Happy 420, everyone. I hope you’re all doing well during quarantine. Now that my local school districts have extended their closures to the end of spring semester, it gave me enough time to start playing some games I’ve had in my backlog. One of those games being Hey! Pikmin for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a platform spin-off of the Pikmin series that plays similarly to Kirby Mass Attack, where you use your stylus to control your Pikmin on where they should go. After playing through the whole game, it gave me the realization on how it should’ve been a thing earlier for the original Nintendo DS.
The control scheme for Hey! Pikmin is really simple and requires no buttons. All it needs is a circle pad (to control Captain Olimar) and your stylus/finger (to throw your Pikmin at whichever area you want on the touch screen). The original DS lacks a circle pad, but after playing the game, I don’t see why it would’ve also used the D-pad as Olimar’s movements are really limited to just moving left and right. The DS is also capable of 3D graphics, but in lower quality polygons like that of N64 games, so it can still pull off some of the larger scale boss battles the game has. If the whole game is still too big to fit into the DS despite the graphical downgrades, then just make it a short retelling of the first game, where you only need to collect 30 parts of Olimar’s ship, and have the 3DS game we have now as the sequel. We’ve had spin-off retellings of Nintendo games before (Yoshi Touch ‘n’ Go and Metroid Prime Pinball come to mind), so it’ll at least suffice. This would mean no Rock Pikmin and Flying Pikmin for continuity reasons, but there’s still the Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin postgame.
I still haven’t finished beating this game
The idea of having Hey! Pikmin on the DS was more than coincidental, as it would help fill in the large 9-year gap between Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3 and keep public interest in the series alive. It would’ve also help soften the backlash the 3DS game received from fans like Arlo (simply because it wasn’t the prematurely announced Pikmin 4) because it would’ve been a well-known spin-off with potential by then. I do look forward to how a sequel would work after Pikmin 4 eventually comes out with species of Pikmin in the roster.
My family and I were originally planning to take a trip to Disneyland last weekend, but then we had to cancel it a few days before the actual trip when it was announced that the park will be closing for the rest of the month due to the coronavirus that’s spreading over California. Then just this week, all school districts in my home area had announced that they will be closing down for a full month until reopening after Spring Break because 2 residents have been identified to have the virus and are currently in quarantine. It’s a well known fact that the coronavirus is a worldwide pandemic, so let’s discuss what it is, how it’s impacting the gaming industry, and how to prevent yourself from getting infected by it.
The coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a new strain of virus first discovered in 2019. At first, it wasn’t previously identified in humans, but it then started to appear in them by 2020 during flu season. The infection started around southeast Asian territory, and it has now been spreading across the globe by tourists. Without taking an infection test, it’s difficult to find out if you do have the virus, but there are signs to tell if you’re infected, which include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Severe cases from infection also include pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and death. People who are most vulnerable to the virus are young children, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems. Anyone who isn’t one of the three categories are safe from having any severe cases listed above and will recover overtime; however, they can still spread it to any healthy person even if they’re unaware that they have the virus within them. And that’s what makes it dangerous to the public.
Various chain stores, districts, and theme parks have been temporarily closing their doors to the public and movie studios postponing their productions and delaying film releases in response to the pandemic, but we’re focusing on how it’s affecting the gaming industry. The biggest impact it caused was the cancellation of E3 2020, which is where all gaming companies show off their biggest upcoming titles hitting stores this year or the next. Some people thought E3 was dying anyway due to the current state of gaming and the rise of digital directs, and the coronavirus was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Meanwhile, other gaming conventions such PAX and Gamescom have yet to announce their own cancellations. Other impacts in the industry include slower game development and temporary postponements to gaming tournaments such as Smash World Tour.
We’ve discussed the origins and impact of the coronavirus, so how do you keep yourself from getting infected by it? There are three solutions to help you with that. The first solution is to constantly wash your hands. Wash them after touching anything you came in contact with, including your own pets. I would also recommend using regular soap because hand sanitizers can negatively affect your health as it contains chemicals that makes you more vulnerable to other diseases (see video below).
