#screenshots from my playthrough of the demo

[no-thanks-bro]

hhoooly shit it looks so good oh my GOD 

#he said it he said the thing #screenshots from my playthrough of the demo #kicking my feet like a teenage girl the entire time #resident evil #resident evil 4 remake #chainsaw demo #leon s kennedy

[notoh-dev]

The Doctrine of Perseverance (Re)Announcement

The Doctrine of Perseverance is an indie horror and mystery game currently in development. It is being developed in RPG Maker MV and includes visual novel elements. A freeware demo was released in 2016. At the time of initial demo release, I was a senior in high school. Since then, I have spent many years developing my art and have returned to my first project. The game is still early in development, so everything is still subject to change, but I still hope you find interest in my project! I'd like to showcase some updated portraits from the 2016 version.

Melrose, the main character. The story begins on her thirteenth birthday (this portrait not yet shown), where a traumatic house fire takes place. Three years later, on Melrose's sixteenth birthday, the events of the past manifest themselves once again, showing that what happened on that day is far from over.

Suzetta, a childhood friend of Melrose. A stark contrast to Melrose, she is upbeat, mischievous, and more often than not, the most mature in their friend group. Her father is a close friend of Melrose's mom, Florence.

Silas is a friend of both Melrose and Suzetta and also Suzetta's neighbor. His family harbors distrust toward Melrose's family and the renowned 'founding families' in the city of Noxton.

For those interested in the previous rendition of the game, @flareblitzedyt has a great playthrough and playlist featuring it on Youtube. Although, I must advice that many story elements have changed since then.

The previous demo was taken down a couple of years ago, but the game page for it is still up. I intend to update it in the future. Thank you for reading, stayed tuned for additional information and screenshots!

#game development #game announcement #game dev #indie game #rpgmaker #rpgmaker horror #rpg horror #indie horror #pixel horror #visual novel #anime game #horror anime #rpg maker #art by op #art by me #dev log

[glowyjellyfish]

Once the demo loaded for me, I only had about an hour and a half to play before I had to quit and go to bed, and I spent most of that time on the piano minigame.

Some thoughts:

Cloud is such a baby omg. Part of it is the obvious Zack dialogue blatantly coming from his mouth, of course. Loved the obvious swap where Secret-Cloud-Grunt (Ramirez, if you will) was clearly assigned the lines Zack said to Cloud. Cloud’s brain what are you doing.

Sephiroth will take some time to master, especially as I barely remember the controls. He looks like an idiot when I am controlling him, lol. Perfect acting on him and everyone really so far, A+.

I am going to miss so many climbable surfaces

the mountains are so spiky

NIBELHEIM PORK SANDWICH. Well there’s my themed meal! (May not actually do, but come on they threw that out for me a couple weeks in advance??)

I am gonna master every song on that piano dammit. I got very close to star rank tonight, only 2 Goods and the rest Great!

Pretty sure that on my first play through, I am going to do as much as possible and whatever feels right with regards to the affection system. I can’t not rifle through Tifa’s room, for one thing, and I’m never gonna say no to a side quest. Aerith or Tifa would be preferred for the date on my first playthrough, but if I wind up hanging with Cait Sith because I wanted to glean all available information on how he functions and whether Reeve is talking directly to me, so be it.

It’s possible I got some things right in my wild guessing since Remake—more likely character stuff than actual plot, I think—but honestly I am looking forward to being completely wrong about most things.

Also it warms my heart how much Cid and Vincent were in that trailer. Maybe Vincent won’t be spilling his major trauma immediately after we meet him?

Day 2:

Took me probably another hour to get star rank on the piano

Something about Obvious Zack Behavior is incredibly cute when it’s Cloud doing it

I feel like I may have missed a lot of crates and chests

The normal chit chat with Sephiroth and Cloud and Tifa? Omg

Trooper cloud saved Tifa’s life without her knowing!

Sephiroth saved Tifa’s life in the river and Zack saved Cloud’s life, poor nameless other guy but ❤️ Zack and boy must Tifa feel weird about that memory

I want to explore the whole Shinra mansion so badly, I found Vincent’s room and the tubes

I really like how rebirth made it a little clearer that Sephiroth snapped because Jenova started having influence on him once he reached her. Not that I’m trying to make her the villain and him the victim—pretty sure once he falls in the Lifestream, he’s running the show with all his own villainy going, Jenova’s basically The Thing—I just like that the flashes compared to flashes Cloud has had show her influence on him. I like that they didn’t go too hard in making him Evil; you can still see the underlying tragedy.

(I mean, we all know Hojo is the real villain and I think even Sephiroth would agree on that)

Also on multiple occasions I asked Sephiroth why he was so pretty

I REALLY like how those who are in the know about cloud and Zack can easily read between the lines and see what Actual Cloud did—not only showing us Random Trooper on the ground saying “Mo���” but also showing that Cloud’s memories match.

the struggle of having cloud drag himself along the ground while Sephiroth murdered people was AMAZING.

How dare they stop right there before the flashback is over. I know the point is to be tantalizing and they probably changed a thing or two but. Come onnnnnnn let Cloud deliver the cliffhanger.

(Oh, I did look at Tifa’s dresser but then said it was a joke, did not impress anybody lol. Should’ve stayed away!)

(I would like a screenshot of Cloud saying “hey Sephiroth, whatcha got there?” Sephiroth: A KNIFE

#ff7 rebirth #ff7 rebirth demo #ff7 rebirth spoilers

[legy]

random game roundup

Small Town Emo (demo)

Included in Queer Games Bundle 2023

this is actually a homebrew gameboy game. a first in all the probably over a hundred games ive played with this method??

insanely charming, i was really caught off guard when my timer went off. you are ken and you have a crush on your neighbor fergus and also its 2007 and you have to get ready to go to a halloween party together. worth playing for sure imo

Dogfight 1942 - $9.99

(game does not let me take screenshots for some reason)

where the actual fuck did i get this from? apparently i bought it in 2014??

anyway this is pretty fun. it's a very arcadey dogfighting flying game that is very unfortunately story-heavy and set in wwii with no qualms with the. well. the content that you would expect with it being set during wwii.

Jurassic World Evolution - $44.99

no picture for this one because i had to actively fight for five minutes to get it to boot even once, i closed the game before remembering to take a screenshot and now i cant get it to load past the developer splash screens lol. awesome. glad i got this one for free

15 minutes is really really really not long enough to evaluate jurassic world evolution. i tried the campaign which was very slow to start. i LOVE tycoon games <- guy with 80000 hours in zootycoon and i think the idle game management aspects are a good addition to the mix. i do think its really funny how dr malcolm shows up and is like "hey this idea is fucking stupid and you should not be doing it" and every other talking head is like no lets go jurassic world rules :)

i might revisit this if the game will ever load again for me lmao. what the fuck is going on with that

Making Friends - $5

Included in Queer Games Bundle 2022

i did one playthrough of this, definitely seems like it intends you to do multiple runs to get a true ending but that ended up being like exactly 16 minutes lol

art style is really cute, i think the design of the titular made friend is absolutely fucking adorable. i think the mechanic of picking emotions vs the typical dialogue choices in a visual novel is a clever way of handling things and is also a good way of tying in the game's general themes of being at that point in adolescence where you're still figuring out emotional regulation etc. this isnt like outstanding but it is pretty cute

Super Slime Arena - $14.99

Included in Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality

one of the devs of this game let me sleep on their dining room floor for two weeks in 2018. i cant actually play this because its multiplayer only but it came up in my shuffle and i wanted to give them a shoutout anyway

#random game roundup

[mendelpalace]

Screenshots from my recent playthrough of the demo for 24 Killers, an odd little adventure game that's in development. The games' style is a mix of hand-drawn, claymation, and pre-rendered backgrounds. It gives off vibes similar to Moon and other Love-De-Lic games, while the backgrounds remind me of the first Digimon World game.

I'd recommend giving the demo a shot!

@stick-arms

#Video Games #24 Killers #Pre-Rendered Backgrounds #Claymation

[empireofstarsandsmoke]

LIFE AND GAMING UPDATE

So big news, I finally have a job!!! It took me 3+ months after graduation to find a job. I haven't started yet but the paperwork is in the process so that's good.

Also, I finished Cyberpunk 2077 yesterday. I played on my PS5 and I played a female V. I did all the side quests that I could find and I beat it in about 90ish hours. I decided to play it once it was mostly fixed due to the bugs and crashes at launch. I also bought the piggyback guidebook, but I did not look through it until after I beat the game. I would rate the game 9/10. I would recommend it to people who want to experience it or even those who played it at launch and were discouraged by the bugs. I will queue up some last posts and then edit my Cyberpunk screenshots to post around the time of the Phantom Liberty DLC release.

Thank you to everyone for all the support!!! I will be playing Final Fantasy XVI next (I tried the demo and it was amazing!! 😁🎮) If you want to read more about my Cyberpunk play-through, it will be down below to avoid any spoiled for people who still haven't played or beaten the game.

If you want to talk about Cyberpunk or other video games feel free to reach out. :D

-Cyberpunk 2077 spoilers below-

So like I said I played female V with female voice acting. I thought my V was fire. She was a badass punk with a good heart with a nomad background. I romanced Judy. When I saw her in the game trailers it was love at first sight.

For the ending, I went with Panam, once a nomad always a nomad. I also chose to save V and let Johnny go with Alt. I did not think the ending was going to hit me this hard but man Night City really did leave a mark. I loved how the city was, the NPC's and the side stories were amazing. I cried at the end when I realized that my time in Night City was up. Yes I know I could play the game again but the first time is special. I really liked Johnny. In my playthrough, he and V were friends (in my head at least). I also liked Takemura as a character even though he is an Arasaka kiss ass lol. In the epilogue credits, he told V to go to hell because Hanako died. Also in the Panam ending I did not expect Saul to get his face caved in like that. F*ck Smasher. I killed him for Johnny because I promised him I would do it.

I really liked the Kerry side missions. They were my favorite from all the romance side missions. They were fun and deep. I also really liked Kerry's guitar song that he plays on the yacht. After the mission, I went to YouTube to find it. How Kerry talked about living. I also liked Brendan the SCSM. I wish there was an ending to Brendan's story where he would not get reset. I also liked the psycofan gig by El Padre. I liked how it involved Johnny and Kerry. I feel like it made Night City more alive, idk.

My favorite apartment was the first one in the Megabuilding. I liked how you could change the appearance of it, also Nibbles was there lol. My favorite vehicles were the black Rayfield Caliburn and Jackie's Bike. (Yes, I liked that they were fast lol).

If you chooms (;D) wanna talk about a specific mission/ or part of the world feel free to message me. Thank you for reading and for your support. <3

#cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk #update #empireofstarsandsmoke

[satoshi-mochida]

Phantom Rose II Sapphire launches October 30

Gematsu Source

Roguelike deckbuilding strategy game Phantom Rose II Sapphire will launch for PC via Steam on October 30, publisher PLAYISM and developer makaroll announced. It will support English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese language options.

Get the latest details below.

About

Phantom Rose II Sapphire is the long-awaited sequel to the popular Phantom Rose Scarlet. Just like its predecessor, Phantom Rose II Sapphire adopts the unique draw-less card mechanic and instead relies on careful management of your deck’s cooldown in battle. Take on the role of Aria, our new protagonist, and help her escape the phantom-infested Marion Magic Academy while trying to regain her lost memories.

Two Classes, Each with Unique Properties

In Phantom Rose II Sapphire, players get to choose between the Blade Class and the all-new Mage Class. The Blade Class offers a more straightforward gameplay, while the Mage Class introduces an added mechanic called “Arcana” for an added layer of strategic gameplay. “Arcana” is a resource specific to the Mage Class that reduces as you play attack cards and replenishes when you play certain cards. Playing this class requires you to outmaneuver your opponent while maintaining a balance between offense and defense. With each class also coming with its own unique set of cards, adapt your strategy according to your chosen class and deck for each playthrough.

Key Features

Build and manage your own deck through battle without relying on the luck of the draw.

Two playable classes (Blade and Mage), each with their own unique sets of cards and mechanics.

Multiple modes: Adventure, Arcade, Custom.

Meet a cast of unique characters with different interaction options.

Bigger story with multiple endings to unlock.

Over 200 cards to collect.

Beautiful hand-drawn art by the developer himself.

Character Introdution

Aria – Protagonist of Phantom Rose II Sapphire and student of the prestigious Marion Magic Academy. Wakes up without any of her previous memories in a classroom with the academy in a Phantom-infested state.

