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wonderkat11 · 2 months ago

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SSBU: Entering to the Live show at SeaWorld

Something that must be it for but most of the time I don't know what's going on but I promise until then....the show has started in 6:00, so it's 5:47 PM, so 13 minutes earlier that day, I used to know but I'm not sure now. Taking a drive, I was an ideal to look over the doorways to find where the gates are, but into the ending, I don't know how to feel about this special event but it's getting too flurry in the end.

Okay, then. Let's move along.

Why hold on to it? Why not start a new piece? But obviously we followed the employee to the SeaWorld tour on the live show and the merfolk also guided us to get into the gates of the live show. "Don't get overexcited, try not to lose your head, but after all, it is a live show for the sea animals." The Employee said. "Then why are the gates so metallic?" Merman Pit asked, but the employee replied; "That's to keep all the great big dive ins for this dolphins and orcas showtime!".

The gates opened for 5 minutes ago, that means we can finally get to our seats, but unfortunately the merfolk according to The Smash Mermen and Merboy Geo aren't allowed to sit, so they all 41 decided to dive under the water to play with the dolphins and orcas outside while we all wait for the characters to get into the show.

Afterwards, we decided to find our seats, and here are our tickets for the showtime, so we find our seats with some of the free spots quickly until the show is about to begin, but that's honestly not the case. In fact, we have to wait for everyone to come over to the show ever since the beginning of the very first civilizations, humanity has been blessed with a most otherworldly power called a Linkage, of globose, but this should be the key from the years after King Triton has received his democracy of independence of anatomy for the merman's guide from its own anatomy.

Now I will tell you what I talked about during the grand opening for this show, but the moment of truth was dying to evacuate the mercouple with their lovely 7 year old son, Ronan, who cannot wait to become a big brother, but after all he told his parents if it's going to be a boy or a girl, but I promise that the gender reveal at the Live Show, meh, I'm not sure if it started over here, so we all will get ready for the gender reveal afterwards, but for now on, we'll be waiting for everyone to get into their seats, but here we got all of us from Super Smash Bros. and Octonauts, but there's only one problem that's missing; Palutena. Palutena, she was a patisserie employee who appeared in the bakery center and maybe 90 minutes late, or so. Guess she'll be there if somebody's craving for some sweets this night.

What would it be like to have a party at the Live Show at SeaWorld in the glimpse into the Orcas? Or dolphins? Whatsoever, but look at the guests coming through! Here comes Just Dance, The Wonderful 101, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, Genshin Impact, HonKai, Overwatch, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, InuYasha, and everyone else coming to enter to the Live Show at SeaWorld, but how much were they starved before the show? I love how they say if they want to... like they have a choice... trapped and dependent on being fed by these people as we're setting up a lot of things that are familiar to the whales to let them know they be jumping around including the Smash Mermen, the Assist Mermen, The Smash Spirit ones, and of course, I almost forgot someone from his Nickelodeon series.... Merboy Geo from Team Umizoomi!

Looks like we're heading straight to the infirmary and there's nothing like a killer whales up close over on the shore while they are found in every ocean where the orcas are living off the dark shores, and no, we've never had a dark sea in this showtime, while the host announces his arrival in the Live Show by going to the encounter for dolphins and orcas and distributing his levitating a bad luck charm, but in here he is , not sure he should take a chance on feeding all of the shitty mermen he did dreamed about getting to throw this year away from the lunar chronicles thinking about himself being pressed a cotton pad to the corner of Wolf's mouth, shaking his mind out before he quickly schooled his features, but the glint remained in his eyes when he dared to look up at the Smash Mermen including Merboy Geo. Until we see all the stars like every star up in the sky....until then......