The second solution is to keep your hands away from your face. Because it’s full of various bacteria such as acne, the coronavirus is no exception either. This is to keep your hands from getting infected again and accidentally spreading to someone by any physical contact. Speaking of which, the third and final solution is to stay away from large crowds. This is to prevent the infection from spreading further. Your home is your only safe space from the pandemic until a cure is readily available in the future. Please be careful and have a safe St. Patrick’s day.
It took me a while because of money and other games in my backlog, but I finally got my hands on a Hat in Time for the Nintendo Switch. And after completing it last night, might as well right my review of it.
A Hat in Time was originally a PC game developed by Gears for Breakfast and published by Humble Bundle. It is another indie game inspired by 3D platformers of old, though its gameplay structure mostly takes cues from Super Mario 64 and Sunshine. You take the role of a nameless alien girl called the Hat Kid, who travels through various worlds to retrieve the hourglasses she lost from a freak accident during her space travel. However, there’s another named Moustache Girl, who plans to use the hourglasses you lost to turn back time and rule a villain-free world, so you also have to stop her too once you collect about 25 hourglasses (there are 40 in total).
Not counting the DLC, there are 4 worlds in total to explore, with each having their own level platforms to maneuver through and obstacles to get past through with a required ability you should’ve gained earlier. These abilities come in the form of the different hats you wear, such as a sprint hat and a time stop hat, and the badges you collect (the hookshot badge is completely mandatory for your playthrough). There are also special levels hidden each world called “Time Rifts,” which is where the Super Mario Sunshine inspiration comes into fruition, and these were the most fun I had with the game. Activating certain Time Rifts requires collecting relic pieces, which are also scattered around each world, and putting them back together at your main hub area. And then there’s Rift Tokens, which are used to unlock cosmetic things like palette swaps for the Hat Kid and music remixes.
Karma’s a jerk
The hat abilities stays true to the “Hat” part of the title, but for the “Time” part, not so much. Other than the time stop hat and the plot revolving around the hourglasses’ ability in turning back time, there’s nothing else related with time both gameplay wise and thematic wise. None of the worlds take place in different time periods as they all co-exist within the same timeline. It’s no Super Mario 64 either because the jumping physics can be off at times, and the camera can sometimes be your worst enemy. As far as presentation goes when it comes to the Switch version, people would’ve remembered this conversation From Gears for Breakfast a few years back:
And their reasoning behind it is due to the difficulty of reworking the game from scratch to function in consoles, being a small studio and all that, and they’re not wrong. The optimization for the Switch port is horrible, and I heard the same with the other console ports. When first started the game and reached the first level of the first world, I received and error and kicked me back to the Switch menu, and that was not a good sign for me. Fortunately, it was the only time it happened to me throughout my playthrough, but there were times where it came close.
At our old Disquis channel, I posted a review article on the first Yooka-Laylee game and how I mentioned that it plays like a Banjo-Kazooie game yet doesn’t feel like one at the same time. Both that game and a Hat in Time get compared on which is the better 3D indie platformer. And now that played both, I can conclude that a Hat in Time is the better game of the two. The camera is still a pain in both games, but a Hat in Time is also more forgivable, especially when it comes to final bosses, and its large worlds aren’t as empty as Yooka-Laylee’s. Its collectibles aren’t needlessly excessive either, making it feel more balanced. Regardless, it’s still not as good as the 3D Mario platformers, which have better control physics, optimization, and level designs. And thus concludes my review for today.
After a few months of nothing and an omission at the 2019 Video Game Awards, the 5th DLC fighter has finally been revealed, and it’s Byleth the main protagonist of Fire Emblem Three Houses. Fan backlash aside, this ends the first Fighters Pass and begins “Volume 2,” where we’re getting 6 more characters into the roster. Since Byleth is an avatar character who can be either male or female, this somewhat fulfills the quota of having a female character into pass of mostly males (Kazooie doesn’t count since she’s only part of Banjo’s moveset). So for Volume 2, why not add more female characters? There’s still more female leads who seem like perfect fits to be included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and while the number of slots is limited, I would be satisfied if we got at least one of these top 10 girls I’ve personally picked for this list.
