#that certainly made the final boss segment An Experience

[loregoddess]

*lies down* I finished FF7: Rebirth...

[gay-salt-amber]

For my Dottokavelone request, can I ask for if they have a surprise child? Like either finding out pregnancy or finding the baby, raising/keeping it, when the baby is 4 or so, milestones like the Sims 4 (I love and am excited for the new pack btw), and just watching that baby grow? I have no idea why but Dottore makes me makes me think of Stolas' lullaby from Helluva Boss

Pantalone was peacefully doing his job, writing responses to finance requests the majority of them were rather idiotic so he was getting tired quickly of reading requests that seemed to be for the same petty reasons. Now, he couldn't deny that he was perfect when it came to using the Fatuis funds, definitely not, but he most certainly wouldn't want to use them to try and make the Fungi in Sumeru friendly creatures, now that, is a waste of funds. 

Then, he saw his boyfriend of five years enter the room, acting oddly nervous. Pantalone used to think that nervousness and fear were emotions Dottore couldn't feel at all, but he can feel fear….rarely. 

“Uhm…dear? I think I did something…” Dottore hesitated to enter the office more even after Pantalone prompted him to

“What did you do this time? Waste all of the funds I gave you on a failed experiment again?” Pantalone teased, putting his quill down

The doctor shook his head and started to explain, “Well, I was trying to find a more cost-effective way to make my segments and I may have done…something…”

Pantalone raised an eyebrow, “Well, I’m waiting. Tell me.”

Dottore then showed what was in his arms, a little baby girl with blue-mint-colored hair and light-colored animal ears.

“She's a cute one isn't she?” Dottore chuckled

The banker's parental instincts kicked in quicker than the doctor thought they would, Pantalone scooped the baby into his arms and began to cradle her in his arms, Pantalone had a soft smile on his face that Dottore thought was the sweetest expression had ever seen

“Is she ours?” Pantalone asked

Dottore nodded, softly touching her head and giving the baby head a kiss, “She is, she's our  baby.”

Pantalone began to cry which concerned Dottore, “W-why are you crying? What's wrong?” “I…I haven't been able to hold a baby like this since my brother was small, I miss taking care of children, they make me happy.”

Dottore then understood why the glasses-wearing man acted like a mom, and he kissed Pantalone, “I’m glad you’re happy, dear.” 

The two of them sat there in silence for a little while, looking at the baby that was now going to be their child, Pantalone could care less about his work right now, he was looking at his baby, his daughter. His whole world.

Pantalone turned to Dottore for a moment, “What do you want to name her, dear?”

Dottore thought for a moment, “Well since she's such a cute and sweet baby, how about we name her Sucrose? You know, like table sugar?”

He nodded, “Alright, that works. I like that.”

“My baby…we’re really parents now, aren’t we?” Dottore finally had this reality setting in inside his mind

“Yes, and I wouldn't have it any other way.”

–

Sucrose was happily playing with her toys, all of them were made by dottore except about four of them that were Christmas gifts from the other Fatui Harbingers. She was humming happily until she noticed one of her plushie's heads was broken, instead of crying like she normally would, she decided to go ask one of her parents to fix it. She went to Dottores lab and stood on a chair, opened the door, and walked in.

Dottore was currently experimenting on a human body, one that was very freshly dead…were they killed by Dottores hands? Maybe, maybe not. This was the first time Sucrose had ever been in Dottores lab but she wasn't stupid about what happened in there, she knew her dad walked out of there covered in blood, she knew something was going on but she was never scared of it.

She tapped Dottore on the leg, “Daddy? I broke Filicas arm…can you fix her?” Dottore instantly put the scalpel down and took the toy to fix it, “You know you shouldn't be in your father's lab, I don't want you to be scared by anything.”

Sucrose looked around, seeing all the organs on the tables and experiments that were rather gruesome, “See? I told you-”

Sucrose looked up at her dad in awe, “Can you teach me to do what you do, Daddy?”

The doctor was surprised, he almost dropped Sucrose’s doll, “Wait, what? You want to learn about all this gross stuff that I do?”

Sucrose nodded, “Mhm, mhm! I think it's really cool, Daddy!”

Dottore felt his heart flutter at someone being interested in his work, he finished fixing Filicas broken arm and picked Sucrose up in his arms, “How about I teach you about the experiment I’m doing right now? You don't mind seeing your dad cut someone open, do you?”

Sucrose shook her head, “No, teach me! Teach me!”

Dottore loved Sucrose’s enthusiasm, so, he began to continue his experiment while Sucrose was on his shoulders, all while explaining everything he was doing to her.

–

Sucrose was writing a paper for school when she heard someone knocking on her door, her head perked up, “Come in!”

Pantalone came into Sucrose’s room with a blonde man who Sucrose didn't recognize. He wore Sumeru clothing that Sucrose had only seen on a few people in Mondstadt, she was confused, “Who that?” She asked

Pantalone smiled and said, “Well kiddo, this is Kaveh. He's a very accomplished architect from Sumeru. Your father and I have been dating him for a while, though, since me and him live in Snezhnanya, you’ve never been able to meet him, but, I figured that the first thing we do when he got here was to introduce you two.”

Sucrose smiled, “Oh! I’m Sucrose! Its a pleasure to meet you sir, thank you for making my parents happy!”

Kaveh shared a similar smile, Pantalone knew they’d get along very well.

After a while, they were eating dinner together and Kaveh was the first one to talk to Sucrose, trying to break the ice,

“So, Sucrose, what type of things are you into?” Sucrose’s head perked up, “Well, I really like alchemy but theres nobody around here that can really teach me…well, maybe Rosalyne but she kind of scares me…”

The architect thought for a moment, “Well, I have an alchemist friend who lives in Mondstadt, his name is Albedo, have you met him before?” The girls eyes widened, “Of course! Hes the chief alchemist of The Knights of Favonius! Hes one of the best alchemists in the world!”

Kaveh wrote down a few things on a piece of paper, “Well, he's looking for an apprentice whos interested in being his assistant and learning a lot,” He handed Sucrose the paper with an address, “Here, go talk to him the next time you’re in the city, he’d be happy to teach you.”

Dottore clapped, “Oh that's exciting~ Don't forget all the things I taught you though, perhaps you can use those things to impress him.”

Sucrose chuckled a bit, “I’m sure I can,” She turned back to Kaveh, “Thank you Kaveh, I appreciate it a lot.”

–

This was the start of Sucrose’s life, the start of her training!... Now the only thing holding her back was her parents crying at Mondstadts entrance about their baby being all grown up and being oh so talented…Shes going to be late, isnt she?

[emoangel44]

i never gave my thoughts on the different undertale yellow endings.... a bit late now but whatever. decently spoiler-free hopefully. also in order from favourite to least favourite

neutral: my personal favourite ending. i absolutely love the final boss and the ending, as well as the plot reveal the ending brings. even if you have no intentions of playing the game please watch the neutral final boss battle, it needs to be seen to be believed. manages to easily beat the original games neutral ending into the dust

pacifist: a wonderful bittersweet ending. the latter portion of the game and the mystery elements were amazing and had me the most excited out of any segments of the whole experience. made me feel for all the characters. probably the best ending objectively

geno: my least favourite, but not bad at all. without the digetic-player-thematic-stuff it feels a bit directionless and like an addition of "well its undertale it has to have a genocide run" instead of having a ton of unique ideas. that being said, it does have an in-universe justification, just not one i find quite as interesting as the original. and it has insanely cool moments galore, certainly enough to make it worth existing

flawed pacifist: a good ending, just one without enough unique content to get any higher on my list

[quokkahans]

Double Catfished! [Part 2/3]

After months of talking with each other online, Changbin decideds to confess to Jisung. Then, they plan themselves a date, nothing could go wrong right?

Or a chapter that the two lovers accidentally catfish each other as they gained weight over the course of a year.

A/N: INTERACTIVE CHAPTER ALERT!! Read until the end to find out the question that is up to you, the fate of this very story. Enjoy!

WARNING: This fic contains feederism, and intentional weight gain which are all SAFE FOR WORK / SFW. If you are uncomfy with this type of story, please look away and scroll before the cut.

AO3 VERSION

Remember when Changbin hasn't slept well lately due to his conflicting feelings towards Jisung? Well, he isn't making this up, unfortunately. The black-haired has been experiencing dreams about a certain man holding him hostage, and certainly obsessed about the boy. 

Most often he would be abruptly awoken by a sudden noise, such as his alarm or something within the dream (more like a nightmare at this point) which left Changbin rattled. But he still had work to do and bills to pay, so he would often go to his workplace like nothing happened a few seconds ago.

"Stupid dreams..", the assistant muttered bitterly before ripping half of the sandwich he made because he was in a rush. Then, Changbin went inside the broadcasting network's building and headed to the sounds office while checking if he had to oversee the audio in a news program today.

He and Seungmin were partnered most of the time during broadcasts or news segments, their experience proved a cohesive dynamic between themselves despite the two having different personalities. 

A head of chestnut hair suddenly popped out of the door and the older knew that it was the puppy boy. "Hey! Good morning, hyung.", the younger boy snorted before looking at the slightly messy look of Harry and shaking his head. "What happened to you? Did you see a ghost?", he teased but recieved a hard nudge.

"Shut up, Seungmin. Nothing's good in my morning.", a blunt mumble came from Seo's mouth before sighing quietly. "Sorry for making it seem that I'm mad though, I had bad dreams lately-"

Seungmin's head perked up at the mention of bad dreams before gasping, "What?! Tell. me. everything."

Changbin nodded solemnly, "Okay, here it goes.."

Changbin explained everything from start to finish on how he would have a "blind date" with a particular man before hitting it off to how they became boyfriends and suddenly.. he was in a different house.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!", that was what Seungmin could only muster but his appalled reaction said it all. 

"Seungmin, language."

"I'm sorry but what?! Did you not sleep well.. Who hurt you?"

"No one! But I haven't really slept well to be honest."

"Because?"

Changbin froze at the question, hesitating whether or not he should tell Seungmin about his budding feelings towards Jisung but as if it was planned, their boss told them to prepare the sounds for a broadcast scheduled for a few minutes.

"I'll tell you later.", he finally responded to the younger before the two were now beginning to work.

With that, let's go on over to the Bbokari Bakery and Jisung. Over the past few months, the quokka has also sported a softer body compared to before, but was more noticeable. It doesn't come as a surprise though, he works at a bakery and had a sweet spot for pastries (especially cheesecake). Good thing Felix doesn't really care about whether some cookies end up missing, he knows it was the owner's best employee who ate it.

Speaking of the devil, Jisung arrived to work and the blonde Australian couldn't help but notice on how Hannie (Lix's nickname to him) had a cuter appearance, not to mention a small mound of fat settling on his belly.

"Hey, Hannie! You're early today.", Felix snorted as he patting the older's shoulder. "Remember, if I catch you hoarding another cheesecake box, I won't hesitate to tell Changbin hyung that you like him.", he threatened playfully while Jisung whined softly.

Felix then laughed at the reaction, playing with his best friend's hair. "Just playing with you, just be more discreet about it.", he teased. 

"Yeah yeah, let's get back to work now, Lix.", Jisung rolled his eyes playfully but his blushed cheeks said something else. 

"Ooh, you're in love!~", Felix said, receiving a slap on the arm from Jisung. "Stop it, I'm not!", the older responded defensively as a cream puff was shoved in Sung's mouth. 

"Nuh uh, don't lie to me! Remember that we don't keep secrets.", the head baker said, placing a hand on Jisung's lips before the older shut up and went back to work.

"Isn't it obvious to you now?", Jisung replied and heard a chuckle from Felix. "It is, just confirming."

"Well, you know my answer to that then.", the other responded and the two went back in preparing the bakery for opening.

And you could see that the two "online friends" were busy with their own jobs, but despite that, they still found time to talk with each other through voice calls and even chats. But one thing that they rarely did was a video call, due to Changbin's shyness of showing his face since the last time but he's planning to look past that.

Maybe today was the day that they could see each other on a screen without any awkward feelings? But it wouldn't still be the same as seeing each other in person, that was the closest option to choose from.

So after the broadcast was done and he was in a break with Seungmin, Changbin took the chance to message Jisung about what bothered him: his shyness.

【   ♡ (˘▽˘>ԅ( ˘⌣˘)   】

== QUOKKA.SUNG (Active Now) ==

( Hey, Sungie! Can I ask you something? )  *SEND*

Seo.Binnie: Hey, Sungie! Can I ask you something?

Sent 12:16 pm

Seen 

Quokka.Sung is typing..

Quokka.Sung: Sure! You chatted right on time, actually. I'm on break.

Seo.Binnie: Well.. How do I say this? Do you want to..

                   video call?

【   ♡ (˘▽˘>ԅ( ˘⌣˘)   】

Jisung just squealed at the message coming from Binnie, his Binnie. A video call? He would drop anything just to see this cutie's face. Okay, Jisung, you need to answer him or else he would think you are turning him down.

( Of course, handsome hyungie. Let me just start the call. )  = SEND =

Sent at 12:18 pm

Seen

Seo.Binnie: Hey, don't call me like that! >//< But go on.

Quokka.Sung: Haha, I'll still call you that, hyung! 

== Quokka.Sung wants you to join in a video call ==

[ACCEPT]   [DECLINE]

[ACCEPT]   [DECLINE]

【   ♡ (˘▽˘>ԅ( ˘⌣˘)   】

The first thing that Jisung could see was Changbin's face before waving shyly towards the camera with blushed cheeks. "Oh my god, hello!", he said in a hushed but squealing voice that made the older laugh. Cute, he thought. 

"Hello, Sungie! It's been a while since we did a video chat.", the black-haired piped up with a small smile before the younger responed with his own sweet smile. "Yeah, you finally got over your shyness, huh? Congratulations!", Jisung clapped his hands as if it was something to celebrate (but it was!).

Changbin could only laugh as a response, shyly hiding his face before looking straight to the camera with an amused look. "Well, you could say that. But thank you! I wish I was like you at first though, not shy and very confident.", he retorted before the baker pouted softly at the older's words which slightly bloomed his heart but Jisung also felt bad.

"Hey, it's not easy though! At least you took a small step and I'm proud of you, that's what matters in life.", the quokka tried his best to reassure any doubt that the dark-haired expressed, and his efforts were recognized based on how Changbin was enthralled by the advice. "Wow.. I didn't know you would be the type giving advice, but thank you.", the other responded as his smile grew wider.

Jisung hummed happily before nodding his head, "Well, I experienced a lot so that's where I learned those pieces of advice.", he replied before asking a question about how was Changbin's day and work.

During the call, the two not only talked about their work but also about their lives in general. Not to mention the amount of baby pictures that Jisung showed to the camera, showing off how cute he was and that he used to live overseas somewhere as a kid. "So you used to live in Malaysia?", the older asked in astonishment.

"Yeah! It's been a while though.. Maybe when I have enough time, I could come back again, that's on my bucket list for sure!", Han smiled brightly before putting the pictures back into a secret little folder. "Hyung, you haven't even showed your baby pictures!", he pointed out before giggling softly, much to Changbin's shyness before he reluctantly gave in and sent an old picture through the chat.

"Well, I sent one through the chat but be warned. I looked like I had a bad hair day in that picture.", the older said before the brunette stifled a laugh and looked at the other boy in his screen as he took a double take, laughing even more as a result. "Whoa! This was you? You look so funny but cute at the same time!", Jisung added before Changbin was really embarrassed but not in a bad way, honestly! He was glad to get it out of his chest, plus he got called cute.

"You think so? Well.. Thank you!", the older said before hearing a ding noise and sighing. "Sorry, Sungie. But I have to get back to work now, see you later!", he winked.

"See you later, cutie.", Jisung said before the call ended. Then, the squirrel boy just squealed so loud that it can be heard from the other side of the kitchen and Felix ran to where the brunette was.

