Connected Hearts: Visual Novel (2017)

Connected Hearts: Visual Novel (2017):

“Gary is caught in a strange dream and now he must overcome the adversities on his path or perish in the attempt. In this adventure you will meet 3 children in dream-like scenarios, next to a mysterious girl who talks about a promise.” - IMDB, “Connected Hearts: Visual Novel”

So, I played Connected Hearts: Visual Novel. I mistakenly thought it would be a romance visual novel, but instead it's a surreal fantasy adventure. That said, the story is pretty good for the adventure story that it is. There are 2 drawbacks immediately though. One is that it's obviously translated from Russian, and there are a lot of typos, and phrases that repeat. (Get ready to read “I swallow saliva...” a lot. I'm guessing they meant gulp, which they actually write once; much to my relief.) But, I guess in the end, the surrealism of the adventure drew me in.

It starts like a romance visual novel. A guy named Gary dreams of a girl, but then discovers that he can travel between dream worlds. He can't wake up. So, each dream world has a child that you're supposed to protect from a dream world monster. You teach them about growing up, facing their fears, embracing their talents, etc. So, it's pretty solid, storywise. Let's get to the plots.

There are 4 dream worlds. The Forest of Whispers (misspelled as Wishpers, but not a dealbreaker.) was the first one I entered. There are wolves there that insult you, and look scary. If you run from them, you'll discover the first child, Mary. She's alone and scared and her cabin is all she knows of the world. You tell her to be brave, and enter a maze where you just keep going in circles.

You soon discover the wolves don't actually do anything. They just insult you. So, you guide Mary to the exit, having conquered your fears. The next world is the Kingdom of the Sun, where strange robot-like inhabitants wear masks and live in fear of people from the “real world”. Their king, Henry, is a talented young boy who built the kingdom from his mind. You have to convince him reality is worth facing. You can't just isolate yourself inside your fantasy.

After that, you escape his robot guards, and return to the dream world hub. The next story I chose was Into the Deep. In this one, a young boy called Royer is trapped on a boat with vicious mermen. Some of the decisions you have to make here to survive, like not hiding from the monster, and “throwing” your lead pipe at a Merman (Did they mean swing?) are all pretty good for the “face your fear” theme. But, I think this one was my least favorite. The robots in The Kingdom of The Sun were the coolest.

Having done all that, you can then visit Alice's Castle. Alice is the girl Gary sees in a dream at the start of the game. Here, you find notes about “Director Heart”, and psychological test subjects all demonstrating a particular phobia. I can guess that Alice created the “dream worlds” to trap Director Hearts' children. Her phobia is chronophobia, and the entire game has been about maturing and confronting fear. So far so good, translation issues aside.

This last bit is where the game loses me. After you confront Alice, she asks you if you remember a promise you made to her. You say no. She says to remember the promise, you have to dream again. Then, the game repeats! I can easily guess, based on her choronophobia, that the promise was never to grow up, or to stay with her forever, or something like that. Something antithetical to the game's theme of maturity and bravery. Maybe I'll finish the game later, but I'm not playing through the same game again right now just to get the “real ending”.

All in all, Connected Hearts: Visual Novel is a strong fable-like story, with a good central message, and vivid imagination that helps it through some of its shortcomings. I still think the title misleads you into thinking it's a romance novel, and not a surreal adventure to save the Heart children. I'll finish it eventually, and I do recommend it, but right now I need a break. There's only so many times I can read Russian-to-English typos, and the novelty of the fantasy story has sort of worn off. That said, I do reccommend at least one playthrough.

The typos weren't the dealbreaker. I'll come back to it. I guess I just don't like games that repeat. It just strikes me as padding out the game. Particularly, when they are full of scenes I just played through. It's exhausting. For now, I need a break. But, It's free on Steam. Check it out!

Top Ten Fighting Games And Beat-Em-Ups:

Top Ten Fighting Games And Beat-Em-Ups:

Final Fight is probably the first beat-em-up game I remember playing in the arcade. It was just so cool. Waves of punks coming after Haggar and Cody and they just beat the crap out of them with wrestling moves and karate. It didn't make much sense, but it was so cool. The continue screen with the dynamite was so dramatic that it still sticks in my mind as one of the greatest continue screens of all time.

Next up is probably Street Fighter II. It combined everything that was awesome about karate movies and action movies, then made it into an international fighting tournament. Each fight was different, and the fighters had such personality and cool moves that I always enjoyed seeing how each fight would play out, even if it was just me holding forward and heavy punch, it all just looked so badass and became a cultural phenomenon.

After that, I'd have to say X-Men the Arcade Game was top-tier. It was like playing a version of the 90s cartoon. Nobody cared that the characters were actually from the 1989 pilot episode. It was enough to trash sentinels and then stomp on them, and use your mutant power to clear the screen. The mutant powers always felt so impactful and powerful, especially if you were low on health, and cleared the screen to save the day.

Number 6 is a tough call, but I think I'm gonna have to give it to Peacekeepers on SNES. It's cool for the same reasons X-Men Arcade was cool, except ramped up to 10. So, there's a superhero team, and they're taking on monsters and mutants with karate moves and huge wrestling slams. Even bigger if they're in “Angry Mode” and they just launch the bad guys. Plus, each character has their own attacks, special attacks, and super special attacks, so it's all really satisfying to keep beating on baddies, which is important because that's all you do in beat-em-ups.

This one probably a little more obscure: Saturday Night Slam Masters for SNES. It was a wrestling game that combined wrestling with beat-em-up mechanics, instead of the total clickfests that most wrestling games were at the time. The grapple system was still a clickfest, but they were on their way out. Cool special moves, tournament fighter-style and a memorable cast meant that I could keep playing. It probably started my love of wrestling games.

Number 4! Oh well, that's gotta go to Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. I can still play this game and enjoy it. Plus, it introduced some of my favorite characters like Cammy and Fei Long! It blew my mind that they just put the boss characters in there. It's like they said forget it. Just put everything that made Street Fighter cool into one game. And the world is better for it.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was the same next-level kind of insanity. Only now they let two characters tag-team together and unleash all kinds of crazy special moves, assist attacks, and hyper combos with a few easy button presses. This game was always pure eye candy. Did it make sense that little Mega Man could body slam Captain America? No, but it was so cool nobody cared. It was worth it to see them all on the screen together.