Just a few things to note, the list is ranked from #10 as least likely to #1 to most likely, and it will not include female characters who are already in Smash as assist trophies, spirits, mii costumes, and/or cameos. And to make things more fair, it will be one female character per company.
10. Tracer (Overwatch)
Cheers, love!
Although Blizzard previously commented that Masahiro Sakurai can use whichever Overwatch character for Smash and its female cast is more popular than its male cast, Tracer is more than likely to be picked among the 20+ heroes due to being the series’ mascot. Her being a dual-wielding gunner with the ability to teleport back in time would make her a fine addition to Smash. Unfortunately, she is also the least likely female character to be picked due to Overwatch becoming less popular as the years go by and Blizzard’s recent drama with the fans regarding on kicking one of them for supporting the Hong Kong Protest last year. It’s gotten to a point where even Nintendo wants to avoid the drama by cancelling the launch party for the game’s Switch release.
9. Neptune (Hyperdimension Neptunia)
What if a SEGA console wore a Super Crown?
Never heard of Hyperdimension Neptunia? I don’t blame you, it’s a rather super niche game series developed by Idea Factory (hence why it’s #9 on this list). The story is basically a human moefication of the console war, with Neptune not only representing SEGA but also the series’ main protagonist. The series uses a third-person turn-based battle system with each character having their own stats, weapons, and specials, with 4 main titles and remakes plus plenty of spin-off titles, it warrants dear Neptune some potential for Smash.
8. Artoria Pendragon/Saber (Fate Stay Night/Fate Grand Order)
People die when they are killed
Believe it or not, the Fate series did started out as a game series, for Fate Stay Night is a visual novel, which is considered as a gaming genre (saying otherwise would also mean Phoenix Wright shouldn’t be considered for Smash), and its owner Type-Moon is considered as a Japanese gaming company. Artoria Pendragon, otherwise known as Saber, is a rule 63 variation of King Arthur and is the poster girl of the series. Despite its massive popularity in Japan, spanning merchandises and everyday household items, it’s pretty niche overseas. What’s more, she’s an anime-ish swordswoman with light-based properties, so her questionable uniqueness puts her this low on the list.
7. Haruka Amami (the Idolm@sters)
The Namco rep everyone sleeps on
Regurgitating from my predictions for the final two DLC characters for Fighters Pass 1, the Idolm@ster series and its first main character, Haruka Amami, are often slept on by every other Smash speculator when it comes to a new Bandai Namco rep. Like Saber, the series is incredibly popular in Japan but niche overseas (in fact, neither of its games were exported overseas). But unlike Saber, Haruka’s role as an idol makes her more unique than her. If Sakurai can make a fitness instructor work in Smash, then so can an idol using different dance choreographies as attacks. I’d be down if she got the Bowser Jr./Hero treatment where her alts. are different idols from the series (providing that they share a similar height size as her).
6. Reisalin Stout (Atelier)
thicc thighs
The Atelier series has been around since 1997 and has a span of over 20 installments, with Atelier Ryza being the most recent entry that came out last year. Its main character Reisalin Stout has gained popularity on the internet for her “unique” figure compared to previous Atelier protagonists. Of course lewd fanart on Twitter on Pixiv isn’t what makes her a consideration, there’s still moveset potential, which she thankfully has due to weapon crafting being the main premise of her series. However, she’ll have to wait until Ryu Hayabusa gets added into Smash since he’s pretty much Koei Tecmo’s mascot like Terry is to SNK.
