Interdimensional Observer

The greatest mystery of Kirby- what is the relation of Bandana Waddle Dee to Sailor Waddle Dee, and both to Crystal Shards Waddle Dee?🤔 Thank you for the info! DK is an orphan, got it. You're so hysterical you question what kind of mushrooms got in the entree?🤪 -Glad it was thrilling.😃 I've been feeling like it's time that I sink myself into something long again, but every day I annoyingly find some petty reason not to. Don't give me a reason to complain about XCX again. Think on the bright side- you'll probably get a conclusion.😛 Can't say the same for everything out there. Wasn't enough that you had to sink Golden Sun, Dark Dawn, you had to do it on a serious cliffhanger with two-dozen unanswered questions.😑 Shenmue fans had their millenarian hopes raised, then razed beyond all belief.

Nowadays, yeah. Certainly an off-putting change for me. Yet, in the earlier days, got: Pinball Land, Dream Course, the Puyo Pop radical localization called Kirby's Avalanche, Block Ball, Star Stacker, Tilt n' Tumble, then Air Ride, and Canvas Curse, and Mass Attack (and Epic Yarn if you want to count that thing which didn't begin development as Kirby, and was only later turned into a Kirby game). For a second-tier Nintendo franchise, when compared to the others, it's surprisingly a lot. Not as much as Mario and Pokemon, but a seemingly solid third place. Maybe it's b/c cuteness and unseriousness? Zelda and Metroid, while not devoid of experimentation, aren't as silly free to be wild as Mario-Pokemon-Kirby.

All of Gen 2 has this one consideration behind it- how does a ragtag group of Issachan rebels end up overthrowing one-and-a-half-decade-almighty Grannvale Empire? Direct confrontation between the core Grannvalian armies and Seliph's group could've happened as early as Chapter 7. Edda is directly west of Darna, the Empire could've easily sent out Brian as Seliph was dealing with Ishtore and flanked the rebels. However, if you've any liking for a notion of realism, that couldn't happen. And if you wanted Gen 2 to be longer than maybe three chapters (without writing a retreat into Seliph's story), you couldn't have it happen either. Helping Leif on the Thracian Peninsula keeps away from Grannvale, and limits Seliph to only fighting regional imperial occupation forces -even if they're led by one of the leading families in the Empire. Travant & Arion are another useful distraction. It's only with Miletos, 5/6s into Gen 2, that Seliph begins strategically aiming for Grannvale itself, he isn't moving away from it as he did going into the Thracian Peninsula. His army is well-experienced by now. Even if it might not feel like it, because Gen 2 has to share a game with Gen 1, and those giant maps... might impose limits on the feeling of story development/progression?

Genealogy does have an unused item in its data called the "Charm Staff".💞 The Charm Staff wasn't programmed to do anything however, it's an incomplete item. In both the Final Fantasy and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, Charm does precisely what you describe- render allies uncontrollable and turn them against their allies. Although, maybe the Charm Staff is how Manfroy got a wife, and what it was supposed to do was make you insta-lovers with whomever you cast it on the first time (or bring them up to 499 LP with you if you're already married and have your memories intact). Indra is the name of a Hindu storm god, once very prominent in the pantheon (the King of the Gods even) -but that was easily 2000 years ago at least and he has long since fallen by the wayside (blame Shiva, Vishnu, and Devi). Indira Gandhi was India's first and so far only female prime minister (so sorta a "queen", particularly when you consider her father and son were also prime minister; no relation to Mahatma Gandhi just to clarify).