Oh, gosh. What's at Number 2? Super Street Fighter 4! I love that on the touch-screen version they let the player unleash super moves and super combos with a simple poke! Sure, it was the same animations over and over, but it meant there was a level playing field and wasn't a combo and clickfest. Plus, it still has most of my favorite characters like Cammy and added Juri Han! I can always still pick up and play this one.

Number 1 is BlazBlue: Continuum Shift! A great cast of colorful characters, big colorful attacks, and a complex, crazy anime-style narrative make this game my favorite. They put a lot into this game, including story modes, tournament modes, and branching visual novel-style presentation. This many ways to play plus such cool moves for each character means I never get bored of it!

Bonus: Lastly, the perfect way to end the 90s fighting game craze! In 1999, there was Tekken Tag Tournament. The inputs were easier, the characters were cool (You could play as a dinosaur!), it was easier to do combos, they let them tag between each other, each with their own crazy moves. Plus, they even added an unlockable bowling mode, which automatically makes it my favorite. How many other fighting games have a bowling mode?

The Dandelion Girl: Do You Remember Me? (2019):

The Dandelion Girl: Do You Remember Me? (2019):

“A short visual novel about a middle-aged man on his summer vacation, where he meets a strange girl who claims to be from the future. Adapted from a short story.” - Steam

Well, the title kind of spoils the twist, but let's get into it. This is a kinetic novel (There are no choices, so it's not actually a visual novel.) based on a short story by Robert F. Young in 1966. It's about the adventures of a man named Mark who has decided to take a vacation in Cove City, after working so hard as a lawyer. There he meets a 17 year-old girl Julie Danvers in a field of dandelions. She lets him in on a secret. Her father is a government scientist who built a time machine, and she is actually from 240 years in the future.

At first, Mark plays her off as just being imaginative. But, the more they talk, the more she lets some of her father's time travel theories slip, and Mark starts experiencing odd fits of deja vu. Over the course of his stay in the cabin in Cove City, he begins to appreciate his get-togethers with Julie and talking time travel with her, as well as appreciating her playfulness and his own present moment.

Mark starts to wonder if he could've avoided being drafted in the Vietnam War, and has a violent flashback of shooting an enemy soldier. Julie explains that no, you can't change time, because it's like a book that's already been written. “Whatever happens, happens.” she says. You can only create events that lead to the present. Or at least, that's what her father says.

Julie enjoys looking at clouds and nature and says everything is destroyed by industry in her time. She also mentions that her father is being pursued by the Time Police. Mark and Julie enjoy looking at clouds and Julie says everything is perfect in the 1960s. Mark laughs, and says Julie will say that about other decades too.

Over time, she starts missing get-togethers with Mark and he starts to worry about her. Years later, when Mark is getting married, he experiences the deja vu, and realizes all of Julie's irrational fears about Time Police and her father make sense. I'm not going to spoil it. You can download it on Steam.

So, was it a good read? Yes. I usually prefer visual novels over kinetic novels, but I also like sci-fi. To be fair, this is soft sci-fi, and very short. But, it's still a good story about having experiences and connections with someone that you can't quite explain. It's definitely of its era, as Julie helps Mark heal from the trauma of the Vietnam War, and Julie escapes the destruction of her time. The format of the kinetic novel fits really well with Julie's “Book of Time” theory.

That said, there was one thing I didn't like, and that is the inclusion of onomatopoeic sound effects in the novel. “Ah...” “Kuuuu...” and “Unngh...” that I'm sure are not in the original 1960s “The Dandelion Girl” story. They just point out that you're playing an anime-style game. I found it distracting in what was otherwise a relaxing and philosophical game. The music is gentle and good for reflection, and then you see...”uuungh”. It really breaks the deeper moods.

That's the only thing that really took me out of it. Other than that, it's a good game. Check it out on Steam. It's free. Took me about an hour to read. A good soft sci-fi story. There are no killer robots or action scenes, but if you just want to relax and take a break, it's a good read. Give it a look, if you can.

ROOSTER TEETH THOUGHTS:

ROOSTER TEETH THOUGHTS:

Rooster Teeth, the company that made RWBY, closed recently. I wanted to talk about it. I really only joined Rooster Teeth fandom around 2015. I was certainly aware of Rooster Teeth, because Red vs. Blue premiered in 2003, when I was in high school. But, that was before it had a plot, and it was just kind of friends messing around with HALO assets to make a comedy show. Things changed when Monty Oum was brought in. Monty Oum was a wunderkind animator.

He made things like Dead Fantasy and Haloid (HALO vs. Metroid). What made these shows work was always that they were kinda familiar, fast-paced, and action-packed. Dead Fantasy was Final Fantasy, but not really. Haloid was Metroid vs. HALO, but not really. Along with Monty Oum's focus on fast-paced rhythm-based action (with a background as a dancer.) Monty Oum's style of animation was ultimately a victory of re-branding that re-vitalized Rooster Teeth, and gave it direction.

Now, under Monty Oum, Red vs. Blue became an action show, where it was HALO, but not really. It had a plot and characters, and action scenes. After the success of HALO, but not really, Monty Oum was given the green light to develop RWBY, which was Final Fantasy 8, but not really. The costumes, weapons (Everything is a gunblade.), and plot were straight from the 1999 videogame, but not really.

Parts of media like Kingdom Hearts, fairytales, plus shows like Once Upon A Time and Snow White and The Huntsman can also be seen as influences on RWBY, with a color scheme and elaborate rhythm-based team battles, and attacks. Several fairytales had become public domain in 2012, which made them easy to adapt for the small business. RWBY's popular team-based color schemes allegedly came to Monty in a dream, probably from working on Red vs. Blue too much.

So, I joined right in the middle of all this, by watching RWBY. FF8 was my favorite Final Fantasy, so I picked up the plot immediately. I was all about RWBY for a good while. It was like revisiting one of my favorite games, with a fairytale twist, as was popular at the time. The success of RWBY was unprecedented, spawning a fandom. Unfortunately, Monty Oum fell into a coma in 2015 just before the completion of Season 3. (Seasons of RWBY are called Volumes, like fairytale books.)

