Here's a short blog post announcing something incredibly inconsequential: I finally touched up the blog's landing page! That page has been mostly unchanged since the beginning in terms of look, with the only thing I ever changed being the welcome blurb written on there (and even that only got minor edits). I'd get the urge to overhaul it now and then, but I'd never follow through because I couldn't think of what else to put, or I was too focused on writing.
After actually taking some time to sit down and think about it, I managed to come up with a landing page that I think looks presentable and has some worthwhile functionality. I've now expanded the page to have links to my major blog categories, added a search bar so people can search straight away without having to navigate here to the blog page, and even switched up the background images. If you didn't already come into this blog entry via the landing page, you can click Home on the navigation bar up top and take a look for yourself. Like I said, this change is largely inconsequential, because the few people who do visit this blog usually do so through the individual blog entry links I post on my socials every time I publish something. In the extremely unlikely chance that someone I know has my blog bookmarked on their browser (let alone remember the URL for it), I would wager that the link they have saved would be the one that goes directly to the main blog page and not the landing page. And of course, if you're old-school and use the RSS feed, you'll only see the blog feed. The point is, most people are not going to see the landing page, but I'm nonetheless happy to have finally updated it with better pictures and more convenient navigation in the event someone does end up on the home page. - end -
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Here's another PS Plus Extra game, because I have to make the annual subscription I paid for worth it. BACKGROUND:
My memory is a little fuzzy on this one, but I believe the first time I saw this game was when it was featured as a speedrun in one of the GDQ charity events. It looked like an interesting puzzle game, so I kept note of it. PLOT: I just assumed that this was one of those abstract puzzle games that didn't really have any story, but as I kept playing, there are hints that what happens during gameplay (which takes place across various street signs and other 2D planes with images or drawings like blueprints) are the machinations of someone in the real world. The game doesn't really dwell on it, so I don't really have a good idea of what's going on (apart from that there's some sci-fi involved), but given how engaging the gameplay is, I didn't think about it too hard. PRESENTATION: As mentioned, most of the gameplay takes place in 2D planes. These include street signs, information signs, screen displays, drawings on various surfaces (paper, chalkboards, blueprints), and more. The art style here is as minimalist as it gets, with everything depicted with very simple iconography (much like street signs!). This works out well from a gameplay standpoint, as it's immediately clear what the key level elements are. That said, the surroundings where these 2D planes are located are far from simple. The signs can be found scattered across a bustling city, and the 3D environments look impressive from a graphical standpoint. You go from all sorts of locations like a warehouse, the subway, and the streets, and they all look quite detailed. The game also has fun taking you from screen to screen with some dynamic camera work that lets you catch glimpses of the real world. Some of the tracks in the OST have a surprisingly whimsical quality to them, but the overall vibe is chill, which of course complements the gameplay quite well. Strangely, there are sections of the game with minimal music, which took me out of the experience. GAMEPLAY: The Pedestrian is a 2D puzzle platformer where the goal is to navigate from sign to sign by solving puzzles. As the nondescript player character, you run, jump, and interact with objects in the levels to unlock the forward path. The actual platforming isn't anything revolutionary mechanics-wise. You have stuff like switches that toggle various objects, bounce pads, hazards like lasers and buzzsaws, doors that need keys, crates that you can push and jump on, platforms you can fall through, and wires that you can use to transfer electrical power between conduits. None of these are new, but they're made more interesting with the mechanic I describe next. Where this game stands out is how many sections of the game feature multiple signs (each with platforms and interactables) that you can reposition in the 3D space. The reason you do this is so you can connect nodes together to open doors or ladders, which will let you navigate between the signs. This is straightforward at first, but as you go along, you'll need to think about how you connect signs together so you can solve the room in one shot. The game won't let you cheese it by switching the node connections after you've started moving between signs; you will reset to your original position if you disconnect two nodes that you've already traveled through. The puzzles become super tricky as the number of signs you have to navigate through increase, you have to contend with multiple barriers (which require weaving through the rooms to get keys or use switches), and the 3D space where the signs reside prevent you from physically moving them to other positions (limiting your options). You even have gimmicks like signs having electrical conduits (so you have to juggle between moving them to complete a circuit or moving them so your character can proceed to another sign), a way to travel between signs other than doors/ladders that involves physically overlapping signs, or a mechanic that bypasses the restriction that prevents you from disconnecting used nodes. I ended up taking quite a bit of time in the later levels, which speaks to how challenging these puzzles got. There's really nothing else to the game since it's entirely linear, and all the achievements are story-related. I suppose the only thing worth noting is the game's final puzzle, which features a surprising new mechanic that's only used once. I won't spoil what it is, though. VERDICT: The Pedestrian caught my interest with its unique setting, but what carried me all the way through is its engaging take on puzzle platforming. I liked the mix of tried-and-true mechanics with the novel gimmick of rearranging parts of the levels to get where you need to go, and I was impressed with how the fact that you can move the signs around made otherwise basic platformer gimmicks more challenging to navigate. Although it only took me one sitting to beat this game (and there's nothing else to do afterward), I had a great time here. Puzzle platformer fans should definitely give this game a go. Rearranging parts of levels isn't a strictly unique mechanic, but The Pedestrian's take on it is unique (as far as I know, anyway). That alone is worth a look. Go to this page if you want to get The Pedestrian on Steam: The Pedestrian on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - This may be an early favorite of mine for this year. BACKGROUND:
I couldn't really decide what to read for this week, so I looked over my list of digital manga and picked one I hadn't heard of that had an interesting title, cover, and/or synopsis. This was the one that ended up drawing me in. SUMMARY: Kotoko Iwanaga is a girl who regularly visits a hospital to deal with a condition of hers. One fateful day, she meets Kuro Sakuragawa, a young man who was at the hospital to check in with his cousin. Kotoko immediately falls for him, but is cut off by Saki Yumihara, who turns out to be Kuro's girlfriend. For two years, Kotoko would observe Kuro (accompanied by Saki) on their hospital visits, never able to really interact with him. Eventually, it's revealed that Kuro and Saki are engaged, much to Kotoko's disappointment. Back in present day, Kotoko notices that Kuro is in the hospital alone, so approaches him and shoots her shot (and I mean really shoot her shot; the woman has zero fear). Kuro lets her down gently (largely because Kotoko is much younger than she looks), but the two get to talking on why his relationship with Saki ended. Here, the fantastical side of the story makes itself clear, as Kuro tells Kotoko the story of him and Saki encountering a kappa on their vacation, and how he thinks that supernatural incident led to Saki pushing him away. To Kuro's surprise, Kotoko believes him, at which point she explains that stuff like monsters and yokai truly exist in their world. Kotoko then shares her own past, and she reveals that when she was 11, the yokai kidnapped her and asked her to be their goddess of wisdom. She ended up agreeing, and she has since been in charge of helping yokai with their problems or disputes in exchange for their unseen help in her day-to-day life. In exchange, however, her left leg and right eye were taken, and the book implies that this sacrifice is a sort of prerequisite to godhood. Kuro then takes the time to verify the reports surrounding Kotoko's incident at a library. His skepticism is assuaged when he encounters a tanuki imploring for Kotoko's help, and he's brought along to take on a rogue yokai terrorizing the area. Kotoko puts up a hell of a fight, but Kuro intervenes and ends up saving the day in a rather unconventional manner. Before this point in the story, it is hinted at that Kuro harbors a dark secret, one that terrifies the yokai who interact with Kotoko. As it turns out, Kuro underwent a transformation of his own, as he reveals that he ate two kinds of yokai meat as a child. The second one wasn't revealed in this volume, but he shares that he ate mermaid meat, which gave him impressive regenerative powers that look like it could rival Wolverine. Seeing a twofold opportunity (getting with him romantically and using his boogeyman status amongst the yokai as leverage for mediations), Kotoko insists that she and Kuro work together in solving yokai problems. The last part of the book shifts the perspective to that of Saki more than two years after Kotoko and Kuro's fateful reunion. Saki is now a rookie cop working for the force who is the talk of the town for her incredible looks and the fact that she's still single. Saki's internal dialogue (as well as a chat with a detective named Terada who may or may not be hitting on her) reveals that she's not over Kuro at all and that she doesn't feel great about how things ended. Saki's conversation with Terada ends up changing the subject to a string of peculiar cases involving the supposed ghost of a dead idol causing accidents and seemingly attacking people. Terada isn't sure what to make of the incidents, but having had a brush with the supernatural once before, Saki suspects that there may be indeed a ghost out there wreaking havoc. She then recalls her run-in with the kappa when she was still with Kuro, and more details about what actually happened are revealed that show how deeply traumatized Saki was by the existence of the supernatural. The volume ends with Saki and Kotoko actually running into each other, but before they could really talk, the ghost Saki has been hearing about shows up. Fed up with the dread that the supernatural caused her, Saki decides to try and fight the ghost, which ends as well as you'd think. Kotoko intervenes and repels the ghost, and afterwards, the two girls talk a bit more. Kotoko then realizes who she's talking to and introduces herself, but the volume ends before Kuro is brought up in conversation. The book's entire premise reminded me a lot of Trese (more on that here) with its lead characters more or less dealing with cases involving supernatural creatures, and I've definitely enjoyed my fair share of those. Whereas the titles I've previously enjoyed like Trese or Hellblazer have more of a detective vibe, In/Spectre stands out to me immediately as Kotoko's role as the yokai's goddess of wisdom makes her more of a diplomat who tries to resolve things peacefully before resorting to force. Her status also means that most yokai actually treat her with reverence, whereas creatures from similar stories have, at most, a begrudging respect for the protagonists. This volume doesn't really show the more diplomatic side of Kotoko's role as goddess (as she doesn't get to do the stuff she says she does, like mediate conflicts), but it's quite clear that the yokai trust and respect her dearly, as they address her with honorifics and are greatly concerned with her well-being (especially around Kuro, whom they fear). I'm hoping later chapters actually show the typical cases she handles (as I'd like to know what kind of conflicts yokai get into that can be resolved with diplomacy) and how the collective respect for her has persisted throughout her time as goddess thus far. Where Kotoko truly shines as a character here is when she interacts with Kuro. Like I said earlier, she shoots her shot the first chance she gets, and she is incredibly direct when articulating her feelings towards Kuro. She gets her point across in a rather eloquent manner and doesn't beat around the bush, which does lead her to occasionally say weird things that are only offset by her formal tone. I quite enjoy her as a protagonist because of how refreshingly forward she is, I found her directness with sharing her feelings admirable (extra points for not being a creepy flirt, too), and I got a real kick out of some of the completely bizarre things she says with a straight face and such formal language. Kuro makes for an excellent foil for what I like to describe as Kotoko's controlled advances, as he calls out her advances (some of which are physical) without being mean about it. While it would be interesting to see if his feelings changed towards Kotoko, I must admit I'm more intrigued by the mystery surrounding his backstory. How and why did he become the way he is, and how would his association with Kotoko cause conflicts with the yokai? These are questions I hope are explored in later volumes. Saki is only around for the back half of the volume, but I was pleasantly surprised she was featured as much as she was, as she felt like a throwaway character just to set up Kuro's story. I really liked her inclusion as she serves as the human perspective of this manga's world, and it was interesting to see how adversely that affected her. Naturally, the potential for drama given her meeting with Kotoko and possibly seeing Kuro again after the breakup is spicy, but I'm curious if she will be part of the story in more than just the love triangle aspect of it. After all, she's a human cop who can see all this spooky nonsense, and I'm wondering if she does anything with what's essentially a curse of knowledge to her. We only meet a couple of yokai in this volume, and apart from the ones Kotoko had to fight (who appear to just be blinded by rage or something to that effect), they really treat their goddess with the utmost respect. I'd like to meet more yokai with more complex relationships to Kotoko than just "we worship her," like more adversarial ones or individuals who were directly involved with her peacekeeping efforts. Most of the art keeps it light and relatively simple for the more grounded interactions (like people talking to one another or typical scenery), so stuff like action sequences, panels that feature yokai, and serious moments really stand out with their more intense linework (usually in the fight scenes), much darker shades, and an increase in the level of detail. I enjoyed such panels a lot, though I also enjoyed how the art wasn't afraid to lean a little towards the other direction by giving characters simpler and sillier facial expressions in the more light-hearted moments. I also found the juxtaposition of the more grotesque-looking yokai bowing down to the cutesy Kotoko quite amusing. VERDICT: As I said in the intro, In/Spectre may be an early contender for manga that left me with an amazing first impression for 2024. Everything from the neat little twist on a familiar premise, an entertaining protagonist in Kotoko, the story potential of the yokai world, the mystery of Kuro, and the possibilities that come with Saki's involvement all come together to deliver a story that I want to read more of. I want to see what kind of stuff Kotoko does as the goddess of wisdom, how Kuro's nature and presence will affect that, and what other ridiculous shit Kotoko will do to try and win Kuro's heart. I'm definitely putting this on the "continue this series" list. If the fantasy elements of the story interest you, this may be a manga you would like, but I can only speak to the potential of its world right now given I've only finished Vol. 1. Depending on your taste, the rom-com potential between the two main characters may or may not be of interest to you as well, so take that into account as well if this is a title that you're curious about. - end - The co-op crew started 2024 strong with a major playthrough in the first week of the year. We're mostly just cleaning up achievements now, but we've finished enough of the main game to a point that I can talk about it here. BACKGROUND:
