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#how would the esrb even rate this
shrimpmandan · 1 year
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I honestly fucking hate when antis bring up that fiction DOES affect reality as a counterargument to proshippers bc the thing is they’re not even technically wrong. Fiction and reality are inherently intertwined on some level. For example, fiction often depicts the ideals and standards of the time, or the creator’s lived experience. Fiction can impact reality in the form of individual people, both positively and negatively. For example, a propaganda cartoon vs an educational cartoon. The thing is, antis refuse to acknowledge that the “fiction =/= reality” argument (in the context of proshippers using it) is a direct response to the incorrect assertion that fiction will make people act against their morals. This can be about anything from “incest/abuse/age gap relationships in fiction will normalize it irl”, “video games cause shootings”, “porn causes violence”, or any other amount of honestly baseless and reactionary assertions about the world.
I see propaganda brought up a lot, which is especially frustrating, because antis don’t understand how propaganda works. Propaganda is not something that you watch and suddenly, you’re racist. Funnily enough, propaganda on its own isn’t particularly persuasive or logical in how it’s presented-- it’s just manipulative. Propaganda specifically takes advantage of preconceived ideas, fears, and prejudices-- for example, anti-gay propaganda would play into the idea of gay men being predatory, deviant, and mentally disordered, because that was already the general consensus of the time. Propaganda, by nature, plays into existing emotions, or preys on the human fear of the unfamiliar. This is why the best combatant to propaganda is education.
You can apply this same thing to taboo fiction, violent video games, and violent porn. You could make the argument that these things could have negative influences on children, seeing as they’re much more impressionable and may have a harder time distinguishing between fiction and reality, but the bottom line is kids are not the target audience for any of these things. They are not supposed to be viewing NSFW writings, videos, or games. We already have things like ESRB ratings, “are you 18?” verification checks (as paper thin as they may be), and tagging systems in place for the express purpose of deterring kids (or parents of kids) from seeing something that aren’t meant for them. After a certain point, you really just have to place the responsibility on the parent for either not monitoring their children, or being careless about what kind of content they consume. Aka: NOT the fault of the adults who make or enjoy violent or explicit media.
Going back to propaganda for a minute, with taboo fiction in particular (incest, age gap, etc.), it’s already, y’know, taboo. Meaning people are actively discouraged from participating in, or even just talking about it, since things like incest and pedophilia are already largely considered immoral. Most Western citizens would agree that irl abusive relationships, rape, and the like, are all immoral. So why would reading about it suddenly make them go against the entire worldview and moral upbringing they had? That’d be utterly absurd! However, if someone who was already considering or apologetic towards something like pedophilia were to consume media depicting it positively, it might, and I repeat, MIGHT have a chance to influence them into actually committing an offense. And even then, any evidence of that is extremely flimsy.
There’s been a small handful of IRL cases around fiction and reality. One that comes to mind is the murder trial of Scott Dyleski, wherein the prosecutor asserted that the Invader Zim episode Dark Harvest inspired Dyleski to commit murder. However, this statement was hardly backed up with any kind of proof, and in my opinion, is a weak argument on the prosecution’s end. There just isn’t any psychological evidence that makes a strong connection between dark/violent/explicit media and moral degradation, and while there have been studies done surrounding things like “do video games cause violence?” and “is porn making young men misogynistic rapists?”, these studies either came back inconclusive or even outright stating that no, these things do not lead directly to IRL violence. Simply googling “do video games cause violence?” or “does porn cause violence?” will yield countless articles stating that there’s no strong link between the two things. And, at its core, this is what proshippers mean when they say that fiction =/= reality. To say that fiction is responsible for all of society’s ills, instead of the fact that fiction takes inspiration from the tragedies of the real world, is an absurd take.
Overall, I think I’m still happy with the “fiction =/= reality on a 1-to-1 level” wording that’s since replaced “fiction =/= reality”. It’s far less generalized and overall more difficult for antis to counter with actual evidence (which, let’s be honest, they barely use anyways), even though the only reason proshippers were using such a generalized statement to begin with was to counter another generalized statement: that taboo or violent fiction will always, or almost always, lead to irl crimes and normalization.
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beevean · 2 months
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The moral outrage over an AU of Sonic being tortured in captivity will always be dumb as shit. All of the marketing and promotional stuff surrounding Forces was showing the then-upcoming game as a more serious and darker story. But certain people are shocked to see other fans jumping right at something the game and promotional material was handing to them silver platter.
That would be like having a conniption from seeing a character like Erazor Djinn, a canonical abuser, being portrayed doing just as bad, if not worse than the shit he pulled in his respective game.
I really wouldn't put it past them to go more into the nitty-gritty of the darker elements in the series, if the Sonic franchise as a whole wasn't primarily aimed at a child demographic. Just look at what they did in Shadow's game with it just having the E10+ rating(which had just been implemented into ESRB rating system earlier that year).
Fun fact: I still have saved in my drafts a response to a post I found way back then (I will never publish it for obvious reasons, but I needed to vent lmao), and this part always fascinated me.
The fact that there are people who think that torturing Sonic for the sake of “story,” is okay - well it’s unnerving to me, and I don’t think anyone should willingly desire to make such a thing. Moreover, that there are adults participating in the content.
"It's unnerving to me, and I don’t think anyone should willingly desire to make such a thing". I love it. Pure anti logic distilled in one singular sentence. Art.
"There are adults participating in the content" is another good line. This implies that the issue is that the Encaged AU was written by an adult, and not a teen. The rest of the post is basically all about how Sonic is for children, therefore the adults in the fandom should always be mindful of the children.
I know that joking about Maria's death is now beating a dead horse, but yeah the series has had as a plot point the murder of a young girl that drove her grandfather to planet-destroying madness. If children can handle SA2 and ShTH (which in Europe had a 12+ rating, so higher than the usual 7+ but not exactly adult), or even '06 with Sonic dying in the Last Story, they can handle the presence of a vaguely grimdark AU.
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bri-does-art · 1 year
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Do humans taste good to the mers? I know they are probably not very picky, but I don't imagine people taste very good.
Oh man. Okay. So. I'm only just stumbling out of a google deep dive so bear with me, this is probably going to be a little all over the place. This may look disorganised on the surface but I swear I'm working towards a point.
So, most Subnautica creatures bleed yellow blood, don't they? Initially they bled red, but the devs changed it during development to avoid getting too severe ratings from the ESRB and having the game removed from shelves or outright banned in certain countries.
But, ignoring the Doylist perspective and looking at it from the Watsonian perspective, this would mean that the creatures of Subnautica do not have iron-based blood as we do, and use a different metallic compound in their blood to transport oxygen... if they breathe oxygen at all. But, uh, let's just assume they do. The most likely candidate would maybe be cobalt-based blood.
For the protagonist's sake, let's hope it's not. Eating the local fish would have poisoned them from the very first bite. |'D Now, I'm no biochemist or biologist. I couldn't tell you what other compound would make yellow blood. That's not my point here anyway. The point is, they would have different biochemistry. Which would most likely affect how they taste.
And how human, with their alien, iron-based hemoglobin, would taste to them. And, I don't imagine it would taste very good, if they're not used to having such iron-rich food. (If they even can digest such iron-rich food.) It would probably taste surprisingly bitter, a rusted, coppery taste they wouldn't be used to. Maybe they could get used to it, like an acquired taste, or they just wouldn't care, food is food and beggars don't get to be choosers when you don't know when your next meal might come.
But I imagine if given the option between eating a human and eating one of the less tasty morsels of S/2202 B2's oceans, most would probably choose the crappy morsel over the human. So, the answer would be: no, humans don't taste all that good to most mers. But hey, everyone has different tastes...
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mirielwebster · 1 year
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What better way to get started than with Fire Emblem's favourite word, dastard, which appears in just about every game, be it officially or unofficially translated? This shot in particular is from the new (fan)translation of FE4, but it was present in the older one as well. Fans often seem to assume it's just a butchering of "bastard" (for ratings reasons) without realising that it is a real word with a real meaning.
( "Implore" is also a possible candidate, and perhaps also "adore" and "undercut" as well if you want to be thorough. )
An Emblematic starting word, indeed!
Fire Emblem's relationship with pejoratives is an interesting one, and while dastard is definitively a distinct word from bastard, I do think there is a relationship between the use of old-timey insults and the need or desire to keep things "Nintendo-friendly." It was rare to see even a damn in the first localized games, and part of the way localization circumvented this was to have the characters use epithets that sounded... well, medieval. Hence your craven!s and your cur!s and, if you're feeling extra spicy, your craven cur!s. I'm actually hard-pressed to recall a usage of dastard in at least FE7 (which was fond of blackheart in similar circumstances); maybe the ESRB thought it was a little too close to the B-word for comfort.
Of course, as the series settled comfortably into a consistent "T for Teen" rating, sensibilities surrounding language loosened up. Awakening was the first game to see characters swearing on a fairly regular basis— up to and including bastard with a B! Yet we still see dastard often enough in modern FE games, which should put to rest the notion that it's merely a euphemism for a more offensive term. They're used differently, and that boils down to both meaning and tone.