Season 3 is widely considered the best Volume of RWBY, as it is a tournament arc featuring many different teams and battles, showcasing the fighting mechanics that made RWBY unique. Additionally, it would open up the world, going beyond locations visited in the previous volumes and introducing the second half of the plot with new villains and character development for Team RWBY. Perhaps most importantly, this meant that Volume 4 would be the first without Monty Oum, as his coma proved fatal.

Volume 4 introduced Salem, the new big bad villainess who was secretly controlling everything. The characters slowly discover that magic is real, and that they do in fact live in a fairytale-type world where they are to act as guardians for sacred relics, before Salem can get to them. This was an okay Volume. It's basically the second half of FF8, but at least it left you wondering what could happen.

Volume 5 splits up each individual member of Team RWBY to give them their own arcs. I understand the reasoning behind this, but I felt like they hadn't developed much as a team first. Yang recovers at home and then tries to find her mother, Ruby joins a new team, Weiss is imprisoned back at her home, and Blake takes a boat trip home to confront her misguided past.

At least they reunite by Volume 6's end. I hung in for all the new characters and villains. The writing on the wall for RWBY came, I think, by Volume 8...when COVID happened. It seemingly changed some direction of the show. Instead of the fast-paced action scenes, I felt like now we have cramped action that takes place in one static location, opting for flashes and bangs in place of dynamic movement, often resolved quickly by Ruby's eye powers or one big move, despite earlier establishing the series' love for gun kata (Kung Fu with guns.), and the characters' skills with their own unique weapons.

Also, earlier the series had made references to the fact that the Kingdom of Atlas was basically Germany. It combined its education and military, and chose a different side in the series' Great War. Even Weiss Schnee from Atlas uses a German name. So, the twist that Ironwood actually wanted to defend Atlas by himself by forsaking dust and the other Kingdoms, didn't shock me at all. If it was supposed to be shocking, it failed, since it was telegraphed all along if you know Final Fantasy and history. Final Fantasy is always setting up Magic vs. Technology.

Since the heroes use dust (magic), it's logical to me that the antithesis of that would be embodied in Ironwood, who favors militarism and technology. But, even this distracts from the main plot, which was supposed to be now defeating Salem. Although, I understand they were trying to create villains for every continent in the show's world, with Ironwood being the villain for Atlas. I was disappointed that they couldn't come together already to defeat Salem.

Time was running out. We were now at Volume 9 (2023), and they took a detour once again to The Ever After, a place where fairytales are real. Yang lost her mechanical arm and Ruby lost her weapon. Weiss keeps insisting there's no way they're in a fairytale. It's pretty much at this point where I watched, but lost my former interest. Magic and fairytales had already been proven real. Ruby had already proved herself as a leader. It was a neat visual detour, but there was no thematic reason to reset characters' motivations, other than that's all the writers knew to do absent the guidance of Monty Oum.

I will say I liked the inclusion of BMLB (A fan-created romance between Team RWBY members Yang and Blake.) being absolutely confirmed in this Volume. But, otherwise, it seemed to retread familiar ground, and reset characters' motivations. The Rooster Teeth merger with Warner Bros forced new projects to be focused on instead of the main show. On top of this, dramatic scandals rocked the once-seemingly benign company, including pay disputes and harassment charges. But, it ultimately survived.

I've already written about RWBY: Ice Queendom, the Japanese anime version of RWBY. In addition, Rooster Teeth focused on cross-over comics and movies with DC's Justice League, which again, while interesting both covered familiar grounds. By this point, if you didn't already like RWBY, you weren't going to watch another origin story and re-introduce the team. They staked everything on the success of RWBY and Batman, but Batman doesn't need RWBY.

You see, what made the show work was always that it was Final Fantasy, but not really. I say that as a fan of RWBY. It was not perfect, but it was the little animation studio that could. If you add Batman to it, or bigger more recognizable entities, in my view, it kills the idea that these characters were home-grown successes. Rooster Teeth had fans who had watched it grow from a small web animation studio, to become something original in spite of being a victory of re-branding Final Fantasy characters with twists. The merger with a giant corporation killed their home-grown success myth.

What will happen to RWBY now that Rooster Teeth is going under? I don't know. Probably, it will just move to a Warner Bros. Company. Maybe Cartoon Network will pick it up, or Crunchyroll. It was a wild ride while it lasted, Rooster Teeth. Everyone involved will probably just come back under a new company. I just hope they can finish RWBY's story, and give it a good ending.

Kenji's Ending: Katawa Shoujo

Kenji's Ending: Katawa Shoujo

There's one ending in Katawa Shoujo where you die. I just want to talk about it. Since this is a visual novel, you have to show interest in one character, and then that character's narrative opens up. But, since Katawa Shoujo also deals with disabled characters, or characters that are negotiating disability, I find that many people often unknowingly get this ending.

So, what happens? Well, Hisao tells off all the girls after having a heart attack, and they express concern. Instead of picking one activity for the school festival, Hisao gets drunk with Kenji on the roof. Kenji rants about feminist brainwashing, how there will be a war between men and women, and you cannot trust anyone. So, he perceives everything as a threat to his masculinity as a blind man.

This is the only possible “ending” with Kenji, who otherwise is a clownish character, down to his theme music. But, it probably reveals the the most about his character. He simply doesn't know how to treat people as normal, because of his own sense of self-worth, or lack of it. Similarly, I think many players who first play Katawa Shoujo, unknowingly get Kenji's ending, where Hisao gets drunk and falls off the roof.

Again, this isn't because people are trying to be mean, or get the worst ending. This is simply storytelling. The game must continue with one girl's narrative taking over at the end of Act 1, the festival. If your answers are all over the place, the game can't continue. I think many players got this ending not through meanness, but through expressing curiosity about each girl.

When I first played, I was naturally drawn to Emi, because of her having no legs, which most mirrored my experience as a quadriplegic. I think most able-bodied players may not have that experience where they see their interests and positions mirrored in Katawa. They simply try to investigate the strange world of disability, and only later discover that they are more than they appear to be.

There's a lot of reasons why one might accidentally fall into Kenji's ending, if as previously stated, players are unfamiliar with the game's structure, just expressing interest in characters, or simply wanting to know more about disabilities. I'll put the ending down here, just to illustrate it. Kenji's ending might be the “worst”, but it is the most revealing of his character, and perhaps of the players' possible mindsets.