I've heard a fair deal about this game (largely from a couple of my friends who've already played the game a couple of years ago), but I've actually not sought out any gameplay footage online or anything like that. All I know is that it's a side-scrolling spin on the classic survival crafting formula, so I'm not aware of any prominent differences to other genre offerings apart from that. Last Christmas, one of my friends made the bold move of gifting three of the co-op crew this game, which included myself. With that one maneuver, our next co-op playthrough was sealed. We were joined by three other friends who've already played Terraria before, and thus our first co-op adventure for the year was set. PLOT: There's not really an explicit story that is followed as you play, which is a bit of a shame as there are a ton of interesting things you find in the world that are brimming with story potential. One could probably tell fun stories with world elements like the corrupted biomes overtaking the world, the existence of factions like the Old Ones or phenomena like the celestial towers, or the backstories of certain NPCs like the Dryad. If you're looking for an involved narrative, this sadly isn't the game for it, but if you're more the investigative type, you can kind of piece a few things together from bestiary entries and the dialogue of specific NPCs. PRESENTATION: The art style definitely has that retro slant with all the visuals having that pixel art aesthetic, but it's quite obvious at first glance that this game is a modern one with how amazingly detailed the backgrounds are. Most other gameplay elements (save for large objects like the bosses) look simple enough that they'd pass for something that came out for the Super Nintendo, but both the intricate backgrounds and the fluid animations are definitely of this day and age. There are a wide variety of tracks covering all sorts of moods, from lively day themes for inviting biomes like the forest, eerie themes for locales like the underground, and intense boss battle themes. Many of the techno tracks have a bit of a chiptune flavor to it, which adds to the overall retro feel, but it's not to the point that it feels like harping on nostalgia. GAMEPLAY: As established, Terraria is a 2D side-scrolling survival crafting sandbox game, so there's a healthy mix of exploring a wide variety of biomes, gathering resources from all sorts of sources, crafting all sorts of things from said resources (from structures, weapons, tools, armor, and so much more), and fighting enemies. There's a lot to be said about each major aspect of the game, so I'll go through each one as best I can. There are a few settings you can fiddle with when you're generating a world. You can choose the size of the world (unlike Minecraft, a Terraria world is finite), the difficulty (which adjusts enemy difficulty in exchange for exclusive drops), or even input a specific seed (including special ones that completely change the game). In our case, we played on Expert difficulty, which was certainly no joke. Creating characters is interesting here, as they are not tied to one world. They work more like profiles, and you can choose which profile you want to play as when you enter a world. Every character will also retain their stats and inventory across worlds, so you could bring a character with endgame gear to a newly generated world and destroy everything in your path. As this was my first playthrough, I naturally just created one character and stuck to it, but I was able to use this feature later on and bring that character to a single player world I made for myself. The characters you create also have their own difficulty level you can set, determining the penalty should that character die in gameplay. We agreed as a group to set our respective character difficulty to the lowest (we only drop coins on death) to offset the Expert difficulty of the world, but you can choose to bump it up to either lose your inventory on death or even play on hardcore where death is permanent. Once you're all set, you can get to exploring. There are a ton of biomes you can run into just by running from left to right or vice versa, but the game ups the ante by having those biomes change depending on the altitude as well as having biomes exclusive to underground layers or the sky layer. Each area has its own quirks, but most importantly, every locale has a unique set of resources you can gather and enemies you can fight. Some stuff can exist anywhere regardless of locale (like basic slimes or low-level ore), but for the most part, you'll have to pay close attention to what things you see in a biome. Exploring the world is slow at first, as you only have your own two feet and both darkness and fall damage make a descent into the underground perilous. As you play, you will unlock grappling hooks that makes climbing much easier, equippable mounts that either move fast or grant mobility in the air or on liquids, accessories that make troublesome terrain less of a hassle, and wings that allow for sustained flight and negation of fall damage. It takes a while to get to the point where traversing the world doesn't feel laborious, but once you get there, exploration is a lot more fun. As you explore, you'll naturally be gathering as many resources as you can hold in your inventory. A lot of the stuff you want to get can simply be acquired by breaking objects and mining blocks, but many of the items you're looking for are found in other places (like as enemy drops or as exclusive goods sold by merchants). You can even transmute certain items through a neat but rare mechanic called shimmer, which is a liquid you throw stuff in to turn an item into a different one. Fishing is also a major way to acquire resources, but it's not just about fish or rare objects. You have a small chance of fishing up crates when you cast a line, and what you get in a crate is the luck of the draw. We joked that this was the game's gachapon mechanic, but given how uncommon the items you actually want are, this RNG aspect of the game might as well be a gamble. Fishing also takes some effort in the early game, as you have to go out of your way to catch certain critters in a net to use as bait. Although there are ways to mitigate the odds, many of the items you may want are locked behind random chance (whether that's by fishing, rare enemy drops, or even a rotating selection of merchant goods). As such, working towards the best gear will necessitate a good deal of grinding, which everyone in our group was subjected to at one point or another in our playthrough. The ordeal was mitigated greatly by the fact that we're all hanging out together and chatting or the ability to actually help each other in-game, but I can't imagine doing all this solo being as much fun unless you're one of those folks who can enjoy the grind. Once you've acquired some resources, you can start crafting all sorts of things you need for your journey and refining raw materials. Crafting here suffers the same problem as early Minecraft, as you have to somehow know the recipes for stuff beforehand or have access to a wiki so you know where to get stuff. This was not a problem for me and the other newbies in the group since we had Terraria veterans playing alongside us, and I personally don't mind the "walkthrough in one hand" play approach in some games if there are other things to enjoy about the game outside the sense of discovery, but I can see this being a massive hurdle for new players who want to play without any guides. This issue is most prevalent when you look at the plethora of crafting stations needed to craft many of the items. It's obvious that you need all these stations, sure, but you don't actually know what new items you can craft because they exist. I had to look up what recipes become available thanks to these stations. It would be nice if this game was more accessible in this respect by showing what possible recipes can be made when you stand next to a station, because the game already shows you what materials you need to craft stuff (but they won't show up unless you already have what you need in your inventory). Some of the really powerful items have insanely long crafting trees, which I thought was really neat. Items from the early game still see utility long after they're outclassed, as they're used to craft stronger items with more potent effects on top of the effects of that item. It's a common thing for games like these to render early-game resources obsolete once you find stronger stuff, and while I know better to expect such titles to address this peeve of mine, I love that Terraria's approach does exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to keeping low-level resources relevant (even if it's only for specific instances). You can also use materials to build basic structures like your base, place platforms and ropes to make traversing areas easier, as well as create necessary fixtures like your crafting stations and various storage options. There are also special structures like minecart rails, stuff like spawner statues, teleportation options like biome pylons (though these are sadly limited) and wired teleporters (which take a while to set up), and even decorative furniture. You naturally can't get too wild with your buildings since the game's in 2D, but there's a decent enough variety of blocks, walls, and decor to make neat-looking rooms. We also used the game's building mechanics for other purposes, like dedicated arenas for boss fights (these are mostly just platforms we can move around in order to dodge bosses easier), dedicated housing for the game's many NPCs, tree farms for wood, and even artificial versions of other biomes to make gathering resources exclusive to them easier. Speaking of NPCs, there are a ton of them you can bring in and make houses for. Unlocking each one has their own requirements, and most of them are worth going for since they each sell stuff that's either hard to find or you can't find anywhere else. These NPCs are where pretty much all of your coins will be going, and some even offer special services like reforging equipment or fishing quests. It's also just a fun change of pace to build a sort of community along with your base, as that's not something you get to do often in games like this. Combat is interesting, as weapons fall into one of four classes: melee, ranged, magic, and summoner. Melee is straightforward, ranged involves a ton of ammo management, magic has you use weapons that expend your character's mana, and summoner has you call on familiars that fight for you. You can use any of the four class weapons as you wish, but they are typically most effective if you build around that specific class. The weapon variety for each class is pretty impressive. Melee branches out from the typical swords and spears by adding novel items like boomerangs, flails, and yo-yos, ranged has throwing items in addition to bows and guns (which themselves have a variety of ammo types), magic weapons have a wide variety of effects, and summoner has whips to complement the variety of familiars you can summon. I was delighted by how many options there were that I ended up trying out builds for all of the classes. Acquiring weapons can range from simple (just craft them with the resources you find), challenging (exclusive boss drops), to a horrific grind (rare fishing crate drops, long crafting trees). Some of the great or powerful weapons aren't easy to come by, so again, many of us were subjected to some rough grinding at various points. Thankfully, you can make some of the more accessible weapons work just fine, but if you want to run the strongest possible gear, you'll have to work for it. Weapons can also have modifiers attached to them that provide stat bonuses or penalties depending on the descriptor. You can get lucky (or unlucky) with these when you acquire the weapons on the first go, but you can easily reforge them to change the modifiers by paying a specific NPC coins. If you really want to minmax, the most you have to do is get that NPC and ensure a steady supply of coins (which isn't hard to manage unless you die a lot). Your equipment is as important as weapons to success in combat, as most of your stat increases will come from them. These include your three armor pieces (headgear, chest piece, legwear), which give you the bulk of your defense. As you play and find more armor pieces/crafting materials for armor pieces, you'll start to see how a lot of them have class-specific bonuses, so if you want to make the most out of your weapons, you'll want to wear pieces that focus on augmenting a specific weapon class. Many armor pieces will also have a set bonus if you wear all three pieces of the same name, which can make you even more effective when it comes to utilizing the weapon classes that synergize with the armor. There are also special armor pieces/sets that aren't designed for combat, like the angler set (which is primarily for improving your fishing stat). You are free to use mixed sets if you want, of course, but I found that full sets work quite effectively when paired with the right weapons. In addition to armor, you can equip a number of accessories as well (the default is five, but you eventually unlock a sixth slot). Here, there's more freedom to mix and match since there are no set bonuses here, so you can just choose from the wide assortment of accessories you can find or craft in the game. Some will complement certain weapon classes specifically with their bonuses, others are more universal (like defense upgrades or protection against debuffs), while others are more of utility outside of combat (like the aforementioned wings). Like weapons, accessories can have modifiers, but they don't provide bonuses as significant as weapon modifiers. Armor and accessories can be acquired in much the same ways as weapons, though in my experience, most armor pieces don't involve grinding for rare resources. Some of the most useful accessories, on the other hand, will demand that you find rare enemies and kill a bunch of them hoping you get their rare loot. I found that a lot of them are worth the trouble, however, as a lot of these premium accessories make class-specific builds even more effective at