5. Amaterasu (Okami)
Goddess Doggo
With Jill Valentine deconfirmed as a spirit, the only female Capcom character that’s realizable is Amaterasu from the cult classic Okami series. There’s really no need to tell you how unique she’ll be from the other 2 quadruped characters (Ivysaur and Duck Hunt) in the roster, just look up Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The only thing stopping her is the arbitrary “3 reps per third-party company” fan rule to prevent Capcom from having more reps than the others, including Konami and SEGA. And speaking of SEGA…
4. Arle Nadja (Madou Monogatari/Puyo Puyo)
She’s a bit older than she looks
Arle Nadja was one of the few characters speculated to be Fighter 5 prior to the January 16th Smash Bros. Direct due to circumstantial evidences regarding images Sakurai was posting on his twitter account each day before the direct announcement. But why her instead of Sakura Shinguji (from Sakura Wars)? Well like Terry, she too is a legacy character, at least when it comes to the Japanese audience. She and her series of origin, Madou Monogatari, debuted the same year as Fire Emblem, which is 1990, making her a pioneer to the JRPG genre (because her series is a first-person dungeon crawler RPG). So her moveset potential is already there. She and her supporting cast were originally owned by Compile Heart until SEGA bought the rights to them alongside Puyo Puyo, so whether or not she breaks the aforementioned arbitrary fan rule depends if you don’t count Joker as a SEGA rep and instead an Atlus rep.
3. Reimu Hakurei (Touhou Project)
Take it easy!
Smash speculators have been becoming less confident in indie characters becoming full fledged fighters with Shovel Knight as an assist trophy, Shantae as a spirit, and Sans as a Mii Costume. But if there’s one indie series, in terms of getting a female character, that has a better chance, it’s gotta be the Touhou Project series. Now then, my main reason on why its main protagonist Reimu Hakurei is high on its list despite its niche to almost non-existent presence overseas is due to the current rumors and whispers, which are yet to be debunked, of a doujin circle (fan community) working on Touhou music for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, along with talks about how it’s meant to tie-in with the Switch version of Antinomy of Common Flowers, an official Touhou fighting game which Reimu’s moveset will be based around. And with Fighters Pass Vol. 2 being a thing, her chances can’t get this much higher.
2. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
The original Nathan Drake
No third-party female character is more important to the mainstream than Tomb Raider’s own Lara Croft. She is hands down the most iconic female video game character of all time (with condolences to Samus and Chun Li). With her own series now being owned by Square Enix, who has 2 characters in the roster thus easier to negotiate with, and realistic guns no longer being a major issue, it would be sacrilegious for western audiences to see her left out from fighting over top video game icons like Mario, Sonic, Ryu, Cloud, and Pac-Man.
1. Ring Fit Protagonist (Ring Fit Adventure)
This gal’s lit (literally)
Since Super Smash Bros. is primarily a Nintendo series, first-party characters are the easiest to negotiate. And thanks to Byleth, we now know that characters from 2019 games have a shot at being DLC, providing that they do not have a spirit event prior (R.I.P. Daemon X Machina, Pokémon Sword & Shield, and Astral Chain). Ring Fit Adventure, Nintendo’s sleeper hit new IP, is one of those titles, and luckily it has a female protagonist (as the default gender at least, a male option still exists in the game). Joke about her being a Wii Fit Trainer echo fighter all you want, but the ring itself and the abilities it can have through doing exercise routines will make her stand out.
Honorable Mentions:
– KOS-MOS (Harada’s recent statement about the lack of consumer demands for more Xenosaga hurts her chances) – 2B (CERO may have problems with her skirt and butt) – Sakura Shinguji (Arle is more popular than her) – Morrigan Aensland (SSBU is for good boys and girls of all ages) – Adeleine & Ribbon (Possible Sakurai bias for Kirby games he was personally involved with, which Kirby 64 isn’t one of) – Miriam (It’d be like having Yooka-Laylee in Smash after Banjo-Kazooie) – Asuka (See Morrigan and also the resignation of Senran Kagura’s creator) – Alex (Steve is the default gender) – Shiori Fujisaki (Implementing a moveset for a dating sim character can be difficult) – Kasumi (Ryu Hayabusa is highly prioritized) – Kat (Sony’s own stubbornness) – Hat Kid (Western indie character)
Which female character would you like to see as DLC? Is there anyone else I may have missed out? Be sure to tell me in the comments below, and for the first question, make sure it isn’t someone already in Smash in some shape or form.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Get your chestnuts roasting on an open fire because I’m going to be making a follow-up to my article defending Charizard and the constant special treatments it’s been getting from Game Freak.