Sylphy – A mysterious cat that joins Aria throughout her journey to escape the Phantom-infested academy, Sylphy comes across as a hothead on the surface, but is very caring on the inside.

??? – A lady shrouded in mystery that keeps her cards close to her chest and answers questions by not answering them.

Message from the Developer

Hello, I’m makaroll, the developer and artist of Phantom Rose II Sapphire. My aim is to create an attractive single-player game that caters to both the fans of the previous title and newcomers trying it for the first time. With an improved gameplay content and an expanded storyline centered around the new protagonist Aria, I sincerely hope the game can become an endearing title in your game collection. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a fresh enthusiast of the roguelike deckbuilding genre, please look forward to a new adventure. Thank you.

Play the Demo at PAX West 2023

For the first time in four years, PLAYISM will be having its very own booth at PAX West from September 1~4! Furthermore, we will be showcasing the first ever playable demo of Phantom Rose II Sapphire. Come visit the PLAYISM booth at the Seattle Convention Center (#1617, Summit Building Exhibit Hall) to be one of the first lucky ones to enjoy a hands-on experience of Phantom Rose II Sapphire. Those who come play the demo will also receive an original double-sided keychain for free!

Watch a new trailer below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

Releae Date Trailer

#Phantom Rose II Sapphire #Phantom Rose II #Phantom Rose Scarlet #Phantom Rose #Deck Building Game #Playism #mackaroll #Gematsu

[entryno17]

wanted to make a post about something neat that you might not know about!

i found a link to this google drive folder called the “undertale text project” and it’s improved my life by like 100x. basically, it’s a compilation of screenshots of EVERY SINGLE TEXT BOX in undertale (even including unused text, demo stuff, EVERYTHING), with the context of visuals. hushbugger’s undertale text dump is useful for quickly searching through/finding text, but if you need the visuals too this thing is a godsend. no more low quality screenshots from playthroughs on youtube, and no more painstakingly finding the dialogue yourself!

so if i need a picture of the true lab’s elevator power source, for whatever reason

you navigate from true lab > overworld > pacifist > true lab power room, then you’ll be able to look through all the screenshots for that room! it’s great

seriously this thing is a LIFESAVER. you can navigate it through google drive but i recommend downloading the entire folder (it’s 374 MB) just for ease of use.

check it out here!!!

#undertale #not sure if one exists for deltarune but if it does PLEASE tell me #also i don't actually know who made it. i found it linked on tcrf lmao if you know who made it tell me

[mage-parivir]

Devlog #3

A Mage Reborn has always had a fairly short wordcount, compared to the amount of story that it takes you through. I’ve always had my suspicions about why this was the case, but now I can finally say for certain that the reason is twofold.

One. My coding is atrocious in many ways, but one good thing about it is that it’s extremely efficient. There is barely any instance in A Mage Reborn where the same passage is written twice under two different choices. If the prose already exists under one of the choices and is set to appear in another one, the game simply redirects the flow at the earliest possible moment, minimizing the occurrence of what’s known as ‘wordcount fluff’.

It seemed a sensible practice when I first wrote the code, but I’ll confess: now that I’ve started to go back and plan edits and rewrites, navigating the endless streams of *goto and *label commands has become an absolute headache. It is very likely that I’ll need to go back and restructure the code (and consequently introduce large amounts of wordcount fluff) before I can even begin to make sense of what I’m even looking at.

I dislike the artificial bump to the wordcount when it doesn’t represent any additional content, but it seems to be a necessary evil. The good news is that--judging from code-dives I’ve done to other ChoiceScript projects--this seems to be the prevailing practice (with some notable exceptions like SoS: The Mortal Coil). So the new wordcount will be a more accurate yardstick when people do apple-to-apple length comparisons between A Mage Reborn and other CS projects.

Two. There aren’t nearly enough choices in the game right now, often because I wrote with the mindset of a novel-writer (hence me railroading the story along instead of asking for player input when I should), and other times because the choices were limited by the spartan personality section.

A crucial example of the former is when I railroaded players to accept that joining the White Fangs is a good idea, instead of asking them why they’d think it would be a good idea. While for the latter...there are so many two-option choices in the game that looking back on them often gives me a full-body cringe attack.

What this all combines to mean is the following:

The in-development build of A Mage Reborn currently has a length of 75k words. An average playthrough is 41k words long, representing well over half the current word total. The demo’s ratio is probably even more severe than that, because this is already factoring in the newly-written scenes, which have a far higher degree of variability due to the expanded stat bar.

For comparison’s sake, the public demo of Mind Blind (which I regard as the gold standard of ChoiceScript games, alongside heavy-hitters like Choice of Robots and SLAMMED!) has a total wordcount of 208k. An average playthrough is under a quarter of that, at 50k words! This is largely why the replayability of that game is seriously off the charts. This is also the standard I want to hold A Mage Reborn to. Ideally. We’ll see if I’m actually able to achieve that, haha.

So, this is my principal concern when writing the game right now. I want the game to ask for input from the players at a sufficient number of points throughout the game, with a large number of choices provided each time. I’d like to think I’m making good progress with this; take, for instance, these screenshots from the in-development build:

Note as well that the second choice hub branches off into three to four additional choices each, with each of them having short but unique prose bodies to go with them.

This is the first step to hopefully let people be fully immersed in the story, rather than holding them to binary moral standards that don’t come anywhere close to the role they wish to play. Writing the variants are borderline tedious, but it’s a worthy price to pay if it makes players resonate with their MCs just a little bit more.

This was a long one! If you made it this far, thank you for listening to me ramble. As per devlog traditions, have some spoilers under the cut. This time of the next update’s opening scene (which, ironically enough given this devlog’s content, uses single-choice as a narrative device, lol).

#devlog #a mage reborn

[vgfm]

Deltarune Theory: More Musings on Everyman and Gaster

Hey all, it’s been about a month since my big Everyman Analysis Post and I just wanted to make a quick follow-up that ended up being quite long.

This follow-up includes some things that I left out of the original post, as well as a couple of new revelations and developments I’ve uncovered since then.

This new post also segues into a theory I’ve been building about Gaster, since I feel like both characters are connected.

I recommend you read the original post (if you haven’t already) otherwise this follow-up may not make much sense.

Sections

Quick Recap

Further Foreshadowing

The Curious Case of Mettaton

“Strange” Times

Revisiting Reaper Bird

Creating Reaper Bird

Ice-E’s Odds and “E”nds

A Deeper Look into Father Alvin

Heroes of the Dark, Villains of the Light

A New Challenger Approaches!

Gaster’s Connection to the Knight

Creating a New Future

Gaster is ???

Gaster the ???

What are Skeletons, Anyway?

Conclusion

Quick Recap

If for whatever reason you haven’t read the previous Everyman post, here’s the cliff notes version:

Everyman was the bullet attack from the Reaper Bird amalgamate in Undertale’s True Lab (the one whose head got eaten by butterflies)

Everyman appears twice in Deltarune Chapter 1, implying a greater role in the full game

In Undertale, Everyman was likely an actual person/monster who became part of an amalgamate like Snowdrake’s mother and Shyren’s sister did

Everyman is likely to be “The Knight,” mentioned in Deltarune (see first post for full argument/evidence)

Jevil and the King of Spades are connected to both the Knight and Everyman, implying they’re the same person (again, see previous post)

The word “strange” is associated with Everyman; his sprite in Undertale is called “strangeman” and Seam refers to the Knight as a “strange knight”

The Knight may or may not have a “strange son”, according to Seam (it’s unclear because the line is worded vaguely)

The Knight/Everyman is probably connected to Gaster

If Everyman is an existing character, then he’s likely either Father Alvin or one of the Ice-E’s employees (long story, see previous post)

[Image transcript: Two text boxes from Rouxls Kaard. In order, he says: “Lost...? Frightened...? Confused...? GOOD!! HA HA HA!!!” end image transcript.]

Need some help? Otherwise, we’re moving on...

Further Foreshadowing

I wanted to touch a bit more on the concept of character foreshadowing in Undertale/Deltarune, since it’s one of my foundational arguments for why I think Everyman will be important in Deltarune.

I still can’t help but find it remarkable that Toby took the time to include multiple Everyman “cameos” in Deltarune Chapter 1. The Jevil fight cameo especially gets me because it’s in a secret fight that most players already won’t experience on their initial playthrough, and on top of that it’s a rare event in said fight. It reminds me of how the “Mysteryman” event in Undertale has a strong chance to not trigger even if you have the correct fun value. This all feels like a lot of trouble for Toby to go through for what is an otherwise extremely obscure character.

Last time I gave examples of how characters like Mettaton and Rouxls Kaard were foreshadowed before they were properly introduced, but I found another example of a foreshadowed character that better illustrates my argument:

Muffet was a fan-made boss included in Undertale as a backer incentive for the game’s Kickstarter. In other words, she was (presumably) not part of the initial plans for the game or its demo (which was released prior to the Kickstarter). In the finished game, Muffet, while not as important as other boss characters, still ties into the spider bake sale seen in the Ruins and she’s (possibly?) one of the mercenaries hired by Mettaton to kill you.

Muffet’s inclusion in the full game retroactively makes the Ruins’ spider bake sale serve as foreshadowing for her character. However, Toby didn’t stop there.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side screenshots of Undertale. In the left one, the narration says “(It’s a spider web.)” In the right screenshot, the narration continues: “(There’s a flyer for a bake sale on it.)” end image transcript.]

Toby also added a bake sale flyer in Napstablook’s house as an additional reminder and gave Muffet her own introductory bake sale room in Hotland before she’s properly fought.

Note how once again Toby took the time and effort to foreshadow a character multiple times, even though that character wasn’t even part of his original plans. And, as was the case with MTT and RK, the foreshadowing wasn’t just a one-off hint or nod, either.

Muffet is also an example of how foreshadowing doesn’t need to include a character’s name or a direct reference in any dialogue or flavor text. Mettaton and Rouxls Kaard are both mentioned by name (or initials) by other characters, yet Muffet’s name is never spoken before her fight.

A first time player going in blind would have no way of knowing that Muffet exists as a specific character in the narrative, but her presence would still make sense and be foreshadowed from contextual clues. The spider bake sale, while not telling us exactly who Muffet is, clearly builds up to the eventual reveal of her role and motivations. This is what I meant when I said that some foreshadowing only makes sense in hindsight, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is foreshadowing.

The Curious Case of Mettaton

Think back to what I said last time about foreshadowing:

“For all we know there could be other, more-cryptic Everyman references already in Deltarune that we don’t have the full context to understand yet.”

While I didn’t specify it at the time, I meant this as a subtle hint that Deltarune’s mentions of the Knight would double as foreshadowing for Everyman (assuming they’re the same person, as my theory alleges). Obviously I didn’t start my original post with this argument because it would be putting the cart before the horse and I had to first establish why I think Everyman is the Knight.

Speaking of the Knight, another thing that I hinted at but didn’t fully spell out last time is the fact that the three most prominent characters who mention the Knight (Seam, Jevil, and the King of Spades) all coincidentally leave “clues” that point to Everyman as well. Seam uses the word “strange” more than any other character and is the first one to mention the “strange” Knight. Jevil mentions the Knight and has the rare Everyman bullet. The Spade King mentions the Knight several times, including as his final in-battle line, then right after allows his cloak to fly away as a butterfly (an image associated with Everyman, per my last post).

If my theory is correct then it would mean that Everyman is foreshadowed even more heavily in chapter 1 than just his two visual “cameos”. It would also mean that every mention of the Knight would serve as a “namedrop” for Everyman, like how Mettaton and Rouxls Kaard are namedropped before their introductions.

This type of foreshadowing, where namedrops are seemingly “unconnected” to visual cameos, isn’t unprecedented. Mettaton is namedropped several times in Undertale before Hotland, but we also see his rectangular form powering the Snowdin colored tile puzzle.

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Frisk looking at Mettaton’s deactivated body next to the colored tile puzzle in Snowdin. The narration says “(The machien isn’t working.)” end image transcript.]

I also want to clarify that, yes, that’s actually Mettaton--Papyrus mentions that Alphys designed the tile puzzle and you can see that Mettaton disappears from that room later on before eventually reusing the tile puzzle himself in Hotland.

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Frisk talking on the phone with Papyrus in the Snowdin colored tile puzzle room. Papyrus is saying “OH HO!!! THE PUZZLE THAT DR. ALPHYS MADE!” end image transcript.] 

But here’s something you may not have ever thought about: there’s absolutely nothing prior to Hotland that outright says that the mysterious “MTT” and the machine powering the tile puzzle are one in the same, just like how there’s no line of dialogue in Deltarune Chapter 1 that outright says Everyman is the Knight.