(This is where I was initially going to expound on bastard, but just as that section of the post was getting to be too long, an angel of mercy sent an Ask for that very word. So stay tuned, all you beautiful bastards.)
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Kidnapping is, of course, Dastardry 101.
So, what exactly does it mean to be a dastard? Merriam-Webster gives two definitions: 1) “coward,” and 2) “a person who acts treacherously or underhandedly.” 
While people do seem to assume dastard as it appears in FE is a willful typo, I’d wager most of you have actually heard its adjectival form: dastardly! Yes, that’s an adjective, not an adverb, despite the -ly ending— same with words like friendly and unsightly.
If the context hasn’t made it clear by now, these words are practically synonymous with villainy. But we’re not just talking any old villain: the key word in the above definitions is underhanded. Dastard carries the sense of cowardice with it because it’s associated with backstabbing, behind-the-scenes scheming, sneak attacks, and just generally dirty tactics. Arguably the most famous “dastard!” in Fire Emblem is directed toward Arvis in Genealogy of the Holy War, and it’s patently well-deserved. And even though Chagall in the asker’s provided screenshot might be projecting juuust a little bit, he actually does well to give us some context clues, as he accuses Eldigan of getting close to his father in order to get one over on Chagall— which, if it were true, would certainly qualify as underhanded. Not as underhanded as murdering your peace-loving king and father, maybe, but who’s to say.
So while modern audiences will sooner associate this word with being a villain than with merely being a coward, it’s important to note that not every villain is a dastard. Your big, strong, honest warlord types— Walhart, for instance— are generally not going to be very dastardly. Neither are your force-of-evil gods and monsters… after all, who needs trickery and deception when you can turn your foes to stone, incinerate them with your breath, or simply eat them? And while yes, dastard and bastard are different words, one commonality you might have noticed is how male-gendered they both are in practice. Nothing whatsoever is stopping a woman from being a dastard, but it’s unlikely she’ll ever be called one. 
As for the other words:
Implore basically means beg, though it implies a little more dignity. Rather than falling to your knees, folding your hands, and crying a lot, you need a more strategic and sophisticated approach when imploring. Eldigan’s completely sincere in his desire to put a stop to Chagall’s warmongering, but he doesn’t lower himself upon asking.
Adore means love, especially in a worshipful or fawning way. While it can still be used in an earnest way, it's just as often tinged with condescension, implying disdain for the adorer, the adoree, or both. I’m not sure when adorable came to be synonymous with cute, but I think there’s an intentional hyperbole in that usage that became lost as it became common. Chagall may likewise be hyperbolizing, intent as he is upon framing Eldigan as… well, a manipulative dastard. Having already learned his true feelings toward his father, what's meant to communicate sympathy for the king to Eldigan rings hollow and ironic to the audience.
Undercut as used here means the same as undermine, which is to weaken or make useless via subtle or covert means. It’s all very underhanded… or shall we say, dastardly. Undercut does have more of an association with direct competition or rivalry, though, which gives the sense that part of this may be personal to Chagall.
Well, I think that covers everything! Tune in next time, when we discuss dastard’s edgier, PG-13 cousin. Oh yes, I was serious.
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321spongebolt · 3 months
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With the "Animaniacs" movie, "Wakko's Wish" turning 25 next year, I figured I would discuss an idea that I had for if Warner Bros. gave "Wakko's Wish" more promotion at the time. Like if it was given a soundtrack (as I previously discussed here) or a storybook with screenshots from the film used on each page. In this case, why not a tie-in videogame released on Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast (possibly), and PC. That's not to say I'm the one who has this idea. My friend, @iantheartandtapecollector had a similar idea, and even posted box art for how he would interpret "Wakko's Wish" as a tie-in movie video game. My view is a lot different, as I have two directions for how this would go. On one hand, I would've chosen Infogrames, given the experience they had with "Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time", which was also released in 1999, albeit exclusively for PS1 and PC. On the other hand, I would've chosen Ubisoft, who developed "Tonic Trouble" and "Rayman 2: The Great Escape" as their first 3D platformers. Down below are two options I had in terms of gameplay style. The only similarity between the two is that they would both be 3D platformers, but without a life limit, just health.
ESRB RATING
Obviously rated E for everyone, moving on.
DEVELOPER
(You decide)
PUBLISHER
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
GAMEPLAY OPTION 1
"Wakko's Wish" would be a 3D platformer with its gameplay style based on "Super Mario 64", "Banjo-Kazooie", and even "Donkey Kong 64", where you can freely explore open levels and perform missions to unlock some power star-like collectable needed to progress through the story.
GAMEPLAY OPTION 2
"Wakko's Wish" would be a 3D platformer with its gameplay style based on "Rayman 2: The Great Escape" and "Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time", where you are still free to roam around levels and explore hidden areas, but the levels still have a Point A to Point B setup.
CONCEPT FOR A BOSS BATTLE
Unlike in the movie where Dot faked her death, Dot's death will be real in the game. As Yakko and Wakko, you must fight King Salazar until his health is down. The final level has you play as Wakko alone, who is on a time limit. As Wakko, the goal is to avoid King Salazar's cannonballs until time runs out, with Wakko touching the wishing star. And instead of wishing for two ha'pennies like in movie, Wakko will wish for Dot to be brought back to life, which works, thus ending the game's story mode.
CONCEPT FOR THE MENU SCREEN
After the game's opening logos, you are taken to the Warner Bros. water tower from the show itself. Pressing "Start" causes the door to open, resulting in the camera flying into the interior of the water tower. The setup could even have the camera focus on areas of the tower itself. Like, there could be a desk where the "Wakko's Wish" book lies. When it opens, you can select something like "New Game", "Load Game", or "Multiplayer". There can also be an option to take you into this movie theater room based on projector interstitial from "Animaniacs". On the PS1, Dreamcast, and PC versions, you can view the clips from the movie that play before each level. Due to limitations of Nintendo 64 cartridges not being able to use movie clips, the Nintendo 64 version uses an art gallery where you can view the stills from the movie.
MULTIPLAYER
One idea I was thinking of is if this game would have a multiplayer mode similar to what "Donkey Kong 64" would do by having 2-4 player split-screen battles. You play as Yakko, Wakko, Dot, or the other characters and throw snowballs at each other until they lose all their health. This can be played in 4-player free-for-all matches, or 2 vs. 2 matches.
Up above are some designs I thought of for what the N64 version's cartridge would look like.
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submalevolentgrace · 11 months
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Hey, just fyi ESRB & PEGI don't screen specifically for medical abuse so media isn't required give warnings for it, you could try to petition ESRB/PEGI to add that to their rating system, but currently you won't get any warnings for that content from official sites. It may sometimes fall under violence/fantasy violence/gore so if a piece of media has any of those warnings it might mean theres medical abuse
For now I really recommend doesthedogdie.com to get specific trigger warnings for media, usually you have to wait a week or two after something comes out for the warnings (its based on votes by users), but they include warnings for ableism, amputation, & body horror, along with like 100 other things
Sorry people are being shitty to you, hope you're doing okay <3
honestly fascinated by why you decided to send me this
i never even mentioned ratings boards because i know they're useless when it comes to actually codifying or describing what's in media that might be upsetting. there were a bunch of people in the notes arguing about ratings boards though, maybe that's what made you think to say this to me, except i am not those people
i also don't trust any aggregate site like doesthedogdie or unconsentingmedia, because honestly, ableism is baked so deep into every aspect of culture that the only people who know how to recognise what might be triggering for medical abuse are people that have experienced it or inflicted it... everyone else is, at best, obliviously desensitised to it
i can't pull up the original text of my post now since i've deleted all my branches of it to stop the notes, but i'm certain that i framed it as making a trigger warning known for other disabled people that have experienced forced treatment or surgery, and any reference to it happening 'without warning' is in the sense that, it's extreme body horror in a context that doesn't prepare the audience for it; ie, going into a horror game franchise like resident evil, dead space, soulsbornesekiroring etc, the audience can be reasonably assumed to be prepared for horror elements including fucked up body shit... i don't think any reasonable person could be expected to start up the latest installment of 'the legend of brightly coloured elf boy saves the magical princess from a big demon pig with a laser shooting sword' and be met with mummified cross species unconsenting arm transplant - and i say that as someone that was bracing for the worst possible outcome since the first trailers, based on my own arm issues. it never once occurred to me that they would go that batshit insanely horrifying with it, because it's a zelda game.
and also like - i really don't actually want to pile on you personally kind stranger, i can see that you're making a gesture you believe is helpful from a place of compassion and that's a positive even if it lands poorly - but i'm absolutely fascinated by the schema, the mental and perceptual framework, that has to be in place to see this kind thing, to see someone implying their direct experience with the hospital system willfully inflicting graphic body horror on them in violation of their autonomy, and to think in response: "well, you could petition industry groups to put more specific warning labels on games"
like, doctors are out there right now doing horrific surgical abuse on disabled people because society at large doesn't view us as human, abled people are in denial that it's happening or supporting the "mercy" and "compassion" of the doctors that do it, and that dehumanisation and denial runs so deep that it casually makes its way into family entertainment without a second thought of the authors.... the problem isn't "ratings boards aren't specific enough" and i cannot fathom the chain of thoughts that led you to that idea
so, incase it isn't obvious, no i am not doing okay, and i never will be again because of what was done to me..... but... i do appreciate that you hope i am doing okay all the same
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dailybayonetta · 2 years
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do you think there's a reason why bayonetta went in such different direction, if we compare it to first game?
