#oddly enough. i think in terms of like. actual gameplay

[chisungie]

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[wariofranchisefanblog]

A new WarioWare has come out and I got enough playtime in to feel comfortable talking about it in full, so I’ll do just that.

Right off the bat I can say in short: this is a good game and a good WarioWare. Not up there with my favs, but it does a lot right. My experience did end up quite differently than anticipated and I’ll explain why soon enough.

First I want to talk about the presentation, which I think is an easy high point. Everything is vibrant and colorful, the art keeps showing the strengths of the current style and everything feels very much like it should. Microgames run that perfect mix of genuinely nice looking and deliberately cursed and the cutscenes are the best of both worlds, being smooth and lively, while returning to Gold’s full voice acting.

Speaking of cutscenes, that brings us to the story related stuff and that’s where the game shows some interesting tricks up its sleeves. In terms of structure it’s a return to the pre-Gold era, with the closest to an overarching theme being the vacation set-up.

I do think the Ware crew is in top form, likable, fun and full of life as always and two stories in particular even do something major.

Kat and Ana’s story marks the shocking return of Cractus, bringing a Wario Land character into WarioWare and Young Cricket’s story sees his Kung-Fu Ball partner finally brought into WarioWare properly. Both of those are really massive and show a willingness to more heavily utilize elements from other parts of the verse, which I find incredibly exciting.

Oddly enough, the weaker link of the story for me this time is Wario himself. Now don’t get me wrong, everything that happens here is usual Wario antics and I do like how non–english versions of the script like japanese and german, have him be actually be nice about bringing the others along. His confusion at the Crygor drawings and later ascending to godhood, with the cast roll confirming he got a happy end, are all good too, plenty of nice stuff here.

He just feels weirdly absent here. Having no presence in the Remix stages, no bonus mode in his image and even the final stage has him stuck being cursed to have his face be the avatar of an angry volcano. It doesn’t really feel like Wario and ends with him being the only one of the cast with no moment to shine during the climax, which I can’t help but find a little disappointing.

Still, it’s not a big deal, after so many games Wario taking a slight backseat isn’t a dealbreaker, it just stood out a little.

Moving away from that, there is the audio side of things. The music as usual is full of unapologetically catchy jingles and some major stand-out tracks such as MegaGame Muscles and the Form Guide theme.

We got full voice acting again and with it our first taste of Kevin Afghani as Wario. Pre-release stuff had me very on and off with how I felt about it, but having heard all of him in the game: yeah, I like him! He does have some wonky deliveries, but the overall voice still feels like Wario and has its own fun appeal. Certainly more noticeably different than Mario and Luigi, but I am optimistic Kevin will greatly grow into the role, as he gets to play him more and more.

Then we get to the big one, the gameplay and this is where I was thrown for a loop the most. With this being a direct Smooth Moves successor I thought I’d know what to expect, but was quite caught off-guard in many places.

This surprisingly ended up being the most difficult WarioWare for me by a long-shot, enough that I actually had to take advantage of the second chance mechanic, which I never had to do in Gold and GiT.

If I had to sum the game up in one word, it would be demanding, Wario commanding you to move it is not just a funny title, it’s the name of the game.

With the Wiimote, you could get away with just sorta doing the poses in a lot of cases, but Move It really demands you do the exact poses, down to holding the Joycon juuuust the right way. 

More than anything I was surprised how strict it could be in that regard, not following the form instructions is asking for trouble, but I have to say, at the same token I was amazed how well things worked once I got the hang of it.

I’ll admit, I was ill while playing the game, so maybe that caused me to be a little more daft than usual, but it took me a bit to really get into it and I had to consult the museum several times for some microgames to figure out what I even needed to do.

I do think the game is a touch more complicated than usual for WarioWare, since you have to take effectively two controllers and specific poses into account, on top of grasping what each microgame demands of you, but once it clicks everything feels well thought out and purposeful. Getting things down is immensely satisfying and shows some really stunning results of what the Joycon can do.

That said the game isn’t entirely without jank, Hand Model being a notable culprit of it. The game finds several fun applications for it, but anything regarding reading forms or how many fingers you hold up, can be really clunky in the heat of the moment. In general, the strictness of the forms also means you need to really be prepared for every microgame, since slouching with your form could lead to a bad desync

Still, even with some jank I do think stepping up to the challenge to get a feel of it and get better is very much worth it. I wasn’t sure how to feel at first, but my opinion on it only went up the more I played.

That covers it for the main stages, as for the side-content though, yeah, that is where the game shows a weaker side of itself.

Not so much in terms of what’s here though. You got your standard towers, as well as MegaGame Muscles, which no joke, may be my favorite stage in the game. It’s frantic, fun, the music slaps and the set-up of Mr. Sparkles having ascended to being a literal god of fitness, is pure WarioWare.

The new Pyoro game of the day is a fun, different take on it, much like the one in Smooth Moves was as well and Dirty Job is a cool bonus game expansion of a more stand-out microgame concept.

That is really it as far as the single player content is concerned though and it does feel a liiiittle on the meager side. No souvenirs, which Smooth Moves and GiT didn’t have either, but Smooth Moves had more bonus games and GiT had the final Pyoro stage, Penny Remix, more bonus games, unlockable art and the Wario Cup.

We do still have a decent variety of multiplayer modes to work with and I did get a friend to come on by to try them, save for the 4 player exclusive one.

I think it’s a good selection, in concept it has the best multiplayer mode offerings since Mega Party Games (though I did like GiT a lot too), but there is one issue I have with it and I think GiT was a little guilty of it too.

As I mentioned, I do think there is a learning curve on how to play this game most effectively and you feel that even more in multiplayer, where someone not as in the know, is naturally gonna accidentally grip his Joycon slightly wrong, despite doing the pose and need some extra instructions, much like the characters in GiT can take some learning.

It is something you can overcome and have a good time with, WarioWare is a very good ‘’don’t take me too seriously’’ kind of multiplayer experience, but on the whole, if they want a true party game WarioWare, I still think something simpler like Mega Party Games is in order and by all means, I wouldn’t mind them doing something like that again.

On a side note, I also find it a bit of a shame that the nice new models for the cast, updated to resemble their designs in this game, are ultimately watered down to sprites of their heads during multiplayer gameplay. With how much emphasis is being put on multiplayer to carry the game for longer, I think it would have been nice if they put in the work to fully animate GiT-style models for the multiplayer modes.

That small gripe aside, as I said, I think multiplayer is fine, but not quite the pick up and play experience for people new to the game, as I feel they wanted it to be and I do think a bit too much of the game is locked behind multiplayer.

But yeah, that’s WarioWare Move It. It’s good and if you like WarioWare, you’re getting what you wanted out of it. It’s not one of my top games in the series and feels a bit too lacking on the side content front, but on the whole, I had a good time and it gets a surprising amount out of a controller that I have an openly low opinion on.

[no1ryomafan]

Thinking more about umbraclaw and while there’s stuff to critique from the gameplay side I think probably the biggest flaw of it is like everything to do with the writing, and I don’t mean just plot.

It’s one of those things where it’s like- The basic narrative of the story is got across well regardless of what ending you get-yes I did look it there being multiple endings lol-and it’s the first entry of a series so the story not being the best can be forgiven but it’s a shame NOTHING is super fleshed out. Not just the soul plane but the characters don’t get much at all, they kinda just exist as set pieces to move the narrative forward. Kuon, the mc oddly never talks that the characters always acknowledge it so she’s basically a blank slate and I’m unsure if it’s because we’re meant to project onto her/interpret her whoever we please or if it’s just to reflect she’s not like the others and she’s a normal animal.

We also don’t get to know enough about her owner that it’s actually hard to care about her other then “well she seems nice ig” since you can’t say you want to care about Kuon because she’s blank unless you really put yourself in her shoes or your own pet into her place ig. And don’t even get me on how LOCKE is so weirdly interrogated into the plot and clearly has more to him yet is left off being so vague, like we get teased he’s like you but never are directly shown or hinted at that. He’s just there as a rival but he’s not at ALL fleshed out enough or placed right into the plot even if he’s spared at the end which doesn’t amount to anything, he’s just there yet again to be a set piece that’s just a bit different from the others. (And also how he hints at a deeper theme of losing control of yourself in terms make you forget who you are but it’s not explored ENOUGH even if he’s there to reinforce it it only comes up in one ending)

Like this story doesn’t make me super angry to hate the game as I’m still gonna do another ending and overall playing it is a really interesting experience I won’t get from anything else, but maaan if we get a sequel I hope the plot is reworked significantly cause it sucks how it’s “not a bad story but also a story with no substance”.

Its something that’s satisfying only because it’s a what you see is what you get thing but doesn’t have anything deeper to really pick at.

[demonfox38]

Completed - Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter

Do we need to do the GDQ Orb chant?

Jumping into "Ys II" after finishing "Ys I" may have been a touch masochistic on my part. Not that I didn't get through the game in a decent amount of time or didn't occasionally enjoy myself. But, that final boss…woof! What a goodwill shredder! Having said that, I still have my goal of 12 games to beat this year in front of me (with 9 being from my Steam library.) "Ys II" was right there, packaged right in with its predecessor. I figured if I was going to tackle it, now would be better than later. At least I would be going in prepped for the full abuse that the "Ys" series could throw at me with the memory of the Push System fresh in my fingertips.

I went in, prepared to take grenades to the face.

"Ys II" opted for tomatoes instead.

"Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter" is the second in line of the "Ys" games. Notably, nowhere near the last. (I guess "final" here is about as final as the finals in "Final Fantasy!") Produced a year after "Ys I," it has since followed its counterpart in several ports across multiple PC platforms, providing an extended story arc for its predecessor. Is it a story conclusion? A contradictory twist? Continuing the twin theming from the previous game? Well, it's at least a couple of those things. Ya know. Things coming in twos and all.

Having defeated the wicked mage Dark Fact (yeah, I know; snicker snicker) and reunited all six tomes of Ys' sages from the first game, hero Adol goes from being gently bathed in light and surrounded by goddesses to being punted headfirst into a floating island. So much for his dignity and inventory! Oddly enough, this would happen to be the titular country of Ys that has been missing for over 700 years. Having been recovered once again by the locals, Adol takes their advice and journeys out to Solomon Shrine, where the two goddesses of Ys are said to—

Wait, I thought I was there last game. How is this shrine up here, too? Did I go into the past or a parallel dimension? No? Then how did nobody notice this floating island before? Does that have something to do with the storm wall in the first game? Translator, help? Did I misunderstand something from the last game? Why are you busy making "The Room" jokes?

Did "Ys II" need a sequel? Fiscally, sure! Plotwise? I thought we had solved enough problems last time. I guess not. Not that I mind killing demons, but going back-to-back with the previous game, it does feel a little bit unstable in terms of its plot's foundation. Most of the pieces I found interesting had to do with side elements, like the drama with Sada's failed rescue of his fiancée, as well as whatever hell the human-friendly demon Keith was going through. Even the main quest and its resolution is…fine. Good enough. I think I just got sick of everyone trying to hook up Adol with this game's lead girl.

Look, man. I'm just not into moe. I kind of need something more than a girl being cute and sweet going on to form an attachment. Especially when said character keeps getting in trouble every 30 seconds.

So, the plot's whatever. It happens. What I am surprised with is how well tuned up the gameplay is from the previous game. It's still got the base Push System for dealing with enemies. However, it felt way better to me this time around. I don't know if it had to do with wider hitboxes/environment design, or if I was doing better at paying attention to my attacks, or what changed. Something clicked, this time. I didn't feel so much like I was walking into a meat grinder as I was the meat grinder.

Additionally, the game grants you access to a variety of spells. This allows for ranged combat, which in turn greatly improved the boss design of "Ys II" over its predecessor. Last time around, it was all about fiddly movement. This time? The bosses felt more like something out of a bullet hell game, requiring you to respond in kind with your own fireballs. Like, actual boss design. "Gradius"-style boss design! And, hell! I can handle that! I was trained on those kinds of boss battles! Even in later battles, where your sword strikes were required, the game was not nearly as cruel as it was last time around. Like, it even pitches you extra healing items and a revive item, if you need it! Way more approachable!

The overall progression in game felt more logical as well. While you get more sets of armor and weaponry, it all flows upwards (not requiring the user to downgrade their weaponry to fight the final boss, like in the previous game.) The auto-health regeneration item also shows up way earlier, which I appreciated! There are more levels to be gained, but the statistic caps are the same (255), so it doesn’t feel too different there. A greater variety in environment design also helped. It wasn't just village/cave/shrine/tower, this time. Fire and ice environments in particular helped to break up some of the exploration monotony. The same labyrinthine looping is still happening, but it doesn't feel quite as snarled as before. Some places can feel huge or confusing, but not to the extent I felt with the previous game.

About the only other twist with "Ys II" is the implementation of a rudimentary affection system. If you equip a regenerative item (think food, flowers) and bump into a townsperson, you can offer them said item. Giving certain characters multiple items might get you little mascot charms of them, as well as bonus items. Me? I was about getting extra food. Not that I needed it much, but hey. I'm not throwing out a cheap steak.