When the blonde boy saw that the older was giddy and squealing all around, his worried were dampened and all that he was feeling was amusement. "Han Jisung! What's happenin- Oh.. Oh~", he smirked before coyly clicking his tongue and looking at how blushy the quokka was. 

"Let me guess.. a cutie named Seo Changbin caught your heart again? What did you do now?", the Australian asked nonchalantly.

"We did a video call!", Han beamed softly.

"Ohh, I see~ You know what? I have something in mind.", Felix smirked even more in an almost evil voice.

"What is it?"

"Get the gifts, and Han, you write some love letters. We're gonna prove your love to this Binnie boy."

【   ♡ (˘▽˘>ԅ( ˘⌣˘)   】

And as soon as you know it, Changbin did recieve gifts. Every single day. But it wasn't only shipped to his house but also to the office. What surprised him though was the love letters, they were really detailed and expressed true love based on the words. Plus, they were signed by the name "J.One".

This continued for a few weeks, let alone a few months, and the gifts would often contain food other than the usual cookies and pastries from a bakery. At least he was spoiled either way and left no crumbs every time that he was sent food, but it all settled in his tummy.

He put on more and more weight, giving way for a more imposing midsection and budding love handles. Not to mention his chest melting into B cup breasts, enough to squeeze it whole with just one hand and even his lower body plumping up.

Surprisingly, Changbin loved it and wouldn't trade it for nothing less. But shock washed through everywhere in his body which turned into amusement nevertheless.

And Jisung would always avoid the topic or really decline that it was his responsibility when it came to the gifts. Weird. 

But it was eventually all forgotten anyway. Plus, the feelings Changbin was having toward Jisung became more prominent and less ambiguous. And he slept better as long as he got a good night text and the weird dreams that the older experienced disappeared like it didn't even happen. 

There was one caveat though: how was he going to confess to this cute baker? A whole slew of methods came to mind, like a simple message through the chat or over the phone but today wasn't the time to think all of that.

Also, remember Seungmin? Well, he also tried his luck on this "online dating" thing and he took the day off because he's on a date! Guess who it was? Felix, the owner of Bbokari Bakery, how cute.

Okay, enough of them. You see that Changbin was left alone to engineer the audio as well as manage the mics being placed in the reporters' suits, it was a hell of a ride for the journalist assistant. But you see, he has been doing some interesting work lately!

He also tried his hands on reports! Oh yes, after months of hard work, he was promoted to be a news writer. That journalism degree wasn't that bad after all!

"I have to tell Jisung about this, he is going to be happy!", he giggled like a kid finally getting a lot of candy after a successful Halloween party and opened the app without hesitation, finding Jisung's profile.

【   ♡ (˘▽˘>ԅ( ˘⌣˘)   】

== QUOKKA.SUNG (Active 2 minutes ago) ==

Seo.Binnie: Sungie, I have very good news!

Quokka.Sung: What is it?

Seo.Binnie: I got promoted, I'm a news writer now. The position I wanted for in the first place!

Quokka.Sung: Oh. My. GOD!! I'm so proud of you, hyung. You deserved it so much!

Seo.Binnie: I know! And thank you for.. basically everything. Your advice is the best, and I wouldn't even know how my life is happier if I didn't meet you on this dating app. 

Quokka.Sung: Whoa, getting sentimental now, huh? What's up, hyung? 

Seo.Binnie: Nothing, shush! It's rare that I write these kinds of long messages, dumbass. 

Quokka.Sung: Yeah yeah, I find it cute though. But I also have some news.

-- 

"I hope it is good news, but why so out of the blue?", Changbin raised an eyebrow, but he found Jisung's spontaniety suitable to his personality anyway. Then, a chat bubble appeared with three dots, signifying that the younger was already typing on what his good news was about.

Then, it suddenly hit him.

--

Quokka.Sung: I like you. More than a friend.

Changbin swore that his heart stopped for a full second after reading that message. Did Jisung just confess to him? "Is this.. a dream?", he said, blinking his eyes many times before looking at the message. It was clear. 

Will he respond back? Yes or no? What if this was a prank? The black-haired just stared at the screen and contemplated on what to do.

"You know what? Fuck it.", he muttered, typing out a reply.

--

Seo.Binnie: I like you too. I had feelings for you since a few weeks ago but I didn't know how to say it to you. 

Jisung was ECSTATIC. His crush returned his feelings! Good thing he was on his day off or he would be met by nudging shoulder thanks to Felix. 

Quokka.Sung: So, do you want to be.. my boyfriend?

                      Of course you don't have to say yes right away! We can take it slow as always. I know it can be a lot to process.

Seo.Binnie: Nope, it's fine! My feelings were just hidden from you, of course I want to be your boyfriend!

Quokka.Sung: Well, now I can call you mine then. 😉

Seo.Binnie: So flirty on the first day, huh? Cute, drop the act. I know you're blushing, Jisung. 

Quokka.Sung: Okay okay, fine! I was supposed to ask you out too.

Seo.Binnie: On a date? Sure! We can plan it right now.

【   ♡ (˘▽˘>ԅ( ˘⌣˘)   】

And that's where we now go back to the present! The new couple decided in having their first date in the bar, mostly due to Jisung wanting to get wasted but Changbin was surprisingly down for it. Plus, they were in for a night only with themselves, right?

Changbin was a bit nervous, fiddling with his fitted polo shirt while the pants were trying to hold on as the button was on the brink of popping, a result of his greedy escapades which became compounded with stress from not only working as an journalist assistant but also from the possibility of his date slash virtual boyfriend flipping out on how his profile was.. different from reality.

"I'm sure Jisung would understand this, right? I'll just say I did a little bit of stress eating.", the news writer talked to himself, clutching the bottom of his slightly hanging belly which was outline in the said polo shirt.

But little did he know that Jisung was facing the same predicament, he wasn't really alone. His pants were causing the problem this time, fearing that a seam would give out thanks to the quokka's thick thighs. "Agh, why don't these fit me?", he whined, giving the pants one final push before they finally gave way.

Then, the two were set to go on their first date. But this isn't any ordinary date, it's the first time they will see each other outside of the dating app and video calls.

Jisung sent a message that he was on his way to the bar, before Changbin replied that he too was going to the meetup place. But it was Changbin who arrived first because his home was closer to the bar anyway, so it wasn't much time for the older.

Then, the black-haired saw this cute boy with very squishable cheeks and the shinest smile. But his eyes were particularly gazing on the other's midsection that jiggled with almost every step and the thick thighs below.

But Changbin's imagination stopped on its tracks because he heard a voice, "Are you.. Changbin?", he mumbled with slightly blushed cheeks.

"Yeah, that's me. Who- Jisung?!", the news writer gasped before looking at his boyfriend up and down. "It's your Sungie!", he grinned before chuckling softly before commenting that he looks cuter than suggested in the dating app picture.

Changbin just laughed and kissed Jisung in the lips, before doing it over and over again in an excited manner. "Well, I could say the same to you, baby. How has it been? A year since we first met online, and we're going to do something special.", he added before pulling the quokka into a tender hug.

"Exhausting lately, the bakery has been busier all day. But at least I have you to talk to and now, we finally saw each other.", Jisung smiled before playing with his lover's hair. "Now, let's get inside. I know you're really hungry.", he teased, patting the older's belly before the two went inside the bar together.

And their date started really well. The two lovers ended up ordering a lot of food, and I mean, A LOT. That could explain the growing appetite and waistlines but neither one of them seemed to bat an eye, plus Changbin loved big boys from the start (wasn't specific but it still holds some truth!)

Then, they talked about the current status of their jobs with the older expressing his intentions to work from home because not only how tiring it was to walk lately but he thought it was easier to write news in the comfort of his home. 

The topics they talked about varied, from about their past and how Jisung was one of the "bad boys" in college to their friends, Seungmin and Felix dating each other.

"I wouldn't imagine you as a jock to be honest, but maybe I could see it!", Changbin laughed before being shown some college pics from the baker. "Ohhhh. Okay okay, now I can see it clearly.", he added before they both laughed.

It was a good time nonetheless, and as they were munching on their food, Jisung had a brilliant idea. "Hyung, wanna get wastedd?~", he smirked softly before it was reluctantly turned down, but the younger insisted. "Come on, just some shots wouldn't hurt!"

"Fine, but after we finish the food.", Changbin replied and Jisung cheered in response.

After a few minutes, the food was completely gone with the two feeding each other and no crumbs were left to be seen as it was evident that the couple was really hungry and now they were really full. Jisung decided to order a bottle of soju before he excused himself to the bathroom and Changbin gave him the go-ahead.

Suddenly, the older was offered a drink and he presumed to be the soju that the younger ordered but it was a single shot just for him. He said thanks to the waiter before looking at the shot in front of him, but his gut has a bad feeling. But Jisung still isn't around.

Should he drink it?

[syn0vial]

The Official Star Wars Fact File: Zam Wesell

(Unofficial translation by me, syn0vial. Please forgive me for any mistakes, I've studied Spanish for some years but it's definitely not my first language!)

Zam Wesell was an exceptional figure that belonged to an equally exceptional species, the Clawdites. The bounty hunter was an unorthodox and extraordinary being who left a mark with her short life and career.

The Clawdites have always been oppressed and never been trusted. It is something that is accepted as natural in life. Their society arose due to a gene therapy that cured a sickness, but also created a new species, condemned to be exiled from the principle habitable zone of the planet Zolan. All Clawdites can change the color of their skin, but only a few are capable of altering the texture of it, and there are even fewer that can change its shape. Only a small number—very capable beings, dedicated and with great self-control—could take the form of another being for an indefinite period of time.

Shape-shifting results in great pain and discomfort for a Clawdite; they must use oils and ointments to stop their skin from becoming horribly cracked. Yet, in contrast to even the best of her species, Zam Wesell could not only change form with relative speed, but could maintain it while resting.

Combat Training

In Zolan society, those that deviated from the rigid secular norms were persecuted. Clawdite society was less restrictive, but even they showed apprehension about some of Zam Wesell's activities.

In the semi-anarchic society on the Clawdite-dominated continent of Sultur, where Zam was born and raised, the clans were governed by warriors known for their boastfulness. In general, the strongest prevailed, but even the boastful owed loyalty to their clan. Among them all, the best warriors of Zolan were the Mabari knights. They were part of a religious order that would not admit sinners among their novices. The religion of Zolan preached that the untruthful were the worst sinners of all. Despite this, Zam, when she was with them, successfully hid her true nature long enough to reach the third level of mastery in the Mabari martial arts, before being forced to flee Zolan.

Zam relocated to the corporate planet of Denon, where skills like hers were in great demand. The corporate security organizations always needed new employees and with Zam's shape-shifting ability, it didn't take much for her to ascend to the rank of sergeant. Nevertheless, this was only the beginning of her career. She calculated each step with utmost care; in this way, she quickly rose to become a very well-paid corporate bodyguard.

She was a self-proclaimed "progressive" and never forgot her planet and her people. She always sent huge sums of credits to Zolan, to radical Clawdite groups dedicated to the emancipation of their species; it is unknown whether she was truly invested in the situation of her species or if she only wished to provoke unrest.

Outlawed: Zam Wesell's journey before she became a bounty hunter was a winding one. She was denounced on her home-planet, Zolan, for being Clawdite and even more so, for her ability to shape-shift. After learning martial arts in a religious sect of warriors called Mabari, she abandoned her planet.

Clawdite Assassin

Since leaving Zolan for Denon, Zam Wesell had accepted work that provided huge profits and little excitement. Not much happened before she left her job as a bodyguard and sought a change of scenery.

Her experience in the risky world of industrial espionage on Denon had perfected Zam's deadly skills, while also allowing her to develop a web of contacts, financing, and gear to start her career in earnest. Finally, she could establish herself as a bounty hunter. She had adopted as her identity the appearance of a short, attractive female human, as a means of securing more work and hiding her true Clawdite face. With practice, although not without pain, she managed to maintain this appearance even while sleeping. She also adopted a uniform, a purple jumpsuit that could adapt to both her human and Clawdite forms, and that helped protect her skin.

Above the jumpsuit, she wore a flexible armored doublet and a protective skirt. The skirt's connected segments concealed an impact-absorbing system that offered protection against attacks from behind. Her helmet had its own light and incorporated a commlink under the veil that hid her face. In the heat of combat, her true Clawdite face could emerge, which the veil helped hide. Zam's belt had a series of compartments and essential devices for her profession, including the holster for her KYD-21 blaster. In front of her doublet, she carried a small respiratory device. These tubes inserted into Zam's body and allowed the device to function through her lungs if it was required by the atmosphere. The uniform came complete with a certain number of Mabari objects, among them an ancient cape clasp, an emblem on her helmet, and combat gloves. All these objects were ingraved with inscriptions from sacred Mabari texts.

We're bounty hunters, Zam, not heroes: The partnership of Zam and Jango Fett began long ago, long before she was contracted to kill Padme Amidala. The two bounty hunters respected each other. Zam had the honor of knowing the son of Jango, Boba Fett.

Elite Assassin

It was fated that the paths of Zam Wesell and Jango Fett would meet, but it would prove a very dangerous crossing.

Zam Wesell was considered one of the best bounty hunters of her generation, and she believed it. So it was logical that she would come to be known by Jango Fett, considered the number one in their profession.

One of their first encounters [Syn's notes: preceded five years by their true first encounter in the game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter] took place after Antonin Vigo, of the Black Sun, contracted Zam to kill Dreddon the Hutt. She took the form of a red-headed slave and successfully carried out the mission. Just as she was about to take her leave, Jango Fett appeared. Zam discovered that she was not going to be paid, nor was Jango, who had taken out Antonin at the behest of Dreddon.

Zam and Jango both knew of each other's reputations. The mutual respect that they had and their simiar ethics led them to allow one another to go on their way. However, the two would meet again shortly afterwards when a dug named Fernooda contracted Zam.

We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This: Zam and Jango were contracted to recover an ancient artifact. She let him do all the hard work; then ambushed him and made off with the idol.

Jango, you're always complaining about my shapeshifting: The mutant power of a Clawdite was very useful in her work and elongating her arm to grab hold of the idol that both she and Jango Fett were searching for. [Syn's notes: The presentation of this information is a little misleading. Zam catching the idol like this occurred well after this job for Fernooda, when both Zam and Jango were working together to keep Fernooda's boss from using it in a terrorist attack.]

I know that there's a man under that mask: Zam managed to get closer than anybody to the mysterious Jango Fett, with the exception of his son Boba. Even so, she knew that a relationship between them would affect her work, and thus decided not to push it further.

It was an awkward situation, since Fernooda had assigned the job to Jango, but had decided to ensure its success by also contracting the Clawdite. The aforementioned mission involved recovering an idol that had been in the possession of Fernooda's boss. Zam, who knew that Jango had also been contracted, let her rival do the dirty work before springing an ambush. This time, she insisted on seeing the face of the man under the mask. She was so transfixed on him, that she didn't realize there was an enormous insect, the guardian of the idol, about to attack her.

Without knowing why, Jango came to Zam's rescue and, recognizing that she was in his debt, she allowed him to leave with Fernooda's idol. Thus began the strange and exceptional relationship, even friendship, between Jango Fett and Zam Wesell. [Syn's notes: As mentioned earlier, their association truly began with the events of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, but perhaps this is the point things got a little more personal between them.]

Partners: Without a doubt, Zam and Jango worked well as partners. The question was whether they were willing to let their affection become more important than their work.

Mutual Empathy

Although it was nearly inevitable that Zam Wesell and Jango Fett should encounter one another again, the first reunion that occurred between the two bounty hunters did not go as either had expected.

At first glance, the mission seemed simple. It involved an assignment that Vigo Antonin, of Black Sun, had given to Zam Wesell, and the contracts from this organization were always lucrative. Certainly, the jobs offered to bounty hunters of Zam Wesell's level were never easy.