I mean... if I had to say, well, it's been a decade, that's a first Secondly, let's be real, I think (not even think. that's literally how is it) completely different team / devs works on Bayo now Sure, there's people there and there, but it's important from all sides The first game still remains the "Kamiya" game after all, he had a clear direction and what he wanted, hence the game was like that Plus, I'm not the one to speak for localisation (since I'm not native english speaker), but that part is also important and the person who was behind direction of that is also gone I think to that point that it seems that this time it's clearly a dub over different language? at least judging by the trailer (maybe its just cut this way) and the lips sync in it i would assume that motion capture is done in japanese / by japanese dev production Between first and second game, Platinum had Metal Gear Rising and while it was mostly controlled by Konami, you can see still the influence from the devs on the game and then in return what they did with Bayo2 that also influenced them Then during the time of no Bayo3, between second and third game we had both Nier Automata, Astral Chain and many licenesed projects that just used Platinums mechanics and you can see AC influence all over Bayo3, even starting from having the same "style" and clean UI -which bothers me a lot, why is it that boring- and well it's looks like the same engine, but polished Add to that, that between the first game, DMC died even before Bayo1, got rebooted, failed to get rebooted with more western approach and then CAME BACK proving that action-character games still do sell well and as much as people say Automata did that too, I think it has more going on Again, I'm not saying that Platinum in any case copying stuff, what I'm saying is that gaming industry has standarts (ESRB rating says that Bayo probably has Day-One DLC and let's all pray it's not some microtranscations thing) and media has standarts as well (hence that's why we are getting some sort of multiverse plotline) and obviously if you're not gonna adapt to it, you just not gonna survive on the market But that was the reason why I enjoyed first game this much though.
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Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix Recap: Beast's Castle (Don't Fall in Love)
Before you can even access the world, you again have to complete a Gummi Route. In this case, Stardust Sweep.
Just like Asteroid Sweep, the Gummi Ship flies between various asteroids while battling Heartless and Nobodies. Unlike Asteroid Sweep’s red-tinted asteroids, these are tinted green.
Later routes contain more interesting gimmicks.
(Corner’s note: I am attempting to add a ‘readmore’ tag because I love these but I don’t want to subject everyone to the KH version of the ‘color of the sky’ post!)
 Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in the Entrance Hall, taken aback by both its size and how gloomy it is.
Sora wonders who lives here, and the trio is startled by a distant roar from deeper in the castle.
However, it doesn’t take long for them to recognize the roar as the Beast’s and, excited to reunite with one of their old friends, decide to check up on him as a Shadow Heartless creeps into a small room to the East.
Sora notices this, and the heroes disembark to battle the Heartless.
FUN FACT!: The overworld theme for this world is known as “Waltz of the Damned”. This got the rhythm game a “mild language” mark on its ESRB rating.
In the Parlor, our heroes find a rose under a glass dome, and are immediately surrounded by Heartless.
After enough time has passed, enough Heartless have been defeated, or Sora has lost, the trio get overwhelmed by the Heartless’ sheer numbers.
At this point, the Beast barges into the room, curb-stomps all the Heartless without breaking a sweat, swats the heroes aside just as easily, takes the rose, and leaves without a word of acknowledgement.
Goofy wonders if the Beast forgot about them, Sora notes that the Heartless’ presence must mean something, and Donald’s salty over getting swatted like a bug.
This room holds a Save Point and Monty’s Moogle Shop. Monty adds the Silver Ring accessory to the shops in Twilight Town and Hollow Bastion.
Out in the Entrance Hall, Donald notices a lady at the top of the stars.
Goofy surmises that the lady would have to be Belle, since this is Beast’s Castle and all, and Sora suggests that she might know what happened to the Beast.
On the way, the heroes are beset by various Heartless, including two notable types.
Sometimes, while walking down the halls or through the Courtyard, some of the gargoyles will be possessed by Heartless and come to life. These are Gargoyle Knights (wielding swords) and Gargoyle Warriors (wielding axes). Blocking the Gargoyle Knight’s attacks will stagger it, allowing Sora to use the “Release” Reaction Command to instakill it by expelling the Heartless animating it. The same can be done to Gargoyle Warriors by avoiding their spin-attack.
Upon ascending the stairs up to the East Wing, Sora hushes Donald and Goofy so they can sneak in.
Belle laments her situation, wondering what she’s going to do, and Donald tries to break the door down!
Slapstick ensues when Belle opens the door anyway, and she greets Donald with an (unwanted) hug, before also giving a verbal welcome to Sora and Goofy as the party’s Mage struggles in her embrace. This also makes her one of the few characters to break the sacred order of “Sora, Donald, and Goofy” when addressing the party.
After she releases Donald, she explains the situation to the party.
They’re having some relationship troubles lately, with the Beast not really talking to her anymore and locking himself in the West Wing.
More worryingly, he’s also locked up most of his servants, and Belle has no idea why.
The only way to access it is via the West Hall, and Sora volunteers to help, though Belle urges our heroes to be careful, given that the Beast hasn’t been himself lately.
Inside Belle’s room are a couple of chests, one of which contains the Castle Map.
The West Hall is found opposite the East Wing in the Entrance Hall.
There are some suits of armor for Sora to smash for free MP, HP, and Drive Gauge prizes, some unbreakable suits of armor blocking the way to the West Wing, and a sleeping Wardrobe (Beauty and the Beast) blocking the way to the Undercroft.
Upon trying to push the Wardrobe, she wakes up, briefly, shoves Sora out of the way, then hops back into place in front of the door, before falling back to sleep.
In order to complete this section, you must use the “Push” Reaction Command while the Wardrobe is sleeping in order to move her.
Sometimes, however, the Wardrobe will wake up, and “Push” will become “Waken”. The “Waken” Reaction Command causes the Wardrobe to counter attack, wherein she swats Sora out of the way, before hopping back into place.
Leaving the Wardrobe unpushed for too long will ALSO cause her to reset her position.
Once she’s fully shoved out of the way, she COMPLETELY awakens and asks what they want.
Sora explains that Belle needs them to go into the Dungeon, and the Wardrobe realizes that they’re here to help her friends.
She apologizes for startling them, and mentions that she was human before the enchantress cast her spell.
She was turned into a wardrobe, while the prince was turned into a beast.
Donald’s shocked to learn that the prince is the Beast, while Goofy’s shocked to learn that the Beast is a prince.
Sora wants more details on the spell, and the Wardrobe says that it was a cold winter’s night, before stopping there and saying that the rest can wait for AFTER the others have been rescued, much to SDG’s disappointment.
Inside the Undercroft, the heroes find that the door is a stone slab with a massive keyhole engraved between two semi-humanoid engravings.
Then, the stone turns to darkness, ten fingers curl around the keyhole, and the now living engravings fistbump.
 Say hello to the Thresholder, the first boss of this world.
 The thresholder slams and flails its arms around, summons Gargoyles identical to the others in the castle to fight for it, but otherwise remains stationary.
It will also Summon Hook Bats to defend itself after the Gargoyles are beaten. Sora can use the “Bat Cry” reaction command to grab the Hook Bats and bludgeon other Heartless (including the Thresholder) with it.
The Thresholder will also sometimes blast globs of darkness from its keyhole.
When it’s HP is depleted, Sora can use the “Release” Reaction Command to fire a beam of light into the Thresholder’s Keyhole, expelling the Heartless giving it life: The Possessor.
The Possessor is not a particularly powerful Heartless (later games have it as a regular enemy, even), and is the same species as the various Heartless that animate the Gargoyle Knights and Gargoyle Warriors (in fact, you can even see Possessors fly out of them when they’re destroyed, as a neat bit of foreshadowing).
The Possessor in this game has no means of attacking or defending outside of drifting aimlessly until it can repossess the Thresholder.
This is the second boss that the King can save Sora from. But remember, the King showing up is NOT a guarantee, and every time he appears, his chances for showing up again are permanently decreased for ALL bosses he can save Sora from.
Defeating the Possessor earns Sora the “Upper Slash” ability (knocks the target into the air if the block button is pressed in the middle of a Ground Combo, 4 AP to equip), Donald the “Donald Fire” ability (basically the same as the Fire spell), and Goofy 4 more Max HP.
After the Possessor is destroyed, the Thresholder turns to stone and dissolves into darkness.
Even though it had already turned to stone in the gameplay when the Possessor was destroyed.
Regardless, the doorway to the dungeon can now be opened.