dealing damage. Equipment is more about just stats here, as you can also set vanity items to change your look without affecting your stats. There are a ton of clothing pieces that are purely cosmetic, so there's plenty of opportunities to be stylish as there are to have powerful loadouts to deal with enemies. You can even set all your equipment to be a certain color thanks to dyes, and there are plenty of options here as well (including ones with dazzling visual effects). You can also acquire pets who will accompany you on your journey. A few of these have some sort of niche utility (like acting as a light source), but for the most part, they're just there to tag along with you. Like your gear, pets can be customized with dye to give them different looks, but not all dyes are compatible with certain pets. Another valuable tool on your adventure is the variety of potions you can find or craft. The perks you can receive cover all sorts of helpful bonuses, from standard restoration, combat perks (both general and class-specific), potions that aid in exploration (like detecting valuable resources or providing night vision), fishing-related potions, and even fast travel potions. They're absolutely worth using whenever you can, and although some of them take some effort to craft, many potions can be found simply by finding them strewn about or in chests, fished from crates, and sometimes even as enemy drops. I've already used the word "variety" way too many times in this blog entry, but the variety of enemies is yet another element of this game that I find impressive. Every biome has unique enemy types (with even some spawns dependent on time of day or the location in the biome), each one has a notable design or behavior, and many have useful drops in addition to coins. Going through biomes and finding out what new stuff I could fight added to the fun of exploration, though the luster disappears when you're at the point where you need to grind for rare drops. You're actually rewarded for killing a lot of a single enemy type, as for every 50th enemy (for most types), you get a banner of that enemy. This banner can then be placed in the world, and they give you a damage bonus on the specified enemy. It's a neat idea, and I also liked the collection aspect of having banners of nearly all the enemies in the game. As of this writing, there are 15 major bosses in Terraria, and gearing up to fight one is a journey in itself. You'll have to explore quite a bit to find the summoning method for each boss, some have specific requirements before they have to show up (like summoning them at night or in a specific biome), and a good number of them require you to explore quite a bit to find where or how to summon them. Outside of some optional bosses, there is a prescribed order to fighting each boss (though this is not explicitly revealed). Every boss is challenging in some way at the point you first fight them, and multiplayer games scale their HP to match the number of players. I also observed that a lot of them seemed like a pain to fight without some form of preparation (primarily setting up arenas with platforms to give yourself space), and while prep work can be fun in itself, the idea of clearing out space so you can fight bosses is not something the game teaches you properly. It's just something you kind of realize if you try to fight certain bosses in natural terrain. Bosses have exclusive drops or resources you can't find anywhere else, and what's nice is that you can easily fight them again if you need more. You can find or farm more of a boss's respective summoning item with relative ease, so you don't have to worry about missing out on rewards. On multiplayer, boss loot is also instanced, so you also don't have to worry about accidentally swiping your friend's loot. There are also special events that are akin to invasions, where you'll have to withstand an onslaught of enemies exclusive to the event for a specified amount of time. These include the Blood Moon, a solar eclipse, the holiday-themed Pumpkin Moon and Frost Moon, and invasions from pirates, goblins, or enemies called the Old Ones. There are drops you can't get anywhere else by taking down enemies from these events, with some even locked behind exclusive mini-bosses of some events. These events are kind of a pain in the early game since you won't be equipped to handle wave after wave of enemies, but you'll get to a point where you can easily tear through the hordes without breaking a sweat. Like bosses, these special events can be activated at will with the equivalent of summoning items, allowing you to take these on whenever you like. They're a reliable way to farm coins without having to go out of your way to sell stuff to merchants or kill enemies the old-fashioned way. Terraria has an interesting approach to progression apart from the usual loop of these games (explore, gather resources to power up, take down bosses, get rarer loot for stronger gear, repeat), as after you beat a specific boss for the first time, the world goes into what's called Hardmode. In this state, the enemies get stronger, new enemy types show up, previously unavailable resources and bosses become accessible, and even new biomes appear. Although this radical change only happens once in a playthrough, I still loved the approach, as the transition adds so much to an already packed world. Games like these involve a lot of navigating menus, sorting inventory, and meticulous block placement. For the most part, Terraria has a lot of great quality-of-life features that make such actions easy, like quick stacking items to chests, the ability to label chests, automatic block swapping, the ability to equip and swap between multiple equipment loadouts, and special commands like quick healing, quick trashing of items, and locking inventory items. That said, there are a few omissions that I found odd in this regard, like many items not stacking in chests or inventory, or the lack of multiple hotbar loadouts in the same vein as Stardew Valley. There are a lot of other neat things in this game, like small but meaningful crossovers with other indie titles like Don't Starve and Stardew Valley, the special world seeds I mentioned earlier, and even the ability to toggle PvP (which we did not try; I can't say if PvP is even balanced in this game). VERDICT: Given our entire group immediately got sucked into Terraria to the point where we beat the current final boss in two weeks, I think it's safe to say we had a ton of fun with this one. Speaking for myself, I loved how there was plenty to find and do, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety in nearly every aspect (weapons and equipment, the enemies and bosses, all the biomes you find yourself in, and so much more), and I enjoyed certain progression elements like the Hardmode concept and items that have long crafting trees (keeping early game resources relevant). I do wish that a lot of the RNG-dependent elements were toned down, but apart from that, this game was a delight to play from start to finish. The biggest caveat to me recommending this game is how little this game teaches you within the game itself. Unless you don't mind taking the time to figure everything out on your own (which seems quite difficult to me), I would recommend having terraria.wiki.gg handy as a resource while you play. Outside of that, I think people who enjoy survival crafting sandbox games will get a kick out of this. There are a lot of difficulty options to fully customize your experience, there is a ton to do in the game itself, and the game is absolutely multiplayer-friendly if you want to enjoy the experience with friends. And if your concern is that this game seems too similar to other titles within its genre (the most common remark I hear is "this is just Minecraft in 2D"), I will assure you that this game has its own identity thanks to (among other things) its combat class system, the manner of progression, and the prominence of NPCs. Terraria is available on the following: - end - I'm pulling from the friend recommendation list again for this week. Let's see what we have here. BACKGROUND:
Per usual, this series is one I've never heard of before. What piqued my interest about it was my friend's short description of the manga, as they mention that it has a few Shinto elements. I was curious as to what that exactly meant. SUMMARY: In the first chapter of this volume, we are introduced to Yato, a minor god who seeks to be revered and worshipped by many followers. Sadly, he's the furthest he can possibly be from that goal, and in order to build his following, he provides a sort of problem-solving service where he helps whoever who calls for a small fee. Here, he helps a girl in middle school who is being pushed close to the edge to the aggressive bullying she faces, and in the process, explains the nature of this world. Yato explains how the world is divided into two halves, the Near Shore (the land of the living) and the Far Shore (where the dead and other supernatural beings reside). It's established that these two worlds pretty much exist on top of one another, but most humans can't perceive anything from the Far Shore. On the flip side, there exist beings called ayakashi that like to hang around or otherwise manifest when there are a lot of negative emotions floating around, and they can be a threat to the unsuspecting. In order to defeat the more dangerous ayakashi, Yato has the help of a Shinki, a human soul who can transform into a weapon. For the first chapter, Yato is assisted by Tomone (who transforms into a dagger), but she decides to resign after seeing how Yato resolves the conflict of the first chapter. The story truly begins after the first chapter, as Yato, now alone on top of being homeless, struggles to find work (only managing to get a call from a kid who can perceive bits of the Far Shore). This job leads to a fateful encounter where he is saved from a bus by a girl named Hiyori Iki, who, by some miracle, doesn't die due to the impact. However, Hiyori learns that the accident caused her soul to essentially come loose, as she can slip into an out-of-body experience involuntarily (leaving her corporeal form asleep). Hiyori seeks out Yato, enlisting his help so she can be restored to normal. Much to Hiyori's chagrin, Yato is in no rush to fix her problem, stating that he can't really do much without a new Shinki. Annoyed, Hiyori takes it upon herself to find one for him, but she ends up bringing a dangerous ayakashi instead. Things look dire until Yato chances upon a free-floating spirit, whom he calls upon as his new Shinki. Christened Yukine, the new Shinki reveals himself to be quite the sassy one by giving Yato shit, and the volume ends with the main cast established. This first volume feels very much like one of those setup volumes, as it largely introduces the main characters and establishes the world but not much else. We do meet the cast and get a sense of their personalities, but only get a taste of how those personalities will clash with one another. Yato is easily the most fleshed out character at this point as he gets the most screentime, while I've yet to really latch onto Hiyori (who, so far, only has one quirk I find notable) or Yukine (who is literally introduced at the very end of the volume). Yato is a rather brash fellow, as he's determined to be a universally renowned god but sees himself above the very tasks he finds himself doing. It's honestly a bit hard to get behind his goal especially with his attitude, so it will be interesting to see if he grows as a character when he has personalities like Hiyori (who is determined to solve her problem and will badger him for it) and Yukine (who can bring an equal if not greater amount of teenage attitude) to serve as his foils. As of now, the main goal of the heroes is clear as well (getting Hiyori back to normal), but this volume presents next to nothing about how to achieve that goal or what conflicts they'll face along the way. There is a singular hint implying that Hiyori's condition may present more danger than is readily obvious, but it's much too vague at this point for me to be really intrigued beyond wanting to know what that means. What captivated me about this manga is its world-building. Of course, the idea of a physical realm and a spiritual realm existing seamlessly is nothing new at all, but the story taking inspiration from Shinto (which I only have a surface-level familiarity with) gives it a fresh spin in my eyes. I also thought the concept of the Shinki is a really cool idea, and I wonder if later chapters will introduce more of them as well as different wielders. Lastly, I am quite curious if any more gods show up in the story, as we only really meet Yato here (and as he is now, it's hard to believe that he's the god of anything). The art features a solid level of detail for both the characters (primarily the faces) and the backgrounds, and I enjoyed the variety of shades used throughout the book. Everything really shines when depicting action sequences (which look intense with all the speed lines and such) against the more hostile ayakashi, many of which have quite otherworldly designs. VERDICT: Vol. 1 of Noragami is mostly just setting the stage for a much larger story, but I liked what they established about the world so far. I'm quite curious to learn more about what kind of beings inhabit the Far Shore (including the gods) as well as the potential of the Shinki concept. For the main cast, I've yet to really become invested in them since these early chapters don't give me much to work on, but I don't doubt that later volumes will give them more. If you like fantasy stories with two separate yet intertwined worlds or anything with a supernatural slant, you may fancy this manga. I'd probably suggest reading more volumes than I did and go beyond Vol. 1 in case you don't find it sufficient, though I naturally cannot speak to what later volumes have to offer. - end - Here we are again with a game I finally have a chance to play. BACKGROUND:
