#v; assisting the big heroes! (smash bros)

[cautiouslittleninja]

@recklessinventor​ gets a gift from Ana!

From Ana, Jeff gets a paper wrapped present. Inside there is a foam ornament shaped like a monkey but with antlers. Of course, it comes with a card that’s scribbled with the message of “Merry Christmas Jeff!”

[inarjollyhound]

How Travis Touchdown Can Smuggle More Indie Characters into Super Smash Bros Ultimate With Just One Character Slot.

I haven’t played any game in the No More Hero’s series, or even watched a play-through. But seeing reviews for the latest game Travis Strikes Back, (particularly The Completionist one) and re-watching trailers, I had an epiphany.

Travis could seriously change this game, with just his stage alone. 

Travis Strikes back is a side-story, where Travis, and someone trying to kill him for vengeance sake get stuck in the Death Drive MK II where they have to beat 6 games to escape, and have a wish granted for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG24TTOhg_A

These 6 games are nods to real games that Suda51 (The creative mind behind No More Hero’s) really enjoys and appreciates, and in the game itself there’s even T-shirts you can equip to Travis that reference various IRL indie games.

If Travis were added to Smash Bros, The Death Drive MK II, could be a stage that cycles back and forth between each of the 6 games, and the 80′s/90′s cyber space aesthetic featured in the game as a whole.

But for Super Smash Bros Ultimate. the Death Drive MK II could feature 6 real life indie games instead!

This would carry over the themes of celebrating the independent game developers that are Present in Travis Strikes back, while still maintaining the general vibes from the game, and Travis’s Weeb/Gamer personality as a whole.

And while having the character’s and level elements in each respective game appearing as individual stage hazards might get hectic, it would also evoke the crazy and wild nature of Travis Touchdown’s games.

Just imagine for a second, fighting in the crazy looking cyber space map, then suddenly it warps and your in a big beach area with bouncy enemies, and a purple dancing genie, then it warps back into cyberspace land. Then it warps again into a dark world of grim monsters, with inky black enemies, and a tiny little knight fella with a skull helmet, somehow manages to fight them off. Reality shifts again, back in the cyberspace land. Next thing you know your in a snowy place with goofy pixelated looking skeletons. 

In this way Travis Touchdown would not only be an indie rep in symbolism, but in function as well.

Ever since I’ve been following serious discussions about an Indie Rep being added to Smash Bros in the Wii U/3DS games, from serious discussions to a character’s relevancy and their iconic mark on history, To Swams Munderfail memes. I’ve been legitimately hoping to see something come out of this. to see a comparative small, independent character rise up, and join the ranks of the famed Super Smash Bros Roster.

And with most Indie Character’s Roles being integrated primarily as spirits, with only Shovel Knight as an exception as an Assist Trophy. The Chances of one being added as a fighter seem even lower, and the speculation of DLC fighters is reflecting that, as predictions lean more towards the big name characters like Sora, Minecraft Alex/Steve, Master Chief, Etc.

Which is why I feel that if there’s gonna be a strong “Indie rep” it’s gotta have to hit hard, and utilize the indie space as a whole to it’s highest degree. Extending past a single genre like Platformers, or RPG games.

What 6 Indie games would you like to see integrated into Travis’s Death Drive MK II Stage?

Personally, I’d Like to see: Hollow Knight, Shantae, Cave Story, Undertale, Shovel Knight, and A Hat in Time.

On hand, this selection is more Platformer Heavy, and you could argue that it lacks diversity, on the Other Hand, back when the Wii U Ballot was happening, it was most of these platforms that fans have been asking for, and I feel that it would line up more with the Indie Rep crowd than going out of our way to look for other characters.

But if they did focus on genre diversity in this Hypothetical Stage design, for this Hypothetical DLC Challenger pack fighter. I think at least Undertale could come in some form or another, given that it sticks out as a unique variation of the RPG genre.

Travis Touchdown’s Final Smash Could also draw from Travis Strikes Back game.

And if it does, then that could lead even more room for more crossover and references!

Though to be completely honest, I feel like it would be best if between Indie Characters getting integrated into his Final Smash, or his stage, That it has to one or the other, not both.

After All, Travis is his own character. And I think his final smash would be better off as that kick-ass beam sword shit I see whenever I glimpse just a bit of his game-play footage.

But what do you think? Feel free to comment in either the replies or via re-blog!