Inside, the dungeon is empty, except for a clock, candelabra, teapot, and teacup.
“There’s no one to rescue?” Donald questions.
Sora sighs.
“Did someone say rescue?” an obviously French voice questions, only to be hushed.
“Keep quiet,” another voice speaks, “It might be THEM.”
“Oh they look like nice boys to me,” a more motherly voice chimes in.
Goofy assures the unseen speakers that they are nice, and that they’re friends.
Sora reveals that Belle sent them, and the various objects come to life, revealing themselves to be Cogsworth (Beauty and the Beast), Lumiere (Beauty and the Beast), Mrs. Potts
Sora introduces himself, Donald, and Goofy (in that order), and Donald picks up the clock to inspect him.
While Donald is a bit slow on the uptake, Sora takes it in stride, and Goofy asks if a spell was placed on them as well.
The servants explain their story:
One winter’s night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and asked for shelter.
The cruel prince of the castle refused because of her “unsightly appearance”.
She then revealed her true form, her true power even, and placed a curse on the prince and his servants. The prince became the Beast (now as ugly on the outside as he was on the inside), and his servants all became various appliances, tools, and furnishings in order to further punish him.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy consider this to be MASSIVELY out of line, and Donald suggests they hunt the enchantress down to fix this mess.
Mrs. Potts shoots that idea down, and the servants explain that they already know how to lift the curse, but they can’t do anything about it with the current state the Beast is in.
He’s become extremely paranoid, and forgotten how to trust others, seeing everything and everyone as a potential threat. He’s even MORE closed off than he was when he first met Belle.
Cogsworth worries that he may have turned into a Heartless, and while SDG are HORRIFIED at the thought, they reason that it’s probably NOT that bad yet, though they do believe that the Heartless may be responsible for whatever’s happened to the Beast.
With everyone determined to save the Beast from whatever’s sunk its claws into his heart, Lumiere leads the way to a shortcut.
The Dungeon holds a couple of chests, one of which holds the Map of the Basement, and a Save Point.
Cogsworth is in the upstairs portion of the Undercroft, and if you talk to Chip, he’ll mention that Cogsworth can make an alarm sound so loud it can wake up anyone.
Also, while Lumiere was the one who lead the way in the cutscene, its Cogsworth you have to talk to in order to progress the story.
Cogsworth, when spoken to, tells the two Suits of Armor guarding the upstairs door to step out of the way to let their guests through.
In the next room, we have a puzzle.
In order to open the way forward, all of the lanterns need to be lit, but they’re REALLY high up.
As such, Cogsworth will have to hold a lever down in order to keep the lanterns within range for Lumiere to light.
However, the lanterns have all been “lit” with dark flames, so Mrs. Potts with have to extinguish them so they may be lit properly. However, because the flames are dark by their nature, Sora will have to lend the power of light with the “Sprinkle” reaction Command to light the lanterns.
But Cogsworth can’t hold the handle down indefinitely. If he gets tired and loses his grip, all the unlit lanterns will go back to the ceiling. Whenever he loses his grip, Sora will have to use the “Restore” Reaction Command to restore Cogsworth’s strength by having Mrs. Potts give him water.
In short, Sora will have to guide Lumiere and Mrs. Potts to every lantern AND run back to Cogsworth whenever his arms give out.
Welcome to the most tedious puzzle in the entire game that I can remember at the moment.
It does not help that there are crates that slow down Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, and the “Sprinkle” command can only be used when everyone is standing next to the lantern.
Lumiere will always head to the next lantern, while Mrs. Potts will slowly hop after Sora.
Mercifully, the first of the four lanterns is lit automatically in a cutscene demonstrating how to progress through this puzzle, but this is still an infamously annoying section.
But once all four are lit, Sora opens the secret passage by pushing in the brick that was sticking out of the wall.
With that taken care of, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts head back to their stations to go back to work (with Chip following his mother) while Cogsworth explains that the Beast’s bedroom is at the very end of the west wing. He’ll be heading there to wait for SDG to help save the Beast.
The secret passage deposits SDG behind the impassable suits of armor from before, right by some gargoyles that have a chance of being Possessed, and granting access to the West Wing. The Beast’s Room lies at the end of this Heartless-filled Hallway.
Inside, we get our cutscene, and the next boss battle.
“It’s time you dealt with Belle,” III of Organization XIII remarks as he and Beast stand by the cursed rose, “She’s scheming to take everything you have.” He turns to walk away from the window, towards the door. “This castle, your precious rose-
“And then – your life.
“Trust no one, feed your anger!
“Only anger will keep you strong.”
“I’ve had enough of strength,” the Beast replies, “There’s only one thing I want –”
“What?” III questions, “to love and be loved in return?”
“Who could ever love a beast?”
The beast roars at III as SDG brandish their weapons to fight the Organization member.
“See?” III remarks, “She has accomplices.”
III glides back, and with a wave of his hand, raises an invisible barrier that blocks off the enchanted rose, before vanishing into a Corridor of Darkness.
 “Hey, prince,” Sora greats.
That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as the Beast roars loud enough to shake the room.
“Oh dear! Master!” Cogsworth shouts.
The Beast lunges forwards, having completely lost himself to his primal instincts, as Sora, Donald, and Goofy raise their weapons.
If they want to save their friend, they’re going to have to fight him.
The Beast is radiating a dark power, the same darkness III has been stoking to cloud his judgement and influence his decisions.
When near Cogsworth, Sora can use the “Wake Up!” reaction command to stun the Beast and deal massive damage to him.
The Beast however, can briefly knock Cogsworth away and stun him by roaring “Leave, NOW!!!”, though Cogsworth will recover.
Otherwise, he mostly attacks with the same claw swipes he used while protecting Sora in KH1.
When the Beast’s HP is depleted, the “Charge” reaction command becomes available. You need to spam this Reaction Command in order to give Cogsworth the power needed to wake up the Beast. Failing to do so will lead to the Beast reviving. Success leads to “Charge” becoming “Get Up!”, which ends the battle when used. As well as earning the following Victory Bonus:
Sora gets an Armor Slot.
Donald gets 3 more Max HP.
Goofy learns Defender (increases defense when HP is critical).
“Cogsworth, what happened?” the Beast questions upon waking up.
Cogsworth tries to explain it delicately, while Donald rips off the bandage and just tells the Beast that he locked all his servants up in the dungeon.
The Beast is, understandably, horrified.
“Who was that guy you were talking to?” Sora asks, “The one in black?”
The Beast gasps.
“Xaldin!” he exclaims, “… That’s his name.
"He came from the darkness. He used my anger to control me!
“He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain – and turned it all into rage.
“There was nothing I could do. I could no longer see the truth.”
Goofy theorizes that the Beast threw all his friends into the dungeon for their own safety, because he might’ve been JUST aware enough of what was going on to realize he might end up hurting them in his berserk state if he didn’t get them somewhere he couldn’t reach them.
The fact that he locked himself in his room adds further credence to this theory, though the Beast can’t remember enough to know if Goofy is right.
Cogsworth, at least, believes it to be true, and cites Belle seeing the goodness in his heart as evidence.
Unfortunately, hearing Belle’s name reminds him of how he treated HER while under Xaldin’s control, and he starts another depressive spiral. He hasn’t done anything to PHYSICALLY harm her (he’d never dream of it), but that doesn’t mean he’s been treating her well either.
Sora tries to explain that Belle was more worried FOR the Beast than worried about anything he might do to her, but the Beast is convinced that Belle wouldn’t have said anything even if the Beast HAD harmed her, thinking she’s too nice for her own good.
(In short, his self-loathing’s kinda at an all-time high.)
Sora suggests talking to her, and even offers to go with him to supply moral support.
THE BEAST HAS JOINED THE PARTY!!!
There’s a Save Point in the Beast’s Room, but let’s go over his abilities real quick:
Right Claw Swipe: Swipes sideways with right claw.
Left Claw Swipe: Ditto, but with the left claw.
Diagonal Claw: Swings and swipes diagonally with right hand.
Rising Claw Swipe: Jumps while scratching with left hand.
Falling Claw Swipe: After jumping, he swings the right hand down to scratch while falling.
Furious Shout: Spends 10 MP to knock down nearby enemies with a furious shout.
Furious Rush: Spends 10 MP to attack the enemy successively with a rush of enraged tackles.
His Limit is Howling Moon. Like Mulan’s Limit, it consumes all of Sora’s MP to use. To quote the Wiki “The limit begins with Twin Howl in which Sora and Beast roar at enemies. Afterwards, in the Reaction command slot, Stalwart Fang causes Beast to damage nearby enemies with a sonic wave. Meanwhile, in the Attack command slot, Outcry allows Sora to lunge at an enemy at close distance. The finisher move is Last Howl which causes the duo to unleash a powerful howl in an intense burst of light. During the limit, Sora can move freely. The limit can be ended prematurely through the Stop command in the Limit slot.” (Note: All I really cut out was the Japanese names and transliterations of those names.)
Regardless, with the Beast in the party, the suits of armor will let Sora pass now, and the Beast can help clear out any Heartless as they make their way to Belle’s room.