Dual Blades (2002):

Dual Blades (2002):

Dual Blades (2002):

"Dual Blades is a fighting video game published by Metro3D, Inc. for the Game Boy Advance. It is a fighting game with single player and player versus player modes. It features a "power combining system" which was very new for the genre at that time. This system allows players to create their own fighting style.”

Fighters throughout time come to fight for the Dual Blades, a weapon that will grant immortality. First off, despite the power combining system, you pretty much just have light attack (thrust) and heavy attack. (Slash.) So, it all comes down to your weapon and character, as this is a weapon-based fighting game. My favorite character so far is Shin, the feudal Japanese magician who uses a spear. He gets an ending where he challenges the best fighters throughout time again, essentially just relaunching the tournament.

Others include Brandon an American vagabond with a sword, Efe, an Ottoman warrior with a scimitar, a female ninja named Kunonichi, a beastman, a sorcerer, a Russian witch, and the last boss who is unplayable. He's an immortal Roman named Alpe Ren, who can move super fast and switch instantly between “weapon mode” and “armor mode”. The only thing comparable that you as a player can do is choose between a defensive or offensive fighting style before the fight.

For a Game Boy Advance title, it does some advanced things for the time in 2002. I don't really think there's much reason to go back to it. It is super violent, which is unusual for even a weapon-based fighting game back then. But, even watching characters get sliced in half as the final heavy attack lands gets boring after a while. There are updated modern versions and sequels on Steam, but the original is pretty one-note (i.e. the power-combining system.) and stale by now.

My favorite ending to the game though, is Duke the English knight's ending, who uses the Dual Blades to umm...stop the Viking invasions of England? It's an interesting idea. It's ultimately how I feel about Dual Blades. It's an interesting idea. But, it doesn't really follow through, even though it could've completely changed things.

King of The Dragons (1991 Arcade/1994 Super Nintendo):

King of The Dragons (1991 Arcade/1994 Super Nintendo):

“Set out on a great adventure in a fantastical world to defeat Gildiss, the mighty Red Dragon, and save the kingdom from darkness!” – Steam

King of The Dragons is a fantasy beat-em-up that came to Super Nintendo in 1994 (As I remember it!), ported from the 1991 arcade game. It was just like playing a good hack-and-slash DnD game. I still remember a lot of the bosses, characters, the level design, and the great music that made it all unique and part of my formative DnD experience, even though it wasn't directly related to the DnD games. I just want to talk about it.

You start off by selecting your character who's on a quest to slay a dragon. There's a fighter, a cleric, a wizard, a dwarf, and an elf. The elf has the best range. The dwarf has the least range. The cleric is okay, and the wizard is a gamble, since with every level his attack spell, and thus range, also changes. Your weapons level up after every boss fight, but for some reason...I guess for the added challenge, you can also not pick up new weapons and let them disappear.

The first boss fight is the Orc Chieftain. He's got two chain whips and you have to stay in the middle of him while taking out baddies in the forest. Then, the Minotaur who charges every so often after swinging a giant axe. Then, the wyvern, who you attack in the sky, so if you don't have good range, you're just doomed unless you're really good at jumping attacks, or have a lot of magic. The hydra is pretty sneaky with it's multiple heads shooting different things out. I could go on, but really, all of the bosses are are so good, and tough. I usually die right before the giant spider on my own.

Later on, there's a cyclops, a giant spider, a dragon knight, a dark wizard, and of course, King of The Dragons, Glidiss. Each boss has its own trick to beat, but it can still be pretty tricky, if you waste a lot of health getting to them. Heck, I still can't beat the game on my own. But, a lot of the enemy designs, and level designs like spooky giant spiders in the forest, the cyclops who throws rocks, or the shifty mermen still influence many DnD campaigns today.

The settings and music are phenomenal for the 16-bit era. I feel like, in any beat-em-up, since you'll be attacking and doing the same things a lot, the sound can make or break the experience, and boy, does King of The Dragons go all out from the first level onward. Even the character select screen music feels like an epic quest, the level up sound “Wooo!” let's you know you just became more powerful, the magic screen-clearing lightning attacks or frog orbs that turn all your enemies into frogs (BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!) or (RIBBIT, RIBBIT!) feel satisfying and strong.

There are a few minor things I don't like about the game, but they're not deal-breakers. I still like it. I hate the slime enemies that capture you and drain your health. I hate the freeze spell that freezes you until you click really fast to get out of it. I hate the mimic treasure chests that bite you and you have to click really fast to get them off. Basically, I can never click fast enough to avoid them, and that always dooms me during a solo run. I do better as player two!

Despite all the annoying little enemies, it's still a great game, and its music, settings, and characters keep me coming back to it again and again to try to slay Glidiss. Taken together, all the good parts of the game make it an unforgettable experience of an epic DnD quest! Just make sure you pick the elf, in my opinion. Unless he's taken, then just pick the next best-ranged character. Check it out, if you can!

Orion Trail (2015):

Orion Trail (2015):

“Dare to travel the absurd and dangerous Orion Trail, where only the luckiest, bravest, and most stubborn captains will make it all the way to the end. Become famously incredible or incredibly dead in this single player choose-your-own-space-adventure!”

The Star Trek parody game that mixes Oregon Trail with board games, and...well, Oregon Trail mechanics. The name of the game here is funny stuff happening. You start off by selecting 4 crew members (Officers) who will influence your stats (Diplomacy, Bravado, Tactics, Science, and Attack.) From there the game takes on resource management mechanics (Crew, food, fuel, and hull.) and works like a board game.

Each space you “move” takes fuel and food. Sometimes you'll have random encounters that will add or take away skills and resources (Lost your lucky underwear -1 Bravado. Took a martial arts class +1 attack, etc.) The meat of the game however is funny encounters when you get to planets. Whether it's dealing with annoying party aliens or the villainous “Underbaker”. Each scenario gives you a choice of how to proceed, with each solution using a stat.

For example, if you're dealing with the Underbaker, the attack solution is to blast him. The dialogue solution is to get him to cut a deal with you, the tactical solution is to get him talking, and disable his bakery, and the bravado solution is to steal his chef hat. Each one of these then turns into a probability out of 10. So, if you have 6 bravado, or whatever, 6 squares will be ok, 2 will be failure 1 will be complete failure and another will be complete success. Of course, the higher your stats, the more chances you have for success.