In fact, I’d argue there’s more evidence to suggest that Everyman is the Knight than there is to suggest (to a new player, pre-Hotland) that “MTT” and the tile puzzle machine are the same person (or even a person at all), and yet we know the latter is true. Just something to think about.

“Strange” Times

Something else I wanted to expand upon was the use of the word “strange”. I pointed out last time how Everyman is called “strangeman” in Undertale’s game files and how Deltarune’s dialogue uses the word “strange” very deliberately. 

What I didn’t touch on was how the word “strange” is used in Undertale. Long story short: it’s used a lot more often than in Deltarune but its usage also feels a lot less deliberate. On the one hand, “strange” is used to refer to important things like Alphys’ Lab, Sans’ room, Toriel already “knowing” humans after a reset, and the broken machine in Sans’ workshop.

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Frisk staring at a curtain in Sans’ secret room. The narration says “(There’s a strange machine behind the curtain.) (It seems to be broken.)” end image transcript.] 

On the other hand, “strange” is also used to refer to more mundane things like sleeping in Toriel’s house, quiet echo flowers, or Mettaton rattling off the features of the game-shaped bomb.

In truth, I don’t think the word “strange” has much meaning when it comes to dialogue in Undertale. However, Everyman is the only sprite in Undertale with the word “strange” in its title. Almost all of the non-dialogue strings with “strange” in their name also relate to Everyman. There are a couple of other strings referring to a “strangetangle,” but I’m not exactly sure what that is.

My personal theory is that Everyman and the True Lab may have been one of the later additions to Undertale’s programming, and by that point Toby had likely written most of the game’s dialogue and didn’t feel the need to retroactively limit the use of the word “strange”. That’s purely my own speculation, of course.

The point still stands that Deltarune uses “strange” in a way that feels much more planned. Unlike Undertale, Deltarune tries to limit “mundane” uses of “strange” as much as possible. I must also reiterate that the first mention of the Knight and the first usage of “strange” in Deltarune is Seam referring to a “strange knight” in bright red letters.

[Image transcript: A Deltarune screenshot of Seam saying “But, recently, a strange knight appeared... And three of the kings were locked away.” end image transcript.] 

On the flip side, Toby has gotten a lot more careful with filenames for sprites in Deltarune. There are no sprites named “everyman” or ”strangeman” in Deltarune’s game files, just as there’s no “Gaster” or “mysteryman” either (save for the vessel name flag that restarts the game). The Everyman bullet that appears in Jevil’s fight is simply “spr_carousel”, and the graffiti is part of “bg_alphysalley”. Toby left far fewer secrets in Deltarune’s files than he did in Undertale’s, likely as a conscious effort to avoid spoiling any future reveals.

Revisiting Reaper Bird

Speaking of covering tracks, when writing my previous post I was a little disappointed to find that Reaper Bird’s battle text was something of a dead end for clues. Almost all of the dialogue and flavor text in Reaper Bird’s fight is repurposed text from the Astigmatism, Final Froggit, and Whimsalot fights.

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of the Reaper Bird battle. Reaper Bird has three text bubbles. In order, they say: “Someone finally gets it,” “Ribbit ribbit,” and “Courage...” end image transcript.] 

When you think about it, Everyman is the most noteworthy thing about the Reaper Bird fight. Without him, Reaper Bird would be the most forgettable amalgamate. Reaper Bird doesn’t even show up again during the True Pacifist “victory lap” walk-around. Endogeny, Lemon Bread, and Snowdrake’s mother all show up in the overworld and have additional dialogue (or dog noises) with their family members. Reaper Bird and Memoryhead are the only amalgamates never heard from again.

I do think that Reaper Bird and Memoryhead are meant to serve a purpose beyond being general amalgamates. Memoryhead at least has the distinction of being the first amalgamate fought, having the unique “bad memory” item associated with it, and (arguably) being the most mysterious of all the amalgamates due to having no easily-identifiable “component” monster parts. 

Still, there are a couple of Reaper Bird tidbits worth pointing out. First is the name: I find it interesting that Everyman has been associated with two different “reaper”-affiliated enemies (i.e., Reaper Bird and Jevil w/ his scythe). It’s also interesting how the artbook shows an early concept for Whimsalot that carries a scythe as well:

[Image transcript: Two entries from the Undertale Artbook. On the left is a spritesheet for Everyman. Beneath it says “spr_strangeman_losinghead.png by Toby Fox. Name: Everyman Description: Just a good guy who shows up on occasion. To the right of this entry is an image of a Whimsalot holding a scythe while wearing a skull mask. Beneath it says “spr_whimsun_reaper.png by Toby Fox. Different idea for Whimsalot.” end image transcript.] 

The sprite is even called “whimsun_reaper”. Funny coincidence how Whimsalot’s design was changed to become more knight-like in the end.

While we’re on this page, there’s something I wanted to take another look at:

Madjick and Knight Knight are grouped with Everyman and Whimsalot despite neither of them being represented within the Reaper Bird’s design or dialogue. This page is immediately after a page that shows concepts for Final Froggit and Reaper Bird:

Wouldn’t it make more sense for Everyman to be on the same page as Reaper Bird, rather than being grouped with with Madjick and Knight Knight? The only things that Madjick, Knight Knight, and Whimsalot have in common are (1) they’re Core enemies and (2) they have the strongest “knights and wizards” theming out of all the Core mercenaries. Final Froggit and Astigmatism’s designs are more ambiguous, and the latter isn’t even included in this section of the artbook at all (despite being a component of Reaper Bird!).

Looking at this page, the earlier design for Reaper Bird’s eye-mouth thing does remind me of something...

It’s a somewhat tenuous connection and could just be a coincidence. Then again, Spade King is connected to the Knight and I already made a big deal out of his butterfly-shaped cloak. Interestingly, Spade King never uses his Chain of Justice attack after his cloak flies away and instead resorts to basic spade bullets to put down the Fun Gang. If the cloak was a gift from the Knight, perhaps it was endowed with sort of power that heightened the King’s abilities?

It is odd how the Chain is the only part of the King’s sprite that’s grey instead of black, white, or blue. Lancer’s sprite doesn’t have any grey on it, nor does he have his own “Chain” appendage. As far as I know this shade of grey is not used on any other character. Grey seems to carry a very specific connotation in this series: New Home is entirely in grey, the overworld sprites for the Amalgamates are grey, and Gaster Followers/Goners are associated with the color as well. We don’t fully know what it means yet, but it seems to be significant. Best make a mental note of it, at least.

Creating Reaper Bird

What especially sticks out to me now is Toby’s line above Reaper Bird’s Artbook entry:

“I created Reaper Bird first but I realized it wasn’t creepy enough so I gave it longer legs in-game.”

Now, when Toby says he created Reaper Bird “first”, he doesn’t specify what that “first” is in relation to. Was Reaper Bird the first amalgamate he designed? Or does Toby mean that he designed Reaper Bird “first” and then designed the Core mercenaries afterwards so that they’d fit as “components” of Reaper Bird’s body?

That latter interpretation may seem like a bit of a stretch, but it’s worth noting that Reaper Bird is the only amalgamate shown in the art book whose concept art does not have a step-by-step “breakdown” of how it was created from the designs of its component monsters. Endogeny and Lemon Bread both have full-page spreads showing earlier concepts alongside the regular monsters that make up their components.

What’s especially interesting is the artbook also includes a scrapped “Royal Guard” amalgamate and a page for Snowdrake’s Mom, whose final design only takes inspiration from Snowdrake.

And yet despite the fact that Reaper Bird has one of the most obvious designs in terms of how its components “fit together”, Toby did not show his early design process and instead only shows three frames of Reaper Bird’s idle animation. Assuming Reaper Bird was designed first and the Mercenaries’ designs were created or modified afterward, this would fit with my theory that the Core Mercenaries were deliberately themed around Everyman and his “knighthood”.

Even the design of Reaper Bird itself evokes some traits of Everyman’s design. Namely, both characters are bipedal, both have long necks, both have a beak/proboscis, and both have a single visible eye mounted on the side of their head. That last part stands out the most to me, as every major character in Undertale and Deltarune has forward-mounted eye sockets, like a human would. Even among random encounter enemies and background NPCs it’s a rarity to find wall-eyed characters.

It could just be my over-eager imagination, but the fully-stretched Reaper Bird looks like it even matches Everyman’s proportions to a degree, almost like it’s a skeleton or outline attempting to regain its “true form” out of the cobbled-together mercenary parts.

I said before that Reaper Bird becomes the most “boring” amalgamate without Everyman. In many respects Everyman is the centerpiece of that amalgamate, and by extension he may also be the centerpiece that informed the designs of the Core mercenaries.

If that’s going too far out on a limb, consider how many places and characters in Undertale are connected to Gaster despite the fact he has no real role in the game’s main plot. Sans, Papyrus, the Core, and the True Lab are all “informed” in some way or another by Gaster’s “existence” even though he never properly appears. Is it so unlikely to imagine that another “unseen” character who may be important in Deltarune also had a large impact on aspects of Undertale’s world?

Ice-E’s Odds and “E”nds

Speaking of impact... I don’t really have a segue lined up, so let’s talk about Ice-E’s instead. In my last post I brought up the idea of Everyman being one of the Ice-E’s employees that we see in Hometown. The bulk of my analysis focused on The Warrior, but I neglected to talk about the other unknown mascot: the “purple guy”.

In truth, there’s not a whole lot to this character. He only has one line of dialogue and he seems to be a deliberate reference to the “purple guy” from Five Nights at Freddy’s. Still, he’s just as mysterious as The Warrior and could very well have a larger role to play in the full game.

Interestingly, the purple guy’s sprite is named “icemascot_fake” in Deltarune’s files, whereas Burgerpants and the Nice Cream Bunny are “icemascot1″ and “icemascot2″, respectively. This fits with Burgerpants’ line where he questions whether the purple guy “even works here”.

[Image transcript: Two Deltarune screenshots side-by-side. Both feature Kris talking to Burgerpants in Hometown. On the left, Burgerpants says “Purple Guy - Man, THAT GUY, you gotta...” and on the right he continues, saying “... actually, does that guy even work here?” end image transcript.] 

The purple guy is also the only Ice-E’s mascot whose costume’s body doesn’t match the color of the costume’s head.

His colors do match the Everyman/Ice-E graffiti, though. Judging from his “fake” costume, he’s apparently some sort of Ice-E’s fanatic who made his own Ice-E’s getup and pretended to work there. I’m not sure how that would tie into the Knight’s motivations, if at all, but it certainly fits the bill for being “strange”.

Ice-E’s is apparently strange and creepy enough in-universe to inspire urban legends about it

But Kris was only kidding, right?

Getting back to Ice-E’s as a brand, it’s interesting how the company focuses on the letter “E”, inserting it into the word p”e”zza and other places where it doesn’t belong.

[Image transcript: A Deltarune screenshot of Burgerpants saying “Ice E’s P’E’ZZA, You’re number ‘1′ Spot for a piping hot pe’E’ce of PEZZA.” end image transcript.] 

Could the focus on “E” be pointing towards “E”veryman’s involvement? Eh, mayb”E”. 

Something that was pointed out to me by gantaloupe on Reddit: In the Core we see two branching paths: the sage’s path and the warrior’s path.

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Frisk reading a sign in the Core. The sign says “(North, the warrior’s path.) (West, the sage’s path.) (Any path leads to The End.)” end image transcript.] 

While this could just be a coincidence, it’s an interesting factoid in light of how Everyman is connected to the Core mercenaries and possibly connected to a character named “The Warrior” in Deltarune.

One last thing that I noticed is how Everyman’s bullet sprite and the Ice-E’s costumes both have nubby arms and legs without any defined fingers or toes. Everyman’s body and Ice-E’s head would fit together like a glove. It would certainly be easier to picture one of the mascots abstracted into Everyman’s bullet design rather than, say, Gaster or Father Alvin. Speaking of which...

A Deeper Look into Father Alvin

Father Alvin kinda got the short end of the stick in my previous post when I said he was “less likely” to be Everyman than one of the Ice-E’s employees. I still hold that opinion, but that doesn’t mean he’s not worth exploring further.

One thing that I glossed over was the topic of Alvin’s potential connection to Gerson. Now, there’s nothing in chapter 1 that outright says Gerson and Alvin are related, but it’s easy to intuit based on the fact that they’re the only two turtle monsters that we see in the series. Both characters are connected to Hometown’s school, and one could infer that Alvin’s drawing in the supply closet could be a drawing of Gerson rather than a self-portrait.

