#the lack of battle and boss convos

[randomnameless]

Goddamn, the jump to a fully-3D game fucked over 3H hard when it came to it's boss variety; out of 27 paralogues across all the routes, 9 of them have unique bosses that aren't used elsewhere in the game, with the other 18 paralogues having Jeritza, Hubert or Catherine, generic fodder with slightly-amped stats pretending to be bosses, or no bosses at all.

Honestly, the Jeritza and Hubert inclusions may be my least favorite method of the three; it puts them in stories they have nothing to do with character-wise just for the sake of not making it too obvious that the side content is severely lacking in unique bosses, while also needlessly increasing Jeritza's already-comically-high amount of fights from 7 to 8 and Hubert's actually-reasonable amount of fights (post-route split at least, but i don't think it's too fair to count the prologue sparring matches as proper mini-boss encounters) from 3 to 5.

LOL

Bar the boss variety, what seriously pissed me is the lack if special battle convos with the bosses.

Flayn'n'Seteth have no lines against Maurice or worse, Nemesis himself!!!!

Heck, you could even make lines between Kostas and Leonie, Kostas going all uwu "you noble brats don't know what it is to be born a commoner !" and Leonie rekting him, because she wasn't born a noble, and yet, she's not killing children because someone paid her to do so (tfw jerry is a mercenary who kills people for money :()

Granted, I'll give credit where it's due, Tru Piss has the most battle convos, and reading them is a blast.

I'd have prefered for Flayn to have more convos against her classmates (maybe a special one with Linhardt who might have guessed who she is!), but it's Tru Piss for you.

But for the paralogue, ultimately, yes. Jeritza, or Hubert, or a random NPC. Man, imagine having to fight Leopold or Whodislava in a paralogue, like Grégoire was sent to "negotiate" with the Brigid people, or Leopold is the one rounding up the "imperial militia" in Hrym when Ferdie and Lysithea visit for their paralogue...

But no, we don't have any side or NPC character, and imo, it also participates in making Fodlan so bland - no NPCs, only the same two guys for some reason...

At least in the Yuri paralogue, we have Myson!

But he doesn't have a sprite :(

[autumn-may]

Please tell me about the data boys AU I love the data boys so much and you draw them so CUTE AAAAA

(Im gonna @ the people who asked about the fic: @dergshadow @mosttsundereofplants @bloody-holly)

(It’s more of a fix-it fic than a au but lol)

Ask and ye shall receive ig 

The short of it is I force data sora and data riku back into the story while flipping nomura off for the re:coded ending ft. Riku and data-riku being friends, data-soriku being fun, and minor 358/2 references. I’ve been calling the au Re:Boot! 

Full concept under cut: (it’s pretty long)

edit:I’m writing it

The long of it is during re:mind the data battles crash, and the Final Fantasy group+Riku theorize that it might have something to do with Jiminys Journal (seeing as the data battles are made with data from the journal) Riku goes to Disney castle and it turns out yeah that’s probably what’s happening! The Disney castle computer displays the words ‘there are new hurts to be undone’. Riku is sent into the datascape in order to help with said hurts. 

   The long of it is  Riku enters to a really bugged up version of the data destiny islands, and is told by the Disney gang from the outside to find a way to get deeper into the datascape and help out. (System sectors). Riku finds it and enters. 

  First and second levels of the sector go pretty standard, fight the buggy heartless and all that however one of the bugs for the second level has a similar silhouette to sora, which is a little unnerving to say the least. The third level looks like rikus data(from when he got bugs in him) and the Disney gang loses contact with riku at this point. 

(YES the three stages getting more buggy the deeper you go is a reference to the boss stages in re:coded. If you even care) 

Riku looks around for a bit and D!riku (that’s what I’m calling data-riku rn) notices him from somewhere in the datascape, and teleports or something to him. After the initial ‘we’re the same guy’ convo D!riku tells him about the bugs, and how he believes that they are caused by D!soras amnesia, as he gained a heart, which is currently sleeping due to the reset (hearts can be destroyed and all that yk the deal). Since the datascape is sorta centered on d!sora, if something’s wrong with his code it might affect the datascape. D!riku tells him that since the reset, he’s been working to attempt to find soras heart, but he hasn’t been able to make much headway (maybe because a heart is separate from data, and isn’t as easily manipulated) 

(That’s my idea for why he wasn’t really there in the post reset stuff on soras side at least ) 

Well where is D!sora you ask? Well let’s go see! They teleport away and oh frick is that the memory pod. (Things are getting uncomfortably familiar for riku) D!riku has him in there as he works to find and wake soras sleeping heart, (instead of having to like, chase him around the datascape with a computer or something, sleeping heart doesn’t necessarily equal sleeping guy in this situation so we just put him in a coma). D!riku opens the way to D!soras data, and in they go.

They search for a bit, and when D!riku gets frustrated at the lack of progress, the bugs slightly worsen (riku notes this). Riku asks a bit about d!rikus relationship with d!sora, saying his drive to protect him is something they have in common. D!riku actually somewhat denies this, reminding riku about how the datascape is centered on sora, d!riku—to some level— is the datascape. it’s just a part of his programming, the journal correcting a glitch in the system through him. Besides, d!soras the one with a heart, d!rikus just a really good AI and also kinda a clone. Riku is so skeptical of this.

Riku says that he doesn’t believe that, d!riku fights to protect d!sora because he just cares about d!sora. Surely d!rikus noticed the bugs grow stronger the worse d!riku feels, if the data scape affects him, surely he affects the datascape as well. And a system as advanced as the data scape wouldn’t be programmed to destroy itself. By going to such lengths, d!riku proves he’s more than his programming, he’s more than the datascape, he has a heart, and he cares about d!sora in a way a line of code couldn’t. 

Well that revelation kinda broke d!riku but that’s fine. The bugs lessen however, so that’s a good sign also the final boss dark side shows up. The rikus prepare for  a fight, and d!riku recognizes this as d!soras heartless. (Bond between d!soriku manifested in the datascape bringing their hearts together)  They win the fight, and recover d!soras heart, which is still sleeping. Riku uses the power of waking, tracing the bond between him and d!riku, and d!riku and d!sora. Rikus able to wake up d!soras heart, restoring his memories, and the rikus leave his data. 

D!riku thanks riku for the help, and releases d!sora from the memory pod. D!sora and d!Riku reunite (i fight the urge to reverse the kh2 scene yk the one) riku feels comforted in his search for sora (idk he sees the bond between data!soriku as able to physically manifest into bringing them together so I mean why not real soriku?)  

The trio go back to the surface of the datascape, Disney gang gets to reunite with the data-gang and they apologize for not being able to help more (“gee well, if we knew you were hurting, we would of sent someone way sooner” “We can’t just leave our friends behind!” Or something idk) and riku comes back to the real world.

Riku talks to the data boys through the computer, d!sora asks about sora which is just a little bit of a punch in the gut (reminder this takes place during re:mind) but anywayyyy d!sora wonders if there’s a way they could enter the real world, since riku was able to come to the datascape. (They probably couldn’t :( they never had physical bodies, they have data bodies) Riku thinks about it and realizes hey wait a minute isnt Evens whole job making bodies for hearts that need them they totally could come to the real world. 

So riku calls up Even who’s intrigued by the idea of hearts that existed only in data, and how they would manifest in the real world. So needless to say, he gets to work. A while later d!rikus separated from the journal, and the dynamic data duo is brought to the real world yippee!! 

(If you’ve ever seen my redesigns of the two data’s they would get their new outfits right here) 

And that’s the main idea! I’ve had it for like,,,a couple months? But it’s been stuck in my brain for a while and i like it a lot, just got a Ao3 account so maybe I’ll write it but no promises 

[bookreportsforskl]

The Sun And The Star-Overview⭐☀️

I would rate this book 4/5 stars

I really loved this book, it was a really cute, and its was a 10/10 on the feeling scale. Will and Persephone's convo about loving someone who practically your opposite was really toughing. Nico having to go though the temptations of giving in to his darker side and negative feelings, it resisting and making peace with the fact that that always going to be a part of him. Then in the final chunk where Hades lets Nico see his Mom and Bianca again and talk to them actually made me tear up.