Sometimes I get the feeling that a merman is about to show up as I found a hint facing through out my fears as they carry on, but this is getting heavy! I immediatley saw someone coming and I wonder who could that be...oh my god, my heart is shaking and I am blushing in spritz colored while I'm panicking about a celebrity. Aqua Rosalina grabbed my shoulder and she told me; "It's okay Aleena, it was an interrupted nightmare. Perhaps, it'll be fine!" she said as I said 3 Panic Attacks already for the celebrity as a merman to come up like in a Dynamite Black Parade. So we decided to watch the stars bring the fire and set the night alight that starts with an endless rest deep dive deep, the water is as blue as aquamarines, and as clear as crystals. Super deep that lots and lots of Empire State Buildings have to be stacked on top of one another to reach the very top from the star.

In the deepest part of all, is Neptune's castle in a giant white seashell. It's made of coral, and the roof is made of seashells, each one containing a shiny pink or white pearl, which is the best for a queen's Diadem. Not only that, waves rise to this universe as we feel the warmth, we'll never die, we're like diamonds in the sky even the Glitters of Pixie Dust sparkled on a single rose & out of nowhere, did the pearl crack? Nah, just joking! ^^ I think I did it on my mind, but it's in the style of setting the whale side at the beach when I met back up with it. The thunderous blast of a cannon shook us awake as our door was blown off its hinges. It looks like there's a storm out of my mind that's blowing up for the show even though the sickness's effects are rapid, quickly eating away at Father of the sea's body, but what more does the ill go?

I was joking, not to mention. Let's get it all out of illness' control as there are so many special things about the chamber of secrets, shall we? If you guess it, like the only thing that kept me thinking from being smarted by the time of it all was the knowledge that, no matter what, but it sure is nice to be at the Encounter Live at Seaworld like it's the Music Festival concert to celebrate super music shows. I feel so much lighter like flying in a feather, but I was just sitting there waiting for the show to come up. "Hey my friend, are you ready to see the show?" Eunie asked me if I'm ready, and I was like; "Yeah.". So that means I am ready to see the show. Now, a wayward kneww connected with a tip's hint, a red feather falling landing to my shoulder.

"Oh, it's just a feather that landed." I said, waiting for the show to start. We could at least sit and wait for a while and find out if the show is started, but I wonder what will take the mermen so long as well...oh well, guess it's about time for show to start at SeaWorld for now on. Believe it or not, the dolphins love entertaining more than the trainers for here and the dolphins can't get enough of performing all the time and the trainers love and spend time with the orcas too. I personally recorded this video and took a look at the final start over. "Take a seat and enjoy Pirates Ahoy! The Battle For Mermaid Cove at SeaWorld is coming out in Orlando today!" The pirate narrator said before the show. Okay, well, here we go!...wait a second. Look, it's Clyde and Seamore, from the Pirate ship! I wonder what are they going to say...

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard me hearties to the SeaWorld Orlando show! My name is Captain Squid, and these are the seals; Clyde and Seamore, and today we are going to start the Seaworld showdown!" introduced Captain Squid. Hey, did you hear that? I think it's time for the SeaWorld show to come over. Oh, look, it's starting! OMG, I can't wait to see it! And look, Captain Slappy also showed up as well! But, where are the orcas, the dolphins, and the merfolk of the video games? Apparently, I'm still wondering if they are going to be in the show or they may be late...Ha, I wouldn't leave her behind. As a result, it was clear from the moment she rolled into the SeaWorld show that the showtime was surprised and expected to be a surprise show party. It was a long amazing day and words can't describe what felt like a day long tribute to this 5 + year show.

As the show begins, the anthem won't explain it, but this is getting heavy, so can you hear the bass boom? Well, it's time for the good times! Forget about the bad times and be ready for the SeaWorld show to begin! "Here comes the sun smiling down, so every fishy, get your gills up, let's flow! Here in the sea, you'll never swim alone if you want to swim yourself! Is everybody ready?" Captain Squid said to the audience. "YEAH!" We all shouted for the show to begin. It's like there's a whole ocean out there and in a theoretical ocean tournament, but I wanted to know who is coming out on top.