Hilda's exact genealogical relationship to Arvis is never explained. However, I would like to headcanon that she's one of the bastards (and thus, half-sibling to Arvis) that Victor purportedly sired and showered favoritism on. It wouldn't make Hilda sympathetic, she is likely by nature a terrible person, but it could add to her vileness. She was living the decadent life of a princess -until Arvis suddenly ruined it all. Ostracized, Hilda came to think being poor SUCKS, and ruthlessly dedicated her life to regaining wealth and status. Notes in the Treasure art book say Arvis sent his non-Azelle bastard siblings into exile or servitude. I could imagine that being a duke's bastard didn't exclude one from all of high society, just the most public social circles. A few secondary cliques off to the side would still accept Hilda, and somebody would take her in until she wedded. There, she waited for her best possible bankroll/title-giver, and caught no finer a marlin than the heir to Freege. ...But the problem here is the timeline and Ishtar's & Ishtore's ages. Realistically, I don't see Blume wedding a bastard -until Lombard & Leptor agree that Arvis will become Regent after Azmur's coming death. Once that pact happened, a woman of House Velthomer, even a bastard whom Arvis probably would hate, saw their value on the wife market soar by 50000%. It's only then that Blume sidelines considerations of any other woman and selects Hilda. Are Ishtar and Ishtore old enough to work within these constraints? -Although, really, I'd take just about any explanation. A perfectly legitimate cadet branch of House Velthomer would do fine too.😅

Wrapped up Extra Mode in Return to Dream Land. Admittedly, I cheesed the last bosses with Leaf/Stone/Sand and their invincibility.😅 I won't do the Arenas, boss rushes have been a very consistent staple of the franchise since Adventure, but I can't say I fully enjoy them. As, despite Kirby being easy, I'm not a great player, and surviving the rushes (without the safe boredom of using Stone and the like) is more tense than I like. I'm okay with no 100% the games, as I very rarely do that with any game already. *Checks online* ...Why did they give Magolor Soul -in the True Arena only- a Sand tornado attack, and a ~18 second Mecha Blaster Cannon move?🤔 The dusty whirlwinds blend in well enough, the magically-summoned laser cannons do not. Image & Form Games has been pushing SteamWorld into as many genres and aesthetics as they can, to mixed reception. Though I get any creative impulses to avoid repeating the same thing over and over again, despite what fans may want.

Not like there was much to it. -Or so says someone who wouldn't describe themselves as an indie gamer.😅 I think I'll wait for a sale for that. I liked Heist well enough, but I'm in no rush, I've enough on my gaming table.

Although in this case, it looks to be only partial funding, not the entire project. Something to lure a publisher into taking up and financing the vast majority of the game. It is an old game. -Although the Nightmare before it did did have both orb and wizard, and KDLs 2 and 3 are both multi-phase too (and Amazing Mirror when that came about). And Heart of Nova sorta counts an as oddball phase, just not of Marx himself. As I said, not exactly the most useful map.🤨 -The final boss is accessed from the central hub area, the Metroidvania aspect comes from treasures to collect, and needing to go out and find the various area bosses with the mirror shards to reach said final boss. As the resident Kirby aficionado, no problem at all.🤓 -Admittedly I still have played Star Allies yet.😅 Lukewarm reception at release and me being burned out at the time from TD and PR are why. Also, I don't have IRL friends and methinks that'd make Star Allies more fun than stupid CPU helpers. And I've also skipped over basically every Kirby spinoff since the 3DS era. (Why Kirby has always had a ton of little spinoff games eludes me. Mario and Pokemon I get, Zelda historically has had almost none, and Kirby isn't exactly the equal of the Nintendo Trinity.) I'd offer a word of praise for Canvas Curse -as many did for it being an early DS game that used the touch screen quite well. But, I sense you'd possibly not be fond of that. -A factoid about Air Ride.: Look familiar?😛 Air Ride I do have a measure of nostalgia for, I wouldn't mind a greatly-expanded sequel (extremely unlikely with the modern cost of game development). -But the Air Ride Mode tracks do feel too "on rails"/easy in retrospect. ...I'll shaddup now.😆

They went ahead and gave us four variants of Knight, four unpromoted mono-weapon cavs plus unique promotions, and still retained the typical two-weapon Cavalier + Paladin. Threw in Bard when Mage would functionally make no difference for Lewyn, three Wyvern classes in a one-promotion game, and has that Forrest oddity. I don't think it was storage.😝 Or it was, yet they wasted their limited capacity on arguably sillier things.