My feelings on this game are weird. Very confusing. See, there's really not all that much difference between "Ys I" and "Ys II." There's still maze exploration, shoving monsters around, a difficult economy, and an occasional escort mission (complete with weird and/or creepy achievements.) Having a ranged option and some tuned up boss designs just made that much of a difference, I guess. Shit. Is this what "Mega Man 2" fanatics feel like?

Getting "Ys II" on Steam does necessitate getting "Ys I" as well, so I guess I would wait for a sale, if the sequel did sound appealing to you. Like, 50% off? 0.5 is just an inversion of 2, right? Makes it thematically appropriate. Somehow. I guess.

I mean, you don't have to play everything you buy. But, I certainly don't want to burden you with something extra. Then again, if we finally hit that triple A gaming crash that we're due for, maybe you'll finally have time to tackle your backlog! Maybe then, this won't feel like a burden to add.

[demonsfate]

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT JIN'S EMAIL TO HER IN TEK 4 LMAO orz I'm sorry. But yeah I agree with you. I also think he didn't tell her all the details likely for those reasons. But he told her enough to warn her and give her an idea of what kind of person Heihachi was. Which makes her attitude in Tekken 5 all the more confusing. I'm guessing Jin was so confused because he swore he had told her Heihachi was a pos, still does and yet here she is trying to go back in time lol. I think that's the game where things start to get worse with the writing. Granted Tekken has never had top writing but still. It actually makes me a bit sad because I was introduced to the games with 5 and I'm very fond of it (bc nostalgia but anyway)

A lot of shit happens in the Tekken series, and it makes it easier to forget it when the game's plagued with inconsistent writing. Hell, there are many things forgotten or straight up misconceptions within the fandom. (Many people still believe Kazuya made a deal with the devil to not die as a kid, but that only happened in the OVA) HELL, even I sometimes forget certain things, and I end up making headcanon posts that don't comply to canon just because I forgot about something. 😅

I looked it up for more info regarding the "email" Jin sent, according to some sources (such as the PAL version of the manual) Jin told her he suspected Heihachi was gonna have her assassinated...? Whiiich unsure if that's just a mistranslation from the PAL edition or not because I don't see why Heihachi would do that. He did it to Jin because Jin was no longer of use, he never cared about Jin, and Jin has the devil gene. But Xiao hasn't really done anything to warrant an assassination, unless Heihachi feared she'll uncover the truth regarding Jin's disappearance, and turn on him. But again, I'm unsure if this is true, or if the PAL version just added more because they thought "dangers" was too vague, or assumed that's what it meant when talking about the dangers. But who knows, we all also know how wonky the official translations of the series can be.

There's also a lot of issues with time travel. Such as, even if Xiao had succeeded, it'd be a possibility that Jin would've never been born. (After all, Jun only met Kaz due to his shady treatment of wildlife animals). But I won't delve too much into this just because it's just a silly story that means little. I don't even know how canon it is, considering that Xiao's ending in general isn't canon I don't think. Time travel, I'm pretty sure, is still not something that can canonically be done in the lore LOL.

Oh, Tekken 5 may be my favorite Tek game. (It's in the top three along with Tek3 and Tag 2) But I also very much enjoy Tekken 6 and we all know how I feel regarding its story. Basically, Tekken games can be very fun but not have the story that matches their quality of gameplay LOL. And I belieeeeve I wrote here very recently that 5 was the start of the atrocious writing. Although Jin was still relatively in character in 5, it did set up his villain arc with the ending. Xiao was flanderized to hell as we've discussed. Characters that didn't have joke endings before now have them (see Heihachi and Lei, probs more that I'm not thinking about rn) which set up the premise of not taking most of the cast seriously. (Tek7 DEFINITELY had an issue with most endings being pointless and comedic) So yeah, whilst Tek5 wasn't as bad as Tek6 in terms of story, it was suffering symptoms of it. Like a pre-illness or something LOL.

Tek3 was actually the first I was introduced to. My brothers CLAIMED we played Tek5 as kids because we rented it before when it was new...? But oddly I have like ZERO memories of it. I only remember playing Tek3, Tag 1, and Tek4. Which I played Tek4 very little because as a kid, I saw the limited amount of characters and thought "why would I play this when I can play Tag 1 with LOTS of characters...?" xD

[wowtobio]

Hello! May I ask fall in love, confession and relationship haedcanons for Miya Atsumu please? Good luck!

of course! tysm for the request and i hope u enjoy! 💕

- 

Fall in love

• The Inarizaki volleyball team found themselves in a minor problem. They needed a manager who actually knew what they were doing. This was the third girl this year who proved yet again they only managed (horribly) to fawn over the Miya twins. The team grew agitated at this, especially towards Atsumu as he particularly fed the fuel for these fangirl managers. To get his team off his back, Atsumu promised he would find a good, worthy manager. 

• With that promise established, it was actually more difficult than he thought it would be. As proven, only fangirls volunteered to the position, however was rejected by Atsumu and his correct assumption of the girls true intentions. And then potential managers would later turn down the role due to fear of backlash from their fanclub and the volleyball team’s prestigious title within the school.

• Atsumu makes an inaudible sigh to himself, casually strolling through the halls to practice. That is until he heard a small commotion around the corner, 

“You’re so stuck up and you are not worthy to tell me off like that!” Atsumu was intrigued and hid behind the lockers to eavesdrop, soon he hears a bored, monotone voice respond nonchalantly back. 

“Truth hurts love, so please excuse me I am trying to go home.” He recognized the monotoned girl in his class, (y/n) (l/n). You were known to be quite cold and quiet and kept to yourself. Atsumu tried to rack his brain if you were in any clubs but his thoughts interrupted by the latter girl starting to become aggressive. 

“Haha! I knew it you are scared of me! Of course you would be!” The girl then grabbed your collar and attempted to shake you, however on instinct Atsumu broke you two apart. The other girl’s eyes widened at the sight of Atsumu protectively hiding you behind his arm.

“Oi, the girl said back off so back off.” He lowly says. That was more than enough to scare the girl off. You wear the same face you’ve had for the majority of the events that unfolded and you turn your back towards the blonde twin, walking away. 

“OI!” Atsumu chases after you, “Not even a thank you?” You continued to walk.

“Thank you.” You mumbled. Atsumu scoffed and stood in front of you, forcing you to stop your tracks. You sighed out

“Look, it was already annoying enough dealing with that one girl. And I definitely do not want to deal with you of all people.” You mumbled. Atsumu was taken aback at your words, I mean this was the most he has ever heard you speak. 

“Okay okay, how ‘bout we make a deal,” You raised an eyebrow. “I assume yah aren’t in a club, and since I saved yah back there, wanna manage the volleyball team?” You eyed him oddly. 

• It was true, you did not have many friends nor a club to confide yourself in. You thought hey screw it, what could go wrong? So you nodded your head slowly, sealing your fate. Atsumu smirked at this and grabbed a hold of your wrist and started to drag you to the gym. 

“That’s great! You can start today.” You barely trail behind him, the dusting of pink on your cheeks go unnoticed by the setter. 

• At first, the team was skeptical of you of course. But you quickly proved yourself worthy. By the time the first practice was done, you had already learned the terms and gameplays and quickly cleaned everything up afterwards. The next day you even went around asking the members for their names, roles and strengths. 

“Miya Atsumu, setter, and the man of your dreams.” His teammates couldn’t help but cringe. 

“Yeah I think you’re the one dreaming.” You casually say back, not even batting an eyelash at him. That caught him off guard as his teammates snickered. As you walked away, the members start to praise you

“You know Atsumu, she’s actually a lot better than I expected.” Aran says.

“Yeah..” Atsumu’s heart beats faster, watching your figure walk away, your hair sways along with your hips as he can’t help but have a weird feeling in his chest. A feeling that has never occurred towards anyone. 

“She really is..” 

Confession

• It has been a few weeks since you first became manager and now one of the games came up. You did as much research on the other team as you could and devised a game plan and a few tips and tricks for your team. 

• It was game day and after warm ups you huddle the team together and state your game plan for the day. And you went ham. 

“Alright, so their number 8 is quite cunning from what I’ve learned, he does not fall for predictable stunts and communicates that to his team. So, Astumu and Osamu i want you two to switch between setting and spiking at random times to catch them off guard and keep them on their toes. Suna, keep your eye on the ace, you’ll be able to block his spikes I can tell. After a few blocks their ace will feel frazzled and that will give us time to score big time. As for Kita, keep doing..” 

• Not a single stutter in your words, you spoke with authority and with confidence as Atsumu lopsidedly grins at your grown determination to help the team. Everyone was somewhat caught off guard but listened to your voice tentatively. 

“And that’ll be it for now, I’ll be on the sidelines cheering you guys on and taking further notes. Good luck out there I know you guys got this!” You clicked your pen and gave your team high-fives and they smile, thank you and even give you pats on the back and the head.

“Will you be cheering for me (y/n)-chan?” Atsumu flirtatiously whispers in your ear. You push him away slightly and just laugh 

“You know I will idiot. Make sure not to mess up that first serve drama queen.” You wave off Atsumu’s complaints of people not knowing how to be quiet during his serves and you stand nearby the bench coach sat on.  

• The game was a breeze with your game strategies as Inarizaki wins easily. You jump up and down and cheer with your team as they smother you with hugs and thank yous. You have proven your worth to the team and the coach your true intentions and what you could do for them. You felt warm being around the team and you enjoyed watching them practice, play, and especially win. 

• Your attention turns to Atsumu, his casual smile on and his arms crossed as if he was expecting something from you. You playfully roll your eyes and walk towards the guy. 

“Congraaaagulations oh great Miya Astumu!” You mockingly state, Atsumu couldn’t help but laugh. 

“What the hell was that (y/n)?” You giggled. 

“What? Did I nail the role of your fan girl?” Atsumu shakes his head and laughs.

“Besides I enjoy being on this team, so thank you for dragging me into this situation.” You smile lightly. Atsumu has never seen this side of you, he almost stutters as he says 

“Well, I mean you owed me I did save yah back there.” You giggled and give him a quick peck on the cheek. 

“No silly, I partly said yes because I knew I end up falling for you.” You then left it at there and went to help tear down. Atsumu feels his face getting hot and the lingering eyes of his teammates.

“W-wait. does that mean..?” He mumbles to himself. 

“Idiot brother.”

“SHUT YER TRAP”

Relationship

(this won’t be as story-telling, more casual (??) idk lol)

• He’s soososo clingy to you, it’s almost like he’s glue. And he ofc doesn’t mind pda. If anything he is so for it, only if you are comfortable

• He always has to be touching you, whether it’d be hand holding, hand on the hip, arm around the shoulder. Hugging, kissing, etc. He always craves for your touch

• And if you aren’t comfortable with it, he still finds his way. Hiding your hands when holding them somehow, holding pinkies, hand on your thigh underneath the table

• Since your the manager, he stares at you a lot during practice. Both teasingly or just without even realizing it. He loves it when you notice it too and get all embarassed. And during water breaks he takes that chance to talk to you. 

• Probably has had make-out sessions in the locker rooms before or after practice. He loves taking risks and throwing caution towards the wind with you. And you would never admit it, but it gets you excited and he knows it ;)

• Really cares for you though, if you’re not at school he’s texting you. Not responding? He’ll ditch school and run to your house ignoring Osamu’s yelling

• He shows you off all the time, maybe a little too much. He will never pass up the opportunity to show off you’re his amazing girlfriend by either declaring it to others or physically showing it off with hugs and kisses

• BACKHUGS he loves them. Surprising you from behind with a hug is his favorite thing in the world that he does daily, bonus points for your cute, flustered state it results in 

• He’s probably tried to convince you to skip practice on days he isn’t feeling it. Most of the time you scold him. But on rare occasions you give in, and end up cuddling with him alllllll day. He doesn’t regret it one bit, feeling you encased in his big arms and hearing your soft snoring and breathing, face flush on his chest. You’re so adorable omg 

• ok maybe he does regret it the next day when Kita triples his drills as punishment and you can’t help but snicker with his teammates from a distance

• Free time is literally just with him. He prioritizes you as much as you do him and you two are quite busy so when alone time does come around it won’t be long until the other joins in

• You cook for him every now and then too. Although Osamu knows how too, he preferred you cooked for Atsumu as it’s less hassle and bickering for him to deal with

• Atsumu is surprisingly a picky eater, but when it comes to what you make for him he always eats it, no complaints. As a prank you sometimes purposely burn a few things and you silently laugh at his attempts to eat them

• A loving kiss to thank you for the meal that may or may not escalate to something else ;)

• Be warned, he will spam your phone with “i miss you” texts. You’ll be gone for literally 5-10 minutes and come back with 40 new messages 

“‘tsumu i was showering…”

“WITHOUT ME??” 