Speaking of floating together in harmony, something red flashes over the light. Hey look, the trainers of the SeaWorld have arrived just in time! Look at them, standing next to the starlight! "Whoa...Here we go!" I said as the show has started, and I heard that Merman Marth was jumpin' up to the microphone which we all didn't notice coming and himself saying; "Keep your eyes open for the show!".

What the scallop was that? At least it was Merman Marth saying the phrased quote before he jumped down to the water once again, and everybody started laughing for a bit, but I was blushing happily on how did it happen already. I can't believe it! Been a hell of a ride, but I'm thinking it's time to light up the sky with waterworks. "Jumpin' jellyfish, this guy's too much!" Shellington said while giggling. Everyone giggled about Merman Marth's short speech until then, the trainers say something. "People, people, settle down!" One of the trainers said to stop the laughter and listen to what they are trying to say. "Good evening, and welcome to the SeaWorld of Orlando stadium!" One of the SeaWorld trainers said and everyone cheered for this special event. "The SeaWorld has been keeping the killer whales for over 50 years and in that time, I'm gonna share our important things to our incredible animals for our 106,000,000 guests!" She once said it again.

"Orlandos, the orcas have their own introduction, but I'm going to do it anyway. Here you are ladies and gentlemen: Shouka, Kalia, Amaya, Makani, Orkid, Nakai, and Kasatka!" We all cheered for Shouka, Kalia, Amaya, Makani, Orkid, Nakai, and Kasatka to come over and steal the show, showing us their orca-tastic tricks. Each flip-offs kinda makes everyone have fun splashing around. As you can see, let's have fun seeing them dance all night before the dolphins' turn. Come on, break it down! What are you waiting for? This is like I've always wanted to see this, I was in San Diego and had a chance to go to sea world but didn't... This is the next best thing in Orlando, Florida, but keep that in mind I believe that I remember shamu adventure, shamu over Texas, I remember believe... I remember one ocean... I'll feel so bad when one ocean ends in San Antonio, this show is so beautiful.

I'm glad to see the orcas dancing over to the sea, but here come the dolphins! I was impressed with a lot of the dolphin behaviors this show and was glad to finally film a Dolphin Days with Argo! "Please See More to see what made this show stand out! Release the dolphins into wonder of the sea!" One of the SeaWorld trainers said to welcome the dolphins from SeaWorld after the orcas have finished the showtime. And look, there's Sandy, Corona, Malibu, Melanie, and Cocoa who are coming up! It's them! Out came the trainers, Brandon, Stephanie, Tammy, Gavin, and Bridgette who have come over to exhibit the fun of joy this evening. For I, would go to the library and take out any book available on dolphins and I'd use my pocket money to make photo copies of the images found in those books. Two years ago, I applied for a part-time master's degree in translation studies, thinking I knew exactly why I was making that decision.

I had considered getting my bachelor's in and a far-flung curiosity I could now force upon myself to explore further, to counter the effects of my grief, and so I did. But look at all of the dolphins jumping up high up into the air! Also, I see that Gavin is feeding fish to the dolphins, but this was technically their own feeding time I would say. Remember real heroes don't just save lives, they save a person's heart too, don't you think? Well, that's not the case I would say. After the feeding time is done, Gavin just jumped back to the water to play with the dolphins until the playtime is over. Now that looks like the trainers are having fun playing with the dolphins as we watched over, doing something so talented. But nothing beats like an orca and dolphin having a playtime together. So luckily for us, the orcas came back to play with the dolphins as Bridgette wouldn't mind if the orcas wanted to play with the dolphins, even the merfolk weren't here yet. I wonder what will it take them for so long...