The target was Dreddon the Hutt. It was never a good idea to threaten Black Sun business and Vigo Antonin wanted to make an example of him. Zam used all the resources at her disposal to investigate and infiltrate Dreddon's organization. Her Clawdite powers allowed her to adopt the form of a human dancer that appealed to the Hutt. She needed all her concentration to maintain this form during a prolonged period, but Zam was very good at what she did. The disguise completely fooled Dreddon. Hutts are very difficult to kill.

Poisons and blasters could not guarantee that Dreddon wouldn't have time to call for his guards, so, to end his life, Zam restrained herself to placing a microbomb hidden in one of Dreddon's amphibian snacks when he was about to enjoy a private performance from his favorite dancer. The result was somewhat chaotic, but decisive.

A Private Affair

Just when she was about to leave, Zam heard someone approach. She grabbed her blaster and hid, waiting to see who could be intruding on her mission. She was almost happy to see Jango Fett, the most infamous bounty hunter in the galaxy, next to the corpse of his client.

Zam had successfully completed her mission and would soon receive a rich reward for her troubles. What's more, she could make fun of Jango Fett for the murder of his client. She had him at her mercy, pointing at him with her blaster, knowing who he was and what he was capable of.

Unfortunately, Zam's good humor soon went up in smoke. Jango had returned from completing a contract for Dreddon: killing Vigo Antonin! Thus, neither Zam nor Jango would be paid. Fett took the first opportunity to draw his blaster and with that both bounty hunters were in the same bind.

Zam was the first to lower her blaster, with her trademark style. With a twirl and a grin, she pointed out that the problem was that neither of them wanted to make the first move. She then flounced off, leaving Jango alone with his thoughts.

It's a weird rock: The artifact that Fett and Wesell had to recover was an idol that, as they would discover, bestowed mysterious powers upon its owner. [Syn's notes: ...If "mysterious powers" means "ownership of extremely explosive chunk of rock," then yes, that is correct.]

A New Contract

However, Zam needed work. The matter with Dreddon had left her without anything to show for it. A dug named Fernooda offered a contract shortly after she returned to her base of operations, but he warned her that he had already contracted another bounty hunter for the job in question: Jango Fett.

Zam readily accepted the job, since it seemed simple. Recovering a little statue from the natives of the jungle planet Seylott that had been stolen from Fernooda's boss. She had already decided to let Jango do the dirty work and ambush him at the temple's exit.

Jango's Revenge

It seemed that this time, Zam Wesell had won. She even managed to get Jango to remove his Mandalorian helmet. The scarred face she saw was handsome, if a bit gloomy. Then, a huge carnivorous insect attacked Zam from behind. The other bounty hunter ignored Zam's cries for help, taking the statue and running.

My client offered 50,000 Republic credits: The paths of Wesell and Fett crossed once again when the dug Fernooda contracted them to recover an object that the natives of Seylott had stolen from his boss. Immediately, the instinctive sense of rivalry returned between the two bounty hunters.

Heroes of Coruscant

Zam thought that she was doomed, Jango Fett had taken off, leaving her to be devoured by the enormous monster on Seylott.

While fighting to escape, Zam was surprised to see Jango return. He told her to take out all the explosives that she had on her and prepare to detonate them. Zam didn't have much option but to trust him, although she wasn't sure that he wouldn't get both of them killed. Fortunately, Fett's jetpack got them out of trouble. Zam picked up Jango's helmet from amidst the smoke and the dust left from the creature's destruction, gave it to him, and allowed him to take Fernooda's idol; afterwards, she turned and left, smiling as she told Jango to take care until next time. There would be a next time, Zam assured her rival, although this didn't seem to bother Fett.

However, Wesell wasn't satisfied. She had heard rumors here and there, and soon learned the truth about her mission on Seylott. The idol had been under the power of the Force-sensitive natives. The Annoo-Dat general Ashaar Khorda wanted the idol to use as a weapon capable of generating explosions that could destroy an entire planet. Even worse, Khorda's target was Coruscant.

Zam traveled quickly to Kamino, where she met with Jango and, to her surprise, with his young son Boba. She believed that Boba's mother had been killed and Jango said nothing to the contrary. Instead, he listened impatiently to Zam's story about the idol. Zam ended by saying that, since she and Jango had found the weapon, they owed it to the people of Coruscant to stop Khorda's plan.

Under the Mask: Zam Wesell was one of the few people who could elicit affection from the harsh and implacable Jango Fett

A Matter of Conscience

Jango wasn't interested, since he wouldn't be paid for the work and his son needed him on Kamino, but Zam convinced him that there were countless children that needed him on Coruscant. Jango Fett, an orphan rescued by strangers, softened his position and finally accepted his first time working together with Zam Wesell. [Syn's notes: Again, second time since Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.]

Zam had seen Khorda's right-hand man, the dug Fernooda. Thus, she took on his appearance in order to discover Khorda's and his lackeys' plans. They found out that Fernooda planned to place the idol in one of the planet's central reactors, where the explosion would cause a chain reaction that would destroy the planet completely.

Jango and Zam, along with a solitary Jedi, found the mad killer, after following the clues that he and his gang had left. Together, the three proceeded to defeat the gang and recover the idol. The Jedi could absorb the Force of the idol and leave it without power once more; although at the cost of his life.

Safe Return: Zam Wesell worked together with Jango Fett to seize a powerful Force artifact and return it to its owners. She managed to convince Jango to accept the mission.

Zam and Jango took the idol back to Seylott, earning them the gratitude of the natives. They were requested not to return ever again, something that the bounty hunters had no intention of doing. Upon returning to Kamino, Zam was not fooled by Jango's complaints of not being paid, since she knew that, deep down, he knew that returning the idol had been the right thing to do. It was the same impulse that had saved her on Seylott. She said goodbye to Jango with a kiss on his scarred cheek, so he wouldn't feel it had all been for nothing. It seemed that Zam had won again.

Altruistic Mission: Zam's desire to prevent the deaths of millions of people in a terrorist attack shows that she had a certain sense of conscience.

The Final Mission

Jango Fett made an atypical decision: subcontract Zam for the most dangerous assignment.

Jango wanted to spend more time with his son Boba. The boy's education was very important to him. However, the most famous bounty hunter in the galaxy had many offers of work. He accepted most of them and the rest he passed on to Zam Wesell. She worked alone most of the time, although they worked together occasionally, to the benefit of both of them.

Assassination Contract

A man that Jango knew as Tyranus, the same that had given him work with the Kaminoans, requested that he accept a special mission. It involved the killing of a high-order politician who had interfered in Tyranus's business. The pay was very good and Jango was happy to be able to pass it on to Zam Wesell. It seemed like a simple job.

The target was a senator dedicated to public life, something that would make her an easy target for an intelligent assassin. However, the target was also a queen of Naboo, friend of the Jedi and a central figure to the supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

Direct Hit: Ostensibly, Zam Wesell had killed the senator Padme Amidala with a bomb on her ship, but the victim ended up being a decoy, making it necessary to take another approach.

Reckless Driving: Zam realized that she was being pursued by Jedi. Her skill at the wheel of a speeder allowed her to traverse the busiest districts of Coruscant, but her pursuers wouldn't give up the chase.

To Kill a Senator

Zam chose the occasion carefully.The target was to return to Coruscant for a crucial vote, and her landing would be predictable enough. Zam used her capacity for shapeshifting to discover the time and place of Senator Padme Amidala's return.

With her usual cunning, Zam managed to place a bomb on the target's landing platform and then left to observe from the heights of a building a kilometer away. From there, she waited for the moment of truth. Amidala's silvery ship landed, flanked by fighters. The senator came down from the ramp and the moment her foot stepped onto the platform, Wesell detonated the explosive. There were few survivors and the news was full of stories and images of Zam's success.

Double Action

Zam Wesell believed she had completed the mission, but her satisfaction was short-lived. Amidala was apparently alive in the rotunda of the Senate at the end of the day, a very irritating outcome. The woman killed on the landing platform was a double. Fett was angry, along with his client. There could be no more mistakes.

Fett spoke with Zam and gave her a glass tube with two kouhuns inside. He cautioned her that they were extremely venomous, since she wasn't an amateur.

The bounty hunters counted on an ASN-121 droid, programmed with the location of Amidala's quarters, to deposit the deadly cargo. Then, Zam sat and waited for the return of the robot.

It was emiting an alert signal. Zam saw through her scope a Jedi holding onto the droid. Not even the droid's destruction could shake the Jedi, and soon she was being pursued through all of Coruscant, with her skills as a pilot put to the test.

Just when she thought she had lost them, one of the Jedi jumped onto her speeder. In the subsequent skirmish, her vehicle was damaged and she was forced to land. She sought refuge in a bar with the Jedi close behind.

Death of a Hunter

Seeing one of the Jedi at the bar, Zam approached as close as she dared, knowing that he could deflect a blaster bolt if warned in time. Unfortunately, the Jedi was much more astute, igniting his lightsaber with a twirl and severing Zam's hand that held her blaster. The pair of Jedi dragged Wesell's wounded body into an alley to interrogate her.

Ground Chase: Zam, without her speeder which had been damaged, had to flee on foot. She got into a bar, where she intended to ambush her pursuers, but Obi-Wan Kenobi attacked her with his lightsaber before she could fire; Wesell was badly injured.

One of them, the younger one, pressed Zam to reveal the name of her client. At first, she resisted, but then, after the Jedi spoke again, began to tell her captors what she knew.

The poison dart that Jango shot ended Zam's life before she could speak a word. She died quickly from the venom's deadly effects; she didn't suffer. This was the last thing that Fett could do for a friend.

[sage-nebula]

Game Review — Blue Fire

One of my all-time favorite game series is The Legend of Zelda. My favorite game of all time is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. And my second favorite game of all time is Hollow Knight. So it would make sense, then, to think that a combination of the two would be the most amazing thing the world had to offer me.

Overall Score: 7/10

Well . . . it could have been better. It also could have been worse, absolutely, but it also could have been better. For more detailed thoughts, jump below the cut (and view on blog due to formatting).

The Pros:

The graphics and animation are beautiful. The specific Zelda game the graphics brought to mine (despite the color palette, which was clearly more Hollow Knight inspired) was The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Whatever reason the developers had for going the cel shaded route (maybe they had an artistic vision in mind, or maybe it was easier somehow) it was a good one to make. In particular, all of the glowing and flame effects were lovely, the shadows all fell in the right places, the characters were charming to look at, et cetera. Everything worked well with the acrobatics as well. Visually, the game is beautiful.

For the most part, the platforming is fair and even platforming challenges are doable with enough practice. This is particularly true for the overworld / main dungeons, rather than the Voids, which are more extra dungeons that you don’t have to complete to beat the game (although doing so certainly makes the game easier given that each completed Void gives you another life heart). While there were some areas where the game lagged for whatever reason and threw off crucial timing, as well as some Voids that were definitely more Platform Hell than simply platforming, the platforming puzzles were very well put together for the most part and were enjoyable to play.

The fast travel system, when unlocked, is incredibly convenient and takes a lot of the headache out of traveling around the world, particularly given that you use the shrines for a number of things (fast travel, saving, char—spirit equips) and there aren’t any maps present in this game whatsoever. It does take some time to unlock fast travel and you’re not exactly pointed in the direction to get it (in fact I had to look up to figure out where I was supposed to go to get it), but once you have it it’s a well-developed system that took a lot of pain out of playing that would have otherwise been there.

A minor thing that I liked, but (just like in Hollow Knight) when you die, your spirit or soul is left behind. Also like in Hollow Knight, it keeps all of the money you had on you when you died. Essentially, it is the exact same thing as the Shade from Hollow Knight, but white instead of black. Anyway, the minor thing I liked about this is that if you die in a boss fight, your spirit waits for you directly outside the boss arena, meaning that you don’t have to try to reclaim it while the boss is trying to kill you. It was a nice bone the developers threw the player.

While no tracks in particular standout, and while the OST doesn’t live up to the OSTs of the inspirations behind this game, there were times when the music was very nice, which is always a plus.

While the main quest is very short, there are numerous sidequests you can do even apart from the Voids that give you things to do in each area, making them feel a little less small and giving you a bit more time with the game, as well as unlockables as rewards (mainly in the form of new costumes, but still). There are lots of little secrets hidden around in each area too, which is nice to discover if you’re someone like me who loves exploring in games. 

The Neutrals:

The story. The story is . . . how do I put this . . . okay. So, it’s clear the developers wanted to write a story with the aesthetic of Hollow Knight (ruined kingdom, lots of shadow / light dichotomy, fallen kingdom, et cetera), but with an overt storytelling style like The Legend of Zelda. So you get a lot of exposition about what happened in the past, and what you as the main character are supposed to do now . . . but the thing about the exposition is that not only is the same thing repeated about fifteen different times (such as the constant harping on about how the main character contains both light and shadow within them), but also there are huge chunks of seemingly important detail that are just left unexplained. Like for instance: we know that the Fire Guardians from the Fire Keep were one of the last strongholds against the Shadow (who was also the sixth god and has also corrupted the queen yadda yadda). And we can extrapolate that the Fire Guardians were specifically trying to create a warrior that was both light and shadow based on the fact that the game starts with the main character breaking out of a test tube with a bunch of corpses that look just like the player scattered around, seeming to be failed experiments (i.e. just like how the Pale King created the Hollow Knight in Hollow Knight). But the only Fire Guard that we see around is Von. I think he mentions briefly once that the Fire Guards were trying to make the warrior, or had made the warrior, or something like that, but we’re never told why, exactly. We don’t know what processes led to that. We don’t know who was in charge. We don’t know why this specific type of warrior was needed except “since you have both you may be the answer.” And the fact that there were apparently a bunch of failed experiments is never really touched upon either. Furthermore, we’re told that the five gods had lifted Penumbra (the world) into the sky to protect it from the Shadow (a la Hylia raising Skyloft to protect the people from Demise), but that it didn’t work and the Shadow ultimately got to them anyway. So allegedly this is a post-apocalyptic land. But the only thing to really be ravaged is the Temple of Gods, where apparently the corrupted queen sleeps. Everyone else seems mostly fine as long as they avoid the monsters? It’s like they were going for what Hollow Knight did, but didn’t quite want to go the full route of having corpses literally everywhere on-screen at all times. Although weirdly enough, there is also a distinct lack of NPCs which makes the world feel more empty than Hallownest despite the circumstances . . . What I’m getting at here is that there definitely is a story, but it was told in a way that was pretty sloppy. It’s not so sloppy that it detracts from the overall experience, but it’s like too much was piled on in some areas and not enough was explained in other areas. Or like they took some things they liked from other games (e.g. making the creation of the “warrior of light and shadow” reminiscent of the creation of the Hollow Knight) without following through on what made those things work. Like it wasn’t just that there were a lot of failed Knights and that their corpses were tossed into the abyss and that The Knight had to try to claw his way out (as did Broken Vessel and others) while the “successful” Hollow Knight was raised by the Pale King. It was also that we know that the entire reason why the Hollow Knight was created in the first place was to contain the Radiance / the Plague. It was also that these hundreds or thousands of corpses were the Pale King’s children. It was also that the Pale King has a monologue over that segment saying, “no mind to think, no will to break, no voice to cry suffering” as requirements for the Hollow Knight to be considered successful. The horror didn’t come just from the corpses being tossed down the pit around you as you had to climb up in an attempt to get out, but also at all of the surrounding context, which was left entirely out of Blue Fire’s version with the warrior of light and shadow. Not that they should have copied it (although if they had it really wouldn’t have been surprising), but it’s clear what they were trying to do and where they failed because they didn’t have the follow through to go with it. I feel like the above paragraph is so critical I should move it to The Cons, but I do want to say that I don’t think the story itself was terrible. It borrows so much from both Zelda and Hollow Knight that it really isn’t original and it doesn’t follow through on things that made those stories work, but overall it doesn’t ruin the experience, even if all of the repetition gets old pretty quickly. Although as a final note, I’ll also add another thing that bugged me, which is that we never learn what the people of Penumbra are. Like we know the Shadow is bad, but they all look like Shadow people. We know there are creatures called “onops” but we don’t know what they are, or if everyone is an onop. Whereas in Hollow Knight we know that all the characters are bugs. It’s just another little thing that wasn’t explained but probably should have been.