“-_-” 

• He treasures your down time together though. Cuddling while watching tv, cooking together, teasing each other, etc. 

• He loves it when you sit on his lap. You two will be on the couch watching a movie, he grips your wrist and pulls you on top of his lap. Your face buries itself in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent. His chin propped on your shoulder, arms wrapped around your waist pulling you impossibly closer to him

• You know how to put this annoying little brat in his place and he lowkey finds it hot. And in a way Atsumu appreciates it since you’re literally the only girl who has the balls too

• Even with his endless amounts of teasing, he truly loves and cares for you and he will do anything for you. As he kisses your neck lightly he reminds you why he loves you every single day you’re together and he plans to someday claim you once and for all with a ring. Someday

-

[gascon-en-exil]

what are the best dating sims

My sample size for dating sims - and here I mean only gay dating sims, of course, only comes up to around four depending on how you count, as well as one I haven’t played but know enough about through fandom osmosis to not think very highly of it. I’m probably not therefore the most reliable source for recommendations. Even so:

Coming out on Top: Overall the strongest entry on this list, with the most content (porn and otherwise), entertaining writing, and a clean if not always incredibly inspired art style. No voice acting, but as indicated below that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I could probably do a long multi-part review of CooT at some point if I ever picked up the game again, because there’s a lot going on here.

Chess of Blades: Did a two-part review on it here and here. Basically it’s the one most similar to Fire Emblem which obviously appeals to me, as well as being the one with the least amount of actual gameplay and as such more like a visual novel with variable outcomes. The writing is pretty good, the soundtrack is excellent, the visuals and voice acting have their ups and downs, and all in all it was a worthwhile experience despite not being quite as polished as CooT or as substantial in terms of content. I’ve since also looked into developer Argent Games’s other projects a little more; Your Dry Delight is quick and non-explicit but fine enough for a free game, but I never got into their darker games (like the latest one involving vampires) as the aesthetic puts me off too much.

To Trust an Incubus: Played it despite my general disinterest in sci-fi. Visuals and voice acting are on about the same inconsistent level as CoB (fun fact: the VAs for one of the love interests also voices Revali in Breath of the Wild), but there are far more endings including a staggering variety of bad endings as well as several poly configurations. It’s all a bit too unintuitive how to get all of them without paying extra for the guide though, and even though of all the games on this list this one has the most ethically dubious premise (half-naked aliens seduce horny main character with pheromones/mind control, porn ensues) it’s also oddly preachy about its sketchier elements to the point that it can detract from the fantasy sometimes. No one plays an erotic visual novel for extended lectures on consent, the dodgy nature of office romances, etc.

Dream Daddy: The one I haven’t actually played, but everyone was talking about it back when it came out and I rolled my eyes over the very idea. Everything I’ve seen of it looks fun enough for a light-hearted (but not explicit, what the hell?) gay dating sim, but it willfully misunderstands the concept of a gay daddy to instead make a ceaseless number of dad jokes and place the player character - the “dadsona,” how obnoxious - in the weirdly specific situation of being a literal father looking to date other literal fathers. Oh, and the kids are important characters to varying extents, because that’s not weird. This seems like exactly the sort of cloyingly tame concept a group of straight male developers would come up with...which was apparently the case. At least there’s trans (male) rep, if that matters to you.

[wirewitchviolet]

We really need 1:1 time passage in games.

I play a lot of games. I particularly play a whole lot of RPGs, strategy things, survival games, and these all tend to be games that try to create an extra sense of immersion with hunger, thirst, and a day night cycle. And WOW do they ever end up doing the exact opposite with the implementation!

Like, let’s just start with food. If I am playing a survival game, and I choose not to eat for a while, my little hunger meter will bottom out, and I will start taking damage then eventually die. This tends to take like, one real life hour/in-game day, give or take to kick in, and then death comes within like, maybe 5 minutes if they’re generous? And I stave this off by... usually finding, killing, cooking, and eating, 2 entire turkeys per real hour/in-game day.

So... what the hell is any of that!?

So we have hunger, and we’re representing it as this slowly draining meter you have to keep an eye on. Already, that’s just weird. In my experience, you can go an entire day, not eating a damn thing, and not feel a thing out of the ordinary. But when you do actually get hungry, it can be overwhelming and impossible to ignore (have you eaten yet today by the way? My meal schedule’s gotten totally weird). Nothing about that makes sense to simulate as a slowly lowering bar. If you want realism, you have absolutely no onscreen hunger meter, and then like every 4-24 hours or so you have some incredibly distracting hunger indicator kick in and stay kicked in. Like, activate rumble packs and leave’em going at a steady pulse sort of annoying. And it gets worse when you’re actually preparing food.

Also feeling hungry is not an early indicator that you are going to suddenly die of starvation, or even that you’re anywhere near that point. I had dinner 6 hours ago, I’m a little hungry now. It varies a lot, but actually starving to death can take upwards of going TWO WHOLE MONTHS without any food at all. Like if we’re representing that as a meter, “hungry” kicks in when it drops to 99% full. Starvation is not a particularly common cause of death. If you’re dying of starvation, either someone is intentionally starving you to death, or some horrific catastrophe has just wiped out completely absolutely every potential food source in an area you somehow cannot wander your way out of even if you have months to do so. Relevant real world fact- Any time you see stuff about people dying of starvation, that’s never “farming just is not a thing that works in this area,” it’s “some malicious tyrant is actively preventing these people from accessing food in a deliberate effort to cause them to starve.” It’s really not actually a concern in any sort of survival story, unless we’re going real long term.

Meanwhile, have game designers ever actually, like, eaten food? Like I said, 2 whole turkeys per real hour/game day seems to be the going standard and like... have you had a turkey? I live in America, there is this tradition on Thanksgiving to go get a turkey, spend a day cooking it, and serving it as part of a meal served to one’s whole extended family. You’ve got that one turkey (granted, generally with a lot of side dishes) feeding like... a dozen people, easily. And at the end of the day, you’ve only MAYBE collectively made your way through like half a breast. You carve up a bunch more and send everyone home with a ton of leftovers. Then you’ve still got this giant mountain of turkey left, and you’re eating it for like the next week until you’re completely sick of turkey and throw the rest out, with plenty of meat entirely uneaten on the bird. Or hey, do you eat hamburgers? You know how the standard for a really kinda too big to responsibly be ordering it hamburger is “a quarter-pounder?” Which refers to the 0.25 lbs. of meat on the bun? Just quickly googling “beef weight” and copying the preview text from the oddly named first hit, on beef2live.com... “An average beef animal weighs about 1200 pounds and has a hanging hot carcass weight (HCW) of about 750 pounds.“ I can’t honestly say I know what “hanging hot carcass weight” is and I kinda doing want to, but I’m assuming that’s how much you have to work with after stripping out all the bones and organs and such. Multiply that by 4 to get how many oversized burgers you get out of one “beef animal” (why does it not say cow? I’m growing increasingly unsettled)- 3000 burgers. Give or take. You go smack that one Mnecraft cow with your sword, you should be fine for like 5 years. At least assuming we’re not simulating food spoilage. And if we are, HEY THAT TAKES SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER THAN ONE DAY, 2 IF YOU SALT IT!

And I mean, on top of that, we’ve got this whole standard I keep citing of 1 real world hour/1 in-game day. That kinda seems to be one of the more common standards for the passage of time video games use. That or 1 minute=1 hour. And I... really don’t understand why we have these scales?

Like, the earliest example of a day/night cycle in a game is Dragon Quest 3, where 1 steps on the over world map=12 minutes passing, or 120 steps=1 day. That’s a weird scale I’m having to use, but that’s because as the most traditional of JRPGs, DQ3′s sense of both time AND space are super abstracted and walking a short distance across the world map is this super compressed and simplified conveyance of a big long epic journey through the untamed wilderness. The first games I can think of offhand to really do it as a real time elapsed ratio thing are like... The Sims and GTA 3? Let me look at each of those in turn in a bit here.

So, The Sims has to pass days pretty quick, because that’s like, the whole idea. We’re watching this little household drama unfold in a compressed time scale... but the scale is really messed up? Like, we start off pretty simple. Sims work their shifts of like 9-5 on the in-game clock, need an appropriate amount of sleep... but then MOST things have timing based off having animations play at a reasonable pace, which is to say, 1 to 1 time, not 1 to 60. It takes like 3 in-game minutes for a Sim to get up out of a chair, several more minutes to walk to the kitchen and even start cooking, altogether just getting up, making a meal, cleaning up, and sitting back down is going to end up being this hours long affair, most of that being travel time from one room to another. It’s weird, and practically speaking you end up having them eat one meal, use the toilet once, and take a shower once per in game day, because less than that problems occur, and more than that, it’s a huge pain. And forget conversations. Those are like 12 hour commitments.

And then we have GTA3, where 1 real minute=1 in game hour... and this isn’t tied to anything in-game at all really. You don’t eat, you don’t sleep, nothing really has business hours to deal with, the whole day/night cycle is just there to give you a nice cycling change of scenery... and also again, breaks immersion, because the animation speed is 1:1. According to a video I just watched, walking end to end across the map of GTA3 takes a full 48 in-game hours (121 in GTA5). And I mean... there’s races, and high speed chases, and all this other stuff that according to the in-game clock are at such slow speeds you can barely tell anything’s moving. It’s weird and arbitrary! And also unnecessary! Like, I’m pretty sure I sank at least 80 hours into my first playthrough of GTA3. I definitely spent enough time cruising around any given island that if time passed in a 1:1 ratio, I’d still see what everything looked like at every time of day. And hell if you rigged it up to a real world clock I could plan around that, do all the cool missions right at sundown.

But I mean, also, there’s these things called movies and TV shows? You may have heard of them, because it’s where games get a whole bunch of terms they use all the time. Like camera, and scene. So the thing there is, when, say, a movie switches to a new scene, they’ll often arbitrarily jump the day/night cycle ahead by several in-movie hours, or even days, so the lighting is appropriate to what’s going to happen in that scene. You can actually just... do that in games, too. It’s OK. Nobody’s going to stop you or say it’s breaking immersion. I talk to this guy to start this mission at what’s clearly noon, then we fade to back, and I come back out onto the street late at night so I can do this daring nighttime raid. That’s.. OK. You can do that. Honest. No need to have the sun doing crazy fast laps in the background.

Anyway, other games since have all copied that time scale, because blindly copying things from GTA3 was kinda... how people made games for a good stretch of time (and yeah yeah yeah, Elder Scrolls was probably already doing it, whatever... hell so was Robinson’s Requiem I’m pretty sure, and Drakken I know was paced something like that). But anyway, we mixed that sort of time scale with Survival Gameplay and we’re just kinda mashing these problems together. We’re doing everything in this one to one time scale, but the in-game clock is running at like 60 times that, and our already ridiculous food intake needs are downright absurd, and suddenly we’re destroying absolutely all life on sight to sate our ever-present ravenous hunger (and possibly never sleeping).

And like... survival games don’t actually need that? Like the interesting bits of the angle are finding sources of things like clean water and shelter so you don’t die of exposure once the sun’s down and stuff. And these are things you really just need to do once and you’re set. You could... basically set up a whole game, running in real time, where these are early potential fail states. Get some kind of shelter set up within the first 5 hours or so, sleep to advance straight to the next day after pulling that off, then you have like 3 days total to find drinkable water, and... honestly at that point we’re talking like a good 45 minutes of gameplay and you could really end it there, or start your last goal. But instead, no, we’re making some kinda crude axe/bow and killing everything to eat.

Not only is it not realistic, not only does it take me out of the experience by checking the math, the whole affair feels kinda like I’m being put through someone’s weird hyper-masculine cargo cult fantasy of what it would have been like if they grew up Hunting With Dad and like.... OK people who actually do that still kill like one animal, then drag it home, throw it in a big fridge, and eat it for quite a long time, or sell it, or leave it to rot because they’re just really into ending the lives of innocent creatures and don’t want weird gamey meat at all.

So yeah, just let time be time, and don’t ever actually make me eat if we’re trying for some kind of gritty realism thing. I really don’t get hungry nearly that often and fill up quick.

[irandrura]

Third and final post: what were my other thoughts?

 Let’s talk about the game’s mechanics first.

I am overall very pleased with the battle gameplay. On the battlefield itself the gameplay is more-or-less unchanged from the past, but the character advancement and customisation system is significantly improved. Moving to a single overall character level and giving every character the ability to change classes at will is a much more fluid and elegant system than in the past, and the ability to choose the specific combat arts and abilities each character takes looks like it adds a lot of depth. It’s probably appropriate for the overall ‘teacher’ theme of the game that you have much more power to mould each character’s skills and talents, but I’d like to see it in other games as well. There’s an important balance to strike: on the one hand, characters should not be infinitely malleable, and should all have their personal strengths and weaknesses. On the other, so much of the fun of the game is in developing characters and watching them grow that it’s really good to be able to specialise them.