[Image transcript: Two Deltarune screenshots side-by-side. Both feature Kris looking at a drawing on a cabinet in the unused classroom. In the left screenshot, the narration says “(It’s a yellowed, poorly-drawn picture of a green turtle.)” The right screenshot continues: “(It’s signed ‘Alvin’.)” end image transcript.] 

Gerson himself seems to have no connection to the Knight’s machinations, and it’d be difficult to imagine otherwise since he’s, y’know, dead. Still, it is eerie how Gerson was the only character in Undertale who provided any information on the deltarune symbol and now he’s “conveniently” absent from Deltarune’s narrative.

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Gerson saying “That’s the Delta Rune, the emblem of our kingdom.” end image transcript.] 

Instead we have a different turtle character who also makes mention of an “angel” like Gerson did.

[Image transcript: A Deltarune screenshot of Kris talking to Father Alvin. Alvin says “Let the Angel’s power light your way.” end image transcript.] 

We don’t know much about Alvin yet, but the impression I get from him is that he’s Gerson’s opposite--mild-mannered, patient, and more interested in divine matters than history or research. Alvin also shows reverence for the Angel, capitalizing the name, whereas Gerson uses the term “angel” with quotation marks and treats it as a quaint curiosity.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Undertale screenshots of Gerson talking. In the left screenshot, he says “Most people say it’s the ‘angel,’ from the prophecy...” The right screenshot Gerson says: “I jus’ think it looks neat! Wahaha!” end image transcript.] 

Getting back to Alvin’s drawing, it was pointed out to me that Alvin’s green turtle drawing and the drawing of three people smiling in Sans’ lab are both described as “poorly drawn” by the narration.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Undertale screenshots of Frisk in Sans’ secret room. In the left screenshot, the narration says “(It’s a poorly drawn picture of three smiling people.) (Written on it...)” The right screenshot continues: “don’t forget.” end image transcript.] 

This may sound minor, but these are the only instances where the descriptor “poorly drawn” is used in either game. It’s also significant because the drawing of three smiling people only shows up when Frisk talks to Clamgirl, who mentions “Suzy” and is eventually revealed to be a goner/Gaster follower. This means both drawings are tied to Deltarune’s world.

I’m not entirely sure what the significance of the drawings is, since we still don’t know for certain who the three smiling people are or which green turtle is in Alvin’s drawing. If Alvin is the Knight, I could see him using drawings to attempt to bring specific types of darkners to life with the dark fountains he pulls out of the earth. In the case of the turtle drawing, maybe he was hoping to bring Gerson back as a darkner by recreating his likeness?

In Deltarune we’ve already seen a possible darkner “counterpart” to a lightner in the form of Ralsei, so maybe the idea of “recreating” lightners as darkner doppelgangers will be explored further in the full game? Chapter 1′s dark world was in the school and Gerson was a teacher there before he passed away. Chapter 2 seems poised to take place in a hospital dark world, and we see Rudy in a poor state of health at the hospital just prior to chapter 2. It’s too early to tell, but maybe these “holy” fountains and darkner doppelgangers are the Knight’s idea of bringing about life after death, or an “angel’s heaven,” if you will.

It goes without saying that my ideas of the Knight’s motives are purely speculative, but one last note I’ll leave on is how Gerson is mentioned an awful lot in Deltarune, more so than he was in Undertale. Gerson’s name is also one of the names that triggers a special response in the vessel creation sequence. Seems like an awful lot of attention for a “dead” character with no further role to play in the story, and remember what I said earlier about repeated character foreshadowing. All I’m saying is, don’t be too surprised if we meet a darkner by the name of “Snorge” or “Resong” or “Goners” or--hmm... Goners...

Heroes of the Dark, Villains of the Light

Now’s as good a time as any to bring up something I and a lot of others have noticed: Deltarune’s heroes are dark. Ralsei is a prince from the dark with horns, Susie is a bully described as a “dark knight” in one of her equip screen titles, and Kris is described by some Hometown residents as “creepy,” to say nothing of how Chapter 1 ends. Others in the fandom have pointed out how Deltarune’s battle system places Kris & co on the left side of the screen, in contrast to many classic JRPGs where the heroes are positioned on the right side of the screen.

On the other end of things, Ralsei’s prophecy refers to the “heroes of legend” sealing the “holy” dark fountains in order to “banish the Angel’s heaven”. That doesn’t really sound like a typical “heroic” goal. There’s also the speculation that sealing Card Castle’s fountain may have had negative repercussions for the Castle’s inhabitants. I’m not saying this to argue that the fun gang is somehow “evil”, but merely to point out that they have the trappings of darkness. 

Angels, on the other hand, are typically associated with light and goodness, and we know that Alvin serves the angel (whether this is solely in an abstract/religious way or in a more direct way remains to be seen). We know that sealing dark fountains somehow relates to banishing the Angel’s heaven, so it’s not a stretch to assume that the Knight is in league with the Angel due to his desire to create fountains.

I already entertained the idea of the Knight and the Angel working together in my last post, but something else that ties into this is Toby’s refrain of describing Everyman as “just a good guy that shows up on occasion.” He uses this description in the Everyman tweet as well as Everyman’s entry in the Undertale art book. It’s clearly meant to be a significant phrase.

[Image transcript: On the left is a Twitter thread by Toby. On the right is an excerpt from the Undertale Artbook featuring a spritesheet of Everyman. In both images, Toby writes “Everyman. Description: Just a good guy who shows up on occasion.” end image transcript.] 

We can infer that the Knight will be a major antagonist going forward, and I’ve already argued that Everyman is the Knight, so this paints the picture of a Knight with good intentions--a “Knight in shining armor,” if you will. This could be another argument in favor of Alvin being Everyman/the Knight, since he at least tries to project the image of piety and fits this theme of "holy” villains to contrast the “dark” heroes.

Now that I think about it, a “villain” like that would be an interesting inversion from the likes of Flowey--instead of an antagonist who’s trying to kill people, we have an antagonist who threatens to smother the entire world with the unchecked new life he’s creating. His actions at Card Castle show that he doesn’t go out of his way to kill, given that the three kings were kept alive as prisoners, but we also see how his actions enabled an evil King to abuse his power in the name of protecting his “holy” fountain.

While Flowey illustrated the lesson of “don’t kill and don’t be killed,” perhaps this Knight would be meant to show the dark side of appeasement and how “good intentions” only get you so far? The Spade King definitely comes off as a subversion of the typical “don’t fight!” approach of Undertale, and if Alvin is the Knight then he might push that “lesson” further going forward.

Still, for every champion of the light there is one who waits in the dark...

A New Challenger Approaches!

That’s right, there’s a third Knight candidate to cover. I’m sure some of you have been eagerly awaiting this one, so give it up for...

spr_normalnpc!

Ok, in all seriousness a couple of people wanted me to talk about this character who shows up in the Hometown Library. Their name isn’t given in-game and they’re simply known as “spr_normalnpc” in the game files. As of right now their only purpose is to block Kris from visiting the upstairs floor of the Library.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Deltarune screenshots of Kris talking to Normalnpc in the Library. In the left image, Normalnpc says “I love reading books. Especially the books upstairs. You should really.” before finishing in the right image, saying “Read them!” end image transcript.] 

As far as we can tell, this character is the Deltarune counterpart to the elusive Gaster Follower 3 from Undertale.

Not all of the character design details line up, but both characters cut a similar silhouette and that’s good enough for me.

After my initial Everyman theory post, I’ve been asked whether I think normalnpc might be Everyman/the Knight. I never gave it much thought before now, so let me start with the points in this character’s favor:

Normalnpc shares some of Everyman’s basic design traits, namely a beak/proboscis, a single eye visible on the side of their head, and a long neck

“Normalnpc” and “Everyman” are both such generic names that they immediately arouse suspicion

Normalnpc acts “strange,” repeating placeholder-ish dialogue about reading books while simultaneously blocking you from going upstairs

Normalnpc maintains a positive tone, making them a “good guy”...?

Both characters are connected to Gaster, maybe?

Ok, look, I’m not saying that Normalnpc can’t be Everyman, but there’s very little to work with here besides the general design, the name, and vague Gaster connections. And even then, I’d say Normalnpc’s and Everyman’s designs have too many differences for my liking. While some of the basic features are there, their silhouettes, proportions, and stance/posture are all completely different.

Another complication is the fact that Normalnpc’s “goner” counterpart already exists in Undertale, and I said last time that Everyman would have to be a character who isn’t seen elsewhere in Undertale because he was busy being stuck inside Reaper Bird.

On the other hand, we do see goner counterparts for characters that already exist in Undertale, as is the case with Gaster Followers 1 and 2 (for the sake of simplicity I’m assuming that Gaster followers are the same thing as “goners”).

But I’m not sure whether these “goners” are meant to be alternate “versions” of these specific characters or whether they’re just other members of the same “species” as their counterparts. 

Monster Kid and Goner Kid, for example, have many differences in their designs, including different shirts, different spine arrangements, and slightly different facial features.

Clamgirl muddies things even further, undergoing a total transformation when she “becomes” Gonerclam. This raises the questions of what causes someone to “become” a goner as well as how and why their bodies change in ways beyond just turning grey.

So far we’ve seen instances of goners coexisting alongside their “originals,” like with the two Monster Kids, but we’ve also seen Clamgirl get “replaced” by her goner by becoming one. Based on our limited and seemingly-contradictory knowledge of how goners work, I can’t even say for certain whether Normalnpc’s presence in Undertale would be accounted for or not with the existence of Gaster Follower 3.

And that’s kind of the problem with Normalnpc as an Everyman suspect: we know far too little. Father Alvin and the Ice-E’s employees each have a smoking gun that makes them likely Everyman candidates: in Alvin’s case it’s the drawing in the closet, and for Ice-E’s it’s the graffiti plus the Warrior’s hospital stay potentially lining up with Chapter 2′s setting. The best things Normalnpc has going for them are a vague resemblance and having a more obvious (yet vague) connection to Gaster, the latter of which is hardly a unique thing in this setting.

Moreover, there’s nothing that specifically ties Normalnpc to being the Knight other than through Everyman, and the “connection” between Normalnpc and Everyman is already tenuous. Alvin is independently connected to the Knight by virtue of leaving his drawing as a “calling card” in an area the Knight has recently been. The Warrior’s roleplaying shtick would make him a natural fit among a “swords and sorcery” setting that the Knight evokes. Of the three candidates, Normalnpc definitely has the weakest claim to Knighthood.

That all being said, Normalnpc is still a character to keep an eye on. The name alone comes off as Toby hiding a secret in plain sight. Even if this character doesn’t wind up being Everyman or the Knight, I’m sure their role will be bigger than that of a mere NPC.

Gaster’s Connection to the Knight

Now for the moment you’ve really been waiting for! Truthfully, a lot of this is Gaster stuff that I wanted to talk about last time but didn’t have room to fit in.

I made clear in my last post that I favored Everyman being the Knight over Gaster being the Knight, though the two could be interchangeable in the event that the Knight has a “strange son” working alongside him (which is a prospect I still can’t fully commit to).

Still, a lot of Deltarune speculators have latched onto the idea of Gaster being the Knight. Near as I can tell, here’s the evidence:

Both characters are associated with darkness

Seam, who’s familiar with the Knight, uses the Entry 17 phrase “darker, yet darker” in reference to the “strange someone” Jevil met (who may be the Knight)

Jevil says “THE HAND OF THE KNIGHT IS DRIFTING FORWARD”, and Gaster is associated with hands

Gaster is believed to be the “man” who gives Kris an egg. The word “EGG”, in all-caps wingdings, is written as three hands pointing in the “L-shaped” movement pattern of a knight piece in chess

I can see how this evidence would be compelling, especially in the absence of any competing theory for the Knight’s identity. I can’t refute all of this, aside from saying that the “darkness” association is overly broad in a game where half the cast are darkners and the “EGG” thing, while neat, could be a coincidence. I do think this evidence could point to Gaster being connected to the Knight, but I have two main reasons for believing he isn’t the Knight himself.

First off, I don’t think Gaster’s goals align with the Knight’s. For this argument I’m going to assume that the mysterious voice from Deltarune’s intro, game over screen, and pre-release Twitter takeover is Gaster. Gaster, at least nominally, seems to be on the same side as the red soul, or is at least willing to work with them. The fun gang’s goal of sealing the dark fountains would almost certainly put them at odds with the Knight, if the Spade King’s reaction was anything to go by.

When you get a game over and continue, “Gaster” says “THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS”.

