#pigma kept killing me so i made this

[sylphrene]

Realized I never posted this art of Fay

[out-of-this-dimension]

Hypothetically Rewriting Assault’s Story + Some General Assault Opinions

There’s a game my husband and I like to play when we watch a movie, play a game, or read a book that has a story that we don’t really enjoy or we enjoy certain parts of but not others.  We look at things we’d keep and things we’d change and we build a story from there-- sort of like an AU but we don’t really go into the writing part, we just stick to theorizing and mapping a general story.

I decided to play that game with Star Fox.  Not because I think Star Fox has a bad story but because sometimes I think the stories could have been handled better.  Note: for the rewrite game, I only really look at story, even for video games, I don’t really look at gameplay mechanics, but I do understand those have a lot to do with story potential so I do take it in as a factor... I just don’t bother to “rewrite” the mechanics, if that makes any sense at all.  Some of my list today will include boss encounters but I wouldn’t necessarily say those are mechanic-related... more like “event-related”.

I’ve mused a bit in the past about rewriting Adventures and Command and I do have plans to do a mock up of an Adventures remake eventually.  However, today I was thinking about how I would go about handling an Assault re-write in particular.  Much like Command and Adventures, I don’t have any beef with the core story but I do think there’s a few things that could’ve been better about Assault’s storyline-- like they had good ideas rolling but they didn’t quite refine them.

Under the cut because SUPER long.

My basic feelings on Assault are pretty positive.  I think the game is generally just fun and I like that it feels like the natural progression from SF64.  I liked getting to see planets we haven’t seen since the N64 era in better graphics and I liked seeing Star Wolf return.  I also just thought the aparoids were neat enemies. 

Generally speaking, though, when it comes to Assault, I think it suffers from the thing it tries to push the most-- the story.  I think a lot of people get caught up in thinking the story is better than it is because it’s the first game since SF64 that really follows the same Star Fox vibe without retelling the Lylat Wars.  Don’t get me wrong, the overall plot is great but the execution and pacing are... wonky.  Certain characterizations also take a hit in some regards but no one really talks about that when Command exists. That’s something we’ll talk about later on with this post.

That being said, Assault really does have a lot good going for it.  An absolute banger of a soundtrack, some great dialogue, a neat story synopsis, the introduction of cool characters like Panther and Beltino (who existed but was always off-screen), and just good levels.  

So, here’s what I would add, I suppose, if I were to somehow have the ability to rewrite Assault.  Originally I had this in paragraph form, but I’ve made it into more of a list under topic segments with main points bolded for your viewing pleasure.  Some of these points might be considered nitpicky and while I do understand that yes, this is a game about space animals, I do hold the developers in high enough regard to make a game with a continuity that makes sense.

The Story Changes

- Reduce Pigma’s storyline in Assault.  This is the biggest one for me because a bulk of the plotline feels like a giant chase to just get at Pigma and it feels like it derails from the actual plot with the aparoids.  We only go to Sargasso because of Pigma.  We only go to Fichina and then back to Meteo again, because of Pigma.  That’s 3 levels in a 10 level game devoted to just tracking down Pigma and chasing him.  While it makes the build up to fighting Pigma kind of nice, I personally feel like the plot could be reduced to 2 levels.  If Assault overall was a longer game, I could see them making it 3 levels.  Overall, though, in its current state, I feel like the side plot overstays its welcome and the aparoids promptly get shoved to the side in favor of “Oh no, we gotta get to Pigma!” And I get the main motive here is to show how the aparoids affect people and because of the build up, it does a good job at showing how utterly terrifying the aparoids are.  But it’s still too long given the length of Assault’s story. The only alternative to this is make Assault longer, which... honestly, it should be.  

- Revise the scene with Tricky.  I’m obviously not well-versed in dinosaur biology but I’m pretty sure dinos didn’t grow that fast from what studying I HAVE done.  And why is he suddenly king now?  Did his parents die?  He seems not affected by this at all?  Like it’s a funny scene with him, Fox, and Krystal, but it’s odd if you really look at it.  Give us, as players, more context because I’m still not even sure what happened to make Tricky suddenly the leader and... big.  As a note, you’re gonna hear me gripe a lot about the Sauria level in this post.