Speaking or Trainer Testimony and Volunteer Segment, Bridgette has something to say after the playtime is over, so that means it's time for the merfolk to come over to the SeaWorld. Are you ready? Let's hear it from Bridgette! "And now, here are the merfolk with their talented flipping tails you all have been waiting for. Let's all have a mermay party with the merfolk, orcas, and dolphins!" She finally said for the merfolk's incoming. Oh boy, I am so excited to see the merfolk jumping around in this encounter! But wait, Wubbzy patted on my left shoulder, but I was like, "What, did I mention to keep my mouth shut?" I asked, but Wubbzy said, "No Aleena. THEY'RE BACK." he noticed about the merfolk, as they splashed up high which we didn't see. "Who's back? What?" I asked, but again, another splash came over. "What was that?!" I asked. "Strike your stations! Red alert! Red alert! Merfolk alive!" Wubbzy shouted, but we found them so easily, and we cheered happily ever once in beauty and wonder of the ocean.

At least, it's nothing like about having an Under The Sea themed swimming pool party.

I'm sure they'll be here and time for the dive over. They'd never miss that, but oh well, here goes nothing! To my surprise was to settle down and take it easy, but a flipping red tail arrived and I was like, "WHAT THE SCALLOP IS HAPPENING?!?!" And again, I'm not afraid of anything but until...A MIGHTY SPLASH HAS ARRIVED! OH, IT MUST BE MERMAN SAGI FROM BATEN KAITOS ORIGINS! AND THERE'S WELT! AND LINK, AND BYLETH, AND CHROM WITH HIS SON ROBIN, AND EVEN AKIRA KURUSU! Ah, how did they splash in a launch star? This is too kind for my mind! Wow! They blew my mind away from the sea! Damn!!! There's more magic there, and I want to see what the heck is going on-*SPLASH!* Tempo the Merboy is splashing up so high! Look at him, cool fishguy, he got it! " Wow, I didn't know that the merfolk were invited to the Live Show at SeaWorld. Now that's unexpected, but congratulations!" I clapped and claimed my happiness, but okay, shh. Let's listen to the new splashes.

Oh look! The dolphins and orcas splashed along with them! How cool is that? I only hope they're not gonna hide anymore! I realize in horror; The merfolk of Video Games, dolphins, and orcas! I'm gonna kick the ass out of my anxiety, but WHOA! That's the most biggest splash I've ever seen! That sounds Delightful! Well, guess what? It's gotta be Duran, Hawkeye, even Kevin as mermen splashing up high as Merboy Tempo does afterwards! Dear Neptune! It's like I'm reaching out for the moon and stars beyond it, but the sea creatures are flipping up high in the middle of the night! Like, what the hell do you know? "Shiver me whiskers!" said Kwazii. "Flappity Flippers!" said Peso. "Jumpin' Jellyfish! A mix of merfolk, orcas, and dolphins like to have fun, huh? So, they are playing a lot? That's unexpected as Aleena mentioned!" said Shellington. But some merfolk were unveiled, they should be hiding under the show, but I don't give a beaten and the damned about this, but lucky for us, we have so much for the legendary announcement.

As I thought over, over screen time within for Team Umizoomi, it's just Bot, Milli, Shape Bandit, Doormouse, and the troublemakers watching over the merfolk playing with the orcas and dolphins, but there's only one problem. Even Geo isn't with them for anymore. So Shape Bandit tapped on Bot's shoulder asking him where's Geo, going, "Hey Bot, where's Geo?". And Bot was like, " On the dolphin's back giving a ride. Milli, do you know where did Geo the merboy go?", but to Milli, she once said, "Yeah, he's on a dolphin ride with Sandy.". Looking over Merboy Geo riding on Sandy's back, going, "Check me out, umifriends! Woohoo! Yeah! Hehehe!" He laughs while Bot, Milli, Shape Bandit, Doormouse, and the troublemakers all gave thumbs up to him while having a dolphin ride with Sandy. Now that's umirrific! Am I angry at the decision itself? Not necessarily. It is a loss for sure - a loss for these pain, their pods, and future generations who will now never be inspired by SeaWorld's killer whales. However, more would be lost than that if SW continues to lose silence. What they do with ALL their animals is more important than any one species. The orcas aren't worth going bankrupt over.