While he doesn’t urge you to continue like Asgore does during Undertale’s game over, he certainly doesn’t discourage it either. When you refuse to continue, Gaster says “THEN THE WORLD WAS COVERED IN DARKNESS” and the melancholic song “Darkness Falls” plays.

One could argue that Gaster is trying to maintain objectivity or “neutrality” when the red soul dies, like a scientist would in an experiment.

Nonetheless, I would imagine that if Gaster was the Knight then he would be adamantly opposed to anyone who threatened his creation. Ralsei mentions that the prophecy of legend was foretold by “time and space”, and Gaster is said to have shattered across time and space.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Deltarune screenshots of Ralsei talking to Kris and Susie. In the left image Ralsei says “A LEGEND that one day, two HEROIES of LIGHT will arrive.” In the right image he says “And fulfill the ancient prophecy, foretold by time and space.” end image transcript.] 

It would be odd for the Knight to deliver a prophecy that predicts the undoing of his own handiwork, and then deliver that prophecy to a prince who would assemble the heroes to do just that.

Creating a New Future

I want to touch a bit more on Gaster’s use of the word “future”. He also made mention of this during the Undertale Twitter account’s takeover just before Deltarune Chapter 1 released:

[Image transcript: A Tweet from the official Undertale Twitter account, dated the day of Deltarune Chapter 1′s release, saying in all-caps “I LOOK FORWARD TO CREATING A NEW FUTURE WITH YOU.” end image transcript.] 

For whatever reason and through whatever means, Gaster wants to help the red soul create a new future. Choosing to continue from a Game Over causes Gaster to reiterate this goal, while the “opposite” of that, i.e. giving up, is seen as allowing the world to be covered in darkness. This implies that the “future” Gaster wants to create is one where darkness isn’t running amok. Even if Gaster is trying to remain neutral or merely observe, it still sounds like he prefers for the fun gang to prevail.

All this emphasis on the word “future” reminds me of something from the Reaper Bird fight...

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Reaper Bird’s check text description, stating “REAPER BIRD - ATK ?? DEF ?? This relentless future finally looks brighter and brighter.” end image transcript.] 

Now, this check text is a combination of the three check texts for Astigmatism, Final Froggit, and Whimsalot. To wit:

[Image transcript: Three Undertale enemy check text descriptions arranged from top to bottom. In order they say “ASTIGMATISM - ATK 32 DEF 26 This relentless bully ALWAYS gets its way. FINAL FROGGIT 7 ATK 2 DEF Its future looks brighter and brighter. WHIMSALOT - ATK 34 DEF 12 It finally stopped worrying.” end image transcript.] 

But as I said before, Reaper Bird may have been designed first and then “informed” the designs of the Core Mercenaries afterwards, and that could hold true for their check text as well.

I find this use of the phrase “relentless future” interesting. A “relentless” future could mean one that’s inevitable or predetermined, and the phrase “finally looks brighter and brighter” could signify that the future has finally changed for the better. Gaster’s goal seems to be to create a “new” future, which would imply an outcome different from a “predetermined” future where your choices don’t matter, which is a running theme in Deltarune. I don’t think Gaster would describe the future as being “created” by people or “in your hands” if he felt that choice was an illusion.

This isn’t the first time that Gaster has been associated with unpredictability or defiance of “fate”. Most Gaster-related events in Undertale were tied with the fun value, a randomly-generated number that changed with each playthrough. Although this mechanic had little impact on the story, it did give each playthrough a greater sense of identity and made events less set-in-stone.

Now, compare this “optimistic” interpretation of Gaster to the “strange someone” that Jevil met.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Deltarune screenshots of Seam talking. The left image says “One day, he met a strange someone... and since then, he began to change.” The right end image continues, saying “ Soon, he began to see the world as a game, and everyone as its participants.” end image transcript.] 

Seam says that Jevil began to see the world as a “game” and everyone as its “participants,” which doesn’t imply a lot of agency. This mindset is a big red flag when we remember how Flowey viewed others when he saw them as part of a “game.”

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Undertale screenshots. The left one shows Flowey tying Frisk’s friends, saying “This is all just a GAME.” The right image shows Flowey talking in New Home, saying “Sets of numbers... Lines of dialogue... I’ve seen them all.” end image transcript.] 

Seam’s own view of the world becomes “darker, yet darker” after talking to Jevil, and Seam asks “would I have found a little more purpose in my life...?” if not for the experience of locking up Jevil (and, presumably, the experience of listening to Jevil’s words).

[Image transcript: Four Deltarune screenshots arranged in a grid, all featuring Seam talking. From beginning to end the four images say “Since that time, the strange words he’s said have stuck inside my cotton... And my view of this world has become darker, yet darker. And I wonder, if I hadn’t been asked to lock him up... Would I have found a little more purpose in my life...?” end image transcript.] 

In order to understand what “darker, yet darker” truly means, we need to view the line in its original context:

ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN

DARK DARKER YET DARKER

THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING

THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER

PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE

THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT

SEEMS

VERY

VERY

INTERESTING

...

WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK? 

The phrase “darker, yet darker” originally referred to something that Gaster was observing in Entry Number 17. Although the phrase has come to be associated with Gaster, it doesn’t necessarily refer to something that he’s causing or wants to happen--part of a scientist’s job is to observe and comment on results as they unfold, after all. And the “interesting” experiment Gaster refers to is something that’s happening “next”, which implies that the experiment is happening after or in response to whatever is causing things to become darker, yet darker. It also suggests that he’s not calling the “darker, yet darker” event itself “interesting”.

The impression that I get from all this is that Deltarune is meant to be a struggle against inevitability, with Gaster seemingly in the “choices matter” corner of the conflict. If the Knight is the “strange someone” Jevil met then that would imply that he’s very much on the opposite end of that spectrum. If, for example, somebody like Father Alvin is the Knight then I could see him rationalizing his position as fulfilling “fate” pre-ordained by the Angel. In this dynamic, the Knight would serve as an agent of faith and order to oppose Gaster as an agent of science and invention, further tying into the “dark heroes vs. holy villains” theme I posited earlier.

Okay, phew, that was all the first reason why I don’t think Gaster is the Knight. As for the second reason? Well...

Gaster is (Probably) a Darkner

Boy, that’s sure a loaded title, isn’t it? I made an offhand remark about this in my original post but didn’t want to get into it there. I only bring it up now because I previously argued that the Knight is a lightner and that would rule out darkner characters from filling the role.

So, why do I think Gaster is a darkner? Well, part of the reason is because I think that Sans is a darkner as well. Two Left Thumbs’ "Sans is a Darkner” video is probably the most accessible way to understand the theory, but there are several posts about it on Tumblr already if you look hard enough. Either way it’s not required viewing in order to understand my arguments for Gaster, but long story short there’s a lot of evidence to suggest Sans is a darkner and it’s strongly implied that Sans and Gaster are related (if not by blood then through other means), which makes it likely for Gaster to be a darkner as well.

Aside from the Sans connection, another reason I think Gaster is a darkner is due to the line about him being “shattered across time and space.”

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Undertale screenshots of Frisk talking to Gaster Follower 2 in Hotland. Follower 2 says “Alphys might work faster, but the old Royal Scientist, Doctor W.D. Gaster? They say he shattered across time and space.” end image transcript.] 

We can infer from Deltarune that, for whatever reason, darkners are more difficult to kill than monsters due to Deltarune’s enemies all being unkillable. Whether this is an inherent trait of darkners or some “rule” of the dark world or Deltarune’s universe is unclear, but given that defeating Sans doesn’t contribute towards your kill counter in Undertale, there’s a strong likelihood that darkners are difficult to kill, if not outright impossible.

So how is this relevant? Well, it seems like a darkner would be far more likely to survive being “shattered across time and space” than a monster. When a monster’s body is broken apart it means they’ve either turned to dust or will soon, but the fact that “pieces” of Gaster persist (as seen with Gaster Follower 2) implies that he’s made of something sturdier than dust.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Undertale screenshots of Frisk talking to Gaster Follower 2 in Hotland. Follower 2 says “Ha ha... How can I say so without fear? I’m holding a piece of him right here.” end image transcript.] 

Not only do I believe that Gaster is a darkner, but I’m pretty confident that I know what “kind” of darkner he is. Most of the darkners we’ve seen in chapter 1 can be linked to real-world objects that exist in the Hometown school’s supply closet. While we don’t know what objects (if any) were used to create Ralsei or (possibly) Sans, at most those two are exceptions to the otherwise-universal rule that darkners come from inanimate objects. In Gaster’s case there’s definitely an object that’s associated with him:

Gaster the Egghead

[Image transcript: A Deltarune screenshot of Kris hidden behind a tree. The narration says “(You received an Egg.)” end image transcript.] 

In Scarlet Forest “a man” gives an egg to Kris before vanishing, much like how “Mysteryman” vanishes in Undertale. The song that plays during this scene is called “man” in the game files and sounds a lot like Gaster’s theme. The egg itself exhibits strange dimensional properties, reappearing when used, prompting the narration “what egg?” when you try to get rid of it, and becoming two eggs when put into Asgore’s fridge.

When Kris leaves the dark world at the end of chapter 1, their inventory turns into a “ball of junk”, i.e. the real-world objects that were given new form by the dark fountain.

[Image transcript: A Deltarune screenshot of the inventory menu open in Hometown. The only two items are “Ball of Junk” and “Egg” end image transcript.] 

The egg is the only other object that remains after chapter 1, implying that it’s a “real” egg and that the egg itself is not a byproduct of the dark world like the dark candies and other items are.

The fact that the “man” disappears when he hands you the egg implies that his presence or “form” is somehow contingent upon the act of giving you the egg. If Gaster is a darkner, if he’s “the man”, and if his form is based on an egg then it makes perfect sense why he’d disappear in that moment--he’s turning back into an egg and surrendering his “true form” (or a piece of it) to you for safe keeping. Given that Gaster seemingly wants you to seal dark fountains, it would make sense that he’d want to hitch a ride out of the closet’s dark world before its fountain goes caput.

This isn’t the only time we see mentions of eggs in Undertale and Deltarune:

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Papyrus’ dating HUD. On the left is a small white egg, labeled “EGG.” end image transcript.] 

Papyrus (who’s connected to Sans and likely Gaster as well) has a conspicuous “egg” on his dating HUD.

[Image transcript: Two side-by-side Undertale screenshots of Frisk talking to a Temmie in Temmie Village. In the left image, Temmie says “tem... WATCH EGG!!!” In the right image, the narration says “(It’s hard-boiled.)” end image transcript.] 

In Undertale, one of the Temmies is watching over a hard-boiled egg. However, in Deltarune we see a Temmie with a very different kind of egg.

[Image transcript: A Deltarune screenshot of Kris examining an egg on Temmie’s desk in their classroom. The narration says “(It’s a black-and-white hardboiled egg.)” end image transcript.] 

Specifically, it’s described as a “black and white” egg. Needless to say, that’s an odd way to describe an egg. Not all eggs have white shells, but most people wouldn’t describe a white-shelled egg as “black and white”. Of course, we know someone who’s also “black and white”.

[Image transcript: An Undertale screenshot of Mysteryman in his grey room.” end image transcript.] 

And he’s “black and white” in the very literal sense. Unlike the Gaster followers, Mysteryman solely uses pure black and pure white in his color palette, and he’s one of the only characters with an all black-and-white overworld sprite. Note also how Mysterman’s head is vaguely egg-shaped and has lines resembling cracks.

Out of all the objects that I could imagine a darkner being made from, an egg is one that I could picture “shattering” like Gaster did while still leaving some small pieces scattered around. I’m not sure whether this would be a “real” egg or a similarly-fragile facsimile like a Faberge egg--either could work in this scenario.

What are Skeletons, Anyway?

“Now wait,” some of you might be saying, “isn’t Gaster supposed to be a skeleton?”  Well, I don’t think Gaster being a skeleton is mutually exclusive from Gaster being based on an egg. Egg shells are made of calcium carbonate, one of the mineral components that make up bones.

We see in Deltarune that darkners’ forms in the dark world don’t have to match their “true” forms completely. Pretty much all of the darkners based on playing cards are abstractions that barely resemble a rectangular card. And while we don’t know what Ralsei’s “true” form is (if he has one), it’s very unlikely that he’s a small goat with a hat and scarf in the light world. If Sans is a darkner then there’s also the possibility that his “true form” isn’t a skeleton either.