- The Star Wolf + Peppy sacrifice is a low effort way to raise tension/stakes and then cop out.  Oldest trick in the book, imo, is to act like you’re going to kill off important characters only for them to be alive miraculously.  And let’s face it, as an audience we all know they aren’t going to kill those characters because it’s Nintendo and those characters are too beloved.  I would’ve forgiven them for only doing this with Peppy or Star Wolf, but when you tack them both together and throw in the fact they make it seem like you’re going to have to kill General Pepper too... yeah, it’s just a bit much of the same trope over and over again.  I wanted to put a note in here about how I’m fine with the Great Fox being “sacrificed” but overall, it needed to return to the series because of it’s icon status, but I think that’s more of a gripe at Command instead of Assault.

- Keep Pigma alive.  This will conflict with a point I have later on about the game consistently having characters cheat death for easy drama points but with Pigma, I would’ve kept him fully alive... but maybe with some physical damage from the aparoids.  I understand he’s semi-alive in Command and tbh I don’t know where I stand on that.  Why keep Pigma alive, you might ask?  I feel like his character has a lot more potential than being “just the greedy guy”.  Like he’s got good potential future villain material for future games and... if I’m honest?  I just don’t see Nintendo wanting to keep Pigma dead so why even bother killing him off?  They couldn’t even commit to him being dead in Command anyways so it seems very moot.

- Bring Bill and Katt back.  Assault is acts a bit like a big reunion of all of our SF64 favorites but our two favorite side characters are suspiciously missing.  Wouldn’t Bill be out on the front lines fighting against Andrew in the beginning?  Or maybe back in Katina?  And wouldn’t Katt inevitably show up in the midst of the invasion, maybe to pointedly check in on Falco?

- Bring Andrew back for the final fight. I think Andrew being defeated early into the game is fine overall but I think bringing him back in for a reunion final fight against the aparoids would serve to really solidify that it’s really everyone vs the invading aparoid force.  It would show that not only is Star Wolf willing to put aside their differences but so is basically everyone in the Lylat System in the name of survival.  Imagine the Venomians and Cornerians working together against an aparoid fleet, giving Star Fox and Star Wolf time to attack the queen?  I just think it’d be neat and it’d open up the potential for some fun banter mid-mission.  I do understand that quite a few people consider Andrew canonically dead after Assault but personally, I feel that his defeat left his fate questionable (I’m a staunch believer that unless there’s a body, they’re probably alive, especially for Nintendo games because, again, they never like to kill people off) so him returning in Command never really bothered me.  

- In general, reconsider some of the character portrayals.  Unfortunately, when a series has a different studio for each game, character portrayals will inevitably have inconsistencies.  While I give Namco a lot of credit for putting in oodles and oodles of detail into the game (particularly the levels), I think they failed in their portrayal of Fox, at the least, and Wolf is a considerable offender as well.  While it’s obvious that Fox in Adventures was effectively modeled off of Sabre even in terms of personality, Rareware was at least able to justify Fox’s newfound jaded attitude with the passing of many years and a distinct lack of steady income, resulting in the team being in disarray.  Assault’s Fox is a stark contrast to his cynical interpretation with seemingly no explanation other than maybe “Oh, I have more money and a gf, maybe I should behave myself”.  As if the sudden change in personality wasn’t random, Fox also just seems very blah, like a blank slate stereotypical shooter game protagonist dude with little to no emotion.  Wolf is less obvious but gets slated into a mentor-like role midway through the game and ends up in a respectful rivalry with Fox... which there’s nothing inherently wrong with that except for it happening abruptly (and, I mean, Peppy is right there).  But I take less issue with this and more of an issue with the fact that there’s an entire level establishing that Wolf now runs a crime den with effectively what seems to be an army and no one bats an eye at this.  He doesn’t even call on them to help with the aparoids.  Did they all die when the aparoids attacked Meteo?  Are they safe somewhere else?  Where do they go?  How was Sargasso able to operate without the CDF being on their doorstep with warrants for arrests?

