#nintendo why did you retcon him out of existence

[weirdmarioenemies]

Is Birdo the only member of her species?

"Yes!” you confidently proclaim. “You included an image of multiple Birdos right there in the post, silly!”

I know I did! I did it on purpose, because it is relevant to the subject matter! But it does not mean all that much, ultimately. Look. Here are five Luigis.

Luigi is not a species. So allow me to explain why I am reasonably confident in believing that the existence of multiple distinct Birdos has been retconned!

It all started with Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass. When Birdo was finally added to the game, her alts were named strangely! With Yoshi and Shy Guy, we had, for example, Light-blue Yoshi, and Light-blue Shy Guy. Birdo, however, gets Birdo (Light Blue)!

This is how basically all the alts in Tour are named, just like our dear brother Luigi (Lederhosen). So did they lazily just port these alts over from Tour, without bothering to make the formatting consistent with what was already in 8 Deluxe? But wait! Yoshi and Shy Guy are named with their colors first in Tour, just like in 8 Deluxe! Were THOSE ones hastily ported into TOUR? What’s going on here!!!

Well, let’s look at the trends that already exist in these naming conventions!

-A character simply wearing a different outfit than usual has the name format of “Character (Descriptor)”. Example: Luigi (Lederhosen)

-A character who is in a different FORM than usual has the name format of “Form Character”. Example: Penguin Luigi

-A character who is a member of a species that has been seen in multiple colors has the name format of “Color Character”, not counting the default colors. Example: Light-blue Yoshi, Light-blue Shy Guy

One other thing of note is characters like the Koopa Freerunners and the Pit Crew Toads. These fit into both the first and third categories! For example, we have Blue Koopa (Freerunning), who is a Blue Koopa wearing a Freerunning hat, and Light-blue Toad (Pit Crew), who is a Light-blue Toad wearing a pit crew uniform.

With all this established, Birdo’s conventions fit into the first category! I am inclined to believe that, if these were meant to be distinct individuals, they would be named like the Yoshis and Shy Guys, yet they are named as the same individual in different outfits. Maybe she can change her color like a chameleon, and uses it to complement whatever bow she wants to wear at the time!

The real question is why in the world they would retcon Birdo as her own species... but it is not actually that weird, to me. As awesome as it is to have an entire species of glamorous transfem dinosaurs who all share the exact same fashion sense, maybe Nintendo decided that was where they draw the Weirdness Line in Mario’s world. Birdo’s current design is very much a design for a distinct character! It’s like how Donkey Kong Junior was used in contexts where many of him appeared for a while, until he himself was removed from memory. And don’t get me started on Toadsworth! They can and will alter anything from character intricacies to the existences of entire characters, is what I am saying here.

Also, as a little Grammar Tidbit, it is entirely intentional that “Birdo (Light Blue)” and “Light-blue Yoshi” coexist, and it is not inconsistent! “Light-blue” is a compound adjective, and as a result is hyphenated if it is written before the article it describes. I have learned this purely thanks to the funny dinosaur, and now so have you!

So do you agree with my findings? How does the concept of Birdo being the only one of her kind make you feel? And how did it get this way? Maybe she just invited herself out of the dream world and established herself! Maybe she is a mutant Yoshi, not in the realistic genetics way, but the cartoon toxic waste way. Maybe she just hatched from an egg that was there one day. Whatever the case! I think she is really great.

[aeolianblues]

a lot of people that were like ‘ohh piracy bad, internet bad, let’s go to the good old days’ don’t realise that a lot of the third world didn’t fucking have access to a lot of the things they take for granted. A lot of people retconning morality into limewire don’t remember that our markets used to get things 5-10 years late.

My dad’s record collection, bought from HMV consists entirely of 80s albums, even thought he didn’t have his own money to buy cassettes and CDs until the 90s. This isn’t because he was a hip retro guy (his knowledge of music according to my probing has returned a result of 0, this man was not going to the counter and asking for specific CDs I promise you). He was picking stuff off the shelves that sounded familiar in name or looked cool or that his brothers handed him.

Our market literally had an embargo on imports that only opened up in 1991 and allowed goods from the rest of the world (in particular non essentials/‘luxury goods’) in for the first time in 1991. The year Blur’s first album came out. The year Oasis formed. Some things I know half of tumblr regards as ‘fairly recent history’. (Why were the markets embargoed? Colonialism fucked our economy to smithereens and the first thing we needed to do after kicking the Brits out was actually to just give local industry the smallest chance at growth. It’ll happen, you know, when you get robbed for like two centuries.)

When things did come, they came half a decade late. I'm not talking about small, indie releases, I'm talking about the biggest popstars and franchises in the world. Most people that got physical stuff from abroad on time had a family member who was on a business trip. The sort of figure you’d build up as a worldly, stately, well-travelled and knowledgeable kind of guy. Everyone else got their stuff in the later half of the decade. Sometimes not at all. Even I remember our CDs from the last decade have all been imports, some from Germany, some from Czechia, some from Poland.

Even in the 00s, hotbed of piracy, an American pirating a My Chem album still had the option of walking into a record shop and 'rectifying their moral wrongs' by picking up a physical copy. How were we to do that. Everything came so late that your teenage years would be over by the time your ethically-sourced, locally purchased copy arrived. Have fun.

When they finally began having official release dates outside of Europe and North America (and Japan, in this specific case) for videogames: arcade games, Nintendo based games, etc., our official release dates would be a few years later. Look it up. For a lot of years, those things simply didn't exist in our markets.

A lot of people, particularly westerners love to dismiss such arguments as whataboutism, strawmanism, or simply don't have enough empathy to imagine a world outside of their neat lil borders, but I'm here. I'm writing. You know me as flesh and blood; as late as 2015 there were albums I was buying that were available 'worldwide' that weren't available at mine. Don't moralise piracy. Simply recognise that it broke down a lot of barriers.

[derekscorner]

When relevancy goes too far

Relevancy is a bit of a complex topic the more you think about it. How far do you push it? Which parts of a story are needed to know the other? How should something define the follow up? These questions have widely different answers depending on the person and especially depending on format.

Hell, if you wish to nit pick it further, even the series in question is a factor. Some series’ thrive on whats done while others drown in their own scripts. I believe Kingdom Hearts is one of the latter.

That said, I am not someone who hates KH’s expanded stories simply for existing. The “side games” in of themselves aren’t bad nor is the idea of using such things to expand a world. The same could be said for game novels or comics in my opinon.

However, these things can be a slippery slope or a lazy exist. For example, Assassin’s Creed threw out it’s whole Juno arc into a comic just to get it out of the way which completely shattered my investment.

In turn, Nomura himself isn’t at fault for as much as we bash him for. Something he’s admitted himself as seen here;

So, the new Days is one of the three titles announced in the Autumn of 2007 as new projects in the KH series.

Nomura: Those three titles were all announced at the same time, but in reality the opportunities for the projects were raised in a disjointed way. Birth by Sleep is a project that was raised within our company, but Days is from Nintendo, and coded is from Disney, so we started by talking to each of them.

-source <--Link btw

And anyone that’s read interviews out of curiosity will know that there’s also factors like how ‘Birth By Sleep’ was shifted from PS2 to PSP or that ‘Chain of Memories’ wasn’t a planned title either. (seen here)

So if these things aren’t inherently bad or planned that begs the question of why it’s a problem here? At least in my opinion of the series.

The answer is simple and it lies solely on Nomura’s shoulders for it as a fault, relevancy. The man goes out of his way to make each and every game, concert, or otherwise is attached to the series in some meaningful way going forward.

Naturally, any expanded media is tied to the main narrative in some way. I know this, I am not that foolish. The problem is that Nomura makes them plot relevant going forward.

These titles can’t be true “side games” because they dictate the story going forward in some way. It’s for this reason the more radical fans hate to hear the terminology “side game” to begin with.

This problem was especially bad for years because of how spread out the series became among other gaming systems. And while some like to say it’s fine now due to the collection discs I dont think this will last long given the “phase 2″ images released for KH’s near future.