So, the game is all resource management and probability with comedy mixed in. Some of the events parody Star Trek directly like evil clone planets, and some parody other elements like Rogue AI, or a planet full of Michael Jackson Thriller zombies. Willy Wonka's factory and giant space malls are also part of it. Just make sure not to get lost in the giant space mall.

The goal of the game is to reach the space station at the end, where you receive your title based on how many successes or failures you had, and what stats you most used. For example, mostly successes will earn you the adjective “Admirable ____” So, if you used bravado, you'd be “Admirable Rule-Breaker”. Or “Unfortunate Scientist” if you used mostly science and got failures.

There are 6 missions (boards) to use, each one harder and longer than the next. I mostly like this game, since the emphasis is on probability and funny stuff rather than skill. I can always have a good time, even if my resources run out and we all die, at least it'll be funny. The same stuff kind of happens on every board, you get used to it after a while. But, there's enough random elements to keep me coming back. Check it out!

Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (1993 Sega Genesis):

Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (1993 Sega Genesis):

“The Mega Drive/Genesis version, titled Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition and released as Street Fighter II Dash Plus (stylized as Street Fighter II′ Plus) in Japan, was released on September 27, 1993 in North America, September 28, 1993 in Japan, and October 29, 1993 in Europe. It is the first of two Street Fighter II versions for the console and is in a 24 megabit cartridge. A six-button control pad was made primarily for it.” -Wikipedia

Ok, so, the classic experience of Street Fighter II for me was always on the Super Nintendo. I wanted to try something different. So, I went for Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition on Sega Genesis. Well, right off the bat, you can tell things are compressed down. The graphics are a bit smaller. The sound palette is a bit more “farty”. I mean, you'll get blips and squeals where some music and sound effects cut out.

Other than that, the name of the game here is speed. Just like in Street Fighter II Turbo, it introduces a speed mechanic which can be toggled up or down in the main menu. It's called hyper here, instead of turbo. I ran a basic E. Honda play-through, because his moves are easy for me to do. Anyone can press punch fast. It was ok, other than the farty sound palette.

This was right before my favorite game in the series. Just a year later, Street Fighter II: The New Challengers would release. In Champion Edition, you do get to play as the 4 bosses. Sagat, Balrog, Vega, and M. Bison are all available. They didn't introduce Cammy, T. Hawk, Deejay, or Fei Long until 1994.

Overall, they're some good ideas were here. I just prefer the Super Nintendo experience. Although, I get that they were going mostly for speed. The playable bosses are nice. But, knowing that The New Challengers would include both them and new fighters makes the game feel a little limited. I'll bet it was good for its time. In my opinion, you can probably skip this one and play either Street Fighter II Turbo or Street Fighter II: The New Challengers.

Cards and Castles 2 (2023):

Cards and Castles 2 (2023):

“Collectible cards spring to life in this wacky Tactical CCG. Assemble a deck to challenge your friends and rivals, and engage in glorious CARD BATTLES! Will you choose fearsome dragons, or the deadly squirrels?”

This game is a collectible card game (CCG) that is all about using a cutesy and funny art-style for a war-based card game. It reminds me a little bit of Card Wars from Adventure Time. There are 6 factions. Vikings, Ninjas, Undead, Bestial, Thieves and Heroes. The Vikings can summon berserkers, land sharks, and war penguins, among others. The forces of Nature (Bestial) can summon Archers, Trees, and battle squirrels. It's all about being silly and weird.

But, the game isn't without strategy. I still haven't really built a good deck up yet. Sometimes you can build buildings that give cards more health or attack. Or if you're the Ninja or Thieves faction, you can set traps so that when your castle is attacked, it hurts the other player. The object of of the game is to destroy the other player's castle.

As with most of these deck-building games, there comes a point where it just comes down to luck of the draw and how powerful your cards are, but that's how they draw you in. You might be doing good one minute and then someone draws a card that destroys everything in your deck. That's just how these games go. A cutesy art-style can only mask so much grinding.

I'm not a fan of huge grinds in games, so I usually just stick with the Vikings so far, unless I'm completing a mission that calls for another faction. They can use Dwarven weapons and armor, and have good heroes, like some guy named Björn. Plus, they're the first faction you start with, so it's easier for me just to start there and build outward.

Look, I wish I could say I liked the game more, I'm not against the “Git Gud” philosophy, but there's too much grinding for my tastes. Single-Player Quests are ok, even a bit challenging. After a while, you're either too overpowered for Single-Player, or too under-powered for multiplayer. But, as I said, I still haven't really built up a good deck. I can't really recommend it, but if you don't mind the grind, check it out.

Solo Leveling (2024):

Solo Leveling (2024):

“In a world of gifted hunters and monsters, a weak hunter Sung Jinwoo gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program, leading him to become one of the strongest hunters and conquering even the strongest dungeons.”

Jinwoo is a 20 year old down-on-his-luck guy who suddenly finds himself in a world where RPG monsters invade Korea through a “gate”. The government learns how to use magic as energy, gold, classes, and skills, just like a game world and hires them as “hunters” to clear monster dungeons. Jinwoo joins a party with a high-ranked leader. Since Jinwoo is weak, he only has a cheap knife to start with.

One day, they end up trapped by giant god statues. But, Jinwoo is the only one who finds out that there is no boss fight. It's a puzzle. That lets him start again in the game world. After his party is defeated at various points in the puzzle, he wakes up again, and slowly learns the rules of the game world, including what gets points and how to get stronger.

Slowly, he begins to build his stats and strength, and learn where the monsters are, as well as their weakness. Now, he can bring up game screens and inventories to enhance his stats and abilities, as well as make weapons appear like swords. No more cheap knives. Jinwoo decides to focus on strength, and has a real-life muscular body as a result of spending his points on strength. However, to avoid attention, he still puts on a front of being very weak, so he can gain “levels” while adventuring solo.

Overall, it's a good mix of real-world and videogame mechanics. The monsters are interesting enough that it keeps me wondering what will happen next. It's hyper-violent, so it never gets boring. There's wolves, goblins, giant ants, snakes, and spiders. It's been fun to see Jinwoo's transformation from weakling to hero thanks to videogame-style Fighter specialization. It gives hope to gamers. (Not that I really am, these days.) Check it out!

