite limit flicker, bad hitboxes in ice climbers, etc that make it just enough not to hit my nostalgia buttons but also mechanics that are much more polished overall.

Total I think I played 15 games before I put this one down. Each game is actually a real game in its own right, ranging from RPGs, arcade style games, platformers, puzzle games, even some strategy games in there. I've definitely spent a lot more time in some games than others, but this is unfortunately where I run into a personal problem when it comes to compilation games. If I'm not excited to try every game in the bundle, I often time abandon it pretty quickly.

I understand this is a me problem and I may have just not found the crazy good ones yet, but these games for the most part all just felt like fine. None of them really grabbed me except one of the later ones where you play as a Spaceman and gather resources like the top-down sections in Blaster Master, but even that was hindered by the design choice to make you wait for meat to regen in your town before you can explore more.

Overall, I can tell a lot of love went into this compilation and i'm not faulting it for that. Personally, I just couldn't get too into a lot of these games in the modern era, and because of that I ended up dropping this compilation early. Your mileage may very!

Screenshot from Steam store page

Black Mesa (Steam)

The Half-Life 2 update that made it workshop compatible and contain every Episode reminded me of this! But mostly my friend Blossom sharing funny videos of it actually.

I actually wasn't a huge fan of original half-life that much; I find the sequel nails the tone and game feel a lot better, but again it's not bad. Certainly this is the definitive way to play the original, and worth picking up for that alone, but if you didn't like the OG half-life you're not going to get much mileage out of this

Screenshot from Steam store page

Marvel Rivals (Steam)

Overwatch but better! I think. It's very easy to get overwhelmed in this game, and clearly takes a lot of time to understand character dynamics and what is even going on, but honestly I enjoyed what little time I spent with this way, waaaaaaay more than any time I spent with Overwatch. Sniping also doesn't seem to be nearly as prevalent; a huge plus for people like me who, on top of knowing that snipers take away any fun from a game that balances around weapon strength/reload speed/range, are correct.

There's clearly some balancing issues, but overall since I'm never going to be playing competitive it's just a good time and I can look past that.

It scratches that hero shooter itch without fomo or demanding so much of your time. Definitely worth a try (with friends)

Screenshot from DLC Steam store page

Disney Dreamlight Valley: Storybook Vale (Switch)

This is again what my Sister plays when she visits (or I visit her), so this is from the perspective of someone who watches her play and occasionally when she doesn't complete timed events finishes those up after the visits.

I'll open up by saying that the game definitely runs a lot better overall. Granted, it's very far from perfect, but the game crashes are now few and far between, slowdown is a lot less common, the music no longer skips, and a lot of item spawning issues have been fixed. Granted, the slowdowns are still there, loading times are frankly unacceptable still, and the item management system still needs to be reworked to prevent forced loading screens if they're going to be this long, but it's good progress.

This expansion specifically adds a whole new land in the form of the Storybook vale, a world shaped vaguely like a book that has 3 biomes: a ruined library in the fall, a golden Greek paradise based off of Hercules, and a fairytale forest with references to Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty. It adds in 3 new befriendable characters (will like increase to 5 later), Merida from Brave, Flynn from Tangled, and the star of the show Hades from Hercules.

The lands themselves are much better design, going from geometric walls and winding paths found in the base game and last expansion to much larger, more detailed and open areas that allow you to see further into the distance and actually take in the sightlines. It also adds in a new mechanic, a net, which you use to gather Snippets (small creatures made out of paper) which you then use to rebuild a book and create art to advance the plot.

On the whole, it's more of the same gameplay loop but better polished. It's very easy to lose yourself running around and doing tasks, but since my sister isn't one for decorating the world that specific large aspect of the game gets lost.

The new characters are neat, though I've not seen Brave myself. Flynn is also an odd choice, as now all three main characters from Tangled, what I thought was one of Disney's weakest movies, are now present in the game when other majorly successful movies like Alice in Wonderland and 101 Dalmatians are nowhere to be seen.

My older reviews still mostly stand in terms of recommending this game at all, but the expansion offers a fair amount of new content and promises to release more throughout the year so it's not a bad game.

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (Switch)

Aight so I have major beef with this one, to the point where I kinda want to do an extensive write-up on all the switch ports/remasters that Nintendo's done over the past 7 years. Their record kinda sucks but this is the worst by far.

This is just a straight port of Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon on the 3DS. It can only technically be called HD because of the resolution, but other than that, some lighting, and a few specific textures I cannot tell the difference between the two. Additionally, they did not fix any of the animations, something that's forgivable on the 3DS because the resolution's so small and it's a tiny console, but when you see animations in cutscenes just run out and characters freeze on the big screen it's frankly unacceptable to call this "HD." In a lot of games I review, I talk about how their jank is part of the charm, but this isn't just jank, it looks bad and lazy.

As far as new features: There aren't any. This game is virtually identical to the 3DS original, except there isn't 3D. I know a lot of people didn't like the 3D on that console, but I loved it and consider it a feature taken out. So to me, this is the equivalent of an upscaling mod on your PC. For nearly twice the price the game was 11 years ago. Absurd.

Gameplay wise, this is the weakest entry in the series by a mile. The constant interruptions from E. Gadd and the mission structure make it really difficult to get into the gameplay and environments since you're constantly being told what wacky thing just happened on screen or just straight up yanked out of the level back to the hub. It was again acceptable at the time because portable games typically get different experiences than you would expect from a home console, but on a home console it's just not an engaging experience.

I got this as a gift, and I spent the whole time playing thinking about how much a waste of money this was. Skip it and get Luigi's Mansion 3 if you haven't

Screenshot from the Steam store page

Awaria (Steam)

From the makers of Helltaker comes Helltaker but as a fast-paced arcade-like game instead! You play as a repair-lady who runs around between generators and generator part dispensers to fix them while being assaulted by ghost ladies with strange powers related to how they died. Then you smooch them at the end of each level. Pretty simple, but really addictive and easily overwhelming as parts take time to generate, you have a limited amount of time to fix generators, and you can only hold 2 items at once. As it introduces parts that take other parts to generate, it really forces you to strategize instantaneously while running around and dodging like a madman.

The difficulty is quite up there, but it wasn't anything insurmountable and I played it on Hard mode by default, which you don't have to do of course. I would highly recommend giving this one a go; it's another labor of love and insanely fun for the time you spend with it. Also it's free

Screenshot from Steam store page

Balatro (Steam)

I'm really bad at poker and I've only gotten to like Ante 4? in a run so far and that felt like a lot of luck by getting insane straight multipliers and then losing when I couldn't make a straight. Other than that, I really don't get it; it seems like a distilled rogue-lite in that they've removed core gameplay elements and turned it from a platformer/shooter/deckbuilder etc. to just playing cards, and while I typically enjoy that style of gameplay I need more than that out of a game. It just genuinely feels like luck.