To summarize what was said on my previous article, a lot of Pokémon fans are upset about the constant Charizard pandering Game Freak has been shoving down onto their throats, and I try to justify their pandering through his competitive history of not being a viable Pokémon, and made worse after Stealth Rock was introduced, prior, to the series’ power creep problem prior to the controversial National Dex cut, to its reputation as a mascot, who in other competitive metagames are viably decent or great. Charizard lost its Mega Evolutions but gained a Gigantamax form in their place, and now that a full month has past since Sword & Shield came out, it’s time to have a look at his current placement.
VGC 2020 Rules have been officially announced.
10 Gigantamax Pokemon are currently allowed, and more will added to the ruleset throughout the year.
Gigantamax Charizard is only legal with Blaze due to the difficulty of obtaining Solar Power Gigantamax Charizard. pic.twitter.com/wXI2FVw2fw
VGC Tournament Stats is a twitter account that records the most common Pokémon used in teams in preparation for the first official Sword & Shield tournament, using doubles as the battle format instead of singles (used by Smogon). Within the first two weeks, Charizard is nowhere to be seen on the list due to Dynamax being temporarily banned at the time. Now the VGC 2020’s rules have announced that it’s allowing only 10 Gigantamax forms, with Charizard being among them, its usage started appearing on the third week onward.
Top Teams and Stats from the Galar Weekly #3
This 100+ player event saw huge shifts in the metagame. Grimmsnarl Duraludon and Gastrodon are showing up on all kinds of teams, Excadrill Tyranitar sand teams have disappeared, while Torkoal and Rhyperior lead the way for Trick Room. pic.twitter.com/kOeDKPa8HS
It's not every day that you see Pikachu win a huge tournament! The top teams this week were full of surprising Pokemon that do not usually see much tournament play – Pikachu, Inteleon, Durant, and Butterfree among the most successful. pic.twitter.com/cw6DRv18tv
Togekiss use increases rapidly, while Jellicent makes its first VGC20 breakout appearance – winner @MeninoJardim had both. More surprises in Top Cut include Passimian, Barraskewda, Flygon and Claydol.
And now Charizard is among the top 10 used Pokémon for VGC. Turns out the National Dex cut and Dynamaxing were a good thing for our Kanto Fire starter. Next you’re going to say “but Pinkie, what about Smogon?” Well let’s take a look shall we?
The results of our latest suspect test are in: with 241 votes and a 86.7% majority, Dynamax and Gigantamax have been removed from SS OU.
Oh…. oh dear. That really doesn’t sound good. I now wonder how Charizard is faring in Smogon with SwSh’s main gimmick banned in OU.
Well, at least it’s not in Neverused (NU) anymore. Underused (UU) is still not a good tier to be in given its name not ringing “mid-tier” in mind. That meaning would go to Borderline (BL).
So long story short, whether or not Dynamaxing is banned is what makes or break Charizard’s competitive viability. If you’re playing by VGC rules, then it’s great, but if you’re playing by Smogon rules, then it’s average. In the end, the pandering still paid off for both Game Freak and the Pokémon Company Inc. since they care more about the former than the latter. Now to find out how well Charizard will fare in the inevitable third version/sequels/Sinnoh remakes within a year or two.
Dynamax is the latest battle mechanic introduced in Pokémon Sword & Shield. It turns your Pokémon giant-sized for 3 turns and transforms whatever moves it knows into nukes similar to Z-moves. There also exist another form of Dynamaxing called Gigantamax forms, which are similar to Mega Evolutions except it comes with a G-Max move exclusive to certain Pokémon who can Gigantamax. There are currently 26 Pokémon who possess, with Charizard being one of them, and this fact has ticked off a lot of fans.