Hell, I’d even argue this problem isn’t even fixed in truth because the current KH story involving Foretellers, Luxu, and so on is all things spun from a mobile game. Yes, you have to sit through scenes on YT or play a mobile game to fully grasp that cat creature (Chirithy) you saw in KH3.

Naturally, it’s much easier to watch the scenes on YT these days but that also feeds into the loop of not paying for the game itself. I personally see no issue with it but companies are much worse in recent years for shutting down Youtube channels over loose definition of “piracy”.

No game series is worth several consoles. Of course, I’m just speaking from experience, with KH now on the Xbox this may be a moot point in a few years.

I am rambling, off track, lets focus. “Why is this an issue?” is what you’ve read this far for me to explain. The biggest issue with this poor decision making is how it harms the main narrative you’re telling.

For comparison, look at Sora in KH3. He’s often confused by people he doesn’t remember meeting or events he doesn’t remember nor took part in. This is roughly close to what it would be like for someone that’s only played KH1, 2, and 3.

Sora has that same level of insight including what he was told about others like Roxas or Aqua but other characters in-game. This feeds into KH’s misconceived air of complexity.

Kingdom Hearts, as a story, isn’t that complex. It has deeper themes it throws to the wayside but it is easy to follow if you play most games in some form. This ties back into how the series was handled up until the PS4/KH3.

Ever want to know who Roxas was in KH2? Well you had to play Days or you can sit through that horribly boring 3 hour movie on the Remix disc. Even then, the Roxas you see in Days wont be like the one in KH2.

Wish to know who Xehanort was? Play Birth by Sleep! All three campaigns with little variance. Then once you’re done get ready to sit on YT or download a phone app and play Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.

The Foretellers, Luxu, or the Master of Masters? That’s another set of hours, if not days, with the KH Union X Cross, KH Dark Road, and should you choose you can even watch the Back Cover movie which answers nothing at all but shows you the Foretellers in Kh3 graphical glory.

You wish to know how Namine knew who The Lingering Will was? Well dig up a fan translation of a script the Japanese voice cast read for a music concert event. (yes that happened)

You can see where this is going I assume and this is just scratching the surface by the way. You wish to know the finer details like Keyblade types, the inconsistent time traveling, “recompletion”, and so on then be prepared to read word of god interviews, in-game dictionaries/journals and always be ready for a few to change.

Whether it’s a true retcon or just an ambiguous statement, the series is ongoing, Nomura heads the ship, and he is by no means obligated to stick to previous statements if he can make a new one to alter those events.

Then again, holding too much weight in words said outside the game itself is a faulty way of doing things that most fans (like me) have fallen victim too at least once.

At the same time, all of these things are relevant by Nomura’s decision. Sure, the remixes have fixed this to a degree but it’s anyone’s guess for how long. Better yet, at what cost did the remixes fix anything?

The best example of what I mean is Coded. It was originally a game for phones. At the time, only Japan had a phone capable of playing it. Feeling that a shame the game later found it’s way to the DS for all fans to play.

At this point in time Coded was the only true example of a “side story”. It was by no means necessary. The whole datascape plot was more convoluted than it needed to be despite data!Sora being far better than the original at this point, and easy to miss.

But...well that was good. The DS version of Coded was fun as hell to play. The only version of the “command deck system” I’d consider worth any semblance of praise. It did it’s job of getting some level of fans invested such as my friend @blackosprey​ and it’s story was missable.

You did not need to play Coded to understand Dream Drop Distance or further. This was perfect. This is what games like Days, KH Chi/UX, 0.2, and DDD should’ve been.

Games that reached out to grab new people, games that played around, and games that expanded on the main narrative without dictating it’s direction. A side game is something that exists alongside or outside your main story.

However this isn’t what we got. 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage was a short sequel to BBS but also a pretty tech demo for KH3. Dream Drop Distance was there to show the real Sora that people needed help and to show us that Xehanort was back.

KH Chi was a browser game meant to show the Keyblade War and how it shaped Sora’s era. Now it’s an ongoing curse on the series with time traveling plot that affected KH3 directly.

Coded was made into a movie you needed to sit through thanks to one small newly added scene. Days lost many small interactions it’s fans loved in the transition to a movie that is hard to sit through.

I’ve also heard KHDDD and 0.2 were “shaved off” KH3 in a sense to be their own titles...this...this makes so little sense.

Nomura calls KH “Sora’s story” but this is a lie. If it truly was Sora’s story then your main narrative would be BBS, KH1, CoM, 2, and the original combined form of KH3. That’s the titles he’s relevant, those are the titles he stops Xehanort’s plans.

These other titles could’ve been so fun but none of them were truly allowed to breath and be themselves. They were weakened and limited by Nomura deciding to prop the ongoing story upon them like they’re stilts.

Then as a result you can’t close out KH3 without resolving all of these other events and characters which drags it’s own story down. KH3 feels all over the place because it is. It’s trying to tie as many knots as it can from threads created in titles that were way more relevant then they needed to be.

Kh3 can be seen as a clean break for many but I see it as a matter of time. KHUX and now KHDR are still there casting a shadow, dictating what comes next. Melody of Memory is one of several games planned for an unknown but hopefully more thought out direction.

I worry I haven’t explained what I meant well enough but moral of my story is that making things too relevant hurts not only your main story but these new stories you wish to explore.

You can’t have a story and it’s cast breath if you’re tying a knot of mythos too tightly around their necks and this is a tragedy to me. KH began life with such potential but it constantly holds itself back because so few entries into it’s story are truly just an entry.

And I am not saying games can’t follow up one another nor that they shouldn’t. What’s needed is a clear idea and some breathing room. A good example would be to save people in Days with the game DDD. DDD could’ve wiped away some clutter to focus on the final Xehanort battle in a sense.

Nomura has a huge problem with wanting connectivity without letting games be connected by the name alone. It’s like he wants to do the opposite of what Final Fantasy has done but to detrimental results.

This harms so much but worst of them it hurts development. Because Days was made so important, we had a movie made. Because Coded was elevated, a movie was made. Because the keyblade war was so popular, Union Cross was made.

The Remixes would’ve been better to consolidate lore not waste time trying to appease every whim. KH’s relevancy is a huge problem and I doubt it’ll stop any time soon.

[theangrypokemaniac]

I followed you for the pics and gifs but I didn't know why you were so annoying till I saw the username. Btw have you ever seen Digimon? Because evolutions are supposed to have SOME resemblance to their own species. An Articuno cannot evolve into a Cubone for example.

Oh, you smooth-talking nonny.

I'm glad you like the pictures and GIFS. You're welcome to any that take your fancy.

The clue is in the name, flower. I'm not 'The Perfectly-Contented-With-How-Things-Are-Thank-You-Very-Much Pokémaniac'. My chosen nom de guerre does warn the reader of what awaits.

I don't intend to annoy you. I simply speak as I find. If you don't like it, rest assured the matters I complain about are punishment enough for me.

I'm from a wave of fan in which many found Johto substandard. Compared to them I'm quite mild. I appear to be the one naysayer because everyone who thinks like me is mostly gone.

Always remember that the series you enjoy only came about via the destruction of ours, and, in turn, your day will come too.

If you're still a fan ten years from now, you'll have watched all the things you love the most shredded, whilst the next generation will sing its praises.

You will not comprehend the appeal, they won't understand your resentment. Think of me then.  

Yes I have seen Digimon. Not that I know what that has to do with it. I mean, Gatomon doesn't resemble Angewomon, nor Gomamon to Ikkakumon, and so on.

The point is these aren't evolutions in the correct sense. Were they from the same generation, it's all well and good to display similarity, not that it's a given (Magikarp and Gyarados, Flaafy and Ampharos etc.), but when there's a gap of years, even decades, between the original and a new one suddenly materialising from the ether, it's silly to pretend there's a connection.

They just weren't built to have belated relatives superglued into their D.N.A., but it's become like bloody Buckeroo, with these weary beasts of burden constantly laden with yet more biological junk.