The way the relationships are portrayed are also so well done, Will and Nico learning how to love the parts of each other that are their opposites. Mr. D actually caring {if all the demigods fell to the bottom of the sea he would prefer if they were the last to drown.} and having a mentor like relationship with Nico. Its wonderful.

The reason its not a 5 star is that I found the boss battle incredibly lacking, and compared to the challenges the Percy and Annabeth, and even Nico experienced when they were in Tartarus. The challenges Will and Nico faced feel almost inconsequential. Also back to Nyx she's Primordial Goddess, who Nico himself admitted would be more of a problem to defeat then Gaia. Gaia, who took almost 5 books of set up to not even defeat just put into a coma like state. Before you come at me saying " oh well Nico wasn't trying to subdue Nyx" or "He was just there to free Bob". Nyx shouldn't have been tricked like that just because three of her children, who are minor gods decided they didn't like what their mother was doing. I also feel a little misleading, as I thought based on the back that Nico and Will would be spending most of the time in Tartarus. When in reality it was only around a third of the book

Other then my Nyx issue I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be re-reading it when I have a minute

[aoflameandco]

GrimmNell: from the crack-ship to the “calming influence”

Well, why do I ship GrimmNell? If someone asked me this question 10 years ago I would simply say - well, they both are hot and look aesthetically pleasant together. A valid argument, isn't it? But like every shipper deep inside I was craving for more - trying to find any crumbs to cross “just a crack-ship” territory. It wasn't easy. It still isn't actually - even though the last years of Bleach era blessed us with some interesting interactions. That's why I decided to write this meta - let's see what changed and highlight the best of GrimmNell's dynamic. 

Manga

Arrancar Arc

Like I said - being a GrimmNell shipper before 2015 was pretty rough. They literally had only one small interaction and oh well... Grimmjow was a typical Grimmjow and Nel was in her child-form. But bold of you to assume that this short manga moment wasn't overanalyzed either. 

So yeah, let’s start with a bare minimum - Grimmjow didn't kick Nel. I wish I could say that stomping on a kid is too petty for a mighty Espada, but cough Nnoitora exists. 

Even though Nel lost her memory, she recognized Grimmjow immediately. Was he so famous in the Hueco Mundo's deserts? Did Peshe and Dondochakka warn her about him? Or maybe Grimmjow's face alone was enough to trigger Nel's memories? In any case - this panel born many theories and headcanons about their possible previous interactions.

However, it's hard to say that Grimmjow was super nice to her. Nel kept blaming herself and her loud cry over Ichigo's body made Grimm lose his temper, to be fair it sounded really annoying in the anime. Threatening mod was activated.

Funnily enough, the next thing Grimmjow did - was basically comforting her. In a very Grimmjow-way though. He confirmed that Ichigo (the object of Nel's lamentation) will be fine, there's no need to struggle and she just has to wait in silence. Considering that Grimmjow was in hurry and very frustrated (his convos with Ichigo and Orihime are full of “urusai”), he solved the deal with Nel rather nicely. Once again - no violence included, despite his harsh words, he never hurt her.

Was it enough to sail the ship? Of course not... Yeah, they got some parallels in manga (like- getting a scar from Nnoitora's sneak attack) and were left in Hueco Mundo without a proper conclusion (at least barely anyone believed that they died off-screen). Even though “let’s ship the last Espadas alive” argument was strong - GrimmNell still lacked the proper interactions. The fans had no choice but headcanon their dynamic based on one scene and well - remember the submissive Nelliel around the bad boy Grimmjow? Ah, so good to be so wrong.

TYBW

GrimmNell comeback was a real feast for the shippers. Both characters appeared again, Nel was in her adult form, she and Grimmjow were staying side by side and they talked! Finally, manga gave a decent hint on their dynamic and it didn't disappoint.

Firstly, GrimmNell demonstrated a great comedy duo's potential. Grimmjow's cool re-introduction was cut by a happy Nel who jumped on Ichigo immediately. The battle tension dropped and Grimmjow hurried up to call her out for messing with his vendetta. The first nod to the established dynamic between them - he was using her name instead of calling her “woman”, “brat” or whatever.

And suddenly the atmosphere changed. Nelliel returned to her Espada-self. To be precise, to her self-proclaimed mission - to keep Grimmjow in check (more about it in the novel's analysis). It's obvious, that she isn't afraid of him and directly says who is the boss here.

Grimmjow isn't a type who likes to be bossed around though. Remember, he is the king; he already had a hard time following all Aizen's demands. However, he just smirked at Nel's remarks, giving her a valid argument. Looks like she is a solid opponent in his book and their fight over the dominance is a quite exciting challenge for him.

The tone of their confrontation wasn't antagonistic though. Even though Nel wanted to stay in control, even though Grimmjow reminded her that he got teeth to bite her back, their interactions didn't cross a bitter line. The very next (and sadly last) moment they shared proved that they don't hold any grudges against each other: Nelliel quickly understood what's going on inside his head and tried to warn him, expressing a genuine concern. Meanwhile the independent arrancar cared enough to look back at her establishing his decision.

The last manga arc once again left the arrancar duo without a clear ending. They didn't even get their own full-fledged fights hopefully the coming anime will fix it. All we knew - Grimmjow was about to bite the dust, but Nel was here to save the day. Both followed Urahara's keikaku, that's why their chances to survive were high enough. However, the epilogue didn't even mention them, leaving their fans rather worried. Good thing - just one year later the first volume of the CFYOW novel was released - and the new era of GrimmNell's renaissance began.

Novel

But the novels weren’t written by Kubo himself! Did they even count as a canon evidence? - A valid question. So, Kubo-sensei, answer this one, please! 

Yeah, even though the portrayal was left up to the writers, I highly doubt they would really contradict Kubo’s characters writing. But to be sure - let's summarize the GrimmNell manga crumbs to compare them with their novel's development.

Nelliel thinks that Grimmjow is her responsibility and tries her best to keep him in check.

Even though Grimmjow isn't a fan of gatekeeping, he doesn't ignore Nel and elaborates his decisions for her.

Nelliel’s concern is not just about damage Grimmjow is able to cause. She also cares about him personally.

Starting with the first point, oh well, that's the bone of their novel's dynamic. 

Sorry for a mix of two translations - credits to VIZ for the official one and to MissStormCaller for the fan one

Stopping Grimmjow from doing anything reckless - is Nelliel's holy mission at this point. Nobody asked her to, but even when the war was over - she continued to keep an eye on him. Besides, Nel never doubted that she is capable to stop the Sexta. Compared to Halibel, who is very careful around Grimmjow and thinks that a fight with him would cost her too much - Nelliel's direct approach is hard to miss. “Dragging him back to Hueco Mundo” is something she sees as a not big deal. So it's up to you to decide - if Nel is just too confident in her power or she has her own reasons to believe that Grimmjow wouldn't "sink his fangs" into her body.

The brute force isn't Nel's favorite weapon though. She only hit Grimmjow with a mini-bala once (at this point «Nel is here to ruin Grimm's menacing aura» became Bleach's running joke), just to catch his attention. She doesn’t mention the Espada’s numbers hierarchy as well. Instead, Nelliel tries to convince Grimmjow, to prove why his actions aren't right.

As you see - Nel is smart, she is talking his language and actually uses Grimmjow's code of honor against him. He refused to fight Ichigo when the shinigami was wounded. The victory doesn't taste good if his opponent has a solid excuse to lose. The cold shower from Nel works, but Grimmjow doesn't give up easily. Actually he kinda calls her out as well.