When they reach Belle’s room, however, she’s nowhere to be seen, but the Wardrobe is waiting for them.
She’s thrilled to see that the Beast has regained control from Xaldin.
The Beast, however, is more concerned with Belle’s whereabouts, at which point the Wardrobe reveals that she left to go after the man in black.
“What?!?” the Beast shouts, “Why doesn’t she do as she’s told?”
“Temper, temper!” the Wardrobe lectures as she turns her back to the Beast (and it says a lot about how much she trusts his self-control, even now, that she has no fear talking back to him like this while Donald and Goofy are cowering), “Her spirit is what makes Belle so special.”
Sora reminds Beast that it MIGHT be best that they find Belle before Xaldin does, and the quartet heads out.
Upon reaching the Entrance Hall, they hear the following.
“I’m warning you! You’ll be sorry!”
“Belle! Where are you?” Beast shouts.
“Beast! Help! I’m in the ballroom!”
Entering the ballroom reveals Belle fleeing an unseen pursuer.
Beast calls out to her.
“I’m all right” she assures as she steps out onto the balcony, and a burning Heartless wrapped in chains descends from above.
Having been cut off from its prey, it turns its attention to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast, and sinks into the ballroom floor.
Its darkness spreads across the floor, pillars, roof, windows, and chandelier.
The Heartless bursts out of the floor, having transformed the iconic Ballroom into a hellish parody of itself, and begins the fight.
This is the Shadow Stalker. During the battle, it will randomly possess parts of the ballroom to attack the heroes. It can send waves of darkness from the window, tendrils from the floor, make the pillars bend like tendrils, and even bring down the Chandelier.
Whenever the Chandelier drops from the ceiling, or a Pillar reaches zero HP, Sora can use the “Release” reaction command to force the Shadow Stalker into the open.
Once it’s been defeated, however, the chains break, and the Shadow Stalker reveals its true form by cloaking itself in darkness and emerging from its evil cocoon as a horned hellhound, a twisted parody of the Beast.
This is the Dark Thorn. It can swipe with its claws, summon Possessors from the floor to act as homing projectiles, grab Sora with its arms, turn invisible, or bring down the chandelier and swing around on it to attack.
When the Dark Thorn is invisible, Sora can use the “Step Vault” Reaction Command to step on its back and jump into the air.
After using Step Vault, Sora can use “Catch” to grab the Chandelier’s chain, drop the Chandelier on top of the invisible Dark Thorn. This deals minor damage and enables “Pendulum Swing”.
Pendulum Swing features Sora swinging the chandelier to grind the Dark Thorn against the pillars at the edge of the room, forcing it to turn visible (but dealing no damage).
If the Dark Thorn throws Sora, you can use the “Slingshot” Reaction Command to recover by swinging off a pillar and spinning into the Dark Thorn, dealing minor damage and forcing it to become visible if it’s cloaked.
Just like the Possessor/Thresholder, Mickey can save Sora.
Upon defeat, it grants Sora 5 more Max HP and Retaliating Slash (pressing the block button after getting knocked into the air makes Sora counterattack), Donald 3 more Max HP, Goofy an item slot, and the Beast 35 more Max HP.
The Dark Thorn is a rare example of a pureblood Heartless boss, meaning that it does not release a heart when killed, its body instead evaporating.
The ballroom returns to normal after a fade to black.
“We did it!” Sora celebrates.
"So you think,” Xaldin taunts.
The Beast attempts to attack Xaldin, but the hooded Nobody simply gives a calm “Farewell” as he vanishes into a Corridor of Darkness, disappearing right as the Beast reaches him.
The Beast wonders what he wants, and SDG theorizes that he was trying to turn the Beast into a Heartless so they could control his Nobody.
Belle is relieved to see that the Beast is back to his old self, and the Beast is thrilled to see that Belle is okay.
He apologizes for how he acted while under Xaldin’s control, and Belle assures him that there’s nothing to apologize for, before immediately going into a lecture about how he could stand to trust her a little more.
Lumiere remarks that time is running out, and comments on the rose from the Beast’s room.
Cogsworth then elaborates, explaining that the curse will only be lifted if the Beast learns to love and is loved in turn before the last petal falls, the spell will be broken.
Sora wonders if he’ll make it, but Mrs. Potts and Goofy are confident that he will, though Sora’s a bit more skeptical.
Then, his Keyblade summons itself, and the enchanted rose, back in Beast’s room, glows and levitates.
Light gathers around the tip of Sora’s Keyblade as a crown symbol appears at his feet, energy swirling around him and creating that sky dimension thing as the rose floats above him.
The rose fires a beam of light in the air, generating a massive, keyhole-shaped Gate above it, allowing Sora to do his thing and fire a beam of light from the tip of his Keyblade and into the keyhole, opening the Gate to the next world.
Beast asks about the lightshow, and Donald explains that the Gate is open.
In other words, it’s time to go.
They bid farewell.
“No more arguing, okay?” Goofy requests.
Belle gives the Beast a Look, and the Beast becomes adorably sheepish.
The servants promise to see to it, and bid our heroes farewell, promising that they’ll be welcome to come back anytime.
 Before leaving, however, Sora requests that they let him know if they learn anything about Riku, King Mickey, the Heartless, and/or Organization XIII in the mean time.
Sora learns Cure!
 In this game, Cure takes up ALL of your MP and puts you in MP recharge.
The amount of HP recovered depends on your Magic stat, BUT it also has an AOE effect that heals any nearby party members!
In short, Cure is nowhere NEAR as broken as it was in KH1. It is now a last resort rather than a panic button.
Upon clearing the world, another route connects to the Gummi Route unlocked by beating Land of Dragons.
However, much to the surprise of SDG, the Gummi Ship starts flying right back to Hollow Bastion without their input.
 I wonder what might be going on over there…
----
I agree with Sora, Donald and Goofy. Let’s hunt down the Enchantress and kick her ass!!
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teaveetamer · 10 months
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After finishing FF16 demo, I'm starting to feel even more frustrated with how much FE16 held back. Had only IS didn't sugarcoat the brutality of the war, experimentations, and massacres, I think FE16 would have the betrayals punch the players harder and more effectively.
But I guess it's the rating that has to be blamed here. FF16 is M. FE16 is just T.
Oof yeah I've heard about the FF16 demo. It sounds pretty intense.
But anyway I feel like this is something that gets lost in the conversation about FE's story. It is a game series that is made to be consumed by children and young teens. That doesn't mean adults can't like it, but it was written with a more restrictive age rating in mind. That is done on purpose. There is no possible way you could go in intending to write an M-rated game and have it wind up being E10+ by accident.
There are some places it is just never going to go, and I think that's something a lot of older fans (I mean in terms of age, not how long they've enjoyed the series) struggle to reckon with. The series is not going to grow up with you, no matter how much you want it to. See also: some older members of the Pokemon fandom getting annoyed that the games have kiddy stories, or adult fans of kids cartoons who get mad at the kids cartoons for not being darker/more serious.
Older games were a bit more intense in places, but guys... Genealogy of the Holy War released in 1996. The CERO rating system used now now wasn't established until 2002. FE4 was only retroactively given a CERO A (equivalent of an ESRB E) rating when it came to Virtual Console in 2013.
And honestly, I'm willing to bet that the low rating has more to do with the technology of the game being so far behind what the tech of the time a remake would be capable of. The implication is bad, but all the Belhalla BBQ really is are some fire sprites and some scrolling text saying everyone died. The horror really comes from what you're imagining happening.
They would not be depicting the Belhalla BBQ in 4k hyper-realism in a remake. It would very likely be toned down to whatever would get them that E10+/T rating.
And really I think that's why I have more fun with the entries that aren't trying to be super serious or deep. Not everything has to be!
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demonfox38 · 1 year
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Completed - Baroque (Wii Version)
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Oh, hey now. Let's not get too negative!
If you've read any of my post-game evaluations before, you might have noticed that I don't use a scoring system. These are more brain dump, vibe check kind of pieces. However, I do try to take into consideration several points when I write these down. These include details like understanding gameplay mechanics, subjective reviews of plot and aesthetics, translation quality, and so on. Numerical evaluations should require an up-front list of criteria, how each piece is judged, and what points that earns. While I do have a list of items I take into account when reviewing these games (and I will totally show that upon request!), I just don't feel that numbers say enough when it comes to how I perceive a game.
Having said that, what do you think of when you think of a 3/10 game?
To me, this implies a game that is functional and completable, but of no additional value to the player. Something boring or aggravating. When I think of 3/10 games, it's often related back to NES games that I found gacky. Usually, it's followed up with a, "Yeah, but that's not fair because Reason X" statement. For example, the release of "Hydlide" for the NES is miserable, but it may not entirely be fair to say that it is miserable either. That was just a game released at a bad time, usually unaccompanied by instructions, left to rot in Funcoland bins until the company's dissolution. (Granted, it could have looked less like a neon syringe to the eye. Maybe had more than 10 seconds of music, too.)