- Don’t kill all the dinosaurs.  A bit of a dramatic statement but the ending screen that showed all the damage to Sauria really bothered me.  While I understand that the dinosaurs had less of a chance against the aparoids than a more technology-focused society like Corneria, I was a bit disappointed that the decision was made to just state that a lot of tribes had been wiped out.  I know this could easily be retconned in a future game and I feel like it should be.  “But why, Amalia?  Why are you disappointed by that?”  1) It’s a little too grimdark for my tastes.  2) The fact it all happened off-screen felt very hand-wavy.  And 3) It brings into question the entire point of Adventures.  Why did we bother to save this planet if it was going to be reduced to rubble and ash 1 year later?  Where were the Krazoa in all of this?  Why did they not make an appearance at all to try to stop the invasion with their alleged powers?  It just raises too many weird questions and I feel like Namco didn’t think it through too much.  Which I mean, sure.  Family, kiddo game.  I’m not asking for bigbrain plot and lore but I’m squinting at this bit because it does feel very contrary to the lore from the previous game.

- Make the aparoids more relevant.  As nice as it is to have a random bad guy from another galaxy, I feel like there was more that could be done with the aparoids in terms of their origins.  Tiny things, mind you, not huge revelations.  Off the top of my head, they could have been tied into Krystal’s backstory to help alleviate some of the complaints that she was too random to be added to the series’ main cast.  Alternatively, they could have been a product of Andross or even a weapon prototype from Corneria that fled the lab (I actually thought the game was leaning in that direction for a bit then just Nothing Happened).  I get that the vagueness of their origins leaves room for people to speculate and speculation is nice but... when you leave too many things unknown, it starts to feel less like giving fans room to interpret and more like just doing random things for the sake of it.  I think a lore tidbit here or there would work wonders for the aparoids instead of leaving them as just borg/zerg clones.

Level-Based Changes

- Add either Aparoid RedEye or Aparoid General Scales as a boss to Sauria.  Given that this level mysteriously lacks a boss, which is just weird compared to the other levels, I think that they had the opportunity to add something cool to go along with the cinematic feel they were going for with Assault.  Assault’s cutscenes do play in a movie-like fashion and it’s clear they’re trying to make the game as epic as possible.  It’s a shame they had so much fodder for a great boss here but they failed to go through with it.  Alternatively: Add a Krazoa-Aparoid fusion.  Why?  Because Star Fox is about cool epic sci-fi and that would be cool epic sci-fi incarnate.

- Add a boss to the Aparoid Homeworld Level, aka the penultimate level.  Another one I felt was personally weird that there was no “final defense system” to challenge the team.  Would be cool to do an aerial battle over the aparoid planet with some giant flying aparoid.

- Be kinder to Sauria.  The level had some good homages but overall was incredibly small and incredibly short.  It felt like a bone tossed to Adventures fans but was not entirely true to the setting built by Rareware.  I’m... not even sure where the Sauria level is supposed to take place?  I presume it’s Walled City but it doesn’t really have the same color scheme or aesthetic?  Also where is my revised Adventures music?  Why do all the other levels get it but Sauria doesn’t? 

- Put some of those funky items from the multiplayer into the main campaign.  I don’t know why some of these things, items especially, were omitted unless it was purely due to time constraints.  I remember having missile launchers and jetpacks in the multiplayer and was a bit sad that they were not in the main campaign.  Retuning the levels and adding those in would be a nice breath of fresh air for the more tedious on-foot missions.

- More levels.  Self-explanatory.  Still sad we didn’t get the Zoness or Titania levels in the single-player mode.  

I think all of the above changes would improve the game, though I recognize all of this is being said 16 years later after lots of time to contemplate Assault’s weaker points.  I’m not entirely certain how long Star Fox Assault took to develop but given that there’s obviously quite a bit scrapped from the game (an entire arcade mode was scrapped as well), I’m going to assume that the studio felt pressured to shove the game out the door and into the hands of customers.  It’s a shame, really, because I think a little bit longer in the oven would have done a lot of good.  Still, the product we got was good in its own right and a game that many people look back on fondly.  I haven’t gotten to replay it in years but I hope to quite soon.