Pirates! Gold (1993 Sega Genesis):

Pirates! Gold (1993 Sega Genesis):

“The player can play as a pirate, privateer, or a pirate hunter. It features sword fighting, ocean-faring battles, and land battles as its three main arenas of action, connected by role-playing which allows the player to court the favor of local politicos, romance women, and recruit pirates in the local pub.”

-Wikipedia

Pirates! Gold is an amazing game. It's a pirate sim, complete with different ships, towns, treasures, quests, and abilities as you sail the Spanish Main in the 17th century. First you choose your “captain”. This is the player. You can choose what ability you have, you can change your name, (Sidney is the default name.) and your nationality: English, Dutch, Spanish, or French.

Your abilities are fencing, charm, gunnery, or navigation. You only choose one. Fencing makes your sword strength better. Charm lets you get married more easily. Gunnery makes your cannons more effective. Navigation can help you weather storms and not crash on reefs. (And that happens a lot.)

Well, once you've started, you can sail around and attack ships or towns, capturing and plundering, or you can hunt for treasure. You can gain letters of marque to fight on behalf of any of the 4 European nations. So, when you capture enemy ships or towns, you can do so in the name of England, or whoever. This is usually the way I play. It's just too fun.

But, you have to keep your crew happy and well-fed or else they can desert and mutiny. Things that make them happy are like successful attacks or appropriate ship size vs. crew size. (You can capture a large variety of ships, including Galleons, Frigates, Sloops, or Merchant Ships, among others.) Of course, finding treasure makes them happy. You can buy treasure maps at local taverns throughout the Caribbean, sometimes.

Press “C” in sailing mode to check out all your maps, and figure out wherever the heck you are in the Spanish Main. You can also pinpoint places on the Spanish Main map. Often, you'll run into other ships you can choose to engage in combat or sail away. Once in sea combat, you can try to sink enemy ships or capture them. You can also fence the enemy captain by crashing your ship into theirs and boarding.

Other than attacking towns and sinking or capturing ships, you can complete quests too. These include capturing another pirate, getting married, finding lost cities, robbing treasure fleets, finding treasure, or finding each one of the members of your captain's long-lost family. Completing each one of these effects your score at the end when you divide up all your gold. Every game is different.

Some endings are more spectacular than others. If you have a lot of gold, and complete a lot of missions, you can ultimately become a pirate governor or King's Advisor if you do really good. Others include Rich Banker, Rogue, Fleet Admiral or even Beggar or Pauper, if you do really bad. Since I don't do a lot of missions, I usually end up more on the bad side. But, it's more fun to me just to sail around and attack things, rather than figure out where such-and-such lost city is from unmarked maps.

My usually bad final scores aside, Pirates! Gold is an still an amazing game. It looks and sounds great. Frankly, I'm surprised it runs on a Genesis cartridge. If you have access to a virtual Sega Genesis (or Sega Megadrive as the Genesis is known in Europe.), or even a physical cartridge, give it a try today. You won't regret it! I can play this game all day still.

Drifting Home (2022):

Drifting Home (2022):

“Follows two childhood friends who drift into a mysterious sea with an entire housing complex.”

Childhood friends check out an old apartment building they grew up in before it's scheduled to be demolished. They soon end up in a magical sea along with the demolished house, drifting on it like a boat with the rest of their sixth grade friends. The two main characters are Kosuke and Natsume, who grew up together with Kosuke's grandpa in the old apartment.

We soon discover there's a stowaway in the floating apartment, Noppo who everyone thought was Natsume's imaginary friend. Yuzuru, a girl, is scared of Noppo and thinks he's a ghost at first. He says they've been friends for a long time. There's more truth to this than meets the eye.

It's not all just about the friends, but also returning home, and the drama between Natsume and Kosuke. Natsume blames himself for his grandpa's death, and so refuses to accept the parting gift from his grandpa, a camera. Meanwhile, it's revealed that Natsume had an abusive childhood, so she had to move into the apartment.

They raid other drifting apartments for snacks, food, and fresh clothes. Eventually, Natsume cuts her knee getting into a vending machine and they have to make get bandages from a floating drugstore. They also collide with an old floating carnival, where Yuzuru first developed her love of theme parks.

Kosuke accepts the camera and starts taking pictures of all the old buildings. Here's where it gets really magical. As it turns out, Kosuke spots “things” growing out of Noppo's arm. Plants! Noppo reveals that he's the ghost of the old apartment, and the magical sea is a graveyard for old buildings. If he doesn't join them, they can never return home.

I enjoyed this movie. It's a magical meditation on memories and the cycle of pain and joy, death and rebirth. (Samsara.) Once they let go of their grief, they experience joy, and return home magically. Kosuke takes pictures. Noppo can finally return home. If you have a chance watch it. It's a great anime drama on Netflix!

What Is A Visual Novel?

What Is A Visual Novel?:

“As a genre, "visual novel" is not defined by a mechanic or an aesthetic, but rather a distinctive presentation: VNs focus on presenting a text-based story using click-through text boxes, accompanied with static character graphics, and usually feature little to no actual gameplay.”– TVTropes.com

What is a visual novel? I guess the best way to describe a visual novel is like a virtual book that you read and occasionally make choices in that effect the story. But, then things get a little more specific. For example, many fighting games have “story modes”, which have larger plots connected to each character through a series of fights. Also, many role-playing games have story elements.

The main difference is that a visual novel is told mostly through text like a book instead of graphics. There can be graphics, but the story isn't told through the graphics, necessarily. But, then it gets even more complicated when you mix genres like fighting game-visual novels. The story is mostly text, and player decisions effect the plot, with an added fighting game mechanic.

This difference between “story mode” in most fighting games vs. fighting game-visual novels is mostly about how player decisions effect the plot. For example, if you lose fights in a traditional fighting game, you can't progress. The fights are the main game. In fighting game visual novels, losing a fight would effect the outcome, but the story text would continue. The text is the main mechanic, not the fight.

Then, you have kinetic novels, where there is no game at all. No choices are made by the player. It's a book in videogame format. You read it. There are no multiple endings, and there are no side mechanics. I don't really play visual novels that don't have gameplay. I like to make choices.

I just wanted to make this post because I've been posting about visual novels. And I realize that not everyone knows what they are. My favorites are Katawa Shoujo and short comedies like Leave Mr. Bear Alone. But, even some games like Blazblue, a story-heavy fighting game, have visual novel modes that are pretty fun. Like books, they can be any genre, not just dating games. If you have time today, look for a visual novel on Steam. You'll find something you like!