I don't remember which presentation I first saw this game, but I remember being absolutely sold by that initial trailer. The game was a mix of two genres I enjoy, the art style was striking, and the whole premise is hilarious (especially juxtaposed with the aesthetic). I resolved to get this for Switch, but I never got around to it. My opportunity ended up being a sale on PSN that I was able to use extra funds on, though it would take me a while to actually play it. PLOT: You play as the Lamb (who is apparently the last of their kind), and right at the beginning, you are sacrificed by dark deities known as the Bishops of the Old Faith to stave off some prophecy. It has some unintended consequences, as instead, you are sent to some strange sort of afterlife. Here, you meet The One Who Waits, a seemingly powerful deity who is bound in chains. The One Who Waits instructs you to start a cult in its name so it can regain enough power to escape its bonds, entrusts you with the Red Crown, and brings you back to life. Throughout the game, the Lamb balances expanding the cult and venturing into the lands of the Old Faith, where each Bishop resides. One by one, each Bishop is slain, and as you do, you learn a little bit about the history of the Old Faith, as well as the overview of each Bishop (who each represent a Horseman of the Apocalypse). As you go along, you also learn stuff about The One Who Waits, which I can't talk about due to spoilers. It's a pretty grim setting overall, with dark deities and twisted individuals aplenty, and the Lamb is not above doing terrible shit to their followers in their quest to amass power. The overall lore isn't explored heavily, but I felt that there was an adequate balance between revealing interesting aspects of the game's world and keeping some of the mystery (which works well to enhance the eerie factor of some elements). The characters are given a similar treatment, where you get a good sense of what their deal is, but you don't know a lot of their backstory. PRESENTATION: Now, what I described above sounds dark on paper, but it's the adorable cartoon art style that gives everything a light-hearted spin. Most of the characters are cute animals with silly facial expression (some adorable, others more terrifying), though the game does not shy away from more grotesque/macabre/eldritch imagery. The latter is tempered by the overall aesthetic, with plenty of bright colors, largely simple designs, and strong outlines. Interestingly, the game's perspective is more 2.5D than purely 2D, as most of the game elements are 2D images in a 3D environment (much like the original Doom). The result looks pretty neat, though something about the implementation makes gauging the distance of your melee weapon range slightly trickier. A lot of the music falls into one of two categories: chill yet cheery (to go along with the non-combat areas) or haunting (accompanies the dungeon crawling), and the overall energy the soundtrack goes for is more reserved than intense with a few exceptions. There are a variety of instruments used, but the most prominent musical element to me are the choir-like vocals that perfectly complement the heavy religious and occult themes of the game. Many of the sound effects add to the game's cartoony vibe, as the animal characters make a lot of cute noises (this includes their shrieks of pain and/or terror), though others go in the other direction and lean more towards eerie (like the gong of church bells and such). GAMEPLAY: Cult of the Lamb is a game of two halves: the more action-oriented dungeon crawler roguelike, and the chill community sim with base-building aspects. The two are connected in the sense that resources used in one can be acquired by focusing efforts on the other, but I'll focus more on going in-depth on each half individually. The Roguelike There are four different dungeons in the game, each corresponding to one of the Bishops of the Old Faith. Aside from overall aesthetic, each one features different enemy types (including, of course, the bosses and minibosses), hazards, and unique resources you can gather by destroying the environment. As is standard, every run (called a Crusade in-game) has procedurally generated maps and a random sequence of rooms you can select that feature different things (regular dungeons, resource spots, special events), but no standard Crusade will go over 20 minutes with how compact each map is. The relatively shorter length is a nice change of pace (though I don't mind long runs as a longtime roguelike player), and it works well with how progression is structured in this game. Before you get the opportunity to fight the Bishop of each dungeon, you must first complete three runs and beat three minibosses. Along the way, the Bishop will get increasingly angry and cause problems for your followers, adding a bit of stakes to your adventure (and is a clever way to keep you from neglecting your flock). After you beat the Bishop of a dungeon, you can keep reentering the dungeon as you please, where you can refight the boss and any miniboss, encounter a special post-clear miniboss, and choose to keep a run going beyond the normal length if you want more rewards. I mostly went back to gather the unique resources of each dungeon, but it's really neat that there's proper incentive to return, and that the overall difficulty of a cleared dungeon is raised to keep you on your toes. As the Lamb, you're able to pick up and use a small variety of weapons, each differing in damage, attack speed, range, and their heavy attack (which uses a mana-like resource called Fervour, primarily gained by killing enemies). Weapons can also have classes like Bane or Merciless, which imbues weapons with chance-dependent effects like poison or critical hits. Defensively, the most you can do is roll, but the invincibility frames are enough to get you out of most situations. The main thing you use Fervour for are Curses, which you can think of as the equivalent of spells in this game (or, if you want a more roguelike-adjacent analogy, the Cast from Hades). The variety here is more pronounced, as you get all manner of attacks that can more reliably inflict status effects or have some other property like knockback or homing projectiles. Each cast of a Curse uses a ton of Fervour, though, but the cost makes sense given how powerful a lot of them are. It's not a roguelike without items that confer passive bonuses, and in this game, those take the form of tarot cards. As opposed to something like Binding of Isaac, the game doesn't really give you that many opportunities to stack a lot of cards (I very rarely got more than four per run), so most of your success in each run relies more on weapon and Curse mastery than it is on finding a build. That said, happening upon powerful tarot cards can give you a greater edge in combat. As of this writing, I'm playing the game after a major post-launch update, which adds a mechanic called Relics. These are active-use items that give you some sort of game-changing extra skill (there's a wide assortment, from freezing all enemies, summoning a familiar, and much more), and they each charge based on hitting enemies. I didn't rely on these as heavily as my other tools, but they really help in a pinch. Like I said earlier, enemy variety is split between each dungeon, so things won't get boring if you go from dungeon to dungeon. For the most part, a lot of enemies have straightforward behaviors, but some are definitely tougher than others for a variety of reasons (like shields you have to break, gimmicks like deflecting projectiles, bullet hell-like projectiles). Minibosses up the ante by using a combination of attacks you've already seen from regular enemies in addition to spawning said regular enemies on occasion, but aside from potentially troublesome projectiles, they won't ask too much of you. The Bishops who serve as the final boss of each dungeon are a well-executed progression of difficulty, incorporating everything you've seen from the minibosses of their respective dungeon in a sort of culmination of everything you've learned. I personally wish there were a greater variety of bosses overall, but what they have here isn't bad at all. The game rewards you handsomely if you manage to defeat a boss/miniboss without getting hit, as the resources you gathered throughout the run are increased. On the flip side, dying or choosing to escape the dungeon reduces your loot, but the penalty is not that bad apart from the rarer resources. Defeating each Bishop rewards you with the Heart of a Heretic, which you can turn in for permanent bonuses like the ability to leave the dungeon at any time or a dark way to resurrect once after death. Unlocking these involve engaging with the other half of the game, which makes this the perfect segue. The Community Sim In between runs, you'll be spending time in your actual base, where your cult resides. Here is where you do all the base-building by spending all the resources you've gathered in runs and elsewhere, as well as maintain the well-being of your followers. Throughout your time playing, there will be plenty of opportunities to indoctrinate followers into your flock. The game encourages you to treat followers as resources (which isn't some twisted commentary on society at all), so naturally, having more followers would reap more benefits in the long run. However, the larger your flock grows, the more you have to do in order to make sure the whole cult stays in tiptop shape. Each follower that comes in is customizable in some way, and they will have a random assortment of traits that may help or hinder you in small ways. In the grand scheme, these traits won't be that impactful in your overall progression, but if you're the sort to minmax, some of these are traits you can exploit. The cult has overall stats you have to watch out for so your flock doesn't fall apart. The main one is Faith: if you perform too many actions that cause this to drop (like dying in Crusades), or neglect other aspects of your followers' well-being (like letting them die), some members will eventually become dissenters. Dissenters will not only leave your flock eventually, but they can also turn others against you by spreading their propaganda amongst other followers, which can cause a snowball effect of deserters. Of course, the key to any successful religion is subjugation, so you want to keep your flock happy to keep them faithful (or you can re-educate dissenters). Each follower also has a Hunger and Sickness stat, which is more straightforward (don't let the stats drop too low, or they'll die). Keeping hunger at bay is as simple as you think it is, but sickness is a bit more involved, as you have to clean up your flock's waste products and ensure dead bodies are disposed of properly. Also, sickness can spread, so you'll want to make sure that your base is as sanitary as can be. The game has a day-night cycle you have to somewhat respect, as followers do not take kindly to being woken in the night. More importantly, making followers do things at night runs the risk of making them tired, which can eventually lead to death. You'll also have to keep an eye on followers who reach old age, as that means they are close to death. You may want to think about replacing them well before that happens, as elderly followers actually can't perform any work (so they can't contribute as much to the overall cult). The first thing you're able to exploit your followers for is issuing commands to them, because while you can do many activities yourself, why would you? You can order them to perform specific actions (from building, harvesting resources, and operating structures), or pray to the shrine to build up a resource called Devotion. There are also miscellaneous commands like telling them to rest if they're tired or sick, or you can be the charismatic leader that you are and give them gifts/bless them for bonuses. In the case of gifts, you can give followers items called necklaces that give them special perks. These range from the wearer not needing to sleep, harvesting bonus resources, or even having twice the average lifespan of a follower. Necklaces aren't that common in my experience, but they're definitely as valuable as they sound. Devotion is probably one of the most important resources in this half of the game, as filling up the meter with your followers' prayers will unlock Divine Inspiration. This can be used to unlock things in the game's expansive tech tree, which has all the essential base structures you want as well as helpful passive bonuses. Pretty much every building you need is unlocked this way, but it's up to you what to prioritize. Although the main way you get Devotion is through your followers praying at the shrine, you can also fill each individual follower's Loyalty bar for extra Devotion. This is accomplished through various means (including the aforementioned bless/gift actions). Doing this also has the added benefit of leveling that individual up, making them more effective or valuable for certain tasks. Building stuff is simple: if you have enough of the required resources, simply place the structure somewhere and build it (or outsource the work to your flock). Some of the required resources can only be acquired in bulk in dungeons (the main one being coins), while others need to be refined from raw materials. You'll eventually unlock structures that make a number of resources practically renewable, but you still have to work for the other ones by going on the occasional Crusade. Aside from the shrine, the other main building in your base is the temple. A lot of important activities are done here, which I'll go through one by one. First, you can preach a sermon everyday, and depending on your follower count (and their respective levels), you'll fill up this meter that, when full, allows you to unlock something in a special skill tree. This skill tree powers you up on Crusades by giving you bonuses like stronger weapons, new weapon/Curse types, and even neat stuff like rerolling starting weapons. This is perhaps the prime example of one half of the game influencing your success in the other, and I think that interconnectivity is really neat. You can also issue doctrines, which unlock global cult perks (making certain activities more beneficial or mitigate penalties from less savory ones) and rituals (more on that in the next paragraph). Each doctrine is split between five aspects, and each aspect lets you decide four total doctrines. In order to unlock these doctrines, you'll need to spend a resource called Commandment Stones, which can be earned either as dungeon rewards or when you level up a follower's loyalty. Rituals are special events you can activate for some sort of game-changing bonus, and they will typically cost bones (harvested from the corpses of enemies you kill on Crusades). Some are straightforward, like a massive Faith increase, but others are more specific, like feasts that top up everyone's hunger meter or a ritual that forces everyone to work without sleeping for three days. The more exciting rituals are the sacrifice and ascension rituals, which, as you may guess, involve exchanging the life of a follower for some other bonus. There's also a resurrection ritual if you happen to lose valuable followers with high levels. However, these types of rituals often have some sort of tradeoff (usually a Faith decrease). You can also unlock outfits called Fleeces, which provide a risk and reward effect for your Crusades. For example, there's one where every kill gives you a damage increase, but a single hit will do double damage and reset that counter. You don't really need to use these unless you want a challenge, but if you know your way around the combat or favor a certain play style, the rewards can really outweigh the risks. There are a wide variety of structures you can build for your base. These include basic resource gathering stations, shelters for each follower, refineries, cooking stations to keep followers fed, sanitation-related amenities (outhouses, burial grounds), farming-related structures, and more novel ways to acquire resources (like offering shrines and the missionary building, which lets you send followers off to find certain resources). On the subject of cooking, there are a small assortment of meals that fill varying levels of hunger, but the main thing you want to watch out for are their effects on the follower eating it. Some effects are good (like bonus resources and such), but many have a chance of some sort of penalty, like instant sickness, people shitting themselves, or much worse. There are various sources for ingredients, and rarer ones will naturally be used in better dishes, but it's equally important to have a steady source of low-level ingredients just in case. You can also have your followers eat highly questionable meals, but I'm not going to get into that... Other Things You can visit special hub areas outside the base in order to visit special shops which sell decorations, follower skins, and additional tarot cards for your Crusades. The main thing these outside areas offer are side quests with NPCs, as the reward is Holy Talisman fragments. These are what you use to unlock Fleeces. One of the areas is also the only place you can fish, which I thought was a little odd (it would have been neat to be able to build your own pond and order your followers to fish for you). One of the areas also features a