Back in the past Nelliel almost lost everything, because she didn't foresee such a cruel betrayal from Nnoitora. Unlike her, Grimmjow doesn't trust easily and expects the worst outcome. Nel's pacifism is something he barely understands. But if she choose to stay naive, he is here to fix it. Actually, moments like these show that Grimm draws his sword not just for fun, he is pretty protective of their group even though he hides it behind his rude words. 

Despite their different life positions, Grimmjow joined Nel in her quest to save Halibel. He didn't show much respect to Tier, but he didn't leave Nelliel with her alone either. The Sexta hates to stay indebted to anyone - so his cooperation could be a way to pay Nel back for saving his life.

Both of them perfectly remember Askin's episode and Nelliel doesn't miss an opportunity to mention the case as a solid proof that it's better to listen to her. Even though Grimmjow clearly isn’t happy, that someone is here to remind him of his failures - it works again and cools him down.

As you might have noticed - Nel acts like Grimmjow's voice of reason, shouting down his killing instincts. Half a year passed and she is already better at it - instead of forcing him to do something, she tries to find a key to his behavior. The novel establishes that Nelliel really put some efforts to get his way of thinking. Her opinion about him is slowly changing as well - if at first Grimmjow was an unpredictable subject to her, later she noticed some patterns (like his love for a fair fight) and was pleasantly surprised that he is able to overcome his thirst for blood, at least for Hueco Mundo's sake. Still not all the things about him are clear to her. Funny, how Halibel tries to explain how Grimm's pride works, while Nel just blames his change of mood. Her naiveté strikes again - and yet Halibel always entrusts the wild Arrancar to her care without a fear.

Maybe Nel's direct nature really helps the case. She doesn't pretend, she isn't afraid to bruise Grimmjow's ego. He isn't a ticking timebomb she guards; Nelliel’s concern about his wounds proves that a genuine bond was already formed. Feeling pretty comfortable around him, she breaks his solitude to offer some help. Grimmjow plays a tough guy as an answer, but doesn't mind her company.

Not to mention, that they communicate rather peacefully, when their opinions don't clash. Even though Grimmjow prefers to keep his distance, he is in sync with Nel most of the time, jokes around her and never ignores her presence in general.

Actually, the novel even hints that Grimmjow takes a certain interest in her. Nelliel dares to boss him around and yet the proud arrancar tolerates her. More to say - her Reiatsu is the first one to pop up in his mind, just after he established that his memory has some strict limits.

Well, okay, Nelliel was always eager to follow him to interfere in his business; maybe that's why her Reiatsu became unforgettable. But when she finally gave him a break, too busy chatting with Aura, Grimmjow suddenly felt bored, “stumped”. Yeah, no opponents to fight is a big deal for him, the key to his foul mood and yet instead of doing something destructive he preferred to stay and watch Nel being nice to someone else. Of course, he denied Halibel's offer to get close, to join the wholesome party, but his interest alone speaks volumes.

Finally - the "heavy artillery". Grimmjow witnessed many times how Nelliel is all over Ichigo, how protective she is of him. The Sexta seemed to ignore it, only complaining that Nel interrupts his beef with Kurosaki. But when Lil directly asked Grimm if Nelliel is Ichigo's girlfriend, she got a very rigid response. Of course we can assume that Grimmjow was fighting for his OTP aka IchiHime, but let's be serious - the idea of polygamy isn't new to the Arrancars. Why would someone as cynical as Grimmjow care that Kurosaki got more than one girl? Why even bother to answer such a romantic question to begin with? And yet for some reasons it was important for him to destroy IchiNell. The way he compared Nelliel and Orihime is also interesting. Nel can be happy-go-lucky as well, especially when she crushes Itsugo in her hugs. But she is very different with Grimm. Confident, calm, stubborn, sometimes sassy, sometimes caring - looks like Grimmjow prefers to see her that way.

In the end, the novels didn't make GrimmNell canon or anything, but they added more meat on the skeleton Kubo built and left some interesting teasing. We see that the bond between Nel and Grimmjow keeps developing; half a year was enough for them to get much closer than they were in the final arc. The relationship is still rocky though: however, in the novels their banter is much tamer compared to the game version. Wanna see the killing tension? Well, let’s check the Brave Souls as a bonus!

Game 

Of course we must keep in mind that the Bleach games are rather canon-ish than canon, so it’s better to take any interactions with a grain of salt. After all, the “The Alternate Rebirth” story was only supervised by Narita (the novel’s writer). So, even if the connection with the CFYOW’s plot is obvious, many details like the cool Beyond Resurrection forms and the dead Espada’s comeback remained as “what if” scenario. However, some things always stay the same - Nelliel's concern about Grimmjow is one of them.

Feeling a suspicious danger Nelliel immediately activated her protective boss mod. But giving Grimmjow a direct order never worked smoothly.

Grimm's anger had no effect on her though, Nelliel still dragged him away from their enemy. His outburst just made her change the tactic, using the voice of reason this time. She still refused to leave his side.

Despite all the threats, the Sexta just run away instead of picking a fight with her. But bold of him was to assume that he can escape Nel's care.

No matter how much Grimmjow pushes her away, Nelliel is desperate to keep him safe. But her way to say that she cares about him obviosly just triggered him more - from his point of view Nel is doubting his strength.

As you see, here their dynamic kinda lacks the understanding they reached in the novel. As if the time had reversed and the lessons they learned (from Nnoitora or Askin) vanished from their memory. Nel is too pushy and Grimm is too hot-tempered, both too stubborn to step down. 

However, the “Brave Souls” also blessed us with another big crumb - Nelliel's TYBW profile establishes that she has a calming influence on Grimmjow. So yeah, even though in the “The Alternate Rebirth” story the Sexta still barely listens to her - it��s nice to see an extra confirmation for something what was very visible in the novels.

Besides, it's important to mention how the advertising company presented GrimmNell as a paired set. Mr and Ms Arrancar, right, Hikone? The story gives a big focus to their interactions. After all, even when they have disagreements in the end they still team up to fight side by side. them saying Beyond Resurreccion together in the trailer gives me chills

What's left to say? In many ways Grimmjow and Nelliel are polar opposites. Destruction and Lamentation. The one who is eager to fight and the one who wants to keep peace. It's surely not easy for them to cooperate, however they were able to form a quite interesting bond.

Even though Nelliel “is keeping Grimmjow in check”, it's not like she puts a collar around his neck. He wouldn't let anyone steal his freedom again. Grimmjow still argues and yet they discuss things and these conversations make him slowly reconsider his views. The Sexta might act like a lone wolf, but he is clearly getting used to Nel's company.

Nel herself learns too - she always took an interest in dangerous individuals, giving herself a duty to watch over them, to guide them. But this time she considers the other's perspective and is more honest, so Grimmjow can understand - she doesn't look down upon him - even when they disagree - she cares about his well being.  

Their progress really warms my heart. Look how far the aesthetic crack-ship has gone! Hopefully, it's not the ceiling and we'll see more of them if Kubo will continue the Hell arc.

Thank you for reading till the end! If I missed something, pls, don't be shy and tell me! I would gladly read more GrimmNell thoughts bс I'm starving haha

[uten4]

Bankikai was created sometime around Yuzuriha's story, which was in December. This one is in April. In Yuzu's story, Sefirot/Strix was shown to be involved in Bankikai from the beginning, but Chaos is acting like that is a recent thing. Was Ogre keeping Strix's membership in the group a secret? She's a pretty great secret weapon to have, so I could see why he might do that.

Yeah, that makes sense. If Chaos wanted to be mean, I suppose he would just attack the person in question's character directly, if it came up. He wouldn't exclude Roger from a battle just to be mean, especially because that would be foregoing considerations of whether Roger's presence is strategic or not. LOL, so what I realize from thinking about this is that what Gordeau is saying isn't, "Chaos isn't that mean," it's, "Chaos would primarily consider strategy in this particular situation, not his personal feelings."

