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Hello and Welcome!
Hi! I'm JPearce. I've had this blog up for like what.... 4 months with it being completely empty? Geez. I have been told I don't keep promises. As you probably know, this blog is named "JPearce's Random Bucket of Stuff!". I was gonna name it "JPearce's Random Bucket of Shit, but I decided against it because that's gross. Anyways, like the blog description says, you'll find reviews of anything I'm interested in or watching currently. At the end of each post, there'll be a list like this:
Last movie watched: The Princess Bride
Last song listened to: The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim
Show currently watching: Ninjago Season 2, Episode 6 - Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Currently Playing: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Remake)
Currently Reading: The Girl in White by Lindsay Currie
So that's how it'll work. I might start doing a monthly story, but I don't know yet. Depends if you guys are interested or not. I'll try to post every Saturday around 3:00, but if not, the next day. If I don't post for a couple days, I'm probably stressed. But that's all for now, thanks for reading!
P.S, there will be a meme at the end of every blog post, kinda like an end credits scene. These probably have nothing to do with anything said in the main post. See Ya!
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GAME 71: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - THE TELLTALE SERIES: 100% COMPLETE
This game is played via a group chat session on the Skylanders: Dimensions RP Discord with @Ryannumber1gamer, @Lady Marie, @SgtBloxx, @CarmenTheNova, @NegaMix, @Emperor Robrainiac, @Winston, @Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon, @JPearceand @Haalyle. Due to it being a Telltale game, its mostly just making decisions anyway. So staff decided Discord get-togethers are valid enough ways to experience this game.
If you know one thing about my taste in movies, James Gunn is one of my favorite directors of all time. And Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favorite films of all time. Can't get enough of these bunch of jackasses who stand in a circle.
So naturally, a game about the Guardians is something I'd be more than A-OK with spending a good few days with my friends, controlling this original narrative of Peter Quill and friends taking on a bold new threat: Grief.
Like, a lot of grief.
The game starts with a hell of a twist, we take on Thanos. And we win. He's dead. Makes a hell of a first impression on the skill and experience of this incarnation of the Guardians. But most importantly, we get our hands on an all-powerful device: The Infinity Forge. With it, it has the power to resurrect anyone, but at the cost of another's life.
With that kind of power, not only do deadly forces wish to get their hands on it, but the Guardians themselves are faced with an internal dilemma that you, the player must ultimately settle: They all have someone they lost. Who would YOU bring back? Would you even turn back the clock to do such a thing? Do you have the right?
It's a fitting, and strong thematic question that mulls over your mind through the game's 5 episodes. It's a very strong foundation.
Did they pull it off? In some ways, yes. In others, no.
The writing isn't by any means "bad". Far from it. It's mostly decent, with some strong moments sprinkled in between. But whether it's cause of Telltale's need to sprinkle in as much dramatic tension into your decisions as possible, or a general struggle of juggling this many characters, the game feels like it repeats a LOT of drama to mask the fact that a lot of depth for these characters is kinda... missing?
I'm able to fill in emotional gaps with characters like Nebula, and Rocket cause we had years of movies to understand these characters when we started playing in the year of our lord 2024.
But this game came out when there was only one film in the franchise's belt. A lot less blanks to fill in, which can make resonating with certain dynamics hard. Especially when the game shows clear biases on who it wants to put the spotlight on, and some feel more like obligations. (Especially the underuse of certain characters like Groot).
There is a lot of arguing going on in this game. And yes, that's the Guardians' thing, they are people who bicker a LOT. But it feels like bickering for the sake of bickering this time, with the same conflicts being brought up every episode to force us to take someone's side. There are so many times Rocket and Gamora fight over the same subject and at a point, you feel like their characters are just stagnant. Especially Gamora, who doesn't feel like she had a proper character arc. It just... resolves after eons of butting heads.
And hey, maybe it's cause we made the wrong decisions. Who knows. But it does make the journey sometimes unfulfilling, when the point is to feel like our words have substance.
But if you saw all the movies, in a way, guess you can say the game aged well... and is quite ahead of its time in adapting certain storylines and arcs that would be highlighted in later films.
The humor doesn't often land either. I wouldn't say this game is funny, just moreso elicits a few chuckles, which could explain how the dialogue can get a bit grating sometimes.
When it works though, it really works. There are some heartwarming, authentic moments I expect from Guardians of the Galaxy and the use of needledrops do match the film's use of them. And as I said, I appreciate the thematic usage of the Infinity Forge and has you constantly thinking who you will revive. Especially as the game throws more and more info at you of how the Guardians are handling their own personal losses.
It leads to a mostly satisfying third act with that final decision being a fitting capper to your entire adventure.
It's got enough charm, wit and heart to be a solid addition to the Guardians multimedia pantheon, I quite enjoyed it. And a lot of the fun came from experiencing it with my friends.
More Telltale group plays are on the way, so expect that from me, and my fellow RPers soon!
GAMES FINISHED: 71
GAMES COMPLETED: 63
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Game 53: Multiversus Season 1 (Relaunch) - 01/07/24
Welcome to Game 53 of the 52 Game Challenge!
...
...wait.
Yes! As mentioned in the final 'main' blog post last week, I still intend to continue submitting past Game 52, both for those glorious prizes, and because I like having the nice little recap of all the games I've played over the year, so with that, I'll jump into the very first game I finished up just right after Jak, in what will hopefully be a shorter blog this time around.
So for those unaware, Multiversus is a free to play platform brawler where various Warner Bros characters from Hanna-Barbera, DC, Cartoon Network, and more, on top of characters from other franchises (so far, only one - with Jason from Friday the 13th) come together to knock each other around. The game technically dropped two years in a open beta period, where it went from being immensely popular to kinda...disasterous, frankly.
I have a lot of history with the game. For the sake of brevity, I'll just put it simply that I was with the game since the closed beta, and have participated in the Open Beta early access, finished all three BPs prior to closure, and even got the (lowest tier) founder's pack. Multiversus scratched a really good itch for me because not only did it feature a lot of franchises I have a real personal connection with, like Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, and Batman, but it's primary focus was on 2v2 fights, which is how I personally prefer to play platform fighting games, so that gave me a great avenue to play the game.
In the open beta, I played a lot of characters, but Bugs, Shaggy, Batman, Superman, Tom and Jerry, and Morty being my mains, and I had a lot of fun with the game, but with the battle pass grind becoming more and more extreme, the monetization becoming more and more shitty as time went on, and updates slowing to a utterly grinding halt, I jumped ship as soon as the S2 BP was finished, a right choice as the game was ultimately announced to be going defunct for a full year to be launched in a 'final state'.
Finally, it was announced the game would be returning in May of this year, with a season based around villainy, a relatively solid way to reintroduce things. The game also boasted a host of changes and fixes, and new additions. While I could go over a lot about how Multiversus plays, and it's history of balance and everything, I'd honestly prefer to just focus it in on my thoughts specifically in regards to relaunch.
But to go over it very quickly - the 2v2 fighting is a fun twist on the usual platform fighter gameplay, the balancing can be iffy at the best of times, with some overtuned characters at various points of the game's life, and the grinding for battle passes was egerious, all of which did knocked down a otherwise quality fighting game.
There was one big positive sign of how things would be changed for a start - the number of rewards was massively boosted compared to the beta. All beta players were given the first BP for completely free, and a new character in Banana Guard was given out to all players via a login bonus. The BP was revamped to be much more rewarding and even refund itself, meaning you can indefinitely buy battle passes, and Agent Smith was also intro'd as a 'free' character out of the gate. On top of that, the game held several launch events where a boat load of premium currency was handed out via a YouTube stream, and events in-game.
Furthermore, the grinding was completely revamped to the point it is much, much more reasonable now. Battle Pass has around 70 or so tiers, with the amount of BP XP per day being capped initally to a set of missions - but by listening to feedback ,a large amount of BP XP was then given out for wins, and even progressing on the rift mode that's brand new to the game.
On top of this, rather than having a host of seasonal events that were stupidly grindy, they instead opted for weekly events with their own individual rewards and missions, hitting just a nice sweet spot between keeping you engaged, but not being overtly annoying or obnoxious.
It's not all good however. Thankfully, I was not nearly as effected as others were, as my founder's pack ensured that I had all of the base roster completely unlocked by the time the relaunch came, and even now - I have nearly 40k of the stuff now gathered up, so I'm practically safe for new characters for a long time to come. But introducing four currencies was not a good call. Fighters take too long to grind, and perks are practically worthless, other than giving upgrades to fighters' movesets, and you're bound to have it stockpiled for ages. It's a cheap reward given as filler.
Prestige points however is a fantastic addition, introducing a exclusive free store with cosmetics, where you gain points for each and every single cosmetic you earn or buy, basically giving you a bonus, and offering you cool bonuses for participating in events and collecting the cosmetics as they come via events.
The big elephant in the room however - is of course - what's actually been added since the failing of the game way back when. They had a full year since, and Multiversus infamously blew it's load extremely early on by introducing around six characters during Season 1 alone between LeBron, Morty, Rick, Black Adam, Gizmo, and Stripe, leading to the game's failing so quickly, as it didn't have the content to keep up come Season 2, on top of numerous bad changes to the game to make players grind even more. In all fairness, Player First Games was a small studio at the time, but it doesn't change the realities of a live service needing consistent content drops.