minigame called Knucklebones, which is a dice-based game where you try to get a higher score than the opponent by playing dice on the board. Here, you place a rolled die on one of nine squares on the board, and you can mess with the opponent by matching a number on their board by playing a similar number on the same column. It's quite simple, but I found it quite addictive. You unlock tarot cards by beating opponents for the first time here, but you can keep playing and earn some coins by betting. As you play, you'll unlock a wide assortment of decorations for your base, as well as various follower skins you can equip for incoming followers (yes, you can customize new followers as they come in). There are plenty of these to unlock, and some of them are even unlocked through neat secret interactions. The post-launch updates I mentioned also added things like boss refights, special followers, DLC Fleeces, the ability to unlock every doctrine in the base game, boss rushes and dungeon gauntlets, and even an awesome Don't Starve crossover. I can only imagine what the next one (which is coming out in a number of months as I write this) would add on top of that. There are difficulty options for the game, and I liked that they also adjust the difficulty of the community sim aspect as opposed to just affecting combat. I played on Medium, which I felt was a decent balance of engaging combat and me needing to be properly involved in cult activities. Beating the game once unlocks Penitence Mode, which is a spin on the usual permadeath modes seen in other games. To make things trickier, however, the Lamb also has their own Hunger and Sleep meter they need to manage, which is a fun little wrinkle. A major reason why this game blew up at launch was due to the built-in Twitch integration feature, which I got to be a part of because one of my close friends is actually a streamer. This feature lets the player delegate the follower creation aspect to their viewers, allowing people watching on their browser to select their design. After that, the viewer's design will show up as a follower in-game, complete with their Twitch handle as the follower's name. It's a fun way to encourage participation on both ends, as streamers get the opportunity to directly address a viewer. There's also a feature that lets viewers spend channel points to contribute to a totem, which speeds up tech tree progress and lets the streamer unlock structures more quickly. It seems unfair on paper, but given I progressed just as quickly playing solo, I think the cooldown restriction Twitch places on it does enough to keep things balanced. For the viewers, the most fun thing they can do is vote to either help or hinder the player as they go on Crusades or manage their base. Naturally, "help" will give the player bonuses that makes things easier, but "hinder" leads to more exciting events like more difficult enemies, or even something as cruel as a follower straight up dying. We were able to use this feature to hilarious effect on our streamer friend, which ended in the follower named after me dying a sudden, horrible death. VERDICT: Both halves of Cult of the Lamb were incredibly engaging to me, as I found myself spending hours either going on run after run and enjoying the straightforward yet skill-focused combat, or spending just as many hours enjoying the chill vibe of building my base and keeping my flock happy. The fact that both aspects are as connected to each other as they are makes the overall experience even more fulfilling, as investing time in one will benefit you overall. All of that combined with the lovely art, the inherent comedy of something so cartoony having such dark themes, and a novel Twitch integration feature, it's not hard to see why this was such a hit game last year. I'll definitely play more of this, and I can't wait for the upcoming update! If you're concerned about the roguelike aspect being hard and you're mostly here for the community sim part, worry not. Not only do I think the combat is more forgiving than other roguelikes (less overall dependence on RNG, enemies have straightforward patterns, death isn't incredibly punishing), focusing on the community sim aspect actually powers you up for the Crusades you have to do. Plus, you can lower the difficulty if you want. On the flip side, if you're more combat-oriented, there are various ways to make things challenging for yourself, and the variety of weapons, skills, and tarot cards can lead to some fun runs. Maintaining your flock won't be too much of a chore, either, as followers can handle a lot of the busywork while you focus on the major community sim activities. Whichever side you fall on, if anything about this game's premise amuses you, I highly recommend giving Cult of the Lamb a shot. Chances are one of the two halves probably appeal to you in some way, and the other half you may not be as into is accessible enough that you can enjoy it without being a hardcore fan of the genre. Who knows, it may even be your gateway into said genre! Cult of the Lamb is on everything, including Steam: Cult of the Lamb on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - For my weekly manga read this week, here's one that's probably long overdue on my end. BACKGROUND:
Between the prominence of the anime (and its use of Eurobeat tracks, which eventually became a meme online) and the presence of the racing games in the arcades I used to frequent as a kid, it's hard for me not to be at least familiar with Initial D. That said, I actually don't know anything about the story and its characters beyond the fact that it's about people racing and drifting on mountain roads. SUMMARY: Initial D's story is set primarily in a town close to Mount Akina in the Gunma Prefecture of Japan, where the mountain roads are a popular spot for street racing. A young man named Iggy (probably a localization name) is particularly enthusiastic about this, and he shares his love for cars and racing with his close friend Takumi Fujiwara (or Tak for short). Tak, however, doesn't seem to care too much, which leads Iggy to think he's a complete car noob. Early on in the story, Iggy and Tak discuss getting a car, which is more or less an impossibility with how little they're making as gas station attendants who are still in high school. The conversations of the two friends are eventually overheard by Cole Iketani, who also works at the gas station. He shares that he's actually the leader of the Akina Speed Stars, a local racing group who regularly race the treacherous roads of Mount Akina. Cole invites Iggy and Tak to watch the Speed Stars race, so they head up the mountain on Cole's car. Before that, however, Cole's boss tells him the tale of a legendary racer who is the fastest to ever race its roads, but using only a humble Toyota Trueno (referred to throughout the book as the Eight-Six). Said story sounds like a farfetched tale, but the book makes it clear when the old man Cole was speaking to makes a call to Bunta Fujiwara, the owner of a tofu shop. In this conversation, it's established that the legend is true and refers to Bunta himself, but there's another twist: he's no longer driving the Eight-Six mentioned in the story. Bunta reveals that while the Eight-Six is still zooming around Mount Akina on a regular basis, it is actually his son driving in order to make early morning tofu deliveries. And in case you haven't put it together yet, Bunta's son is none other than Tak himself. Meanwhile, Iggy and Tak are out watching the Speed Stars do their thing when the Red Suns (a racing team from another area) roll up their turf looking for a challenge. The Red Suns are led by the Takahashi brothers, two impressive racers with enough notoriety that Cole even mentions that they've had magazine features about them. Cole is eager to prove that his team is the top dog on their home turf, but it's clear that the Red Suns are a force to be reckoned with. As for the Takahashi brothers, Ry and K.T. have a clear goal: go across the Kanto region beating racing records until they're known as the best racers in the entire region. Things take a turn for the interesting when K.T. heads home for the night. As he's driving down the mountain, he runs into none other than the Eight-Six of legend (driven by Tak, unbeknownst to everyone except his dad). The Eight-Six completely smokes K.T.'s more advanced Mazda in the impromptu encounter, and the experience left K.T. determined to run into this phantom racer again and beat him in a race. Back home, Cole does some investigating on his own and eventually finds Bunta's tofu shop (and even spots the Eight-Six parked outside). On his first trip to the shop, he's shocked to find that Tak lives there, and is quick to question if Tak is actually as clueless about cars as he lets on. Cole goes back in a later chapter to confront Bunta when he finds out that K.T. ran into the mythical Eight-Six. Desperate to assert their dominance over the Red Suns, Cole implores Bunta to mentor him, but the latter advises him to more or less learn by doing. Cole's obsession with getting better ends with him getting into a crash, which leaves him too injured to race for the Speed Stars in their next encounter with the Red Suns. Seeing an opportunity, Bunta asks Tak (who is looking to use the car for a personal trip) to race on behalf of the Speed Stars, with the condition that Tak is granted permission if he does so. Tak relents, but the book ends on a cliffhanger with Tak arriving fashionably late to the race (much to Cole's relief, who had faith that Bunta would come through on a 50/50 promise that the Eight-Six might turn up). Street racing has always had an innate thrill to it, but the book's unique setting of Mount Akina adds a whole new level of drama to it. It's made clear throughout the story that it takes more than just a beefed-up car and speed to navigate the mountain roads at top speed; plenty of emphasis is placed on the driver's skill at maneuvering dangerous turns with impressive techniques like drifting. All this being the case made reading about the races much more exciting than if it were just a drag race along a straight road, as there are a lot more interesting variables to watch out for than just raw speed or a souped-up engine. The Eight-Six is emblematic of this aspect, as it's looked down upon by the racer characters as an outclassed model, but Tak's driving demonstrates that it's the man the makes the car and not the other way around. The rivalry between the Speed Stars and the Red Suns seems pretty one-sided until the legend of the Eight-Six comes into play. I can't say I cared about anybody winning the rivalry before that point, as the Takahashi brothers were clearly leagues above the Speed Stars. It's a shame that the volume ends before the race even begins, as I can see the story becoming much more interesting when the Red Suns actually take a loss and start to work towards beating Tak. I can't say that I'm that invested in any of the characters yet as there's not a lot to them in this first volume. There are tidbits here and there, like Bunta still having the thrill for racing despite being an old man content to run his shop, but others don't have much other than one personality trait. Of course, I'm sure this is something that is expanded upon in later volumes. Tak himself is not someone I'm invested as a protagonist just yet, as he doesn't really care about what's going on for most of the volume. The most character he gets is a subplot regarding his renewed relationship with fellow student Natalie, a friend he drifted apart from after an incident involving her boyfriend. Even then, that has nothing to do with what the book is setting him up to do, and he mostly just dwells on his past feelings and tries to reckon with his present ones towards Natalie. Again, this is probably something explored more in later volumes, but as of now, it feels unconnected to the premise of the manga. Speaking of Natalie, it's clear that she's looking to reconnect with Tak in a romantic way, as she is quick to insist on a date after suggesting that they bury the hatchet. The suddenness is certainly odd (as it's not shown why Natalie is even interested after what seems like an extended time apart), but what unnerves me about Natalie's treatment in the story is how pretty much every appearance of hers sexualizes her in some manner (largely in terms of how characters talk about her, but there are visual instances as well), with the creepiest part being her bizarre relationship with an unseen, unnamed character. I can really feel that the art in this manga is hand-drawn, as there's a certain rough quality to some of the linework and the texturing for a lot of panels. I also thought the light grays being more dominant than pure white was notable, and all these elements plus the solid level of detail for the characters and background elements come together to deliver a visually striking package. Naturally, the art style shines the most when depicting cars moving at full throttle, as they're drawn in a way that not only gets across the blistering speed they're traveling at, but also the intense forces of the sharp turns and drifting. I don't recall reading any other piece of visual media that depicts the movement of cars in such an effective and impactful manner, and it might take me a while to find something that makes me feel like I'm actually in the car feeling all the G-forces and the speed just by looking at how they're drawn. VERDICT: Initial D is probably one of the most well-known and iconic manga series ever, and while the story doesn't quite kick into full gear in the first volume, there's more than enough in here that I can easily see why it became so popular. Both the premise of racing up and down dangerous mountain roads and how that is depicted in the art had me hooked from the start, and I am more than willing to finish this series just to see more of that. I can't say I'm as invested in the overarching plot or the characters, but I can see the potential of storylines like the Red Suns becoming the underdogs, and how Tak may go from indifferent to perhaps the greatest street racer in all of Japan. This is another series I'm seriously considering continuing, and I may even go the extra mile and watch a bit of the anime (which is totally not an excuse to listen to some Eurobeat). There's probably no argument that this can be considered an "essential" manga given its pop culture impact, so there's merit in reading Initial D on that alone. Personally, I think car guys would get a kick out of this story, and I'm not just saying that because there are cars in Initial D (or that they talk about cars in a more in-depth manner). I feel this to be the case because one of my close friends is a car guy and loves this manga, though I've never asked if it was the manga that led to his passion or the other way around. - end - It seems like the MCU is looking to recalibrate itself given there's only one movie slated for this year, but it looks like they'll still keep things going on the TV side for 2024. I've just finished binging their first project of the year, so I'll get to talking now while keeping spoilers to a bare minimum. This series spins off from the Hawkeye series, which introduced Maya Lopez as a character. She's a deaf Native American woman who works with the Tracksuit Mafia (the criminal organization Hawkeye fights throughout his show), and it was eventually revealed that said group is under Wilson Fisk (AKA Kingpin) himself. Among other things, it was established that Fisk (who is the very same one fans have come to enjoy in the Daredevil Netflix series) viewed Maya as the daughter he never had, and that relationship was tested in the latter episodes of Hawkeye.