Personally I would skip this, but it's also one of the most bought, played, and well-received games of 2024 so like my opinion's an outlier here.

Screenshot from Steam store page

Tower Factory (Steam Early Access)

This is a really neat idea! Basically a mix between your standard Tower Defense game and your endless factory maker (Satisfactory, Factorio, etc.) You basically have to create and optimize factory buildings and conveyor belts to get the resources you need, process them into different resources, and then use those top create the towers to defend this.

While doing this, you need to create light towers to further unlock the map and find Light Crystals, which you then use to defeat the wizard tower (enemy spawn point) which you also have to find. Maps are randomly generated, with your resource pools, obelisks that power up adjacent towers, resource/coin chests, and light crystals scatter across the map. This allows for your replays to be different every time each level, of which there are 4, progressively harder ones so far.

Despite not seeming like a lot, the replayability is high and in fact key, because you start off with very few towers and resources and may end up losing your first bout on each level, gaining coins depending on your performance at the end of the level. These coins can then be used to permanently upgrade and unlock new towers'/factory components to help you perform better on the next run.

It's pretty fun! It can get really hectic jumping between the two halves of the game, especially since resource pools can run out and you may need to refactor your factory during an intense wave, but the actual TD aspects of it are pretty simple so it's not overwhelming. It unfortunately falls into the pitfall that almost every genre crossover game has however, where if the audiences for both were a Venn diagram, the only people who would really get into the game would be at the intersection of both genres, not pools from both sides. The TD aspect is pretty simple, and the factory aspect seems so as well, and they have to be so in the intense moments you're not overwhelmed fine tuning either. Again, I like it, but it's very easy to tell it's not for everyone.

Keep in mind it's early access, but if you like TD and Factory games this might be worth a pick-up! or at least a follow to see when it nears completion if Early Access is understandably not your thing. I picked it up in the Steam winter sale.

And that's it! thank you for reading this far, and have a great 2025!

[toa-arania]

Subnautica would make a good Pikmin game

Probably a weird take, but if you drained the water from Subnautica's map and gave the Pikmin the ability to build ways up and down between areas, you pretty much already have a Pikmin game. You have to slowly make your way through different areas, collecting resources that let you go deeper and evading the planet's giant predators.

Some of the area hazards even already resemble ones from Pikmin if you squint. The cloud of radiation around the Aurora is functionally poison, and could be circumvented with White Pikmin. Reaper Leviathans and Burrowing Snagrets are cut from the same cloth. The brine pools in the Lost River can be turned into just actual water to give Blue or Ice Pikmin something to do (and to be honest other areas should have small water hazards too), and the Crab Squid and Ampeel (or equivalents) are prime Yellow Pikmin targets. The lava zones would make for an interesting way to force Red Pikmin use back into relevance (presuming you still get them first but their hazard resistance has been outclassed for a while). The Kharaa disease could even be transposed into the player slowly becoming a Leafling, leaving the Sea Emperor as the Ancient Sirehound (surrounded by Bulblaxes in the place of Sea Dragon Leviathans). Stray too far out and you're suddenly being swarmed by Smoky Progs.

As for area progression, getting more resources could (instead of allowing you to build submarines) allow your otherwise fairly weak escape pod to travel further down and still have the power to get up to orbit. Engine upgrades could then still preserve the depth mechanics even without water, and you could find additional landing sites like in Pikmin 4 to start in different areas as if you had bases there. Using a resource system more like Subnautica's could also be an interesting way to handle progression by having certain types of things needed rather than just quantity like in P4. To that end, Rock Pikmin could be used to get into wrecks in lieu of the laser cutter to track down more blueprints, and if the Purple Onion is found inside the Aurora then it would be kind of like the Prawn fragments and allow you to mine resources from the larger deposits. I haven't thought of anything specific to do with Winged Pikmin, but if the Pink Onion is in the Primary Containment Facility they could be a late game reward to make the search for the hatching enzyme and Neptune Rocket components a bit easier (and for clearing up the remaining resources and upgrades) without introducing them early enough to invalidate Blue Pikmin.

I'd suggest a Pikmin order of Red (Safe Shallows), Rock (Grassy Plateaus), Yellow (Mushroom Forest?), Blue (Floating Islands?), White (Jellyshroom Caves?), Purple (Aurora), Ice (Lost River), Winged (Primary Containment Facility), but I'm not entirely sure what to gate White behind to require Blue. Probably something relating to the Degasi storyline? I also think it could be fun to introduce a new type of Pikmin in the Grand Reef but I don't have any ideas for what it could be. Maybe bringing back the darkness mechanics from Pikmin 3 and introducing some kind of luminous Orange Pikmin could be fun, since the rest of the game from there is so deep underground. Unsure what to do with Glow Pikmin though since I can't think of a good reason for there to be Night Missions. Also, since Red, Grey, Yellow, Blue, White, Purple, Orange, Cyan, and Pink are already covered the second new type would realistically have to be Green (no idea what it'd do), which could get confusing if Glow Pikmin are there too.

I don't have anywhere near the time, skill, or knowledge to put this together in any real form btw, it's just fun to speculate. Maybe it could make a good fanfiction comprised of the Captain's logs...

[holaymolayy]

object show pikmin And splatoon fan... (lets take ibuprofen together pose) hello :]

haiiiiiiii :DDDD

[mamamittens]

One day imma go nuts and start making versions of Nikia for different shows or IPs or whatever. Shame my main love is Pokemon and placing anything in that world is a BITCH.

I'm talking different ships, different skills for each verse, the whole nine yards.

Actually... Universes I know enough that I could whip up a verse specific iteration of Nikia (my borderline OC/SI), even if it's just basic bitch shit.

My Hero Academia

Full Metal Alchemist

Ouran Highschool Host Club

Avatar the Last Airbender

Pokemon

FNaF

Bleach

Legend of Zelda (Kinda already have at least once)

Steven Universe

Inuyasha

Sailor Moon

Pikmin

Nights Into Dreams (the clocktower scene is still so fucking hype, oh my god I still think about it to this day)

One Punch Man

It'd be fun, though idk if they'd all have ships lol. Took a long time for me to actually do shipping in general, let alone with my SI. Even just shipping other characters together outside of generally supporting the obvious end game ship. My instinctive response is always platonic, kinda mothering, not even going to pretend.