For what I can say as a positive is - the game now has a pretty good and established formula for how it wants to handle character drops. Basically, four characters drop every season, divided out in the following way:
- One character who is exclusive to the battle pass for a limited time (Jason in this case)
- One character who is simply introduced via the fighter currency (Joker)
- One character introduced via a different means (Banana Guard, a login reward - albeit we don't know how this will play out in S2)
- One character introduced via a rift event (Agent Smith)
With seasons lasting eight weeks, this essentially means that the established formula, mixed with the larger studio size now means that we shouldn't fall into this pit-fall again. Unfortunately, what's problematic is those four characters are the only introductions since the game's closure the previous year, and one year for four characters isn't ideal, especially with Banana Guard is a joke character reusing assets that already existed within the game.
What makes it worse is the theme of the season is just a bit too limited. Not only is it generally villain based, but they all kind of fall into a similar camp in terms of being relatively serious villains. If you aren't into DC, Matrix, or Friday the 13th, you were completely out of luck after this year wait, due to a lack of variety.
Luckily, Season 2's leaks indicate it won't be the case, with Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Aquaman, and Beetlejuice having all leaked and being the likely candidates for S2's roster additions. The relaunch also brought Townsville and Dexter's Lab as two brand new stages.
But still, two maps and four characters just wasn't good enough for a year break, even if they remade the game in Unreal Engine 4, especially when Joker was already close to being done prior to the closure. I'm really happy Mark Hamill reprised the role at least, so we can have a last hurrah with his Joker and Conroy's Batman in the same game, and Joker is extremely fun to play as IMO, but it just wasn't enough.
The last major thing to talk about is the major addition of the rift mode, which acts as a PvE story mode where you go through a series of rifts that change every season and each containing their own ministories. This came with a long event where you could unlock Agent Smith early by finishing unique bosses for the first time in this mode, along with a host of other prizes.
Now for what it's worth, this is a fun mode in concept. The dialogue is often times well-written and fun to read the first time through, and it's a nice way to take a break from the PvP modes, and even gain BP XP via the stars. The main problem arises in just how ridiculous the Agent Smith requirements are, and the godawful gem system that's present through the game.
The gems act as a means to give you additional damage and defence buffs during rifts, and as you can expect - they are required to even unlock higher difficulty rifts, which is even more frustrating - the Agent Smith event requires all 30 available difficulties for all rifts to be beaten in order to finish it fully, and by the time you even get to Crushing, the enemies and AI are way overtuned, tanking most of your hits, and taking easy damage.
This is the point where I give a huge thank you for @Failinheartsbeing my partner through all of these rifts. He was my main game partner during the closed beta and open beta, and we were both excited to revive our teamplay for Multiversus as well. Even still, for the final Looney difficulty, not only did it require a stupid amount of grinding to get the gems high enough to even unlock the higher difficulties, but even with maxed out gems, enemies would still easily destroy us.
Literally the only reason we managed to bare it was by using a trick where Jake can bite enemies and carry them to a blast zone, and even then, it was unreliable. It was so bad that several of these fights were outright broken on Looney mode. Joker's fight required us exploiting a heat vision glitch with Superman to get extra ammo and even then, we only narrowly avoided time out.
This dickhead was the height of absolute bullshit however. It took me and Failin two hours alone on his boss fight, and this was with the Jake exploit at full beam because Agent Smith would tank literally all damage to a absurd degree, and easily one-shot you in a few hits, or even a basic combo. But even when we'd have good runs, the game outright broke to stop any chance of our victory.
From multiple crashes over and over again, to the AI wigging out and easily escaping and withstanding our attacks, to time-outs, even with us playing at our best, to a glitch where Agent Smith would literally HEAL himself over and over again, me and Failin were nearly ready to call it quits, both of us utterly infuriated with the utter idiocy we had to deal with, and refusing to waste our time on it further until they patch it. It was only on the verge of desperation that we agreed to try it one last time - with me using Shaggy, that we finally won - and even that, it was through a lucky final chomp from Jake to bring him to the blast zone, and a final kick from me as Shaggy - with seven seconds left on the damn clock.
At the time of this writing, there's one more rift to drop before the event is finished, and this was the most miserable shit. They either better nerf this big time come S2, or reduce the amount of bosses beaten the game requires, because leaks indicate they intend to do this all over with Beetlejuice again. This felt outright broken.
Really, that's all I've got to say on the game's relaunch. It's been mixed, to say the least, and the clickbaiters have leaped onto it big time, many claiming the game was dead within a few days of launch and they screwed the pooch. Personally, I think the game is on a good track, with how much Player First have at least been listening to criticisms and responding to them quickly. The amount of fixes and improvements during the course of Season 1 alone has already been pretty great, all things considered.
It's easy to want to see this game fail, both between the controversies WB and David Zaslav is in on a constant basis, and just the general apathy and cynicism that comes with the territory of "lol popular live service got greedy and killed itself within a year", but so far, things seem to be locked in for the long haul, and from what rumours have gone around, Multiversus has actually been a decent success, compared to Suicide Squad earlier this year, with Player First as a studio greatly growing in the year since open beta.
There's a lot of issues still, but with some massive names coming next season with Samurai Jack and Powerpuff Girls, I have faith that Multiversus is going to continue to improve. If Brawlhalla could survive this long as a F2P platform fighter, I have faith that on the current course, and as long as Player First continue listening to feedback and improving, it could easily stick around for the long haul too. It won't be some big Fortnite competitor, but it has the perfect spot to exist as a Smash alternative for those who want a different twist on the gameplay and prefer 2v2 centric-focus.
Would I recommend it? Well, it's free. There's no harm in downloading it and giving it a try to see what you think about it. Personally, I think it's worth giving a shot, if nothing else.
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Ken Penders, Dr. Starline, and Pride
This article contains major spoilers for the Sonic IDW comics, and also mention of heavily implied character suicide. Which, uh, I guess is also a major IDW spoiler. Sorry?
SpoilerSo I've been going through... progress in my spiritual journey, and a part of that progress is called 'learning from the mistakes of others to save yourself the time and trouble of making them yourself.' Just kidding; I've already made the mistakes myself and now I'm having to learn from the mistakes of others AND myself. And it all boils down to pride.
Recently I stated that I would not write any articles about Ken Penders' recently released 'work' because I didn't want to give him any more attention than he already had (and believe me, I have every reason not to do so). However, as the Penders situation continues and every day I wait for the moment when he reaches the Legal Event Horizon and Sega decides he's worth suing, I've started to see unpleasant parallels between his constant attempts to fight 'the Man' (aka whoever he thinks is keeping him down) and my own thought processes towards a certain... individual.
I'm not going to name names or get into details because 1. I don't want more trouble, 2. the situation was political in nature and I actually respect the rules of the forums on that matter even if sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who does, and 3. even if those two were not very valid reasons not to get into details, I'd still only be giving my own side of the story and you'd have to talk to the other person to get their side, and quite frankly I don't want to subject anyone else to having to argue with them on that particular subject. (I tried, and it did not end well.) Suffice to say that a fellow creative that I looked up to and sought to emulate turned out to be, well, not the kind of person I or anyone else should be emulating, and a highly heated online conversation with them left me traumatized for the past two years and caused me to leave both DeviantART and a certain forum that this person also frequented, which also will not be named.
I... didn't really handle it well. As in, lying awake at night being miserable for over a year, not well. As in, my health literally breaking down at one point just because I tried to talk to someone who I felt could actually do something about the situation, not well.
But I had to move on. And an important part of my moving on was realizing that I HAD to move on, that I had to stop letting this person and their hypocritical claims live rent-free in my brain, that I had no need to prove anything to them because their worldview was fundamentally flawed and wasn't a standard anyone should be judging anyone by anyway. I couldn't change the way they saw me; they'd have to do that themselves. What I had to do was forgive them and move on with my life.
Ken Penders clearly has not done this. He seems to be not just holding a grudge forever, but constantly convincing himself that not only is he the 'true' victim in this scenario (and from what I understand, neither side was innocent in what happened between him and Archie), but he's a genius of the highest level and he's the reason Sonic the Hedgehog is so big and he's somehow bigger than DC and Marvel, let alone the IDW Sonic comics (spoiler: he's not. he's really not).
And for some reason, the Penders situation makes me keep thinking of Dr. Starline.
Starline lives rent-free in my head. He's the sole reason I even got into the IDW comics, because I found him on a wiki, read through his life story, and as soon as I reached the part in the Eggcave where he found the little miniature of himself, I was hooked. This was a character arc! Lorekits LOVE character arcs! So I purchased all the comic compilations he appeared in (although I bought them used online and as such I am missing a few pages of the Metal Virus arc) and did a bit of binge-reading despite already knowing how his arc ended because I'd read his entire wiki article, which meant that the entire time I knew he was going to get himself killed at the end and there was nothing I could do about it, but to be fair, a quick death from falling debris was still better than he deserved and certainly more merciful than whatever Surge would've done to him.
And eventually I realized: Starline's motivations weren't entirely unlike my own. He wanted to make a name for himself, to impress the man he sought to emulate. And, unfortunately for him, that man was a complete dirtbag, which probably explains why Starline turned out even worse. I mean, even Eggman called Starline's ways barbaric in comparison. That's got to sting. But I'm sure it didn't sting nearly as much as it ought to have, because from what I gather on the character, Starline was far too prideful to consider even Eggman's criticism as valid. (Eggman committing domestic violence on Starline moments earlier probably had something to do with that. But Starline completely deserved it. He'd just tried to trick two teenagers into blowing themselves up, for crying aloud.)