I know I've basically just spoiled a significant of Hawkeye just there, but I'll nonetheless keep this next part as vague as I can. By the finale of that show, Maya learns a key truth about Kingpin, which leads to a fateful confrontation that ends in a cliffhanger. Echo takes place a few months after that incident, and follows Maya's journey back home to Tamaha, Oklahoma, where some of the Choctaw Nation reside. She's not there to reconnect with family, however, and is actually only passing through in order to execute a plan to cripple (and eventually take over) Kingpin's operations. The first episode stands out to me, as it recaps a number of things that I already know by replaying scenes from Hawkeye almost verbatim. I understand that this is a consequence of the show being explicitly designed "to be enjoyed without prior knowledge of the MCU" (which is what the Marvel Spotlight designation is meant to represent), so this approach makes sense. Plus, there was merit in seeing some of these scenes again, as they're presented in a completely different context here. With that said, the fact that the concept of Marvel Spotlight even exists is something that bugs me, but that's not a discussion for this blog entry. Throughout the series, it's established that while Maya had a loving family back in Tamaha, tragic circumstances led her to move to New York City with her father. This resulted in Maya drifting completely apart from the rest of her family, so seeing her run into different family members led to interesting interactions. It seemed like the throughline here (at least as I see it) was Maya realizing what family actually means by reconnecting with them and cutting off Kingpin (who has been her "family" for close to two decades) from her life for good. Of course, Maya doesn't get there immediately, as she's content keeping her presence in her hometown quiet at first and only calling in when she needs something, but I like how her attitude changes over time as she interacts with her family more. In terms of the supporting cast itself, I feel like they could have been given more time to be fleshed out as characters. Enough is presented here that I could get a sense of who they were and their connection with Maya, but I felt like some characters (especially a few that are established to have a deeper relationship with Maya) weren't given enough time to shine. When Echo was first confirmed to be coming to the MCU, I was extremely curious about what they would do with her powers. In the comics, she is functionally similar to Taskmaster (able to copy movements perfectly, allowing her to mimic the fighting styles of other characters), so I wondered if they would keep that or just make her a regular person who can fight really well. Hawkeye led me to believe the latter, but this show establishes that she does have some sort of special abilities. It's a far cry from her original power set, but I nonetheless found it a cool deviation that pulls from a not-so-expected source while also still fitting her superhero name perfectly. This show spares no time and expense weaving in many aspects of Choctaw culture into the show, showing off both elements of the tribe's history as well as how much of the culture persists in present day. I'm assured that the people working on the show coordinated closely with the Choctaw Nation to ensure the accuracy of what they portray here as well, and I commend the effort. In particular, I found the flashbacks to the past a tad jarring at first, but it eventually became clear that it ties in more closely to Maya's story and character, and I thought it was really cool to see how Maya's heritage is as significant a foundation to her character as her backstory. I can't really fault anyone for not even knowing this show is out now, as even amongst comic readers, Echo isn't a high-profile character, and she is overshadowed in the Hawkeye series by big tie-ins and Kate Bishop. Chances are, if this show is even on your radar, it's likely because you heard that Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin is back after his brief stint in Hawkeye. Given his master class performance in the Daredevil series as one of the most significant villains in the entire Marvel pantheon, the excitement in seeing him be fully integrated to the MCU is totally understandable. While you don't get much of Kingpin compared to a season of Daredevil, what little they have him do here is still really great. Wilson Fisk still feels like the terrifying menace he was back when we first saw this portrayal in 2015, but things are made distinct from what we've seen before thanks to his unique relationship with Maya. We see a bit of how Maya, for a time, looked up to Fisk, and we see a different style of manipulative from Fisk as he endears himself to Maya as a sort of father figure and basically trains her to be his weapon (as opposed to his usual methods of horrible blackmail). Fisk is also still very much the threat he was in Daredevil as well, as the reach of his influence remains utterly horrifying, his ruthlessness is on full display when people outlive their usefulness, and the constant threat of him possibly going ballistic and beating someone to a pulp is very much alive and well. Overall, it was a delight to see Kingpin again, both with the stuff that made him so compelling to watch and the new character angle with Maya. That said, I feel like we could have used more scenes of Kingpin and Maya's relationship in the past in order to further show how he basically indoctrinated her and how that warped her world view. With Kingpin being here, the possibility of Daredevil making another MCU appearance had many foaming at the mouth. I dare not exclude myself from that, as I also know that Daredevil and Echo have some history in the comics, which led me to wonder if they would build that up in some form on this show. I'm not going to give too much away, but I would temper my expectations a bit if you're coming into this hoping it's Daredevil Season 3.5. It's not. It's very much a show about Maya Lopez, and I think expecting Matt Murdock to hijack the show is doing a disservice to the interesting stuff they do for Maya as a character. Both the presence of Marvel Netflix characters and the landmark TV-MA rating (a first for the MCU) had people wondering if the action here would hit the highs of Daredevil or be as gruesome as The Punisher. Personally, I feel like what they do here in terms of the fight choreography is really great. In particular, I enjoyed the fight scenes for how visceral each encounter felt at times, and I also appreciated how they didn't overdo things just because the show's rating gives them more wiggle room. The R-rated brutality was used in ways that made such scenes featuring it impactful, instead of being just a blood-and-guts fiesta. Where I think this show stands out the most is its sound design. Given the nature of Maya's character, there's not a lot of spoken dialogue, so for the bulk of the series, the most you hear was whispers coming from the people talking to Maya as they sign what they say. In pivotal scenes, the audio would be reduced to things like muffled sounds/speaking, the sound of heartbeats, or even dead silence. It's such a different vibe that puts Maya's experience into perspective to some extent, and the fact that the show is largely on the quiet side in terms of volume makes certain sounds more impactful. As you may expect, ASL (American Sign Language) is used prominently on this show, and I'm glad that they have other characters (primarily Maya's family) be fluent in it such that you see it way more often than if it were just Maya signing. This coupled with the show's sound design had me laser-focused on watching the characters sign as well as the emotions they're conveying with their faces or how they're signing, and I found myself super engaged with the dialogue as a result. I do have to point out, however, that a significant factor that led to my focus on the signing is that I actually know a tiny bit of ASL, so I was trying to learn new words and refresh my memory on the few words I do know. If there's one complaint I could level at this show, it's probably how the finale was handled. I quite felt the short runtime here, and I really think more time should have been allotted to build certain elements up. They at least do something interesting with the resolution of Maya and Kingpin's confrontation instead of ending in some generic final battle. Save for one exciting exception, you're not going to get any insane tie-ins to the larger MCU here other than referencing stuff that's already known. There is, however, an interesting tease at the end that has me excited for the direction of some stuff coming in the future. After the disappointment that was Secret Invasion, I'm glad that Echo was an enjoyable watch. I think it did a solid job of making what many would dismiss as a minor character interesting, the representation of both Choctaw culture and deaf people was prominent and meaningful, I enjoyed the fight choreography, and the show manages to expand a little corner of the vast world of the MCU by adding new facets to it (like a different side of Kingpin, or the implications of where Maya's abilities come from). I would have liked a more streamlined first half, a few more episodes to build up certain things, or a more interesting resolution, but for the most part, I liked what I got here. Given the MCU's struggles as of late in terms of what's come out and all the noise about it online, I understand that it's a hard sell to get people back on the train. Like I said with The Marvels, I don't think this is the "we're so back" lapsed fans may be looking for, but I think there's merit in exploring its different tone (and I don't just mean the mature rating) and giving a character you may not be that interested in a chance. All I'll say outside of that is this important reminder: it's not Daredevil Season 3.5. - end - Another week, another backlog game. BACKGROUND:
Like most games on my EGS library, I wasn't aware of this game's existence. I downloaded this immediately upon reading what its gameplay is like. PLOT: You play as a girl riding a fox who finds herself lost and unable to remember who or where she is. As you explore, the girl remembers more of what's going on. The otherwise beautiful world is overrun by "insects" and ravaged by natural disasters, and the girl must journey across it to find a way to stop the calamity. It becomes apparent early on that the girl's story is a story that a writer is gradually coming up with. Through the writer's narration, we learn of the girl's struggles to remember who or where she is, her feelings about the places she finds herself in (and the hints of how those places used to be), and her perception of the physical obstacles she faces on her journey. The colorful, figurative language reminds me of fantasy/fairy tale stories that I read in the past, and I like that vibe. As for the story itself, it feels more like a collection of standalone adventures to me. I enjoyed each individual chapter of her restoring areas of the world with what seem to be magical powers, but I can't really say that it all comes together towards a big climax. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with this, but I definitely felt weirded out by the disconnect between chapters. The pacing is also weird due to the open-endedness of the game, and it's possible to skip whole areas and miss those optional chapters. It's largely irrelevant since, again, each chapter can stand on their own, but it sure was abrupt to find myself in what turned out to be the game's final chapter. The ending itself felt off, because it barely feels like an ending. Not only do the previous chapters not come into play at all, the actual last moments of the girl's journey also felt like a cliffhanger to me. I was left weirded out and unsatisfied by this. You actually get glimpses into the life of the writer in the game. Interspersed in the narration of the girl's story are snippets of dialogue from the writer at different points in her life. Some of this dialogue is able to communicate a lot with a single line, while other snippets are pretty vague. I never felt like I had a full picture of the writer's life until later in the game, when you encounter images that clear some things up. Even then, I feel like I only partially understood what the writer has been through, but it's clear that their life has had their ups and downs, and I do relate to that. When it comes to the "real world" half of the game's ending, I was caught quite off guard. I was already left wanting more after the girl's journey felt like it never went anywhere, and then I get hit with this swerve. Whereas the fantasy half had me asking "that's it?", the writer's ending left me with more questions than answers. I already don't know much about what happened before that point beyond what little I can infer, and now I was left wondering how the hell we got from A to B with the ending. Evaluating each of these two stories on their own didn't really leave me satisfied with either, but upon reflecting on what ties them together, I appreciated the allegorical nature of the girl's journey with respect to the writer's life experiences. By looking at the two stories this way, I was able to appreciate the ending on some level (even if the overall execution is still weird to me). PRESENTATION: The entire world of Epistory takes on this papercraft + origami aesthetic, and the graphics themselves go mostly for soft, often bright colors. Everything from the trees, the characters, and even waterfalls look like they're made of paper. I really love the art direction they went for, and that's not just because I have a personal affinity for paper-based art. It's such a treat to take a close look at even the tiniest elements and see that they're not just 3D models; they really look like they're made of paper with how they don't look 100% smooth. Overall, I found this game quite memorable and delightful to look at. The music is more on the chill side (perfect for adventuring through a picturesque paper world), though there are a fair number of tracks that have an ominous vibe to them that play during tense situations. For the most part, the game uses atmospheric ambient sounds more than its soundtrack, with "natural" sounds like frogs croaking and birds chirping. And to add to the whole papercraft presentation, you'll often hear the satisfying sound of rustling paper when the world expands, or you interact with certain elements in the world. As I hinted at in the previous section, there's a narrator in this game, and they are fully voiced. The voice itself works well enough, but I liked the added touch of their narration appearing as text on the ground the girl and the fox are walking on (though I found it odd that the text lingered way too long). Similarly, we get voices for the writer at different ages, and I like the added touch that their written text looks like handwriting to distinguish it from the fiction of the girl's story. GAMEPLAY: What sold me on downloading Epistory when it was free is that it's a typing game, which means the way to accomplish objectives is to type words with your keyboard (usually under time constraints and with as little mistakes as possible). You might be familiar with such a concept if you've taken an elementary computer class in your childhood, as games/programs of this type are often used as a way for kids or slow typists to develop a muscle memory for touch typing (allowing you to type quickly without glancing at your keyboard). While most typing games are focused on either time limit challenges (go through as many words as possible before time ends) or honing your accuracy (type this sentence in one go without a typo), Epistory mixes a Zelda-style adventure game with typing-based challenges. There's a lot to this wild idea, so I'll break it down piece by piece. First off, you can move the girl (riding the fox) around the isometric world like you typically would if this were another game. You can use WASD to do this if you want, but the game actually encourages you to use its unique control scheme of EFJI. This sounds weird as fuck at first, but if you go try it on your keyboard, you'll notice that your hands will naturally end up in the normal touch typing position. I thought this was brilliant, but as I developed a different muscle memory for touch typing, using WASD worked just fine for me. Movement itself leaves a lot to be desired, as it starts incredibly slow at first. There is a sprint button, but it's annoying to use, since it's a toggle, and you go back to normal speed if you stop sprinting. Exploring felt like a slog at times due to this. At most instances, you can press space to activate typing mode. Doing so will reveal objects that you can interact with, denoted by a word hovering over them. Naturally, you type the given word to interact with the object. Most of the objects you'll run into are breakable obstacles that shatter after one word, but as you go along, things get more complex. You'll run into enemies not long after you start, and as you can probably guess, you need to type the words over them to do damage. The number and length of words