I know, I know, it's a bit weird given my ✨ everything ✨, I just like taking care of people I care about and I like making really sad people happy. And oddly enough, fucking them out of depression just never occurs to me when I'm wish fulfilling lmao

[ya-zz]

Hi I’d like to provide counter-angst, AKA stupid crack fluff shenanigans! So you know how Ram’s favorite animal are ants? Imagine how he’d react to somehow finding a bunch of Pikmin, which are basically like a d v a n c e d ants. (Yes I’m putting this on the table in honor of Pikmin 4 releasing today after 10 years of waiting)

ooo this was a fun little one to write! I had to ask the discord group about Pikmin because I had no idea what they do. I have heard of the games, but never played any of them-

But hey! Here's another req done! ♥

Ramattra and Pikmin

Word count: 1140

Some time ago, Ramattra was asked what his favourite animal was, and at the time, he found it a rather ridiculous and perplexing question. He hadn’t exactly thought much of it, nobody was ever interested in his favourite things, be it animals, literature or even music. 

Although, despite the sudden question, he replied back just as quick, almost as if his processor had just done over a million searches in just under a second. 

“Ants. They build marvellous structures and cooperate when threatened. I find them... Inspirational.” 

The small guy who asked didn’t seem too convinced with the answer and that was the end of that conversation. Ramattra deemed it; irrelevant. 

It wasn’t a question that weighed on his processors though. He had more pressing matters to attend to which was the liberation of omnics. 

As time passed by, however, he had researched more about these ‘ants’. What they do, their purpose in life, how they act and form their colonies. Ramattra was intrigued by these creatures and perhaps that’s some sub thought behind his attacks with Null Sector. By fighting as one, we are stronger.

The more he looked into them, the more he found them fascinating; ants can lift up to 10-50 times its body weight, each ant has a specific job to do within its colony and that ants are this worlds strongest insect compared to its body size. Papers upon papers of research stacked on his desk of just ants. He was practically obsessed with them. 

As his war went on, many cities destroyed and chaos trembling the streets, Ramattra wanted, no, needed, a small break. Tension and anger was rising as his attempts of liberation were failing. He needed to clear his systems but going back to the Monastery was only going to sour those feelings more. 

Instead, he settled on a small area of nature, trees and high grass, flowers and life blossoming despite the war going on a few kilometres away. It was tranquil, the breeze shaking the leaves, some falling off the branches as Ramattra walked the dirt path. There was no destination in mind, there never was whenever he wanted to feel peace. He would wander for hours if he could, letting his processors go through every thought, every error. 

Taking a seat by an old tree, he rests his staff on his lap, hands entwining together as he meditates. Images and videos run through his head, where it all went wrong, how it could be different. If his brother would join him, what would the outcome be? 

All he could do was think, errors clearing, fans cooling him down as his processor slows down. His body hums quietly amongst the sounds of the forest, birds above him chirping and leaves rustling. He was finally calm until a sound he had never registered before sounded near his receptor. 

His head tilts upwards and then to the location of the sound. His optics look around but he couldn’t see anything. There was nobody there, no human nor omnic. 

He stared for a moment longer before returning back to his meditation. 

The sound started again. 

Ramattra turned, but nothing was seen, so he turned back and bowed his head.

It sounded again but this time Ramattra released his hands, thumping one into the tree behind him with an irritated groan. Strangled sounds emerged, small things fell beside him, a few landed in his cowl. He almost seemed surprised, hand reaching down to grab these little things.

He looked down at them, sensors scanning these peculiar entities but nothing came up. Nobody had written or seen such a thing before, Ramattra seemed to be the first one. 

The small creatures looked back up at him, cocking their heads to the side to mimic Ramattra as he did it too. The small leaves and flowers on their head bobbing against the wind only confused him more. 

“Curious little things…” He turns his hand, watching as they scramble to sit gently on top of his hand. The ones seated in his cowl watch on, making squeaky and unnatural noises as their friends move around him. 

“What are you?” 

Ramattra watches as they jump down from his hand and gather together in a group. The little noises they made irked him slightly, receptor trying to lower their frequency so it wasn’t as irritating. 

The group near his thigh consisted of a multitude of colours, mainly red, yellow and blue. He wonders if they have specific uses, so he cocks his head to the side once more, processors trying to find some information on them, no matter how obscure. When he was met with nothing, he simply speaks. 

“What is it that you do?” 

The red ones quickly gather together, running off and picking up a large rock whilst the yellow ones began conducting electricity. It was practically a shock to Ramattra, especially when his finger hovered above the yellow ant-like creatures. He chuckled, the little shock tickling him. The blue creatures stood together in a group, seeming unsure of what to do as they look around. 

“And you, little things?” Ramattra points to the blue group. 

They make some noises as if to communicate but Ramattra doesn’t understand. 

“Peculiar…” He hums, leaning back slightly against the tree. His optics look down, seeing the ones seated inside of his cowl. He chuckles once more before looking at the surrounding area. 

“You remind me of ants. Little insects that can… well, lift heavy objects. Maybe not conduct electricity, but stay together as a group.” He looks down again. “Are there any more of you?” 

They make the noises again, looking at each other as if speaking to one another. The rather gigantic omnic looks on, wondering what they could be saying. 

Almost, as if unionised, they call out only to be met with silence. It took a moment before many more little creates appeared, surrounding Ramattra. Different kinds appeared too, chunky purple ones, little pink ones with wings buzzed by his receptors and danced around his head. White and rock looking creatures appeared soon after. 

Ramattra was stunned, but he was intrigued. How come there is no information on these little creatures? He watches them scurry around him, some climbing over his thighs, others clinging onto his arms, while the ones buzzing around his head settled within his cowl. He was swarmed with these “ants” and he enjoyed it. He was fascinated, wanting to learn more about each and every one of them. 

He sat there under the tree, the breeze passing by as he watched these creatures. He spoke on occasion, trying to get as much information as he could with their little noises and gestures. It was going to be a long process to study them, but one he was determined to carry out amongst his liberation.

[gizmocrate-werecrow]

What to do where you are a leafling: sweet dreams and a new member

(:3)

Dingo couldn’t believe it, Bernard remembered! He was fighting the Connection after all. Dingo smiled before he sighed. 

“It’s the ONE and only I say! Now what’s UP with you?” Bernard said he went behind Dingo and touched the leaf on the ‘Lone’ ranger’s head.

“Hey, watch it!” Dingo said before accidently headbutting Bernard on some strange urge.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me.” Dingo apologised while touching his two pointer fingers together. He helped Bernard up and checked for any injuries.

There were no injuries to be seen thankfully. Bernard let out a long yawn and a stretch.

“I’m TIRED I tell you, why don’t you tell me tomorrow morning what happened to you.”

“Bernard, it also happened to you too.” Dingo said. Bernard felt out his own stem to check.

“So it has! Whatever the creature did to that castaway also did it to us. I tell you though it’s nothing but…but…dandori…DANDORI! What was that?”

“Apparently it’s called the Connection, seems that the red leafling makes all of the pikmin think like they do.”