The rules of the dark world and its inhabitants aren’t entirely clear, so in spite of my arguments I can’t say with certainty that Gaster is a darkner because I can’t even say with certainty that Sans is a darkner, despite him having much stronger evidence supporting that conclusion.

As compelling as Sans’ case is, it still invites questions like how he’s able to exist in Hometown without the apparent aid of a dark fountain, or why Papyrus turns to dust in Undertale despite being Sans’ “brother”. Similar concerns crop up with Gaster in light of his connections-by-proxy with Papyrus and his implied presence in the mysterious Hometown shed.

I still think the possibility of Gaster and Sans being darkners is one worth discussing and it’s a possibility that many fans are sleeping on. Moreover, it’d be fittingly poetic if Deltarune’s main conflict was engineered by a lightner trying to spread darkness and a darkner trying to seal away the darkness.

Conclusion

So this ended up being a lot longer than I originally planned--almost as long as my original Everyman post!

A lot of what I’ve said here is meant to provide further context and elaboration to my earlier theories, but I admit that some of this was pure speculation, namely in regards to Gaster/the Knight’s motivations and the “dark heroes vs. holy villains” theming.

While a good argument should have evidence to back it up, at the end of the day a work of fiction is still a story and is governed by the conventions of storytelling much more than it is by logic or the laws of physical science. This is one reason why I lean so heavily on Toby’s use of foreshadowing, since it’s a narrative tool he’s leveraged consistently in the past.

My attempts to second-guess the motivations of unseen characters and chart the plot’s trajectory would be downright conspiratorial if I were talking about some real-world event, but Detlarune is a story and stories have to go places. A well-written story doesn’t take the time to set up or foreshadow certain characters or exposition if it doesn’t plan to pay off that setup down the road.

Normally I wouldn’t make theory posts this long and esoteric about a work of fiction, since a large amount of writing consists of revision, retcons, and changing things as you go along. Undertale and Deltarune are partial exceptions to this rule in no small part due to Toby planning Deltarune before he began Undertale and planting many “seeds” referencing Deltarune in Undertale’s narrative as a result.

A lot of my conclusions haven’t significantly changed since my previous post: I still believe Everyman will appear again in the full game, I think he’s the character most likely to be the Knight, and I think the most likely Everyman candidates are the Ice-E’s employees and Father Alvin, in that order.

As far as which of my conclusions have changed, I’m now more apprehensive of the idea of the Knight having a “strange son” and of Gaster being the Knight himself. I still can’t discount either possibility entirely, however. I was always shaky about the “strange son” and I often went back and forth on it, but further probing Gaster’s motivations has made me far less convinced that he could be the Knight or in league with him. I’m sure there’s still a connection between both characters, like a shared origin or some past falling out that they had, but I no longer think that they would be on the same side.

Another thing I’ve (sort of) changed my mind on is that the “purple guy” Ice-E’s employee and Normalnpc have both risen in prominence in my eyes. I don’t know if I’d put either of them down as top candidates to be Everyman or the Knight, but something is definitely up with them and I’m sure Toby has plans for them in the future.

Deltarune is shaping up to be a much longer game than Undertale, likely following the mold of traditional RPGs whose stories span several hours. In the time that it would take to play through Deltarune’s story, we may see narrative payoffs to every loose thread and Everyman candidate I’ve brought up. If the identity of the Knight is meant to be a mystery then some candidates might even be deliberate red herrings set up by Toby. Who can say? We’ll just have to wait and find out.

I closed my previous Everyman post by remarking that I had said all that I can on this topic and hopefully this time I mean it. I can’t really think of much else to say about Everyman until Toby releases more information himself, and that’s not likely to happen until the next Undertale anniversary or Deltarune’s full release.

As I said before, my main goal with all this is to spark conversation within the fandom on what is an otherwise under-discussed topic. I might still make other theory posts in the future, but for now I think I’ve bled this topic dry.

#deltarune #undertale #gaster #everyman #undertale theory

[kenkamishiro]

Jack Jeanne Playthrough Part 1 (Prologue)

I started a Jack Jeanne playthrough a few days ago on Twitter, but I’ll also post here since Twitter is terrible about archiving. I plan on summarizing the entire demo (which is basically up to the end of the 1st performance), and wooing all of the main cast (lol) for all of Ishida’s stills.

Thanks and enjoy!

Fun fact, the background on the title screen changes depending if it's day or night.

The first screenshot of the game I posted has the night version, and it pans out over the entire city of Tamazaka.

Young Tachibana Kisa and Yonaga Souichirou are playing make believe with Kisa's older brother, Tsuki (Kisa calls him Tsuki-nii). Kisa and Yonaga (Sou-chan) Kisa and Yonaga are siblings fighting against Tsuki the Moon King to save their father who's been turned into stone by him.

Tsuki boasts he's gonna use their father to decorate his palace, and he sprinkles moondust on Kisa and Yonaga to turn them into stone too.

Tsuki: Hahahahahaha! ......okay, that's enough for today.

(Tsuki's totally gonna be the big bad in JJ, I can already tell)

Tsuki stops since the sun is already setting to the kids' dismay. Kisa wishes there was a school where she could spend the entire day singing, acting and performing on stage instead of doing mundane schoolwork. And be able to attend it with Yonaga and Tsuki.

Flash forward a few years, Kisa is watching Tsuki perform at Univeil Revue Academy (not Univers, I checked the JJ site), from the Quartz class. He's got lots of fans, called the pride of the academy. Skilled at singing, dancing, acting, etc. The best.

Kisa wants to perform on that stage just like her brother. If only she could attend Univeil, but since she's not a boy...

Btw, the one on the left is Fumi. Same mole, and Tsuki's bio mentioned he performed with 1st year Fumi when he was in his 3rd year.

Some time later. Kisa is delivering lunches everyday for the local lunch vendor. She runs into her friend Akane Ao (Ao-chan) after finishing deliveries. Ao notes it must be difficult working everyday, but Kisa says it's fun, plus she gets a free lunch.

Ao is preparing for high school entrance exams. Her top choice is the school close to Tamazaka City, where Univeil is located, since she loves watching Univeil's revues. She won't be able to see Kisa as much, but Kisa reassures her they'll continue to meet.

Ao asks if Kisa really isn't going to keep going to school.

Ao: You've got a dream too, right Kisa?

Kisa: No, not really. My father's going through some trouble, so I need to help however I can. I have to go back to the lunch vendor soon. See ya!

(avoiding the topic, huh)

Ao: Ever since her brother disappeared, her family...seems to be going through hard times. I'm worried for you, Kisa-chan.

(My Tsuki-being-the-antagonist vibes are getting more justified. Did his ego get so big that he ditched his family?)

Kisa goes home, about to eat the lunch that auntie packed for her. She hears a noise and wonders if it's a debt collector. But it ends up being a weasel with a crescent-moon on its belly.

Kisa: Eh!? A cat...no, a tanuki? A weasel? In the middle of the city?

The weasel runs around and makes a mess in the closet before it runs away. Kisa ends up finding an album of her and Tsuki. She finds the one of Tsuki at Univeil, and remembers her dream of being on stage at Univeil. But it'll never come true.

Kisa finds a photo she doesn't remember of her, Tsuki and Yonaga playing make-believe at a shrine. Yonaga moved away before middle school so she hasn't seen him in ages. She ends up visiting the shrine, remembering how there was once three of them, but now she's alone.

Kisa: ...Univeil. Univeil Revue Academy is a place where revues are created by male students. Only boys are allowed to attend the school and stand onstage...lucky Tsuki-nii. I wanted to go to Univeil too... 

 A suspicious man: Ohoh, just what I was looking for.

Chuuza Shuuri, voiced by Koyasu Takehito (Dio, Takatsugi), the headmaster of Univeil. He recognizes Kisa right away as Tsuki's younger sister and tells her to enroll at Univeil, shocking Kisa.

He has to ask her to check the school site to prove he's not trying to scam her lol.

When asked why, Chuuza states Univeil and its predecessor, Tamazaka Revue Academy has a 200+ year history, 300+ years if the original traveling troupe "The Tamazaka Company" is included. Every year of its history performed by men only.

But Chuuza finds that tradition stale and wants to breathe some new life into the academy. Why do the same thing for ages when both men and women can have the talent? Kisa will be that new life. Follow Tsuki's footsteps to Univeil and test her strengths there.

There will be resistance against Kisa even if it's the headmaster who's allowing it, so he asks her to disguise herself as a boy. Kisa just needs to pass the entrance exam, and Chuuza will deal with the application.

The chances are high of her being discovered as a girl, and if she is, she will be expelled. If she passes, tuition and dorm fees will be covered and she'll get paid while performing on stage so she doesn't have to worry about her father's debts.

Chuuza: There's no need to give up on your dreams.

Kisa: ...!!!

He leaves so Kisa can think it over.

＊＊＊

next

#Jack Jeanne #Ishida Sui #JJ playthrough

[thecoolestaround]

TS!Underswap Speculation

(Here we are! The TS theory! Apologies for the delay. I’ve been busy lately and haven’t been feeling up to it.)

So, for anyone who hasn’t played the demo, this contains spoilers, so I highly recommend you go play the demo or watch a playthrough to catch up (I recommend Merg’s cause, well, I’m biased.) 

Now, let’s get speculating.

Now, let’s take a look at this scene in particular. (This was a poorly taken screenshot of Merg’s playthrough.) Now, as anyone who’s played the demo knows, in this scene, when you try to select “Can I stay here?”, it changes to “Where is the exit?”. And once you selected the option, Asgore reacts, and then another option appears, and when you try to select it, it changes again. This happens a couple of times, finally ending with the final option saying “Help me”, which you select. And this got a lot of people speculating. Who was changing the choices? My answer to that? You. You, as the player, through your influence, are changing Chara’s choices. But why and how? I’m going to explain here.

But first, let’s talk about a little game called..Deltarune. Toby Fox’s latest game.  You’ll see how this is relevant in a bit. Now, let’s talk about the epilogue where you’re wandering around town in particular. (Spoilers for Deltarune ahead.) In the town epilogue, Kris..seems to have behaved differently before than they’re behaving now. Noelle’s and Rudy’s dialogue both suggest that Kris is behaving..differently than normal, with Noelle saying that they’re not this talkative. And, in the hospital, you’ll notice that all you get when you play the piano is a dissonant, loud plunk, when the nurse says Kris’ piano-playing is beautiful. Something has changed them, or rather, someone has changed them. It’s us. And how do we know this? Well, Undyne and Sans’ interactions. Let’s talk about the latter first. When you first meet Sans, there are two options to greet him with. “Great to see you again!” and “Who the hell are you?”. But, here’s the thing. Kris and Sans haven’t met. Sans’ reaction says as much. So, then, why are we able to say “Great to see you again!”? The player. The game was clearly recommended to those who had completed Undertale. And, so, as the player, if we’ve completed Undertale, we’d probably be happy about seeing Sans again because he was one of the friends we got in the Pacifist ending. And Undyne’s interaction just provides more evidence. There, we’re able to bring up Alphys, even though Undyne doesn’t know who that is here. Why? Because we remember Undyne and Alphys’ relationship from the original Undertale. That’s how we’re able to bring it up. We’ve changed Kris’ behavior and in a sense, we’ve changed the choices they’re able to make. Just like with Chara.

Now, back to TS!Underswap. Notice what the choices change to. They change from wanting to stay to having to go. Having to leave and progress. In the original Undertale, we needed to leave and progress from Toriel’s house to continue playing. And here? It’s the same. Through our influence, we force Chara to leave, because we can’t progress otherwise. Just like with Kris, we have a grasp on their behavior and choices.  Now, that’s just my interpretation. I could be completely wrong, but I just wanted to put this out there. I hope you enjoyed reading this theory. Go play TS!Underswap if you haven’t yet, and have a nice day.

Also, go follow the Tumblr here:

https://tsunderswapofficial.tumblr.com/ @tsunderswapofficial

#ts!underswap #ts!underswapdemo #ts!underswaptheory

[stepphase]

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay: 9 things to know before playing

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay: Of course, it is a game that arrive after eight years of anticipation and hype. Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay have officially launch in Global. As well as, it is already a broken Steam records. In fact, its fans expect of a game from CD Projekt Red. Also, the studio of The GTA 6 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a massive game. With a gigantic open world that is explore in the Night City.

After all, i have spent 40 hours with this game. And i feel fraction of what Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay have to offer. As well as, i have notice few thing which is powering through Cyberpunk 2077 weekend.