you have to type will vary per enemy; one enemy type takes only a single letter to kill, while you'll have to type more words to take down larger enemies. From my experience, strings of three or four-letter words are most commonly used in enemy encounters, though most fights end with a beefy enemy with longer words. Things can get hectic when multiple enemies start showing up onscreen. You die instantly on contact, so you have to properly weigh which enemy you should prioritize. Some enemy types move fast but aren't difficult to dispatch (such enemies will only require you to type short words), though ignoring larger enemies can bite you in the ass if you don't type quick enough (you may not have time to type a word as long as "politician" by the time you're done killing the smaller enemies). Some of the late-game fights are pretty challenging, and there's one notable optional fight with enemies that require aggressively long words to kill. By default, the game has adaptive difficulty, meaning it'll dynamically adjust the game's difficulty depending on how you're doing. For example, if you're making mistakes or typing slowly in general, the game will tone things down for you. On the flip side, if the game sees you're clearing waves of enemies quickly, it'll ramp up the difficulty and give you longer words to keep you on your toes. This is a cool feature that allows the game to give the player whatever experience most suits their skill level, but you can choose to fix the difficulty in the settings if you prefer a consistent experience throughout. Eventually, you'll find the game's dungeons, which are decently large, but aren't really open-ended since you go through them in a mostly linear fashion. The four required dungeons have a special treasure inside them: imbuing your typing powers with elements. You can acquire four elements in total (fire, ice, spark, and wind), and you can swap between them simply by typing one of those words. Having these elements active will allow you to interact with special objects in the world (e.g. fire lets you burn bramble and light torches, ice lets you freeze specific water tiles, spark activates electrical devices, wind blows windmills), unlocking the path forward. I really loved the elements concept, though I feel like the game only scratches the surface of what's possible with them. The puzzles you solve with them aren't really puzzles; you're mostly just opening up paths or using them to activate switches that open doors. I feel like there's potential for more engaging uses of the elements in terms of puzzles than simply using them as glorified keys. The only element that sees profound use in puzzles is spark, as it's used to toggle electric-powered doors. Speaking of puzzles, many of them actually don't involve typing at all. Most are simple, however, like activating switches on the floor, keeping luminescent crystals lit by periodically typing (this is used to great effect in certain fights, as you can't type the enemy's words without the room being lit), and the notorious ice sliding puzzles (which do not feel great due to the movement). Again, there could have been potential for more here, though I will say that the light-based gimmick is neat. Where the elements really shine are in enemy fights, as they have different effects on enemies. Fire inflicts a burning damage that burns away the enemy's next word (so you have one less word to type to kill them), ice freezes them momentarily, spark creates a chain lightning effect that deletes a word from a nearby enemy, and wind pushes enemies back. It's a lot of fun to weather an onslaught of enemies with these abilities, though I felt like spark and wind were more effective in general than fire or ice. Some fights add a bit of challenge by introducing enemies that can only be killed by using a specific element (represented by an appropriately colored word above them). I liked their presence since they discouraged relying on a single element, though they can prove to be troublesome once a lot of them show up. I also felt like there was a missed opportunity in not having an enemy type that cycles through different elements; that would have been a fun challenge. The dungeons don't have much in terms of secrets apart from a few chests that are off the beaten path (but aren't hard to find at all). Many of these chests will contain the dungeon collectible and collecting them all will reveal a pretty watercolor image. This image isn't just throwaway art, as they actually reveal a key moment in the life of the writer. I felt like these collectibles were worth getting because they provided much-needed context to the writer's dialogue in the dungeon. Additionally, the image also reveals the symbolism behind the dungeon itself, which helped me further understand what happened to the writer. Whether it's enemies, objects, obstacles, or even chests, typing words successfully in quick succession gets a combo meter going. It's worth getting this number up, as you have an equivalent to XP, and every time you level up, you get upgrade points you can spend to gain bonuses (like revealing chest locations on the map, unlocking fast travel, or increasing your combo potential). Your total XP also dictates whether or not you can interact with reveal points in the overworld; if you have enough XP, the reveal point will open a new section of the world you can explore. The overworld is pretty large, and not only will you find many chests with bonus XP, there are also three completely optional dungeons you can check out. These don't have any special rewards, but I feel like getting their collectibles adds a lot to the writer's story (so much so that I question why they are skippable). In addition, you can activate bonus fights at special points in the overworld, though they offer little else than more XP and a decent challenge. If you want to really get into the typing part of the game, you can play Arena mode, which pretty much just throws you in the middle of a fight. You want to hone your typing speed? This is the place to go. A cool thing I'd like to note is how you can control the entire game exclusively with the keyboard. Yes, this includes the menus, as you only need to type the menu option (like "resume") instead of clicking it with your mouse. VERDICT: Epistory's fusion of classic adventure and typing-based controls really stood out to me as unique, and despite my frustrations with the movement, I really enjoyed my brief time with this game. I can see a sequel or another game altogether further expanding the ideas that were explored here, as I feel like there's a lot more you can do with elements like the element mechanics, skill upgrades, and the dungeon puzzles. I think this is a game everyone should try just because of how one-of-a-kind it is. I'd wager there are better ways to improve your typing or learning how to touch type, and there are arguably more polished adventure games out there, but I think the novelty of an adventure game controlled almost entirely by typing is reason enough to give it a chance. You can get Epistory on the following platforms: - end - I'm starting a new blog series, and it's another origami-based one! This is an idea I've had brewing for a really long time now, and before I get to the thing you probably came here to see, I want to talk about the backstory for a bit. BACKGROUND: The inception of this idea came about right as I was working on the first iteration of Project Monarch. I thought it would be neat to also create a patch of assorted origami flowers to complement the variety of butterflies I was making, but I ultimately shelved the idea because a) I couldn't figure out a neat way to mount some models on the wall, and b) I ended up wanting a cohesive theme for the wall (so I stuck to having purely butterflies). I resolved to one day push through with the concept (then named Project Blossom in my files, because I am not creative with names), but I really had trouble figuring out what I wanted to do in terms of displaying the flowers. It wasn't until recently that I became more motivated to work on this project. With Project Monarch more or less finished (there's a whole blog category for that) and the senbazuru completed (more on that here), I was free to dedicate my full attention to new origami pursuits. This was the first project that came to mind, though the problem of display remained. I have next to zero shelf space, and I wasn't really looking to do anything wall-related anymore, so I spent some time figuring out what exactly I wanted to do with origami flowers. Inspiration struck when I thought of the Lego Botanical Collection, a theme which offers display sets of various plant models. The most popular of these sets is the flower collection, which I've seen many people display like real flowers by putting them in vases and such. Seeing such displays led me to think that perhaps this time, I should try to scale things back and not go for something grandiose. After all, a single vase of those Lego flowers looked amazing enough. I decided that splitting the project into smaller scale parts instead of something ambitious like covering an entire section of a wall would make for an interesting change of pace. My goal for this project is to learn whatever origami flower models I can and figure out arrangements for them using a variety of display solutions. We'll start simple with this first entry, which I'll explain in detail in the next section. As for the new project name, ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement (something I learned at random reading books as a kid). Ikebana itself is a rather specific practice with all sorts of approaches, and while I know nothing of those technical aspects (and thus will apply none of them in this project), I felt the name was nonetheless fitting as I aim to spend as much time figuring out arrangements as I will making the actual flowers. Anyway, enough of that. You're here for the pictures. Above is the finished arrangement. I decided to keep things simple for the beginning and simply display a few flowers in some sort of vase. The "vase" that I use here is actually not a vase; it's actually a toothbrush holder no one uses anymore. Don't worry, I washed it. Seeing as I know jack shit about arranging flowers, my entire mindset for this one was to simply arrange everything in such a way that you get a clear look at everything from the front. I don't know anything about what flowers and their colors mean, so I just tried to keep things varied in terms of type and stuck to lighter colors overall. Now, I'll go through each model I use in this arrangement. This will be a nice change of pace from Project Monarch's format, as I get to talk about everything at once instead of showing off each model incrementally. Tulip A Instruction Source: This is a traditional model, but I never actually learned it until I got the diagrams as a pack-in from the origami paper my mom got me for Christmas last year (which is what I use for all but one of the models here). Here are some online instructions. Difficulty: This is more or less a beginner-level model that anyone can make. The most you do is start with a waterbomb base, and the rest of the folds are simple. The only tricky bit is inflating the model through the tiny hole at the bottom; a thin straw may help with that. Display: Although the image here has the bloom on an origami stem I also folded, the final arrangement sees this tulip on a chopstick (of which I have many extras due to ordering too much udon). Mystery Flower Instruction Source: I have an origami book entirely in Japanese that focuses on crane-inspired models, and I got the instructions for that. Unfortunately, I cannot read Japanese, so I can't tell you what the book's title is or who designed this model. I also don't know what flower this is supposed to be, either. Additional Information: If you look closely, this flower is actually made of multiple pieces of paper folded into petals instead of being a singular model. Moreover, the "petals" are actually unfinished origami cranes bundled together to look like a flower. I think it's quite ingenious, and it's a novel example of kusudama, a style of origami where you combine identical paper units together to create something. Difficulty: Making the "petals" isn't too difficult, especially if you know how to make an origami crane. Simply stop at the point where you've folded the neck (but not the tail) and repeat 14 more times (you can reduce or increase this number depending on how you want the flower to look). The actual challenge is bundling them all together... Display: I used a paper straw as the stem and some tape to stick everything together, which I honestly could have done much cleaner. The instructions I was reading said to run wire through each of the cranes then bundle the exposed wires together, but I'm not exactly rich on wires over here. There might be an easier way to bundle the petals, but I couldn't think of any alternative at the time. Cherry Blossom/Sakura Instruction Source: I got the instructions for this from the same book I got the mystery flower from, but as far as I can tell from my searching, this is likely a traditional model as well. Here are instructions from another website. Difficulty: The only steps that may pose a challenge are cutting the petals into shape (the paper is folded to be rather thick at that step, so you may have trouble cutting a smooth curve) and folding everything into shape at the final step (which involves you carefully opening up tightly folded paper). Otherwise, the construction is largely simple, and it's a neat way to get pretty flowers that are more than just cutouts. Display: Cherry blossoms grow on tree branches, so I took a cue from that and stuck a couple onto another chopstick. I wish I had a longer, more natural-looking piece of wood for this (so I could display more than two), but I like how this came out. Tulip B Instruction Source: If you've followed my origami-related entries on here, I've likely mentioned my photocopy of the book Classic Origami by Paul Jackson more than once. That is where I learned this model, which was designed by Kunihiko Kasahara. Difficulty: This is another really simple one, as after you construct the crane/bird base, the folds are extremely simple and "inflating" the model is easy. I would be careful not to cut out too much of the bottom bit where the stem will go, and I'd recommend using smaller paper, as the bloom is quite large relative to the size of the paper you use. Display: Remember the green origami stem for earlier? I use it for this flower instead. This proved to be quite the annoyance in the arrangement, as it takes up quite a bit of space in the container. Me not scaling down the paper I used did not help, either, as the oversized bloom did not leave much room for the other flowers, and it also flopped around on the stem due to its weight. That said, this tulip's size and the fact that it's the only one with the origami stem makes it a solid centerpiece to the whole arrangement. Lily Instruction Source: This is another traditional model that I somehow never got around to learning. Here's a link to some instructions. Difficulty: I think this is a solid introductory model for beginners, as you have to perform some important techniques (squash folds, petal folds) repeatedly in order to construct it. It's not complicated at all, and it's great practice for the aforementioned folding techniques. Display: I had to cut a hole at the bottom of this model so I can run a chopstick through it. I wanted to display this one in such a way that the bloom was facing forward (I think this model looks its best when you look at it straight on), but attempts to display it at such an angle led to it drooping too low and blocking other flowers from view. "Twisty" Rose Instruction Source: I stumbled upon this model a few years back when I used to take origami diagrams from Pinterest. People are apparently allergic to crediting designers on diagrams, so this is either a traditional model, or I still don't know who designed this. In any case, here are the instructions. Difficulty: I'd say this is another easy one, as you just have to construct a bird base and repeat a bunch of relatively simple folds to get to the final step. Actually making it look like a rose is the most fun part, as you have to hold the paper and twist it to form the shape (hence the nickname). Display: This flower is actually a pain in the ass to display even on its own, as you have to secure the flaps at the bottom so the rose's shape doesn't fall apart. Having to do that while also trying to attach the entire thing to something else is an extra hurdle, and I ended up with a haphazard tape job in the end. Again, there's probably an easier way. I really enjoyed making this arrangement, and I'm looking forward to learning new models and coming up with entirely different displays to go along with them. Don't expect a regular upload schedule with this one as I'll have to practice some models and acquire the containers I have to work with, but I hope that this format of presenting a more or less complete arrangement provides a different kind of satisfaction from Project Monarch's gradual build into a complete piece.