Since its debut appearance in the original games, Charizard has been one of the most popular Pokémon to the mainstream public, and it has led some fans of the series to loathe it for how overrepresented it is and how it’s overshadowing stronger Pokémon in later generations like Ferrothorn, Heatran, Toxapex, and even Landorus. And that’s because Charizard isn’t a very good Pokémon and is usually used by scrubs/newbies in the competitive metagame, so I’m here to justify the special treatment it’s been getting from Game Freak for the past few generations.
It’s true what the fans said about Charizard’s mediocre performance in the metagame. It’s naturally outclassed by Moltres, who, despite that, still isn’t a good legendary competitive wise, and to make matters worse for it, Gen 4 introduced Stealth Rock, a hazard move that gives a certain of amount to Pokémon who switch out based on whether or not they’re weak to rocks. Charizard is a Fire/Flying type, which gives it a 4x rock weakness, meaning it loses 50% of its HP when it switches out while Stealth Rock is in play. This further relegated him into the lower tiers, where some of the worst Pokémon are present. It wasn’t until Gen 6 introduced Mega Evolutions and gave Charizard not one but two of them as a way to buff him to be Overused (OU) material. Of course, this was also when fans started to grow more irritated towards Charizard getting special treatment, but then again, the same form of outrage also happened with Greninja when it received a new form in Pokémon Sun & Moon (it may have something to do with them wanting the other starters from their respective gens to have the same treatments in order to be perfectly balanced).
But now Mega Evolutions, as well as Z-moves, have been removed for SwSh, which means Charizard is back to being Stealth Rock fodder like the rest of the Fire types not named Heatran, Camerupt, and any Fire/Fighting type (all of whom aren’t in the Galar dex btw). That is until Game Freak combined the two removed mechanics in the form of Dynamaxing, to which Charizard could utilize to take out common Water and Ground types with a D-Maxed Grass move, since all Fire types learn Solarbeam, thanks to it bypassing any wind-up, recoil, or recharge effect the move in question normally has. The game also introduces Heavy Duty Boots, an item that prevents the user from taking damage from hazard moves, including Stealth Rock.
It’s understandable as to why fans are upset about Charizard’s special treatment, but they also need to know why they’re doing this. A lot of the original 151 Pokémon have fallen victim to power creep in later generations as new powerful Pokémon are introduced that relegate old favorites worthless. Game Freak had to give them cross gen evolutions, Mega Evolutions, regional variants, and now Gigantamax forms as their way to keep them relevant to the series’ evergrowing competitive metagame. But even then it’s not enough to make them viable because most of them still end up in the lower tiers due to missing whatever key-important stat spreads, moves, or abilities they needed to compete against the powerful new mons. Because of this, it became one of the main reasons to cut down the national dex to 400 Pokémon (435 if you include the unreleased event Pokémon) in Sword & Shield.
There’s also mainstream expectation as a mascot character to be competitively viable for a game that has a meta. Ryu, for example, is Street Fighter’s mascot and has been a consistently high tier character throughout the series up until Street Fighter V, whose metagame punishes projectile-based moves. If your mascot character turns out to be mediocre in a metagame, then it’s time to retire that character and give the title to a top tier character, even if he or she doesn’t appeal to mainstream audiences who grew up with the previous mascot. Like, can you imagine Landorus-T as our new Pokémon mascot instead of Pikachu? It’s why Game Freak has been trying so hard to make both Charizard, Pikachu, and recently Eevee new forms and moves to play with, hoping that they would make them more viable in order to retain their mascot statuses.
And that’s pretty much all I have to say on defending Charizard. I acknowledge the fact that not every Pokémon fan cares about competitive battles and just want to play the games casually, which is where most of the hate towards Charizard is coming from, but they have to understand that they’re not the only fans Game Freak want to appeal. It’s why Sword & Shield has brought so many quality of life changes to make it the easiest way for casuals to get into the competitive scene, to promote their VGC events, without going through those time-consuming methods of yesteryear such as IV breeding. By then, these so-called scrubs will finally have a better Charizard that doesn’t have Fly or Dig in its moveset.