Speaking of battle gameplay, divine pulse is great. The Fire Emblem series has always struggled a bit with accessibility, and while casual mode definitely made the series easier, it also felt to me like missing the point. Casual mode is too easy, and by removing any risk of permanent death, it felt like it removed a lot of the game’s tension. Divine pulse is a much better way to make the gameplay a bit easier and less frustrating while still keeping the same feel as classic FE gameplay. It gives you just enough room to survive a lucky enemy crit, or a small misjudgement on your part, without totally removing the need to be careful. I approve. That said, I did feel that by late-game you probably had access to too many pulses and it removed the need to conserve them. With a dozen pulses, there isn’t much risk any more, whereas if it stayed capped around three to five, each individual pulse might have felt more precious.

 (Apparently Mila’s Turnwheel in Shadows of Valentia actually did the mechanic first, and I totally forgot about it. Oh dear…)

Other gameplay innovations were more hit-and-miss, for me. Battalions were fine, but I don’t think I would have missed them if they weren’t there. They helped make the battlefield seem busier and more populated, but they don’t seem to have had a massive impact on the game. Similarly, monsters were mostly fine (Cindered Shadows boss notwithstanding), but again, I don’t think I’d mind very much if they didn’t come back. They rarely actually felt like the most dangerous enemies on the battlefield, and just required a slightly different strategy, and… well, maybe it’s just me, but it feels weird for FE to have boss monsters like that. I suppose arguably it’s been a tension in the series going all the way back to the original game? Marth was supposed to fight monstrous dragons, but his entire game was about enemy soldiers, and dragons didn’t stand out as the terrifying beasts they ought to have been. Still, I’m not sure I’m sold on them here.

When I started playing I complained that exploring the monastery was tedious. You can get into a routine later on, but for the most part, I did think it could have been streamlined more. Having lunch with students or going for special training or browsing the marketplace are all fun things to do, but a bit less sprinting all over the map to talk to everyone and return lost items would have been appreciated. The lost item mechanic in particular feels like busywork. A bit of exploring is nice, but only as long as it doesn’t get tedious. It might have been lovely to explore other locations as well – Enbarr, Fhirdiad, the army camp outside Gronder, etc. – but I can understand that the amount of work required would not be practical.

Speaking of tedium, though… I really could have done with a few more maps. Maybe this is my fault for constantly choosing battles, but I found myself replaying the same forest, plains, beach, or volcano map too many times for comfort.

I might also have liked for crests to be a bit more mechanically impactful, given their important to the world and the plot. I regularly forgot which of my units have crests, and what any of the crests do, since most of them have so little effect as to not matter. The only one I did usually remember was Felix’s Crest of Fraldarius, and that was mainly because it makes him do more damage and sometimes made him kill people I’d hoped to leave on one or two HP. I don’t think crests should have been overpowering, but a little more power would still have been nice. It should not have been so easy to forget that they exist.

Similarly, by the time I finished the game I realised that I had never used a Hero’s Relic, even once. I would like to say that this was a principled decision on my part, given that they turn people into monsters (and it looks like I was right about them being made from bone?), but it was mostly just the BUT-WHAT-IF-I-NEED-IT-LATER effect. They all have quite low durability, and while I understand that infinite durability, as with relics in previous games, was not an option due to breaking how combat arts work, it was still enough to discourage me from using them. Perhaps on a higher difficulty they would become necessary? I always feel a bit sad when for mechanical reasons I never let characters use their most iconic weapons.

 Moving on from mechanics…

There is technically a shipping mechanic, with an S support for the protagonist, but it really felt like an afterthought to me. I don’t think the game would lose anything significant if you just removed all the S supports. Compared to a game like Awakening or Fates, where the second generation makes it mechanically important and the plot seems like it works best with a bit of romantic drama (f!Robin/Chrom and m!Robin/Lucina looking particularly intended), Three Houses is surprisingly chaste. I suppose picking a character to be your waifu might be part of the culture now, perhaps looking also at the growing influence of waifu gacha games, but for me it felt tacked on. I can imagine potentially rewriting the game to make romance a more important theme – perhaps talking about Jeralt and Sitri a bit more? – but to be honest I think that that would have been worse for the game overall.

In particular, it stands out to me as sitting a touch oddly alongside the teacher concept. One of the things that stands out to me about Byleth as a protagonist is the way that Byleth is in a superior position relative to the other units. You are a professor, in a position of authority, and you have more life experience. Your job is to teach and mentor these younger characters. This contrasts strongly with Robin, who I think was presented as the equal of the other Shepherds (your relationship with Chrom is that of comrade and friend), and with Corrin, who was presented as an inferior or junior (your siblings are older than you, and they start off with higher status). Because of that superior position, then, I found the game suggesting a feeling of responsibility towards them, and a feeling of pride in their accomplishments.

This might be a bizarre comparison, but in some ways a game that Three Houses reminded me of while playing was Princess Maker 2, a weird little DOS game from 1993 about raising a girl. The core loop of choosing activities to raise the stats of a character in your care, punctuated with occasional outings to fight monsters and get loot, felt quite similar. Similarly, the emotions that seemed to be evoked, to me, were emotions of care and pride: perhaps not paternal as such, since Byleth isn’t that old, but certainly the satisfaction that comes from nurturing a younger and less experienced person.

For the most part that actually worked, and I certainly applaud it for feeling less icky than Fates. If I compare tea parties to that weird Fates mechanic where you could invite characters to your room and touch their face, it is vastly less creepy. So I’m glad that the romance has been toned down.

And speaking of things that I’m glad aren’t prominent…

I’m deliberately burying this part in the middle of a long post. Tumblr is famously ruthless on issues like this, but fortunately I have a very low follower count and you’re all nice people. Basically, one of my worries going into the game was that Three Houses might be the ‘woke’ Fire Emblem game. I am glad to find that concern averted, at least so far. A person could perhaps make some pretty cringeworthy interpretations of Duscur to do with racial politics, but the game itself does not push you in that direction. Tumblr and AO3 love slash shipping, but as far as I can tell that remains as canonically unsupported as ever. Interestingly, while Three Houses has a small handful of same-sex romantic S supports and endings, as far as I can tell they’re all for Byleth and they’re all simply copy-pastes of the opposite-sex versions. It’s enough for me to genuinely wonder whether they’re in the original Japanese at all, or if they were added. I know translations of FE games have played around with character sexualities before, so it’s possible. At any rate, part of me was concerned that this might be the Dragon Age: Inquisition of Fire Emblem, and fortunately it isn’t. (I mean, I did actually enjoy Dragon Age: Inquisition, but at times it did get to be a bit much.) I’ll take this as a valuable lesson when it comes to not believing posts I see on Tumblr. You’d think I would have learned from previous games: popular fan interpretations of a character are often completely wrong. Three Houses seems for the most part to be a very traditional Fire Emblem game.

In terms of the overall series trajectory, I take Three Houses to be an overall positive sign. Awakening and Fates seemed to be taking the series in a direction that I didn’t care for as much, with heavy use of player avatar characters, much more fan service, and more trope-driven plots. Three Houses seems like a return to deeper worldbuilding and characterisation. The cast of characters overall has definitely been a high point: in Fates I sometimes struggled to build a team of characters that I felt truly fond of, but in Three Houses there were usually more characters I wanted to use than I had space for, and there were no recruitable characters that I truly disliked.

Really, the biggest disconnect between me and Three Houses, in the end, is the fact that Three Houses is built for replayability, and I don’t like replaying games very much. However, I don’t think I can in good faith call that a flaw or poor design: obviously there are a lot of people who love replayability, and considering that I got a good eighty hours of gameplay out of my first playthrough (DLC included) and enjoyed it, I’m not really in a position to complain.

So in the end, then, I think that while Three Houses is not my favourite Fire Emblem and does have some places where it could be improved, for the most part I think it’s quite a good outing and a significant improvement on the last few. It is not designed entirely to my tastes, but what is here is mostly good. Three Houses leaves me feeling much more optimistic for the future of the franchise than Fates did.

[argentdandelion]

Spiritual Beliefs in OneShot

Souls and Robots

It’s commonly supposed that a soul grants humans (the only indisputable “people”, in real-world terms) a unique, or uniquely sophisticated, ability to think and feel relative to their animal brethren. Although narratives about artificial beings (e.g., robots) often bring up the possession of a soul as the dividing line between people and mere imitations, and OneShot discusses this dividing line, not once does dialogue in OneShot even use the word ‘soul’. (if the dialogue respository of the game is accurate, and it is not always so)

In fact, even the game when it uses the similar terms 'ghost' or 'spirit', it's not used in a way that's synonymous with 'soul'. For “ghost”, it’s only when referring to a sort of helping program/journal that’s the trace of a character who no longer lives within the world. In three out of four times it uses the similar word ‘spirit’, it’s in the context of the dryad-esque “plant spirit” character, Maize. he only time ‘spirit’ could be used as synonymous with ‘soul’, judging by the dialogue transcript, is when The World Machine/The Entity is described as “the spirit of the world”, and it’s a context where “mind”, “self”, or “consciousness” could also work.

Nonetheless, it seems there’s some sort of belief in an afterlife within the world of OneShot. There’s one scene of two characters (Calamus and Alula) addressing their deceased mother at a graveyard, and Alula saying: “I hope she can see us wherever she is!”. Additionally, one character (Lamplighter) asks “Am I dead?” after seemingly dying/getting caught in a lethal trap. For the latter, if there weren’t some sort of belief in an afterlife, he’d surely say something like, “What the heck/fudge is going on?” (Although the use of “Good heavens, no!” and “Who the heck?” once each might be evidence the people of OneShot believe in an afterlife, it could just as easily a coincidence.)

Other Religious Terminology

It’s actually odd that the game doesn’t use the common word ‘soul’, when it frequently uses other religious terms like ‘god’ (18 times) ‘messiah’ (64 times) ‘prophet’ (~6) ‘sacred’, (8) ‘savior’ (19) and one instance of ‘altar’ (when it easily could have used ‘dais’, even!). The word ‘prophet’ is notable because it’s in the name of one character: Prophetbot (called just ‘Prophet’ in an earlier version of OneShot).

‘Messiah’ is especially remarkable, since the term is very religious and strongly associated with one specific religious entity, Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed, according to the dialogue transcript, “messiah” occurs more than three times more than the word ‘savior’. People even call Niko ‘messiah’ instead of Niko’s actual name, and don’t even address Niko as “Messiah Niko”, suggesting there are multiple ones. Niko doesn’t seem uncomfortable about being referred to as ‘messiah’ or ‘savior’, which might suggest that, in Niko’s world, it’s not strongly religious in use, or connected to a very specific person.

Speaking of ‘sacred’*, it uses the word eight times: to refer to what��s basically a cemetery, the ‘sacred feathers’ of the Prophet, a deceased character, the enormous ‘sacred tower’ with the world’s sun at the top, and Niko’s ‘sacred ability’ to communicate directly with the world’s god (the player of OneShot). It’s interesting that the game would use ‘sacred’ and use it pretty often, instead of ‘magical’, ‘mystical’, ‘revered’, ‘ancestral’ (e.g., “ancestral burial grounds” rather than ‘sacred grounds’ with gravestones) or even ‘hallowed’ (religious, but perhaps less so than ‘sacred’).

No Organized Religion

No one ever mentions particular religious/spiritual books, whether in a Bible-like context, as storybooks, as manuals, as even as compendiums of religious teachings or sayings. Admittedly, one character mentions reading about visions being “like something a prophet would see”, and relates that to Niko’s visions as someone who can talk to the god of OneShot, but he doesn’t elaborate where he read that.

The closest there is to a religious authority is The Author, a mysterious man viewed by almost all characters as an absurdly prolific and talented author who’s an expert in practically every subject. Even then, he’s viewed more like a bunch of scientific geniuses and popular, prolific authors (Stephen King, James Patterson, etc.) rolled into one.

The world of OneShot (or a previous version of it) once had a being called The Prophet, who had glowing, nigh-magical feathers and the ability to see into the future. One character mentions “a prophet” predicted “a savior [Niko] will arrive from another land”, and this prophet is strongly implied to be her. The Prophet is now deceased, but what seems to be her home holds what seem to be relics or artifacts, and specifically called an “altar”.

Divine Abilities/Miracles

Prophetbot, a robot programmed to give background information to the messiah, tells Niko: “Being The Bringer Of Our Sun, You Have The Sacred Ability To Communicate Directly With [Player]...An Ability That No One Else Possesses, Certainly Not I.” (formatting added for ease of reading) Niko talks with the player, god of OneShot, multiple times throughout the game, thinks it’s really cool, and other characters bring it up.

Niko has ‘visions’ three times throughout the game, and one character mentions it’s like “something a prophet would see” and: “I mean, if you can talk to [Player], it would make sense, right?”

Not a God, But Still a Messiah

In the Solstice route, it's revealed that the world of OneShot is a simulation of a long-destroyed world on The World Machine, a universe simulator that runs on the player of OneShot's computer. Three people who came from the old, long-destroyed world, the "Old Worlders", all but acknowledge the player isn't really a god: it's described how the world of OneShot would feel just like game software on the player's end. By opening up the program for OneShot, the player would be "becoming god in the process."