How on earth is a baby going to have remained unknown until now, if we're to believe it's a real world? Chansey's from Kanto, so how can Happiny not be there too?

I don't particular understand the logic of every region requiring a Pikachu clone, as if it's a necessary presence to draw our attention.

Pikachu was new once, but the rest aren't, and there's no explanatory relationship between he and them, thus why should laziness be celebrated?

When Pokémon are invented, it's in the mind frame of them following a fixed evolutionary line, so for example, at the start of Golem's life, it was on the basis that he came from Graveler, and Geodude previously, and that's all.

Do you imagine that Game Freak drew him, thinking:

Yeah, but in the fyewchuh, he'll have a fine black moustache, a 'tache I tells thee!

If it was such an inspired addition, you'd expect them to include it then, but funnily enough, they didn't.

The examples I've selected are particular egregious, since I'd hardly call them redesigns, rather blatant facsimiles.

There's less variety between these than there is with proper chains. At least they sometimes change colour (like Psyduck to Golduck).

If you'd never heard of Octillery, and I showed you its picture, and asked you to guess what it used to be, out of them all, would you immediately pick Remoraid?

No, I doubt it, but I bet a person with no knowledge of Pokémon could work out there's a link between Tangela and Tangrowth, since they're almost identical.

There are four generations between Mewtwo and his Megas: do you seriously imagine there was any prior intention to change him?

One Mega Evolution is bad enough, but two is beyond absurd.

Mewtwo is synthetic, and thus unacknowledged by nature, so how then can Mega Stones exist that react to him?

He's a recent creation, and unique, so how would anything matching his genetics be around?

Mega Evolution in itself is stupid.

If it's so impressive, it must be famous, so how come no one used it before Ash went to Kalos?

I accept that 'new' things appear every generation, but the writers have the habit of retconning events to pretend it's always been around, thereby erasing actual canon, such as pretending later monsters existed when Ash left home. If they do that I'll pick fault when I see it.

Remember the hysterical fuss at the arrival of Megas, the hyperventilating wheeze about it being a revolutionary concept that toe-tah-lee changed everything?

Well that didn't work out, did it?

I thought it was asinine then, and lo and behold, Nintendo eventually concurred, whereupon this oh-so dazzling concept was dumped without ceremony, but I expect it'll be back come Gen. 9 (Keenan and Kel), just as Formes (as it then was) were dropped for Unova and Kalos.

Once the close of an era arrives, the self-congratulatory attitude for birthing such sweet divinity vanishes, the 'precious' facet no longer matters and it's the next fad deserving hosannas.

Well the pattern has formed, and if I know they'll eventually tire of the ultra-amazing best thing EVA, what's the point in me trying to like it, when, as evidenced by their latter-day lack of interest, it clearly is worthless?

With both Megas and now Gigantamax, gratitude is demanded of the fans. Nintendo expect us to be overawed at being fed more of the same.

A big Meowth is still a Meowth, as in a twenty-year-old character. Why should passing off old stuff as fresh impress me?

Why should I like childhood favourites picked at and distorted to flog yet another generation of games that apparently can't stand by themselves?

Why can't they?

Who are these bastards in charge they believe they've the talent to 'improve' classic figures when they can't even invent anything remotely as memorable themselves?

Otherwise, why is it still Kanto Pokémon on merchandise?

If Mega Evolution and Gigantamax are so overwhelming, they ought to be independently successful, by which I mean that, at first anyway, only Kalos Pokémon should've received Megas, and the same for Galar and Gigas. After all, they're wondrous, so can obviously sell itself.

But no.

It's not Forms, Megas and Gigas making past Pokémon special, it's the opposite.

Worst of all, any region heavy on the rehash claims that as an excuse to skimp on new Pokémon. Kalos and Alola both have fewer than one hundred; you have to put 'em together to just scrape beyond the first tally of 151.

If it isn't an absence of imagination responsible, why is there such a drought? Why don't they conjure 150-200 Pokémon, and then add Megas or whatever on top?

Megas aren't even 'proper' Pokémon, so it can't constitute an overload. If it does, chuck them and retain the original ones.

How hard is it to come up with new Pokémon? Even I've done it, it's that easy!

It makes you wonder why they think we'll be happier with the familiar than whatever they can drag together.

When we do get different faces, they're padded to bursting with copies, like 400 Vivillon, as if that suffices.

This modern breed of writer just can't keep his hands to himself. If not practicing any of the aforementioned imitations, he's prodding the rest so all the males and females need tiny identifying dots or lumps, like lady Pikachu with a cleft tail, thereby undermining all the times the anime showed them as indistinguishable from one another.

It's as if they can't resist marking their territory by pissing all over canon.

[katribou]

I just gotta say, I don't know much about Splatoon (since I don't have any way to play it), but I love the characters you've made. They're all very lovable in different ways. If you haven't answered this question before, what was your inspiration for their personalities and designs?

aww thank you so much!! this is gonna be long because i like explaining processes when i can especially with PICTURES!! so…

my squids are pretty straightforward. i designed dottie just with gear available in the game because i liked it and i used her as a little stand-in to illustrate shenanigans i came across while playing the game. her salty personality grew out of the fact that i used to get pretty bitter while playing splatoon, and also back in the day people used to??? hate on the fact that i mained the inkbrush??? for some reason?? guess it was too quirky… early splatoon days were wild pfft

stripes came about on a whim, since all the gear that dottie wears had a matching counterpart ingame, i decided to make a character that was everything she is but opposited. so, a squid with her ink/eye color inverted that is just always in good spirits. i dont get so mad at splatoon anymore really, so i guess he’s become a good stand-in too! i had a friend say they illustrate what it’s like to play splatoon so well because of that duality, which is a pretty nice unintended side effect :’^)

my octos were a more longterm process… so of course for a long while all we knew about octolings were that they were kind of just all soldiers you gotta fight that look like this:

and though we didnt really know much about octos as a species in the game i, like many people, made octo characters. dude octolings didn’t exist yet, so i just kind of winged it on the lad’s hair and just gave the gal tied-up tentacles. and also since i apparently have a matchy-matchy theme just made the gal’s getup white. (this is the first time i drew them… god that 2015 art)

i figured they were soldiers too since that’s all we knew them to be, so as you can see they basically wear the splat1 armor. i differentiated them a bit by giving them leather jackets which are also something you can wear in the game, just because it seemed to fit their aesthetic hah:

(though theirs are a lot more shredded up and torn because of use and also they have that #rebel vibe pfft)

ANYWAY i didnt do much with them because we didnt have a lot of octo lore plus i wasn’t really pushed to make up any for them partially out of fear of having it all like, retconned if we DID get conflicting lore so i kind of pushed them aside and did nothing with em. till we got the new octo expansion recently!! where u play as a lad who looks like one of these

so obviously with all this new octo info i was inspired to go back to my poor neglected octos to touch them up a fair bit:

darius didnt change much, i just gave him the updated splat2 armor (tbh from the start i just always knew i wanted to make him look like a thot, just cuz fkdjlgf. also considering the game always noticeably but unsurprisingly covers up dudes more smh) sherry, who i finally gave a name, i changed up more. i changed her hair a bit just so it was aCTUALLY FUN TO DRAW and also as you can see i just gave her the octo expansion player character gear except white since that color was her #brand.

personalitywise, i’ll be honest with you, when i originally made them i literally just wanted to make them the anti-dottie-and-stripes so i ripped off my own squids personalites for them. darius scowls like dottie, sherry is loopy as stripes (speaking of which YUP it’s no coincidence their names also start with D and S…)

while revamping darius and sherry tho i didnt want them to be too carbon copy of my squids otherwise i feel like they’d get boring. the thing that rescued me there was some of the octo backstory we were given… which made me reconsider more deeply why each of them may have the dispositions they do. so i aged them up and thought them through. darius’s saltiness is less temper in the way it is with dottie, but more fueled by his resentment of the squidrace that’s kind of left his kind in the dirt. on the other hand, sherry’s loopiness and sleepiness became a result of the fact that she’s one of the many octolings that have been brainwashed and whatnot. also on top of that i gave her alcoholism as a result of how bad the octos have it LMAO sorry sherry