On a less long note, the combat is also pretty mediocre. Again, it’s not bad. There is a parry system that, if you learn to time it right to actually pull off the parry, is pretty cool. But although you are given magic, which is useful for killing long-distance enemies, the magic can’t do a single thing for you in boss battles no matter how many times you upgrade your mana. Additionally, it is very much a “mash Y to win” type of game, where Y is the button you use to attack and you just mash that while jumping around. There’s no complexity to the combat at all or any strategy that is really required. It’s not bad, per se, but it’s nothing to write home about either.

The charms in this game are called spirits, and while you can buy a majority of them from shopkeepers, you can also “capture” your own by coming across the spirit of a dead person and trapping it to use its power for yourself. This is made apparent when you go back to a young child who is dead the second time you go to see them, and capture their spirit for use. Also when you literally murder an NPC for a sidequest and then later capture their spirit to use for your own use. And aside from the sidequest giver being horrified you killed the NPC and telling you to keep it hush-hush (without even knowing that you can and will capture the spirit of that murder victim for your own use) this . . . is never really remarked upon. Ever. And the thing is, it creates a sort of dissonance, because your character is treated as a hero in this game. No one seems horrified by you, there’s never any question of whether your existence is moral or not, nor any reason to think that your character would be amoral. In Hollow Knight, the Knights were created to be soulless husks who were there to be vessels for the Radiance / infection. Hornet in particular calls out your cursed existence and how she does not like you because of it. But although you can learn “emotes” from statues (which is teaching your character either actions or emotions, it’s unclear), no such deal is made here. So this aspect of the game is strange, even if I can at least appreciate that they tried to make their spirits a tiny bit different from Hollow Knight’s charms. Though with that said . . .

The Cons:

It’s one thing to be inspired by other games, but the sheer amount that this game cops from The Legend of Zelda and Hollow Knight is, at least to me, incredibly distracting. Just a handful of examples off the top of my head: — In Hollow Knight, you have a Shade that lingers where you last died and keeps all of your money from when you died. In Blue Fire, you have a spirit / soul (again, it’s unnamed) that lingers where you died and keeps all of your money from when you died. You have to retrieve them before you die again to get your money back. — In Hollow Knight, you have different circular charms that each have a different design, name, and grant you different abilities. You can only have a certain amount equipped at a time (though you can increase how many you can equip at once) and you can only equip them at save points. In Blue Fire you have different spirits that are contained in circles that each have a different design, name, and grant you different abilities. You can only have a certain amount equipped at a time (though you can increase how many you can equip at once) and you can only equip them at save points. — Everything I explained above about how the main character breaking out of a test tube at the beginning, surrounded by corpses just like them, felt like an echo of the Knight’s creation in Hollow Knight (but again, not as effective for reasons outlined above).  — The default tunic has a hat that is exactly like Link’s from The Legend of Zelda. This is made even more obvious with the dyed green tunics. — The story segment detailing how the five gods created Penumbra was copped from how the golden goddesses created Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. To compare the dialogue: Ocarina of Time: “Din. With her flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth.” Blue Fire: “Dina, God of Land. With her mighty body of stone, Dina carved mountains, deserts, and landforms in the earth.” It’s in the exact same cadence, to the point where I half expected the artifact they created at the end of the story to be the Triforce (instead it was called the Oath of Sarana).  — In Hollow Knight, the titular Hollow Knight is housed inside the Temple of the Black Egg, and is in fact locked inside that Black Egg to seal the Radiance / infection. There are three locks on the egg, and each one will only be broken when one of the three Dreamers dies. You have to break all three locks to face him, a corrupted “final” boss. In Blue Fire, the corrupted queen is housed inside the Temple of the Gods. There are three locks on her door, and each one will only be broken when one of the three Shadow Lords dies. You have to break all three locks to face her, the corrupted final boss. — It’s implied that, especially in places like the Temple Gardens, that the humanoid enemies that attack you are not monsters, but are people who were once completely normal and even forces of good who were corrupted by the Shadow. This is exactly like how all of the enemies you face in Hollow Knight (with the exception of, say, Hornet) were also once normal bugs before they were turned into zombies by the infection. I could go on. The point is, it’s perfectly fine to be inspired by something. Hell, it would be hard to find an action/adventure game that wasn’t inspired by The Legend of Zelda at this point. But it’s one thing to be inspired by something, and another thing to completely rip-off your inspiration to the point where the similarities are distracting to your audience. And it’s not just me; when I was looking up the exact dialogue for the story of the gods from Blue Fire, I found others who were pointing out just how similar everything was to Hollow Knight in particular, including someone who, like me, realized that the Temple of the Gods was essentially the Temple of the Black Egg. When things are this blatant, it feels a whole lot less like inspiration and a whole lot more like plagiarism.

The Voids all have a star rating to indicate how difficult they are. These star ratings are completely meaningless. Granted, partly it’s because everyone is going to have different abilities and so it will be hard to create an overall difficulty scoring that will be accurate for every player, but it’s also telling when a four-star course is miles easier than a two-star course, which I found to be the case on more than one occasion due to level design that was, at times, kind of bullshit. 

Although there are NPCs, there are none who are memorable or standout, despite the fact that most of Penumbra’s populace is (maybe?) still alive. Unlike in Hollow Knight, where there were characters like Elderbug, the Last Stag, Hornet, Quirrel, and so forth that were memorable and lovable, all of the NPCs in Blue Fire feel rather the same and are pretty easily forgettable.

The world itself is incredibly small. While the fact there are no maps makes this kind of a good thing, on the other hand it’s a bit disappointing that there are a total of two towns and then a few small connecting areas. It doesn’t really make it feel like the kingdom that it’s supposed to be. 

On that note, why aren’t there maps? The fact that there is fast travel is really more of a necessity than mere convenience because there are no maps to help lead you around. If you put down the game for a while and then go back to it, you might not remember how to get to different areas in the game, and if you haven’t unlocked fast travel yet (since it is something you have to unlock) you’re going to be pretty much boned due to the lack of a feature that is in basically every other game. 

Overall, while this is not a game I think I would ever go back to, it also isn’t one that I regretted purchasing and playing. It could definitely have been better, but it also could have been worse. My only hope is that the next game this studio makes is more original, rather than copying so much from other, more successful titles. (Or at the very least, that they study why certain things worked in more successful titles, instead of just copying at the surface level and calling it a day.)

[septiembrre]

Upon rewatching last night’s episode and knowing what to expect, I’m loving so many details in it. In some regards, I’m giving the show snaps and saying, yeah this is the detail I always want. Haha, we’re going to overlook that Beth ordered a hit on Rio twice last night. 

I never promised to take off my shipper googles, okay?!

I have come around on the hitman character and I appreciate that the nature of Beth and Rio’s relationship was obvious to him despite how fucking terrible it is right now. I hope he reveals what tipped him off. What did he observe about Rio’s business ops with the girls that flagged it? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Before the episode, I was convinced the hitman was working for Rio, or ended up going to Rio and disclosing the hit. Now I don’t think he’s working for Rio... I think Rio’s putting this together because of how obsessive he is about unpacking Beth and her chess moves (or he has a Beth space (her house or her work) bugged, which I mean circles back to how obsessive he is). There’s too many indicators that point to Rio being in the know. 

I love that he’s this super suave, ridiculously bougie crime boss and Beth’s a Junior League mom, three-time winning mini-muffin champion, and 1. he knows to not underestimate her and 2. these two idiots are locked in this stalemate. I stan. 

Additional points of note:

- Rio’s little grin at Beth’s celebratory dance of his murder. Sometimes I wonder if Rio still likes her, because he’s so exhausted by Beth this season. But, I think at that moment he unwittingly did. Despite his better judgment, he continues to be charmed by her. Oh, my boy. 

- Rio and Beth back in her kitchen!!!! 

- Rio is no longer waiting for her outside in the Mercedes, making Beth leave her groceries to rot on her front porch or wherever.  #Growth. Instead, he’s inside her house again, with her, for the first time this season. This time there’s so little furniture/stuff to look at it, but still so telling and I love that it percolates thoughts as to where her money is going. 

- I thought that Rio would return her shit? I really thought at some point he’d give it back to Beth. I didn’t realize he was expecting her to have bought (some) new things. But like, duh - that makes sense with how much of a nester Beth is. Of course, he would think she would spiral into buying things for the kids and repopulating the house. I wonder about his thought process as he moved through the space. I also APPRECIATE THAT HE WENT INTO HER BEDROOM all solito. Bitter, no doubt. But, also probably in his feelings about that day, about how Dean’s shit is back in that room. Ohhhh, my boy. 

- Everything’s so different, but I loved the call back to the pilot and their first meeting. I love the return of S1 hoodie. So many callbacks to a better time! I love it, but it also prompted me to have a lot of feelings at the state of things now. 

- That being said I loved how tired Rio was during in the car wash scene. Our guy (and our girl) are so tired and done with each other. Rio’s tired in this scene because he knows Beth so well and he knows she’s scheming against him, and he’s not here for it (little does he know...). 

- “Unkillable. Unhuman.” Hahaha. I don’t overall approve of the dehumanizing Rio, but I did find this funny. If we have to suffer this hitman storyline, I do love that he continues to resurrect on Beth. 

- Ruby and Annie finally hearing that there was a round two. 

- Beth’s comment about how Rio only drops by on her. 

- “Jilted lovers”

- “Crime of passion”

- “Your lover enjoys a two-hour omakase lunch every Friday. He never misses it.” LOVER!!! Foodie!Rio!!!! Bougie-af Rio. Like who has a two hour (solo?) lunch? I stan. 

- Rio plays tennis every Tuesday. 

- Rio SPEAKING SPANISH. You see - all I had to do was write that post and the gods of Good Girls heard me and made it happen. If only they would hear my other requests :’) 

- Beth throwing and breaking something at Rio’s establishment for once. Yes, queen.

- Rio being a little shit in the pool scene and then getting one-upped by Beth. Rio definitely thought her throwing the pool ball was hot. 

- Beth having won the state mini-muffin competition for the past three years. Honestly, she should be on GBBO. Can we get a crossover next season for levity? Rio can eat all of her practice bakes and they can work through their feelings week by week. At the end, when Beth makes it to the championship, he can be featured in her segment about her support network, jaja, perhaps with relationship ~unlabeled? 

Noel voice: “Beth is a brilliant mother of four. She certainly gets plenty of feedback regarding her bakes from her children. Beth is also an entrepreneur and enjoys a supportive working relationship with her business partner Rio. Since entering the competition, they have adjusted their work schedule so that they take off every Tuesday afternoon, so Beth can experiment with next week's recipes.” *shots of Beth baking in the Boland kitchen. Rio sampling an award-winning muffin* ahhh! Then, Rio (+ Ruby and Annie) can go to the picnic with all of their kids, and talk about how proud they are of her. 

I mean, yes? Okay, enough of this enormous GBBO digression. 

- “I was bored.” I love this admission. I think some folks in the fandom are hurt by this because it is in direct reference to her relationship with Rio. But, Beth wasn’t going to admit she grew huge, wild feelings for the crime boss to a stranger.  She can barely admit it to herself. She can’t admit it to the crime boss in question. Nor can she admit it to the people she is closest to in life. This admission that boredom/frustration/numbness are key motivators for Beth - I loved it. And Rio knows those motivators. He gets it. It calls back the “Did they suck your soul out yet?” comment from the end of Season 2. As much as Rio was trying to belittle her to Mick later in the episode, he still knows she’s smart, talented, and capable and he hates it/loves it. 

- Beth: “Story of my life [...] missed opportunities.” My heart hurts for her. 

There are definitely more moments that I enjoyed.  I overall liked this episode. But, obviously what hurts my heart the most is that Beth said the hitman could pull the trigger on Rio, twice. I don’t know what to do with that, in combination with the show clearly exploring how impactful Beth and Rio’s relationship was/is. 

On some level, there’s a juxtaposition of S1/S2!Brio to now!Brio, and the juxtaposition shows that Rio doesn’t mean enough to Beth right now to not kill him. That really hurts me personally. But, the discussions of what once was also brings up again how much there still is, festering, unresolved. 

The hitman saying that crimes of passion~ always yield to someone regretting it feels like foreshadowing. The point is: Rio isn’t going to die, he will not be killed off the show. So, Beth is changing her mind and I’m wondering what is going to do that so quickly? I’m assuming the hitman is going to put her on the schedule for the next week or the week after. Unfortunately, despite the potential for the reversal of the hitman storyline... soon? (jajaja, I mean who am I kidding? I thought it was going to be over episodes ago. It could have been strung out to Episode 16 with the way things are handled right now), I don’t think we’re going to get it this Sunday. 

Another point of hope - as others have voiced - is that Beth still can’t kill Rio herself. She already HAS shot Rio and it speaks to me that she can’t do it again. 

I feel like my head is spinning with Season 3 content. I’m excited to write in this new canon-verse over the hiatus. I’m just crossing my fingers that the hiatus isn’t FOREVER. 

[ahmedmootaz]

Drakken and Shego: The Shippening: Finale.

You can probably see that I’m running out of ideas for titles. In any case, folks, y’all probably thought I was gone, eh? You thought I stopped my shipping of these two? You thought the Tazmanian Intelligence Forces finally got me after such a long time? Well you thought wrong! Here I am, still writing about these two dorks, and here’s a small compilations of the moments I found to be cute between the two of them, for what will unfortunately be the last time, I’m afraid, but hey, at least Graduation was wholly amazing. Really, it’s one of my favorite finales to a series so far.  But enough monologuing, I watched this show enough to learn how much it can ruin a man, let’s just get into it.

Starting with “Odds Man In”, in which Drakken and Shego open up a...cupcake business. Man, even the summary of this episode can be enough to half-fuel the Titanic. Honestly though, the re-introduction of Hank was a nice call-back, and now he has a better job. Truly a self-made man right there. In any case, I like how Drakken and Shego seem to just have this...thing of casual Friday. I mean, honestly, the way Shego reacted wasn`t surprised or even mocking; she`s already had this conversation before, as in, Drakken has a usual casual Friday. That`s honestly pretty cute. Even though I`m entirely certain Shego would never participate, but at least he`s confident enough around her to wear as he wishes. And, to an extent, she’s nice enough to go with it, which is unheard of for Shego.Then the whole promotion part with Shego, which is what I expected of her to be honest. In fact, her entire dynamic with Drakken this episode appeals to me mostly because of how well they seem to have adapted to each other`s weaknesses and how they`re kinda-maybe-not really getting along well. Also, the ending segment is fairly nice with how Drakken simply invites Shego to help him with the cupcakes. Knowing him, I’d have thought he’d have acted less “Can we please just finish these things?” and more “I made these so they are mine and mine only!”. Though I do wonder how he got rid of the extra calories he gained. Talk about high-metabolism.