I bring this up because the Wii version of "Baroque" actually got 3/10 reviews. Like, straight out of Nintendo Power, of all places. Damn, right? What does that say when even the console's publisher won't back you up?
To fork from my evaluation of "Baroque" for the Playstation, I also heard of the PS2/Wii release in the same video that alerted me to the first game. Originally, I had no intention to play the game. I just wanted to see why fans swerved away from this game and towards the Sega Saturn / Playstation versions. Upon watching a little bit of a longplay for this version, I had a change of heart. Why?
Well, it's a very silly reason, really.
Anyone who's been hanging around my Tumblr account since March 2020 may have noticed that I have a little bit of a fondness for a certain anime series called "Lupin the Third." One of the show's lead characters is acted in English by Michelle Ruff, who is also a prolific voice actress in video games. (Like, I had heard her in "Tales of Vesperia" prior to my watching said anime series, although that is chronologically out of order.) There are certain vocal roles of hers that I am quick to pick up on, and her Mine Fujiko voice is particularly distinct. So, when I heard it come out of an angel's shoulder-face, my judgment changed. Yes, of course, I would have to play the inferior version of "Baroque." Michelle's in it, and she's voicing weird characters!
Look. I don't plan on ever going to an anime convention with her there, but if I was, this would be the thing I'd bring for her to sign. It's just that off.
Okay. I've given you my previous evaluation link (and you totally read it, right?). Given the plot is the same plus or minus a few noun changes, I'm not going to hammer on this game's plot here. Basement God makes out with dude; weird shit happens. You've got that. Let's go onto the operational and aesthetic differences instead!
If I were to be a derogatory snot, I'd describe this game as "Baroque" for teenagers. I mean, its ESRB rating is T, so that's on the nose. Several details were changed to be more appealing for mid-2000s teens, and it's very apparent.
Firstly, the entire perspective of the game defaults to a third-person view. (You can force the game to run entirely in first person, if you look in the game settings.) This leads to two immediate problems. First of all, you can see your character. To be blunt? In this version, he looks like a lost, confused puppy. Not exactly someone who fucked Basement God so hard that he ruined reality (although, it's more likely that a teenager would be dumb enough to do that, at least compared to someone in their early twenties.) His redesign is even worse once you throw a jacket and a pair of imitation wings on him. Dude goes from wet dog to lost dork left to their own devices in a Hot Topic. Secondly, because you can see so much by default, a certain layer of fear and befuddlement is lost. Like, I'm not saying that all games are creepier by default when they are first person. However, when you go from a game that was very much about wandering in the dark by your lonesome to a Zelda-adjacent perspective, you do lose that edge of fear by gaining eyes in the back of your head.
Also, while we're talking about Zelda games: do not bother with the targeting system in this game. It's mushy. Maybe go flip the left-right camera settings while you're messing with visual stuff. It felt more natural to me to alternate them, anyway.
Secondly, the save and difficulty system for this game has been overhauled. In that…well, this release has a difficulty system! You can pick between easy, normal, or hard. Nerfing some of this is the replacement of the suspend option with a flat save system. Die on a level? Lose an item you didn't want? You can absolutely reset. About the most of a penalty you'll get is having your next floor be randomized differently than what you had previously tackled. You can get your items back as much as you want! Which, honestly, that's at least a boon to the player. It does feel like a huge violation of the whole roguelike concept, however.
You bet I was laughing my ass off, reading reviews of this game complaining that it was too hard. Bitches didn't even know.
Thirdly—and most subjectively—the aesthetic vibes of this game are just off, man. Like, there is evidence that the monster modelers were at least trying to go off of the sculpted source material. I won't say that the artists for this game weren't trying, at the very least. They were just restricted by the ideals of the publisher wanting more "Persona"-esque character interpretations and the limitations of working in a mid-2000s 3D environment. And yes, I am one of those people that would prefer a sprite-based game to that era's standard 3D output. There's just more you can get away with using pixels over triangles, particularly when it comes to flowing or supernatural elements. This is particularly evident with Eliza's model and the changes made to the Lust model to get it working properly. The former ends up looking like the titular villain of "Parasite Eve", and the latter goes from a flowing robe and long locks to a blonde bun and a stiff yukata. It screams to me that they just didn't have the resources to do something they nailed a decade prior. Stinks, man.
Also, it seems like the enemies were censored? Not to be like some petulant man-baby whining about a Final Fantasy summon spirit covering her ass, but the nudity that was present did add a disturbing element to at least a few monsters.
I'll be honest. I really didn't give the music much of a chance, either. I heard screechy guitar discordance in the intro cutscene, and I immediately shut that shit off. Like, I let it back on for cutscenes, but nothing won me back. What was wrong with the old music? They were using the old sound effects! Surely, they could get licensing for the music as well, right?
Now! Having said all of that—and I know, that was a lot—there are still some valuable elements in this interpretation. The randomized weapons and the thrill of exploration remains, if a bit tempered by different external systems. Adding an actual throwing mechanic was a neat touch, even if I still did menu-chucking for the most part. The sword charge-ups and combos were intuitive. I also liked that the game provided two sets of control schemes to cover for both the Wii Classic and Remote styles. That's the right kind of thinking to have!
I found getting the Lust status effect to be way more fun than in the original. Everything still turns into a woman, and there's a pink tinge to the atmosphere. What's fun is that you can tell what you are engaging with based on the original model's shadow still being projected on the floor. Could it be an oversight? Possibly. I still found that amusing!
Also, a lot of the enemy tune-ups here are surprising. I wouldn't say it was always for the better (the Tower's representation got particularly nerfed), but I did have some amusement with the novelness of it. Like, my God. I think the Hanged Man's monster can now give three unique status ailments instead of one. I've got words for him, but honestly, he's got it rough enough.
The Neuro Tower's environment design seems to be better than the first game as well. More emphasis is given on level manipulation and trap avoidance. It's mostly smacking rolling metal walls open and avoiding hazardous grates, but it was something a little extra. Also, I found the water-flowing passages refreshing. The execution is a bit too clean, but I found it by far the least offensive visual element in the game.
You know what quote applies best to this game? The ol' "The Secret of Monkey Island" gem of "Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game." This ain't a 3/10 game. This is a <= $20.00 kind of game. Was it going to do well back in 2008? Hell no. Especially not with how easily rebuffed some players were prior to tryhards getting big dicks from certain FromSoft games. But, now? Fuck it. I've played worse.
Like what? Oh, let's see…That "Dirty Harry" NES game. Honestly, most "Simpsons" games aren't all that great, particularly the really old ones. "Hydlide", for reasons seen above. "Destination Earthstar" is a bit of an esoteric mess. Hell, I even own a Wisdom Tree game. You wanna talk about a 0/10 game? Let's talk about the one that won't even boot without shocking the hell out of a system…Assuming it can even boot at all.
I swear to God. I opened up "Spiritual Warfare" to clean it one time, and it had several electrolytic capacitors inside. If you see one of those in an NES game, you see one, you know what I mean? One. I still haven't seen it boot properly, even after following its absurd directions about multiple resets. Absolutely cursed technology.
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askagamedev · 2 years
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Lightning Mailbag: The “I’m Really Tired Again” Edition
Questions with short answers, go!
Where does getting the age rating from rating boards like the ESRB fit into the timeline of a project?
The targeted age range is usually decided upon very early in the game's preproduction phase but the actual final rating isn't obtained until the game is nearing completion and we can submit it for evaluation. The ESRB has to vet the game’s shipping content, similar to how games undergo certification with platform.
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What are your opinions on the recently released PlayDate handheld console? Do you think it will be successful enough to create its own audience? Do you there will be enough developers to make games for it?
I think it's too expensive. $180 for that thing seems too high, especially when compared to available alternatives. A new Nintendo Switch Lite retails just slightly higher at $200. I wish them luck and I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but that price tag is surely going to induce some sticker shock.
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Funding / Pitching your intillectual property, A friend and I have an idea for a game and thought the best way to begin funding the project would be to pay for a "video" montage of the concept / basics / mechanics and game play - obviously nothing is developed but to show the idea or secure funding is this a road many developers go down ?
Absolutely. You need to persuade the people with the money that the product you hope to build can be successful. Even if you cannot build a fully playable prototype by the time you get the meeting, being able to show off what the game should be like goes a long way toward persuading people that the idea can work. Of course, you still need to persuade the investors that you can hire the sort of developers you know you'll need in order to make what you showed in the video a reality, but that's usually much easier than selling them on a product idea they don't really understand.
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What do you think of cloud versions of 3rd party games on the Nintendo Switch? Is it going to become a norm, or just a temporary solution while Nintendo catches up with hardware?
"If it's stupid and it works, it isn't stupid." It’s a functional and timely solution to a difficult technical problem, so I’m not surprised that publishers have leaned in that direction. If it’s popular enough, they’ll continue to do it.