BUT YEAH those are my cephalopod secrets!! hope that was insightful or entertaining to at least someone! nintendo has honestly done such a great job with their world that it’s so fun and rewarding to make up stuff based within it 👏

[tumblunni]

okay seriously so... usum spoilers

did i just fuckin spoil the whole rainbow rocket thing for nothing? because SERIOUSLY HOW DOES THAT PROVE CYRUS IS THE ROTOM KID like all i can guess is that people are saying it just cos like.. why else does rotomdex get a line of dialogue in his boss battle and not the others? but if that’s enough evidence to prove a theory then i think a damn trading card and a charon signed charon diary counts as enough evidence too it isn’t just ‘this characetr existed in a room with rotom once’ which.. yknow.. charon literally built a rotom room, so... i mean seriously like all i can think here is maybe someone is thinking ‘oh it proves he’s the rotom kid cos he knew this pokemon was called rotom, when rotom was supposed to be newly discovered in dppt’ but like this is a bunch of au shenanigans plus its written a decade later by entirely different writers, and then run through a bunch of dubbing. its entirely possible its just a continuity error that they overlooked. i mean the rotom diary also said that its impossible to touch a rotom without being shocked, but that’s been retconned out of continuity since pokemon amie was invented. I mean seriously this just seems like way more tenuous evidence than the charon evidence, like if people could mock me for years for clinging to tenuous evidence then you can’t disprove it with something even more vague... like.. oh gosh! He.. paused while speaking! It must be canon that he recognised this pokemon! And it must be because of this one specific thing! Yet the diary being signed by charon is less proof! Than dialogue slowness! With a pokedex in the room! OF COURSE we’re all meant to know that that page being signed doesnt mean that the other page in the same room is by the same guy! gahhhh grumble grumble gahh... ... or am I missing something else? cos seriously poor cyrus only gets like FOUR SENTENCES, the poor bastard. I just skipped ahead to watching the cyrus battle episode of an LP so i might have missed some other mention somewhere else. or like does rotomdex have a line of dialogue after this cutscene or something? also like if there is really a big giant no charons allowed confirmation thing somewhere in this game then can i like get a lawsuit against serebii.net and bulbapedia and pokewikia and like every damn fandom info place that said charon was the guy at the time when platinum first came out. cos seriously i still have the rotom i nicknamed pluto in Diamond back before platinum ever came out, i was on the damn charon fandom train before we even knew his NAME! people were saying it was him before the thing even got dubbed, the signature on the thing is him in both versions even though his name changed like seriously i fuckin downloaded and datamined the japanese version just to check it I have been Very Serious about this headcanon and I’ve gathered quite a few damn evidence ok and even if its proven wrong i’m still gonna be grumpy cos A) I think it would have been better this way and B) i’m salty at nintendo being so unclear about the thing in the first place and then leaving it with no further mention for a decade, allowing people to make up all these headcanons and get dissappointed. Also it shouldnt have been tied behind a wifi event paywall if it was of actual importance to a main villain, like it was comparatively forgiveable if its just the backstory to a minor guy...

[zerohourseraphim]

6/10 Role-Playing Game, JRPG Similar to – Star Ocean: ‘Til the End of Time or the earlier version(s) of The Last Hope $21 (PC and PS4), Varies (Xbox 360 and PS3)

          The Star Ocean series was, for a long time, in a small handful of titles that were uniquely my own. In my (relative) youth I did not differentiate between Western and Eastern RPGs. Looking back now I can see that JRPGs were my go-to genre. Legend of Legaia, Super Mario RPG, Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy, and Star Ocean laid the base for much of what I find comforting in gameplay. The PlayStation era gave me a lot of good memories. It was the first system I had at home and was able to play at length, to the chagrin of my mother.           Enix was a breed apart in game making. E.V.O.: Search for Eden, Illusion of Gaia, and Soul Blazer are standout in my memories. My issues of Nintendo Power containing walkthroughs of these games were read like bedtime story books. Star Ocean on the Super Famicom, never had an official release outside of Japan. From what I have been able to gather the mechanics were markedly different than the sequel. Star Ocean: The Second Story (SO2), made many improvements and is one of my favorite games of all time. I played it a LOT in my youth and was my first Enix title to play directly. The variety of characters, wholly real-time battles mixed with RPG elements, and Private Actions of the Star Ocean series were a welcome change of pace to all the turn-based titles I enjoyed. It is the first game that I played in which I fought in three dimensions (or perhaps 2.5 dimensions). I could watch for tells, manually evade some spells, and use tactics like pincer formations. Second Evolution, the PSP re-release, didn’t change much over the original. In fact, The Second Story was good enough to be the base template for both re-releases of the original and sequel.           When I first heard of the merger of Square and Enix I was excited. Admittedly my present views on the company’s products are mixed. Some games I loved. Kingdom Hearts has been charming. The new Tomb Raiders are well made. Heck, even some of the Final Fantasy titles have their charm. When it comes to Star Ocean however the Square-Enix offerings left me pining for my old favorite even more.

          My aim in buying this title is to help show there is a demand for the series on PC. Aside from that, there is much anguish in my future, even after having completed the game to review it.

          For those unfamiliar, I will be using these abbreviations rather than retyping the full titles each time.

          Star Ocean/:First Departure (SO1/PSP re-release)           Star Ocean: The Second Story/:Second Evolution (SO2/PSP re-release)           Star Ocean: ‘Til the End of Time (SO3)           Star Ocean: The Last Hope (SO4)           Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithfulness (SO5)

          There was a handheld title called Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, and a mobile title called Star Ocean: Anamnesis. But as I have not played these titles I will not be referencing them. The abbreviations I am using are widely held both to series die-hards and gamers-in-passing alike.

Story

          Humans have nearly annihilated themselves in World War III. The peoples of the nigh-uninhabitable Earth set their sights on the stars. During the maiden voyage of the Space Reconnaissance Force, the fleet is knocked out of warp by gravity eddies from a stray meteor. The resulting crash-landing still landed the expedition arrives on the target planet. Setting out from the Calnus, you are to meet up with the other crews and try to keep to your mission.

          Stakes are important to a story. Prequels don’t really have them because the story has to flow into a pre-established narrative. Retconning is a Sword of Damocles because if it is done once, it may happen again. I read a series of The Flash comics years ago. Much like the Flashpoint season on the CW series, there was an event that rewrote the world. And if it happens once, what is to stop it from some Deus Ex Machina being used again? To use another phrase from modern media, once something has jumped the shark and become too grandiose I lose interest.

          As such, you can imagine easily that I strongly dislike prequels. I am wary of reboots for similar reasons. I abhor the narrative of my fictions being invalidated. Star Ocean: ‘Til the End of Time (SO3) was a disappointing and infuriating insult. The fighting system was good. The music was, at times, the best in the series.

Star Ocean: ‘Til the End of Time (SO3) Spoiler Alert

          I know I play fiction. I know spending days or weeks with a single game is, to a degree, a waste. It doesn’t produce anything real in the world. It means a lot to me, or I wouldn’t spend so long with the medium. SO3 did exactly this. The big twist is that, Surprise! Our story takes place in a game played by Fourth Dimensional Beings. “The Ten Wise Men Incident”, the story behind SO2, is spoken about like it’s an MMO expansion. Some loved it. Some hated it. People ask “Where were you when the Lacuer Hope was fired?” Many people in the present age may appreciate the meta-commentary. I did not. In one fell swoop, it jarred me out of my suspension of disbelief and permanently lowered the stakes of the whole series. If an MMO gets deleted, will it ever be exactly the same? No. But can it be rebuilt? Indeed it can.

          As such the game goes from “Save the Universe” to “Stop the CEO from deleting your game/world.” If I make a game and my characters come out of the game with their powers intact, I think it would be insane to not delete the world. At the very least, I would opt for a Legacy Server of sorts and let it run itself. But the whole story spiraled out of control because the world was destroyed in the end. As such… no more Star Ocean. This has led The Last Hope and Integrity and Faithfulness to both be set before End of Time. But it is hard to be invested in The Last Hope. Why?