I think about this ALL THE TIME. WHAT DID CHAOS WANT TO TALK ABOUT?!?!?!?!!? SERIOUSLY. About the next night, about the next night... well, Hilda did mention that she and Chaos had been arguing about whether to bring along Enkidu or not. But I can't think of a reason why Gordeau and Roger can't witness the continuation of that argument. Maybe he's briefing her on how she needs to fight Ogre? But again, that would be good for Gordeau and Roger to know as well.

Omg, I just had an amazing thought. Look, I know this is going to sound crazy, but what if Chaos is trying to wingman for Gordeau and Roger. In stories it's so common for a perceptive character to make an excuse to drag a clueless character out of the room to give some potential lovebirds room to chat privately. And Gordeau even responds in a classic way. PLEAAAAASE feel free to give me other propositions, but I personally can't think of any other reason for Chaos to say this, except to give Gordeau and Roger private time 😭...

"why would Chaos do that I thought he was in love with Gordeau or smth": many potential reasons. Continued cluelessness of his own feelings. A subconscious desire to crush his own feelings. A very charitable attitude towards his friends. Lack of confidence in this regard (actually demonstrated earlier in this convo when he was like "I guess you have happy memories with Hilda, Gordeau, but I don't think you have any with me, right?")

That would be awesome. French Bread please make Gordeau see some wonders of the world in UNI2. BUT MAKE SURE HE TAKES HILDA AND/OR CHAOS OKAY I DON'T WANT HIM TO DISAPPEAR ALONE FOREVER LIKE HIS FORMER BOSS please and thank you :)

[actualaster]

Impressions of Episode 2!  Spoilers not just for the episode, but for the game--including parts towards the end of the game.  Screenshot-heavy

Also, NTWEWY Release Date Trailer reference at one point.

First up!  Love the proper intro!  Shame about what happened with the original intro being swapped out, there’s some spots where this version of Twister doesn’t quite fit.  But it fits better than the use of Calling they used as as a last-second sub in the first episode.

(For those who don’t know, one of the band members for the group that did the original song was involved in a criminal scandal so the music was pulled, apparently that’s not uncommon.  I feel more bad for the poor bandmates who’ve had their reputation tarnished by association, y’know?)

so!  first up on visuals!  New Noise!!  Wonder if these will show up in NTWEWY?  They don’t look as much like Noise as most others, missing that tattoo component, but they remind me of the Bats and the Sprogs.  Curious to see if that happens

FORESHADOWING with MR. PRODUCER HIMSELF.

So, we get some interaction between Neku and Shiki right off the bat when the episode starts, which involves Neku’s whole “I don’t like people” thing, and we see Beat and Rhyme join ‘em and they have a discussion.  Get some of the talk of everyone’s values colliding, which IIRC is a W2 sort of convo w/ Asshole Jesus?  Can’t quite remember...  Either way, get some more insight into the characters.

RHYME IS TOO CUTE HERE THIS IS SO PRECIOUS

Ahaha...  This sequence hurts.  The framing makes it so clear what they’re getting at with these two being siblings.  Also this entire bit is good, helps establish details about the characters both overtly through conversation and subtly, like the framing of this shot.

This part also hurts, Shiki getting so excited she forgets, just for a moment, what’s going on.

Honestly the entire sequence with the Prince is funny, and helps give some good insight into the characters.

Also. Same, Neku, Same.  That’s exactly my face when people start losing their minds over some RL celeb that’s apparently sexy or something lol.  But also starts to work in the importance of fashion and trends in this sequence.

The description is different but ultimatley the idea seems roughly the same for Imprinting--though Shiki knows what it is rather than Rhyme explaining memes.

(shame we couldn’t get “what’s a meme?” animated lol, but that’s probably just a funny thing in the ENG fandom and it IS based of the JP original ver)

Interesting way they handled Eri here, with her wearing a different outfit.

Dude talking to Makoto’s a Reaper, I’m betting--since he’s lacking that sort of washed out look the RG folks have.  Specifically planted here to give the Players the idea for what their mission is, if they’re paying attention to their surroundings and/or in the right area at the start of the day.

Nao and Sota make another appearance after their Ep 1 cameo!  Good way to introduce them before W2!

[knee-jerk reaction of screeching because THE FUCKING MOST ANNOYING FUCKING PINS EVER]

Also the fact that the dude in Red who was talking to Makoto says his boss is pressuring him to spread them around makes me pretty confident, aside from the “lacking the washed out RG look” that he’s a Reaper.

This was very interesting--the Support Reaper let them through because Shiki was holding a Keypin.  Setting the precedent for “this pin caused a wall to be cleared for us” but at the same time...  Not opening the wall itself.  And I wonder why the Reaper didn’t seem to care that a Player was holding onto a Keypin?  I mean, the Reaper addressed it with “take care of that pin”, so I suppose they’ve acknowledged it but still feels odd.  Then again, might be a case of “Player with a Keypin?  Higher ups didn’t say anything about that.  Welp, not my problem then.” and just not wanting to deal with it lol

also look at the Support Reaper (guy in red w/ the facemask)’s outfit.  Compare it to what “Neku” in the end of the latest (as of this posting) NTWEWY trailer was wearing--it’s pretty much identical except “Neku” is wearing black instead of Read (Harrier Reapers wear Black), is this “Neku” in NTWEWY a Reaper now?  Or trying to blend in and appear similar to a Reaper for some reason?  Or is it just coincidence?

see how similar they look?  (I know it looks purple here but the boxart it’s black so I assume it’s just lighting)

Then again, since the art seems the same between game and anime (or very similar, the eyes are handled looking the same it seems to me) it could be something else...  (Of course, who even knows if this is the real Neku?)

Anyway...

AHAHAHAHAHAHA Oh shiki, if only you knew that the second player pin is because of the bullet that wasn’t stopped XD

Working trends in somewhat, interesting to see that.  Makes total sense they’d do it this way since the “trends change based on what Players use in battle” is a game mechanic that I can’t see being easily worked into the story in another format, so this swap makes plenty of sense.  Using Imprinting on the Prince to get him to plug the advert makes sense.

LMAO.  SAME NEKU, SAME.  THAT IS SUCH A RELATABLE FACE.

I gotta wonder, though--using the Prince this way instead of the Players making it work, seems like that might not make Makoto get a big head about “his” success which would alter things in...  W2, right?  The ramen shop stuff’s W2.

So.  We have a few interesting massive deviations here.

First up, a look at the influence of the Red Skull pin on people.

And second...

A Familiar Looking Noise Symbol, found on the Shibuya River...  Megumi’s Noise Symbol.

Obviously a massive deviation as Players start getting Erased--despite the Mission being cleared.  Neku and Shiki are on the chopping block when...

A familiar bit of hair reveals their savior who’s not about to let Megumi end their little Game early using some underhanded tactics like “Earsing Players after the Mission is cleared”

I’m very not sure how I feel on a personal level about this decision, but on a narrative level I fully get where they were going with this.

It establishes a very powerful Noise, and if they remain true to the game later it’s foreshadowing that Megumi’s involved heavily.  AND it establishes (through subtle implication you’d not necessarily get if this was your first time watching and didn’t catch the hair) that Joshua is a very powerful person.  Before being in the Game.

Shiki comments on the unsualness of it, too!

I do, however, think they did real justice to the Eri and Shiki revelation.  I still wanna know what that “accident” is that killed Shiki, though.

And here we see a person having his ENTIRE WORLD rocked by the revelation that he’s dead.

Also we got a slight flashback to the incident that killed him, too blurry to see much but a little bit of one.  We saw a little of that in Ep 1, too, IIRC.

AND THAT’S IT FOR THE EPISODE

Well.  Except for the title card for Episode 3

WHO’S READY TO HAVE THEIR HEARST SHATTERED LIKE GLASS OVER THAT SCENE?!