You might wonder why I bothered typing this all out and I guess my point was this-- Assault was great but it wasn’t perfect, and while a lot of other games fall under a crushing amount of scrutiny, Assault seems to dodge it.  And don’t get me wrong-- I adore Assault.  But given that not many takes exist out there about rewriting it, I decided to give it a shot.  For variety’s sake.  

I do want to a mock up of a revised Assault story, which I think I will get to work on after completing this while all my ideas are still fresh in mind.  So stay tuned for that sometime in the near future.  I will also be doing my Adventures mock up at some point but probably not for a little bit as I do wanna focus some of my free time on actual fic-writing.

Anyways, if you stuck around this long, thank you for reading!  Have any changes you’d like to see to Assault if you could time machine your way back to the early 2000s?  Feel free to post in the comments, I’d love to read your ideas!

[tuff-and-fluff-archives]

Party Preparations (Yuletide F/O Event)

Word Count: 1750

Content Warnings: Alcohol Mention

Summary: Not even getting ready for a party is an easy task with Junkrat around. Will Ruby be able to get her boyfriend to comply in time, or will these ADHD- riddled fools get too distracted by each other’s cute outfits? Well, the answer’s obvious, but at least Roadhog is there to help them out.

AAAAH I’M A SLOWPOKE BUT HERE IT’S DONE! I’m so glad I got this done in time for @nougatships​ ‘s event! I’m really looking forward to this event so I’m happy that I was able to finish this hhhhh. It’s far from perfect but I’m just happy it’s done! Also, here’s what Jamie and I will be wearing! (I didn’t include anything for Mako cuz I like that being left up to the imagination.)

“Jamie! Will you just unlock the door already?”

“No! I'm not goin', darl, not if I have ta wear that shit!”

Ruby let out an annoyed huff as she leaned back against the bedroom door, clutching a green flannel shirt in one hand. She, along with Junkrat and Roadhog, had been preparing to leave for a holiday party, but as the night went on, Junkrat had only grown more and more irked that he would need to wear somewhat formal attire for the event, which had culminated in him stubbornly locking himself in his and Ruby’s shared bedroom.

“Jamison,” Ruby called out again, “are you only complaining because you have put on a shirt with long sleeves?”

“... Maybe!”

“C'mon, honey, you know you can’t go shirtless. Even Mako was alright with putting on his sweater!”

“Well he always gets way too into this whole holiday thing anyway!”

Ruby looked back down the hall at Roadhog, who was in the kitchen adding a few finishing touches to the sugar cookies that he had baked earlier that day. The giant of a man was wearing a headband with antlers on it over the top of his mask, along with a flashy sweater with a cartoon pig wearing a Santa hat and the phrase “MERRY PIGMAS” below it.

“... Okay, maybe so,” Ruby answered, turning back to the locked door. “But you picked this shirt out yourself, Jamie! I thought we were gonna do a matching colors kind of thing.”

Junkrat let out a frustrated whine, a clear signal to Ruby that he was giving in. Time to go for the kill.

“You haven't even seen how I look in my outfit yet, honey. I think this dress is really cute, I was looking forward to finding out what you thought…”

There was silence. Then, Ruby noticed the door begin to creep open, and Junkrat's wide amber eyes peered through the cracked door to get a peek at the outfit in question. Ruby took the opportunity to shove the door open, taking Junkrat by surprise and making him stumble backward, and she quickly rushed into the room and tackled him, sending him to the ground.

“Aah!! You tricked me Roobs, no fair!” Junkrat squealed, although he couldn’t help but grin up at his girlfriend as she pinned him to the floor and gave him an up-close view of her new dress.

Ruby leaned in close and teasingly kissed his nose. “All is fair in love and war, my dear. Now put your shirt on!" She shoved the button-up into his face, and he let out a giggle before yanking it out of her grip. 

“Alright, alright, love, stop talkin’ nonsense, I'm puttin' the damn shirt on!”

Ruby scooted down a bit and moved her legs to the side so that she could sit in Junkrat’s lap as he sat up straight. “I was gonna do it all the while anyway,” he chirped with a smug grin as he briskly tore the button-up shirt open. “I just wanted ta make ya work.” He stuck his tongue out, and she playfully smacked his shoulder.