          Because I know I am playing a game.

          I knew, coming into Star Ocean: The Last Hope (SO4), I’d be dealing with a prequel by the nature of the previous game. If the practice of prequels existed pre-Star Wars it was not widespread. Since then nearly every franchise has found prequels acceptable, normally to incongruent result. As of yet, Star Ocean has not been backed into so much of a corner to require a full reboot. For that I am thankful. I have not had the fortune of being able to play Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithfulness (SO5). I know that SO4 is not the literal last hope of the franchise. Hopefully, some improvements have been made.

Characters

          Ordinarily, I do not touch on characters unless something stands out about them. Unfortunately, much like the story, the characters do not stand up well. There is only one I remember clearly, and he’s a bad guy.

          You meet Tamiel on Roak. Look at him. I do not think telling you he is a bad guy is much of a spoiler. He has passion, expression, and is almost instinctually motivated. He has a task he is to accomplish but gets caught up in the joys of life. He’s a jerk, and a tough fight without a doubt. He is, by far, the most driven character in the game.

          This title continues the tradition of what I would call “stellar misfits” being grouped together. However, the ties that bind this group lack vitality. The characters had flimsy motivations for setting off together. I am just going to go down the list of main characters and give you what pulls them along. Oddly, they are developed more via their battle personas. Oft times, the characters I like the most to play are the dreariest to deal with outside of combat.

Edge Maverick

          No, this is not a code name. He is not some elite soldier with a hidden past. He doesn’t have amnesia. He isn’t hiding from the government. He’s not some revolutionary. He’s just a kid who has trained to be a starship pilot. His father is Arnold Maverick, making Maverick a surname. Edge is named as such because his parents chose this (if we are thinking in-world).

          “That’s a little heavy-handed,” you may say. Well, it’s better than Fayt Leingod (pronounced Fate Line-God in canon voice acting). Yep. That is the actual name of SO3’s forerunning character. They’re even designed similarly.

Fayt Leingod – SO3

Edge Maverick – SO4

          Messy hair, strange bulky greaves, sword slung on the hip to be pulled out from the right side. Now, spoiler alert, protagonist Fayt is special. It makes sense to some degree to have such an ostentatious name. But Edge, however? With no indication that he would even survive his genetic manipulation? Who names their child Edge?

          Anime parents, that’s who. Apparently.

          Anyhow, this is your main character, and that is why he is a part of your party for the whole game. He’s not at all offensive. I suppose that keeps him being relatable. He is fairly well balanced on the combat front the whole way through, learning some basic magic. Emergency mending will help keep you Healer(s) in good condition from afar without dipping into your item stores.

  Reimi Saionji

          Childhood friend and adopted sister of Edge. Followed along when Edge joined the Space Reconnaissance Force (SRF). When Edge is sent out to explore Aeos, Reimi goes along of her own volition.

          Mechanically, she is my go-to fighter. With her move set, she can hit any enemy at any location in the field in a variety of ways. As a character, however, she is painful to watch. She is the love interest and eye candy. For instance, here is her first on-screen moment in the game.

          Edge and Reimi have the advantage of dressing like main characters. They get to be unique and pop. Everyone else in the SRF wears neck-to-toe white body armor. Edge’s attire looks pieced together from the armor. And, as a member of an exploratory force, it is sensible. Reimi, for whatever reason, is a Futuristic Schoolgirl In SPAAAAAAAAaaaaace Heels. She is a long range combatant. She is an archer. Why, when running on unknown planets, would you opt for heels? Because of fan service.

Obviously.

Faize Sheifa Beleth

          As the story picks up, you are met by an extraterrestrial. Even before the shock wears off you are thrust into your first boss battle. Faize has a fanboy level of admiration for Edge. While ordered by his superiors, he likely would have needed to be told to not follow Edge.

          I never use Faize. Edge is a better fighter, and better casters come along. I let the computer handle him.

          Character-wise, he’s exceedingly passive. I don’t know why. The other members of his race seem to have some personality. He is on the extreme side of the spectrum, a character that I dislike that is also useless more or less. He willingly plays second fiddle to Edge.

Lymle Lemuri Phi

          After you earn the revamped Calnus, you set off to the planet Lemuris. In the first village, you are mistaken for gods, your ship having landed from the skies a small jaunt away. Here, you are entreated to help cure a sickness turning people into stone. As you speak to a village elder his granddaughter bursts in, greets her grandfather, draws a rune, then heads out to find a Symbol to cure the sickness. Edge goes along with her. Later, when Edge and the crew leave the planet, Lymle comes with.

          I would call Lymle a combat mage. All of her battle skills are fire oriented and most use her familiar, Cerberus. That’s the creature in the above picture as she shows off how well behaved he is. Aside from this, she has some healing spells and a great many attack spells. She is wonderfully versatile.

          As a character, however, she is a little bland. This is explained in her backstory at one point. Lymle, by far, is the most endearing to me. As emotion is not fully expressed the graphics do well for this, her character coming through in the quality of the writing and voice acting. I have cared for children before, and some of their expressions remind me of Lymle. But, she may not sit so well with everyone.

          Blandness is a persistent condition with the characters that you haven’t seen the last of.  

Bacchus D-79

          After being captured and later jailed, Bacchus comes to the rescue. Through a wall. With an arm cannon.

          Bacchus gets points for style.

          He continues with the party after a jailbreak as they seem aligned with defeating the Grigori. His aim is to deliver Edge and his friends to En II.

          Bacchus has a large number of unique moves. His hit points are high, allowing him to tank through a number of instances if he has adequate healing. I have found more use for him in the post game.

          Again, we have a character that is a bit on the cold side emotionally. His dry and direct speech, at the very least, give the youngsters of the group something to chase down. He moves the story along, and I am thankful for that. In his current body, only his spine, brain, and bits of his face are what remains of his fleshy form. Still, I find him to be more emotive and earnest than Faize. That, and useful in a fight.

Meracle Chamlotte

          Crashing on an unknown world, you are charged with rescuing another alien. With no one having any idea who she is or where she comes from, she sticks with you.

          Meracle is a callback in and of herself to Pericci from the original Star Ocean. Both are Lesser Fellpool, able to turn into cats, and have a penchant for proficiency for ocarina piping. Both are fairly high energy and gregarious. She is by far the most expressive character in the cast. Whereas Tamiel is sadistic, Meracle is cheerful and playful. She is also the easiest to “read”. Having animal traits not only excuses some oddities but her tail and ears all for more visual cues to her emotions. Even though she is prone to a chipper perma-smirk, more information comes across when she is sad or dejected.As far as combat goes, I hear she is a powerful character. However, I have not used her much as of yet.

Myuria Tionysus

          Myuria bumps into the party a few times throughout the story. She is in pursuit of a man named Crowe. When she ascertains that Crowe, Reimi, and Edge all belong to the SRF (and are in fact childhood friends), she “joins” your party with the expressed purpose of killing Crowe.

          As a character, there is little I can say without actually spoiling her part of the story. She seems to be a callback to Celine Jules from Star Ocean 2. The overall archetype seems to be “Sexy Symbologist”.

Celine Jules – SO2

Myuria Tionysus – SO4

          Heels, symbological tattoos on the legs, floating ring decorations, and even the color schemes of the attire are similar. It wouldn’t be something I had much of a problem with if the cultures they hail from weren’t so different. I’m not even going to go into the fanservice light that shines onto Myuria. It’s just way to easy. Let it be said that too many serious screenshots I chose not to use due to digital side boob and upskirt shots.

          As said, Myuria is another Symbologist. I would say she is more specialized in the aggressive aspects. One of her strongest techniques rains lightning down over the entire field. Reminiscent of a particular Celestial I am not looking forward to dealing with again.

  Sarah Jerand

          After touching down on a nearby planet for repairs, a shout from an alley causes the party to investigate. After liberating Sarah from her captors, she does Edge and the gang a favorable turn. However, she is captured once more, and again rescued. Afterwards, she accompanies the party due to little more than idle curiosity.