Oddly, though, the Old Worlders talk about the Old World's old prophecy of a messiah from another world (Niko) and the building of a robot made to predict the specifics of the messiah back then, without any bit of skepticism. So, strangely enough, although the simulation doesn't have an actual god, it still has a real messiah: the Old Worlders keep calling Niko that and don't similarly re-contextualize Niko's role.

Comparisons with Other Media

OneShot’s retro-styled graphics and gameplay wouldn’t be out of a place as a mid-Gameboy Advance to early Nintendo DS game (perhaps 2000-2008 in North American release times), but by that standard, its use of religious elements is rather odd. It simultaneously has a lot of religious themes and surprisingly few.

OneShot has just one god, no organized religions or structures, and very few (arguably no) religious artifacts. In contrast, although Nintendo of America historically scrubbed away religious references for English video game releases, it nonetheless had a lot of temples, gods, and other religious concepts in The Legend of Zelda and Kid Icarus. Even Pokémon (a second-party franchise closely associated with Nintendo) has instances of religious, spiritual, or nigh-religious customs or legends surrounding Pokémon; most notably, one generation of games showed what’s all but stated to be a church.

Speaking of the word ‘sacred’ within OneShot, Ho-oh, a godlike phoenix Legendary Pokémon that features in local legends and has the power of resurrection, has the signature move “Sacred Fire”. This was back in the Pokémon franchise’s Generation II (~October 2000-~March 2003) when Nintendo’s policies against religious references were much stricter. One might argue that the games’ technical restriction of a 12-character move name limit made this necessary, but “Mystic Fire” has the same number of characters, but they didn’t use it. Apparently, certain religious terms like ‘sacred’ (in Pokémon) or ‘temple’ (like The Legend of Zelda’s infamous water temple) aren’t as objectionable as one might think.

[thenonbinarydetective]

MID Overview/Review

Ok so I redid it because tumblr broke the first one. Luckily, it gave me the oppurtunity to fix some of my grammar/spelling mistakes.

It’s actually even longer than before.

I’m thorough what can I say?

besides please read this it took a while.

·         On the menu’s Extra Section there’s a trailer for Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019). A movie that came out way before this game which is kinda funny

·         The movement is a little janky, to put it in professional terms, it’s a little fast and jumpy. It took a bit to get used to the navigation.

·         The problem with the movement really jumps out in the end in the tunnels. I could barely get my cursor around the Hardy Boys or even Mei.

·         Also in the tunnels, if I went slightly off trail the game would FREAK out. I wanted to look around the tunnels and maybe get a bad end but our Sleuths but I couldn’t look around without being yelled at.

·         This happens in other mini games and puzzles, whenever you mess up the characters make a snarky remark in your direction. Every. Single. Time. It would be funnier if it was only on a few occasions but it was every time I “messed up”.

·         The graphics were obviously terrible. They also were variable…Somethings looked kinda okay and somethings looked awful. Like the quality changed from time to time. Sometimes even in the same frames. Frank, graphically, looks better than some of the other characters. When he and Joe stood next to each other, they almost looked like they didn’t belong in the same game. This goes for some of the other characters too.

·         I don’t get why Frank was always in that pose? Everyone else stood awkwardly but admittedly it was a bit more normal. They stood with their hands towards their hips like how people typically do. Although there was a few times where people just grabbed their wrists for no reason.

·         As someone who loves mythology and folklore (and pretty much anything that can be tied to into those) it was really cool to see the Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of Witches in the game. I wish it actually had more use in the game and maybe helped in some way. I know the book did some terrible things but it is an interesting read. As I do own a copy of it.

·         Also my birthdate was used on the puzzle. Which was cool. It’s fun to be born on special dates. Except my birthday isn’t part of the solution but that’s okay.

·         There’s a couple times where Nancy(and Frank) starts talking about clues or reading things out loud before I got the chance to look at them which was super annoying.

·         The game crashed multiple times while playing

·         The closer look at the clues was nice but was only okayish for me. It didn’t always work that well. Besides I’ve seen other games with the same function that worked smoother.

·         I’m not a big fan of the new chat format. I prefer the old way. In this new format a lot of the dialogue options were getting cut off or the option didn’t fully describe what Nancy was going to say so I didn’t know what I was choosing.

·         The text boxes were a bit buggy and there were times I couldn’t click on some of the dialogue options.

·         The cutscenes were slow and the game had WAY too much talking. There was more talking than gameplay. The game was honestly just walking and talking

·         I liked the text messages, they were fun and cute but they didn’t add much to the gameplay

·         Lots of objects were clipping into each other

·         Loading screens were always glitch

·         The audio was off a lot of times. There were times when I could barely hear the characters over the background music or ambience sound. In Austria, I called Ned and Carson and I wouldn’t have even known they were speaking if not for the subtitles. Even after lowering the music and ambience sounds specifically and I still had this issue.

·         Also Ned’s voicemail has changed. Did he make up with his sister?

·         There were a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. Almost every other written thing (books, pamphlets, and notes) had some kind of mistake. Hotchkiss’ book is one example.

·         There were times when the pop-up text box was harder to read than the written thing. Not all the paragraphs were spaced out far enough in the boxes but were fine on the written thing.

·         No “Can’t check that off yet.” The Checklist was unusable by the player. Unlike every other game. It did it automatically which wasn’t fun. I liked using the checklist.

·         The game was so linear that I couldn’t really look around or do my own thing. When one thing was down you were immediately shuffled to the next thing. It basically made the checklist unnecessary.

·         Terrible Animation. People moved for no reason. Just stuck in the same cyclical animation over and over and over again. They were pretty janky and awkward. Joe was the worst for me, he was constantly twitching on the screen. Frank was stock-still in comparison. No one else was that bad.

·         Many of the mouth movements did not remotely match what the characters were saying. Sometimes nonexistent.

·         Everyone’s EYES ARE SO WIDE. IT’S LIKE THEY DON’T HAVE EYELIDS. THEY’RE SO OPEN.

·         The Parry’s curtains glitch in the sink. There’s a few plants that look weird, they had a neon glow on them. Olivia’s hands are always clipping through her robe and hair. In Moosham Castle there is a thing that’s inside a table. Both the Hardy Boys’ feet (and maybe other characters) were entirely in the ground at times. There were plenty of other problems like that.

·         If I looked around a certain way while everyone’s talking at the Parry kitchen table Frank’s entire body disappears with the exception of his neck and watch.

·         Some of the windows had a view of the town outside but other windows have this shine that you can’t see through.

·         I’m not thrilled about the bystanders. Only the protest guy really helped. Over all they didn’t add to the game or help me at all.

·         Dr. Hirst’s silhouette was kinda weird

·         Also why did the game start in Austria??? That’s just weird? I thought we were just gonna start with Deirdre calling us but whatever

·         I really hate the needless and honestly misplaced drama. Why couldn’t we talk to Ned and why haven’t we talked to Ned. It really pissed me off. Why would you put this directly after Ned’s whole “I Love and Support- This Could Basically Be a Proposal” Speech in Sea of Darkness? It’s just super off

·         Not to mention the fact that the “Francy” moments in this game felt super forced. I don’t like what it does to their characters too. It feels like Ned isn’t trusting Nancy, which is crazy because he trusts her with his life. Frank is the more awkward Hardy Brother but that was ramped all the way up. Also Nancy completely ignoring Ned? What? They don’t feel like themselves here. It’s just off. This tone should’ve been brought in so soon, chronologically, after SEA. It’s out of place.

·         Who was the female voice that was in the phone call with Ned? That was never answered. Was that a drama plot that was unfinished? Why not take it out of the game if you’re never going to resolve it? Why start an unnecessary relationship drama that’s both half-assed and unfinished?

·         It’s kinda weird how in the end Nancy leaves the Parry house and calls Ned and we can hear her side of the conversation but not his. She’s just talking to herself.

·         The phone friends were basically useless. If it wasn’t for the flashlight and the checklist I would say that Nancy didn’t even need her phone. And I guess talking to Damian Faulkner. 95% of the calls I made just went to voicemail. I want to chat about the case, talk to my friends, and get hints like we used to. I didn’t even know we could call Dr.Hirst about the ergot poisoning. I only found out on accident. I don’t know how many conversations I missed. Calling people used to feel important but here it doesn’t even need to be in the game it’s so useless.

·         Just because this bugs me I don’t like the Hardy Boys starting their own detective agency. They began their work by working for their Dad. Who is a private investigator/private detective. Who runs a Detective Agency. Why would they start their own?? If you’re gonna make this a family business why not make it a family business? Right?

·         May February, 1692 was an actual date they used. I think it was supposed to be February and they changed it to May. Earlier in the same note they used May so I’m guessing they didn’t properly finish the rest of the note.

·         The lockpick game was visually glitch for me and the game itself didn’t work that great for me

·         Joe’s hair makes him look like a fake blond lol. There are parts of his head (by the nape of his neck for example) that have brown hairs. Also some parts of his hair didn’t load properly on occasion and underneath was brown. Did he dye it?

·         Which brings me to my next point. The hair was animated horribly. Frank and any of the other short and simple haired characters were okay. But probably only because they had short and simple hair. The longer haired characters were not as well animated.

·         I randomly got double the Johnny Cakes when I made them. So Teegan and Olivia got extra.

·         I will admit that making the Johnny cakes wasn’t the worst cooking minigame we’ve had in the games before.

·         Frank getting the Frankenstein ones were a little obvious. It also didn’t feel as personal as the other ones oddly enough. We had a fun little dialogue about the design with everyone but Frank. He just got some cringey “I’ll eat these right away” kind of dialogue.

·         I wish the truth serum was actually useful. Solving Tituba’s poem and going a bit out of the way to get the ingredients led me to believe it would be used for more than some “fun” dialogue choices. Joe and Deirdre are the only ones to use it. Which leads to some cute moments in which Deirdre admits she actually kinda likes and admires Nancy. I love her. Joe says he always tells the truth (no) so he doesn’t know how to tell if it works. I love him.

·         Maybe it’s just me or the audio was off but Carson sounded different in Austria than he did in Salem.

·         The use of the ergot poisoning was kinda of awesome. It’s one of the most popular theories on why Salem went bonkers and it was interesting to see it used to trick our favorite sleuths.

·         The note to save Deirdre didn’t appear when I clicked on it. Frank (and I think Joe) reacted to it but it didn’t let me examine it. The bug fixed itself by closing the examination and clicking on it again.

·         I love how the “ghosts” were handled. Especially them being hallucinations. My favorite was in the cemetery with the Hardy Boys and Olivia. The screen got kinda weird and everyone started to get worked up and really tense. They started fighting and you could see Abigail before they did. The build up to it was fantastic. The other scenes were cool too.

·         The tunnels where the “ghosts” jumped out at every wrong (and sometimes right) turns while you’re desperately trying to escape the tunnels with Mei was pretty awesome. One of the jumpscares even got me.

·         THERE WAS NO ENDING LETTER. She wrote a letter to Ned in the beginning but she never wrote a second one. Sure we sorta got to see how everything turned out at the party but it’s not the same. It doesn’t feel properly ended.

·         I lowkey ship Jason and Mei. I could totally picture the two of them making out in those hidden tunnel rooms beneath Salem. Not just because I would too. This easily could’ve been another unfulfilled romance sideplot.

·         Some of the books/notes really didn’t feel that helpful. I did learn some new things about Salem but I don’t feel we used the knowledge we gained properly in the game.

·         The Jack O Lanterns were fun.

·         The parallels between the Judges of the Witch Trials and Judge Danforth was a pretty interesting plot point. There definitely is a difference between accusing witches and accusing someone of arson when they were 9.

·         Teegan’s guilt for both the shed and Hathorne house was something I didn’t really expect. It was a good plot twist. I can see how it was hinted earlier on by Lauren who says “Teegan likes to protect what’s important to her, sometimes that’s Mei.” Sometimes being the key word.

·         The Hardy Boys being home-made ghost hunters was hysterical and adorable. I want them to have their own games soooo badly.

·         I am completely on Joe’s side that we can’t prove that ghosts don’t exists, even if we can’t prove they do exist.

·         I knew Alicia was the bad guy the second she started shit-talking Ned without knowing him. Only bad people don’t like Ned. He would never force Nancy to become a housewife, that’s not who she is and he loves her for who she is.

·         I did “OK Boomer” Judge Danforth. He deserved it.

·         I loved the little tidbits that we got of Frances’ and Lauren’s relationship we got to hear about. It’s really sweet.

·         The comparison of Jason being a fast food cheeseburger with extra extra extra cheese and Ned being a home-cooked meal is perfect. Home-cooked meal is a great way to describe Ned.

·         Either way they’re both snacks.

·         Ok Jason’s ugly in these graphics but it was implied he was supposed to be hot.