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ikahnik-gaming · 1 year
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Hey There, I'm Jace with Ikahnik Studio. As you probably know, Star wars Jedi: Survivor is coming out in just about two months, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I think the previous game is one of the best Star Wars games we've ever seen in recent years. Few Star wars games captured the feel of a Jedi like Fallen Order did. And for that reason, I'm very much looking forward to play Star wars Jedi: Survivor. While we're waiting for the release, here's a short list of things that I would love to see in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Less linearity I know this is a long shot, but I would love to see a more opened world. Now we don't have to go full GTA5 or anything like that, but less linearity would be a welcomed change. I remember so many parts of the last game was moving from one small area to the next. And some of these areas were just dark corridors. I understand that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was strongly inspired by the Dark Souls series, but even those moved away, very successfully I might add, from linearity, like we saw in Elden Ring. Which brings us to the next topic on the list.
Npc Quests The last game had few interactions with NPCs. They were almost all instrumental to the story. It felt like the player was travelling from barren world to barren world with little or no interactions with in-world NPCs. Even in Dark Souls series, the small worlds occasionally had non-story related NPCs that can be interacted with. Some even gave quests. And the NPCs made those gloomy Dark Souls worlds feel more alive than Star Wars the Last Jedi. I think interactions with NPCs can make a world of difference in terms of not just narrative but in making the world come alive. So I'm really hoping that we see some NPCs that can give us some quests for optional loot. Which takes us to the next topic.
More Cosmetics There was nothing wrong with the way Cal looked, but something about him felt too fixed. Not only was he already a well defined character, but there were also very few ways to "really" give him that personal touch. Everything you changed seemed inconsequential, and Cal appeared the same nonetheless. So I am really looking forward to more customization options. I hope I can dress him up like Boba Fett or Cad Bane if want to. Those might be going a little too far, but the point is that I want more options than a simple re-color for a pouch or lightsaber.
Dismemberment The next thing I want to see is some decapitation on trooper or humanoid characters. In the last game, we saw Cal use the lightsaber to cut down giant fleshy animals and metallic robots. It was baffling that we never saw any trooper lose a limb. I kind of understand, after all the game was rated "T" for teen by the ESRB. Because Star wars is such a family friendly brand now, the upcoming Jedi Survivor game might also get a teen rating. The only hope I have for seeing dismemberment is that the game, just like Cal, is supposed to be more mature and darker. So, here's hoping that maturity comes with a side of blood. Speaking of bloody, terrible things...
Dark Side I'd love to see Cal flirt with the dark side. We're talking about the Star Wars universe where there's always a struggle between the light and dark side. I want to see Cal walk the line between good and bad. Which would work well if there was a choice and consequences system. A system that players would have to deal with depending on actions taken. Now, considering how linear the last game was, this one might be wishful thinking. But still. It would be awesome. Recently Harry potter came out and the most popular house has been Slithering. Which means people love to role play the bad guy too sometimes, not that Slithering house is inherently bad, but you get the idea. So having a choice to follow in Anakin's foot steps wouldn't be such a bad idea at all.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by and let me know if you're as excited as I am for this game.
Here's a link to the Video on YouTube
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dnuzhna · 1 year
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These 5 spooky video games will keep you on the edge of your seat
From big-budget blockbusters to indie standouts, the future has a lot of fear-packed games. But many older games are still so good, it would be a shame to miss them. As a huge horror fan, it is difficult to find the right blend of scary and story in a video game. Hence, I have created a list of my absolute must-play horror games to help fellow enthusiasts.
Until Dawn (2015)
If you’re looking for the most cliché horror game, it’s got to be this one. Until Dawn is an interactive survival horror game that lets players step into the shoes of eight young adults as they try to survive on Blackwood Mountain. 
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The characters fit stereotypes that can be found in horror movies. There are plenty of jump scares in the story, and the coolest part is you decide how it progresses. Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere, and Brett Dalton are some of the recognizable faces in the game.
Developer: Supermassive Games
Genre: Survival Horror, adventure, exploration
Modes: Single player
Rating: Mature (ESRB), 18 (PEGI)
Available on: PlayStation 4
Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (2005)
A third installment in the Fatal Frame series, Fatal Frame III: The Tormented tells the story of Rei Kurosawa, a freelance photographer, who is assigned to take photos of an abandoned mansion. The dark, narrow corridors and Japanese ghosts definitely add a lot of scare factor to this survival horror classic.
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Throughout the game, you'll experience unexpected twists and turns, as you fall under the curse of the mansion. What's really interesting is that there are two endings. 
Developer: Tecmo
Genre: Survival Horror
Modes: Single player
Rating: Mature (ESRB), 18 (PEGI)
Available on: PlayStation 2
The Evil Within (2014)
Though not as popular, this game is a psychological horror experience that messes with your perceptions. The story is fascinating and the characters are multidimensional. 
You take on the role of Sebastian Castellanos, a police detective arriving with his partners at a Beacon Memorial Hospital to investigate a crime. The team finds the hospital abandoned after discovering a massacre took place there. The story then takes a crazy turn which you should definitely find out for yourself!
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This game has more action and shooting than the other two, reminiscent of Resident Evil four through six. So if you want something more action-oriented, this one is for you.
Developer: Tango Gameworks
Genre:  Psychological horror, Survival Horror
Modes: Single Player
Ratings: Mature (ESRB), 18 (PEGI)
Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Cloud Gaming
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017)
The first-person survival horror game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard has a LOT of gore. You play as Ethan Winters, who searches for his long-missing wife on a derelict plantation occupied by an infected family, fighting enemies and solving puzzles. 
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This will probably be on every horror game list, but it is totally worth checking out. The seventh Resident Evil game brought Capcom back to its horror roots, and they did a great job.
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Psychological horror, survival horror
Modes: Single Player
Ratings: Mature (ESRB), 18 (PEGI)
Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch (Cloud Version), PlayStation 5, Stadia
Blair Witch (2019)
There's no doubt you'll be up at night with this one! In this game, an ex-policeman, Ellis Lynch, is tasked with finding a missing boy in the Black Hills Forest, based on the Blair Witch horror movies of the '90s.
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“Blair Witch is one of the most successfully terrifying horror games I've ever played. More so even than any of the Amnesia games, it made me feel like I'd been dragged feet-first through Hell by the end.” 
- (Hafer, 2019)
With the first person perspective and the extremely dark surroundings, you're sure to get goose bumps. The story is captivating and makes you question everything. There are plenty of puzzles to solve as well as a lot to explore. and the fact that you can customize your German Shepherd at the beginning of the game (and feed him snacks throughout) is particularly appealing to me.
Developer: Bloober Team
Genre: Survival horror
Modes: Single Player
Ratings: Mature (ESRB)
Available on: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2, Amazon Luna
References:
Hafer, L. (2019, August 30). Blair Witch Review. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from IGN website: https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/08/30/blair-witch-review-3
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wingedweasel · 1 year
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Censoring tags makes no sense
Caution/Trigger warning: too many to count. Sorry, there may be a lot.
I’ve never really understood why censored words  - r*ape, f***, unalive, etc - actually exist in writing. I mean, I can understand when it’s in audio format and cursing is bleeped and a transcript reflects that (although that makes it harder for the hearing impaired to enjoy the media in question, but that’s a different topic. And oh boy, is it a big topic). 
However, while tumbling through the vast void that is tumblr, I came across a post that was talking about tags and how they don’t work unless they words/phrases are tagged correctly. I agree. A tagging system that looks for words like rape, wont necessarily pick up that r*pe is the same word. “There is a dead body in the corner” or “The person was killed” may not be filtered the same as “There is a unalive body in the corner” or “The person was unalived.” I just don’t get it. And this isn’t coming from someone who isn’t triggered or wigged out by these things and thinks people should just ‘man up and deal.’ That is bs and that kind of mentality should be unalived by a bang bang device. 
No this is coming more from the perspective that I can make context clues. From my understanding, while the word/phrase may cause some people problems, it is also the situation that they are used in. Hearing/seeing a slur is bad enough, but when you are reading something and a situation where a slur is used, but censored, comes out of nowhere, that’s a problem too. I would be less troubled by a word than the situation that it is used in. I can filter words and phrases out, but there are so many different ways to censor things, that it is guaranteed that I will miss something. A lot of somethings. 
As a writer who pretends to write, I would want my audience to no, you know, have traumatic flashbacks and end up never reading/finishing any of my works. One bad experience with a writer can put off readers until the end of time. So why do people not tag responsibly? Also, that thing about being able to understand context clues? I can understand that bitch is the same as b**ch. The examples above, an average reader can understandably recognize what was being said. So if a person wants to read something without any of those themes? Oops, too bad. They’re gonna get a face full of them if they missed some random way someone tagged those words. 
As I said before, there are so many different ways to censor things. Audio is relatively easy: you can bleep or add a random sound effect, blur the mouth, cut the audio around the word altogether, and these are just the more common simple ways. There are so many more. However, most audio media, tv/movies for example, usually have a warning of some kind before the program starts. Games often do as well. Not to mention the ESRB ratings that are labeled on everything. 