Word of advice from a middle-aged millennial: if a person has a history of refusing to accept any sort of criticism, it's unwise to trust their judgment. Anyone who can't take correction has no way of recognizing when they're wrong.
The difference between me and Starline (aside from, you know, the war crimes) is that I at least managed to realize that my wounded pride was getting in the way of any sort of real progress on my part. Starline never acknowledged this in the slightest. Even when Zavok outright scolded him for his pridefulness, Starline didn't change. He 'adapted,' certainly, but he didn't change change. The core issue of his pridefulness remained, and it's ultimately what killed him.
The most tragic part of his (admittedly well-deserved) end was that it was entirely avoidable. He could've moved on with his life, admitted that 'proving himself' to Eggman simply wasn't worth it. The healing tech he'd developed for Surge could've made him richer than Eggman could ever dream of, saved millions of lives, and possibly even redeem him in the eyes of the people he'd wronged. But he never moved on, and that not only got him killed, but arguably his death was suicide through inaction because he either saw no point in living or was too far gone to even comprehend Belle's warning that his life was in danger.
But hey, at least he got to traumatize her one last time. For someone who once professed that he wouldn't even think of damaging her, he was certainly good at doing so without even trying.
I'm actually relieved that I came across Starline's story when I did, because it's helped me unpack the toxic elements of my refusing to let a stressful situation go and allow myself to move forward. So one person on the internet was a major jerk to me? The world is full of major jerks; that doesn't mean we have to dwell on them or give them power over how we see ourselves. I don't have to prove anything to that person. I don't need their approval. And I certainly don't need to prove that I'm 'better' than they are. There's no need to compare myself to anyone else because I'm the only one of me that there is, and if I don't live as the best version of myself I can be, then the world misses out on that. Forever.
I wasn't only upset because I felt like I had been wronged; I was upset because someone on the internet thought that I was a terrible person, and I had to teach myself to stop judging myself by what other people thought of me. I can't control what other people think of me. I can influence that by my behavior, but they're the ones who choose how they react. Not me. And if I derive my opinion of myself based on what other people think of me, that puts me on the slider of pride (if they think highly of me) to shame (if they don't). Neither of which is a healthy way to view myself.
Now, I don't want to be like Ken Penders and pretend that I'm the best thing since sliced bread. That's just more pride. I'm fairly certain Penders is getting his own Icarus moment sooner or later, and quite honestly I actually feel sorry for him. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve something to happen to him, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.
There, but for the grace of God, go I.
Breaking news: In the wake of the mass outbreak of Nac Mac Feegle in Paldea and their presumed theft of Gardelade's entire stock of Booster Energy Drinks, Team Booster has announced their intentions to search out the Prison Bottle and find Hoopa to warp the Nac Mac Feegle back to Discworld and be done with them. Please share this article with your friends to aid our favorite unethical corporation of Psychic-types in preventing the destruction of Paldea's ecosystem and also a great deal of very tiny robberies. Thank you for your time.
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What If Mario Characters were Mobians?
Depending on my focus today, this should be a easy entry, but knowing myself, probably not...
So, with the Wonderous Direct we got not too long ago, I wanted to put in something Mario-Themed! I have done many things Mario-Related in this blog, but it's different, because of the time, you know? Now, I've been a creative person for all my life, but one thing that has never crossed my mind before: What If the Main Cast of Mario Characters were animals like the Mobians? This is a question that is so intriguing to answer, yet so hard to find an animal for each character. Well, if we take a deep dive into the series, we can see that there are Power-Ups, based on animals
See where I'm going with this?
To make this question Easier to answer, we can Match each Character, with a Power-Up. With some quick research, there are 8 of these:
- Bee MushroomD
- Super Carrot
- Elephant FruitW
- Frog Suit
- Penguin SuitB
- Super AcornT
- Super Bell
- Super Leaf
And I think there are exactly 8 people for each of these Power-Ups! With time, the Mario Cast has Expanded, so I think if you shrunk down the Roster, you'd get:
- Mario
- Luigi
- Peach
- Yellow Toad
- Blue Toad
- Wario
- Daisy
- Toadette
I'd belive that this would take place all in a different Dimention, akin to the Sol Dimention. The Levels may be Structured like Super Mario 3D World/Land, or in a specific area like Super Mario 64. Without Further ado, I think it's time to start with the man in red:
Mario The Tanooki
Giving Credit where Credit is due, with the help of @Iko, we made Mario The Tanooki! See, I would choose Cat, but a Tanooki is more Unexpected, like a Speedy Hedgehog. He Would have Powers Derived from most of his 3D outings, and of course, The Super Leaf. First and foremost, he can do a Homing Attack with the Somersault Ground Pound (That's its name when looking it up). This Wouldn't have as much reach as Sonic's, but it's close. It's an effective way to get around, and even chain attacks for extra Points. Next, He will have a Regular Roll on the floor. It's Not Chargable like a Spin Dash, but if used on Slopes, you can pick up SERIOUS Speed! A Tail Swipe is perfect for this, to cover all sides of the Player. Another Use for his tail could be for Opening Secret areas, breaking blocks, or with enough speed, you can Fly and soar into the air! it's Not for a long time, but just enough to reach Normal-jump high places. If he had Upgrades like SA1/2, I think a Hammer would Fit this role, or his Fire Hand Ability. One More Ability I would give him is the Long Jump and Wall Kick.
Luigi The Rabbit
You Thought A Hedgehog getting Helped by a Fox was weird, What about a Tanooki and a Rabbit?
Trademarked for his Leaps and Bounce, Luigi is now a Short-Eared Rabbit! Designed after the Super Carrot, and Just like his Brother, He moves Exactly like him, but with some difference. First off, he has a Super Jump Punch Based on his ability in Super Paper Mario. this sents him up vertically High, and can be used to reach secrets. From there, he can Hover Down to safety! Unlike His Brother, he does not have a Homing attack, but he can make up for that with his Dive! Another Difference is a Ground Pound! To get from the Air to the ground, and Vice Versa with the Super Jump! with it, he can Ground-Pond on a slope to Roll! He Also has a Wall Kick. If Given an upgrade, he will obtain either the Thunder Hand Ability, or just like his brother, a hammer, because the poltergeist Doesn't work well in this sense.
Peach The Cat
The Royal Feline Herself, Peach makes her debut! Starting off strong, we have a Glide/Float Ability for Getting to point A, to point B. This is great if you are running at high speeds. Deriving from the Super Crown, we have a Double Jump! This also Combos into the Glide, and the Cat Dive! If done on a wall, you can Scale it with your Claws! Now, I don't belive we can go any further with this, but if so, let me know!
Yellow Toad The Frog (?)
There isn't much explanation to this, but it's because I wanted the toads to be lil Critters.
It was a debate between this and the Bee (Which I still think is a better option, but Dasiy as a Frog? Can't see it.), But ultimately, I went for this. He might have the Powers of the Bubble Flower for mobility. jumping from Bubble-To-Bubble might be repetitive, but idk, it seems cool. Now, what if he could eat Yoshi's Fruits? he might be able to transform like Wario does, and Float, Light Up Dark Areas, and Dash at high speeds! He can Stick to walls, and maybe even use his tongue for Range attacker(?), and obviously Swims Smoothly in water
Blue Toad The Pengiun
This is going to be awesome.
So, first off, he can Swim Smoothly in water, but also Shoot Ice Balls, and Slide on his belly! There isn't much other than that, if you add Wall Kicking on Waterfalls...
Wario The Elephant
Deriving from his "Strong Man" Persona, an elephant seems fitting! Shooting Water From his Trunk, moving things out of his way, and running at Mach Speeds might make him a interesting character! Who Knows, maybe he could Make Boulders like the Rock Mushroom! other than that, Not much able to be said here, so...
Daisy The Bee
Heh, get it? because she's a bee? and bees like flowers? and she-
She will have the ability to fly for a short time, and Even drill downwards into the ground like the Drill Mushroom. She could also make Flower Platforms Mid-Air, and Do a Backflip.
Toadette the Flying Squirrel
This Is what I was waiting for.
Not only you can Glide downwards (Not like Ray, but like the Power-Up itself), But you can Bounce up Mid-Air! And Combining this with the Cloud Flower, you can make 3 Cloud Platforms at a time, and you can soar above!
Well, That's it! Thankfully, I did this all in one day!
Do you have any remarks? Questions? Leave em' down in the comments! and with that, I'm outta here! Ciao!
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Among people of my generation growing up in a western country, it’s an incredibly difficult thing for me to bring up a love of arcades. Though I come from a very European background while born and raised in Australia, my exposure to the internet in my childhood (especially in relation to my budding love for SEGA) had led me to unexpectedly fall deep into Japanese culture, and my interest in arcades had henceforth been painted by those I’ve seen from Japan. Through childhood naïveté, I run into my local arcade expecting to find something similar, and instead run into a minor culture shock that the arcades of my country are not like those of Japan’s.
The golden age of arcades in the west had passed long before my generation was born, and what remains of arcades now are a far cry from what I heard them to have once been; Nostalgic discussions of arcades by my older peers do not often bring up the ticket redemption games so common to arcades today, where even classic pinball machines are being phased out. While arcades still exist as a social gathering for gaming experiences you couldn’t get at home, that idea had been slowly eroding in both the west and east by the evolving technologies that so many feel to make home experiences better than arcades, and by the erasure of communal public spaces.