“And that includes us now it seems.” Bernard mused before letting out a silent yawn. He went down by the fire and zipped off his suit, despite it having emergency statis, it was called emergency for a reason aka not fun to sleep in. However the body too would react to the dangerous atmosphere of this strange world, before Dingo could stop Bernard from taking off his suit, he heard a scream from the pilot.

“My HANDS! my arms! There’s leaves on them!”

The extent of the leaves was now clear to the two, not only did it cover the head but it covered the whole body. Arms, hands legs, body, all in the same purple colour of Bernard’s head leaves.

Also underneath the suit was an old light red shirt with a space shipping logo printed on it and some shorts, he also wore a ring with a prescious gem in it around his neck.

Bernard took some deep breaths and sat down. Dingo sat beside him, he hesentingly put his hand on Bernard’s shoulder.

“We need to FIND Yonny, he can fix this. He can fix anything.” Bernard said, he then yawned one last time and laid down, sleep coming quickly to the pilot.

Jack walked up to Dingo and held up a peice of fruit split in half. Dingo took it and stood up once more, taking a bite of the many lumped red berry. It was sweet and refreshing.

“Jack what happened? He’s fighting it right?”

“Maybe Papa is asleep? The Connection always seemed to turn off when he was asleep.” Jack chirruped, they walked to Bernard and stared at the shirt.

So that explained Bernard’s sudden bout of clarity. Dingo thought to himself.

“What do you do? Are you a shipping sky man like Papa?” Jack asked

“No! I’m actually apart of Shepherd’s rescue corp, I usually work alone and..shepherd…she’s so…enough about that it’s” Dingo started before he let out a long yawn. “Getting late.”

Dingo took off his spacesuit, he too was wearing shorts but also a black long sleeved t shirt with the rescue corps logo on his left shoulder.

“Can I join you?” Jack asked 

“…I have to talk to Sheperd about that but for now….fine.”

Dingo ripped a bit of fabric off of his right shirt sleeve, he folded the black fabric and tied it on Jack’s neck like it was a bandanna.

“By the power invested in me, you are now an honorary member of the rescue corp Jack. I may not have a communication device but you’re one of us now.”

“Yipee!” Jack cheered, hugging Dingo’s leg once more.

Dingo lightly shook Jack off of his leg and sat by Bernard, it wasn't long until sleep took over the ranger and he was sound asleep.

(I figured Jack needed a little something to look different from the other Pikmin)

[thatonepikminperson]

So, remember Wraith AUs? GUESS WHAT, MY BRAIN GOT ONE

So, this Au is for the Ground and Stars FanPik, but it can go pretty much on any story about Pikmin if y'all get inspired (Go wild home slices) and the huge new thing is Mixed Wraiths (see more below) so I'll just tag it "mixed wraith au" to not overflow the Pom Wraith AU.

In which, I should probably explain the whole Mixed Wraith thing. In short, it's when a Wraith mixes or fuses with another creature, most commonly another Wraith. There is more info on how they work and some new wraith types.

It is based off of that so @splitster thanks for getting me a bit too obsessed over this concept (Read more for the art and stuff)

(More art and Mixed Wraith lore below!)

So, as you can see, stuff has changed. This AU really starts at Chapter 9, the first 8 chapters are basically the same. Pom is now a wraith, and is hiding among the crew as a totally real space person. Pom himself is called what is known as a Mixed Wraith, or the mixture of a wraith and another creature, most commonly a wraith. Pom is specifically the mix between a Plasm Wraith, and a Water Wraith, which creates the Oil Wraith.

Mixed Wraiths are a bit complicated, but simply, there are mainly two kinds. The first one is the mixed wraith, but two streams of consciousness . This type of Mixed Wraith has the consciousness of both wraiths, and they work together to keep themselves safe. (Let's call this Type 1 Mixed Wraith) The second kind is what is known as the Combined consciousness Mixed Wraith, which is the two wraiths that make up the mixed one coming together and making a new Combined Consciousness (Or CC). Of course, these wraiths can take over separately at any time, but they usually just use the CC to get closer to prey. (Let's call this Type 2 Mixed Wraith) Pom is the second type of Mixed Wraith

So there's more wraith lore. There are four main types of wraiths, Liquid, Solid, Gas, and Plasma. Each one acts and behaves differently from each other, and some of which are not total assholes.

(The Liquid Wraith includes things like the Water Wraith, the Honey Wraith or Colored Ink Wraiths. Solid Wraiths include things like the Reflection Wraith, the Gemstone Wraith, or the Floral Wraith. The Gas Wraith includes things like the Oxygen Wraith, Chloroform Wraith, and the Iodine Vapor Wraith. The Plasma Wraiths include things like the Plasm Wraith, the Star Wraith, or the Flame Wraith.)

Wraiths survive with their cores, which are practically their hearts. These are generally the same as the Pom Wraith AU, but if a Mixed Wraith's Core breaks, then the two wraiths/creatures that made it up will separate, taking half of the core with them.

Also, depending on the personalities of the Wraith and the other creature, they might fight from time to time. If the two created a combined consciousness, and they fight, the consciousness is kicked out of control and one or both of them take over. If it gets too unstable, or the Core is broken in half, then the two Wraiths will split up, in most cases leaving any wraith perfectly fine and the other creature dead.

There is also a way to fix a broken core, but those who try to do so will probably be hunted down by several angry Wraiths. (Wraiths look down at this, as they think if you died, you need to stay dead)

Wraiths are also garbage at disguising themselves, like really. Most forgot that ears exist, or they have some sort of wild color for skin, like grey or pink. Though, thank god Pom was able to find a human before he lifted off into the stars.

I do have more wraith lore, but those will be separate post, probably without art because I've already made several pages of this stuff, and it's more fun to draw characters compared to lore (Sorry lol)

Oh yeah, and I do have wraith forms of the Rescue Corps, don't worry. THEY AREN'T SAFE FROM THE BRAIN ROT EITHER! (But they will be for later, as I have to get through a far amount of other posts about this AU first. Sorry about that.) MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ow my back

[justkindabrowsing]

Pikmin 4 has sent me wondering about New World of Steam

TL;DR: I'm speculating about the potential of a free roam environment in the new Layton game

...This is like, the fifth time I've had to type all this out because of dumb technical issues and human error (Emphasis on human. And on error.), so I would greatly appreciate it if you'd keep reading!

I thought of this stuff like, a week ago, but I was too lazy to type it all out, but I'm finally making myself do this.

Okay, so I've been playing Pikmin 4 for a while now. Great game. Excellent game. I love all the different changes we've seen in it compared to Pikmin games prior, but there's something in particular that's stood out to me. Namely, the base of operations where you spend time between missions.

As you save more and more castaways, the base expands as the group works together to create more space for these rescued folks so everyone can live there comfortably. Makes sense, and I think it's a neat mechanic. But it also reminded me of what we were told during the New World of Steam trailer; that the city would develop further based on the puzzles the player solves.