[operationrainfall]

By all rights, I’m the last person at oprainfall that should be covering Code Shifter. Not cause of any existing bias against the game or team behind it, but because I am woefully inexperienced with the library of Arc System Works and Technos. I know who they are, but don’t have much experience actually playing their titles myself. I haven’t played any BlazBlue titles, nor Guilty Gear, and haven’t touched a River City game. Hell, the only games in the vast roster I have firsthand familiarity with are Double Dragon and RADIO HAMMER STATION. So you may be asking – why am I writing up Code Shifter? The reason for that is the same reason this piece is so late. I tried in vain to find another taker at the oprainfall site, and had no luck. So it ended up in my hands. Thankfully, though I’m not experienced with Arc System Works, I am an old hand at platformers. So let’s see if this plucky platformer made a convert out of me.

The first thing about Code Shifter that stuck out to me was the candy colored aesthetic style. It’s an attractive game that almost has a Pixar vibe to everything. You play Stella, a programmer that made the titular program, Code Shifter, in order to debug viruses. When you’re trashing viruses, your avatar is a powerful hero named Sera. She’s able to double jump, slash and generally bounce around each stage with impunity. At first I really liked how quickly Sera could get around, but I soon discovered her fatal flaw – Sera is about as physically intimidating as a bag of kittens. That’s not to say she can’t deal with foes, but rather that it takes plenty of rapid fire combos to deal with most serious threats. Thankfully, there’s another option to combating foes – transforming into hero codes you find in stages. These are pixelated representatives from many games from the Arc System Works library, and I recognized a few of them. They’re delightfully old school, and most of them pack a much more powerful punch than Sera. So letting her utilize them does help with her general weakness somewhat. Hero codes also can manipulate the environment a few ways. Some can trigger electrical devices and others can break boxes. This is actually indicated by the icon next to their name, a handy feature I discovered about an hour into my experience.

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Other than using the power of hero codes, Sera can also equip skills before taking on a stage. You get these by beating any given stage with an S rank, which is a lot harder than I expected. You essentially have to beat a stage as quickly as possible while taking very little damage. If you lose one life, the best score you can get is an A. I actually found myself wishing that a score of A could provide one Skill, and a score of S could get another. But unfortunately that’s not how this system works. You can get more skill parts by beating stages on higher difficulties, but frankly Code Shifter is plenty challenging on Normal. What frustrated me most about skills is that most make a very slight difference to your stats. Many of them do things like increase attack power or jump range, but to a minuscule degree. They’ll boost you, but only by like 5%. And honestly, it’s hard to comprehend how much of a difference these boosts actually make. The skills that helped me the most were ones that enhanced my loadout of available hero codes, since initially you can only hold one at a time.

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Another factor that can help you a bit are hero assists. These are ones you summon to the field for a variety of effects, from dealing damage to boosting Sera’s stats to healing you. This is cool, but the cooldown to use them again made them a feature I typically ignored, especially during boss fights. Overall the combat in Code Shifter is fine, but it lacks finesse. Sera has no dodge or block move, which makes most battles a frenetic scramble with enemies trying their best to stampede you. This is problematic when you’re transformed into a larger hero code, which makes you a perfect damage sponge. Another issue is that when you lose a life, you’ll lose all your hero codes with it, other than assist summons. And though I appreciate how the game displays Sera’s moveset from the pause menu, along with assist abilities, I found it odd hero codes you directly control don’t display their movesets anywhere. It’s really too bad, cause there’s a lot of speed and flexibility to the combat in the game. It just lacks the tightness and balance of a truly great example of the genre.

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Besides the basic combat, there’s a mini game in Code Shifter. It’s called Colorful Fighters, and it features tons of pixelated reps from Arc System Works games. You start out with a handful, and can unlock more by beating EX stages. I like that in theory, but to do so you have to defeat demonic versions of the characters first, and they’re frankly more difficult than the regular bosses in the game. I managed to beat one, but since that stage featured a couple and required me to beat both to unlock either, I’m still working on making serious progress. Thankfully you can play with just the default characters, and Colorful Fighters is a chaotic scramble. It is 4 v 4 insanity, and it’s like a manic Smash Bros. I can’t say there’s much strategy to it, but it’s a fun diversion.

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Now, despite my issues with the combat, I did find Code Shifter a moderately fun experience. There’s actually even a halfway decent plot here that might go someplace interesting. It’s all about a company getting a new game ready to launch when suspicious viruses start delaying progress. I’m not sure if this indicates an industrial espionage angle or what, but it’s fun watching things progress with Stella and her coworkers. The only downside is how they all speak. They sound like horny metal squirrels copulating. Normally I don’t mind gibberish talk in games, and have enjoyed it in Banjo-Kazooie and the SteamWorld games. But here it’s super irritating. Also annoying is moving about the office. It’s really easy to bump into invisible geometry and get stuck. Luckily you can pause to select a location you want Stella to move, and thus have her go there instantly.