·         Jason could’ve been a true himbo but unfortunately he wasn’t

·         TBH Ned, Carson, and Damian were the most attractive characters in the game. Only because they weren’t subjected to these graphics.

·         I loved the Ghost Wavelength Spectral Analyzer 2.5 the Joe Hardy Guide to Amazing Finds but I hate the spectral analyzer itself. That mini-game was the WORST. It took forever!

·         Alicia was straight up just gonna kill everyone. I’m doubting her biology knowledge.

·         Also if you wanna raise kids in a more “modern” environment just freaking move. I know there was money in that real estate deal but there’s real estate in other towns.

·         I love Deirdre. She’s really funny and kinda sweet. Even though she likes Ned (and maybe Nancy too lol) she doesn’t try to break them up or get between them. At least not anymore. She knows how much Ned loves Nancy. She even gave Nancy relationship advice. Which Nancy desperately needs because she terrible at this.

·         This is just me but I kinda wish Nancy had an original idea for their vacation instead of just going back to Austria. Maybe let Ned pick this time because he’s the one who has to play catch up all the time and it’s only fair.

·         Carson’s an adorable dorky dad and the only rich white man I trust. I’ve said it in my tweets and I will say it until I die. No one can take that away from me.

·         This may be repetitive but I don’t like what this game did to Ned, Frank, and I guess even Nancy too. Ned knows about Frank’s feelings for Nancy. And now needless, useless, meaningless drama is gonna happen. I hate it I hate it I HATE IT!

·         Just the relationship drama didn’t add a thing to this game. It was stupid. Especially because it was unfinished. It should’ve just been taken out.

·         Joe looks 13 and way to skinny. He’s the brawn to Frank’s brain. Yes, he’s smart too and Frank isn’t weak. However, Joe is way stronger than him. If there has to be a scrawnier Hardy Boy, it’s Frank and we all know it.

·         To quote Joe he’s got Man Strength™.

·         Cause “Boy” is only part of the title, but Hardy Men doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

·         At times it feels like that the creators forget that Joe’s supposed to be smart too. There were times where it felt like they made him a total idiot. Though that could be personal too.

·         Frank being a total Captain Obvious, perfect.

·         They’re both puppies that got turned into human boys. Frank is just a calmer puppy

·         Love that Mei’s going to Waverly but some of the other references fell flat. The Cat thing and the “I only smoke when I’m on fire” thing. It’s just not the same.

·         Jason deserves the Not-As-Much-of-a-Jerk-as-You-Could-Have-Been Award.

·         Mei’s a sweetie when she finally lets you in.

·         The multiple endings seemed to have changed from different culprits to just what happens to Hathorne House and/or Teegan (I think). They seem to be pretty much the same. I did expect that as that has often been my experience with “multiple endings” games.

·         I’m glad that both the Accused Witches and Lauren can get the house. It seems right for that to happen.

·         Olivia’s pretty funny. I have a thing for eccentric characters. And it was funny how she tried to induct us into the coven at the end.

·         The red/ginger hair superstition is a real superstition and I’m glad it was used. It’s for witches, werewolves, and vampires. Not just that gingers have no souls. (from the Malleus Maleficarum)

·         If there is another game, I hope it’s the Nedcy vacation. And that we actually get to see Ned lol. I don’t get why he has never made an in-game appearance. It’s a little unfair at this point.

·         Considering Emerson College is 39 minutes away from Salem and we still didn’t get him, I doubt it. Even though they mentioned both Salem and kidnapping Ned in Labyrinth of Lies.

·         Also that the next one feels more like a Nancy Drew game.

·         There’s no puzzles and there’s so much changed that it doesn’t have the same feel to it.

·         This doesn’t feel like it took 4 ½ years to make. It feels like it took less than ½ a year. I can tell that things have changed because pretty much all the people who worked on it originally got fired. And that the Austrian game development company that took over everything (besides licensing) struggled to match the quality of the previous games.

·         It definitely wasn’t beta-tested or was barely beta-tested. Quite a few beta-testers have come forward to say they didn’t get the offer to beta-test until September of this year. A month before preorder. Yikes.

·         I know I got a little mean for some of the points but coddling the company by just saying positive things doesn’t help. They’ll get comfortable and give the fans worse things than this. I’m not an expert but I’ve played and learned enough games that I know some basics about how they’re made. It’s not easy but that doesn’t mean we should excuse things because of it.

·         There’s been a lot of controversy with HER and Penny and this game and probably more. I’m not gonna get more into that besides mentioning that things changed because of this and not for the better.

·         I probably missed somethings but whatever this is over 3000 words. I covered the basics and then some.

·         This game is just a 2.5/5 for me

[eggoreviews]

Persona 5 Palaces RANKED

After recently finishing up Persona 5, I'm sort of aching a bit for more content but not quite enough to splash on Dancing in Starlight. So, to sate my cravings for more of the phantom bois, here's my personal ranking of the main palaces you traverse through in the game. This list is based on how fun and consistently interesting each palace is in terms of gameplay, puzzles, soundtrack, character, aesthetic and overall relevance to the story. Hope u enjoy/agree! Kinda goes without saying, but MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD for the whole ass game

8. Okumura’s Spaceport of Greed

Who saw this coming? Probably everyone! Because Okumura's palace is pretty much consistently ranked at the bottom of every ranking I've seen. But before I go all negative, let's start with what I actually liked. First off, I ADORED the spaceport motif and the whole theme/aesthetic of this palace was amazing. Alongside that, the music, while probably not the strongest in the game, was still mega catchy and fit the palace perfectly (it's still a banger, even if it isn't Whims of Fate level banger). So yeah, this palace's rock bottom ranking is nothing to do with its look or its soundtrack, because they're both pretty tasty. It was everything else I had a slight problem with. Now this isn't to say I disliked this palace, I just felt that it was the weakest part of an absolutely stellar game. While the majority of the puzzles weren't terrible, the infamous airlock puzzle definitely got in my bad books, as I'm pretty firmly in the 'this puzzle is weird luck-based bollocks' camp on this one, with it being the only puzzle in the game I had to look up the solution for. The constant back-and-forthing to different points of the palace to pick up keycards from the stupid robots became unfortunately very repetitive, especially with Morgana constantly screaming at me that the treasure was real close but (spoiler alert) it totally wasn't. And to top all that off, I felt this palace brought with it the weakest characters arcs in the whole game. I really struggled to become attached to Haru, the last true member of the thieves. While she was an okay character and I sympathised with her plight of being sold off to that one arsehole, I felt she wasn't written to be particularly interesting and her introduction to the thieves felt really shoehorned in compared to the natural-feeling transitions of all the other characters. She didn't quite feel as if she belonged there as much as the others (big sorry to all the Haru stans). And echoing this, the character of Okumura himself also felt incredibly bland and he was without a doubt the least interesting villain of the bunch. Oh, and his boss fight? Objectively the worst in the game. You fight the same robots you've been fighting the whole palace, with a timer, and then you kill him in one hit. Yeah, so the tea is, palace looks and sounds great, but that's really it.

7. Mementos Depths / Prison of Sloth

From this point on, I had very few problems with any of the palaces. As the final dungeon of the game, I felt that this one had definitely had adequate build-up but, as many others seem to say, didn't quite live up to the other palaces. For one, the design and soundtrack was much less interesting (though I guess this can be forgiven, as it's Mementos) and it was over pretty quickly in the end. But I really did enjoy those pressure plate puzzles for some reason and it was pretty cool to go around the velvet room and save all your pals before the final fight, so I just kind of liked this one. Not much to say here other than that it was really good, but the others were better.

6. Kaneshiro’s Bank of Gluttony

While it was fairly difficult to rank Kaneshiro's palace this low, considering it has the awakening of my favourite character, thinking about the palace as a whole compared to the others is what did it. The bank motif? Really cool! Seems inevitable for what is fundamentally a heist game and pulls it off really well. And that soundtrack is easily one of the best tracks in the game. The palace itself is split vaguely into two main sections, the main bank and the vault. The bank section is mostly pretty fun and well-paced, but the palace starts to get just a little bit iffy when the vault section kicks off. The idea is cool, but most of the second half of the palace feels a bit like padding, which becomes a little repetitive overtime. These really are minor gripes though, I gotta stress that, because I genuinely enjoyed this palace for the most part. Something else I enjoyed was Kaneshiro himself and his role in the story. Out of all the palace owners in the game, Kaneshiro felt the most like a true archetypal Bond villain and it does feel awesome to take him on as the phantom thieves are finally starting to get their feet off the ground. On top of that, you've got Makoto joining the team, which makes this one a real treat character-wise. In conclusion, I want Makoto to step on me.

5. Madarame’s Museum of Vanity

This one really did have a tough act to follow. Being the second palace you take on (as well as the awakening of my ,,,, second favourite character), I remember how impressed I was the first time around with how cool the visuals are in this palace. The soundtrack to the palace is generally fairly unremarkable, but very calming and surreal which definitely fit the setting. This palace definitely feels the most trippy out of the bunch, placing you in odd gold-plated mazes and endless corridors plastered with distorted paintings and tripwires to constantly make sure you're paying attention. This palace really does feel like you’ve been placed inside the mind of a deluded artist, even if the game’s attempts to make Madarame seem despicable only really serve to highlight how awful the previous palace owner, Kamoshida, is in comparison. This isn’t to say Madarame isn’t a trashbag, it just becomes obvious that the game is trying hard to make you hate him. That aside, Madarame’s palace provides a welcome challenge and effectively build upon what you learned in the first palace without overwhelming the player, all the while not compromising on the creative, stunning visuals. The ending pay-off with Madarame’s showdown, while a satisfying conclusion to Yusuke’s main character arc, provides a boss fight that is over a little too quickly, though that’s kind of just nitpicking at that point. All in all, a solid dungeon from start to finish.

4. Futaba’s Tomb of Wrath

Without a doubt the most emotionally charged palace in the game, this dungeon is a unique experience unlike anything else you’ll find in the game. Instead of taking down a despicable villain or giving a certain prosecutor a push in the right direction, you’re instead helping to heal the heart of a traumatised girl, who requested herself for her heart to be stolen. You’re reaching the halfway point during this palace, so it’s a brilliant change of pace from the dickholes you’ve been stealing the hearts of up to this point. The game truly makes you feel genuine sympathy for Futaba and seeing her recovery slowly but steadily take place over the game really tugs on the heartstrings. As for the palace itself, the game takes its love of ambiguous metaphors and cranks up the dial, giving the player an interesting but oddly melancholy setting in the form of an Egyptian pyramid. The background music for this palace is perfect to help accentuate this, as the soundtrack works with the visuals to make you just feel a bit sad. The puzzles are well thought out and never overstay their welcome, the layout of the palace is consistently unique and fun to traverse and the ending boss is one of the most creative, high-stakes battles in Persona 5. And while Futaba’s awakening wasn’t my favourite, it’s great to see her finally face her demons and accept that her mother’s death wasn’t her fault. But most of all, this palace reminds you that you should never get too comfortable when playing Persona 5, as the tables could turn at any minute and suddenly make you care about the person you’re changing the heart of.

3. Kamoshida’s Castle of Lust

Kamoshida is arguably the biggest scumbag you take on in Persona 5, so it makes a lot of sense that his palace is one of the most satisfying to undertake. The castle acts as the perfect starting dungeon, teaching you the ropes without too much hand-holding and providing you with simple but visually interesting palace to boot. Before the game drags you into its grandiose main plot, you start with a much smaller scale, but equally despicable villain that you immediately know you have to deal with. And on top of that, each character introduction is seamless and fits perfectly in with the narrative. The puzzles here are simple enough to be basically harmless and each area of the castle you navigate changes things up to keep it unique while teaching you the inner workings of the palaces you’ll be taking down for the rest of the game. As for the first boss, the build-up feels perfect as the tension amps up and reaches boiling point as you send your first calling card. Oh, and Kamoshida’s boss design himself as this horrifying, weird lust demon definitely sets you up for what’s ahead. Great as a beginning act, but also a heckin solid dungeon in its own right. Plus, I’m a sucker for castles, so I might be a little biased here.

2. Niijima’s Casino of Jealousy

I’ll be honest with you, I think a casino is one of the most awesome ideas for a dungeon I’ve ever heard of in a JRPG. And everything about this one is near enough perfect. The reveal that you’ll be targeting the person who’s been interrogating you for the whole game, the link back to the very starting cutscene, the tension mounting as you desperately try to work out who the traitor is, Makoto’s emotional turmoil as she wrestles with the ethics of targeting her own sister. Story-wise, this is totally perfect. And the dungeon itself? Definitely the most consistently unique in the whole game. Each floor you traverse in the casino offers something new and interesting for you to work around, from the rigged dice games to the dark labyrinth and the battle arena trial (not to mention the whole ‘collect enough coins to proceed’ thing reminded me way too much of Sonic Adventure and for some reason, I’m putting that down as a good thing). Whims of Fate is a perfect soundtrack, because it totally fits the atmosphere and also it’s a bop and I love it to pieces. And the palace wraps itself up neatly in a little bow with a boss fight that totally kicks arse. Sae Niijima starts the battle by, of course, rigging the game against you. But once her cheating facade falls away, the true battle begins and she morphs into a weird, distorted mech thing that takes heavy inspiration from Makoto’s persona too. Basically, it’s cool. And I love it.