Such an introduction is an odd way to say that I love SEGA’s arcade rhythm game maimai, a unique 2012 Japanese game that is available in my country, and could never be played at home.
♡ My Mai Mai Love ♡
Even among contemporary rhythm and arcade games, maimai visually stands out. To that end, SEGA proudly advertises the game as a landmark; It kind of looks like a new age washing machine. With a circular touchscreen surrounded by eight buttons, notes fall from the middle of the screen to the buttons on the outside, using your two hands to tap them in time to the music. As an added twist, there are gimmick notes that must be tapped and then slid across the screen to another point.
After completing a song, you are graded at the end of a song by accuracy, wherein if you manage to hit all notes perfectly, you achieve the highest possible accuracy of the rather confusing 101%, with badges for Full Combo, All Perfect, and special Sync badges for playing with a partner. There is a score system in addition to accuracy, but you’d be hard pressed to find a player who cares for it exclusively, with the game itself tucking it into a little corner. Your results can be uploaded to an online server, where you can enter a global ranking against other players and save your progress to unlock rewards, using a SEGA Aime or other compatible IC cards.
There’s a large variety of music that has been added over the many years and versions of maimai, ranging from original songs, popular Japanese and anime songs, Vocaloid songs, video game songs (including those from Sonic the Hedgehog), an entire category to Japan’s indie darling series Touhou Project, and more original songs from maimai’s sister series CHUNITHM and O.N.G.E.K.I.
Many of maimai’s original songs have become staples of the rhythm game genre in their own right, such as the iconic Oshama Scramble! by t+pazolite: A speedy electric beat with playful synths and eclectic vocal samples, its video following a cat girl drinking excess amounts of milk to achieve her dream of becoming like an idol on TV, especially in the chest.
In Japan, maimai has become a cornerstone of modern arcades, some locations even dedicating entire floors to rows of it. Outside of Japan, the game also sees success in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, all across southeast Asia, even Oceania. Ever since 2019, the best players of the game globally (but mostly Japan) battle online to qualify for SEGA’s annual KING of Performai event, where maimai, CHUNITHM, and O.N.G.E.K.I players compete in person to become crowned king of their respective games.
My introduction to this game started with me not looking for it at all. I was in a conversation between classmates about a different arcade rhythm game, Bandai Namco’s Taiko no Tatsujin, where you beat a Japanese taiko drum to popular music. When I expressed interest in trying it, a classmate shared that they knew an arcade that had the game and was easily accessible by public transit.
Going to the arcade to take a look, my attention was instead grabbed by the maimai machines hiding in a corner, which was attracting lots of players. Because of the unique appearance and interesting gameplay, I was compelled to try as soon as I saw the game, any notion of Taiko dropping from my mind. After a long queue time and a few play sessions, I immediately wanted a player card like the other players had, to unlock more songs and customise my player profile.
The small but friendly English-speaking community around the game is very helpful and encouraging, having assisted me with learning how to navigate the game, tips and tricks to improve my gameplay, and supporting the progress I make. Much of the more face-to-face interactions are non-verbal--the game and surrounding environment is often VERY loud--but you can still feel how the community wants to support each other best they can, while chasing their own personal goals and achievements. In turn, I too end up contributing to the community by helping new players and celebrating hard-earned scores, and encouraging others to play just as I’m doing now.
So many songs and play sessions later, and many MANY credits placed into the machine, I’ve already grown a respectable profile that will only keep rising. And one of my long term goals is to someday earn a rainbow border, a visual signifier for reaching a DX Rating of 15000.
Okay so, why do I talk of all this?
maimai is entirely exclusive to arcades, there is no official way to play it at home. This is the case for many games of its type, but their dedicated fans have found ways to adapt their games into PC programs with custom controllers. maimai has a fanmade version that can be played on a touchscreen tablet, though it’s mostly viewed as a stopgap in no way indicative of the real experience, instead akin to watching gameplay videos online to practice a song chart.
I want to share maimai with more people. But with the arcades taking on a very different meaning in gaming culture’s changing landscapes, this game is left in a difficult position to catch on worldwide.
WiPE OUT MEMORIES
I was surprised to read that arcades have had a turbulent history, starting instead with amusement centres. In western countries like America, a popular social space for people to gather and entertain themselves were with carnivals and fairs, featuring rides, zoos, games and more. An equivalent in Japan stood in amusement parks built on the rooftops of department stores, and many old fashioned places of this nature still exist--SEGA’s very own Tokyo Joyopolis is one of these, albeit on a ground level.
Introduced in these places were coin-operated machines, offering games like skee-ball, shooting galleries and the ever-classic pinball, and gimmick machines such as love testers, fortune tellers, and mutoscopes. Capitalising on their success, many of these machines would be piled into one venue, the “penny arcade”. Funny to think that the idea of an arcade between a century ago to now are not much different; even SEGA was around to make amusement machines, having gotten their start as a company in 1946 through this industry. History doesn’t repeat itself, but you’re right that it often rhymes, Mr. Twain.
Contemporary improvements to technology would slowly shift the culture of arcades toward electronic computer games. Pong drew people by the dozen into venues to play, creating an unprecedented success for amusement machines by that point. Then Space Invaders followed years later with a newer, bigger buzz for arcades, that entire venues in Japan became solely dedicated to the game--aptly named “Invader Houses”. Pac-Man came next, then Donkey Kong, and many more. In the 80s, arcades had solidified themselves as a fixture of youth culture, and pop culture around the world by extention.
As it became possible to bring arcade experiences to home gaming systems, they would promise ports comparable to the real thing, but still lacked the number of buttons required, the communal aspect of the games, and technical power that only the machines had. Instead, a new market was emerging: Gaming experiences that could only be had in the home. Though Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog had seen arcade ports in their days, they were eclipsed by their home console success. The strengths of home gaming had its seeds planted in the 1980s, but by the mid-90s, arcades were losing their lustre as places for incredible technology and thrilling games, if all that could be had in front of your TV.
To only talk about video games looks over other machines that made their home in arcades, and further influenced their position as a social hub.
Mechanical games such as skee-ball and pinball are still popular, and many arcades have bowling alleys (and vice versa).
Card games became popular among Japanese children in the 2000s, as games would print cards to be used in their respective machines and be traded among friends.
Crane games are ubiquitous machines for prize redemption, dominating the front doors of arcades. To that end, ticket redemption games take a great majority of arcade floor space, even if medal games are akin to legally safe gambling machines.
Particularly in Japan, a line of machines called Photo Club were extremely popular, particularly for young girls who would socialise using the machines, taking photos of themselves and applying stickers and filters, to print and share.None of this to say there wasn’t a place for unique arcade video games. Music games began a whole new genre of machines, tapping notes to popular songs as codified by beatmania in 1997, and quickly followed by many games fighting to copy its success, such as the globally renowned Dance Dance Revolution, unique instrumental games like Taiko no Tatsujin, and even SEGA would jump into the craze with Sonic Team’s Samba de Amigo. While these games would have versions made for the home, avid players felt they could never match up to the arcade experience that kept them coming back. For an added twist of irony, iconic music game Guitar Hero started in the home, but ended living on in arcades. But maimai, in stark contrast, has remained exclusive to arcades, as did many later music games such as Dance Rush Stardom, Sound Voltex, and the late WACCA, alongside maimai’s sister series in CHUNITHM and O.N.G.E.K.I.
For most of Asia, these other points of an arcade would help keep them alive, even in the face of venues closing year by year, from being unable to offset operating costs due to lowering profits. For the western world, arcades were closing regardless. These machines were being ignored in favour of home gaming, leaving arcades in a much more dire state with very few venues being left open, and those remaining either dwindling in size or getting attached to a separate business.
maimai attempted a location test in America around 2017 under these market conditions, but the lack of success alongside naïve decisions made by SEGA meant the game would be locked to Japan, China and Indonesia for a long time.By the time I was born in the early 2000s, arcades in my country were, relative to home gaming, dead. As I said, my idea of arcades were painted by those in Japan that I was exposed to via the internet in my childhood, so although I loved the idea of arcades, I too was only playing games in the home.
World’s end loneliness
It would be pointless to recognise the current position of arcades without first accounting for the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic that forced much of the world into isolation. Since arcades are public spaces to socialise and play video games, many arcades could not operate due to the pandemic, and were forced to shut down for being unable to offset operating costs. SEGA themselves had to pull out of operating game centres in 2022 following losses of ¥20 billion in the business in 2020 alone, shutting down game centres such as the iconic SEGA Akihabara Building 2, itself a tourist destination in the centre of the Electric Town, and selling off the rest.
Conversely to the pandemic causing a fall of arcades was a meteoric rise in home gaming systems and software, the industry breaking profit records unlikely to ever happen again, a statistic that SEGA can also testify as profiting from, and I as to having bought and played more video games than I did previously. Any of us can agree, there was very little else to do at home.
Public spaces found themselves in a difficult spot, when people had already grown comfortable with the idea of doing everything from home through means of online connectivity, from shopping to watching movies. Even socialising is something easily serviced through social media. So what could arcades offer now that home gaming had seemingly replaced it?