          Sarah is absentminded and never expresses herself in any way except with a wistful sing-song. Her aforementioned call for help actually confuses the party because it lacks all panic and urgency. Her absent-mindedness leads her to emote critical disasters with the same worry as one would have if they didn’t pack extra socks in a travel bag. At one point Lymle and Meracle have to pull her aside and explain to her the gravity of a universe ending situation. For fans of the series, you will recognize that she is a Featherfolk and in fact the ancestor of two party members in the original title. Even so, she is not very compelling.

          That said, she is the poster child for useful characters. I find her to be unrivaled as a healer. Her AI keeps her away from enemies, she supports only when HP is near full, and attacks from afar only when everything else is taken care of. Her evasion is insanely effective, and can often keep foes from harming her until a more frontline member can make it to her.

Arumat P. Thanatos

          At one point, the Calnus is recalled to Aeos. Communication has been lost with the expedition base. You are charged to investigate. After exploring the newly opened territory, an ambush is thwarted with the help of Arumat. Knowing the location of the disturbances’ source, he joins your party.

          Arumat is a powerhouse, coming to the party with stats normally well above anything you possess at the time. He is the only character I have used as a replacement to Edge casually, though I normally have the both of them on the front line. He keeps to the trend of being hard to relate within the story. Why? Because, to borrow an internet colloquialism, Arumat is a bit of an edge lord.

          As you can see he is tall, pale, scantily clad for a man, and wields a laser scythe as his weapon of choice second only to his bad attitude. He is covered in scars. And he refers to himself in the third person as “Death Himself”. Thanatos, his supposedly alien surname, is Greek for “death”.  In scattered research for this review, I read that Arumat is an anagram for “trauma” in English of all languages.

          He simply reeks of effort. Additionally, he comes along so late in the game that his character development feels shoehorned in. As such, a character that should be brooding is oddly open and warms up to the crew fast.

          Oddly, with that exceedingly strained name, I’ve brought myself full circle. These are your playable characters. My problems with the characters are how wooden and sluggish they feel. They reside in a  weird spot in the Uncanny Valley. They are obviously stylized but are still fairly realistic in tone, proportion, presentation. The aim was to evoke humanity and this just makes what they missed off-putting, even though I can’t put my finger on what it is.

          Citing Square-Enix history again, many protagonists have had a “setting”. Take Final Fantasy XIII. Lightning is stoic, Snow is optimistic, and Sazh tends to be tired though he has an easy smile. They rarely fall out of these modes. The Kingdom Hearts series tends to work better with variation because the human characters have to work with Disney characters, so they are more cartoon-like. This causes the brain to excuse oddities as they need to fit stylistically with Mickey and the Gang which are obviously not human to begin with. There is not a kind way to say this. I watched a show called Thunderbolt Fantasy. This is a show done with puppets. I find the puppets to be more emotive and less wooden than the CGI of both SO3 and SO4. The characters in both games are, for the most part, two dimensional.

          I could go on. Really. I could. The short of it is, I do not come to this game for the engrossing characters.

          Dare I say it, the afore-threatened Crowe would have been a much more empowered protagonist, I think. Edge is more or less following in Crowe’s wake much of the game. And then he shows up like this.

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          If your hero is saved by a guy taking sniper shots with a laser rifle, dual wielding laser swords, and backed up by the guy wielding a custom laser scythe, you may not be following the right character around.

  Theming

          I have gone on and on about the elements of the recent titles that have irked me. I think I can boil down my qualms into two distinct salty grains.

Directly with this title, the pre-established elements of the Star Ocean franchise were not upheld.

Indirectly to this title, Star Ocean: ‘Til the End of Time did not leave much of a franchise to build off of.

          As much as I am knocking and spoiling it, Star Ocean: ‘Til the End of Time had a compelling story with some interesting points. However, some of the twists made me step back from the game in frustration. The story got too big and backed the franchise into a corner. Some might applaud the meta-commentary of the Fourth Dimension. I do not. I do find it strange that even though the universe was “freed”, we haven’t gotten any stories set after SO3. The stakes are reduced for me because I know that no matter how grand, the world is on strings.

          I digress. The only thing holding The Last Hope up story wise is the fact that it is a Star Ocean title. However, the tent poles it snatches from the other games in the numerous callbacks seem to me to only serve to bring down the rest of the series as a whole. At the end of the game, nothing is particularly added to the series. The characters saved Earth, yes. However, as with any prequel, they had to. Much of what goes on smacks the rest of the series in the face.

          To some degree, I can see some elements for what they are: Mirroring. Hearkening back to Star Wars, the movies follow beats culminating in an overarching “rhyme scheme”. Luke, Anakin, and Rey are all easily able to apply the use of the Force. A revered mentor has died in all the first movies as well. The problem with SO4 is that the mirroring was of future events, and proved problematic to the Star Ocean story overall.

          The first callback is more or less benign. The last three major titles in the series have all had an occurrence of a male, Earthborn protagonist finding themselves stranded on a less advanced world. At this point, it has become a bit of an in-series trope. I will be surprised if SO5 does not include it somehow.

          The next is a fairly major balk and echoes the whole of the Star Ocean series up until this point. This is the making of enhanced organisms. In the first game, the ambient villain and surprise endgame boss were both genetically enhanced superhumans. The Muah, your typical long-lost and highly intelligent proto-race, created Asmodeus and Jie Revorse as templates to survive on the inhospitable world called Fargett. In the sequel, The Ten Wise Men are living weapons and your primary antagonists. And for the third game Symbological Genetics ware a big taboo. Symbology is the term used for magic in the Star Ocean universe. By imprinting magical sigils in the correct ways onto and into DNA a trio of the protagonists gained multi- and trans-dimensional abilities. The troubles in much of the first half of the game were due to an advanced alien culture pursuing these characters and just about taking Earth hostage to do it. It culminated in, and I say this with no exaggeration, the targeted destruction of many advanced societies and the eventual deletion of all creation as it was known when prior methods failed.

Mark of the Muah

          As such, for the fourth game to have a trio of protagonists being infused with Muah (callbacks to Star Ocean and SO2’s spin-off Blue Sphere) genetic influence to survive an unlivable World War III ravaged Earth was incongruent. Genetic manipulation has been the core action that led to global, interplanetary, galactic, and universal genocide in every major title to this series up through the games I played. I will give a pass on not knowing if you’ll ever make a prequel when you write a story. The change of tone is still confusing.

          If you place the stories chronologically, it makes a little sense. Maybe Earthlings were okay with genetic manipulation, but it became taboo after the events of Star Oceans 1 and 2. That would be sensible. But that has not been the overarching tone in the series. And once Edge finds out he isn’t shocked, taken aback, or offended. He has no response. But in SO3, it was hashed out. This is why I think the story aspects of this game coast on being a Star Ocean game, and don’t rely on giving us any new information.

  Roak from space

            Moving on, Roak is the planet that the majority of the original Star Ocean title took part on. My memory of playing First Departure is not too good having only played it once. However, player character Ashlay Bernbeldt makes a “return” as the colosseum champion in SO4. Lias Warren, the father to another player character Cyrus Warren, is seen in this game as a leader of knights. Again, I will give a pass to not knowing about writing a prequel some fifteen years later. Even so, I am thinking that a second group of strangely armed, armored, and trained individuals would raise some suspicion especially amongst those who fought against and with the first group even if it happened decades apart. The timing of SO4 also places events of this game and the original dangerously close together.

          I have likened Star Ocean to Star Trek. Frame it as a long form “What If” story of an Away Mission that goes awry and I think you’ll understand what I mean. Star Ocean has The Pangalactic Federation touting The Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact (UP3). This is comparable to The Federation in Star Trek with their Prime Directive. Granted, in this story, there is no Pangalactic Federation and no UP3. Still, Edge has the Calnus land in plain sight of the village of Triom when you touch down on Lemuris. There is no sanctioning body to come down on him, and I might be influenced by a lifetime of science fiction, but that just seems foolish. He did learn and touched down further away the next time.