Happy early Halloween to those who live within the U.S. by the time I’m writing this. Thought I might make an article related to the holiday before the beginning of November, especially if it’s related to video games. And I know just the right game to talk about during my days at Disquis (until they decided to purge all channels last month), and that game is Haunted Castle.
Haunted Castle is the first arcade installment to the Castlevania series, despite not sharing the same name just to confuse any casuals unfamiliar with the franchise’s lore. The plot is about Count Dracula kidnapping Simon Belmont’s wife Serena right after the two wedded, and now he must venture through his castle to rescue her. This game has a couple of memorable tracks that later appeared in other Castlevania games, including Heart of Fire, which will eventually become Julius Belmont’s theme from the Sorrow saga. But alas, this is one of few titles marked as non-canon to the official Castlevania timeline. This article will go over why this arcade title can easily fit into the canon.
What a horrible night to have a curse.
For those of you who haven’t play through Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (I don’t blame you, the game is easy to get lost in due to its unreliable hints), there are 3 different endings depending on how fast you finished the game in time. The plot of that game is that Simon Belmont was cursed by Dracula to die an early lifespan, and the only way to break the curse is to gather 5 of Dracula’s body parts and destroy them (but he ends up being revived once they’re all gathered). If you beat the game within 8 days or less in-game, you get the best ending, where Simon is free from his curse and Dracula stays dead. Or so we thought until we see his hand popping out of his grave.
The best ending of Simon’s Quest allows Haunted Castle to easily fit into the timeline because it suggests Simon was able to live a peaceful life after defeating Dracula not once, not twice, but three times, and continues to pass on the Belmont bloodline. However, the next Castlevania title that chronologically comes after Simon’s Quest, Harmony of Dissonance, retconned the normal ending, where Simon still succumbs to his curse and dies early after defeating Dracula again, to being canon, meaning the events of Haunted Castle never happened. And that is pretty lame because it gives Simon a bittersweet ending and gives us unanswered questions on whether or not he had kids before or after the events of his second adventure.
The only time you get to play as a female Belmont.
The Castlevania timeline has gone through a few number of retcons before. Castlevania Legends use to be the first game chronologically, explaining the origins of Dracula and the Belmont clan, but then came Lament of Innocence, which became the new first game in the timeline. But unlike Lament of Innocence, there isn’t anything convoluted enough to stop Haunted Castle from being put into the timeline. A simple solution to this problem is what indie game series Gucamelee also did, retconning the best ending of Simon’s Quest as canon instead of the normal/bad ending. Then, when Harmony of Dissonance gets an updated re-release or remake, a simple change in dialogue would help rectify Haunted Castle into the mainline series. Now if only Konami starts caring about their IPs again like they recently did with Bomberman and Contra.
2019 has been an interesting year for Persona 5. We’ve got the game’s main protagonist Joker as the first fighters pass character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a new Warriors game crossing over with Persona 5, and an updated re-release titled Persona 5 the Royal arriving in Japan this month (and the U.S. next year). And now there’s a Joker movie that’s out in theaters as of this time. Going in, I was assuming it was going to be phase 1 of a Persona 5 cinematic universe by giving each member of the Phantom Thieves their own solo films before the events of the game (I would kill for a Morgana solo film). What I saw instead was nothing but pure disappointment.
Aside from his sick dance moves and him being a social outcast who’s against corrupted society, Joker looks and acts nothing like how he is in the game. In fact, this whole movie has nothing to do with Persona 5 at all. It’s about a mentally ill clown who’s been treated like crud and failed a comedian, and he’s reached to a breaking point where he becomes a psychopathic criminal. There are no music tracks, references, or even character cameos from the game (not even ones from Persona 3 and 4).
After doing some research, I found out that this was never meant to be a Persona 5 movie to begin with. It’s based on a comic book series I never heard of called Batman, which is about some rich guy named Bruce Wayne dressing up as a bat to fight crime because his parents were shot dead by a criminal. This movie is suppose to be an origin story of one of his arch enemies who is also named Joker (but has “the” as part of his name). As a Persona fan, I am outraged that neither Hollywood nor the filmmakers have warned us that it wasn’t going to be our film, and because of this and how I’m not a fan of its gritty tone, I’m going to give this movie a thumbs down.