Many unique machines exclusive to arcades already found their way into the home. Photo Club’s features were adapted into phones years before the iPhone was a thing, and a modern rendition is ultimately SnapChat filters. There are now online services to play crane games from the comfort of your home and get prizes shipped to your doorstep, if you didn’t just buy the prize outright. And where arcades were once a place to play games against strangers and form a community, online gaming rendered it completely irrelevant.
Having grown up with the internet, I already partake in many of the things I’ve described, and I can’t bring myself to criticise these services for existing nor choose to live without them. I must stress now that I do not think arcades are better than home gaming, or that it is wrong how home gaming took the place of arcades, else I’d be a massive hypocrite.None of that is to say any of these public spaces do not exist anymore, nor that they lack a place in our modern world. In fact, against the face of a loneliness crisis and increasing social alienation across the world, public spaces become more important than ever before. But what follows is a one-two punch of ballooning inflation, it’s too expensive to go outside and meet others, even if it’s to catch up in a cafe or watch a movie together. And if going outside gets more expensive than staying at home, then the pick of what’s financially viable for most people becomes a no-brainer.
Even travel becomes difficult in the face of car dependency making urban living into something miserable, with the need to pay for fuel to go anywhere, the need for parking to put your car when you’re done, the inevitability of traffic to transport what is usually a singular person, and extremely poorly planned urban road designs due to the space and priority of cars being taken over us human beings... This too adds to the cost of living, and the difficulty of going out casually for something like leisure and entertainment. Before I so much as had a license to drive, I was completely confined to my house, and I hated it.
As I write this, I feel a sense of futility, as it seems like there’s no good reason to go outside at all. These societal issues pile up and make me feel more isolated than even the actual isolation of the pandemic.
But maimai is connecting me back to the world again.
Connected
It’s funny what a good outside activity will do. You’ll find any way to make it happen, no matter how difficult it might be.
Just so I can play maimai, I exercise my body at home to increase my stamina and play for longer, and I learn to budget my money to have more chances to play. I’ve become more passionate about the topic of urban design and public transport, wanting to improve the infrastructure of my town, all to make it easier for myself and others to reach the arcade and play. I’ve become vocal to arcades nearer to me to get maimai into their venues, to let them know they’ll see more business if they do. I’ve become exposed to a new community of people that I would have never met, if not for maimai. Something about this game changed me, and I’m forever grateful.
Readers, if you live in east Asia, southeast Asia, Australia or New Zealand, then I HIGHLY recommend seeking out maimai by checking locations on the game’s website. I was not much of a rhythm game player before, but this game grabbed me like nothing else, and I’m confident that anyone else can find something to love in it too.
However, I know a vast majority of readers will hail from America, where the only way to play maimai is via older offline versions of the game that are no longer supported by SEGA. But I have something extremely important to share:
SEGA is location testing maimai again.
As of May 24th, a month-long location test is occuring in a Round1 inside the Puente Hills Mall in California. Featuring the latest and up-to-date version of the game, with full online capability, it shows that SEGA is interested in expanding maimai to more people around the world again. Should the test prove successful, SEGA may roll the game out across the country, and try testing their other rhythm games like CHUNITHM. I really cannot hold back my excitement, so if you do happen to live anywhere nearby, then I absolutely implore you to try the game and show your interest in it!
I do not think that arcades will ever reach their glory days again, but I think they can still have a place in our society as a fun place to hang out, for anyone. If these businesses are clever and know how to put themselves in an accessible spot, where the only things you need to worry about to go outside is where to carry your own two feet, then arcades can continue to live on as a place for those unique gaming experiences. With time, your local arcade may become like the Japanese arcades I saw on the internet in my childhood, and in my dreams.
Just remember to assume polite etiquette when playing the game: Don’t hog the machine, don’t cut in the queue, and please don’t make it awkward for everyone else. But as SEGA warns is most important of all:
Current international version is maimai DX BUDDiES at the time of writing.
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Latest Entry
Chihayafuru: A Review
Nothing motivates me to consume a piece of media more than when I hear someone else gush about it, and this show is no exception. Based on the recommendation from a voice actor / content creator I follow (ProZD), I decided to give this one a shot... and I have 0 regrets about it.
Chihayafuru follows three childhood friends who bond over a Japanese sport called karuta. The protagonist, Chihaya, falls in love with the game and makes it her sole objective to become the Queen (the number one female karuta player) so that she can be reunited with her friends. Going in, I had never heard of karuta, aside from seeing it briefly featured in other anime. The history of One Hundred Poets and the cultural impact of the sport may have been lost on me a bit, but the emotions and themes of what the sport meant to each characters definitely left an impact. Given that each episode was named after a verse from one of the poems, I could definitely tell by the end of season three just how much care was put into weaving the meanings of each poem into the show. It feels like the manga creator was writing a love letter to the sport or maybe just to One Hundred Poets.
While I went in expecting this to be a sports anime more than anything, the main genres are definitely slice of life and romance. Romance is far from my cup of tea since it usually comes off as superficial and forced to me, but in this anime, I actually found myself super invested in it. Even with a love triangle involved (yes, I know it's more like an acute angle than a triangle, but "love acute angle" is such a mouthful... and I could make an argument that Taichi and Arata have their own sort of romance going on), I still rooted for the characters to confess or realize their feelings. And the confessions were chef's kiss. I gasped and teared up during those scenes. Personally, I was really hoping that Chihaya and Taichi would end up together, but I could also see how much Chihaya liked Arata, which made it difficult to only care about one relationship. Typically it annoys me when a friend group with one girl and two guys ends up becoming a rivalry for the two guys to see who can get the girl, but this show made it feel so genuine and heartfelt that I didn't mind. There was so much thought put into how the romance would develop over time rather than it being rushed to the point of feeling like an obligatory plot line. I wish more romance in fiction felt like this.
Aside from all the lovey dovey stuff, I was also deeply invested in the sports aspect of the show. The dynamics of the different karuta clubs, the burning desire to win, the pain of loss or falling short of your goal... all of it feels reminiscent of how I felt when I played sports in school. The amount of time that students have to put into practice, competitions, and academics on top of that is no joke. I found myself getting attached to more than just the main three characters because they all felt fleshed out. Instead of the side characters just being a collection of character archetypes that check boxes, they each had their own mini character arcs and motivations. I was rooting for the main characters all the way, but I also found myself cheering for the side characters when they were going through their own struggles. The bonds that each character had with not only each other but the game itself actually made me want to watch real karuta.
The narrative itself is more than enough to carry the show, yet the animation and music doesn't slack either. Madhouse did an incredible job with the animation and the details put into each scene. The way the backgrounds popped and the environment changed during an emotional scene really added to the spectacle of it all. I was entranced by the beauty of the character designs and the sets. During season two, I even started paying attention to the episode titles and how they fit into the theme of what was going on.
In the last three episodes of season three alone, I found myself absolutely sobbing. I had grown so attached to these characters and watching the emotional build up until the very end was so heartbreaking. When I wasn't watching, I was often thinking about it, wondering what would happen next. And sadly, it doesn't look like season four is coming any time soon. It may be in development, but there were six years between seasons two and three (season three aired in 2019), plus Madhouse is working on many other projects that are currently airing. Since season three ends on a cliffhanger, I'm really, really hoping it'll get completed some day. From what I understand it could feasibly be wrapped up in one season with how much of the story hasn't been adapted. I'm dying to know what happens, so if worse comes to worst and we don't hear anything about it this year or next, I may just have to pick up the manga where the anime left off.
Overall, while the show revolves around a sport that contains a lot of cultural and historical impact that is specific to Japan, Chihayafuru does a fantastic job of explaining it so that anyone can understand the rules of the game. The athlete in me got swept up in the competitions and the emotions surrounding each player's development. It made me want to pick up a sport again or do something competitive. My opinion is usually that romance tends to weigh down narratives more than it helps, but this show executes it perfectly. I found myself crying, laughing, and watching eagerly to see what would happen next. While there are still some annoying anime tropes involved (anime's gonna anime), they're short-lived enough that I could move past them pretty quickly. This show has easily shot up to one of my favorite anime series of all-time, and I couldn't be happier that I took a chance on it.
So, if you're looking for a show about sports, romance, and some good old slice of life, then I highly recommend watching Chihayafuru (as long as you can deal with the agony of a cliffhanger and no sign of a new season release date).
Sincerely,
A Former Athlete
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Latest Entry
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Remake
Intro
I have never done one of these before, so I hope this is not a disappointment. I figured out of any game that I wrote about for the 52 Games Challenge, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door deserved a fleshed out review like this. It probably won’t go into everything, and it’ll probably still be me speaking from the heart instead of really going into everything about the original title and its remake, but here we go. Welcome to the first entry of Winston Writes!
The Gameplay
Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door’s gameplay is still the best out of any of the Paper Mario titles. It improves upon the N64 original in a lot of ways, and the way it pushes you to be stylish with it’s timing is incredibly satisfying to pull off. It gives you star points, which the fancier you are with your button presses during attacks, will give you more star points to build up your starmeter to be able to do the star moves. I do feel like some of the Star Moves are a little worthless, I only really found myself using the same two or three throughout the entire game. That might just be an issue with me not wanting to experiment much, but I felt like the Earth Tremor, Art Attack and the final one are the most worthwhile since they do the most damage. They are fun to pull off too, even if the final one only really requires pressing the A Button as fast as possible.