Here Comes a New Challenger (2023):

Here Comes a New Challenger (2023):

“The origins of the gaming phenomena that is Street Fighter II and how it impacted the lives of kids worldwide. It explores not just the aspect of the series, but what made it special to players that played at the comfort of their own home.”

I'm a big Street Fighter fan. So, if you have about an hour, you should watch this documentary on the unprecedented success of Street Fighter II. They interview game designers, and take you through Street Fighter I's game's movie inspirations that are mostly Bruce Lee's “Enter The Dragon”, and Sonny Chiba's “The Street Fighter”. Street Fighter had the basic ideas of Street Fighter II, but with wacky controls, bad hit detection, and limited characters. (1 player had to be Ryu. 1 player could be Ken, but only if he joined to fight Ryu.)

By 1991, Street Fighter II did everything bigger and better. 8 characters, 4 bosses, each with their own fighting styles. The 2-Player vs. mode revived a stagnant arcade industry, and made it ripe for in-home videogame consoles. It took off in a way Street Fighter never did. The meat of the documentary I think, is going through the old character designs (They knew they wanted an international fighting tournament, but who would represent each country?) and music decisions.

There's an interview with the game's composer Yoko Shimomura who confesses that for some countries she had no idea what music should sound like. She'd been to Spain, and was a big fan of American rock, so those countries were no problem. (And from that, we got the iconic Guile Theme for the USA stage.) But, for a country like Brazil...she didn't have a clue. In the documentary, she says she was taking the train home one day, and just filled in the train sounds with jungle drums, which became the iconic Brazil theme music for Blanka, the Brazilian fighter.

After the music, we finally get to explore fighting game tournament culture, a staple of Street Fighter II and all that came after. Championship Editions were released, along with re-makes and new characters like Cammy from England, and T. Hawk from Mexico in 1994's aptly named Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. Some versions like Street Fighter II Turbo added increased speed and really made use of the “combo” system, where players could hit more than once, and string attacks together; which became a classic feature.

But, it's not all just classics. There's a lot in the documentary about the cheesy merchandise that Street Fighter II brought with it. Of course, anything that gets big gets toys. I didn't really like this part of the documentary. If you're a fan, you know some of the toys and games (Even a boardgame!) were cheap cash grabs. Of course they were. It feels like...the director mocking toys and games that fans probably loved at the time. Yes, even the Street Fighter movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme. It felt a little out of place to praise Street Fighter II and then say “But, look at how stupid this stuff for kids was.” We know. We were those kids.

The documentary ends with Street Fighter II spin-offs and its influence on later games like Mortal Kombat, and Killer Instinct, up to Street Fighter EX and the anime-style Street Fighter Alpha series beginning in 1996. If you have an hour or so to kill (Ha!), give it a watch. It's really cool to see how Street Fighter went from one clunky arcade game, to its sequel becoming a cultural stable of the 90s, and an inspiration for the genre for years to come. Check it out!

Slay The Spire (2019)

Slay The Spire (2019):

"It's a combination of roguelike-like gameplay with a deck-building card game. It requires players to develop a strategy for their deck on the fly based on the cards they can obtain from loot.”

Slay The Spire is basically a Souls-Like game with cards. You begin the game by selecting a class. Your class determines what skills and abilities (Cards) you have. There's The Ironclad. He's your Tank character with heavy attacks. There's The Silent. He's your Rogue (DPS: Damage-per-Second.) guy with quick attacks and good abilities. There's The Defect, your “Mage-Type”, with weak attack but heavy on spells and abilities.

The one class I haven't gotten yet is The Watcher. But, I assume it's a support-type character. The Monsters you face are fierce, and can do lot of damage usually, just like a Souls-Like. You'll need to balance your block and attack cards each turn. If you don't block, you're dead. If you can't attack, you're dead.

Some monsters can attack and exhaust your cards or steal your cards. Some mini-bosses have special abilities like reflecting attacks back at you or just dealing truckloads of damage. But, fear not. each level of the Spire is like a board, and each defeated monster drops loot. Not every space on the board is a monster encounter. You can have mystery encounter spaces, where something happens whether it's meeting a demon who curses you, but gives you abilities, or a gambling game that can get you new cards. (Or something like that.) Each such space is usually random.

You can also buy potions, cards, and abilities from merchant spaces if you land on them. My favorite spaces though, are campfire spaces. Here, you rest and heal, or upgrade your cards, making their effects more powerful. These are usually good before boss fights or mini-bosses. You can either rest, or upgrade. You cannot do both.

Overall, it's a good game. A tough game. You die a lot. But, it makes me want to replay each time to see if I can do better. I always want to get better cards or try a different class. “Git Gud”, as the gamers say. Give it a try. Check it out on Steam.

Frosty Kiss (2015):

Frosty Kiss (2015):

“It's been a year since Seymon returned from "Sovyonok" and met the girls from the camp in the real world. But it's New Year at hand! And it needs to be celebrated!”

Well, I reviewed a non-canon sequel to Katawa Shoujo, so I might as well do the same for Everlasting Summer. I can't really recommend it, but here I go. Seymon returns from the magic bus that found him back in the USSR. The same girls are there, except for one. Miku the Japanese girl has been replaced by Masha the Russian. I don't know why. Maybe Miku only existed on the magic bus.

Most of the girls retain their original personalities. Slavya has short hair. Ulyana is still the wild child. I guess that makes her my favorite. This novel involves him starting a romance with one (and only one.) of them. Which one is up to the player. Playtime is reportedly very short. Only about an hour for a full play-through.

Unlike the first game, this non-canon sequel was made by 2Chance Projects, not the aptly named Soviet Games. It's a very short game designed specifically for New Year's 2015. That said, it's okay for what it is, but doesn't bother developing the characters. Frosty Kiss assumes you played Everlasting Summer, plops you in modern Russia, and gets right to the romance...it's very Russian that way.

Speaking of Russian, a final word of warning. When you download this game from Steam, you have to manually set the language from Russian to English, rather than downloading a separate English release, as with Everlasting Summer. I had to re-install it, while searching for an English version, because I thought I downloaded the wrong language version. But, after Googling the problem, I discovered the language settings are in the game's main menu.