This got me thinking - what if these developments are something we experience firsthand? Maybe we play as Professor Layton, with Luke taking on the role of a guide in a more literal sense than his being the detective this time and the professor taking on the apprentice-like role. Maybe we play as a character we get to create and customize (I'm not terribly convinced of the latter, truthfully, but I also believe anything is possible).

Regardless, I believe it's possible that whoever we play as will be roaming around a 3D environment that develops as we solve more puzzles. Certain vehicles become available to us, which we'll use to get around different areas. Maybe that also means vehicles that are blocking places will move out of our way so we can enter new locations, such as roads that were blocked leading to other parts of town, or shops in the area that were previously obstructed. Maybe through solving puzzles, we'll inspire people to open shops, or we'll assist them in building said shop itself.

If we do get to create our own character (however unlikely), maybe one of these shops will let us buy clothes for them! Or maybe Professor Layton could purchase new outfits for himself (also very doubtful). Maybe we'll see Luke shake up his own wardrobe as well (Even more than he already has? Have you gone mad???). I'm guessing there could be a clothing store of some sort because Katrielle had a lot of different outfits in her game, so maybe we could see a similar mechanic here too? (With maybe hint coins or picarats as a currency?)

Maybe we'll see some sort of mechanic place open up where we can customize our vehicles, possibly through solving puzzles or something. Perhaps we'll see a DIY function at this location, similar to that of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Obviously, this is all speculation and the ramblings of a mind starved of Layton content for too long, but who can really say what Level-5 has in store for us this time?

...All that said, I do hope they don't stray too far from the old formula. I imagine it will most likely still be a visual novel type game, and I really do hope that the cutscenes will still be the 2D animations we know and love. But who knows? Only time will tell.

Oh wow! You read to the end? You're literally the coolest! Stay hydrated, okay? Eat something today if you haven't already. Look after yourself; you can't solve puzzles if you're all worn out. I'm proud of you.

[your-local-grubdog]

Together in the Storm Chapter 5: Heart of Steel

Story Summary: Olimar is back home once again, ready to rest and recuperate from everything that had happened. Yet the universe keeps throwing unwanted surprises his way, making rest difficult. He just wants to make his (now rather large) family believe that he’ll be okay. Because he is, for he has to be.

Chapter Summary: Alph visits Olimar to fully recover the ship's AI.

I also took this chance to update the images on the AO3 posting, all images now use the files hosted on Tumblr and all images also have screen reader captions. I'm trying to do better regarding having those avaliable.

Read on AO3 here!

Alph wasn't sure what he was expecting Olimar's house to look like. He certainly didn't expect what he did find, though.

From the outside it looked huge, at least when compared to Koppaite homes anyways, especially when standing at the foot of the small hill it was built on. That fact was true for every house on the street, actually, each one a near carbon copy of each other; two stories high, built on a hill with an underground garage, a gentle slope leading from sidewalk to door, and the architecture in a style Alph didn't recognize. Probably traditional Hocotation, though. The only difference between houses were their colors or maybe some outside décor. Unsurprisingly, trees and flowers crowded Olimar's house, making it further stand out from the neatly trimmed and rather empty yards of the other houses.

"Alph?" Olimar asked, making the younger man jump a bit. "You okay?"

"Huh- oh- yeah, sorry." He ran up to the captain. "Just zoned out a bit. I've never really been to Hocotate properly before, only other visit was to drop you off. So all of this is new for me." He was shivering as he spoke, as Hocotate was also much much colder than Koppai.

Olimar nodded as he led him up the path. "Makes sense. Well, if there's anything I can do to help make you comfortable, just let me know! Always happy to help."

"Ah, you don't have to do anything special sir. I'll get used to it."

"If you say so." The captain began to unlock the front door, which was a sliding door. "I don't know if I could ever adjust to Koppai if the caves are as hot as the surface."

"They're much cooler, don't worry. But, ah, not as cold as this."

"Still, thank the gods." Olimar groaned, opening the door. "I can't stand the heat. Our fur retains it too well. Anyways - welcome!"

The first thing that hit Alph was the smell of cinnamon. It wasn't overpoweringly strong, just enough to be noticeable. It was rather pleasant, actually, but it did make for a strong first impression. The entrance room was much smaller than Alph thought it would be, given the large size of the house overall. It was also slightly lowered from the hallway that led from it. A few family photos and paintings decorated the walls. Alph didn't recognize the artist, nor could he read the signature - it was in a highly stylized Hocotation script he's never seen before. Alph watched as Olimar laid his keys and wallet on a little tray before sitting on a bench pressed against the other wall. He sat down before leaning over to take off his shoes.

"So, how's the little pikmin?" He asked through a few grunts of pain.

"Good." Alph stood there awkwardly, not sure of what he was supposed to be doing. He figured this was just some cultural disconnect he wasn't quite getting. "I just finished up helping Charlie with getting his house ready for it. It seems happy."

"Good, good..." The captain slipped on some slippers(?), still clearly pained by the process. They weren't like Koppaite slippers, they had a backing to them and so took an extra second to get on, but they looked oh so soft.

That's when Olimar's eyes went wide.

"Guest slippers! Ah, dangit - give me one moment Alph, just wait here!" And off he was, calling for his wife.

Ah, guess I'm supposed to have slippers too... Well, he could wait. He went ahead and sat on the bench as he did so. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to use the bench or if Olimar merely chose to. He decided it would probably be a safer call to just mirror the older man's movements, and pray that Hocotations didn't have traditions that were only supposed to be done by very specific people. Then again, this was Olimar - Alph didn't know him well, but he got the feeling that he would understand his bumbling perfectly fine.

Eventually Olimar returned with another pair of house slippers. "My apologies for that, people usually bring their own slippers. D-Don't worry, you don't have to buy your own! We didn't expect you to!" He had added that last bit on rather hastily, in response to Alph's drooping ears. "Uh, they may not be your size but if they're too uncomfortable we'll get you new ones. Or you could just go barefoot." He chuckled a bit. "Little casual but you're a friend so - anyways! Here!"

Alph couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he took the slippers. "Thanks, sir."

"I've told you before, you don't have to call me sir or Mister Olimar." Olimar explained as he watched Alph put the slippers on. "Just Olimar is fine."

Alph nodded. "Alright si- Olimar."

At that the Captain chuckled as well. Once Alph was done (the slippers were a little loose, but not uncomfortable) he beckoned him into the hallway. "I'm not sure how long it'll take to do what you're planning, so if it's alright with you I'd like to introduce you to my wife first."

Alph nodded. Really, it wouldn't take him long, but doing introductions first seemed like a good idea anyways. "What about the kids?"