Leaving Drakken to burn those calories like he burns people with his raps, we now move onto “Stop Team Go.”, an epsiode I’m certain many put on their ‘Favorite Episodes’ list, and not without good reason. Of course, the main point of the episode was to explore the strange, unimaginable and yet intriguing idea of what would happen if Shego was basically Kim but with superpowers. I enjoyed the return of Team Go, the expansion of their proper storyline and such, and I definitely did not mind seeing Ron go back to becoming Lord Zorpox, even if for a brief moment. But I suppose the real reason we’re all here is Drakken and Shego, eh? Can’t blame ya’. So the side-plot with Drakken and the pickle jar was more than entertaining, but you know what I noticed? Drakken’s immediate assumption that Shego was there during the morning. At breakfast. I mean, come on, people, does anyone here regularly have breakfast with their boss? Well, in any case, even after her abandoning him time and time again throughout this series, Drakken is either gullible enough or so trusting to the point where he considers this all to be a little...prank. He spends all the day trying to open the pickle jar and imitate Darth Vader, but he doesn’t doubt her.  At all. I find that rather nice on his part after everything they’re been through together. I quite liked seeing Shego and Kim interact without trying to cut each other’s throats for once (Mr.Barking crushing on Shego was...It...I-I...Listen, he can dream big, alright? I ain’t stopping him, but...I don’t really think it...uh...worked, for a lack of a better term...He didn’t quite deserve angry guard dogs on him but...I think it was best for him to let go...) but after the dust had settled and Electronique was back in jail, one thing got me hooked: “SHEEEEEEGO! I NEEEEED YOU!”. C’mon, Doc, you’re her boss. Couldn’t you have said something more...strict and bossy? “Oh, there you are, Shego!”, for example? Bah, whether or not he was speaking solely about the gherkin jar is entirely up for debate...heh. I also liked the fact that in what I can only presume to be their spare time, they actually sit together in a single room. Not much talking, but at least they’re getting along. Maybe they can even start a chat or two.

Heading onto “Cap’n Drakken”, where I didn’t really find much in the term of shipping. Perhaps their little chat in their underwater lab, but it was standard at this point in time. I suppose it does give more room for personal writing and headcanons now that we know that Drakken has underwater labs in addition land ones, so there’s that. I cannot really consider anything Drakken does when he’s possessed as...him, to put it simply, although I did appreciate Mr.Barkin`s shenanigans during the episode. Also Kim saving our lovable blue man after he nearly drowns was nice on her part. Thanks for not letting Drakken die a horrible and painful death, Princess. I would`ve liked a joke or two about Mr.Barkin recognizing Shego as Ms.Go and Shego actually trying to help Drakken instead of blasting him off the boat because he ticked her off...But I suppose what she did was very...Shego of her. Couldn`t have expected anymore on her behalf.

And now, we explore “The Mentor Of Our Discontent.” where....Frugal Lucre is back?...Goodness, Frugal Lucre IS back! I almost forgot about him! Good on ya’, man. Though I don’t suppose Drakken was too happy about it...And Shego telling Frugal about what irks Drakken the most while disguising it as his most beloved things? Typical. Nice bit of teasing, though. Her saving them from their near-doom was also a nice on her parts. I also liked the small bit of continuity where Shego reminds (read: practically yells at) Drakken that his past robot-related idea was a bust...Which...I mean...she’s not wrong, but it’s not the robots themselves that failed, it was him...well, tying Kim effing Possible with a regular rope to what seemed like a piece of cardboard. Also...”Oh no: They’re bonding!”...Shego, is that...jealousy, I sense? Most likely not, in fact it’s probably my shipping senses tingling once more, but SHHHHHH. In any case, she probably didn’t want Drakken knowing anyone else since...well, they’d render her obsolete; how many people does Drakken know and interact with on a  daily basis? Not many, I would presume. The plan was...well, it could’ve worked, certainly, but...trying to seduce Jeff Bezos? Yeah, not...too likely...Honestly, the way Shego and Drakken argued this episode, it seemed as if she wanted more...recognition? Appreciation? Never thought she’d be after that, but I suppose she does deserve some, no? Also...Shego with yellow hair? Yeah, not really working out for ya’ with the whole...green skin thing...Yeah, I’ll stop. Also, unlike some people, I actually think Jeff dodged a big, flaming plasma bullet when Shego left him for good. Who knows, he might’ve woken up with a large burn wound and empty pockets. Also no real-estate value. At least she was nice enough to save Drakken and Frugal after this bust of a plot, no? Otherwise we wouldn’t see them in the following episodes? Oh, shut up, I’ll think what I want!

Alsoalsoalso, and this is extremely important: Shego loves hydrangeas! Hey, everyone has a soft-spot, and apparently, Shego is no different. Extremely important you guys. Think of the fanfiction potential!

And now, sliding onto “Clean Slate”, we have Drakken discovering what it’s like to start forgetting about the most essential of things while remembering everything else for a plan. You know, I could’ve sworn I saw a character like that before, though he was nowhere near as likable as Drakken...Oh. Wait. Sorry, my fault. That’s just me. Also, good on you for calling out the exposition, Shego, just as a true friend should for their boss!...Okay also for a sidekick but shut up. Anyways, Drakken tries to amplify his thinking by stealing a thinking machine and...Honestly? His dialogue and banter with Shego throughout the way there is simply amazing. The first scene with the pair of them in the lab after the day-off was just brilliant; I could not tell you just how unsurprising it was that Drakken watches “Ballroom With B Actors”. No surprise at all. Their banter was surprisingly...un-bitter? I mean, yeah, Shego was being her usual self, go figure, but Drakken wasn’t reacting nearly as vengefully as he would...Hmm...Also, why does Shego care if Drakken becomes a list-guy or not? Why does she care if he becomes lame? She is only the sidekick, no? She shouldn’t be concerned about how lame or not he is, eh? Also, personal experience has taught me that these papers are actually life-savers so...lameness for the win? And the hospital scene was quite nice too. The bowling with the henchmen part got a giggle out of me, but I liked how Shego was (slightly) invested in the mission itself. I mean, she actually took the lead, helped Drakken fit the pieces...these things. Also, what I wouldn’t do for a card that just says “Oh snap.”. Their second scene at the lair was also very nice, mostly because of how natural(?) everything felt...I mean...Once more, they’ve started interacting less like boss-and-sidekick and more like equals...In fact, Shego doesn’t immediately quip back when Drakken boasts about his plan in front of her. Which is honestly something unheard of for Shego. And again with the serum creation part, where the lippy-ness and everything else just becomes...naturalized. I mean, heck, “geek!”? That’s the best insult Shego can come up with? Though I have to agree with her about the fool-proof part; the more you say it, the more it is jinxed, my man. And then, the plan itself. which...well...I mean...Just one part. So close. So close. I liked the small quip with “Settle down,”, implying that he needs Shego to...well...calm down. I don’t like stating the obvious but here I am. Unfortunately, Shego’s friendliness doesn’t last all too long (When has it ever?) and she abandons Drakken when the train is about to explode. Same old Shego. At least she came back for him, though. I respect that at least.

Alsoalsoalso, can we give it to Dr.D that he took a major level in awesomeness?! I mean, Shego just deserted him, he was about to be overrun by (an admittedly weakened) Kim Possible, but instead of yelling or running away, he fights back! You go, Dr.D...even though it didn’t turn out all that great...But did you folks see just how glorious his coat looked while it fluttered in the wind? The stuff of dreams. Also the fact that he managed to survive a head-on collision with a hard surface at about 150 Km/h without having Newton’s Third Law obliterate him deserves an award in and out of itself.

Alright, so the next episode that features them only has them in the end credit, but I’m going to use that ocne scene for my argument anyways! Why does Drakken, I don’t know, talk to Shego about lair decoration? I mean, come on, is that a normal thing? And Shego peacefully reading without any snark...just informing Drakken of what’s happening. It was a nice display of companionship and trust after everything they’ve been through. I believe it was also one of they very few scenes with the two of them without any actual snark. Which sets the mood perfectly for:

“Graduation.”. Alright, this one is self-explanatory. We’ve heard it all; an amazing wrap-up, fantastic conclusion to the characters we loved to much (even if I did hate having to bid this show farewell...) and most of all ship-fuel. Oh, goodness, so much ship-fuel. Let’s start with the first scene, with Drakken and Shego in their lab again as he...turns into a Flower?...Just imagining how they’d deal with that is fluffy enough...Oh, also, why was Shego just...taking a bath right there and then? I get that it’s cold up there, but come on, isn’t that just a great display of trust? Could you possibly imagine this would just be done in a regular employee-employer relationship? We’ll skip momentarily over the admittedly nice and thought-provoking Kim-part to go straight to the jungle lair, where our favorite duo is...teasing each-other. The small, genuine smile on Shego’s face sells their friendship to me, and once more, imagining a day where Shego needs to deal with Drakken’s flower is fluffy beyond all belief. And then the alien tower-robot drops in. And then he gets abducted. I’ll gloss over his adorable monologue about his mother and cut to Shego’s horrified expression. That absolute terror on her face when Dr.D’s being dragged away from her. Pretty caring of her, dont’cha think? And her only worry when seeing the alien beacon near them is their lair being found out...seems like Drakken transmitted his interests to her pretty well.

Alright, so the second, more amazing part. Firstly, Shego being so bloody adamant on finding Drakken warms my heart like she warmed those machines’ metal legs, I mean goodness! That’s someone on a mission right there! Amd her absolute resolve to just go out to space to save Drakken...Yep, definitely more to her than the gloating, teasing, snarky Shego we all know and love. Putting aside the amusing interactions between Drakken and Kimmy, we’ll move onto one of the most iconic scenes so far, and one that has been unfortunately spoiled to me, the near-hug between Drakken and Shego. I...I knew from the day I first saw that this would be great to watch. Just...So close! The hesitation signaled to me that they didn’t quite know how the other one felt, so they called it off as to not get ‘awkweird’. Even their bickering afterwards feels less like bickeing and more like...talk. Old married couple snark, if you will. So after a small jog they run into...Warhawk and Warmonga. Who then proceed to perceive them as a couple. Listen, I’m not an expert on romantics, but when an alien race who has only seen you for a single day and thinks you’re a couple...well...inter-galactic shipping cannot be wrong, eh? And Shego’s rebuttal of these caims, while fierce is...well...as Warhawk elegantly put it “A river of Denial.”. Also, notice how Drakken made no effort to argue with Warmonga’s claims.  And then their little co-operation at the lab...if I remember correctly, someone had posted a now-deleted script for this scene that was far more amical. Also far more shippy. And now, we head onto how they save the world together. Firstly, Shego’s introduction of Drakken really feels like how she’d act if she was a typical sidekick, finding glory in every bit of Drakken’s plans. Of course, this is Shego we’re talking about, so this must be something...Good on ya’ Dr.D. Also, and I noticed this through the insight of @bcbdrums ‘ post, but have you noticed that the flowers that bloom are blue and green? Hmm? Is this signaling something, Drakken? Perhaps he signaled it a little too close in the final moments, if that also-iconic scene is anything to go by! I just stopped in my tracks for a moment when it came to him and Shego...Plant-hugging. This is almost everything I wanted. And the smile...it just sells a lot to me. Also how happy Shego looks for Drakken. And on that note, I adore that this is the last we see them together, leaving the rest for our questionably sane minds to fill.

So that was it, folks. Kim Possible. What an amazing journey, huh? It was all-around amazing, and Drakken and Shego (and their shippiness!) only added to it. Such a magnificent adventure this has been, and I wish you all enjoyed it with me, even when I went MIA to hide from Tazmanian Intelligence also because I was lazy  , once again, thank you. Every single one of you. Your opinions are welcome.

Alsoalsoalso, I wrote a Fanfic! Check it out here and write your opinions about that because...well, it means a lot to me. The Fic:https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329315/chapters/48201205

[doshmanziari]

2019 Mega Drive Explorations [1]

It takes me a long time to do some things and I’ve finally gathered up a bunch of Sega Mega Drive / Genesis titles that I’ve been meaning to play, hopefully through their entirety, or replay and take as many screenshots as I can. These aren’t going to look like most other screenshots you’ll see online, though; I’ve been using an NTSC filter because I believe it’s the visual format in which these games look best. So, let’s take a stroll through the material so far.

Super Hydlide (1989)

This is one of the best “old style” action-RPGs I’ve played. I’ve gone in with barely any prior knowledge, and I think that’s how to best experience it. Spoiling yourself on the extent and workings of its mechanical systems would, I think, turn it into nothing more than leveling up and finding the next place to go. The range of overworld which you’re initially able to explore is fairly restricted, and, as the action-RPG designation suggests, there are no randomized battles. Because of details like your need of food and sleep, or the encumbrance limit, though, it’s a deep relief to return to a town after some exploration in a way that reminds one why this trope of wilderness vs. domesticity caught on. You might just find yourself exhaling when your enter an inn. In another game, your character’s attack would likely be assigned a hitbox straight ahead of the sprite, but Super Hydlide locally assigns it to your right arm/hand, and it’s a welcome quirk in a game with super basic combat. There is no in-game map (or, if there is, I haven’t found it yet), and so -- as with Simon’s Quest -- I’ve been drawing my own on a sheet of gridded paper.

Above: the same screen at different times of day.

I hope that this blog’s emphases and its audience make the claim that I think Super Hydlide looks amazing at least appreciable. Everything has just enough detail to render the object, being, or space as categorically legible while retaining ambiguities, and there’s a variety where you might not expect it, like the grass around the building above, that gives each screen a kind of visual grain that an ornate and time-worn carpet might have. Complementing this is a soundtrack that seems unaware of the console’s audio capabilities in a way that another contemporary Mega Drive release, like Sword of Vermilion, certainly was not. That’s fine, though; the sound’s smallness, with those lite approximations of exclamatory synth brasses and the percussion’s dusty, dinky punches, enhances the cute visual aesthetics: people, monsters, and buildings you could hold in a pair of cupped hands. Especially remarkable is the overworld theme, “Chaos Separator” -- almost three minutes long, a duration that was basically unheard of at the time.

Atomic Runner Chelnov (1992)

Chelnov has me torn between wanting to share either as many screenshots of it as I can or as little. It’s so stunning to behold that exposing anyone who hasn’t played it to its sights seems like a disservice. It’s in extreme contrast to the game’s original arcade version, too, which may as well be a different game. Every stage is a stream of layered ornaments, and continuing to play to see more of this is motivation alone. At first I thought the graphic theme was one of a general “exoticism”, with ziggurats settled above lava giving way to stepped Mayan pyramids, but then the penultimate stage threw architecture designed by Antoni Gaudí my way, making me wonder if the theme is more broadly “eclectic” -- choosing certain settings and motifs for their dazzling power alone. This is one of those run ‘n’ gunners where your character will keep running unless you stop them -- but you soon have to start running again anyway, since the screen keeps moving right and only stops for bosses. It took me playing through half of the game to figure out how to turn around. Please, if you want to give Chelnov a look: consult a controls FAQ.

El Viento (1991)

If you’re looking for level design that’s a mixture of the mundane and the out-of-control, El Viento might be for you. One moment you’re walking through an open sewer channel, exploding the occasional fish; the next, you’re navigating a bundle of platforms that feel way too closely packed together for your character’s sprite size as you attempt to outrun a never-ending flood of rats that move at speeds never before recorded. One moment you’re going through an apartment’s door into an empty interior; the next, a tank bursts through the opposite wall and just starts hammering you with missiles and bullets, giving you only five feet of space to work with. It’s the second in a trilogy of games, which includes Earnest Evans, a game perhaps most notable for all of its footage making it appear that the players are incompetent on purpose, but which in fact plays more or less the same no matter how good you are. Grave sacrifices were made so that the titular character could be a composite sprite. El Viento’s level design hews closely to Earnest Evans’, with the important difference that its protagonist, Annet Myer, is controllable.