Like Katawa's side-story, I can only recommend it if you liked the original game. Except unlike Summer's Clover, Frosty Kiss doesn't add much, and is mostly characters commenting on the last game and the new year. Give it a look, if you're interested. Make sure you play Everlasting Summer first. I can't really recommend it on its own. Otherwise, you'll have no idea what's going on.

Katawa Shoujo: Summer's Clover (2014):

Katawa Shoujo: Summer's Clover (2014):

“The non-canon scenario of Miura Miki starting shortly before she meets the new transfer student Nakai Hisao.”

Summer's Clover is a non-canon side-story to Katawa Shoujo. You play as Miki. Miki is adjusting to life after an accident took her hand. She's a side character in the original game, alongside Emi and the track team. Here, she has two suitors to choose from: Hisao and Suzu.

Hisao is the main character from the original Katawa Shoujo. He bumps into Miki, and in this version, they can hit it off and become boyfriend and girlfriend, or just stay friends. I focused on Suzu's branch, because, well, that's my preference. Even if you choose Suzu, Hisao tags along for the story. He's still a main character.

Suzu has narcolepsy. A condition which brings on extreme drowsiness and loss of muscle tone during sudden extreme emotions. Suzu also likes women, it is revealed. So, that opens up her path as well. Essentially you have Hisao or Suzu as paths to choose from, with multiple endings for either character.

Since I only played Suzu's path, I know it's about Miki discovering her interest in women, and also getting Suzu's family to accept their relationship. Suzu also is an introvert who reads manga. (Comics.) As Miki helps her come out of her shell, they spend a lot of time together on the beach and in bedrooms for summer vacation. (Hey! Summer's Clover!) But, everyone but Suzu's cool older sister hates Miki and Suzu as a couple.

Honestly, this isn't a bad game. Only a few things give away that it's non-canon, but it was worked on by an Australian member of Four Leaf Studios. One thing is the characters constantly use Australian slang like “crikey!” and “blimey!” Another thing is some of the new characters look odd in shape and size, because they aren't re-used art from the original game, which is a little jarring, but fine.

Overall, it's a good side-story, with original art in addition to the original game. But, I can understand why it wasn't a fully polished game. It's one Australian guy from Four Leaf Studios working off notes and anime sketches. With Four Leaf Studios now basically gone, it may never get an official release. This might be all there is. But, it should be enough if you're a Katawa Shoujo fan, and want more Katawa Shoujo. Check it out.

Delicious In Dungeon (2024):

Delicious In Dungeon (2024):

“Can sisters be reincarnated from dragon poop? Laios and his friends Marcille and Chilchuck delve into an endless dungeon in search of his fallen sister, fighting monsters, starvation, and corruption.”

Delicious in Dungeon is a kawaii (cute.) little fantasy/cooking anime about a party of adventurers trying to save their friend from the belly of a dragon while also learning about how to cook monsters. First, there's Laios, the fighter. Then, Marcille, the Elvish wizard girl, and then Chilchuck, the pick-lock. Along the way, they meet a master chef dwarf named Senshi who helps them cook and eat monsters.

Each episode is about what monster they cook and how. First, it's walking mushrooms and scorpions, then man-eating plants, then basilisk, among others. (A basilisk is like a chicken-dragon thing.) Then, they discover they can make BBQ from the oil in some of the fire traps in the dungeon. Yes, they are pretend monsters, but the food still looks good, and it's pretty funny.

A lot of the comedy comes from seeing the characters interact. Marcille is really funny, because she is a picky eater, and wants to use magic to solve everything. She's kind of a take-off on the haughty elf trope. She's always freaking out. She's usually the first to say whatever the dwarf has in mind to cook is disgusting.

The leader of the party is Laios. He's a little weird. He wants to eat everything. He's oddly fixated on monsters, and eating monsters. He's even figured out how to eat living armor by cracking it open like lobster and cooking the creatures inside. Senshi helped. This means he's Senshi's best friend.

Senshi is the dwarf/master chef. He's there to cook all the monsters, and teach real cooking techniques. For example, drying out giant slimes before you eat them to make jelly, or taking the tails and venom from giant scorpions to make a nice hotpot. His dream is to cook a Red Dragon.

Chilchuck is a rogue character. He specializes in picking locks and disarming traps. He's a consummate professional. He doesn't know a lot about cooking, but step aside and let him do his job when you need traps disarmed or locks picked. Not a picky eater, but argues with Senshi if he gets in the way of his job.

Overall, it's a nice and funny anime with good-looking food. It may be fantasy, but it'll still make you hungry. The obsessive characters like Laios are basically there to remind you it's a little weird, but it is comical. It's fun to see what they'll cook up next and how. Can't wait 'til they cook that Red Dragon and save their companion! Give it a watch on Netflix!

The Boy And The Heron (2023):

The Boy And The Heron (2023):

“A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.”

Well, I might as well explain my experience of another Hayao Miyazaki movie. I've read a lot of articles saying that this will be his last movie, and it feels like a farewell. To be honest, I think he's been saying every movie will be his last movie since about 2013. We'll see if he makes another movie, but I'm not going to write another post dissecting the farewell symbolism.

With that in mind, the message I got from this movie is that birds are evil. All jokes aside, it's a movie about a boy who discovers a heron who leads him to a tower where his mother who died might still be alive but as a young girl. Birds try to eat him. None of this logic is explained. I think we're just supposed to accept that this fantastical adventure takes place because it is a fantasy movie.

The boy (named Mahito.) tames the heron with a bow and arrow. He then reveals himself to be a shapeshifting dwarf spirit. They go to a lighthouse where a woman guards a fire spirit who might be his mother. There, the birds eat spirits of people yet to be born into the world. He finds his mother protecting the lighthouse with fire magic.

A burned crane explains to him that they are trapped on the island of the dead, and the spirits are all they have to eat. Meanwhile, the parakeet king tries to come into the world of the living, and every bird tries to eat Mahito. They meet a wizard who might be his reclusive uncle in the other world, who tells him he must stay or the balance of the world will be destroyed.

Before the parakeet king can break into the other world, he says goodbye to his mother so she can stay behind, and he can return and she can be reborn as his mother again. If it's about anything, it's really about the cycle of death and rebirth through the mind of a child. And yes, I know it's based on a popular Japanese children's book. But, honestly, I think even without that context, it's still a fun watch...overall, I'd say check it out.