[four-loose-screws]

hiii! Can I say thank you for your hard work??? I love reading your translations!!! What do you think of the FE6 characters?

Thank you so much! I hope you continue to enjoy!

I haven't played FE6 in over 10 years (Somehow that is a statement I am putting together...? Comprehending the passage of time is rough.), so unfortunately I can't offer a very interesting nor nuanced answer to the question anymore. Just something super generic. I mostly like to laud FE6 for setting the stage for post-Kaga FE, with the most easy to remember feature being the standardized support system of course. FE had always had convos triggered in battle, but FE6 finally put a method to the madness.

Yes, many convos are lacking in complexity by comparison to later games, but we always have to respect our roots! FE has always been trying to grow and experiment with new ideas every game. Even if it means the games will always be rough around the edges, the passion and experimentation shines through, and that's what has kept this series as my ultimate favorite for 15 years now. And there's always more depth to every bit of FE and its characters than meets the eye!

Also, fun fact: I GameSharked Roy to full stats so I could beat the boss in 8x. I only meant it to be temporary, buuuuuut then he just kinda stayed like that into the next chapter, and despite all of my best efforts, I couldn't get him to revert back to his original stats, so he was an OP EXP vacuum throughout the entire game. Whoops.

[thankskenpenders]

I remember seeing a twitter convo years ago that Toby Fox was involved in pointing out that while there's a ton of bad games with great soundtracks, there seems to be no good games with bad soundtracks (though closest they could think of was Sonic Chronicles)

It’s definitely harder to think of good games with bad soundtracks, but off the top of my head: Dragon Quest XI. Decent compositions held back by the midi instruments in the original release (the orchestrated versions on Switch are admittedly better) and an extreme lack of variety. That game’s like 60 hours long at minimum and I swear to fucking god for almost the entire game there are only two town themes, one overworld theme, and one battle theme. They don’t even use a proper boss theme for like the first eight hours

But I hate Koichi Sugiyama’s crusty homophobic war crime apologist ass so that’s definitely coloring my opinion of a soundtrack that’s ultimately mediocre at worst

I’d also argue that lots of modern AAA games have really boring Hollywood-style soundtracks that are competently made but completely unmemorable, but I’m biased because I grew up on Sonic, Mega Man, and JRPGs

[elizabeatrice]

Walking Blind + Thoughts on The Little Mermaid Being Episode 12

Let’s Talk About JSHK Anime #2

Warning: Manga spoilers up until Tanabata Arc (basically that + the entirety of season 1 + the skipped arcs)

I’m gonna talk about how the anime keeps proving my predictions wrong with skipped arcs, and later right, with consequences. Due note that this isn’t me hating the anime (because I love it). Just my funny experience attempting to Sherlock my way through the anime, plus my thoughts on The Little Mermaid being the finale.

No deduction works when it comes to predicting this series.

It all started when episode 5, The Confession Tree, came out. I was looking forward to it ‘cause I’m hananene trash af. Legit thought the entire episode was gonna be about Kodama.

But then the episode preview pics came out and I was like, “Sakura wtf are you doing here you don’t show up again until three chapters later?”

My first prediction was ep 5 would be entirely Kodama, and then ep 6 would be Young Exorcist. Seeing that these arcs serve to build up Nene and Kou wanting to know more about Hanako, I thought it’d be nice that we set aside two episodes just for that.

But then Kodama finished somewhere around the fifteenth minute mark, and we started Young Exorcist Part 1. Which was, you know, fine. But then instead of continuing, they jumped right to the end of the arc when Nene met Sakura for the first time, and then kept going to No. 5′s rumor and revealed Tsukasa early. Next episode’s title preview confirmed it, too. Ep 6 was gonna be 4PM Bookstacks.

Okay. I still had hope. Maybe they just rearranged the order.

On the other hand, the lack of ‘Part 1′ in the title was alarming. And it came true. They packed four chapters into one episode. A lot of things got cut. There wasn’t enough room for the op, and they had to run the credits while the episode was still ongoing. Though, tbh, other than Tsuchi’s line about him being able to change the books (with dire consequences), I didn’t have much problem with the cut scenes.

Then this thing showed up.

Before ep 5 I didn’t think we’d get Donuts until around episode 9-ish. But nope the No. 7s would meet each other in ep 7 (lmao see what I did there?). Again, I was fine with it, but I was a bit upset about Young Exorcist.

Someone said it may be moved to the finale, and I didn’t like that idea. Mostly because Yashiro, our main audience POV, isn’t in the arc. And it just sounds weird having a finale without your main audience POV.

They could put her there, sure, but that would mean adjusting Nene and Teru’s every future interaction. Even without shipping goggles or Nene’s romance-colored glasses, do you think Nene would still act the same towards Teru if she saw him hurt Hanako like that? ‘Cause that was brutal. Like she wouldn’t run and protect him like she did when they met Kou.

They put Kou and Teru’s resolution from Young Exorcist into their convo in episode 7. This kinda makes Teru a bit useless, though. I mean, he still doesn’t do much in the manga but the tension between him and Kou was supposed to set up this badass fight. Since it didn’t happen, and Young Exorcist isn’t gonna be the finale either, then he’s pretty much useless.

Anyway, the thing about Teru being onto The Broadcasting Club?

Not from the manga.

I’m not sure if Manga!Teru is really onto them. As far as I remember, it wasn’t hinted anywhere in the manga. Do correct me if I’m wrong. So what was the point of that change?

I didn’t get pissed until halfway through episode 7 and suddenly Mitsuba was there, but no fishes.

“What is he doing here, where’s that puffer fish, where’s his murder? Hello?”

I was very neutral about Mitsuba from the very beginning but when he showed up where The Little Mermaid (and my fish murder!!!) was supposed to be I kinda began to grow undeserved resentment toward him (I’m cool now though!). Totally, totally undeserved, because it wasn’t his character’s fault.

I was happy because Mitsuba stans got to see him animated (he was cute, and his VA was so good). But putting him in episode 7??? I mean they just left Hanako and Nene’s tension unresolved like that. That makes the episode really choppy in my opinion. They could’ve had the coolest final shot of the season of Tsukasa murdering that fish to scare and excite the anime-onlys. They missed that chance.

We got to episode 8. Pretty solid. Still would’ve preferred if its first bits weren’t in Donuts, but solid.

Preview title basically confirmed they’re skipping The Little Mermaid too. That was when I lost hope in Young Exorcist. But I tried to compromise. If they weren’t animating The Little Mermaid, then they have to put Hanako and Nene’s conversation and pinky promise in The Little Mermaid at the end of ep 9.

Episode 9 turned out to be my favorite. It was all thanks to Natsuhiko. He really cheered me up over our loss of two arcs. And my prediction was right for once. Hanako apologized for ruining the donuts. That’s definitely not the point of their tension (Tsu-ka-sa and trust), but it was still nice and I’d take what I could get. The hug. The hug was very nice.

I was mostly content, excited to see my boi Akane the next week. But then I thought, wait, we only have three episodes left. And we’re definitely reaching Hell of Mirrors, ‘cause No. 3′s silhouette is in the OP. Then the horrifying thought hit me.

They were gonna skip Searching.

But! The freaking post-credit showed up followed by this:

“They skipped Searching AND Clock Keeper??? Why on earth would you highlight Akane, with Teru of all people, in the OP then?! Paralleling Mitsuba and Kou no less!”

Due notice, yet again, the lack of ‘Part 1′ in the title preview. Before the episode actually aired, this was my train of thought: “Okay so they skipped The Clock Keeper and Searching, and decided to outdo episode 6 by packing 6 chapters (yeah, I counted “Reach Out Your Hand”) into one episode. Ahahaha ... what?”

Thankfully, they proved me wrong. Kay. Good. Thanks a bunch for fooling me with that title preview.