*Sees that Runa thing from last week has started its Kickstarter* ...A dev team of three, and only one is a programmer. Attempting a 3D JRPG with a long list of features. Oooooooi, overambition ahoy!😬 Doesn't anyone pay attention to the credits?🤦‍♂️ Do they not see how many people are involved in the games they seek to emulate? And I see I ain't alone in saying this. (Also found a comment in praise of the dev trio for their decis/sion, something I must concur with as much as I am concerned about the undertaking as a whole.) Geez you were quick. Although Kirby games are short. Glad it worked out well.😅 And so is its theme.🎶 Which Smash then mistakenly assigned to and renamed after the Fountain of Dreams, to the misleading of many. (However, Nightmare in Dream Land did change the King Dedede battle in front of the Fountain of Dreams to use the music of Gourmet Race, ironically enough.) The Japanese name for Super Star is "Super Deluxe". Besides being a reference to the 3DS, Triple Deluxe is no doubt a naming nod to this. Also.: Japanese boxart for Super Deluxe, it's a cultural thing. Paulownia wood in Japan was used in Japan to package expensive sake and silverware, the idea here was to make the game look distinctively exquisite. -The idea came from Shigesato Itoi, the creator of Mother/Earthbound (certainly something of a quirky fellow given his famously-quirky trilogy). Another factoid- The voice clip for the third use of Mike is Masahiro Sakurai's voice (beneath the heavy distortion), it's him shouting "Chesto!", that distinctly Japanese battle cry. And one other tidbit.: You might've noticed that Marx manipulating Kirby and then becoming the final boss, is exactly what Magolor does as well. They absolutely rehashed the idea with Mag'; there was time enough between the two games, so I don't mind it that they did.😀 I just want to say that I love Revenge of Meta Knight. It's weird, but good.😆 For one, it's dialogue-heavy by Kirby standards, all the mid-stage dialogue. Gunvolt does loads of that? -But that's not Kirby, for Kirby, it's bizarre, yet cool. Related- the premise. It's hardcore- Meta Knight is on the verge conquering Pop Star (as silly as that sounds), Kirby rushes in guns blazing with one mission- destroy the Halberd. Sure you spend some time trying to re-board the Halberd, but then Kirby carries out pure carnage on the great battleship. It's intense. I'm not sure if I've seen another game like this, with so narrow, focused, small, short, yet thrilling a narrative. -Or rather, I think I am disappointed there is simply no way you could capture such a feeling in even a 30-hour A/JRPG, much to my dismay.😆 This is where Galacta Knight originated. And also the origin of the True Arena as I said before. And the concept of a final boss coming back in a "Soul" form -although the first Soul boss is actually in Canvas Curse. Perhaps the original Super Star's greatest innovation was giving Copy Abilities more than one move. Something you probably take for granted, having started with... Return to Dream Land methinks? -But after KSS, things got simplified for quite a while. Is it amazing? ...Probably not. You see, KtAM has a map, but it is not a helpful one.😐 (Copy Abilities are largely one-move too, which is kinda dated.) -I was going to provide some suggestions (you needn't take any) on any future Kirby games you might consider playing. But it's getting late, I'll give you a factual rundown on the Dark Matter Trilogy.😅 The Dark Matter Trilogy Kirby's Dream Land 2 (1995, GB), Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997, SNES), Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2000, N64). Named after a shared villain in all three games. Sakurai did not work on these. -But he did Super Star (1996) hence the bias it has been shown in Smash. Sakurai didn't directly oversee a Kirby game again until Nightmare in Dream Land (2002) and Air Ride (2003), the latter being his last real work on a Kirby game no wonder the Dragoon is in Smash. All three -oddly for Kirby- require you unlock the true final battle or else get an implicitly bad ending. Acquire all the collectibles (Rainbow Drops, Heart Stars, Crystal Shards) in each game before fighting the Untrue Final Boss. That's all you have to do to reveal the True Final Boss. -And for KDL3, make sure to defeat every boss of each land after getting all the Heart Stars from that region. Refight them if you missed any Heart Stars yet got past them earlier anyhow. All have one-move Copy Abilities. You do get the three animal partners in KDL2, which becomes six in KDL3. Yet, while the animal buddies change the exact attack, the Copy Abilities are still only one-move each. Kirby 64 lets you mix two basic Copy Abilities together (Fire + Needle = fire arrows, instance). ...But only one attack each, again. Movement-wise, people I usually find say Kirby is sluggish in KDL3 and 64. It has been so long since I've played either that I forget how they feel. Visually, KDL3 has aged quite well, owing to its hand-drawn aesthetic. Kirby 64 has technically-poor graphics owing its age, but somehow, the environments those primitive polygons create have enduring character in them. Overall, the Dark Matter Trilogy is probably not, for most fans, the best Kirby has to offer. Though the franchise itself/HAL Labs hasn't consciously chosen to forget the trilogy. One little oddity- King Dedede is in all three of the DMT, but no Meta Knight whatsoever. The Amazing Mirror (2004) would thankfully totally fix this lack of Meta and permanently enshrine him as one of the Kirby Big Three. ...And, I just want to mention Squeak Squad (2006).😆 Squeak Squad gets a lot of criticism- primarily because the game didn't really do anything to innovate Kirby, it was a low-effort entry. I'm somewhat kinder on SS. In part, because while not every Copy Ability was fleshed out, Squeak Squad was, mostly, at a last a return to the multi-move ones of Super Star ('Ultra was two years away). And I found that Squeak Squad was still typical Kirby fun. It's not bad if all you're looking for is more Kirby to mindlessly snack on.