Even with its problems, El Viento is charming. It’s nice to play a videogame with a female protagonist who’s not creeped on by the artist(s) (perhaps we can, in part, thank technical limitations for this). The palettes and style of pixel art bear an uncanny resemblance to Master of Darkness, released for the Game Gear and Master System, and give each stage a distinct, almost dirty granularity. For me, El Viento gets especially interesting around the fourth stage, a ship’s engine room (or... factory?) that’s preceded by a short segment that has you crossing water on top of a cartoon-eyed dolphin. The level design transitions to looking like a network from Metroid Fusion -- a knotty maze with small destructible points that cause chain reactions, oddly small platforms, moments where you’re not sure what’s interactive and what’s not, and low ceilings underlined by spike-beds that necessitate you make use of a crouch-dash mechanic that feels like it shouldn’t work the way it does. It’s a hardly perfect yet precious occurrence of extinct, or endangered, level design, and the developers apparently had a confidence in letting it, as it were, speak for itself, because there’s not a single enemy to defeat throughout.

Jewel Master (1991)

Wanting to hear Motoaki Takenouchi’s incredible score, one of the Mega Drive’s best, in its intended context was almost totally my incentive to play Jewel Master. It’s a fine, somewhat haphazardly designed action game; not bad, not memorable, but for the music. You acquire different rings, some optional, as you go from stage to stage, and can assign them to a total of four active slots on an equipment menu. Different combinations will lead to different effects -- or you might want to leave a ring on one hand on its own. It’s a neat idea in the abstract. In practice, you’ll often be better off sticking to one set-up per stage until a boss demands a switch. The level design is pretty uninspired, and it increasingly makes artificial attempts at challenging the player by burying you under swarms of suddenly-appearing monsters. When this happens, you just have to hope that you can make it out alive. There’s not a whole lot to look at, either: the stages’ environmental peculiarities and palettes are minimal to an extreme, although I do love that the protagonist’s sprite seems to take a cue from Rastan’s by only moving his legs when he walks.

Gynoug (1991)

My experience with, and interest in, shumps, is next to nonexistent, so I don’t have a ton to say about Gynoug. Why’d I bother? Well, because of the weird and grotesque enemy and boss sprites, which combine the mechanical, exoskeletal, and visceral. The first miniboss is like a floating snapping turtle... except without legs, and a head that’s a toothed skull. Later, in stage two, you’re confronted by the bow and head of a ship that reveals itself to be the hat atop a colossal, wrinkled face. Maybe it was expecting too much to hope that the settings would match the bestiary’s inventiveness, but only stage three and four wowed me. If it’s not a game I’m going to be returning to any time soon, it was worth going through once.

That’s all for now. Other titles I’ve been exploring and will write about at some point include Alisia Dragoon, Cadash, Chakan: The Forever Man, Elemental Master, Light Crusader, Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter, Mystic Defender, Shining Force 2, Splatterhouse 2 and 3, Two Crude Dudes, and Ys III.

[darkvolley]

I need to talk about my end game experience because of how much it means to me, so excuse the mini ranting.

After the segment where Ephemer comes to the rescue I was just bawling so hard about how it emotionally impacted me. Getting the Starlight, which was a major shock, hit me even harder. I decided, in the name of all the Keyblade wielders that couldn't be there to defeat Xehanort with Sora, in-universe of course, that I would use the Starlight to defeat him. So from that moment on I had the Starlight equipped and used no other Keyblade the whole time. I defeated all the following bosses with it and got all the way to Xehanort.

At Xehanort's first battle stage I dealt the final blow with Stun Impact, which certainly looked nice and felt so satisfying. At his final stage, while you could only finish him off with a reaction command, I did remove the last possible amount of his HP, again, using Stun Impact with Starlight, so in a technical sense I did defeat him with Stun Impact from Starlight.

That matters to me because, like I said, it was for all the fallen Keyblade wielders that came before Sora. It was for Ephemer, Skuld, Stelitzia, Lauriam, Elrena, Demyx and Luxord's somebodies, every other Dandelion, and every single keykid out there. And I know that was a made up condition by me, but KHUX and all it's characters matter to me and it made my completion of the game special to me on a whole other level than it would have without Starlight.

[miloscat]

[Review] Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PS4)

I found Playtonic’s first effort a delight, and I was excited to see these characters return... doubly so for a somewhat DKC-inspired 2D romp!

Playtonic almost made it a point not to bring up the DKC comparison themselves. It’s natural for people’s minds to go there, though. Impossible Lair certainly draws on the history of its developers, not to mention Retro Studios’ Donkey Kong games, but brings plenty of its own ideas to the table as well.

The main thing that makes this not “just” a 2.5D sidescroller is the overworld segments, which recall the less-remarked-upon games in Playtonic’s legacy. Games like Conker’s Pocket Tales, or Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge—not to mention Sabre Wulf GBA, probably the closest comparison point in terms of structure. Between levels you’re isometrically exploring and interacting with a little connected world, albeit in a simpler fashion to this duo’s initial adventure. This is where the bulk of character interaction comes in, and I must say the  release of Dreamprism Press’s Kracklestone graphic novel was a well-timed complement in that area.

The overworld also houses hidden tonics which can change the play state in the levels. You can make things easier or more difficult by adding modifiers, which also will affect your quill total (the currency of the game), or many of them just have cosmetic effects. This customisation aspect is very welcome, especially because it can be changed even during a level.

But how is the 2D gameplay? I’m glad you asked, it’s great! Yooka and his buddy Laylee control very well, and once again with abilities suited to their characters. You can roll and grab certain objects with Yooka’s tongue, but having Laylee around expands your abilities, such as giving you a slightly gliding twirl and a slam attack. On taking a hit, Laylee flaps around for a bit much like Baby Mario in Yoshi’s Island, initiating a frantic rush to get her back. It’s merciful but risky, and just fun!

The levels display the chops of the team, and are a blast to play, full of challenges and setpieces. Plus, every single one has a modifier that is activated in the overworld, contextually changing the state of the level and offering up a new version with a twist, often with a radically different layout. All levels have five coins (conveniently numbered), which are a fun collectible, sometimes deviously hidden... except they’re actually mandatory for overworld progress. I didn’t mind this as I am a completionist anyway, but I know it was an issue for some people who preferred to just play the levels. Another thing I found I didn’t mind was that there weren’t any bosses... outside the Lair, that is.

Ah yes, the eponymous Lair. To finally get to the actual story, the game kind of starts in medias res with Capital B in a snazzy new outfit having deposed the wonderful new character Queen Phoebee from her rightful place in the Royal Stingdom. He set up shop in the Impossible Lair thanks to his mind control device (that only works on bees). The Lair is a long, very long, incredibly long, gruelling gauntlet—punctuated with boss phases against Capital B—that can be attempted at any point in the game. By completing other levels elsewhere, you rescue loyal bee warriors who will shield you during a Lair run, effectively giving you one extra hit each up to a total of 48. And you’ll need them.

Even with the full complement of bees, I found myself torn up with frustration  when attempting the Lair. A run can take a long time; the level of challenge and sheer length is unlike anything else in the game. Plus you can’t even use tonics in it. After finally conquering it I feel more kindly disposed to it and the game as a whole, but for a time it seemed insurmountable. I guess that’s the point?

Either way, Impossible Lair is an ambitious game but delivers an excellent 2.5D platforming experience, with the lovely added diversion of the isometric overworld, as well as expanding the world set up by the first game (not to mention answering a couple of lore questions along the way... yes, you will find out which half of Dr. Puzz is her natural body). There’s the occasional rough edge or typo, but the love and care shines through.

[scoutception]

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest: forever standalone

The world of Final Fantasy spinoffs is a wild one. Aside from miscellaneous mobile games, most of what you’ll find is connected to something greater in the end. From the famous Ivalice series containing Final Fantasy XII and the Tactics series, to the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, to more humble Crystal Chronicles series, they’ve all spun out into their own little subseries. Others, however, are connected to series outside of Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy Adventure, for instance, started as its own little spinoff before becoming the start of the Mana series, while The Final Fantasy Legend games were just SaGa games retitled so they’d sell better. Bravely Default owes its existence to an obscure little game called The 4 Heroes of Light, which I shall be covering in my next review, and even World of Final Fantasy has its own mobile game spinoff. The one odd, standalone spinoff through this all is ironically one of the very first; an extremely humble little game called Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, intended as an entry level RPG made for the American audience who, at the time, namely 1992, hadn’t widely accepted JRPGs as a genre. Whether it succeeded in this endeavor is something we’ll be examining now.

Story:

The story of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest concerns a little world cleanly separated into 4 regions of earth, water, fire, and wind, each with an elemental crystal providing blessings on the land. with a tower called the Focus Tower standing at the center of the world, the sole passage between them. All was well in the world until the Vile Four (think the Four Fiends from Final Fantasy I), appeared, sealed the Focus Tower, and attacked each crystal, draining them of energy and robbing the world of their blessings, causing, among other things, a small village to be destroyed by an earthquake. A survivor of the disaster, a boy named Benjamin, meets a mysterious old man on the Hill of Destiny during his escape, who tells Benjamin that he is the Warrior of Light spoken of in an ancient prophecy, who will save the world from this very disaster. Thus, Benjamin, with the help of various allies who tend to ditch him at the drop of a hat, such as the unreliable thief Tristan and the archer Phoebe, who goes into self pity mode rather quickly, and ventures forth to destroy the Vile Four, save the crystals, and ultimately confront the mastermind behind it all, the Dark King.

If this sounds at all familiar, that’s because it is. Yes, they essentially copied the plot of Final Fantasy I, only somehow even less detailed. While you do have actual characters as party members, they aren’t much to write home about, with very basic personalities and very little screentime with which to even put them to use. While the game seems to try to have a jokey, lighthearted feel to it, similar to Final Fantasy V, with events such as the old man randomly appearing to deliver one piece of advice before flying away, often leaving Benjamin baffled, the dialogue is very stilted and only makes it come off as awkward and forced. Outside of the events that lead to the dungeons with each of the crystals being unlocked, there’s no real overarching plot otherwise, and outside of the reveal of the Dark King’s existence, and that he was the one who created the prophecy in the first place, more or less as a joke, which goes absolutely nowhere, there’s no twists to be found. While the simplicity might have been part of the “entry level” design, in the end it just means there’s not much memorable to be found.

Gameplay:

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest uses a turn based battle system similar to Final Fantasy I. At the start of your turn, you select among several commands, such as basic attacking and magic, with the main difference being the party is restricted to a maximum of two characters, one being Benjamin, who is always in the party, and the other occupied by several guest party members who join and leave at various points in the story. Benjamin, as it turns out, is rather versatile, gaining a good assortment of abilities throughout the game. There’s 4 types of weapons he can use, namely swords, axes, claws, and bombs, along with 3 types of magic, which are white magic, used for recovery on allies, or, strangely enough, used offensively on enemies, black magic, plain attack skills, and wizard magic, which are even stronger attack spells. He can also raise his defense with shields, armor and accessories he finds. Benjamin’s allies, on the other hand, aren’t quite as skilled, all being limited to single weapon types, and only a few spells each, though the party member you’ll have for the final dungeon, Phoebe, is a magical powerhouse herself. It should be mentioned that, like FF1, instead of a traditional magic point system, it’s limited by each type of magic only being to be cast so many times without resting or items. The game is, however, quite generous with the amount of casts you’re allowed, reaching past 40 casts for black and white magic at max level.

One thing that must be mentioned is the progression system. Every so often you’ll find a new piece of equipment or spell in a dungeon, or be able to buy them in towns from specific NPCs. This only applies to Benjamin, as the other party members have set equipment, and there’s only a few pieces of equipment for each type. This may not sound like a big deal, but outside of these few instances, it means money is only good for buying consumable items in battle, and since they’re littered all around dungeons anyway, and everything magic points are restored at the end of battle, this leaves few reasons to actually buy them anyway, with the exception of the seeds, which restore all of your magic casts. Every piece of equipment is also always superior to earlier found ones, to the point that they automatically replace your weaker pieces automatically, not even giving you a chance to use them again, leaving them as nothing other than nice looking decoration on your equipment screen. Aside from regular elements like fire and thunder, weapons have their own associated elements to them, which certain enemies will be weaker to than others, and defensive armor carry resistance to status ailments or elemental attacks. Weapons are also used during exploration: swords are used to hit switches, axes are for cutting down obstacles such as trees, claws grapple you to far away areas, and bombs destroy other obstacles like rocks, plus, unusual for an RPG, Benjamin is able to use his stubby little legs to jump, even over NPCs would other be blocking your path like idiots. While an interesting system, don’t expect puzzles or anything like a Zelda game. Your obstacles are bare minimum creativity, and are all easily passed as long as you’re not mostly asleep, which, admittedly, is more of a challenge than it sounds.

There’s no getting around it, this is a very, very easy game. Random encounters don’t exist, with all enemies being set and visible on the field, anything that isn’t a boss is barely a threat anyway, and even if you do meet an unfortunate demise, you can just restart with no penalties. Bosses are generally more interesting, usually being actual threats, but outside of Pazuzu, who periodically puts up a barrier that reflects magic, most don’t need strategies other than attacking and healing. All of this was entirely intentional, considering the game’s goal of being entry level, and I do believe that not every game has to be made for everyone, but all the same, the game feels rather, short shortsightedly designed. Other than collecting every piece of equipment and all the spells, there’s nothing to give replay value, and since anyone who’s played anything even slightly more complex will very likely find themselves bored by the simplicity, it makes for a very disposable game, meant only to fulfill its purpose as an introduction to RPGs, any legacy it has driven by nostalgia. Thus, while the gameplay is technically sound enough, there’s very little reason to give it attention. I wasn’t even intending to wrap up the gameplay segment of this review this quickly, but that shows how little I’ve even been given.

Graphics:

Overall, the graphics of Mystic Quest are, ok. The field graphics resemble Final Fantasy IV, if frankly a bit less detailed and muddier. The locations and designs are rather unmemorable, however.

One thing I can praise, however, are the battle graphics. Aside from some nice spell animations, enemies are much bigger and much more detailed, and while the designs are nothing special, they actually change their graphics as they become more and more detailed, which is a fantastic little detail I wish showed up in more games.

Sound:

There’s really no getting around it, the main legacy of this game is its music, and rightfully so. While the track list is rather small, and there certainly are quite a few unmemorable tracks spread around, the ones that are good are really good, the highlights being the rocking three battle themes, especially the boss theme, and the final dungeon theme. They’re definitely worth looking up for a listen to. In fact, the one game other game in all of Final Fantasy that gave Mystic Quest focused recognition is Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, the game all about music. That alone should be all the indication you need.

Conclusion:

Overall, this is a solid not recommended. Easy and simple on purpose it may be, it’s such a short and dull experience that anyone not explicitly seeking an introduction has no real reason to try it. Even those with morbid curiosity, like me, won’t find much, since it’s not out and out terrible. It holds up ok enough for what it is, but doesn’t even think of being more than that. Even at the time, it was rathe unnecessary, considering Final Fantasy IV had already been released a year earlier, in a massively simplified version. All in all, you’d be better off looking pretty much anywhere else for an introduction to the genre. Till next time.

-Scout

[kamino-ink]

Finifugal | Park Chanyeol

✧ finifugal - hating endings; of someone who tries to avoid or prolong the final moment of a story, relationship, or some other journey.

✧ 01 | 02 | ???

✧ Genre: Bodyguard!au, angst, fluff, romance, probably smut at some point lets be honest

✧ Summary: After an ambush that leaves your left shoulder in stitches, your head bodyguard decides to scour the country in search for a new recruit to help up your safety - when Park Chanyeol shows up and his first request is to dye his hair, you can’t help but wonder who in the world Junmyeon just so happened to recruit.

✧ Word Count: 1k [this is just an intro, hence the shorter wordcount, but in the following segments they’ll hopefully reach at least 3.5k]

                                         ✧

 “I cannot believe that Junmyeon went behind my back to hire a new bodyguard!” You hissed in utter disbelief, your anger-filled voice echoing in the large laboratory you were currently stationed in. If you could drag that stubborn man back to the compound and strangle him, well, you would - which you were vocalizing very heavily as you recklessly went about your business, fingers streaming across the keyboard of your laptop to respond to some lousy deal from another cartel.