1. Shido’s Cruiser of Pride

This is likely to be a controversial choice for the best palace in the game, as it’s generally agreed among most fans that Shido’s palace was a bit slightly rubbish. But really, I couldn’t disagree more. Yes, Sae’s palace was the definition of awesome, but something about Shido’s just one-upped it somehow. Of course, your character’s personal connection with this mission that was absent from the other previous palaces gives this one a much more dramatic feel, as you finally get to take on the guy orchestrating everyone’s suffering (if you don’t count good ol’ Optimus Prime from the final palace) and it’s as satisfying as it needs to be. The soundtrack is suitably epic and lends itself well as a precursor to the finale and exploring the cruiser is both intriguing and enjoyable throughout, as you navigate each section of this bloated paradise filled with rich arseholes. But at the same time, the whole Noah’s Ark thing with Shido only saving those willing to submit to him makes this palace as chilling as it is visually stunning. For me, this was a brilliant dungeon beginning to end, as collecting ‘letters of recommendation’ from each of Shido’s cognitive allies allows for a deeper insight into Shido as a character, but also builds you up nicely to the palace’s climax. Plenty of nice character moments and the boss fight, while not the best in the game, was still a strong point. Oh and yeah, I actually really liked the rat puzzles. The puzzles everyone seems to hate? Thought they provided a nice amount of challenge and never really felt like they were dragging on for hugely long. But what really peaked this palace on top of all the others was the encounter with Mr. Pancakes towards the end. Akechi was a brilliantly crafted character throughout his stint in the game and his arc had a fitting conclusion before you finally take on Shido. I was mega happy with this palace and honestly, it was the one cemented this game as one of my big faves.

Got a palace ranking of your own? Or even just one that stood out as your personal favourite? Let me know down below!

[toomanysweaters-moved]

Alright, so I’ve mentioned what Noelle would be like entering the Dark World in little bits before, but since it’ll probably become more common soon (winks at @deltagram & @vibrantsouled), I felt she needed a more thorough HC dump.

Appearance-

Alright, so this is pretty much the design I’ve accepted as canon in my head, but for the sake of levity & preservation, I’ll put the design into text based on what I see in my mind’s eye when I think of her falling into a closet.

Her Dark World outfit is, for all intents and purposes, a more Christmas-y Red Riding Hood costume; a dress skirt, blouse, and a little poncho/cloak thing with fluffy, Santa-esque frills. The outfit is primarily red with the Santa-fluff being a minty green instead of white; the same color as her hair is tinted when there.

In terms of items on her person, her “weapons” are instruments, as she’s classed as a bard. She starts with a simple bell, and if her gear is properly upgraded would end up with a lyre; all of which, oddly enough, she can play despite never having held an instrument in her life... only in the Dark World.

She also has a “stocking of holding”, which is basically just a colorful version of the purse she has normally, that has “theoretically infinite storage”. However, it’s already full of a crazy amount of swords (AKA this is a joke and if you get it ily).

Abilities-

As I mentioned before, Noelle is a bard; specifically one built for the role of support. I’ve had a lot of ideas about things she could do in an effort to make her distinct from Ralsei, and here’s what I’ve come up with as far as spells:

At the start of the adventure, Noelle would have “one” spell very simply labeled “Play a Song”; with the flavor text explaining she has numerous songs, all beneficial to the entirety of the party, that she’ll randomly choose from.

Upon choosing the spell, she’ll play one of these; each coming with a short (ten seconds & skippable) bit of audio that silences the current battle music (think Shyren’s singing in Undertale) before the effect goes through.

Song of Heart- Made up from pieces of Toriel motifs (Fallen Down & Heartache), grants a regeneration buff to all members of the party so they’ll regenerate health each turn for three turns, at a rate decent enough to be useful, but not enough to overshadow Ralsei’s targeted healing.

Song of Tenacity- Made up from pieces of Undyne motifs (Waterfall & Spear of Justice), grants a “haste” buff to Kris’s SOUL for three turns, letting it move faster & giving it longer invincibility frames.

Song of Gusto- Made up from pieces of Mettaton’s motifs (Metal Crusher & Death by Glamour), grants a significant DEF buff to the party.

Notes: All of them sound Christmas-y, regardless of motifs. Songs will directly continue from where they left off the last time you got the chance to use them, and if the audio was manually put together would form full songs.

Simple Motif Choice Explanations:

Toriel heals you if you’re injured in Undertale.

You have to RUN AWAY from Undyne in Undertale.

Mettaton (as a box) has the highest DEF in Undertale.

I honestly just wanted to add a bit of flair, since music was one of the main appeals of Undertale for me, and a bard could really show that off.

During a crucial moment akin to the Spade King fight, where Noelle’s will may change, her “Play a Song” spell will be replaced by a “Song of Hopes & Dreams”; as is probably obvious, the song would be made up of Asriel motifs (SAVE the World, His Theme, and obviously Hopes & Dreams), and would grant the benefits of the previous thee songs all at once.

Noelle very likely has access to more songs than these for interactions and stuff, but these are what I’d see her having in actual gameplay terms.

Aside from that, Noelle has another useful ability in the form of an ACT rather than a SPELL: if she’s a part of the party long enough to see a type of enemy get spared (not pacified) three times, afterwards she’ll permanently have a unique ACT option for those specific enemies at all times labeled “Gift”.

This results in her, who would’ve thought, giving a fully wrapped Christmas gift to the enemy in question unique to them; usually relating to whatever their spare conditions were. This results in the enemy immediately leaving the battle overjoyed with their present, skipping any required sparing steps.

She needs to see an enemy leave the battle on their own accord three times first so that she knows what makes them happy and can come up with a gift.

[magioftheseas]

Korekiyo?

I got two reqs for Kork. Nice.

I actually really like Kork, too, rip me.

Okay, here I go.

Boring Ass Obvious Defense: Korekiyo’s actions and weird fetishes are the result of literal brainwashing so he can’t be held fully accountable. Yep. Yeah. What the hell ever.

Let’s do this seriously.

Korekiyo first and foremost gets points for being genuinely really educated and into his craft to the point where he’s really excited and eager to share what he’s learned with others. This honestly does not happen enough with dgrp characters which is aggravating because they’re supposedly really passionate about their talent and yet they hardly really…talk about it?? I don’t often get the impression that their talent is the character’s life, even when that often should be the case, but for Korekiyo, he’s super passionate and invested in anthropology and you can just feel the enthusiasm whenever he rambles, which I really, really like.

I feel like he’s one of those people that just kind of sweeps you away with his passion for the subject and that’s really cool.

The sister stuff is…weird, ngl, because it’s handled pretty oddly. I do think it’s interesting how he’s clearly using his knowledge and studies to cope with his loss as that manifests in…a way that definitely isn’t boring.

A lot of people think he was abused by her, but I doooon’t think that’s supported by the text? I mean, it would certainly make more sense but… (I don’t think KDK’s sensible enough to write that in…) Their relationship clearly wasn’t healthy either way. There is at least some dimension of imbalance to their relationship and that’s at least mildly more interesting than just…whatever the fuck is going on with Monophanie and Monotarou. (“Better than the Monocubs” is such faint praise that if it were any fainter, I’d be comatose.)

Still! If nothing else, he’s pretty defined! The writing is definitely going more the route that Kork’s just kind of a maniac but like, those can still be fun. He may be confused, but he’s got the spirit! And…

I do think that to his credit, his plan in Chapter 3 is the most solid of the Chapter 3 plans. Yes it’s so obviously him but it’s still a clever plan and there’s some honest to god excitement in trying to figure out how the hell he did it. It really does feel the most like an early AA case where the fun isn’t “who” but “how”. I really enjoyed it, save for some stupid gameplay choices but that’s really purely the fault of the writing and game design rather than anything Kork did. Out of the Chapter 3 culprits, I think Korekiyo is easily the best in terms of general mystery and considering this is a mystery game… That goes a long way. There’s a reason why Chapter 3 is easily my favorite of the cases even if my overall favorite moments lie elsewhere. It’s a pretty solid case and Kork plays an engaging villain in how he just keeps slipping through your fingers even though you’re positive he done did it.

Korekiyo may be a hot mess of weird-ass writing choices, but he’s still super enjoyable and engaging with what he brings to the mystery table and for that, I can’t hate him even a little, lol.

And that’s my defense~!

[psychedelicsaber]

So I just binged through most of your blog, because I love neglecting my adult responsibilities. I wanted to ask, what's your opinion on Legend timeline Lara? To me she's like a more fleshed out classic Lara (I dislike the family issues part of her tho). She's efficent, elegant. While classic Lara is a borderline villain in the games, murdering her way through anything to get what she wants (which is fun but actually scary). In short, I can imagine having tea with Legend Lara and not be scared.

I tend to ramble too much as well, don’t worry about it~ ;)

First off thank you for spending your adult time to browse my messy blog :D

Second off, I don’t know if it’s fair to judge something I haven’t played…well at least not finish it anyway. Played Legend for about half an hour and I just couldn’t bring myself to continue any further because reasons. I really did try to like it but it was just not for me. Same thing happened when I was playing Anniversary but I do like the ambience. I did finished Underworld and to my knowledge, was known as the worse of the trilogy to most people but oddly enough the one I enjoyed the most out of the three.

My opinion on LAUra, hmm that’s a tough one. I haven’t thought about it in a while. She’s efficient. Sure, she’s always geared up for any situation, I agree. She’s elegant, umm I’d say that’s more subjective. (In a technical sense) Her movements are rather wonky to me, especially the way she runs/walks and how spastic the animations are. She’s agile and acrobatic especially in Underworld which I happily welcome the practical move sets but how they sped up the animations that made her less ‘elegant’.

Legend Lara specifically, they made her into somewhat of a hollywood character rather than a comic book character like she was in the classics, if that makes sense.

In terms of character, I find it very odd that she would lose control of herself and start screaming her head off at her ‘friend’ while pointing a loaded gun at her.

WHERE!!! *BANG* IS!!! *BANG* MY!! *BANG* MOTHEEEERR??!!!!

Completely out of character. Throughout the game she was calm, making snarky remarks about things happening around her and such, all of the sudden. BAAAMMM!!! WHERE ME MUM AT????!!!!?!?!!?

They wanted the players to sympathize with Lara by putting these traumatic events as her driven force to justify what she does to make her more 'human’ as opposed to just pure unfiltered ’shooting everything in the face while jumping 10 feet into the air without a care in the world’ fun. At the end of the day they tried to make Legend Lara look like a hero, a Legend! as the title says which was weird because I always see Lara as more of an anti-hero who loves to steal things…it’s in the name 'raiding tombs’ lol. Her alternate title would probably be Grave Digger haha.

Granted classic Lara was murdering her way to get what she wanted but isn’t Legend Lara too? I mean, she massacred hundreds of human enemies. HUMAN BEINGS!!! and she wants to talk about her feelings? Come on. Don’t be like that. I get that she was traumatized in Anniversary but like this is the problem I have with trying to humanize a character that murders everything on a daily basis. It was a major problem in the 2013 reboot series as well.

To be frank, I’m sort of indifferent towards LAUra, even Underworld Lara was rather unlikable. She went from okay in Legend to 'meh’ in Anniversary to 'wow what a bitch she is’ in Underworld. I honestly enjoy Underworld because it’s the closest thing to the classic tomb raider in terms of gameplay but Lara, she was just mean and have anger issues. Now I’m not saying classic Lara was in a zen state at all times but she was portrayed as 'IDGAF’ in a humourous way which was part of her charm. Crystal Dynamics solely depended on serious and overly dramatic tone. You gotta have some comedic relief sometimes which sadly the humour decline from Legend to Underworld.

I don’t know if that answers your question or not but that’s my opinion on the LAU trilogy Lara. All of the three felt differently but I can say this, LAUra is a vengeful person…and determined for sure.

I didn’t think of Lara as much when I played the classics back when I was a kid. Even now I hardly think of her when I replay the game. Most of the time it’s usually just me tagging along with Lara and her adventure while she does her thing (even if I’m the one controlling her every moves). I didn’t really have to indulge myself in her feelings and sobbing facial expressions to be in her world, that’s why atmosphere in gameplay exists. Unfortunately for me, they turned the spotlight from gameplay to the main character and made everything else pretty much a white noise.

…yes Reyes. It’s her story after all…

tldr; What’s my opinion on LAUra - I’m generally neutral about it. It’s whatever.

[aion-rsa]

Was Captain America: Super Soldier Almost Part of the MCU Canon?