But then it freaking hit me. You got one episode left. The finale. Sure, Clock Keeper as a finale will be perfect. It’s a good hook for season 2. However. You can’t do Clock Keeper without doing Searching. It’d basically be almost the same as doing Donuts without doing The Little Mermaid. The finale wouldn’t feel resolved this way, because, again, there’s tension between Hanako and Nene (and Kou too) that isn’t resolved yet.

Not that Searching addressed the cause of the tension, but at least it brought the trio back to their status quo (well, with a bit of kounene and hananene development haha). Also, without Searching, it’ll only end like this:

Clock Keeper itself is 5 chapters. They can cut and modify. Sure. But y’all saw ep 6.

So that’s why I was sure we’re definitely not getting No. 1 this season. To me, that leaves three options for the finale.

A. Delivery + Tanabata Arc

Best pick in my opinion

It’s the direct continuation to Hell of Mirrors

The main trio are all there, especially our audience POV

More glimpses of Amane is always a plus point

The ‘getting hit by a bull, waking up in the past, and seeing your boyfriend before he died’ is just so random I think it’d be a pleasant surprise for the anime-onlys

Just wholesome in general, leaves the audience feeling good

The-ma-tic!!! You begin the series with Nene’s wish and end it with Amane’s isn’t that just asdfghjkl wish wish wish, everything’s about wishes in JSHK

B. Young Exorcist

Classic boss battle finale

Just Teru’s badassery *chef’s kiss*

Hanako getting emotional (something we haven’t really seen before)

Getting deeper into Hanako’s motive (episode 8 would’ve been more impactful had we had Young Exorcist before it, what with his view of disappearing/exorcism for ghosts being salvation)

Kou’s character development

^ counter argument: he already got the character development he went through in Young Exorcist in episode 6 and 7, plus, he and Teru already resolved their disagreements - though, not as impactful as in the manga

Also wholesome, HanaKou is great I love their friendship so much *sobs*

C. The Little Mermaid

@emee-ems​ pointed out here: “it started with the mermaid so they’ll end it with the mermaid” and I agree

Yashiro being persuaded to leave Hanako, while their friendship was what began the whole series? That’s some good conflict right there

Seeing Hanako worried about Yashiro leaving him? Good shit

Also wholesome (extra shipping content never hurts, either)

Hanako willingly opening up to Yashiro for the first time!!! That’s a big milestone for them

Yashiro accepting that he’s just not ready instead of not trusting her like she’d thought is *chef’s kiss*

That pinky promise! Starting the series making a bond due to unfortunate circumstances and ending the series making/staying loyal to a bond out of choice??? Good shit

Aaaaannnnddddd the verdict was:

Mmmmmkay.

I did previously think we’re gonna end the season with The Little Mermaid. But here’s the thing. It only works if everything is in chronological order.

Why? Because the tension that led to this arc in the first place is resolved already in episode 9.

The whole point of TLM is that conversation at the end, really, where:

Hanako apologizes for ruining the donuts (he already did in episode 9)

Hanako thanks Yashiro for telling him that she liked him

Hanako admits that he had a little brother and that he killed him (Tsukasa already confirmed both of this for Nene, both in episode 7 and episode 9)

So having Hanako repeating all this seems kinda redundant. Nene already knows. Sure, it’ll be nice to hear it from him directly ... but it’s too late now, isn’t it? It’s been four episodes. She’s met Tsukasa three times now. However, point number 2 is still available.

Furthermore, since Hanako already apologized in episode 9, I’m not sure if the fishes can use what happened in episode 7 to persuade Nene to leave him. I mean, she forgave him already. Tension resolved. They hugged and all. And it’s been so long since then.

Animating the fish murder scene is also kinda useless. It was supposed to give the audience a glimpse of how dangerous Tsukasa is. But we already know that. We saw him rip someone’s heart out and force-feed it to someone else.

The first half of The Little Mermaid Part 1 and The Broadcasting Club at the end of Part 2 are already animated in episode 7. That leaves them even more room for extra scenes. I hope they take good advantage of that.

Basically, they have to make a lot of adjustments and I’m curious to see what they’re gonna do.

I am happy that we’re gonna see The Little Mermaid. The way Hanako wipes Nene’s face with his sleeve, and then cradles her head? I need it, they make my heart melt. Can’t wait.

[teefa85]

So, Ruins of Lore beat!  Opinions under cut...

Honestly, it’s not a bad game when looked at objectively.  There are a lot of good ideas, like the job system and ‘mon catching.  But at the same time, there really could be some rebalancing.  You find a lot of the equipment for your ‘mons, and go figure the stuff I chose couldn’t wear ANYTHING I found!  They had weak store brought equipment for much of the game, with one or two rare drops to power them up.  So...they became useless!  You also can’t use the Combine feature without one being in your party so that weakens the potential of your combined forces for someone having a few turn buff (and the less said about “no reviving/switching out dead ‘mons” the better...my first run had a dead ‘mon, and Eldin/Torma/Rami as the party I fought Goldiark with).

Job balancing...it takes forever to master Magic Based Jobs and they’re a bit underpowered.  Put it in perspective, by the time Rami mastered her first Job (Mage), Torma was halfway done with Bishop (the second tier healing Job) and Eldin had Mastered...Swordsman, Knight, Fighter, Brawler, Thief, was far along on Chemist, and had Rapidfire (first Tier Rogue Skill).  I think the other reason, besides Confusion hax, I noped out of the Ancient Cave was the guide I used had “use Mirror to protect Eldin from damage” as the strategy for a lot of bosses.  Mirror...is the next to last Tier Mage skill!  The one Rami hadn’t Mastered until Eldin had most of the physical skills learned!  It’s also kind of annoying that Bau and Dekar can’t get jobs, because boy does Bau need it and Dekar isn’t with you for the final battle (though I swear he was in my first run so I don’t know what I was remembering or didn’t do).

But while I find it a good game objectively, it’s a horrible Lufia game.  There are a few books and NPCs that reference Lufia II, but that’s it!  Oh, and Dekar...who for whatever reason looks like he was just beat up in his portrait!  Dekar wouldn’t get in that condition...this guy survived a collapsing shrine with no real damage in this ‘verse!  Honestly, his only reasons for being there seemed to be his popularity (which I was more lenient with Dekard on because he’s doing a lot of awesome shit that this Dekar doesn’t do, plus it’s an alias and what guy who wants to be awesome wouldn’t use a legendary awesome guy as his inspiration).  And to finally get him laid!  Yes, I find his relationship with Marin adorable in context of the game, though it does lose some points because she’s effectively a fangirl who got to be with her idol, and I’ve had some BAD experiences with that sort of fan.  Still think it’s cute, but Dekar’s relationship with Tia in Curse is a lot more adorable (do wonder if it was done as a natural follow up to their convo, not having time to work with Tia past the timeskip in the original, or Neverland rebelling against another company creating a love interest for one of their characters).

I’m not that big of a fan of having Eldin as a mute main character, though at least he has expressive emotive portraits to sub in for dialogue at points.  I tolerate it with games like Suikoden/Breath of Fire (which don’t have modern games anyway)/Dragon Quest/Zelda because they have used a mute main character since Day 1, and were created back in a time when that was still a trope.  But Lufia heroes actually have had voices since the first game.  Still...it’s less a knock against Eldin as a character and more a knock against the decision, as he’s still one of the better mute main characters in gaming!

The Ancient Cave being only 60 levels, limited to Eldin and his monster (and remember what I said about monsters up above), and the stupidity in beef gating rather than being something you could work around through repeated going in like in II and TLR (or just getting levels like the first game) CAN go to hell though!