 Kyungsoo, another of your bodyguards normally wearing a stoic expression and a black baseball cap atop his mostly bare head, held back the growing urge to roll his eyes into the back of his skull. “Y/N, its time for us to add another person to the team. Eight of us clearly isn’t enough to protect you-”

 “Yes, you are - it isn’t any of your all’s fault that we got ambushed, alright?” You refuted just as quickly, fingers still typing furiously while you corrected the man. Ever since that night, resulting in a majority of your left shoulder being covered in rather ugly stitches, many of the boys had come to blame themselves for the matter. Of course, you disagreed heavily, and just about snapped whenever one of them began to degrade their abilities in your presence.

 Honestly, the stitches didn’t seem to affect you as much as everyone else assumed they would have; then again, you recalled going through much worse experiences. “Seriously Kyungsoo, fucking drop it before I lose my collective shit.” The threat came out low and irritated, but to the stockier man, it meant little to nothing; he and the others were practically immune to your silly threats - even if they came from the leader of one of the biggest drug cartels in South Korea.

 While the boys knew you to be a young woman with a passion for donating to charities and sobbing over silly romcoms, the public eye viewed you as a local terrorist who only sold drugs to make bank and buy lavish expenses. To the rich and even the poor, who you constantly made an effort to help build a better life, you were one of the most rotten people to walk the face of the earth.

 But no matter how much anti-you propaganda you stumbled upon, no matter how many pleads you saw online for the world leaders to just out you and get it over with, you continued to do your work. Each day was filled with the pressure of deals, trades, and keeping customers satisfied.

 To keep everyone you serviced happy and satisfied, you decided to start crafting your own drugs; having a background in chemistry certainly aided you in this difficult and rather dangerous endeavor.

 The world was against your very existence, yet the boys who you came to call family supported every step you took into the darkness and misery of being the head of the cartel.

 Which is why you despised them constantly saying they were at fault for the accident that nearly took your left arm.

 After you both had fallen into a semi-comfortable silence, you kept your lips sealed and continued working on replying to the plethora of messages flooding the screen of your laptop. Every now and then you would glance over at the internalized clock nudged in the corner of the screen littered with text, checking to see how much time would pass until Junmyeon and the new recruit showed up. While you were obviously still infuriated that the older man had gone behind your back to get this guy or girl, your curiosity was mildly peaked to a general extent.

 Junmyeon was known to be incredibly picky with who did and didn't join the inner circle - otherwise known as EXO to the citizens of South Korea. You weren’t technically part of EXO, as your identity was essentially a passing shadow that happened to lead the cartel that stretched from Busan all the way to Ontario, touching almost every capital in the world. Junmyeon lead the circle of men as a whole, though there’s also a sub-group that are always seen at the head of complicated operations; EXO-CBX. Once again, you weren’t technically part of that either.

 At one point, there had been a separated faction of EXO, but that fell through, leaving only eight of the original eleven men to protect your cartel; hence why you were shocked Junmyeon had even bothered to obtain another bodyguard. The past events and actions of EXO weren’t exactly bright, instead stained with splotches of dark grime; how he was so willing to go through with his idea was left unknown to you.

 In the midst of your silent, rumbling wallowing, the main door to the laboratory had been swung open.

 “Yah, Y/N, Jun and the new guy - who is mighty fine, by the way, are waiting for you in the living room.” Baekhyun announced loudly, his lips curling into an amused smirk when you let out a huff of agitation and slammed your laptop shut, the sound startling a dozing Kyungsoo, who had been leaning against the wall closest to you for a while now.

 “Don’t scare him off by flirting with him, alright Baek?” You chide the man with furrowed eyebrows, stepping up onto your tiptoes to flick his forehead. “As much as I hate this and want to  personally slam Jun’s face against a door, I don’t want the guy to run off... yet.”

 The brunette haired man snickered softly in amusement at your harsh words, his hand coming to playfully pat your back as he turns and follows you out of the lab, a tired but alert Kyungsoo right behind the two of you.

 As you sauntered into the living space, chilled hands tucked into the depths of the pockets of your baggy sweatpants, your gaze immediately met those of a stranger’s; said tall stranger towering next to the head of EXO.

 “You’re the boss around here, right? I’m Park Chanyeol, and I was wondering if I could dye my hair pink.”

                                         ✧

[brakken]

Replayed Life is Strange ep. 5, thoughts below.

Buckle in - I had a lot to say.

I was nervous about revisiting this one. The first time I played, this ending wrecked me. And I mean wrecked. I was in tears for hours. I had trouble sleeping for weeks. I couldn’t think about the game without wanting to cry. I wanted to draw fan art for it, but couldn’t without breaking down. In many ways, I’m still affected by it. This game changed me.

So, I was nervous. And not just because of how hard it hit me the first time, but I was nervous about how I’d react in replaying. Would I notice something I didn’t the first time, that would ruin the experience for me? Would I cry as much? And if I didn’t, would that mean that I didn’t like it as much? How much of that original feeling was satisfaction, and how much was disappointment?

-spoilers ahead for LiS Ep. 5-

I touched on this very briefly last time, but I want to talk about it further here, where it comes more into play: 

I do not like the Jefferson twist. Coupled with Rachel’s death, it is a shallow and uninteresting answer to her disappearance, regardless of their attempts to pretty it up with the Prescott’s involvement. Strip away the red herrings and tangled threads, and what you’re left with is a dead girl and a murderer. Jefferson becomes unrecognisable in his unveiled role - his tropey villain dialogue and mannerisms separate him so far from his earlier scenes that it may as well have been an all-new person. Maybe this was the intention, but it reads to me as utterly cliche. How frightening would he have been, had he kept his familiar composure? How much more menacing, now that his mannerisms are given a horrific context?

Even within the narrative, his portrayal in this episode feels completely wrong. Jefferson goes from a man with a sick passion for capturing true innocence, to one willing to murder multiple people. It is never understood that murder is part of his pattern. Rachel’s death was an accident at Nathan’s hands, yet now we have Jefferson killing him, Chloe, Victoria, and the intention to kill Max, all with nary a hint of remorse or doubt. He is just the bad guy now - plain and simple. And in a game where so much else is designed to be not so clean-cut, that’s... pretty boring.

With that out of the way, I do think the scenes themselves are done well. Awakening in the dark room is genuinely tense and scary - moreso with Victoria present. Desperately hopping in and out of photographs to different moments of captivity is incredibly effective - it packs on such helplessness and danger.

And even while not being thrilled with Jefferson as the villain, and while understanding it would soon fall apart, it is incredibly satisfying to help Max attain the following victories via time-hopping. A lot of the game focuses on retreading conversations with new information, and consequently, Max displays boosted confidence upon these repetitions. Returning to the first scene is where this is at its peak. She knows everything - and she’s powerful. It’s also in parts like this where I would like to applaud the designers for having a clear vision from the outset (even if I wasn’t entirely thrilled with aspects of that vision). 

A really strong story-telling tool is introducing a solution before the problem arrives, to trick the audience into thinking it’s unimportant until the reveal. Having us take the selfie right at the start of the game is a great use of this. What seemed like just a moment in a scene becomes absolutely vital - but only after we discover we can rewind with photographs. (this is also why the ep.4 Warren moment feels so weirdly deliberate. We already know how her powers work by this point so we’re paying attention every time a new photo is taken.)

--

I’d been put the ending off for a while. 

Once I played up to the art gallery, I took a break and then just... left it there. Left Max in a peaceful moment.

I wasn’t ready.

But lately it seemed like the real world was telling me to return to it. After a week with no breeze, the wind began picking up, and it looked like there could be rain. I found myself idly doodling Chloe and Max in my intervals between work. I had someone here ask me if I’d be writing thoughts for episode 5. I was discovering new music that aligned all too well with where I was at with the characters. 

So, I finally decided it was time, and sat down, and finished playing. Only the next morning did I realise I’d done so on October 11, the in-game day of the storm.

Before moving into the next act of the episode, I want to say I really appreciate the way they’ve sculpted so many different ways to apply Max’s rewind power. It’s great that they’re able to keep surprising me while not emptying their cache too quickly. However, I reaaally wish (and was expecting) that time-freezing would make a return in this finale. It’s used well in ep.2 with Kate, but I feel like it introduced a new threat that is never paid off. Once it’s established that Max’s power can weaken her to the point where it doesn’t function, there is now a looming danger for when that will happen again - maybe this time, the cost will be Chloe, or the town, or even Max herself. But it never does. The closest we get is when Chloe is shot at the end of ep.4, but the power's failure is more directly from Jefferson’s sedation, rather than a weakness on Max’s part. And when she does falter again, it manifests as a prolonged out-of-nowhere dream sequence. There’s some creative stuff present there, but it also stands as a missed opportunity to toy further with tangible peril.

On with the escape. Don’t have much to say here. I may not have been happy with his new portrayal, but it’s still satisfying to watch Jefferson get taken down.  It’s nice to see David on the same team as Max, and it’s a good start to a series of character farewell scenes.

Followed closely by a bad one.

Nathan is thrown to the wayside to an unforgivable degree here. He’s been pivotal in Max and Chloe’s connection uptil now, even though a lot of that happens off-screen. But as soon as he’s no longer the main threat, his presence, character, and life are all discarded. His phone message in the car provides some closure, but is far too little too late and serves more as insult to injury than any kind of saving face.

Meanwhile, Warren, a character with more screentime than Nathan but of relative unimportance to the main story, is given a spotlighted farewell. I don’t get this. I have no harsh feelings against Warren, but insofar as his relevance to Max and Chloe’s arcs, he is a sideliner. Since his primary presence has centred around a potential romance for Max, his farewell scene should be treated with an equal amount of focus. It really annoys me that you are forced to tell him about Max’s powers - there is no way to opt out of it, and all it leads to is him guilt-tripping Max with ‘Chaos Theory’ and ‘choosing the right thing’, which the game is about to throw at us anyway in the dream sequence. It’s also unjust to the scene’s purpose, which is a farewell. We may not fully know it, but we’re saying goodbye to these characters one by one. We’ve just come away from our farewells with Joyce and Frank, and all Warren wants to do is talk plot. But whatevs, I still hugged him.

The confession about letting William die was painful. I wasn’t predicting it to come up again, and by this point it felt like so long ago. And yet, it works. We’ve returned to a Chloe who’s early off of discovering Rachel’s death - and she doesn’t want to listen. And we need her to listen. Most conversations in the game can’t lead to a failure, but I find it really interesting that this one does. 

I’m very conflicted about the dream sequence. Conceptually, I love it. I love when games mess with their established order, and they’re certainly evoking a feeling of helplessness in me upon returning once again to that damn classroom. But, it rubs me the wrong way here, too. We’ve beaten the mini-boss of the game. We defeated Jefferson. Yet the final time we see him is here, forcing us to say words we don’t want to, and watch him take photos of Chloe with us strapped to a chair. I get this is Max internalising her insecurities... but we beat him. We’re onto the final boss, now - the storm. Jefferson is obsolete at this point, and there’s no rhyme or reason to show him in power again.

(sidebar: the bottle-collecting in the hide-and-seek segment was confusing and dumb and made me angry that they were still injecting completion rewards this late in the story)

I also don’t like the Dark Room sequence of the dream, because it villainises Chloe. All the other sequences present us with twisted versions of Arcadia Bay residents. Dead versions, cruel versions. We’re witnessing the weight of guilt that coincides with the coming choice, culminating in an encounter with the Other Max, and Chloe saving us from her. This should have been Chloe’s first appearance in the dream. The Dark Room sequence where she jeers at Max’s shortcomings seems so out of place with the rest of what is being said. I think this is especially noticeable given the following walk down memory lane, showing us everything we’ll lose on the alternate side of the choice. 

(sidebar: I wish that the walk had been done better - I never knew when to stop and listen to the voiceovers and when to continue onto the next highlighted moment, and it was always jarring whenever the dialogue got interrupted)

I was fully ready for Rachel to appear in this dream, in some form or another. With everything culminating, and Max messing more with time, coupled with how blunt they were to put Rachel in the ground in the previous ep, I was waiting and I was hoping. But she never showed. And I don’t understand why. As I said with Nathan, Rachel is integral in the centric plotline of Max and Chloe’s reunion. I need to stress this - even though she’s never seen on-screen, she is a dominating factor in our two main characters’ growth, and is little more than a footnote in this finale.

What we get instead at the end of this dream, is Other Max. I don’t have much to say about her. In my eyes she’s very much just a culmination of the dream thusfar. She doesn’t represent much to me beyond that, except a missed opportunity to meet Rachel and find out what the hell is going on.

Can we touch on that quickly, before the final scene? What the hell is going on? I don’t want to have everything bluntly spelled out, but... did the designers really feel like they’d laid enough groundwork that the answer should be obvious? When Chloe hamfistedly states it’s a mystery we’ll ‘obviously never figure out’... damn. That hurts. I mean, I have my own theory - I like it, and it’s the lens I choose to view the story through. But it’s unfair to put it on the players to do this heavy-lifting. We relied on the designers to draw the path for us to follow, and they took us to a dead end.

So let’s talk about the final choice. Even in replaying, and with the dream sequence’s attempts to balance the scales last-minute, my decision here still remained the same, for a couple of reasons. The first being the game’s true title, as I have mentioned earlier - ‘Save Chloe: The Game’. And hey, this doesn’t suddenly change in the final episode. This was, for me, the fixed goal as soon as I caught onto it. And to save Chloe here, she needs to be able to live past her grief. Contrasted to the alternate Chloe, whose prison was inescapable - saving her came from letting her go. But here, we need to hold on. 

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

My second main reason is Max’s character growth, and the overall narrative. This young girl is warned of a coming storm, and is then given time-altering powers. And she is constantly asking why. Not just why she got powers, but what she is meant to learn from having them. On the surface, what she learns is ‘don’t mess with time a bunch because a storm will happen’ and with that you can lean either way on the choice. But if I was going to carve right to the heart, I see the story saying ‘you can’t fix all your mistakes, but you can move through the consequences and grow in the aftermath.’ Every problem she's faced in the story uptil this point, she has tampered with to some degree in order to solve. And to do so, again, for this final decision, would make her arc amount to nothing. This needs to be different from letting William die, otherwise the game could have ended there. There is no easy decision, but the storm is here. All the pieces lie where they fell, both good and bad. 

I’m tearing this damn photograph.

All that said, I can’t and won’t fault anyone for going the other way. I haven’t played or watched the alternate ending, so far all I know it performs well and ticks story checkboxes that I can’t see over here on the ‘bae’ side.

This choice felt and still feels like the right one to me. From outside the narrative, I can certainly weigh the options and see sacrificing Chloe as the more viable. (though if you want to talk pragmatism, there is absolutely no reason why either of them should think that letting Chloe die should fix everything)

But while it’s important to ask ‘what would I do?’, it’s also been immensely important to me in these playthroughs to ask ‘what would Max do?’, or further, ‘what could Max do?’

So that was my choice. As I said at the beginning, I was nervous as to how I’d feel at the end, after having been so deeply affected the first time. And now, after crying through the whole epilogue, I found myself wondering if I’d cried enough. I looked up the scene online and watched it again, and cried. And then again, and cried. But what was this empty feeling? Is this what it felt like before, or was something blocking me from experiencing it properly?

After stepping outside into the 4am light, and then another rewatch, I realised I was, in a way, messing with time. Trying to force things, just like Max was. I even had my own Other Max in my head, making me question my own thoughts and feelings. So it was time to let it be what it was, and move on. I couldn’t recreate my first play, but I could let myself get swept up in this one.

Since finishing the game, it’s been raining non-stop here. I’ve kept inside, surrounded by the aftermath of this playthrough.