A downgrade most will realize is that the framerate for the Switch version has been cut in half, down to 30 FPS. It isn’t horrible though, I hardly found myself struggling with the framerate change, but I’m not one that has gone too in-depth in the research of the original timing of the game. I don’t think it hurts the game much though, even if I wish it still was 60 FPS. The graphics are likely the reason why it isn’t, which yeah, they probably could have held back a bit in that category to make the frame rate better. I know there was something in the games files hinting at 4K, so perhaps with the Switch 2, TTYD will get a patch that gives it 4K and 60FPS. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Everything else has stayed pretty similar to the original in terms of gameplay. I have noticed the controls of some of the transformations are a bit off, namely the paper plane feeling a little off compared to the original. It’s not bad, but it took a little getting used to compared to anything else. It’s probably because the paper plane requires a bit more precision in some areas, namely an area in the final chapter that is more annoying here due to how the plane controls now. Not awful, just different.
Over-all though, the game delivers on the gameplay front. It’s Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, just now with a more modern interface to match up with the Switch controls. It lacks the 60 FPS of the original, but it isn’t too bad to deal with in my opinion.
The Visuals and Music
The Thousand Year Door remake on Switch is really breathtaking visually. It’s a combination of both the classic style and modern. The modern games add a lot of additional animations to interactions in gameplay, likely because of them being capable of it due to more powerful hardware, but it does blend in the more crafty art style pretty well. Sure, it isn’t exactly the same as the original, but I still like it. I’m glad it still sticks to the originals in terms of character outlines, and the designs all stick the same here. The partners now have far more sprites to show them moving to the background along with Mario, or Mario just hitting them in general. Mario himself also has several added hammer animations, which is a step up from the original, allowing the precision of the later games hammer hits to now be added to The Thousand Year Door. It’s a great addition if you ask me.
The remixed music here is also pretty nice, and while reading the topic on this game, I do agree in some ways with criticisms of it. It is pretty bombastic, far more than the original, which does ruin the mood a little bit in certain areas. I enjoyed it myself, as someone that is familiar with all the music of the original. I like hearing remixes in new games, even if they aren’t as good as the original. I wouldn’t say any of the music here is bad, but I can see why some would not enjoy it due to how there’s a lot more added to the songs. It makes them feel a little much at points. I do like that the GameCube version soundtrack is available at any time as a badge, just go to the badge shop connected to the hotel and spend one coin, and you can use it for as long as you want. I do really like that each area has a unique battle theme, which I do not believe was in the original.
It’s a good soundtrack, and fun to get remixes of the original game. It may not have the same feel, and some songs are probably worse, but I wouldn’t call any of the new remixes bad. They’re perfectly fine, and are a nice change of pace for someone that has heard many of the original songs so many times. I just like going with something different, but if you’re someone that is new to this title, I would probably recommend going with the original soundtrack. If you want to go through it again, then I think the remixes would be a nice addition. I think I’ll do the opposite on my next playthrough, go with the original soundtrack and see what it’s like.
The Story and Writing
The writing here is still great. There’s a reason why this game is acclaimed in terms of it’s characters and writing. There’s a lot of goofy setpieces here, and the characters, while mostly funny, can have complex and deep emotional goals. Koops for example wants to live up to his adventurer father and become more brave, Vivian is struggling with her place with her sisters and finding their bullying to grow worse following her transition. I’m sure everyone is aware that is familiar with this game by now, but Vivian being transgender is fantastic. It’s always been there from the original, but was changed in most releases of the game. Here, the writing has changed a bit, but her transitioning is now directly mentioned in dialogue in every territory from what I know. It’s incredible to have this representation in a Mario game, and Vivian is still a fantastic character and I love her story here. I’m glad to see Nintendo making this a thing in every territory, instead of just a couple.
There’s also fun stuff with Pianta mob boss drama with his family, his daughter running off with one of his goons and wanting to marry him, and it being a recurring story throughout for Mario to get to places. I just love the wacky characters and things you do to please them, them having pretty satisfying conclusions to their stories, no matter how miniscule they are in the over-all story. I like that each partner has unique dialogue if you have them for cutscenes, making it fun to experiment and see who says what to which enemy or character interaction.
The main villains, the X-Nauts, are also a lot of fun. I like how silly and fourth-wall breaking they can be from time to time. It’s especially nice with the Princess Peach plot, where she mostly hangs around their headquarters and speaks to their computer TEC. It’s a decently emotional story, and one I don’t want to spoil. I don’t want to go into too much here over-all, but The Thousand-Year Door excels in writing when it comes to the RPG’s. It’s one of the very best for Mario, and the characters here are all very well done and iconic. I’d love to see any one of them return in a future Paper Mario entry, to see where they all are in their modern lives. The game can be silly, heartwarming, and dramatic and I think that’s incredible.
The Updates for the Remake
I have already gone into what has changed here and there in terms of graphics, writing, music and gameplay, but I do want to go into the other stuff. There’s been a lot of quality of life improvements in terms of how you get around in this game, I’m guessing to make backtracking easier. The game adds Fast Travel, but it’s not exactly the type of Fast Travel I was hoping for. The Super Mario RPG Remake has a better system for it than this one, and don’t get me wrong, it is still useful. I just would have preferred to be able to teleport to certain setpieces easier, like Hooktail’s Castle. Instead you have to go to Petalburg every time and go backwards.
It certainly makes some endgame stuff way easier though with the Fast Travel it did add, namely the mission towards the end where you need to find the White Bob-Omb and go to all those towns. You just have to jump in each pipe in the underground area it’s in, and eventually you’ll talk to everyone who knows where he went. I don’t remember that in the original game, so that pipe fast travel is a very nice system to have. If you have played Paper Mario: The Origami King, it basically works how that game does with its fast travel. There’s a pipe hub room that leads to each world’s town.
There’s also unique audio dialogue for each character that speaks now I believe, which I don’t think was present in the original. So like Toad NPC’s, Goomba NPC’s, etc. all have their own little noises they make when speaking that much up to how they sound in other games. That basically summarizes this whole remake, it’s more of the same but with far more attention to detail in animations and voices.
There isn’t much difference here, but what is different is them adding more detail to what already exists. They don’t rework the issues of the game too much, although I do think the Puni chapter is greatly greatly improved here compared to the GameCube one because the Puni AI isn’t horrible, but other than that it’s pretty similar to the original. So if you had issues with some chapters here, then it’s most likely not really fixed. Just the backtracking really has been fixed and that’s about it. Even then, it isn’t as easy to fast travel as I would’ve liked as I said before. I also noticed you don’t lose coins anymore when escaping a battle, which I believe was a thing in the original, but maybe I’m mixing it up with another Mario RPG. I do really like the Partner Wheel too, where you just use the L button to swipe through all your partners and can choose whoever you want really fast without going into the menu. It saves a bit of time, even if it’s not like the most needed addition. Nevertheless, it was a good one. I also heard they added a new reward if you beat The Pit again, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. I'm sure there's other changes I'm currently missing, but this is what really stood out to me.
Conclusion
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is more or less the same game, just with updated graphics and music. The title screen itself even states 2004 as the year with no other modern year from what I can tell. It’s certainly nice to have it more widely available now, given before it was either playing it through emulation or spending like $200 for a copy on the GameCube. I finally don’t feel regret for selling my original copy all those years ago, since I can have it on the Switch and play it on the go now.
But yeah, I’d definitely recommend this game for anyone, unless they just really don’t want to spend full price on TTYD again. I argue it’s definitely worth it, but if you’ve played the original so much and want something that drastically changes it, maybe wait for a sale. Otherwise, any newcomers or those wanting to relive a great Mario RPG, this is definitely a must-buy. TTYD is one of the best Mario games ever, and this remake now being so widely available will hopefully have a brand new generation fall in love with it. One more thing for my entry for the 52 Games Challenge, here is the ending credits screen of my playthrough. Thanks for reading!
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Through lands end past Monsto Town and straight to Barrel Volcano we've made some headway since last I
wrote.Game still continues to be easy. I had hoped the Axem Blade could liven things up and it looked like it
might but then it went down before it could recharge for a second volly. At least Culex continued to be final
boss material. Proving to be too much for my friend with AOE's flying everywhere and turning Peach and Mario
into a mushrooms proving to be the nail in the coffin. Maybe if she'd used the Lazy Shell armor it would of
changed things but nope, work pants attack boost just too tempting.
I love the number of secrets in this game. My friend completed the Yoshi Race in one try while there to get
the flag for the musty fears, I don't think I've ever gotten the rhythm down. I mentioned Grate Guy's casino but
12 rounds with Knife Guy she wasn't having it. Casino's aren't her thing anyway. But now I hope she likes
minigames because Bowser's Keep is right around the corner.
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[COMIC ISSUE REVIEW] Sonic the Hedgehog IDW: Issue 4
Title: Sonic the Hedgehog
Issue: #4
Writer: Ian Flynn
Artist: Evan Stanley
Series: IDW
Previously Reviewed: Issue 1 | Issue 2 | Issue 3
So, after reading the first three issues and getting introduced to Sonic's core friends (Tails, Amy and Knuckles), I was curious about what other characters we will be introduced to in this series next. Lo and behold, I didn't expect to be introduced to a new character and an old character in the same issue! But before we go into my thoughts on this issue, here's a brief summary of this issue.
The issue begins like the previous three issues where Sonic heads to another village and discovers some badniks invading the town. Once Sonic arrives at the town, he meets up with an energetic lemur named Tangle, who is busy taking down the badniks herself. Sonic and Tangle immediately become friends and they continue fighting off the badniks, until a mysterious character drops in and it's none other than Blaze the Cat herself! So, Sonic, Tangle and Blaze continue to fight against the badniks overtaking the city.