- end - I intend to keep my manga streak going in this new year, so let's start off strong for the first read of 2024. BACKGROUND:
I learned of this manga through some article I stumbled upon online, and as someone who developed an affinity for Super Sentai-style tokusatsu after a childhood of watching Power Rangers, I was super interested in reading it. I also learned that this is from the creator of Quintessential Quintuplets, and given I enjoyed that book a lot, I had high hopes for this one. SUMMARY: The book starts out like any other Sentai/Power Rangers story: an evil army invades Earth in hopes of conquering it, establishing a floating fortress above Amanogawa City. In a rare twist, however, this invasion force is defeated within a year, thanks in no small part to the Dragon Keepers, the ranger equivalent of this world. Off the bat, things feel different compared to the Power Rangers series I watch, as the plot starts after the bad guys have been defeated. Our story begins proper thirteen years after the initial invasion. The evil army has been reduced to nothing more than the stereotypical jobber enemies (the Putties, if you want to use an original Power Rangers term), and the Dragon Keepers have expanded their operations with a whole Ranger Squadron handling various aspects of defense and public service. Battles have been reduced to a weekly spectacle, as the Keepers forced the army into an agreement to stage fights for the public in exchange for their survival. Regular folk are enthralled by these battles, which are framed exactly like the Sentai series with their over-the-top narration and villain-of-the-week formula. In yet another twist, we actually get to look at things through the lens of the nameless foot soldiers who, in any regular Sentai show, would be nothing more than punching bags for the heroes. We see that their arrangement with the Dragon Keepers has become monotonous, as they struggle week after week coming up with material for their scripted encounters (even with the resources the Keepers provided in order to help with the charade). It's an interesting spin on what is usually a cut-and-dry formula, as the "bad guys" are made sympathetic characters stuck in indentured servitude, while the supposed defenders of justice appear to be perpetuating a potentially corrupt system. One foot soldier, simply known as Fighter D, has become completely sick of this farce, and intends to actually defeat the Keepers. This is met with ridicule when he brings it up to his comrades, and when he actually attempts to defy the Dragon Keepers publicly, he is put in his place by his more powerful opponents. Despite this, Fighter D is determined to see his plan through, break his comrades free of their oppression, and maybe even do what they set out to do in the first place and conquer Earth. While the foot soldiers overall aren't very strong, they are functionally immortal and have the ability to shapeshift. Fighter D decides to leverage his limited abilities to disguise himself as a human, which he uses to try and infiltrate the Ranger Squadron's operations. He decides to enlist as part of the squadron in the hopes of finding and killing the Keepers when they least suspect it, and he attempts to use multiple disguises to accomplish the goal. Unfortunately, Fighter D doesn't blend in with humans as well as he thinks he does in terms of behavior, and he's found out multiple times throughout the volume. First, Yumeko Suzuriki (a young woman from the Yellow Squadron) discovers his identity, but surprisingly, she shares his desire to dismantle the Dragon Keepers and their entire system, (although the reasons behind it are a mystery as of now). Next, Hibiki Sakurama figures out Fighter D is a monster in disguise shortly after, but we get the polar opposite reaction in that he is somewhat aware that the current status quo is broken, and he wishes to reform the Ranger Squadron from within. Fighter D is weirded out completely by these two young rangers, but he decides to work with Suzuriki for the time being after she points out one of the Dragon Keepers' weaknesses. In the last chapter, Fighter D attempts to steal one of the Divine Artifacts, extremely powerful weapons that the Keepers used to wipe out the evil army's generals, permanently kill the typically immortal foot soldiers, and grant them immense power. In his attempted heist, Fighter D is caught more than once, but just when it seems like he's about to be destroyed, the story throws a curveball that hints at an interesting direction for the later volumes. As a character, Fighter D is mostly just hellbent on revenge after years of discontent, so I'm interested to see how his character changes after interacting with Suzukiri (a human who, for whatever strange reason, shares his goals) and Sakurama (who envisions a world where the humans and monsters coexist after the status quo is changed from the inside. He's also an interesting contrast to his fellow jobbers, who are resigned to their fate (save for one compelling moment where one of his comrades manages to understand his perspective). You don't really get to know any of the Dragon Keepers in this volume (save for the Red Keeper Sousei Akabane, who himself is only featured a little bit), but their duplicity is put on full display as you see a bit of their behavior when the cameras aren't rolling. They have their over-the-top heroic speeches and flair for the dramatic every week, but in moments where no one's watching, they show some of their cruel side by looking down on the monsters they've managed to subjugate. I'm interested to see more of their true nature, as well as learn what exactly it is they get out of perpetuating this lie that everyone else appears to be buying into. I'm also curious about other characters who work as part of the Ranger Squadron, as they only introduce one aside from Suzukiri and Sakurama: the ambitious Shun Tokita who hopes to rise up the ranks of the Red Squadron in hopes of one day becoming the Red Keeper himself. It would be interesting to see the perspectives of people working within the system but are unaware of the truth, and I'm quite curious as to what each color squadron actually does in this world (they only explain Red Squadron's duties in this volume). A lot of what I enjoyed art-wise in Quintessential Quintuplets is alive and well in this book, with a great level of detail overall and well-drawn characters. What makes this stand out in particular is that it features a ton more action, so there are a fair number of panels that depict the dynamic and explosive action I come to expect from any tokusatsu property. I also particularly enjoyed seeing common tropes in Sentai shows depicted in print, like the classic "pose as an explosion goes off in the background" or the use of insanely flashy weapons (including another classic: the big cannon the entire team has to hold to take out the bad guy), as well as how the action overall has a touch more edge than what is permitted in Sentai shows (which are made for young audiences). VERDICT: I loved how Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is essentially a satirical spin on the Super Sentai genre, taking tropes that have existed for nearly 50 years and exploring them from a completely different angle. Like I said at the start, I grew up enjoying (and still enjoy) the camp and the cheese that Sentai/Power Rangers delivers with every new series, and it was fun to see a story that subverted the usual formula, focused on the "villains" (who are made more than just goons with no personality), and made the rangers more morally questionable. On top of that, the story itself has many interesting facets I want to explore, so this is definitely a manga I intend to continue. I feel that Super Sentai/Power Rangers has had enough of an impact on pop culture that most people will have some surface-level understanding of its tropes, so if you're interested in seeing those tropes turned on their head, Go! Go! Loser Ranger! may be a manga you'll enjoy. Perhaps being a fan or having nostalgia for the series may play a factor in a deeper appreciation of what the story does, but I don't feel like you really need that to get what the book is going for. - end - Before 2023 ended, the tumultuous ride that is the MCU had one more show up its sleeve: the animated What If...? anthology. I'll just do what I did last season and give my thoughts on each episode, but for spoilers' sake, the last one will be off in its own section. E1: What If Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? This is a straightforward one, as it sees Nebula be a space cop on Xandar instead of going through her canon arc. There are serious Blade Runner vibes here with the cyberpunk noir setting, and I enjoyed tagging along with Nebula as she solves a mystery. The divergence point from the main canon is expected, though along with it come contrivances that make the presence and behavior of certain characters (one of which was quite the surprise return) hard to explain, but I still liked the episode despite this. E2: What If Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes? In this universe, Yondu actually delivers Peter to Ego (which is the opposite of what he does in canon), which leads to Ego weaponizing the kid for his expansion plot very early on. At this point in time, the Avengers we know don't exist yet, so Director Peggy Carter of SHIELD (along with Howard Stark) assembles what I like to call the '80s Avengers in hopes of defeating this new threat. The idea of an alternate Avengers team is fun enough on its own, and while the roster here consists of some pretty inspired choices, not every character really gets a chance to shine in my eyes. Peter Quill as a threat is handled in a strange, inconsistent way; while the story highlights the fact that he's just a kid being manipulated by his father, I found it odd that he also acts like a soulless killing machine before the plot allows him to be human. To be fair, there is an explanation for it, but the story doesn't give him time to struggle with the duality of his nature. E3: What If Happy Hogan Saved Christmas? This superhero spin on Die Hard sees Happy Hogan defend Avengers Tower from an attack during the Christmas party, and it is pure holiday goofy fun. It's not really clear what caused this divergence point, and the one weird thing that happens to Happy is a bizarre continuity hiccup (in my opinion, anyway), but goddamn was it a hoot. I also appreciate the surprise character return, though it does also make me hope that said character would also come back to live action in a more impactful way. E4: What If Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster? Meant to be released in S1 to explain the presence of the alternate Gamora in that season's finale, this episode actually focuses on Tony Stark, who ends up in Sakaar due to a simple yet significant difference in one of his most iconic moments. While the voice actor is obviously not RDJ, it was still great to see Tony Stark being Tony Stark again while still honoring the fact that our main Iron Man is gone. It's also great to have the silly Grandmaster back, most of the action is some wild Mad Max chaos, and we get cool team-ups alongside a badass Iron Man suit-up scene. E5: What If Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper? Here's a first: a sequel to a previous episode! Building off the tease from last season, Captain Peggy Carter and Black Widow find the old HYDRA Stomper armor from their WWII, and yes, Steve Rogers is still inside. What happens next is an interesting twist on the events of Winter Soldier (minus the HYDRA reveal), and a clever tie-in to a post-Infinity Saga project (which has not really happened in this series up until this point). The original Captain Carter episode was criticized for not being a particularly wild divergence from Captain America: The First Avenger, but this episode learns from that and takes ample inspiration from the familiar while also using that as the foundation for a truly unique story (which is what I want from any What If scenario). E6: What If Kahhori Reshaped the World? In another first, this episode introduces a brand new MCU character, and it's one that doesn't originate from the comics at that. It follows the story of Kahhori, a young woman from the Mohawk tribe during the Age of Exploration, as she discovers incredible powers and uses them to defend against the Spaniards trying to colonize the New World. This episode did an impressive job getting me to care about this new character, managed to build a super interesting setting out of a surprising What If scenario (which itself was a pleasant surprise, as I assumed this was just an original story not tied to any past MCU events), and is a classic "fuck the colonizers" story. I would not be opposed to seeing this character in live action at some point. E7: What If Hela Found the Ten Rings? As you may have guessed, Hela is the star of this episode, but instead of being trapped in Hel like in the movies, she is banished by Odin Thor 1-style (which I thought was a clever callback), which of course leads her to crossing paths with Wenwu/The Mandarin. What happens next was quite the subversion of expectations, as Hela goes through a different character arc than I expected. I quite liked her journey a lot, and on top of that, I enjoyed seeing Wenwu and the Ten Rings again, and it was cool to see a different side of Odin. E8: What If The Avengers Assembled in 1602? Like the zombies episode of S1, this episode is the MCU version of an alternate universe comic story (in this case, Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602). Both the original and this episode feature familiar characters remixed for the period, as well as a universal threat that the heroes of the time are investigating (without giving too much away, they follow the original more closely than I thought they would). The reason for the existence of this universe was explained quite cleverly, which the Marvel Zombies episode also managed in the first season. This is possibly one of my favorite episodes of the entire series so far. Before I get to my section on the last episode, I'll say overall that this was a much more enjoyable season that pushes the question "what if?" much further and in more interesting directions than the first season. We know now that this show will get a third season, and it is my hope that this trajectory continues with another collection of creative scenarios. |
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June 2024
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