          Each world is dutifully crafted. Each area ties into the last creating the variation you’d expect from singular planets. Each individual section has its own vibrancy. The settings from planets, temples, and spaceships are all wonderful to look at. Square-Enix still makes wonderful digital vistas. However, much of the Magical Industry I came to enjoy regarding Star Ocean is absent because it is a prequel. Uses of Rune- and Symbol -ogies barely even exist yet. It leaves it in much more of a sci-fi with magic setting with little of the “own-ness” Star Ocean cultivated.

Mechanics

          Does this game have any redeeming qualities? Did I find anything enjoyable? I am happy to say “yes”. Otherwise, it would not have been worth purchasing a second time and replaying.

          I know. I’m just as surprised as you are at this point. Honestly, I didn’t know I had this much bile churning regarding this series. I guess I only like the earlier games.

Combat

          The combat is more fast-paced than it has ever been. The real-time battles are just as accessible with simple attacks as they were in SO2. Chain Combos are present, and introduced early, allowing you to link together your most powerful techniques in a number of strategic ways. Adding another layer of strategy, all characters have the ability to Blindside enemies. Doing so will give you an opportunity to get behind enemies and strike their weak points if any are available atop normal critical hits that open up. This is of massive import in boss battles.

          Additionally, a system known as BEAT (Battle Enhancement Attribute Type) has three variants providing different bonuses: Pure Stats (N – Neutral), Blindsides (S – Strike), and Rush Combos (B – Burst). Bonuses grow as each branch is leveled up, which happens as players are in the active party. Neutral only raises stats, and these are tied to the characters’ Strike and Burst levels.

Beat: N

          Strike focuses on improving the already formidable Blindsides. These are most useful for frontline fighters and perhaps any character you control.

Beat: S

          Burst tends to benefit your backline and AI controlled characters. Rush Mode allows characters to wade through many attacks unhindered, and Beat: B helps this mode last longer. Sometimes victory comes down to a healer out of Rush Mode or casting a critical curing spell while it is active.

Beat: B

          These aspects are all well designed. Depending upon your play style and the necessity of a particular battle, these elements can enhance your effectiveness. Many of these settings, including move load outs can be changed mid-battle to heighten effectiveness. There is yet another use of the Rush Gauge and Chain Combos.

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          Rush Combos combine these two innovations are a wholly different animal. They let your team unleash Chain Combo setups free of other resources. While you may lose any area of effect from your attacks, you can pump out major damage to even the mightiest of foes.

          While special moves and spells no longer gain power through repeated usage, they can be improved with SP. This is built up per person as they level up and for the whole party from opening chests, gathering materials, and completing quests. Do you keep skills primed for combat or do you focus on making enemy drops easier and more lucrative? That choice is yours.

          I am happy that the combat opened back up to allow four combatants again. Many challenges from the previous title came from using three rather than four people. Returning to this game in earnest after a four-year hiatus from the 360 version let me get right back into it, and it was satisfying.

Item Creation

          Square-Enix made an unpopular decision after the original release of The Last Hope. A crafting oversight known as “The Overflow Trick” was a well-documented exploit. This allowed weapons, armor, and accessories to be imbued with factors that made the post-game bosses much easier. A simple reversal of how Factors were set up rendered this Trick moot. I think this was solely done with Gabriel Celeste and the Ethereal Queen in mind. Still, they are no slouches. They both come with two amped up forms each. In spite of what even I thought this change doesn’t increase grinding as much as one would think. The techniques the player base cultivated still work, and all the boosts are good boosts. To their credit, the crafting system this go-round is much further in the realm of sanity than in SO3.

(I’ve harped on that game enough. I will not do so anymore. Today at least.)

          All crafted items come from recipes. Sometimes these are in chests, come as quest rewards, or are simply handed to you. The lions’ share of recipes need to be made by your party members. The in-game tutorial will tell you all you need to get started. If you max characters crafting to 10 before you start, all the possible recipes will be available per every character combination used. These two elements are about all you need to keep track of. Once discovered, the recipes are saved and can be used at any time. Crafting always succeeds, so don’t worry about losing materials from failures.

  The game is so kind that sometimes you get free goods.

            The battles and preparation for them are where this title shine. It’s all about the fights. It’s a shame the context is so lackluster.

Replay Value

          One of my biggest complaints with RPGs is that time is not respected or simply flat-out wasted. Chrono Trigger was one of the first games I remember having some form of New Game Plus functionality. It was satisfying to play the game once, set it down, and come back to relive the story with all the gear you collected. You could try fighting Lavos at each ending juncture fresh or wait until your party was more seasoned in additional playthroughs. Even with as popular as Chrono Trigger was, New Game Plus did not become a staple in Square’s games. Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy X-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII are the only Square and Square Enix titles I can think of with this design in mind. While not the most robust, there are a few ways in which your efforts can be permanently rewarded in Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

          The two biggest “rewards” from completing enough battle trophies are raising the level cap and granting extra CP. As many of the greatest equipment augments work via percentages, having another 55 levels added to you can mean an awful lot regarding base survivability. The extra CP, points which let you set skills for battle, may not be a large boon end game but will certainly make the going easier for new games. Three more points would have let you set the ultimate moves for “free”, so I am again a bit vexed at this design choice.

          Even these rewards are offset by the nature of the Trophies. For instance, two characters need to kill 30,000 enemies each. These kills must happen in a single playthrough. While you do keep Battle Trophies independently, kill counts are unique. Earning the 15,000 enemies killed trophy will not credit you that number on even a new game with persistent data. You will have to start that over again. Some battle trophies are just luck, such as ‘Leave an enemy with X HP’. And, since Synthesis was turned down the ‘Inflict 99,999 Damage’ trophies are that much more tricky to potentially obtain.

          Achievements/Trophies are ubiquitous with gaming these days. I would not say that this game has the hardest to earn, but they are certainly some of the most time-consuming. You’ll likely clock in hundreds of active hours if you aim to earn everything. Star Ocean: The Last Hope relies heavily on external save data for these processes. Whenever you use a save point (a key fact to remember) several Collections will update and will not have to be earned again. If you are achievement hunting you’ll want to be mindful of this, as some parts are missable. I have found this list comprehensive to single play through completion, outside of Private Actions/Endings. Guides abound on such an old title so you can find all the help you need. Aside from the achievements specifically requiring you to beat the game on higher difficulties, all the battle trophies and other collections can be gained even on the easiest level, much unlike the previous game. Still, you should play on the default difficulty level first to unlock the next one up. Earth difficulty is likely more for a final mop up of Battle Trophies and achievements.

          To end on a positive, also included in the external data is a section dedicated to Monsters. Attached to most every foe is a percentage bar. Reaching 100% will allow you to fill a “Monster Jewel” with the data. These can grant a shortcut to some very powerful bonuses, both to use and to migrate into other items. This progress is retained file to file and can be used anywhere once completed. For instance, killing the requisite number of Metal Scumbags post-game will let you make a Fol (currency) 25%+ even on new games.

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Closing

            If you are a fan of the combat in the Star Ocean series and have no other systems, you can’t go wrong with Star Ocean: The Last Hope. However, if you are looking for a good story or are highly attached to the ongoing narrative established in other games in the series, this title can be skipped. It pains me to say that. This game is kinder to players, in some ways than ‘Til the End of Time was. The sound quality holds up, and the visual quality is markedly better than the 360 version. On these points, Square-Enix did an excellent job. Even I, who genuinely cares little about graphical fidelity, am appreciating the difference in graphic presentation. It is with integrity and faithfulness that my last hope is met by Square-Enix and the rest of the Star Ocean franchise is brought to the PC.