"Ah, they're at school."

"Okay!" The hallway barely lasted two steps before they turned right into... Alph wasn't sure what to call it. It felt too open to be called a hallway as well, but it also seemed to have no use beyond leading to all of the different parts of the house. No furniture was here aside from the occasional console table, all well decorated in a manner Alph wasn't familiar with. There was a staircase leading up to the second floor, Alph thought it was placed oddly but maybe that's just how Hocotations preferred it.

"If you go past the stairs and take a left, you'll arrive at the bathroom." Olimar explained. "And over here is the living room!" He turned right through an archway. The room was well decorated, with yet more family photos and paintings, though some paintings looked slightly messier than the others. It appeared as if those had a different signature. A TV stood at one end, nestled into a cabinet of sorts, a couch and arm chairs opposite of it. Interestingly, there was also what appeared to be a small dining room table between the TV and couch, though it was rather low to the ground. Pillows surrounded it.

Sitting in one of the arm chairs and reading a book was Olimar's wife. She must've been quite absorbed in it, as it took Olimar a few tries to grab her attention. She quickly stood up, putting the book away as she bowed shallowly and awkwardly. Alph felt equally awkward, to be quite frank, unsure of how he was supposed to read the bow. "Ah, my apologies." She stood upright again. "I'm Rose. It's nice to finally meet you, Olimar talks about you three often."

"Do you, now?" Alph teased lightly, unable to help himself.

Olimar flushed and crossed his arms, looking away. "Well - you guys saved me and all- so of course I would!"

Rose began to laugh. "Anyways, you're supposed to help Olimar with a ship's AI?"

"Yes! The AI to Olimar's old ship!"

"Well," Olimar began. "It wasn't mine, just the one I was assigned to. The company owned it... Uh, did you move the AI or copy it...?"

"I moved it. No trace was left in the ship. So, technically, this is theft... You still want to do it?"

Olimar and Rose both nodded. "The company will be fine." Rose replied in a suddenly bitter tone. "They won't even notice it."

"Yeaaaah..." Olimar sighed. "Minus the fact he's angry the ship was totaled. He's heavily suggested that once I'm back at work, I'll be sent back to get the ship-"

"He what - Olimar, he's working you to the bone, you've been slee-" She looked at Alph, pausing for a second, before seemingly deciding it best to just get to her point. "Please, for once let me call your boss and talk him out of this!"

"Promise to not threaten him?"

"... Alright, I won't call him, then."

Alph shuffled in place for a moment. "If I may," he began, "Well, firstly, I think Rose should get to threaten him."

"Alph gets it." Rose teased, earning a groan out of Olimar.

"PNF-404 is not a place you just go to, you need a good reason to do so. I don't think recovering a single, mass produced ship is a good enough reason - even more so since we got everything important."

"... Yeah." Olimar quietly agreed. "But my boss isn't the one going there again, so hard to say how much he cares..." Ears pinning back now, he asked "What was the other thing?"

"Do you keep up with Koppaite news?"

Olimar shook his head as his wife answered "Not directly, but I have some friends who talk about it. They don't seem to know much, probably got it from word-of-mouth too."

Alph wasn't sure why he was surprised. This was an entirely different nation, why would they keep track of Koppaite news? He supposed he just thought that Olimar or his family would at least hear about this detail. "We mentioned you, Olimar, when telling our story. The whole planet wants to know who you are."

That made the captain stagger a bit. "H-... What?!" His eyes went wide as he stared and leaned into his wife a bit.

"What - what do they want my husband for?" Rose asked, also seeming nervous.

"Well, we saved Koppai from starvation. And we only could because of his notes on the fauna of PNF-404. We mentioned as such - but we avoided giving any personal details beyond race and first name. We didn't want anyone to bother you. Anyways, Koppai is interested now. Academics want your notes."

He wondered if Olimar was still even with them, mentally speaking. He leaned against his wife more as he stared at nothing. After a few seconds, he asked "M - my notes?"

Alph could only nod.

"What for?" Rose asked. "He's poured a lot of love and time into those, I don't want them misused."

"Just to study from." Alph answered. "PNF-404, it's special to us now. A star that has saved us. There's always going to be a few cruel people, don't get me wrong, but most Koppaites just want to understand and appreciate the planet." He then smirked. "From a distance, I think we scared away all but the daredevils and desperate from exploring the planet."

"That's - oh great gods!" Olimar suddenly stood up properly, though he hissed with pain from the effort. "This - this is a dream come true I - I always thought of it as just a dream but - Rose, Rose! My notes, they - my notes!" He was suddenly so excited, even bouncing in place from it. "This - This is amazing!"

Rose nodded as she smiled warmly, holding his hands. "It is, it really is, but Alph." She turned to the younger man now. "What does this have to do with Olimar's boss?"

"Well, nothing direct. More so his job." Alph explained. "We - my crew and I, that is - could pull some strings and get you a new job in Koppai's academic sector. It may not be perfect and will come with new issues, but it'd be so much better."

Olimar's response was immediate. "I'm not leaving Hocotate. My family and their friends are all here. I can't go to Koppai for work."

Alph was a little surprised Olimar didn't mention friends of his own, but he decided to ignore it for now. "We could find a remote job. Or generally make that a condition."

Olimar and Rose just stared at each other, eyes wide and hopeful.

When they stayed silent for a few moments, Alph added on "Just give it some time. I know this isn't something you can just jump into-" though he couldn't help but wonder if the two were desperate enough to do so anyways - "In the mean time, would you like the ship's AI set up?"

"Huh - oh, yes!" Olimar squeaked. "Yes, right this way, follow me - We'll be a bit, Rosie. Love you!"

She sighed affectionately and kissed his cheek. "Love you too, dork. And good luck with this AI thing."

Olimar let out a short chuff, choosing to urge Alph to go with him with a hand wave rather than speak, seemingly in a dreamy state from the interaction with his wife. Snickering lightly, Alph followed him back out into the hall room. He was led to a room close to the entrance with a transparent door. It looked glass, but Alph had the feeling it was made of something much sturdier. Looking in, it was obvious that this was the office.

Olimar let him inside it. It was also well furnished: bookshelves filled with books - mostly about biology from a quick glance - and a rather messy desk near the back. There was an easel with a partly finished painting that caught Alph's eye. "Does someone here paint?" He asked.

"Hm? Oh, both my wife and I. We hang our paintings around the house - though she's always hesitant to. She thinks she's not too good, so most of them are mine. I think she's a great artist, though! That one's hers."

Alph's eyes widened as he looked over the unfinished painting. "You're both good."

The captain chuffed again. "Thank you."

"Of course, now the AI-"

"OH! It's stored right here." He lifted the black external hard drive. "So, how are you going to do this?"