Image: CD Projekt Red

1. Loot every single thing

After all, here is a way to make money is to sell armor. In fact, a lot of enemy will drop their armor or gun after get killed. Just pick every single thing and sell them. After all, Crafting is big element of the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay. Also, you can craft armor, weapons and much more. As well as, you can use dismantle weapon to upgrade weapons.

2. What difference backstories make

After all, when you will start the game you will get 3 option with backstories for V: Nomad, Street Kid, Corpo.

In fact, there is 2 main impacts. The first effect the open hour of the game. As well as, if you will start in a Night City, different Characters, it is depend your choosing. Of course, the Corpo is in office building. And the Street Kid is in Sleazy bar. As well as, Nomad is in the Badlands desert outside of the Night City. After all, After gameplay of an hour you will come at the sam epath with fun for hire with your pal Jackie.

Af course, the second effect is with a different dialogue option that is base on the backstory that you choose. After all, when i went for Corpo, that give V ability to politic his own way to certain sticky situations. Also, your backstory won't make difference.

3. Don't just play the main quest

After all, i have spent 5 days around to get the Cuberpunk 2077 Gameplay review. Also, i force to ignore side quests and focus on the main storyline. Of course, Don't do this.

As well as, the Cyberpunk 2077 story is strengths and its relationship between V and Johnny Silverhand. As well as, the mercenary play by the Keanu Reeves with a characters called V. Of course, the Cyberpunk 2077 is explore a Night City. Also, Gameplay itself is encourages and prompting you regularly and take break with the main quest for other stuff.

In fact, its amazing to play Side Quests then the Main Quests. Also, from reining in seven AI-powered cabs is rogue to solve mystery of slain mayor. After all, it is my favorite that the rogue cabs have personalities often legitimately funny.

As well as, the more Side Quests will give you the access of the better endings. After all, i finish the game in 37:30:26 hours with less Side Questing. In fact, it is really clear that the ending i did in Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay and there is many possible ending. Also, i get the worst ending by the way.

Note: Do more Side Quests to get more resolute and satisfying ending for V.

4. Do gigs to get cash

As well as, in Side Quests, to help a character to complete overriding goal with "gigs". After all, their is a more mercantile: And a "fixer" will definitely ask you to go do a job for them. Just like an incapacitate enemy and sneak through hideout and place a tracker on vehicle. Or to take risk from one place to another place. After all, your'e a gun for hire.

In fact, this things is fun with challenging and it will take 15 or 20 minutes maximum. Of course, You will definitely need the money in Cyberpunk just to buy weapon, cars, and upgrades. Also, i find these gigs is the best way to make it.

5. Stack attributes

After all, you will get option at begin of the game is to distribute points for attributes: Body Reflex, Cool, Intelligence, and Technical Ability. As well as, you will have perks that you can unlock in attributes.

In fact, i spread the attribute points and perks senievenly. And i also have idea that skill trees in most AAA games. After all, i end up unlocking all perks eventually. In fact, you are better off choosing that how you wanna approach combat and tailor attributes point and perks.

Of course, there is a 2 ways to handle the combat: Stealth and Force but there is a subdivisions. Also, you can specialize in the meelee weapons, and fisticuffs or gunplay. Also, you can optimize sleuthing hacking abilities and stealth kill offense. After all, the cool attributes and the related perks will make enemies harder to detect you. As well as, you can hack tech to distract enemies. Also, throwing daggers.

In fact, you can adjust your style in game but do not do what i did. Just try to be balance.

Breathtaking Johnny Silverhand. Screenshot by CNET

6. Pump Body and Technical Ability to open doors

After all, there is a Body and Technical Ability to attributes both highly useful to navigate Night City. In fact, both is use to open lock doors. Also, have more benefits like getting higher Body points that will lets you hijack cars and open parked cars. In fact, there is a Technical Ability that will let you hack mainframes to get money and to crafting components.

Breathtaking Johnny Silverhand. Screenshot by CNET

7. No two playthroughs will be the same

After all, the choices is really matter in Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay. Also, it is a true in Main Storyline. As well as, do not go in game with impression that make small and cosmetic differences. How you complete missions and react it will have a drastic effect.

After all, I have a suggestion that open section in game and you are task with getting a piece of the military tech from the gang. As well as, there is a option to meet with operative from mega corporation that tech was stolen. In fact, when I demoed game in August i didn't bother meet the operative and a result to blast my way out of gangs hideout. After all, i play this time i meet operative and result her corp's forces to shootout with gang and leaving me scurry away easily.

8. Do not use fast travel everytime

As well as, this is a similar vein. Also there is a fast travel point to the city that you will be able to use it. After all, when objective is other side of Night City. In fact, you would not have the time to dally dilly but you will often be rewarded for travelling via motorbike and car.

Of course, there is a lot of things to do in Night City. As well as, you are bound to find something if you will travel manually. After all, you will definitely find multiple cool things as i find regular stops en route to next quest location after see it. And the icon beckoning me into the HUD map.

After all, the Night City Police Department will pay you if you break it up and apprehend the perps. As well as, the Fighting crime yield solid loot that you are left disappointed with payoff.

9. You can fail Side Quests

After all, you will definitely fail Side Quests and would not get chance to re-do them.

In fact, when the first time i experience i was midway through a Quest revolving a killer that is trying to seek forgiveness from the dude he killed. Also, at the end of the Quest, one of that dialogue option is "Alright, i've seen enough". As well as, it is reverse psychology trick that i choose. "OK, fine" and the Quest just ended.

After all, this is same for challenges. As well as, one "gig" taking part in shooting contest with rifle with the top prize. As well as, there is not a single option to redo it. I Just Lost it.

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay

Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay: After all, Night City is like a deranged experiment in a social Darwinism. As well as, it is designed by a bored researcher who keeps one thumb permanently on the fast forward button.

In fact, that line is from William Gibson in 1984 novel Neuromancer. Of course, it help to define genre known as the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay. As well as, the book conjures world to cutting edge trends are embarrassing cliches and desperate hustlers rise overnight and also fade without the trace.

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay by the Witcher studio CD Projekt Red in Night City. As well as, the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay was announced in 2012 and that is based on the tabletop series which was launched in 1988. Of course, it is a years of work that is report months of the brutal crunch time. In fact, CD Projekt Red have deliver on incredibly ambitious vision. As well as, it is a vast virtual city with complex narrative and also the roleplaying system.

As well as, it is dont by playing elements straight and safe. Of course, the Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay is frequently satifying and also a impressive game. Also despite setting in fast moving future that is never surprising.

Trailer

https://youtu.be/BO8lX3hDU30

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay take the place in eponymous year 2077 which is at the Night City. As well as, it is a California Megalopolis where interlocking freeways thread between the skyscrapers and the street markets. In fact, you can imagine Los Angeles with the mile high holo billboards and the pedestrain friendly urban planning. As well as, there is a de facto breakip of the America.

Also, that is failed urban utopia has become an autonomous zone that is dominated by gangs and multinational corporations. After all, on every single street level, the surface has plastered with sexed-up ads and also nihilistic graffiti. As well as, it is an ultra-rich have retreated in cavernous hotels and apartments with gilded servant class. After all, the citizens disposable and the body is malleable, ripe for the dramatic cybernetic modding which is blends with chrome.

In fact, your protagonist is mercenary named V that is hail from three possible background. As well as, 2077's is small corporate overclass and the Night City teeming slums or the nomadic group at outside the city. As well as, V is a neon hair corporate taider for insance. Also, with a short origin story mission that is be drag in bloogy interdepartment conflict. Also, V is countless freelancer drifting at Night City demimonda. In fact, join heist arrange by flinty femme fatale and naturally its job falls..

Sexed-up Billboards, Nihilistic Graffiti, and Literally Gilded Service Class

After all, V is a witness cold-blooded into the crime of the Night City’s. As well as, in ensuing chaos and coverup. Also, its ends with a piece of dangerous experiment technology. Also, they resurrect the digital ghost of the Night City legend: In fact, the metal-armed punk rocker is the terrorist Johnny Silverhand and voice by the Keanu Reeves. As well as, Johnny’s suffering frustrated outbursts and cynical quips.

After all, they also figure out that who built tech and how to stop the deadly effects. As well as, appealing to the criminals and also corporate loyalists who will stab them in the back.

Of course, this is a threat in a narrative that is big by a standard to the open-world games. After all, i finish Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay in 37:30:26 hours. As well as, that covers major Side Missions and cruising around the Night City. Also, I left a few small tasks undone.

After all, Every single neighborhood is pack with jobs just to discover, random crime to stop, and conversation to overhear. After all, when you become the more powerful, crime bosses, and local fixers then start to ask out for help. As well as, they will try to sell you a secondhand car. Also, in the opening mission, you will definitely find major endgame story branches that is depend on your loyalties.

More

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 map's overwhelming experience. With the waypoint icons, pack and selecting a given item requires zoom in. As well as, the game does a good job of spin extends side arcs from core missions. Also, it is a calamitous first act, that given multiple leads to the main goal.

As well as, they tracked down require the cutting deals with the characters and also contacting heists to other participants. After all, these partners will ask for help with their problems. it Also, continue subplot to the main story and open doors to fresh Night City subculture. In fact, you will find more gigs but the several option section that will feel like V and Johnny Saga.

Night City future are eternally relevant

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 tropes have survive because of the ring true. As well as, Cyberpunk 2077 depics hyper-stratified societ. Which is rewards cruelty and exploits vulnerability, also commercializes everything. This game conventions help it avoid facile event references that is still feeling contemporary.

After all, Cyberpunk 2077 falls in irritating caricature. As well as, V and Jackie develop blend for streetwise cynicism and buried hopefulness. As well as, those dialogue is overladen with spanish aside. After all, this game is straightforwardly reproduces 1980s Cyberpunk's surface of level fascinating with China and Japan. in fact, it is arming japanese gangster with katanas. And building Japanese Characters around archetypes like a honor-bound samurai.

After all, the USSR hanging with them, and the Cyberpunk 2077's gender and race worldbuilding is feel like an alt-history relic. Also, it will let you customize V's voice and body shape.

After all, the tabletop series author Mike Pondsmith have stat that the rules of detail fictional society is political. As well as, the Cyberpunk import social conflict for a dramatic effect like an long subplot about the sex workers. In fact, its vulnerable class of the real people. Also, its trying to overthrow bosses.

In fact, these conflicts do not feel fail or successful social commentary. Also, its stock neo-noir conceits which happen just to involve oppression. Also, Cyberpunk 2077 is a brand of exploitation. After all, it is a piece of fiction that does not add stories and ideas it is borrowing.

After all, CD Projekt Red has created a sprawl populate a world. where meandering freeways also outlying deserts and the rows of factory-farm also greenhouses feel beautiful craft.

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay is a powerful machine with million slick toggles, but they feel disconnected

After all, the Cyberpunk 2077 areas have the shortcut doors to the high-tech or high-strength players can unlock. As well as, it is not clever puzzle-box design you had find in the Dishonored or Deus Ex. Also, you can choose to kill the enemies, a thread of the missions where you have to bring the targets in alive. After all, this option affect gameplay style or character interactions.

After all, your background and stats in the Cyberpunk will produce extra dialogue choices. As well as, they rarely change how conversations unfolded. In fact, a lot of game is roleplaying choices are crude binaries or illusions. Also, the Cyberpunk 2077 is powerful machine with million slick toggles. But more of them will feel disconnected.

After all, its a silver lining for me just like a reviewer and granted because Cyberpunk 2077 pre-release for PC build was fully unpredictable bugs. As well as, its mercenery keeps reappear behind me when i knock him unconscious and also forcing me toshoot him. As well as, when i try to move their body some enemies clipped through floors and exploded.

I can destroy you just with my brain with a four different ways

After all, this game is open-ended roleplaying and few elements reminiscent of sims just like Deus Ex. As well as, purchase weapons and clothes are supplemented by the upgrade tree for games key stat. Also, dexterity, strength, and cool. After all, you can visit back to the alley technicians which is called ripper docs. As well as, they also install bionic weapons and swappable upgrades with perks.

As well as, Cyberpunk 2077 can approach a lot of areas by slip past enemies undetected. Also, you can shoot everyone. After all, there is a clever hacking minigame that provides blanket benefits and making enemies much more vulnerable or glitching out the security camera. After all, there are “quickhacks” for actions. As well as, in stealth, you can deactivating turrets or making vending machines chirp to distract the enemies. In combat, you can fry the enemy's brains by making implants malfunction.