"Hey SpongeBob, did you see the largest bubble coming through into this party?" asked Patrick, and SpongeBob said, "Yeah.". It looks like there are bubbles coming. Can you hear it blow? Oh, I get it, now they're coming almost everywhere in this show! "Shiver me whiskers! There's bubbles that are coming to this yeowserific party at SeaWorld! YEOW!!!" Kwazii pointed out to the bubbles. But, but--BUBBLES AT SEAWORLD?!?! I can't believe it! Now that the bubbles are here, who's blowing all the bubbles? I wonder who could it be....Wha-SHULK?!?! THE ONLY MONADO MERMAN WHO BLEW BUBBLES?!?! "Yep, that was me. I blew bubbles, that pink machine that these trainers blew more like me, and now they're everywhere!" said Merman Shulk. "So it was you who blew bubbles afterwards from the machine?" I asked, but Merman Shulk answered, "Yes, I did blew them out!".

"Laya, laya, laya, laya~" That singing must be Ness as he jumped up from the ocean, but he's a merman at first. I made him believe, that he could just splash up and sing like Jewel, but in Siren's Song, but oh my dear boy! Looking to add fulfillment to the magical bubbles seem wonderful to the audience in this party afterwards. Think I'm gonna call it off, the demons, and all the non-believers would be impressed how they would watch the merfolk do their own cool tricks and play with orcas and dolphins. 'Cause there's nothing like I think it will, but what I was thinking, was, yeah, the Gender Reveal!....wait, gender reveal at the SeaWorld? How the heck am I supposed to give this idea?! Totally requested, everyone dives in underwater holding their breaths, they all swim together in their mermaid tails, trying to get to the deep midnight zone at first. "Let's a go. Everybody in!" said Merman Mario as they all dive in to remain silent, until the orcas and dolphins stop playing a while. Some of the mermen didn't hold their breath and remained up for some reason; Taion and Akira Kurusu! There's two of them!

"There's only one problem on what Aleena just said." said Merman Akira Kurusu. "Like what?" asked Merman Taion. "OH!!!" and now he gasped so bad on what Merman Akira noticed from me. The music was turnt the volume down for a little while. Is this the part where we remain silent? Well, let's get to the point for now and I'm sure what comes next after the funtime is over. Hopefully, Bridgette has an idea for this SeaWorld party event. "Son of a bitch..." I said, but I still wonder what's happening. It's not about from Azrael, whom I remembered when he died from some kind of dead illness, it's about the Gender Reveal news from the new merparents with their 6-year-old, Kyrie.

"What's wrong, Aleena?" Rosalina came to ask me. "I don't know what say, but the music was turned a bit down, even Kyrie and his parents came for the gender reveal special, like it's Christmas Special...but, why did these 3 arrive on time?..." I said, but feeling a bit concerned about Kyrie with his parents coming over, which was unexpected.

Looks like we have a visitor, unless, Kyrie's mom is pregnant with a merbaby, but I wonder who it is.

"So...What brings you 3 here?" asked Bridgette to Kyrie and his pregnant mom and dad who have arrived for the gender reveal special. It feels so good to give a present, but Kyrie was thinking. "You ask me to, I would say that my mom is 18 weeks pregnant, so we came here to celebrate our gender reveal in this SeaWorld party. And also, I was thinking if I'm having a brother or a sister, but I'm not sure now." he said, but Bridgette understood that he was thinking about having a brother or a sister, but she replied, "Understood.". "I, Marie, Kyrie's mother, just wanted to ask you something." said Marie, also known to be Kyrie's mom. "Okay Marie, go ahead!" Bridgette said. "So Bridge...do you mind if you can all help us do the gender reveal?" asked Marie, and Bridgette answered, "No, we don't mind helping you out."

Alrighty, let the gender reveal quest begin.

#super smash adventures #seaworld #story

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inarjollyhound · 6 years ago

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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!

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operationrainfall · 4 years ago

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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.

#Arc System Works #CODE SHIFTER #oprainfall #PC #Pixar #platformer #PS4 #Switch #Technos #Xbox One

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