"Easy. You know about those home computer systems? Can just ask a question out loud and a speaker somewhere will answer for you?"

"Uh, vaguely. There's only one company that sells them here on Hocotate and they're far beyond what I could afford. But even if I could, they're kinda in legal hot water right now over breaking privacy terms."

"Oh, ouch... S-Sorry. Well, t-this one is free! And shouldn't cause problems. That's what I'm going to repurpose the ship's AI into."

At that Olimar snickered. "Ah, it'll work just like having it when I'm on a delivery run then? Joy."

Alph paused for a few moments, unsure of how to read Olimar's tone. "Do... you not want this-"

"Huh? Oh! It's fine, don't worry. It sounds helpful." He chuckled nervously. "Ah, do you uh..." He paused for a moment. "I don't mean this in a rude way, but do you struggle with sarcasm?"

"Usually, yeah." Alph admitted as he pulled a few things from his bag. He plugged the central "hub" of the home-system into the computer before searching around for files. Man, this computer feels ancient, but it's clearly powerful. Or at least powerful enough. Guess Hocotate didn't change their systems of OS design? Koppai certainly had sleeker OSs, at the very least.

"Ah, noted. My boy can struggle too sometimes, so I kinda get it. I'll keep it in mind from now on."

"Thank you, sir." A pause, then, "Which boy?"

It seemed it took Olimar a bit to realize what he was being asked. "Oh! Uh, Nova. You haven't met him, you will when he gets home though!" He chuckled a bit. "S-Sorry, we kinda only recently took Louie in. He's still absolutely like a son to me, but it takes time for certain habits to develop."

Alph's ears wiggled at that. "Really? I thought he was your biological kid?" He finally found the files he needed. Now he had to just port the AI to the "hub" and make a back up of it to the laptop. On that note, maybe he should prep the external hard-drive to serve as a frequently updated redundant back up system... As the files inside it were now, it wouldn't exactly be easy to do so.

"Oh! No, no." Olimar shook his head, laughing. "I was only eighteen or so when Louie was born. No, I just got attached to the scraggly kid my boss handed me and told me was my responsibility."

Alph snickered at the characterization, before going quiet to focus on his work. It took a while to transfer files and format everything properly and set the hub of the home system. When done Alph groaned and leaned back into the chair. "Okay, so here's how it works, at least the terms we use on Koppai. This round disk is the main computer of the entire system - we call it the hub. Keep it somewhere safe. It'll connect wirelessly to the nodes - they have speakers and mics. The hub has those too. Put them wherever you want access to the system. Just know that while it is private - it won't connect to any outside networks beyond looking stuff up online - it will still hear anything in a room unless the node is off. Keep it in mind when setting it up. I also have two back-ups of the AI, one on your computer and one on the external hard drive. Here, let me show you how to update the backups - I'd say do so around once a month, to preserve info it learns - and how to restore the system using them."

It took Alph a little while to explain it to Olimar, though it seemed the captain's main issue was just the complexity of the AI rather than any sort of computer illiteracy. Once everything was fully explained, Alph turned to the hub. "Now, to turn it on for the first time!"

He reached over and powered the hub on. After a few seconds, a monotone woman's voice came from the hub's speaker. "Powering on. Please standby..." It read off a few diagnostics checks and, after confirming everything was good to go, a different voice began to speak. More masculine and more robotic yet somehow more lively than the previous. "Louie? Is that you? Are my optical receptors offline - no, no this... Is a different machine. How did I get here?"

"Hey there." Olimar began. "Louie's n-"

"Is Louie okay?" The AI cut him off. "Last time I was online the ship... crashed."

"He's okay. Your old hull was completely totaled. Won't be easy to get it back. Uh... Alph here, he's from Koppai, he got your AI from the ship and ported it to a home system."

"A home system? So I'm not at Hocotate Freight anymore?"

"No, you're ah... At my house, if that's alright."

The ship's AI was quiet for a few moments. Then, it answered "Yes, that is okay. Thank you for coming back for me."

"Of course, of course... But really, thank Louie and Alph. I wasn't the one to go get you..."

"Well, thank you Alph. Is Louie here, too?"

"No, not right now. Whenever he visits again I'll make sure he says hi."

"Alright... Wait, so then the rest of your family is here, Captain?"

Olimar nodded, though the ship's AI couldn't see it. "Well, kiddos are at school at this moment. Rosie is here, though, if you wanna say hi."

"Isn't she the one who stabbed someone?"

That caught Alph's attention. "She what?"

"She never stabbed anyone!" Olimar insisted. "When I first met her, she basically saved me. One of the guys got cut but nothing more!"

"Uh-huh." The ship replied, unconvinced.

"Still, she cut someone-?" Alph began.

"When we were teens, and in order to save me." Olimar insisted.

"... And I suppose it's how she won you over?" the younger man asked.

"Weeelllll..." Olimar shrugged. "You know, when you see a woman in punk attire who looks like she could break you in half and who also has a bloody knife in a bloody hand... Yeah I uh, ran the first time. But we met up again later and look at us now!"

Alph just stared.

"Anyways, enough of that! I was thinking, before we - er, Louie and I - just called you ship before. But I don't think that'll work as well now. So how do you feel about a new name?"

"N-Not to be rude-" Alph intervened, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "But the AIs don't really feel anything."

Olimar's shoulders sagged then as he sighed. "I know... I know how they work. It's just - it makes me feel better to treat them like they do. Yes it causes stress at times but... I donno, it's hard for me to describe."

Alph nodded, his voice soft. "No, I think I get it."

"... If it's any consolation, sir," the ship spoke out now, "If a machine like myself was to ever experience emotion, it would be me and be because of you. Granted, the emotion I would feel is pure annoyance, but it is emotion."

Olimar began to chuckle, though he smiled softly as he did. "Oh please, you love me too much to find me annoying."

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. Whatever makes you feel better."

Alph couldn't help but laugh a bit as well. He usually found the AIs uncanny, as most Koppaites did. When they used them, they never used the emotion mimicry feature. But he had to admit, the "personality" this one built up was pretty funny and even enjoyable to be around.

"So what wonderful name have you chosen for me, huh?"

"Ah... Is - is Cetacea okay?"

The AI paused then, processing the information given. It then made a groan sound. "What is it with you and marine mammals, huh?"

Olimar huffed, crossing his arms. "They're cool! And fascinating! A creature that lives in water and can't survive on land but can't breathe in water either? Fascinating, I say!" He then paused, voice softening. "I could pick a different one, though."

"No, Cetacea is good. I like it. I just also want you to know that you're a complete nerd for naming me after a taxonomy category."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know." Olimar chuckled again.

"Well..." Cetacea began to go on and on about some complicated physics thing, clearly pulling from some online data base.

After just a few seconds Olimar groaned. "Okay, okay, stop. Point made."