As he slipped the shirt up his arms and over his broad shoulders, Ruby helped him roll the right sleeve up out of the way of his prosthetic arm before she started to fasten the buttons, starting at the lowest one first. As she focused on the task at hand, Junkrat sat back and admired how his girl looked in that low-cut red dress that was short enough to show off her chubby thighs, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching up and sliding her cardigan off her shoulder to reveal even more of her soft skin.

Ruby kept her eyes on his shirt, but she immediately took notice of his intentions. “Jamie, remember we’re going to leave in five minutes,” she affirmed as she made it to the last few buttons and attempted to fight back a blush. “We’re supposed to be getting dressed.”

Junkrat giggled at the red hue coming over her cheeks as he trailed his hand down to her hip to pull her even closer, and he squeezed her thigh while he leaned in to purr in her ear, “Ya know, babe, you really do look like a right spunk in that pretty little outfit a’ yers.”

As she finished buttoning his shirt, leaving the top one open to provide a glimpse at his chest, she felt a smile spread across her face and a rush of heat go through her body. She moved her hands up to fix his collar and at last made eye contact with him as he grinned down at her, and the blush on her face only strengthened as she felt Junkrat’s hand slide up to cup her bottom.

“J-Jamison, come on. We’re already gonna be late.”

“They can consider it fashionably late,” Junkrat chuckled mischievously as he raked his eyes over her outfit before he looked down at his own and noticed that she had left the top button of his shirt undone. “Oi, Roobs, I think ya missed one.”

“I know,” Ruby whispered as she slowly pulled his face close by his collar. “I like when you leave some cleavage exposed,” she joked.

A deep laugh rumbled in Junkrat’s chest, and he felt his lips brush against Ruby’s as he mumbled, “Well then, that makes two of us.” And with that, they let their mouths crash together, and Ruby moved a hand up to grip Junkrat’s blonde hair as his arms wrapped around her small body to push her tight to his chest. The two were so caught up in their makeout session that they hardly noticed Roadhog stomping down the hall and finding them on the floor of their bedroom.

Roadhog slammed his fist on the door to get the lovers’ attention. “We’re going to be late,” he grumbled, making his annoyance more than clear.

Junkrat looked over to his friend and flashed a wide smile, lipstick smeared around his mouth and not an ounce of shame in his body as he excitedly gestured to his girlfriend. “Look, Hoggie! Doesn’t my Ruby look fuckin’ great in her little outfit?!”

Roadhog merely let out a tired huff before turning around and walking back down the hall.

“Eh, what does he know about fashion,” Junkrat scoffed as he turned back to Ruby. She decided not to burst his bubble and kept it to herself that Roadhog had probably seen plenty of her outfit for the twenty minutes that she had been standing in front of the locked bedroom door. He held Ruby close and stood up so that he was carrying her bridal style and placed a short and sweet kiss to her cheek. “Ya look better than all the gold in the world, darling.”

As Junkrat carried his girlfriend out to the living room, the two saw that Roadhog was already headed out the door, a platter of his homemade sugar cookies in one hand and the car keys in the other hand.

“We better hurry and join him before he leaves us,” Ruby said as she looked up at Junkrat.

“Alright, then let’s- oh shit, wait a tick!” he blurted as he hastily set Ruby down, nearly dropping her before he dashed into the kitchen.

Ruby rolled her eyes, but it was a good opportunity to grab a scarf for her boyfriend so that he kept warm, so she moved to the closet and grabbed his favorite flame-patterned scarf as she heard him rummaging through the fridge before he ran back to her with a boxed pack of beer tucked under his arm. She raised an eyebrow as she turned to wrap the scarf around his neck. “Jamie, are you serious?”

“Aw c’mon Roobs, it ain’t a proper party without heaps of grog!” He flashed a wide smile in the hopes that she would let him bring the alcohol along.

As much as she wanted to say no, Ruby didn’t feel like wasting even more time and testing Roadhog’s patience even further, so she rolled her eyes before tiredly saying, “Alright, fine, but if you get shitfaced you’re going home in the trunk.”

“Deal!” Junkrat beamed and bent down to give Ruby another kiss as she wrapped his scarf around his neck, and he confidently stood up straight and turned towards the door. "Alrighty, let's move out!!"