After all, this system will help to carry the Cyberpunk's considerable length. Instead of the rewarding hyper-specialization and the game encourages versatility also mixing up firefights with the sneaky sections. As well as, Quickhacks add a touch of much-appreciated absurdity to the combat. In fact, it is satisfying to infiltrate a criminal hideout. Also, incapacitate cluster of the mooks by uploading some contagious poison brain virus. As well as, wait for their buddies to notice you, start a shootout with futuristic-looking “tech pistol”. Then knock the final gangster out with the mind powers.

Modern Cyberpunk 2077 is the broad vibe and a specific retro-future setting

After all, this saga is felt rote. In fact, it is Dungeons & Dragons codified that is Tolkienesque fantasy. As well as, Cyberpunk 2077 is distilled recognizable elements from influential fiction like Blade Runner and Neuromancer. After all, it is a loosely define cyberpunk genre that begins as a ground to space operas. Also, the post-apocalyptic is wastelands and heavily influenced by the hardboiled fiction.

As well as, it is permeated science fiction which has innovation cliches. Nowadays, “cyberpunk” has 2 contradictory meanings: tech-heavy futuristic media which is felt organically grown from the present-day to social conditions. Also, its specific set of the 1980s and 1990s influenced retro-future noir conventions.

After all, Cyberpunk 2077 sits in the timeline where the Soviet Union still exists. As well as, Japan is an economic and cultural superpower that is with chaotic warzones and big cities. In fact, this game set decades after when original tabletop release. And the CD Projekt Red tune down retro aesthetic enough just to avoid ostentatious anachronism.

Of course, there is a periodic flashback to an earlier era and also creating a strangely hilarious setup. Where 2077 is look sort of from this real-world in 2020. After all, fictional 2020 is actually a sci-fi 1980s right down to the vinyl record and the eye mount camcorders.

Bugs

After all, if the Cyberpunk is a game for the perfection than i consider it is a serious problem. As well as, i hope CD Projekt Red will definitely fix it. As well as, it is roll out one round of pre-release bug patches. Also, it is a huge sandbox with autosave system, which is not a deal-breakers.

Of course, the Cyberpunk is hype as triumph of the next-generation gaming. Also, it is sheer size which will take advantage of the modern computer and console specs. Of course, my PC is really powerful enough for games.

Cyberpunk 2077 is released on December 10th on PC, Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X, Fifa 21, Capsix Robotics, GTA 6 Project America, gta 6 release date/characters/map/news/rumors, cyberpunk 2077 release date, cyberpunk 2077 warn streamers to avoid dmca strikes,

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After all, you can contact us to let us know if we are missing something on our page. I hope you like it and thank you for your visit.

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[turkleader]

Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo Spoilers Below

[ooc]

My partner and I have gone through the Demo three times now, focusing on different aspects, refining our familiarity with the combat system (which really does become quite fun once you start to overcome the learning curve), and I wanted to share more of my thoughts after delving a bit deeper into the details of things. I also took pictures of various things that caught my eye, and I’ll spread out those thoughts over several other posts. Hope you enjoy the few things that I’ve had my mind wandering over.

There are three pieces of extra dialogue that you can hear during the second battle of the Demo (the one specifically before you jump over the turnstile).

If you build up your ATB gauge and use the Fire spell that Cloud has equipped, the infantrymen you’re fighting will say, “He can use magic?” “Where the hell did he get the materia?”

If you build up your ATB gauge and use either of Cloud’s two abilities, Braver or Focused Thrust, they will say, “Holy shit!” “He a SOLDIER operator?”

If you build up your ATB gauge and use an item, either a Potion or Ether, they’ll say, “He’s come prepared...” “Hey, careful now! This guy’s no boot!”

On this topic, I wanted to take a moment to expand on what I was dwelling on before, the ease at which we can kill these woefully outmatched, average infantrymen. These dialogue options, especially the ones regarding Materia and SOLDIER, made me wonder about the state of Shinra and Midgar at this point in the Remake and how the developers took inspiration from the original game and Crisis Core. I remarked early on that there’s no comment from the many infantrymen we fight about Cloud’s attire, which is the distinct SOLDIER uniform. But if we consider that during the events of Crisis Core we lost the greater part of our SOLDIER force to desertions because of Genesis, and then SOLDIER further lost clout with the “death” of Sephiroth, perhaps it’s not at all surprising that SOLDIER members are so rare at this point in the timeline that the everyday infantry wouldn’t even be able to recognize one on sight, and would only put two and two together when an unnatural ability was used against them. On the note of Materia, the original game itself doesn’t shy away from mentioning that not everyone has an affinity for materia, and some people can’t use it at all. It was a really nice touch to add some flavor text that emphasized that this was still the case in the Remake, in addition to the fact that materia is much harder to come by by the time we get to FFVII’s time period than it was during Crisis Core’s years, where materia production was rampant. We do have the trailer with Scarlet watching possible materia creation or fusion, so we know there’s still some aspect of its production going on, but I wonder to what extent we’ll actually have materia’s availability, and if, in addition to the regular “Gain AP > Materia Levels Up > More Spells(/Uses?) become Available” is still in place, will we also have the ability for fusion? That’s not confirmed yet, but I’m patient. We’ll see yet.

Then, my partner and I discovered that if you push the touchpad on your controller, you get additional menus to pop up if you focus on a specific enemy in battle. The description for the infantry just sealed the deal for us about how grossly underprepared most of these people are to deal with someone of SOLDIER ranking or power.

Their title in game is “Security Officer” and their description reads, “Troopers serving in the Shinra Public Security Corps. Typically seen patrolling the city streets and company installations. Many are new recruits with little training.”

On the right side of the screen we get additional information, much with “???” under each category, which I’m assuming we’ll be able to fill out either the more we encounter, once we steal from them, or use Sense magic, which I believe was renamed to another term for the Remake.

We also have a lovely menu that gives a preview to various status icons that we might be able to see throughout the game. We’ll have more confirmation if these are all the final icons once the game comes out, but it was very interesting to look over. Loved this menu.

I didn’t intend for this to turn into a full-blown analysis of menus and the basic level Shinra unit, but it was an interesting thing to analyze. I have yet to go and do the same with all the other enemies we encounter, but I look forward to the game having any kind of bestiary so we can review this information in more depth and outside of battle. I believe the lucky few that got to play an extended amount of the Demo when they were invited to one of Square’s events were able to confirm that, at least for now, we’re getting a menu category titled “Enemy Intel” which may serve as our bestiary for the final version of the game.

If you would like to watch the video this screenshot originated from, you can watch JesseCox’s AMA regarding the FFVII Remake here. He also has a playthrough of the Demo on his channel if anyone hasn’t had a chance to play the Demo yet and would like to experience it secondhand. Link to that is here.

A month and four days to go, my friends. We’re almost there.

#Final Fantasy VII Remake #FFVIIR #Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo #FFVIIR Demo #.tmunspeech #.ffviirthoughts #.obashinra

[isa-ghost]

This Jumpscare REALLY Got Me Notes

DISCLAIMER: I won’t be providing glitch screenshots this time because my energy is super low atm, but I’d go crazy if I didn’t take notes at all. Glitches are timestamped i these notes as well as posted by many others so please find those glitches yourselves this time, sorry. >.>

Alrighty, let’s get into this fuckery.

First of all, (and this may not always be true, but) during Mayhem it was common for ego hint videos to have a title without the game(s)in them like how its usually “Title | Game”. During Mayhem it was commonly just “Title”, just like today’s video. Being that this has happened before without there being ego hints in the video, its only half-correct, but I’m noting it down anyway.

Secondly, it’s come to my attention today is the 1 Year Anniversary of Sean posting Come Closer on the channel!! That may or may not be coincidence, or might be cause for today’s fire!

0:31 - The first glitch. His narration is very Stories Untold-esque. Granted, he plays games that actually glitch, but his facecam is included in the glitch as well as the whole screen. The black & white filter might not be so suspicious but the initial part of the glitch is.

1:00 - “There’s the game right there, it’s been hiding all along, hidden in plain sight!” He could 100% be referencing Cloak’s slogan, I completely agree with that, and its clever and funny if he did. But “hidden in plain sight” has often been a past suspicious phrase too. I’m open-minded to debunking anything I note here but for the sake of “just in case” I’m noting anything that might make me squint or triggers a thought. Bare with me here, I’m not trying to say everything is something.

4:40 - “I think my mother texted me and told me to come home” Mother/father jokes are note-worthy every time because it was a common suspicious joke during Mayhem.

12:03 - Glitch with Jameson’s power hour music. I’m pretty sure this is really hinting that Jameson is a puppet (hopefully unwillingly so) >_> AND ON TOP OF IT ROBIN USED CLASSIC 2016 GLITCH NOISES. O O F. He says it’s not Anti but DON’T BELIEVE HIS LIES.

Okay it might’ve been Mark playing it or maybe Jack played a demo of Glitchphobia or I saw it suggested to Jack on here but I SWEAR I’ve seen Jack play it before or something. O_O I got HUGE deja vu seeing that black and white room. Glitchphobia might also have some “classic 2016 glitch noises” in it so if I note those down but its just the game and I dont know so, ignore the note! Its just jotted down just in case!

By the way, it’s likely I’m gonna miss a few face cam glitches I should note down, so for any that I miss, yeah they happened. Again, look for screenshots on other blogs or reblogs on my theory blog @isas-theory-wall :’D

 13:39 - As pointed out by @septic-bella, that noise is the sirens from KJSE and Exiles. She fact-checked and that noise is NOT in other playthroughs. Its a legit note-worthy thing!

14:53 - Face cam glitch!

15:09 - Another face cam glitch!

16:23 - Extremely glitchy transition with classic 2016 glitch noises

25:13 - Everyone thinks this is something to do with Marvin but I don’t see it personally. :/ I’ll note it anyway? There’s a second rag “trick” too later on. Idk, I don’t think much of it.

27:37 - “I died twice” People could easily say the “twice is referring to Say Goodbye and KJSE but there have also been 2 times people wrote fake death articles about him, and given recent events, I think he’s referring to that. Therefore I think this note is debunked.

29:09 - Jack flatlines and I think it’s not a hint but just a joke. But people are talking about it, so I’ll note it here.

29:26 - Second rag trick thing I mentioned before. People are saying both Marvin and Chase vibes. I still don’t think much of it, but who knows.

#jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #jameson jackson #its been a while since i had to do this #it felt really good :)

[breadknight-likes-things]

Game Journal 04/20/20: I’m The Newest Vocaloid

Look, I love anime as much as the next guy, but I don’t really watch it all that match and I love to dunk on my best friend for being way more into it than I am.  I’d say once every couple of years some Anime comes along I get really into, a few years back it was Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, most recently it’s been My Hero Academia.  Today though?  Today though? I remembered how much I loved a certain Playstation Vita game starring a character I still don’t fully understand (is she like....software?  Is that what all Vocaloids are?) and how unbelievably amped I am about a new entry in the Hatsune Miku games coming to Nintendo Switch.

I have little understanding of what’s going on in this picture, but I also desperately want to see more.

Project Diva (at least I think this is another entry in that series?) is an absurd cacophony of Jpop, hyper colorful visuals, and letters or shapes flying toward the center of the screen.  It reminds me a lot of Elite Beat Agents in how it actually plays, largely being a musical rhythm game, but something about this one surpasses even that classic for me.  Like I said earlier, I barely know who Hatsune Miku is, but hot damn is her music catchy.  Upbeat and fun, fast as hell and makes for one hell of a rhythm game.  It’s not every day I play the demo of a game and immediately drop $40 on it in anticipation, but it sure as hell was today.

I just hope this one has that MMO song the vita one had, that one ruled.

Random Screenshot Of The Day:

You can change the icons in this Miku game from the Switch Buttons (it’s on Switch) to the Playstation icons (The buttons that, and I don’t care what anybody says, make the most sense on a controller to me).

Stray Game Notes:

- Started a playthrough of Call of Duty Black Ops 2, yeesh, even in comparison to the absurdly grim first game, 2 kicks off in some absurdly gruesome ways.  Assuming you watch the intro you watch like two people burn to death before you ever get control of your character.

- It really says a lot about immediately into a game I am that I can lose a half hour to a music game demo with two songs in it. - The closer we get to Gears Tactics the more excited I am there’s a new Gears of War game about to come out!  Even if it is in a genre I generally don’t like!  I’m playing for the lore dang it!

#video games #hatsune miku #miku #miku games #nintendo #nintendo switch #call of duty #blops #blops 2 #call of duty black ops 2 #call of duty black ops #cod #cod blops #cod blops 2 #activision #gears #gears tactics #gears of war #demo #game demos #bread #game journal #bread's game journal #ps vita #vita #playstation vita #I miss the vita so much y'all