"Only doing as you asked, sir." It replied. Alph wondered if it was being sarcastic.

"Well, Olimar, if you want I can set up all the nodes now!" He offered.

Olimar nodded. "Yeah, sounds good to me. Then my wife can pester it too."

"Gods..." Cetacea groaned.

"You're part of the family now." The captain chuckled. "So you'll have to learn to deal with it."

======

It took a little while to set up all of the nodes, but they were able to get it done together! There were not too many of them - just the hub in the office and nodes in the kitchen, living room, first and second floor halls, and the entry way. For the first floor hall, however, finding a good spot proved difficult.

"Why can't we use the console tables in there?" Alph had asked.

Rose seemed shocked that such a question could even be asked, though Olimar just sighed and calmly explained "Those are the family shrines."

Oh, that made sense. "Ah, s-sorry."

"Don't be. Here, I can explain them a bit as we find a better spot for that."

All three of the shrines were explained one by one. The first was close to the entrance, right below a window. There were a few framed printouts of art there, alongside unlit half-used candles and a spot to light incense. A few rosaries were also present, each with a differently shaped charm attached. "General shrine for the Gods Above." Olimar explained. "We're not particularly religious, so we haven't chosen one to worship..." He sheepishly brushed some dust off of a framed picture of some abstract art. "Nor do we generally use this outside of the holidays, heh."

Alph couldn't even begin to decipher the meanings and symbolism behind the objects chosen, but he didn't want to make Olimar explain too much either. So instead he just nodded along, taking in the soft yellows and oranges and occasional pinks of the shrine.

The other two were on either side of a door that, according to Olimar, led to a currently unused "elder's room", though he didn't elaborate on that front. To the left of it was what he simply called the family shrine. It had photos of Olimar, Rose, Nova, and Luna from many different time periods, plus a few seemingly random objects such as a mouse figurine, some sort of fabric patch, a really cool rock, and a preserved lunar moth, among more. There was also an incense burner on the shrine. "We chose everything ourselves. Stuff that we find important. For example," he pointed to the rock, "Nova put that there a long time ago. His first gift from his best friend."

"Sounds like he really likes his friend," Alph teased, smirking slightly.

Though, it seemed the tone was lost on Olimar. "Yeah, he means a lot to my boy." He chuckled a bit as he walked to the last shrine. "Always makes sure his friend is okay and feels included, I've even seen Nova patch him up after some playful rough housing went a little too far by mistake. They're really great friends."

Alph raised an eyebrow at that, but decided not to push it any further.

"Anyways, this one is the extended family shrine. Rosie set it up! She has all sorts of stuff for her siblings and parents, though the meanings are personal. I don't even fully understand some of it." Again, it was decorated with family photos - seemingly Rose's parents, brother, sister, sister-in-law, and nephew - alongside many random little objects, plus an incense burner.

"Is there one for your parents?" Alph asked.

At that Olimar paused for several awkward moments. Eventually, he mumbled out "If they were represented, they'd be on this one."

Alph then felt sick. "Oh, s-sorry-"

"You're okay. Let's just find a place for the node, yeah?"

======

They eventually found a good place for the last node, and no sooner had they found a spot did some more people arrive back to back. First were Olimar and Rose's kids, who were excited to meet the Koppaite. They didn't talk much though before Louie also arrived. At that point, Olimar decided to gather everyone in the living room so that they may all have a place to sit.

"So, Alph came over today to help me with something." Olimar explained to his kids who looked up at him with wide eyes. "And so now there's someone else for you to meet!"

Nova grew even more excited while Luna seemed to become weary. "Cool! Who is it?"

Olimar just smiled and spoke out, "Cetacea, you online in here?"

The node on the coffee table then turned on. "Yes, I am. Hello, everyone."

Nova gasped. "Wait, you bought one??? I thought you said-"

Olimar shook his head. "Nope. I didn't buy anything. Alph gifted us the hardware. And the AI inside is the same one that was in my previous ship. The hull was destroyed, but we saved the personality inside of it."

"THIS WAS A SPACESHIP?" Nova practically squealed, making his sister flinch.

"That is... Mostly correct. Close enough." Cetacea answered. "You may call me Cetacea."

Olimar let a light chuff at that. "It can have an attitude, but it is very kind and helpful."

"Hey, don't start with this now. I don't have an attitude, I just have two major pains in my side. I am not above calling you an idiot infront of your family, sir."

Olimar just groaned in response while his kids began to giggle at it.

Luna, now calming down a bit, nervously asked "So can you answer questions?"

"So long as I can find it on the internet, yes."

"What about questions about the pikmin planet?" Nova then asked, making Olimar tense.

Cetacea paused for a bit while it deliberated on something. Then, "Sure. For one, I can tell you far too much about how so many of the creatures inner workings function, as your father had a rather nasty habit of dissecting beasts within my hull."

Olimar sighed with relief at the same time Nova made a face of disgust and Luna went wide eyed. "Coooooool..." She cooed.

"... Yeah, you're certainly his kid." A couple of people chuckled at that, though soon Cetacea silenced them all. "Before we get too far... How are you, Louie? The last time I saw you was before my hull was destroyed."

Louie shifted around a bit. "I'm okay. Been helping grandma. Work is... Work. And I spend time here."

"... That's good to hear. I'll have to catch up with you later."

There was an ominous tension in the air that hung between Louie and Cetacea. The last time they saw each other was during the crash landing... Cetacea probably wanted to push for information he wouldn't give in front of a group like this. Thankfully, no one else seemed to have noticed the tension (aside from maybe Rose).

Alph sighed as he stood up. "I'm glad everything worked out regarding Cetacea. But I do think I have to go now-"

"A-Already?" Olimar asked, surprised. "You can stay longer, we have a guest bed for you and some extra plates."

The Koppaite just shook his head. "Sorry, but I have a lot I need to get done. So I need to get going now. It was nice to see you again, Olimar and Louie, and to meet everyone else."

"... Alright. But feel free to visit whenever, okay?" Olimar offered a warm, if nervous smile. "You're always welcome here."

"Thank you, sir. Take care!"

They all said their good-byes as they waved. Alph headed back for the entrance area to replace his guest slippers with his own shoes. As he did so, though, Louie approached him.

"... D-Do take dad up on his offer, okay?" The tall man asked, voice quiet. "We'd lo- he'd love to talk to you more."

Alph sighed a bit as he smiled, standing up now. "Of course. I wanna hang out with everyone more, anyways. I kinda miss being able to talk to you like we did on the Drake. Right now though, I gotta focus on making sure Koppai will be okay."

Louie looked down as he rubbed his arm. "O-Okay..."

"But don't be afraid to call me either, alright? I'm always happy to talk."

Louie nodded slowly at that, a soft smile forming on his face. "Okay."