As Junkrat ran for the open door, he let out a gag as Ruby firmly held onto his scarf to stop him in his tracks. 

"Ey,” he sputtered, “the hell was that for?! I almost dropped me grog!"

"C'mon Jamie, you know the drill. I can't have you banned from another one of my friend's houses," Ruby chided as she moved so that she was standing right in front of him.

"Hmph, s'not my fault they didn't know how ta have a party."

"Well not everyone has the same definition of fun as you, honey. Also, you blew a hole in their roof. Now come on, arms up before I lock you in the bedroom."

Junkrat didn't hesitate to comply, setting down the box and lifting his arms to allow Ruby to give him a pat-down and ensure that he didn't sneak any of his explosives out with him.

"You promise you're gonna behave tonight?" Ruby asked as she checked all his pockets.

"Yes, sweetie."

"No trying to challenge people to any types of fights or 'challenges'?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

She was almost finished as she stooped down to run her hands down the legs of his pants. "And you'll be watching your mouth, right?"

"Of fucking course I will, babe!"

She looked up at him with pursed lips and one eyebrow raised. He let out a little giggle before kneeling down on one knee and cupping her face to kiss her forehead.

"I'll be on me best behavior, my Ruby," he promised.

She briefly turned her head to kiss the palm of his hand and muttered out a “thank you, sunshine” before refocusing herself. “Well, you’re clean, so you’re free to go. Now let’s get in the car before Mako drives off without us.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Junkrat grinned as he grabbed the twelve-pack and stood back up. He extended his hand to help Ruby up as well before gripping her hand tight and running out the door with her, giving her barely enough time to shut the door behind her as they dashed to the car, ready for a night of socializing- and hopefully, not too much mayhem.

[spacenintendogs]

Betrayed

“Eh, didn’t take much. I was able to get the information from right under their noses,” Pigma laughed, “Right from their own Academy. It was the easiest job in the galaxy. James McCloud didn’t even notice,” Pigma practically spat out James’ name.

Andrew was on the edge of his seat, completely enthralled as the swine recounted how he started working for Andross and how he basically single-handedly allowed for Andross to even get his foot in the door of the entire Lylat System. It was more than likely highly exaggerated, they all knew this, but even Leon was showing interest, his eyes focused on Pigma with blatant curiosity.

“They really never found out it was you?” Andrew breathed. 

“I’m guessing he did used a decoy or some kind of false identity so they couldn’t track him,” Leon said.

“Actually,” Pigma rubbed the back of his head, “That happened on its own. Call it me taking advantage of a situation.” 

“Oh? What did happen then?” Leon rolled his eyes to feign uninterest.

“Some Academy brat walked in not too long after I’d done a... check up. They somehow noticed whatever I’d been given to attach to the central computers of the Academy. Put his finger prints all over, meanwhile I’d always made sure to wear gloves. Caught him fiddling with it and supposedly they got expelled and were supposed to go on trial but they got off the planet and no one’s seen them since,” Pigma paused and then shrugged, “Not like I’ll ever see them again. Not my fault, they were the one touching stuff they weren't supposed to. Oh, hey Wol-”

Wolf’s fist connected with Pigma’s jaw, Pigma falling off his chair and onto the ground. “WHAD’YA DO THAT FOR?!” He looked up at Wolf and found a twinge of fear settle in his heart.

Wolf suddenly towered over all of them, his shadow covering them, his single eye a violent red, glaring down at Pigma with pure rage, yet so cold. Leon was frozen in his seat while Andrew had shot up and gone behind Leon, as if trying to hide.

Pigma swallowed as Wolf’s eye narrowed. “Wolf... come on, what’s gotten into ya?”

Leon’s face softened as he noticed tears welling in Wolf’s eye. He got up and slowly, gently placed his hand onto Wolf’s shoulder. Wolf’s domineering posture was gone, but the fury in his eye remained.

“You, are to leave. You are to not set foot inside of this station. You are to not even breathe in the vicinity of the entire territory. If you’re spotted anywhere near here, you will be shot on sight. Consider me not killing you now as an act of pity on your pathetic hide, not mercy.” Wolf meant every word that fell off his tongue, his fists clenched, the only indicator that he was ready to deliver another blow.