Playing this game changed me. For all it did right and all it did wrong, I was affected. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve consciously noted a tangible shift in who I am as a person. It’s brought me closer to my emotions, and has altered my creativity. It made me revise one of my comic ideas into a game - something I would never have considered on my own.

Even with all these thoughts, I reckon this comic I made accurately sums up my whole experience. 

And as I’ve done each time, here are my favourite moments from this episode:

-'I’ll always be with you.’ ‘Forever.’

-Clasping hands, as the storm rages.

-Max, unable to watch, leaning into Chloe, who looks on with newfound strength.

-Driving through the town, now in pieces. Max, too, in pieces.

-Max’s weak smile when Chloe moves to comfort her. It’s going to be okay. They’re together.

--

(heck, I cried just typing those out, I am so done, haha)

To anybody who read this far - thank you so, so much. This game holds a lot of emotional value to me, and hence these write-ups are probably the most personal thing I’ve put out here for people to see. So thank you for taking the time to look at this. I hope you’re having a wonderful day.

Wah, this was all in preparation for the first episode of Before the Storm, and now episode 2 is about to be released. I gotta dig in!

As always, here’s a lil sketch <3

[scpie]

3 Ways to Curb Chaos and Pull Off Last-Minute Virtual Events

August 3, 2020 6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The past few months of life during the coronavirus pandemic have been a whirlwind of last-minute activity and decisions. Countless employees were suddenly thrust into remote work, changing their calendars on a dime, and many companies had to move in-person gatherings and conferences to virtual meetings. 

For instance, the United Nations — known for its formal meetings and conferences — began teleconferencing with mixed results, according to Devex reporting from late April 2020. Not accustomed to working virtually, U.N. employees had to pivot to recover after initial hiccups with online meetings.

A June 2020 Harvard Business Review piece outlines a similar situation for Adobe. The brand had to cancel its annual Nevada convention abruptly in light of the pandemic. Rather than lose the chance to bring everyone together in one physical location, though, Adobe moved its conference online — and more than quintupled the guest list.

Related: 10 Tips on Getting the Most Out of Business Meetings

Making online miracles out of potential mayhem

Your company might not be as well-known as the U.N. or Adobe, but you’ve likely experienced the need for unplanned, urgent virtual meetings to deal with time-sensitive information during COVID-19. That won’t stop anytime soon.

You’ll continue to be bombarded by all kinds of unexpected information. Budgets will be lost and, in some cases, found. Markets will shift. The government could release regulations affecting your operations. These shifting sands mean you can expect to arrange and execute plenty of last-minute meetings. That can be a tall order, but it’s not too tall if you’re prepared.

Salesforce, as an example, had to switch its March 2020 World Tour Sydney event from an in-person gathering to an online experience with two weeks’ notice. Their leaders stepped up to the challenge and moved everything to a livestream format. The result? The company surpassed the expectations with a record 80,000 participants.

Handling last-minute meetings with confidence

To be sure, Salesforce’s event planning was mostly done. The company could leverage talk tracks, sessions and content, making the move to a virtual stage slightly less arduous. Organizers didn’t need to start from scratch — they just needed to reframe a live experience to fit a digital format.

You might not be as lucky or well-equipped with resources the next time you face an urgent situation that requires immediate communication and collaboration through virtual channels. And that’s OK. You can still successfully host meetings and events online by practicing the three techniques below.

1. Map out a fluff-free agenda and guidelines.

You just realized you need to set up an online gathering. Don’t panic. Instead, channel your nervous energy into creating and disseminating an airtight agenda. Having a set schedule ensures all topics remain relevant to attendees. Plus, you can distribute the agenda ahead of time to encourage ordinarily quiet people to participate more fully by giving them time to think.

While working on the agenda, consider the overall length of your meeting to ensure it doesn’t spin out of control or devolve into endless segments. Thirty minutes is a good baseline. Remember: virtual-meet fatigue is real — real enough to warrant coverage by the BBC. Keep sessions tight, allowing only priority items to make the final cut. It’s easier to schedule a follow-up meeting than force people to stare at their screens for hours.

As a final note, craft meeting guidelines surrounding expected protocol, such as when participants should unmute themselves or whether everyone is required to appear on video. Mention whether you’re archiving and recording the communication to share with anyone who is unable to attend. If you’re worried about this, you can hire a digital producer to facilitate the production aspects and leave you to focus on the content.

Related: 3 Things That Will Boost Your Team’s Communication

2. Divvy up assignments and take a practice run.

Have you ever sat in a meeting without clear leadership or purpose? It’s frustrating and often disastrous. Even if you’re pressed for time, determine who needs to be present and who needs to speak. Figure out who will handle the technical aspects and who will be front and center. Even if you’re planning a seemingly straightforward meeting, outline everyone’s role to prevent missing anything important.

After fleshing out an event management document that includes specific assignments, share it. The more prepared everyone is, the better the event will flow. Oh, and make sure to practice everything from screen-sharing to using touchscreen interactive software. Videos don’t always look flawless when played over teleconferencing platforms. Slide decks can freeze and screens can become pixelated. Technology is designed to make your meetings productive and compelling, but it’s always prudent to give everything a trial run before going live.

3. Answer questions candidly and with empathy.

If you’ve asked attendees for questions in advance, distribute them to every presenter to make Q&A sessions efficient. If you haven’t requested audience questions, try to anticipate the questions participants might ask. Once you have a good idea of what people might want to know, you can consider your responses and write down bullet points. When you’re leading the meeting, answer into the camera with conviction and honesty.

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced 25,000 unhappy workers via a video call in June 2020, he could have prepared and delivered a clear answer in response to concerns about the controversy swirling around the president’s “shoot and loot” posts. He didn’t, according to Vox’s coverage. Instead, he talked about trust with employees, using language that made him seem less like their boss and more like an equally concerned colleague. His words weren’t eloquent, but they spoke volumes because they were authentic. Even though your job is to plan for your last-minute meetings, don’t plan so much that you sound robotic.

Related: Why Empathy Is Important in Leaders Right Now

It’s tough to pull together an award-winning show without much notice, but it certainly can be done. The next time you’re faced with whipping up an online meeting, take a deep breath and apply the aforementioned best practices. Over time, you’ll get a reputation for hosting every impromptu event just as well as you would have in-person.

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[4colorrebellion]

4cr Plays - Sakura Wars (2020)

I attended high school in the United States at the beginning of this century - what feels like an eternity ago at this point. The early 2000s felt like a great time to be an anime fan, and we were discovering new series to obsess over left and right. In the midst of this, the woman who I would eventually get married to came in one day in a huge, fluffy dress. Seeing her in cosplay was not really all that unusual, but I had no idea who it was that she was dressed as. It turns out that this fluffy dress belonged to a character named “Iris Chateaubriand”, and that this would be my first - and, to this point, one of my few - interactions with the Sakura Wars series. I fell in love immediately with the core premise - a theater troupe fighting demons with steam-powered mecha in early 20th-century Tokyo. 

Although I enjoyed the anime, I kind of forgot about Sakura Wars over time. Vaguely, I remembered that the TV show was based on a series of games, but none of those games made it to the US. To this date, the only game in the series to get localized was the fifth entry, which was released with little fanfare on the PS2 and Wii. I ended up missing out on it. 

Flash forward to early 2020, where I learned that a new Sakura Wars game was launching on the PS4 and that it would be coming to the west. The new entry, simply titled Sakura Wars, acts as a soft reboot for the series with a new cast and redesigned gameplay. Given my long-standing interest in the series, there was no way that I was going to miss out on trying it out. 

How does it fare? Read on for my impressions.

Sakura Wars takes place in an alternate steampunk version of 1940′s Tokyo. This version of our world is constantly under attack by vicious demons, and the only hope for the citizens are teams of warriors who fight the demons using powerful mech suits. Tokyo was formerly protected by the famous Imperial Combat Revue. Stationed out of Tokyo’s Imperial Theater, the Revue would pull double duty protecting Tokyo in their mech suits and entertaining the masses as a roving theater troupe. 

Unfortunately, the original Tokyo Combat Revue disappeared following a cataclysmic event. In their place, the rookie Flower Division has been tasked with bringing hope to Tokyo. They have an uphill battle ahead of them - they’re broke, barely able to hold their own in combat, and completely unable to hold their own on the stage. Your character, Seijuro Kamiyama has been put in charge of getting the Flower Division into shape, just in time for the Combat Revue World Games. 

As Seijuro, you must inspire the ladies of the Flower Division. Sakura Amamiya hopes to follow in the footsteps of her idol, the Imperial Combat Revue’s Sakura Shinguji. Hatsuho Shinonome is a brash shrine maiden who just wants to protect her home city. Azami Mochizuki is a mysterious - and mostly baffling - teenage ninja. Clarisa Snowflake (yes, really) is a bookworm from Luxembourg with a dark secret. Finally, Anastasia Palma is a star of the stage, whose confidence and talent may be the key to getting the troupe ready for the stage. Together - along with commander-in-chief Sumire Kanzaki - your troupe may be the last hope of the Tokyo public. 

Honestly, I love the core premise of the series. The idea of having to simultaneously manage a theater - putting on shows, racking up ticket sales - and fight demons in deadly mech combat is delightful. It’s cheesy, but kind of unironically marvelous. In my mind, I’ve built up this vision of Sakura Wars as some kind of merger of Fire Emblem with The Producers - the Mel Brooks musical about a couple of crooks using the stage to swindle a bunch of investors out of their cash. That game could be incredible. Unfortunately, that isn’t quite what the game actually is, but the core idea of the Sakura Wars series is rife with potential for a great game. 

The actual game is mostly a visual novel with occasional Dynasty Warriors-style combat. The game is split into a series of chapters - treated basically as TV episodes, complete with intros and “next time” segments. Each episode mostly consists of working your way through story scenes - conversations with the characters - interrupted by occasional combat scenes. 

Most of the game takes place as conversations between the characters that either advance the core story or just build the relationships between the characters. You can navigate in 3D through the theater building and a few select locations in Tokyo, and can initiate conversations with the characters that you run into.  Scenes marked with green exclamation points continue the core plot - and are required. There are also tons of optional scenes, marked with blue exclamation marks. You can, of course, plow through the main plot. However, the optional scenes really flesh out the cast, and give each character their own arc. 

During the story scenes, you mostly just read dialogue. At times, you can choose a response. In general, there’s really only one right answer, and it’s usually pretty obvious. You can basically boil the conversations down to the right answer, the stupid answer, and the creepy pervert answer. For instance, one of the girls might wail in despair, and you might be asked to choose one of the following: “We can get through it together”, “We’re all going to die”, and “We’ll only survive if I can grab your ass”. I know that this sounds ridiculous, but that example isn’t too far off from the actual game. 

Choosing the right answer is important in these conversations, as those answers can increase or decrease the level of trust that the girls have in you. If you can get the level of trust high enough, you can unlock new conversations - marked with hearts on the map. Eventually, these conversations will allow you to romance the girl of your choice. 

My feelings on the visual novel portion of the game are mixed. The positive side first - the core story is cheesy, but I found myself enjoying it. It’s fun, but charmingly endearing. There is a lot of melodrama, but the cast is kind of enjoyable. You can’t help but cheer a little for this merry band of absolute weirdos. I dig the setting and the core premise, and actually kind of enjoy seeing the cast interact. The writing is not what you’d really call good, but I can enjoy it on the level where I like things like 90′s X-Men comics. It’s over the top, colorful melodrama. 

Unfortunately, the pacing is often quite bad. The actual split between visual novel and mech combat is probably about 90% to 10%. The visual novel sequences feel like they stretch on forever, and a large part of that is how those sequences are set up. Between conversations, you walk through the theater and a couple of spots in Tokyo in a 3D space. However, the walking controls do not feel particularly great, movement is weirdly imprecise and neither the walking or running speeds feel quite right. Since there is almost nothing to do in those 3D environments - the only “gameplay” other than conversations is finding hidden portraits, called “bromides” - walking through the exact same hallways over and over again gets tedious quickly. The visual novel portions feel padded. Many of the pacing problems would be dramatically improved just by letting you click on rooms on a 2D map. 

The other part that really turned me off was the romance segments. Unless you’re dating pigeons, ala Hatoful Boyfriend, I’m just not a fan of dating sims. I know - seriously, I know - that dating elements are core to the Sakura Wars series. I knew coming in that romance was a part of the game. I’m fine with the existence of dating sims, and fans of the genre are more than welcome to enjoy those kind of games. They just aren’t my thing. 

Even knowing that there would be dating elements, I didn’t expect to feel so creepy taking part in them. I actually like the dating scenes in games like Persona 5, where they are just cute little dates. Here, the scenes are first-person sequences where you have to click on objects to answer questions or advance the conversation with the girl in question. This is fine when you’re clicking on a book to give Claris advice on what kind of script to write. It is somewhat less fine when Claris has fallen on top of you and you’re clicking on her lips to try to kiss her or when she is bent over in front of you and you are prompted to click on her ass. 

Basically, these are scenes where a bunch of impressionable teenagers get into quasi-sexual situations with you, their 20-year-old boss. You’re basically encouraged to poke and prod these women, and it is really off-putting in a way that I didn’t really expect. I should stress that these scenes are optional - though necessary to get the “full experience” - but they were really not something I enjoyed, and I wonder if they are more of a detriment for the series than a benefit. For me, they certainly decreased by enjoyment of the overall game. 

As I mentioned earlier, the story is occasionally interrupted for a fight scene. The battles play out as a simple brawler - in line with a game like Dynasty Warriors - Your mech can jump, dodge, and unleash combinations of light and heavy attacks. When your SP meter fills, you can unleash powerful special moves. You can also perform team attacks with the women in the troupe. Most of the time, there are two mechs on the battlefield. You can switch between them freely, and the other will be controlled by an AI. Each mech has their own skills. For instance, Sakura is focused on quick sword attacks, while Claris can perform ranged attacks. 

The combat is functional, but nothing special. Again, the actual controls leave a little to be desired. Movement feels imprecise - for instance, you can jump quickly upward, but you can’t cover much ground by trying to jump forward. This is fine in pure combat, but the light platforming required of you can get annoying. 

In some ways, this game has the biggest gap between potential and execution of many that I’ve played recently. I’m really bummed out by how negative this review sounds. I really like parts of this game. The characters are kind of charming, the story is fun. The game looks nice for the most part - the core art direction is mostly great. I really like a lot of the character designs, even if the characters are oversexualized (gravity-defying breasts aren’t really necessary). The character animation is also a little weird - people move in ways that don’t look all that natural. Again, though, I think the game mostly looks really nice. The art style is great, the costume design is fun, and the setting itself is awesome. The soundtrack is also fantastic, and I’ve found myself humming a few of the tracks from it at random times. 

However, the pacing isn’t great. The game feels slow, bloated, and heavily padded. The combat feels like an afterthought, and comes rarely enough that is somehow simultaneously both a welcome break and kind of annoying. In a way, I feel like the developers are afraid of fully committing to this being a visual novel - or, at least, that they had a time or budget crisis. They should have either cut out the portions where you cross the same 3D hallways endlessly, or given you more to do during those sections. They should have either improved the combat scenes (and given you more of them) or just removed them entirely. Either committing to this being a visual novel or improving the non-visual novel elements could have made this a great game. The result they ended up with is kind of infuriating. 

The end product is really hard to evaluate. I don’t hate it, but I don’t really love it either. There are a lot of individual elements that I enjoyed, but the product as a whole does not come together in a cohesive manner. In the end, I do hope that the series itself continues. I feel like something special can come from the core concept. Will you enjoy it? It may help to know what to expect coming in. If you’re interesting in the core concept, like visual novels, and are more into dating sim elements than I am, then this may be up your alley. It is a charming game with a nice colorful art direction and a catchy soundtrack. Just be prepared for shallow combat, slow pacing, and some questionable sexual elements. 

A copy of Sakura Wars was provided for this review.

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