A long-form review of the re-release of Star Ocean: The Last Hope. 6/10 Role-Playing Game, JRPG Similar to - Star Ocean: 'Til the End of Time or the earlier version(s) of The Last Hope…

[tumblunni]

Hi, I'm the anon who sent the messages about Rotom-Cyrus to TWJ. I wanted to explain myself. There are two books in Rotom's Room: one written by Charon where he says he found out about Rotom "by pure chance." So Charon is involved with Rotom (prob why he has that card) but he isn't the one who met Rotom as a kid. I don't want to spoil exactly what happens in USUM incase you haven't reached that part but it does basically confirm Cyrus is the one who wrote that account.

aaaa that suuuuuckscos literally its fuckin a book signed by charon how was i meant to know that oh the other book right next to it isnt by charon alsoand the trading card has no meaning whatsoeverand we’re just giving more sad backstory to a guy who already had a sad backstory and nope charon has no backstory whatsoever and was just super evil and everyone was right for all these years telling me i’m a jerk for liking this characterand right when basically the same thing just happened with faba seriouslyharmless comedic villain in sun and moon, is shown apparantly redeemed in the postgame, but NOPE now its retconned and he was The Most Evil One and something something lusamine isn’t bad anymore and everything she ever did is now being done by faba in the animecos hey yknow thats what i get for giving the benefit of the doubt to ~ugly people~seriously fuckin everyone hated faba right from when he was first revealed, you had people predicting his ENTIRE PLOT based on just one picture of him and his name and no information whatsoever on his personality. we all just fucking knew what was going to happen because he’s a science man with an ‘ugly’ face and he’s ~flambouyant~and then charon fuckin literally existed to be the ~worse man~ who was added to make cyrus more redeemablethats how he was treated in both mangas. he was made more evil just so cyrus could be redeemed, which was POINTLESS because we all already believed he could be redeemed! and fuck we even all already thought he had cute moments with his pokemon as a kid, geez! there’s a hundred fanarts of that same scenario but with murkrow or zubat or magikarp or houndour or sneasel...just fuckin the pokespe manga wrote a personalityless charon who murdered a child and was outright shown not being friends with rotom and actually hating rotom and getting his ass kicked by rotomand then in DPA we get not only More Evil Charon Who Kills People but also he’s drawn really stupidly over the top scary while everyone else is big eyed shoujo dorks. and our protagonist believes that everyone is redeemable except charon. lets show cyrus committing far more evil acts than charon ever did in the game, lets show him being ooc as fuck and talking about murdering pokemon while surrounded by graves. but THAT IS OKAY and our hero will insist on saying he’s redeemable but NOOOPE charon just fuckin steals some money and has an ugly grandpa face and he gets no such sympathy. he just exists to make you forget that moment of cyrus being ooc double evil. cos we literally retconned that charon was responsible for all cyrus’s evil acts last arc, even though he wasnt even in the fuckin story yetand like now my only damn consolation here is that the character i connected with when i first played the game is AT LEAST NOT THAT EVIL. but all the potential signs of headcanoning him as not evil were all false and i just should have known it. and apparantly its a better and more worthwhile plot to just give sad childhood man another pokemon he knew in his sad childhood, and the thing i thought was Really Cool And Interesting Writing didn’t actually exist. like seriously i was fuckin literally suffering from the same abusive childhood cyrus has in his backstory back when i played dppt and i DO NOT KNOW WHY but i ended up connecting with this stupid grandpa more than him and it saved me in a dark time more than him. back then i was a stupid fuck and i hated cyrus cos i saw myself in him, like i didnt want to admit that i was in an abusive family and i wanted to hate him for daring to want to take revenge against the world that fucked him over. i felt he didnt have the right, like I didnt have the right..so yeah i didnt even fully realise cyrus’s backstory until i replayed the game as an adult, but the one thing that did hit me back then was how unexpected and cool it was to turn our opinion of this jerk grandpa on its head. like i mean whoa! i didnt hate him like everyone else did, i found him pretty funny, but still i wasnt a big fan or anything until i saw that diary entry. like charon does LITERALLY NOTHING in the plot there is no reason they should have added him in a third version, he has no reason to exist unless he was meant to be the guy who introduces rotom’s new forms also added in the game. and it was such a mind blown moment! it doesnt even make him less evil! like “whoa this evil guy used to be a good kid once” could still work even if it WASNT a sign of him having potential redeemability, like it makes him so much more personally evil and horrible if he abandoned his best friend or something. I was so dissappointed you don’t get a boss battle with him, cos i went and caught that rotom and was hyped to defeat him with the pokemon he once betrayed and like there’s NONE OF THAT ANGLE if it was cyrus. it doesnt make rotom any different than any of his other pokemon that he owns right now and we know he already cares about, cos he has a crobat.and it JUST DOESNT MAKE SENSEbecause the journal SOUNDS like charon!they both talk all smart guy style but it felt more formal like how charon talksand like how charon boasts a lot, but the journal has him boasting about his friend instead. it sounds too enthusiastic to be cyrus...and like we already know where cyrus grew up as a kid and it wasnt eterna city. and he doesnt have a secret lab in galactic hq also in eterna city, like charon does. and also he’s not like friggin fifty years old so why would his childhood poke-friend be in a wrecked abandoned house if it was just ten years ago or something. and also why would they give charon this trading card where they draw the 100% evil guy having a vaguely genuine smile on his face and not looking like rotom hates him and he’s got it caged up or anything and also why would the card’s effect be all about friendship and why would they define him as The Rotom Guy and why would they even bother to give a trading card to charon if charon is a pointless character who never did anything important and had no actual relevance to this rotom wifi event except apparantly stealing a bunch of diaries from some other guy who was really responsible for it all. and why would they bother to point out that someone signed the diary if it wasnt the guy who wrote the diary, and also we are not going to sign the diary by the guy who actually wrote it. like if it was meant to be cyrus whey didnt they make it clearer?? nobody could be expected to have figured that out!also why does charon have a second rotom room in silph co in HGSS which timeline wise means he would have had it before DPPT and he’s talking about finding a rotom by chance before he ever found this diary that doesnt really belong to him. like why would he build an entire lab of form machines if he didnt own a rotom yet? how would he know enough to make them actually work for rotom if he never owned a rotom yet?why did nintendo decide to do all this if i wasnt supposed to reach the conclusion that charon had ANYTHING to do with rotom???why didnt they make it fucking clearer. why couldnt i have been saved years of clinging to this stupid ass headcanon and basing a lot of my taste in stories on the whole concept of ‘wow that was so fucking cool how they took a one dimensional looking villain and then turned it on our head with a cool reveal and made me super eager to see future stories with him’ and hey we’re not ever gonna get those and also everyone else was right and i should just give up and agree that ugly looking granddads will always be eviland why the fuck did i somehow link my self worth to such a random ass headcanon for a random ass character like seriously could someone have properly explained cyrus’s plot to me as a kid so i could have had him stop me from committing suicide instead. like seriously if they’d just made cyrus’s grandpa less hard to find and explained the plot more clearly and explained that he was the rotom kid AAAAAAAAARGHand i really didnt fucking need this, usum, right after also people started telling me that lusamine is ~really good~ and her whole child abuse plot is gone now like ha ha ha ha fucking ha lets crush bunni on two damn levelsand what is my fucking luck that this happened to happen right on the same day when i got some stupid ass anon hate and also had a horrible nightmare about my abusive fatherlike seriously dude who sent me this ask im really sorry ive had such an incoherant babbling reply to it, its just been a really bad day for me and like.. im not freaking out because of this minor headcanon being proven wrong, its just like i was already freaking out and having some random irrelevant headcanon bullshit happen right now is REALLY bad timing to push me off the edgehopefully i can calm down and come back and give a more coherant response of like.. why i headcanoned the different thing and why I’m sad its not true, even though i’m happy for you that your personal headcanon did become true instead.but like it sucks to be told ‘nope you’re not allowed to have your favourite character, his one and only personality trait was just a misconception you had’ during such a really bad timing of such an already bad daynintendo could u give us like a sassy science villain gramps who DOES have a redemption plot? or at least a plot that isnt ‘exists to be worse than the main villain’? like seriously why did it happen twice. i was happy at original sun and moon cos it felt like faba as charon but better written but then NOOOOPEjust...god...what.what sort of fuckface up in heaven decided to throw all the bad shit at me today and not at least spread it out across the rest of the week?