And that’s something I would say if I was an uncultured hermit who’s been living under a rock. So in all seriousness, the movie is fine as is. Joaquin Phoenix nails it at performing Arthur Fleck’s social awkwardness and his slow and creepy descent into becoming the Joker. I wouldn’t recommend taking your kids with you because it’s rated R for a reason (a couple of graphical violence being one of them), but like how parents will ignore the ESRB’s rating system, they’ll ignore the movie rating system and bring their kids to see it simply because it’s a Batman movie about the Joker.
It’s been 50 years since the moon landing, and before the year ends, I have to talk about one video game that’s about moon travel. That game happens to be Moonbase Alpha, and it became a meme sensation for a while when it first came out.
Released on July 6, 2010, Moonbase Alpha a realistic simulation game developed by Army Game Studios and published by NASA Learning Technologies. The game takes place in a distant future, and your goal is to repair your outpost, after taking massive damage from a meteor strike, in order to save 12 years of research of your team’s life on the moon. These are done by repairing vital components of the life support system, solar array, and oxygen units using a wide a wide variety of tools available. Team cooperation is highly encouraged, hence why it supports online multiplayer.
The game received mixed reviews from critics, praising its concept while criticizing its lack of diverse missions. It’s also spawned a meme in the gaming community regarding its Fonix DECTalk text-to-speech chatbox, allowing players to goof off by typing absurd dialogue to each other for the lulz. Because of this, the game isn’t being played as originally intended.
If you’re curious to try this game out by yourself and want to bring your friends along, then go ahead. Moonbase Alpha is free to download on Steam. You’re bound to laugh out loud and have some chaotic fun with the text-to-speech chatbox and some of the dialogue you or your friends will type out. Without further ado, “UUUUUUUUUU…”
Happy Friday the 13th, everyone, at least by the time I’m writing this article. What more can I do than to play a video game based on the iconic slasher series of the same name. And now that it has a physical copy available on the Switch, I finally have the chance to try it out.
In the game, you play as either series antagonist Jason Voorhees or those horny camp counselors. As Jason, your objective is to kill every last one of them, and he’s equipped with glory kills and 4 different abilities to do the job. As a counselor, you’re goal is to survive by either escaping from Camp Crystal Lake, fighting back and kill Jason, or waiting until 20 minutes are up. There are three ways to escape, either by car, by boat, or by police forces. But getting to either of them is no easy task, as you need to collect certain key items to fix both your escape vehicle of choice and the phone line. Let’s not forget that you have to do all of this without being spotted by Jason. You can hide by going inside a closet or under a bed, but Jason will eventually find you with his sensibility power, which allows him to see where the surviving players are at.
The game is said to run on Unreal Engine 4, but having to have played it myself, I have a hard time believing this to be true. When I think of Unreal Engine 4, I think of hyper advanced lighting effects to make the character models more photorealistic than it looks, and the graphics here look on par with PS3 and 360 games in comparison. There’s also a couple of bugs and glitches I found on my playthrough, though none of them were game-breaking (they’re only textural bugs). The number of modes is as barebones as Rocket League, as you only have the main game and character customizations, where you can not only change your counselor’s outfits but also Jason’s appearance based on the movies (each with their unique abilities and weaknesses). Lastly, there’s no motion controls on the Switch version, so good luck trying to land an accurate hit whoever you play as.
Overall, I only recommend playing Friday the 13th through short bursts. At least with Rocket League, you get to play in different stadiums with their own format. Here, it’s the same map and layout, and you get spawned to a different area of it each game, whether it’s Jason or a counselor. I really wasn’t expecting much from this movie licensed game, but it’s at least miles better than the awful NES game by LJN, which is also in this game as a alternate skin for Jason (complete with 8-bit music). Now if you’ll excuse me as I continue play this for the rest of the day before getting back to Three Houses.
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