Now, I have problems with the story as-is.  Mostly in regard to Eldin’s role...his dad all but tells Rubius he’s adopted, then she sees an inscription and realizes he was sent forward in time so his parents could save him from Eristol’s destruction.  But does he ever find this out...no!  Unless there’s some obscure sidequest I missed out on twice.  It’s wasted potential...not that he’d react much other than the upset face and possibly some lesson on Family of Choice and Not Blood Parents.  Other than that...the story we are given isn’t bad, besides the ending (really too much out of nowhere stuff, a villain who doesn’t show up until right before the finale, and padding with the extra run up Mt. Ruhei and third run up the Tower of Guidance...oh and the solution being “seal Beast in Holy Land and destroy stones” making it stupid that this all happened in the first place).  Also, WHY did Irmis have to seal the half of the beast in Nazare?  Was it breaking free?  Did Ragule attack?  Well...probably not the latter since he didn’t know where to go for it else they’d have gone there sooner.  And how long ago was it/what age were the twins?

I do have issues with the lack of connectivity to Lufia II, despite being only 20 years later in the same area of the world.  Which is ALSO wasted potential!  How about, instead of the Eastern Continent being razed by Gratze, have some of the missions be helping those areas!  We could have checked in with the scientists in Portravia (if they hadn’t all followed Lexis to Westland), Ferim’s possibly now Queen Jerit (maybe have them doing pretty good since she finally got together with Hans and his military expertise is making him a good wartime ruler’s consort), and of course Leon & Thea (see how their countries, the ones closest to Gratze, are doing and how they’ve been ruling since neither had a sibling to take the reigns of their own country to live with the other).  Also, the geography could use some work...HOW did we walk from Parcelyte to Gruberik, with no land bridges and no water on the map?!  And maybe equate the sealing in Nazare to the Sinistrals’ power having weakened the seal and it eventually started cracking after about five-ten years or something.

The other thing I can think of to fix this...instead of Eldin as the MC, make it Maxim and Selan’s son, Jeros, either making it 15 years later instead of 20, or changing Torma/Rami/possibly Rubius’ ages to better fit with him.  They could go with an angle of him being proud to be the son of heroes, but worried he won’t live up to them.  Proud that they saved the world, but angry that they left him behind.  Possibly even have him and Rubius strike up a romantic attraction, and then make it clearer that she will sacrifice herself too!  This can lead to Jeros having to face the loss of his love, and eventually come to terms not only with that, but what happened to his parents.  Then, in the end, he resolves to go to Westland so his descendants could watch over Doom Island as it was the one thing he could do to honor his parents.  It could also be an excuse to bring Tia into the story, as she moved to Parcelyte and took over the shop so she can help Selan’s auntie care for Jeros, with it being her own way of doing what she could for Maxim.  Honestly, what Eldin brings is his “ancient blood,” but they could easily have ignored the curse (which had SO LITTLE impact on the plot...see Atelier Iris for a game where a character gets a debilitating “curse” and it has affect on both plot and her combat prowess without making her suck) or had it (and the eventual “merge with the Beast Half which totally should have granted him a new skill or something”) be due to his powerful Energy Waves like his dear old dad!

Still, I did enjoy the game and the world, as long as I didn’t think of it as a Lufia game (yet that didn’t stop me from using Dekar for most of forever).  Though I also wish it had been its own new IP!  That would have removed the connectivity issues that caused a lot of people to hate it right off the bat, plus could have left the door open for a sequel or prequel, possibly with the system flaws fixed (just look what the Lufia Series did going from I to II, and how much of an improvement it is considered by fans).  But eh, what can you do?  I just don’t have the same need to replay it when I do Lufia-thons myself, and only did it this time due to being in quarantine and having loads of free time (I might still have been playing II or be early in TLR if I was doing my weekend only runs).

[neokad]

Shin Megami Tensei (SNES) review - the best and worst game I've ever played

I have finished my first Shin Megami Tensei game - the original! As you can tell from the post's title, it is... well... It's both the best, and worst game I have ever played!

Okay okay all jokes aside, I have a few issues with the game - and not *just* because it's old - but overall I still enjoyed my experience!

...which is good, because said enemies are REALLY tough! Now, that is somewhat expected from a JRPG from the very early 90s, but I honestly think SMT1 does it better than a few games of its era! Why? Well, while the encouter rate is very high, you always have a chance at talking demons into leaving you alone, on top of escaping! Plus, what I ended up loving about the SMT formula is how... useful buffs and debuffs can be! (with one caviat, more on that later) Basically, any buffs your human party members or demons can use are very cheap, you usually have lots of MP to use them and they finally tend to be very useful anyway! Enemies are generally much more threatening than in your average JRPG, so putting 5 or 6 of them to sleep all at once is VITAL if you want to survive! All of these factors combined make SMT a very tense and exhilarating experience, and I loved it! Although... a side effect of this is that backtracking tends to suuuuuuck (I never got the chance to get a Estoma spell ;-;) Sadly, I can NOT say the same for most of the bosses. On one hand, the game's lack of checkpoints makes me glad they aren't a nightmare, but... to put it simply, every boss in the game is weak to stunning, which means that if you use a human's Thunder spell on a boss at every turn, you can literally stun them for the ENTIRE BATTLE. And even if this cheese did not exist, they tend to not have enough HP to be much of a threat anyway!

And unfortunately, this is not the only gameplay issue I have with SMT1. First off, the game is not always obvious about where you need to go next - which to be fair, was a common thing at the time - but I still ended up needing to pull a guide a few times due to how unintuitive progression could feel ><

And... to put it shortly, the dungeon design is not very good. At first, it's not so bad, with a few small floors to deal with at a time... but eventually you'll have to bother with MASSIVE labyrinths, that are sometimes filled with traps, one way doors, pitfalls, warp tiles... yuck, it's so annoying! I'm at least grateful the game was smart enough to include a map feature ^^' The dungeons also tend to look a lot like each other - not to the point of Phantasy Star of course, but there is a loooot of palette swaps going on with the various places you explore, and it kinda blows ;-;

Also, the Cathedral sucks. Period. It looks cool, but it sucks. Moving on...

I'd say that besides those quirks, the game actually looks pretty okay! Definitely a little washed out a simple, but the demon's sprites can be absolutely killer to look at! As far as the music goes, well... I'm actually really mixed about it? The thing that annoys me the most about SMT1's soundtrack - besides how the songs always reset whenever you enter a battle - is that... well, a good chunk of the songs loop after only a few seconds! But on the flip side, they're like, the best 10 or 20 second loops you'll ever hear in your life? I'm really confused >< Needless to say, my favourite track in the game in Ginza - because it's a banger that actually lasts a minute before looping!

Finally, I do not like to talk about the story in those kinda reviews for spoiler reasons, but I'll keep it short: for 1992, this is actually really nice! I very much enjoyed how unsettling and dark a good chunk of it felt, how chaotic things could turn, and.. honestly, the game had a lot of really impactful moments and events - despite how SMT1 doesn't have much dialogue for the most part. It's kinda like Phantasy Star II really! But not as impactful I guess

But, here's an important deal about said story: the neat thing that SMT does narrative-wise is alignment! Basically, depending on your choices during the game, your alignment can tip between Law, Neutral, and Chaos. And although the general adventure will mostly stay the same, changing your alignment will have an impact on which demons you can recruit, which bosses you'll fight - and even how you'll progress in the final dungeon! I personally wish they had just a liiiiiittle more impact on the narrative, but it's still a very neat way to encourage replayability, I think! (For those curious, I decided to go Law, and was kinda disappointed by the ending not gonna lie...)

So... yes. Shin Megami Tensei is a game with a LOT of really cool elements and powerful strengths, but it's also bogged down by a LOT of annoyances that really made me not like the game as much as I should have ;-; But I can totally see why people like this series from the tense, unique twist on classic JRPG gameplay alone!

Though it is simultaneously the best and worst game I've ever played, I will definitely play more of the series in the future!

Rating: 7/10

[robothobo64]

kitaruhakiashi replied to your post “edloser:...

Oh wow… I didn’t expect a reply. Thank you! Merged Zamasu would have been surprising (in a good way), a heavy weight character I’d want to play as. Again, I cannot fully judge inclusions until I see what story role they have, which may be a key reason to their (Black Goku with Zamasu) pre-DLC inclusion.