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If you’re anything like me, you probably haven’t thought about 2011’s Captain America: Super Soldier in years (if you remember the game at all). While a decent enough action game in its own right, Super Soldier is perhaps best remembered as a remnant of a very brief time when MCU films were adapted into video games that were often released the same week as the movies.

However, I recently heard an interesting rumor that I haven’t been able to shake. That rumor suggests that Super Soldier isn’t just based on an MCU film but at one point was meant to actually be part of the MCU canon. The only reason it apparently wasn’t added to the canon is simply that plans changed somewhere along the way.

It’s the kind of rumor that is easy to dismiss as wishful thinking crafted by internet trolls. Yet, much like we saw when we broke down the rumors that Link and Zelda are brother and sister, there are certain truths to this rumor which don’t necessarily confirm or deny it but instead reveal fascinating possibilities regarding what the MCU could have been if a few things had gone just a little differently.

Captain America: Super Soldier is Set in the MCU Universe but It’s Not Entirely Clear How it Fits

The first question that needs to be answered about Captain America: Super Soldier has to be “Is it actually based on Captain America: The First Avenger?”

It’s a surprisingly complicated question. At first glance, Super Soldier seems to be a fairly standard video game tie-in. Many of First Avenger’s main actors reprise their roles in the game, and Super Soldier was even released the same week as Captain America’s MCU debut. That all suggests that the world of the game is roughly meant to be the same as the one seen in the film.

However, the wording of this section of Super Soldier’s official announcement creates some confusion regarding the exact relationship between the game and the movie:

“[Christos] Gage wrote his original story for Captain America: Super Soldier so that the setting exists within the same world as the upcoming movie of the same name, but he infused the game with immersive twists designed to enhance gameplay with all-new cinematic action sequences.”

That statement certainly seems to be trying to carefully avoid the implication that Super Soldier is a direct adaptation of the film, which is an oddly prudent move given that the events of the game’s story happen during a time period that the movie doesn’t specifically cover. It’s certainly not hard to walk away from it with the impression that the intention was for Super Soldier to tell a First Avenger story that happened but just wasn’t shown in the movie.

One other interpretation of that statement to keep in mind is that Sega was trying to suggest that they were essentially creating a “What If?” scenario or some other kind of situation wherein they could justify having so many connections to the movie without strictly being based on it. The biggest problem with that idea, though, is the implication that the game is somehow arguing that there’s an MCU multiverse where the characters from that universe exist as we know them in the films but are going on entirely different adventures. That’s obviously hard to believe given the nature of the MCU’s structure as we know it today.

Mostly, though, that statement is just the first piece in what proves to be a larger puzzle.

Super Soldier Oddly Helps Set-Up Major Winter Soldier Plot Points

The most interesting quality of Super Soldier is how it almost accidentally sets up plot points that would appear in Winter Soldier and future MCU movies. There are few examples of that concept more intriguing than the game’s portrayal of Arnim Zola.

There’s a fascinating moment in Super Soldier when we see that Captain America has been captured by HYDRA. While he’s being restrained, Zola informs him that he has taken samples of Captain America’s blood in the hopes of recreating the super serum that gave Steve Rogers the abilities he needed to become the legendary hero. 

While Zola is stopped before he can deliver the completed version of that serum to Red Skull, we later learn that he had intended to use it on one of Captain America’s friends, James Montgomery Falsworth, in an effort to turn one of Captain America’s closest accomplices against him and give HYDRA a living weapon as strong as Rogers.

Strangely, that’s basically what happens with Bucky. In fact, the idea that Zola previously captured Captain America and used his blood to create a super-soldier serum goes a long way to explaining how and why Bucky turned out the way he did in the films. Zola was able to take what he learned from those experiments and simply fashion a new serum that was used to help create the Winter Soldier.

Another interesting “coincidence” involving Zola occurs later in the game when we learn that Zola has transferred his mind to a machine in order to battle Captain America. While that’s clearly a way for Captain America to have a more traditional video game boss fight against Zola, the entire process is oddly similar to how Zola eventually transfers his consciousness to a series of computer servers (as seen in Winter Soldier).

It should be noted that both of those stories were previously seen in Marvel comics and certainly aren’t the sole property of Super Soldier‘s writers and creative team. Still, it’s fascinating to consider how well those concepts gel with future MCU events.

Equally noteworthy (if certainly not as impactful) are the similarities between the HYDRA helicopter Captain America must battle at the end of Super Soldier and the design of the devices we see in the climactic aerial battle of Winter Soldier. In fact, the two designs are so similar that this is one area where you’ve really got to wonder if Sega was working with rough design sketches provided by Marvel or if Marvel Studios was perhaps intrigued by the way that Sega animated and designed those vehicles and decided to borrow them for future films.

It should also certainly be pointed out that one of Super Soldier’s core plot points involved an attempt to awaken an ancient force known as the Sleeper. Well, in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we see an army of robot soldiers known as “Sleeper Mechs.” It’s hardly a 1:1 reference, but it’s another of the fascinating ways that later MCU works at least utilized basic terms and concepts that we previously saw in Super Soldier. It’s not even that hard to imagine a world in which the names of those soldiers have canonically intended a direct callback to HYDRA’s failed plot in the game.

While those similarities are undeniably fascinating, the most interesting thing about Super Soldier may just be the way it differs from what comes next.

The Mysteries of Baron Zemo, Wolfgang Von Strucker, and Madame Hydra’s Super Soldier Roles

Much of Super Soldier takes place in Castle Zemo: the home of Baron Heinrich Zemo. Comic book fans will no doubt recognize that character, but the name “Zemo” may only ring a bell with MCU fans who recall Zemo’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War and his involvement in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

Well, Super Soldier follows the Zemo characters of the comics a little more closely by portraying Henrich Zemo as a Nazi/Red Skull/H.Y.D.R.A. sympathizer who is eventually betrayed by forces who largely wish to use him for his resources as well as access to the Sleeper. In many Marvel Comics stories, Helmut Zemo is portrayed as the son of Henrich whose hatred towards Captain America is based on a desire to get revenge for his father. Obviously, the MCU version of Helmut Zemo could not possibly be the son of a man who died around the time of World War 2. 

Interestingly, though, the Civil War writers mentioned that they were, at one point, at least intrigued by the possibility of portraying the MCU’s Helmut as Henrich’s son. Ultimately, though, they felt it was too much of a stretch to suggest that Helmut would be so motivated for revenge over something that would have happened over 70 years ago in the MCU timeline. 

Still, you could interpret that statement to mean that there may have been a point when the MCU producers and creative team members were at least considering the possibility of portraying Helmut Zemo closer to the version of the character commonly seen in the comics and that Super Soldier could have been an early attempt to get the Zemo name out there.

There’s also the strange case of Wolfgang von Strucker. Strucker isn’t introduced in the MCU until Winter Soldier’s mid-credits sequence, but he ends up becoming a fairly important piece of the MCU in Age of Ultron (despite his relative lack of screentime). His eventual role in the MCU makes it that much more interesting that the first piece of any MCU adjacent media to introduce the character was Super Soldier.

While the version of Von Strucker we see in Super Soldier is certainly different than his eventual MCU counterpart (he sports the iconic Satan Claw from the comics, for instance, and he’s…you know..alive during WWII), it’s fascinating to see Von Strucker oppose Captain America years before the two would share the screen in Age of Ultron.

Then you have Madame Hydra. While not a part of the MCU films, she was a character in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series who was, again, first utilized in this Captain America game that at least suggests it was supposed to be related to the universe of the pivotal MCU film Captain America: First Avenger.

While all of these characters were of course previously featured in the comics, Marvel obviously could have turned to any number of characters from the Captain America comics over the years when expanding the roster of their future films. Instead, they turned to a few characters who were all previously prominently featured in this Captain America game that isn’t technically canonical but certainly starts to feel as if it easily could have been part of the MCU if just a couple of things went differently or a couple of lines of dialog were added to the films and shows that described those characters as “ancestors.”

How did all of these coicidences happen? The answer may lie in the other Sega MCU games. 

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Sega’s Thor and Iron Man Games Featured Other Fascinating MCU Connections

The massive Marvel Cinematic Universe began with 2008’s comparatively humble Iron Man movie. It was, at the time, little more than another blockbuster superhero movie. Given the standards of that time, it’s only natural the film was adapted into a video game pretty much right away. 

“Standard” is a fairly good way to describe Sega’s first Iron Man adaptation. Nearly everything about it is forgettable, including its story which largely follows the plot of the film. The game was touted as the start of Marvel and Sega’s relationship, and it certainly feels like something closer to a trial run.

It wasn’t until the release of Iron Man 2 that things started to get more interesting. That game featured an original story inspired by the events of the film but clearly separate from them. Once again, though, the most important thing about that story is how it (perhaps inadvertently) featured plot points and characters that would be seen in future MCU films.

Ghost is featured in Iron Man 2 years before the character appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp. A.I.M. is mentioned before the organization’s appearance in Iron Man 3. Ultimo is even featured in the game in a way that recalls certain plot points later seen in Age of Ultron.

All those characters and plot points are different in the game than how they appeared in future MCU films, but it remains fascinating that the sequel’s original story utilized concepts that Marvel would later revisit. The same is true of Sega’s 2011 Thor game which takes place before the first Thor film but features characters such as Surtur and Hela who wouldn’t appear in the MCU until Thor: Ragnarok.

All of these appearances could be dismissed rightfully so) as coincidences. Yet, when you add all of them together, you start to wonder what the long-term plans for these games were and whether or not there were ever any intentions of eventually making either them, or any future titles that may have been planned at that time, part of the MCU.

There’s very little official information to suggest that was ever the case, but the ways that Sega and Marvel changed how they talked about these games over time is certainly noteworthy. While the first Iron Man game was described as little more than an adaption of the movie it was based on, Sega started to create a little distance for themselves by using phrases like “same universe” in the PR statements that often announced these games.

The more you look at the history of these adaptations, the more you get the feeling that the relationship between Sega and Marvel also started to change and that the plans for these games changed along with it.

Was Captain America: Super Soldier Ever Supposed to Be Part of the MCU Canon?

While it’s easy to buy into the idea that there was once a time when Super Soldier was developed with the MCU canon in mind, the fact of the matter is that there is no evidence to support the idea that any video games based on the MCU films were ever supposed to be part of the MCU canon or were intended to directly set-up future films.

The genesis of that rumor seems to be both the early relationship between Sega and Marvel Studios as well as the fact that there are so many elements of Super Soldier that do lead into Captain America: Winter Soldier in their own strange way. In fact, it’s been said that an early draft of Winter Soldier featured more WW2 flashbacks. That has only given rise to the theory that there was a point where Winter Soldier would have tied into the events of WW2 a little more closely and that Super Soldier could have represented an early draft of those events. 

What you have to keep in mind, though, is that the MCU was in a relative state of chaos at that time. Netflix was a few years away from debuting Marvel-based shows with a loose MCU relationship, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would generate significant confusion regardings its MCU relationship, and as we’ve discussed, these games confusingly existed within the universe of the Marvel films yet feature significant differences that put them in conflict with the stories and characters of those films.

Those games were seemingly little more than a symptom of a time when Disney and Marvel Studios either didn’t have as much control over the narrative of the MCU or were otherwise less interested in exercising that control and dictate everything the MCU touched. Of course, Disney and Marvel Studios would eventually “trim the fat” in terms of both their direct involvement in video game development and their willingness to spread the MCU beyond the big screen in a way that opened any room for ambiguity regarding the status of the canon.

If anything, the idea that Super Soldier was once meant to be canonical and help set-up both Winter Soldier and future MCU projects is a wish from those who always felt that the lack of notable MCU video games denied us the chance to live out some of the best theatrical experiences of the last 15 years. There’s always been a feeling that so much more could have been done with MCU games.

At the same time, Marvel executives had previously stated that they at least once considered certain comic issues to be canonical within the MCU. More importantly, Marvel Studios’ Creative Director of Research & Development, Will Corona Pilgrim, tweeted in 2012 that Marel Studios’ views towards those early games were best described as “Film Agnostic.”

@wyokid in a sense, yes. @cbake76 and the fellas over in Marvel Games like to use a term coined by TQ Jefferson as 'Film Agnostic'

— Will Corona Pilgrim (@willgrem) February 6, 2012

That statement suggests that Marvel may have, at one point, been working much more closely with the designers of those early MCU-based games and were perhaps even sharing resources and preferred source material. It also makes it much more likely that Marvel Studios members could have been inspired by certain ideas they saw in those games. After all, the Marvel Studios team didn’t necessarily acknowledge the existence of these games in a canonical sense, but they stopped short of outright denying their existence either. Still, the idea that they ever intended for any versions of these games to represent definitive MCU plans remains a very loose rumor, at best.

If nothing else, Super Soldier stands as an interesting look at an alternate timeline. No, I don’t mean the one where Winter Soldier’s story is based on the timeline where Super Soldier is part of the MCU canon. I’m talking about the one where Marvel continued to allow game developers to explore the MCU universe a little more freely. It may have been chaotic, but it certainly could have been fun. 

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