Now, I'm going to be honest here: I don't know much about Blaze the Cat as a character since I never played the "Sonic Rush" games where she was introduced and it's been a while since I last played "Sonic 06," where she did show up. But, I loved the fact that this issue did reintroduce Blaze the Cat into the Sonic canon since she hadn't been used that much in the games as of late (which is a shame) and it was great seeing her fight alongside Sonic and Tangle. I also liked the fact that Sonic is so familiar with Blaze as I loved the scene where he's like "Oh yeah! HEY BLAZE!" even though Blaze is a princess of her dimension and yet, she's so close to Sonic at this point. I especially loved Tangle's reaction to Blaze showing up as she's shown as being that new girl who's seeing two people who are well acquainted with each other interacting with each other and she's like, "Ummm...where do I fit in all this?" But then, she becomes fast friends with Blaze like she becomes fast friends with Sonic.
Now, let's talk about the new character in this issue, Tangle herself. OH MY GOODNESS! I never thought that I would love a new character that was made exclusive for the comic books! Ian Flynn did such a fantastic job at portraying Tangle's character as Tangle is shown as being highly energetic and friendly towards everyone she meets, and I love that aspect of her character. Even though the other characters like Tails, Cream and Sonic himself are very friendly characters themselves, it's nice seeing another nice character join the cast. And of course, I just love Tangle's overall design as she wears a cool looking sports outfit, and she has a unique ability where she uses her tail as a weapon. Also, I just loved Evan Stanley's artwork for this issue! I think Evan Stanley and Adam Bryce Thomas are my two most favorite artists for this series so far! Evan Stanley does such a fantastic job at giving these characters such humorous yet energetic facial expressions and it's always such a treat looking at these hilarious facial expressions from these characters!
The only problem that I have with this issue is that I wished that they developed Blaze's character a bit more. We don't know exactly where Blaze was during "Sonic Forces" and I would like to know where she was the whole time. Also, as someone who is not that familiar with Blaze's character, I would have liked to learn more about Blaze's home world and how she met Sonic in the first place. Again, I never played the "Sonic Rush" games, so I'm a bit new to Blaze as a character.
Even though I would have liked to learn more about Blaze's character, I had a lot of fun with this issue! Tangle was such an awesome new addition to the cast and I can't wait to see more of her in future issues! Looking forward to checking out the next issue soon!
Taken from my blog: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
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Hello there. I'd like to discuss something that's been brewing in my mind for the past week and it's about Rails. Oh rails, an alternative to the usual past pace acting with the rather slow and bare bones automation. But rails never used to be this way. Take a seat friends, as we discuss The History of Rails in Sonic the Hedgehog.
It all began June 2001, when Sonic Adventure 2 was released, the first game that featured Grind Rails. these type of rails functioned similarly to how they are today, except you can accelerate down the rail even faster, creating momentum allowing you to fly off the rails if you wish. Rails also had the caveat of the having any sort of "pull" for the player to gravitate towards it, meaning the player has to be very precise in order to proceed. This becomes heavily used within Final Chase, the second-to final act of the game. Rails are absolutely everywhere here, and utilizing them to reach far off distances, alternate paths, and crazy maneuvers throughout.
Rails appear once again within Sonic Heroes, functioning very similarly. The differences really come in the level design, specifically from the two levels that feature rails heavily: Rail Canyon, and Bullet Station. The level design here places greater emphasis on switching between rails to gain rings, powerups, and defeat enemies. Personally, I believe this to be the best incarnation of rails, relying more on the level design to keep them interesting, having more of a puzzle, or tactile flow to them.
After that, I believe that Sonic Colors is the first domino in Rail Decline, featuring rails as more of an automation section of each act rather then a more puzzle and tactile way of getting from start to finish. To be fair, Colors does feature some sections with you having to hop between 3 different rails to gain Red Coin and such, but those are very few and far between, being about less then a dozen of them throughout your experience.
Rails are a bit tricky in Lost World, since the majority of rails within this game are incredibly bare bones due to the level design doing nothing with them. However, Tropical Coast Zone 3, and Lava Mountain Zone 2. In those acts, Rails make up the entire act, featuring rails that slow down, or speed you up depending on which one your on.
Sonic Forces, some love it, some hate it, others think it's mediocre. Similar to last time, used purely for automation, nothing interesting going on, so there is nothing interesting to talk about.
Lastly, were at what I think is the most interesting era for Rails: Sonic Frontiers. Frontiers features more of the automation of Rails have been rocking for about a decade now...partially. See, it's this strange split down the middle where, half of this game features automation, while the other half is something different. Rails that are short and require jumping fast, rails where you hop between then similar to Colors, circle shaped Rails where you have to aim Sonic at the right angle to proceed, large circle shaped rails where you have to make a full circle 3 times to defeat a boss, all of these mechanics are making Rails, in my opinion, actually interesting again, with not just letting automation be Rails' secondary name!
To summarize: Rails used to be another form of transport featuring more of a tactile or in the case of Heroes, more puzzle-esque design philosophy, but afterwards, Rails got reduced to nothing more then wasteful automation, but hope seems to be on the horizon for our grindy friend, and Frontiers has been playing around with the potential of Rails, and perhaps we'll see more innovation with Rails in the rumored Frontiers 2 being in development.
So, that was Sonic the Hedgehog and the Decline (and revival?) of Rails in 3D. Feedback would be appreciated as I'm gonna try to make this a weekly thing.
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The first time I ever watched Sonic prime was one at first came out duh anyway people are saying that there's multiple different shatter verses in the show while not drain Sonic's energy because just a power the grim and his bots (friends) nine try capturing sails and Mangey but it didn't work
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Trapt Review (PS2) [Feb 2006]
What would you do if you were stuck in a mansion, trying to survive execution for a crime you didn't commit? According to Tecmo, get possessed by a demon and rip the crap out of the guys after you, naturally. That’ll show them. Continuing the development studio’s love for the dark, moody and gothic, Trapt is a rather interesting action game that involves a unique puzzle twist.
Set in a suitably gothic medieval world, you play the role of framed Princess Allura, who is evading capture (and thusly, death) after the murder of her father – a killing that her 'German S&M' inspired stepmother blames her for. Fleeing with her maid Rachel, Allura discovers an abandoned mansion that she can hide in. Upon entering however she becomes cursed with a demon known only as the fiend, who turns her into a sorceress of traps. Using these traps, you can defeat the armies of soldiers who are hunting you down, and then sacrifice them to the fiend, making it stronger.
So she’s a trapper keeper then? Hyuck hyuck.
Oh, that joke wasn’t funny when we said it the first time, and it’s not even funny in text.
A shame, we were going to base the whole review on that.Mind you, what isn’t funny is the power of the traps themselves that you get to control. The game is broken down into missions – that are in turn broken down into little mini battles where you face various pursuers, from soldiers to magicians to even tramps. News of your possession must have gotten round, because it appears everyone wants a piece of Allura, be it for a reward for her capture or plainly to stop the fiend from sacrificing any more victims.
These battles take place in a room in the mansion, and you can do nothing but run away, avoid the enemy’s attack or place traps down. The traps are effectively your attack and defence, since you can’t do anything else. Hitting Circle will show an overhead view of the room you are in, with a grid covering it. You can then assign different traps to different face buttons. Triangle is used for executing traps from the ceiling, Square activates traps set in the walls and X is for floor traps. You get a choice of three of each type of trap, but you can only put down one ceiling, one wall and one floor trap at a time.
Once you’ve set them, markers will appear on the spots you placed each trap, but you’ll need to wait until they’re charged up before you can use them. Then it’s simply a case of luring your victims to the right spot and letting loose by pressing the button that corresponds to the trap. You can even do combos, where using one trap may lead to them being hit by another, and so on. It’s fun to experiment with the different traps till you get to make an unbeatable combination. We found that catching foes in a bear trap, impaling them on a wall of spikes and then having them smacked in the face by a rolling boulder can work wonders for your combo count – but not for your victim’s head, obviously.
The graphics are pretty good, with character models in the cut scenes being quite… voluptuous. Yes, let’s put it like that. The atmosphere and foreboding of the game is created effectively with moody browns and greys inside the mansion, and Allura almost an entire figure of white in contrast. An angel amidst all of the chaos surrounding her, if you want to get metaphorical.
Despite the fact she is possessed, she is still pretty much in control of herself but, understandably, doesn’t really want to be beheaded by her rather horrible stepmother Queen. A good natured girl, driven to murder simply to survive, yet at the same time feeding the very demon that is to bring destruction to the world. Not the best of situations to be in really, is it?
The music is all very gothic as well and there’s a great selection of tunes that will keep you on your toes, while the Japanese dialogue during the cut scenes and in-game is quite emotional. Shame about those sub-titles mind. You can’t get more emotional for a bloke than your nads being shaved off by a zooming buzzsaw, and hearing your enemies groan in pain is almost illegally satisfying.
Naturally, since this is pretty much the whole of the game, the extent of the traps and how you can use them is quite vast. By killing your enemies you earn money, which can be used to purchase more traps. Before each level begins you are greeted with an ‘Intermission’ screen, where you can buy more traps, equip some attacks to your inventory so you can use them in battle, and read up on just who you will be fighting. And depending on who’s after your blood this time, certain traps will not work on them effectively.