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Despite issues with combat, the platforming is actually pretty fun in Code Shifter. It’s basic, but there’s some tricky maps to navigate as you hunt for viruses to slay. The game makes use of disappearing platforms, warps, air vents and more to keep things interesting. And most areas don’t overstay their welcome, only featuring a handful of story stages and optional EX ones. Again, the big issue I ran into was how unbalanced and loose combat felt. Especially since the game inexplicably forces you to use the joystick to move around, instead of allowing that and D-Pad. Which is odd, since you can use the D-Pad to navigate sub menus. Altogether this made challenging parts of the game a real slog. I almost gave up entirely at one miniboss, who kept spamming a revolving shield. Eventually I got past it with a summon assist, but the lack of clear strategic options in the game doesn’t help matters. It’s never clear which heroes you should keep and which you should toss aside, other than ones you need for getting to the stage exit. And while I wish I could say I loved the bosses I’ve faced, they were just as awkward as the rest of the combat. On the plus side, the visual flair of the game is nice and the music is better. Each hero code you play as has an accompanying soundtrack, and that really livens things up.

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Sadly Code Shifter didn’t quite pass muster with me, though it did make me curious about exploring more Arc System Works titles. There was a lot of potential here, but the ideas didn’t quite mesh enough for it to make a deeper impact. But if you’re a fan of platformers and want something different, Code Shifter might be for you. Especially since it’s available on many consoles. For everyone else, this one might not be worth your time.

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IMPRESSIONS: Code Shifter By all rights, I'm the last person at oprainfall that should be covering Code Shifter. Not cause of any existing bias against the game or team behind it, but because I am woefully inexperienced with the library of Arc System Works and Technos.

[cautiouslittleninja]

“Uhhh...H-Hello mister! Could you put your hands off of me, please...? I-I’m okay, really!”

- Ears be covered by @sternenteile​

[cautiouslittleninja]

“Um...How does the baby get in the lady’s belly?”

[cautiouslittleninja]

@cartoonlonk​

“Mister Link! I wanna tell you that you’re cool!”

“That’s all, bye bye!”

[cautiouslittleninja]

@beckonedcall​

“Hey Mister! Would you like to join us for our Milkf party? Sounds like you like milk!”

[cautiouslittleninja]

Ana simply leaned onto her big plush turtle. She’s giving off a small little pout.

“...I wish we could have a festival here...Maybe it’ll help everyone be less bored...and more friends!”

[cautiouslittleninja]

“I wonder if I should be a ghost for Halloween!”

“I-I think I can be a good one! I know how to say boo!”

[cautiouslittleninja]

“Umm, the adults and big kids acting like clowns...? Is it clown day...b-but with no make up...?

[cautiouslittleninja]

“Oopsy...I forgot that the place was soooo big! And it’s really, really pretty now!”

“Kat and I still have a little dojo around here, b-but not a lot of people use it...”

[cautiouslittleninja]

In one of the lobbies, a particular someone has taken a coffee table and several cushions to a corner. A big stuffed turtle and a plush rabbit/dog are seated, and there are plastic tea cups circling the table.

The culprit of the moved furniture is holding a toy tea pot. They were a young girl, no older than 7. By her side, there is a bucket full of plastic food. Fake veggies, fruits, meats, eggs, grains, and some fish were inside. She froze a bit when eye contact was made,

“O-Oh, um...s-sorry about the moved furniture....umm....d-do you wanna join us for t-tea...?”

[cautiouslittleninja]

“Umm, do you think that the new guy will let me see his pet mousey? They look really cute...”

“Th-Those blobbies also look cute too!”

[cautiouslittleninja]

@tazmily-farm-boy, @cartoonlonk

“S-Seems like the big kids are pl-playing cowboys today!”

[cautiouslittleninja]

“W-Wow!! Everyone’s doing so well at the game! Especially that little box guy, a-and Mister Link! I’m so proud of Mister Link!”

“I-I hope Mister Wario a-and Miss Ashley do well too! A-And I-I hope th-the Sandbag’s doing okie dokie...”

Seems that the little assist trophy was happy observing the plays!

[cautiouslittleninja]

Update on the time that Lonk and Ana gone out due to EVERYONE BEING POTTY MOUTHS, 

They had a lovely time at the pond and Lonk learned the intensity of ducks feeding on peas. He may have come out with a squad of ducks.

@cartoonlonk