Pigma stood, opening his mouth and then closing it. He scoffed and turned, towards the hangar.

“And you’re not taking the Wolfen.” Wolf’s voice was even, still the same volume despite Pigma now being on the other side of the room. Pigma stopped at the door and turned around, bewildered. It meant he had to take one of the freighters all the other outlaws and thugs used to commute to and from Sargasso. Pigma turned and left, the door sliding shut quietly, as if nothing had happened.

Leon kept his hand on Wolf’s shoulder, giving him a small squeeze. Wolf broke, a tear making its way down his cheek. 

“Wolf?” Andrew put a shaking hand on Wolf’s other shoulder.

Wolf wiped the tear away, only for it to be replaced. He didn’t look at either of them, he continued to stare at the door where Pigma had stood. Where Pigma would betray a team for the very last time, if the universe would allow that.

“He ruined my life.” Wolf’s voice wavered. He cleared his throat, then took a deep breath in, and then exhaled.

“He ruined the life I was supposed to have.”

[evajellion]

Replaying Assault, part 3

The game kinda stops pulling its punches for beginners upon reaching Meteo… or I’m just complete shit, because the amount of enemies and debris almost killed me, and I lost a wing. I even lost Slippy because I wasn’t fast enough, so I’m pretty sure I just need to git gud at this point, and actually practice using the Arwing in this game.

You think there would be more… reaction, to Pigma’s horrendous transformation by the Aparoids. They’re just like “oh he’s not listening and not really Pigma anymore”, like, what the hell.

I know Star Fox obviously holds a grudge against Pigma for being a traitor, and the other stuff he’s pulled, but they should have been more like “what have you Aparoids done to him!?”

And then when they defeat him, nothing is said about Pigma, they just take the Core Memory and head back to the Great Fox to talk to General Pepper. 

Also, there are Wolfens scattered around at the start of the level, but it’s… never brought up again. I think maybe it was to imply Wolf and his gang tried to fight Pigma, but failed, and the programmers forgot to mention it again later on.

So anyway, the level after this one is Sauria, AKA Dinosaur Planet (something that confused me when first playing), which… I’m gonna say right now, is my least favorite level in the game so far, for a handful of reasons.

It’s a distraction level, and not the good kind where they feel it’s that urgent. Literally right after this, Corneria is under attack by the Aparoids (something that could have been done during the Pigma search instead). They don’t acknowledge the fact Sauria’s plea for help was a distraction so the Aparoids could take over Corneria either.

Navigating this place is really ass. I get it was based off of the planet from Adventures, I respect they acknowledged it and made it one of the planets that could be visited… but they could have made it a little less crazy-looking, which leads to my next point.

Enemy placements here are god awful. I kept get attacked by those pillbug Aparoids in the cave, then on my way out, everything else tried to corner me. This is a pain, because I had to help Falco and Slippy in the sky.

The ThornTails, CloudRunners, and SharpClaw? Uhhh… probably wiped out by the Aparoids, and no one seems to care. Not even Tricky, we dunno what happened to the EarthWalker King and Queen either, since he doesn’t mention them.

There’s no boss after you destroy all the hatchers, like in Katina. The level just ends like that, very anti-climatic.

I think this map was tossed in for the multiplayer, and they just decided to make it part of the story as filler… Buuuut there were two things I did like about this level, besides the fact it acknowledged the Dinosaur Planet existing, rather than just forgetting about the place.

Slippy telling Falco to shut up. It really tells me that despite getting into trouble a handful of times in Assault, that he’s grown since 64, and he really doesn’t like being the butt of the joke. He’s probably one of the my favorite characters in this game because of that. (Heck, Slippy is one of the few likable characters in Command also)

The banter between Fox and Tricky at the end of the level. I complained about Tricky not acknowledging the other tribes, but I find this scene actually kind of cute. Tricky sounds like he’s hit puberty since Adventures, and he still acts childish, wanting to come with Fox or hoping he’ll return to Sauria with Krystal.

Anyway, now that the worst is out of the way, I’m hoping Corneria won’t be, well… like Sauria was, I guess.