For instance, a chunky samurai warlord with heaps of armour isn’t going to be affected by a well-shot arrow. So crack a meteor into his skull and you soon remove that problem. People you kill are quite ceremoniously added to a museum of deceased victims, with specifics on how they died. You can also buy keys, which will open up new rooms in the mansion – at first you are limited to the one room to battle in, but soon you can run from one area to another if you fancy taking the fight elsewhere.
When you start a battle, you’re given a rolling introduction to your enemies. It’s polite to get to know them before you start garrotting them, you see. Even though you may fight as many as five people in any one round, you will only ever see two foes at a time. Likely due to how much the PS2 can handle, but as you get to the later stages it all starts to feel a bit artificial. Well... obviously it is, because it’s a video game, but perhaps more than two people to battle at once would have added a bit of adrenaline to later levels.
And speaking of which, although the gameplay is original for the type of game it is, you might end up feeling bored with it after a while – the trap-placing and the running around does get a little repetitive, and you will likely stick to a select few traps that you know will work best instead of experimenting after a short time. It appears that once you get to the stage of taking on five enemies, almost on a one-after-the-other basis, you’ve hit the top of the learning curve.
The AI of the enemies are quite good, as we found ourselves rather frustrated when we set off traps too early, and the enemies simply stepped around our bodged attempt at beheading them. They do tend to be a little bit cheap though, particularly the magicians that will gang up on you with spells even when you’re on the floor and have yet to recover. You may also have problems adjusting to how slow the game is in action – the framerate is quite low and as a result everyone runs around almost as if they’re in slow motion, particularly the enemies. Not very exciting to have to wait for ages for a slow-witted opponent to be lured into a bomb trap.
Longevity is a bit of an issue as well, although the game does try its best on this one. During the story mode there is a ‘Side Story’ that consists of one extra battle, which adds an alternative side to the main game. You also have a Survival mode, but considering the issues with repetitive play, it’s unlikely you will head here too often. It's the bizarre story that keeps you playing, with multiple twists and possibilities being uncovered in almost every scene, but once you’ve seen it all you will probably come back to it every now and then to indulge in the interesting gameplay and to mutilate people in various fun and nasty ways. For as long as it does last though, there is a lot to appreciate from gamers who are looking for something new.
Score: C+
It has its shortcomings, but this is interesting enough to hold your attention until you complete it. No doubt we’ll get the Daily Mail and the other media telling us that Trapt will encourage youths to get possessed and use magic traps to kill their mates or something – Trapt is a unique and gloriously gruesome puzzle-fest. One to rent.
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This review was originally published on SPOnG.com on 24 Feb 2006, at:
https://spong.com/feature/10109341/Review-Trapt-PS2
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2/25/24 - Side Order review (Spoilers)
Welcome back! It's been a while, hasn't it? Oh, I have so many games to review now, so you'll hear from me again soon. Today's topic: Splatoon 3's Side Order. I'll get this out of the way first: There will be spoilers here. Also, fair warning: I suggest not playing this DLC if you are relatively new to Splatoon. Click to unhide spoiler to see review:
SpoilerThe story is kinda underwhelming, but it's not the biggest deal. I haven't unlocked all of Marina's dev diary, so, there are little tidbits I'm missing. The story is fairly simple, but there are cute little dialogue sequences between floors that reveal some more of the story and are entertaining.
My big issue is the gameplay. Sure, the whole "run" thing is neat but it can cause issues. One, in order to complete it, you have to beat the entire spire (30 levels) WITH A DIFFERENT WEAPON each time. This can become highly time-consuming. You also can't choose a specific level, you just have to pray you got the one you want when selecting the next floor, which hurts replayability (in my eyes, at least).
The level design is also plain. there's not much variation, and the levels are basically just arenas with a few differences. The game doesn't have many objectives to offer, so the gameplay just consists of playing similar levels and the same missions for 30 floors. Oh, by the way, if you die once (excluding Marina's hacks) you have to start all over again. From floor 1. Thankfully, I beat order on my 3rd run, but I don't want to imagine being a new player and trying out side order.
There aren't many bosses (about 3-4, I think), and their encounters are random (1 per each 10th floor, but the boss itself is randomized). So, you have to fight each boss lots of times, which gets tedious and sucks the joy out of them. By the way, do you remember that you can't manually choose a specific level/boss? Only the major story ones (2, to be exact) can be manually chosen... after you beat the game. Speaking of which, let's move on to the endgame.
The final boss resembles the first boss (Marina Agitando), where you have to destroy some portals to break the barrier so you can ink the boss itself. After you beat it, a cutscene plays and you have to spam ZR for a little. Then the fight repeats, but you have to destroy portals that hold color chips since yours were stolen. Once you break the barrier, you just have to attack Order. it took me at least 5 minutes because OH MY GOD HE HAS SO MUCH HP. I was using the roller and just circling him and spamming ZR. I kid you not when I tell you that I started drifting off. The song in the background started getting annoying because it's not very interesting musically. Oh, Pearl booyahs again but it lost the awe because it's not a killer wail and that idea was already used back in Octo Expansion.
The color chips are a neat system, though. They were probably one of the few reasons I tried to keep playing. It is fun trying to choose which upgrade you would like/need the most. The bonus and danger levels add a bit of spice, but they are far too in between. They made the game feel less bland and repetitive....But oh my god I hate the progression of side order. The gameplay gets boring after a long time due to little variation.
That's not to say there ISN'T any difficulty. The farther you progress, the tougher the Jelletons become. (Or, really, they just spawn in higher numbers, have more HP [I think] and spawn stronger ones.) The missions also require more to be done, going from just needing two portals destroyed to four. However, with the tension that comes from increased Jelleton spawn rates, the missions are still very similar and don't offer much in terms of variation.
So, if you are a new player, WAIT until you play this or you will suffer, because it is difficult.
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Test Blog
So, I guess this is a new feature that was added.
I'm not really sure if I'm gonna use it much but hey, it's nice to have, I suppose. I never really ran a blog before so this is gonna be interesting.
If I keep using it, I'll probably just post whatever is on my mind, be it opinion pieces on stuff or general random thoughts that I feel like are blog worthy.
So yeah....uh.....bye for now I guess
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Even among contemporary rhythm and arcade games, maimai visually stands out. To that end, SEGA proudly advertises the game as a landmark; It kind of looks like a new age washing machine. With a circular touchscreen surrounded by eight buttons, notes fall from the middle of the screen to the buttons on the outside, using your two hands to tap them in time to the music. As an added twist, there are gimmick notes that must be tapped and then slid across the screen to another point.
Contemporary improvements to technology would slowly shift the culture of arcades toward electronic computer games. Pong drew people by the dozen into venues to play, creating an unprecedented success for amusement machines by that point. Then Space Invaders followed years later with a newer, bigger buzz for arcades, that entire venues in Japan became solely dedicated to the game--aptly named “Invader Houses”. Pac-Man came next, then Donkey Kong, and many more. In the 80s, arcades had solidified themselves as a fixture of youth culture, and pop culture around the world by extention.
None of this to say there wasn’t a place for unique arcade video games. Music games began a whole new genre of machines, tapping notes to popular songs as codified by beatmania in 1997, and quickly followed by many games fighting to copy its success, such as the globally renowned Dance Dance Revolution, unique instrumental games like Taiko no Tatsujin, and even SEGA would jump into the craze with Sonic Team’s Samba de Amigo. While these games would have versions made for the home, avid players felt they could never match up to the arcade experience that kept them coming back. For an added twist of irony, iconic music game Guitar Hero started in the home, but ended living on in arcades. But maimai, in stark contrast, has remained exclusive to arcades, as did many later music games such as Dance Rush Stardom, Sound Voltex, and the late WACCA, alongside maimai’s sister series in CHUNITHM and O.N.G.E.K.I.
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By Ghelatlishol · Posted
This is an amazing and very fun game. My best friend introduced me to the series when we were college roommates. Over the summer we had nowhere to be, so we stayed inside the air conditioned apartment with cheap pizza, Southern Comfort mixed with Coke, and took turns playing these awesome games! I still can't have that particular drink mixture without thinking of this game. -
By juanpablomorales · Posted
I always love Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue video game. The gameplay looks very cool, the music looks very cool too. My tip for you is actually look over the longplay of Toy Story 2 on YouTube so you can actually follow along so you don't have to stopped at Alleys and Gullies level. I do heard there's also the Sega Dreamcast version of the game as well. I also do heard that the composers for the game, Marten Joustra and Andy Blythe from Swallow Studios, also composed Toy Story 1 vide -
By Iko · Posted
In New Super Mario Bros there was also a Shell power up It's not really an animal suit/transformation, and it's mostly a Koopa shell more than a generic turtle shell, so probably doesn't count, but it was more or less a turtle power up. Luigi also turns into a fox (to reference a Kitsune, another legendary animal from the Japanese culture like the Tanooki), instead of a tanooki, when using the Super Leaf in the more recent games. There are also some more characters that keep -
By Cuz · Posted
What are Bowser and the koopalings? Some kind of turtle or something that'd be ridiculious. -
By televoxica · Posted
It was ok. Though I will say that Nintendo is not Alphadream. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. But I don’t think this is the best Nintendo Direct. Imo the best one was the one that announced the Mario movie cast. It made world headlines. That’s something special
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