Hey, no probs. Always open for convos.

Granted, a part of my dis-taste for the addition of Goku Black comes from my overall negative feelings toward his arc and character as a whole. (easily my least favorite arc in all of Dragon Ball) I also just personally don’t see the big hype in him as much as say, some of the characters from the Tournament of Power, or even Movie-based villains/characters. (Janemba would be amazing in here imo) Heck, I still think SSJBlue should have been a transfomation super form Goku and Vegeta like what Freeza has for his Gold form. Especailyl since it’s really just be a texture/aura chage and BAM! New form to swap out to in the heat of battle. I also feel that Merged Zamazu vs Vegetto was big iconic fight from the Goku Black saga was one the one fight I can say was actually good. Most of the other preceeding battles in there just felt like padding in comparison IMO. I just feel if you have to add him, add in the character at their most key and biggest moments. I'd say the reason why so many 2D Fighters from Butoden 2 onward start with Goku in SSJ/SSJ2 form instead of adding a base form.  It’d also be nice to have a character that’s finally somewhat on boss-ish terms of strength. I know 21 is probably going to fill that role but the longer we don’t see her in-game and just in the cutscenes, the more I’m worried this will be another Extreme Butoden and the story mode will just have another character fighting in her place while 21 is just in background like how Omega Shenron was the main villain of Ex. Butoden’s Adventure mode but in reality it’s just another fight against Broly at the end.

It also has be a bit worried that we’re just over a month till the game comes out and I still feel the roster has too many characters already seen in Extreme Butoden. A game I already felt was very lacking. I originally thought this was to land in Febuary or March, usually when DBZ games land, but this early has me a bit leery on how much is gonna be regularted to DLC.

[kitsoa]

IVory chapter 14 Author commentary

I’m on a roll cause Saturday is “don’t care about work no matter what” day and I’m gonna write theories and fanfic and talk about my fic process cause im trying not to ramble in my authors notes. spoilers for my fic

seriously too much talking about my own story below the cut

The Healing.

Unraveling happens when the story can’t function as intended anymore. The endpoint can’t be reached and thus the world falls apart. So to mend it, the endpoint has to be reached no matter how round about. I kind of base this off of typical KH meddling in unoriginal world stories. The general story and message happens even with the interlopers. All is well, World Order preserved.

But with Brave Xigbar meddles real early on. Originally, the story centers around Merida mending her relationship with her mother in her attempt to figure out her fate. There’s a curse and a parallel with the cursed Mor’du but because certain things don’t happen or happen in the right way, the world starts to fall apart. But that’s why Elinor and Merida’s resolution makes such a difference, because that’s considered the “endpoint” of the story. 

But it’s that lack of parallel with Mor’du that Aced is able to pull the unchained from the tablet. Despite making up with each other that curse will never lift and that will forever plague the world. 

Shooting Ven

Shooting Ven is a big part of the set up for the next arc but choosing when to shoot Ven was actually a real struggle for me, it was actually set to happen in the previous chapter with that Xigbar convo but I realized I could amp up the drama and time all the characters in the right places. I was extremely pleased with writing from Xigbar’s perspective. Bringing out the sniper rifle and adding a dash of vindictive recklessness. It was fun to make happen. Describing the aftermath? Much harder. 

Xigbar’s reaction is interesting to say the least. More on that. The hard part is managing his cool while stressing out about his apparent fuck up. He’s got a lot of faith in the good guys. 

Logistics:

Which brings me to that hardest part to multi-character stuff. You gotta explain everything. Mor’du stops attacking cause Riku keeps the thing busy. Ven is out of commission so they are down a glider. Riku stole an old gummiship so it runs on kh1 savepoint rules and you can’t access it everywhere. Terra’s not fast enough to get to the Heartless in time to save Elinor because Ven is on his back. I’m surprised it unfolded rather smoothly.

The Titan.

Aka the biggest surprise from my snow day writing session. The Unchained Titan wasn’t a thing until I started writing because I could describe the conflict better that way. Instead of just an army of Unchained. Riku and Terra actually use Zantentsuken on the thing. I didn’t describe the things look well because it honestly looks like the Hercules ice titan but with green crystals in my head and I was embarrassed to admit that. His boss fight is probably a lot like the KH3 Titan fight too. But it’s got a stupid long health bar. And probably a timer going on in the top. Thats probably what destroys Riku’s plan. 

Riku’s memory of Sora

So Riku vaguely remembers the aborted timeline when he stood up to the Demon Tide and told Sora not to give up. He doesn’t really remember it but its burned in his heart. Fitting seeing how he is trying to face against all a daunting battle.  

Riku’s Dark Deed

I was trying to foreshadow this hard and I’ve been so excited to just let it loose. There is a lot of theory mumbo jumbo logic as to why this works at both stopping the unraveling and yet still ending with the same result and im gonna see if i can elaborate a little in the future but it has to do with time not flowing in the RoD and... the soft reset that happens to the worlds in kh1. And then well as for the box that’s my secret. As a side note, Riku claims he ‘remembers’ Kairi’s dead-eyed stare but this is a fucking plot hole. He never saw Kairi that night and I’m just an idiot trying to make a clear connection. 

[canelainnyc]

Let the Sun Shine

Currently sitting on my roof taking full advantage of our first heatwave since 1945, (a scorching mid 70 degrees y’all) and thanking the heavens my mind is finally at peace. I literally looked up at the sun, closed my eyes and took a deep breath; I try to be the protagonist in my own drama sometimes. This week was by far one of the most challenging as I found myself battling with guilt, repressed emotions, and lack of human contact.  

Guilt: I cried myself to sleep every night this week as I felt guilty for not being able to be in California for my tia Toña’s services. I lied to several people when they called me and asked if I was sick, “you sound so nasally…” “Oh, yes. I have really bad allergies today.” Mentiras—I was just in the middle of a really ugly cry. I never knew I’d curse 3,000 miles as much as I did these past seven days. “Why does your dream setting have to be so far?” “I should be there hugging all of them, hugging my momma, hugging someone.”

Repressed emotions: during my morning commutes, I would force myself to think of happy moments so my tear glands wouldn’t be triggered. No one wants to be standing right next to the crying girl on the subway at 7 in the morning. NYC folks avoid convo with strangers on the train like the Black Plague. During work, I did the same thing. I laughed at all the jokes my boss shared with me as she walked into the office every morning. I laughed at all the memes best friends sent me via social media. I smiled at all the children who smiled at me on the subway. I tried to pretend so badly as though nothing was going on back home. No one told me that if you do this for six days straight, you will burst when you least expect it. Like, when your boss asks you, “you seem distracted, Yesenia. Is everything okay?” I cried in front of my boss for a solid twenty minutes as she cried with me. No one told me mourning by yourself was going to be mentally exhausting.

Lack of Human Contact: it wasn’t until my boss hugged me, as I tried so desperately to salvage my eye make-up with a facial tissue, that I had not hugged anyone since the news of my tia Toña. No one told me moving to NYC would be this lonely during the first year. I find consolation discovering forums and other blogs that I’m in fact not alone in this living in NYC: first year chronicles—apparently feeling the loneliest you’ve ever felt in your entire adult life is inevitable. God, it’s exhausting, especially for a gal who happens to feel so deeply.

I realized no one will ever really tell you beforehand, “by the way, did you know mourning by yourself is utter torture?” Unless you’ve experienced it. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who reached out and emailed/messaged me to share their similar experiences with me and to remind me that “you are so loved.” You are all so loved, don’t ever forget it. I know it’s challenging to muster up the courage or energy to reach out to someone when you’re stuck in a funk, especially when it feels like you’re hanging about quick sand and you can’t get out. But please, consider the phone at the very least and reach out to someone.  I promise you someone will shed glimmer of hope and happiness to your dark spirit. I love to love you, guys. xo