But with writings, having a faulty sorting system makes it that much more difficult to filter out what you don’t want to see. There’s just too many different ways to censor a word that it makes it seem as if there shouldn’t even be a tagging system to begin with. Obviously I don’t mean that; tagging is key to getting your writing to the audience you want, but still. 
Anyway, I’ll end my rant here. Mainly because I say so, but also my cat is telling me he wants to be fed. So yeah, if any of y’all want to add to this, go ahead, if not, whatevs. 
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Rockstar Games Facts You Should Know
There are some theories that suggest that all of Rockstar’s titles are all part of the same universe. This is untrue, especially considering the GTA games take part in 3 different universes: the 2D Universe, which consists of GTA 1, its London expansion packs, and GTA 2; the 3D Universe, which consists of GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, GTA Advanced, Liberty City Stories, and Vice City Stories; and the HD Universe, which consists of GTA IV, its DLC expansions The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, Chinatown Wars, GTA V, GTA Online, and the upcoming GTA VI. We can rule out the Midnight Club and Max Payne series as well as L.A. Noire, since they use real-life locations as the main locations, plus the fact that Midnight Club uses actual real-life vehicle manufacturers. The Manhunt series and Bully are part of the GTA 3D Universe, and the Red Dead series could be argued to be part of the GTA HD Universe.
There exists a theory that suggests that Jimmy Hopkins from Bully and James Earl Cash from Manhunt are the same people, due to the two having similar hairstyles, and the fact that both their names are James.
With the exception of the Midnight Club series and Bully, Rockstar’s games have the M rating. Over the years, Rockstar has pushed some boundaries over what’s acceptable in an M rated game. During the development of San Andreas, Rockstar originally intended to implement a sex mini game after you go on a date with one of your girlfriends in the game, but this would’ve given the game the dreaded AO rating, meaning many retailers wouldn’t even have it on the shelves. More on that later. Also, if Rockstar hadn’t heavily censored Manhunt 2, it would’ve gotten that rating in the US.
Jack Thompson had an infamous reputation for being the worst enemy of video games, period. He especially had a hard-on for the GTA series, as he looks connections between the crimes the player would commit in the virtual world and crimes individuals have committed in the real world. Gamers would probably be pleased to hear that in 2008 he was permanently disbarred.
Who’s the mysterious man John Marston keeps running into throughout Red Dead Redemption? This man sends John out to “test his morality,” and when John meets him the last time, he gets frustrated that this man would not tell him who he is, and as he walks off, John shoots him, but the bullets just pass right through him. Many people have speculated that the man is actually God. Now as an atheist, I find that absurd, but to each his own.
Remember the sex mini-game I mentioned in San Andreas? Well, Rockstar, instead of simply removing mechanic, they just simply bury it in the game’s code. But thanks to some modding and some open-heart surgery on the game, PC gamers have unearthed this mini-game. The ESRB caught wind of this, and gave the game the AO rating, and many stores pulled the games from the shelves, and they were put back on the shelves once the “Hot Coffee” mod was removed entirely. So THAT was why my dad and I couldn’t find it at Blockbuster when it first out…
In Vice City, the main protagonist, Tommy Vercetti, was voiced by the late Ray Liotta. Employees at Rockstar have stated how difficult the actor was to work with, with one occasion with Ray pulling a Joe Pesci Goodfellas moment when they’re all eating and drinking at a steakhouse, and suddenly Ray says “What the fuck are you laughing at?” After a few seconds of awkward silence, he finally says “I’m fucking with you!” They even said Ray would groan before recording all his lines. Needless to say, this was just one of the reasons Rockstar decided not to employ big actors for future projects. Insult to injury, the late Burt Reynolds was also in Vice City, and Rockstar also did not enjoy working for him.
Young Maylay, the voice of CJ from San Andreas, and Shawn Fonteno, aka Solo, the voice of Franklin from GTA V, are cousins in real life. Fonteno even voiced a Grove Street NPC in San Andreas, which made it easier for him to secure a role in GTA V.
Gamers have sworn they saw Bigfoot in San Andreas. This has been proven a false myth, as modders have added a skin to an NPC seen in the wilderness. But Rockstar added a Sasquatch encounter in Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, and the completion of this awards the achievement/trophy named “6 Years in the Making.” In the GTA V mission “Predator,” when you control Michael holding a sniper with a thermal scope, you can see Sasquatch in the corner of the screen. Once you aim your reticle at it, it disappears. Also, upon achieving 100% completion of GTA V, you’re given one more Strangers & Freaks mission named “The Last One,” where you’re helping a hunter hunt for a Sasquatch that he’s been looking for “for 9 years.” Gotta love the meta references that allude to the year 2004.
A fan has asked Steven Ogg to send a message via Cameo to Jason and Lucia, the protagonists of the upcoming GTA VI, as Trevor Phillips. Steven did the opposite by stating he’s not Trevor. Clearly he doesn’t wish to continue being associated with the character that essentially made his career. He’s been in AMC’s Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead, but I always referred to his characters as Trevor, even if his TWD character is named Simon.
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321spongebolt · 2 months
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"Nickelodeon VS. Cartoon Network Olympic Games" Video Game idea
You may remember about a month ago, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav wanted to have Warner Bros. be sold to Paramount, which actually stirred up an interesting, yet controversial buzz. While most people never wanted this merger to happen, I was one of the few people who didn't mind if it'll happen or not (ultimately it didn't, since Nickelodeon would later confirm that they don't trust David Zaslav.). But even before this supposed merger was announced, I had my own idea for something that may be risky, but could potentially work (since it technically isn't the first time Warner Bros. collaborated with Paramount on certain projects.).
If you've ever played at least one entry in the "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games" series, I was thinking of an Olympic video game where animated characters from Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon go head-to-head for the gold.
CONCEPTUAL TITLE
"Nickelodeon VS. Cartoon Network Olympic Games"
ESRB RATING
E10+
GAMEPLAY
Like "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games", you can play as your favorite Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network characters past and present (with maybe the Nintendo version having an exclusive feature where you can play as your Miis). It's basically a mini-game collection, but themed after the Olympics. You can even pair certain characters into teams or imagine limitless possibilities like "Who would be the best Equestrian jockey between SpongeBob and Lazlo?", or "Who would win a fencing match between Dudley Puppy and Kitty Katswell if they went up against Prohyas and Vambre Warrior?" or "Whose team would win at ice curling between Timmy Turner or Mac?", or any other sort of teamup you can put your mind at.
SPORTS
You can play Olympic sports the normal way or like the Dream Events in "Mario and Sonic", some Olympic sports will be altered to match the style of Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network shows (ex. "Mumbo Jumbo Jump Rope" being the jump rope mini-game themed off of "Chalkzone" in rules and gameplay.)
There can even be some original dream events like flying races similar to Track and Field, but you fly in the sky instead of run on the ground.
PLAYABLE CHARACTERS (AND POSSIBLE DLC CHARACTERS)
From Nickelodeon I would choose anyone from "Doug" (unless "Doug" is still currently under Disney) to either "Middlemost Post" or "Big Nate".
From Cartoon Network I would choose anyone from "Dexter's Laboratory" to either "Mighty Magiswords" or "Craig of the Creek" or maybe even "Infinity Train" (depending on your view, unless they can be saved as DLC characters).
For in-game characters, I wanted to keep an even number between both sides. On this page for my idea, I had 32 each, for a total of 64 playable characters. This could be changed depending on if more characters should be added.
NON-PLAYABLE CHARACTERS
In general
One thing I should make clear is that the characters from "The Loud House" and "The Casagrandes" will not be playable due to both shows being made under Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon at the same time, but they'll still have stuff to do. Lincoln for instance appearing in each menu as your guide. In the games, he and his friend, Clyde will commentate the events in the game. As far as Lincoln's sisters, Luna, I was thinking should sing in the game's opening cutscene that would play before the "Press Start" screen comes on (Whatever Luna sings would also be available on the game's soundtrack). But there's more I had planned in the next couple of sections.
Additional supporting Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network characters will also be unplayable, with some being featured in the audience, and others participating as cheerleaders, coaches, referees, or health providers for each team.
Coaches
Coaches tell the player how an Olympic competition is done and how to use the buttons. In the options menu (or somewhere else like that), you can choose between who should coach the team they'd like to make. Depending on which coach you select, they can give you certain tips, or explain the rules in their style.
On the Nickelodeon side, I would pick Larry the Lobtser ("SpongeBob SquarePants") and Jorgen Von Strangle ("The Fairly OddParents")
I don't know who would coach the Cartoon Network team, but Lynn Loud ("The Loud House") could work for both sides.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers check your progress in-game. They also recommend certain Olympic events to help build muscle (assuming you have the Nintendo port, and if its console has motion control support.).
On the Nickelodeon side, I would pick Dr. Nora Wakeman ("My Life as a Teenage Robot") and Keswick ("T.U.F.F. Puppy").
On the Cartoon Network side, I would have Professor Utonium ("The Powerpuff Girls").
And on both sides, I would have Lisa Loud ("The Loud House").
I don't know what else would be done, but this is all I can think of. For more information, just click here.
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