Time to open an ever-expanding black hole over Antartica! The Schwarzwelt. Fret not. We can return our species to a bestial state aligned with nature and not excessively exploitive, the Earth shall then cease to cry out to the void against us. Or, we can worry not about the Earth thinks and subjugate it, by embracing God and rely wholly on Him for our sustenance (just be ready to shed your feral individuality), that'd banish the black hole forever. -Staying human as we know it? If we fail to make real change to ourselves... the Schwarzwelt will almost certainly return eventually even if we destroy it. It's the most idealistic path of purest naive folly.😛 Interesting.😄 Sounds vaguely familiar, but it's definitely different. Intelligible, yet exotic. Thanks for sharing.😀

SMT likes.😃

I read your earlier comment, because of it, I think I mistook the definition of "broken" here.🤣 I thought you meant the 😭 kind.

...Didn't you say this was the True Ending? And I believe that somewhere in here, you said you prefer a happy ending to a sad one.😕 Is this being only the first half of a whole story the thing that is letting you feel this way? Or are you simply wowed by the (totally deviating from the original?) narrative?🤔

If you weren't doing Lewyn!Tine, Leif has a practical monopoly on Tornado, since ForsetiBoy doesn't need it. ...But Tine is Pursuit-less, and there's only one ring of that, which -if you're not egalitarian and willing to settle for a coin flip Adept proc for murdering- is probably going to Arthur. (EDIT: I completely skipped past you being egalitarian -but in Iucharba's favor.😅 No objection there, even if Tine complains.) Leif in this situation has a monopoly on Bolognese -but the weight likely kills any desire to actually use that, and that Leif could always find something better. Neato.🤓 Meanwhile Endless Space 2... is much more annoying with truces. If the enemy proposes one (some of the time, not all of it, I'm not sure why) and you don't have Influence (a currency akin to Culture + diplomatic/administrative capital) to refuse the truce, you'll be forced into it.😑 I'm reminded of an art history course I took on India. There are depictions of Shiva that give the glorious god a total of four heads. Some show three heads, but three implies a fourth. Also, a fourth head implies a fifth IIRC, which represents the qualities of the divine that are beyond mortal comprehension. The other heads have symbolism too, yet what exactly each head represents varies from source to source -but basically add all the heads together and what it amounts to is Shiva Is Everything. Is this all that relevant? Not really.🤓🙃 You took notice, but fell into the trap anyhow. -You're definitely not alone in that.😉 -But Julius INSISTED he be allowed to use the omniscient omnipresent invincible warp powers belonging to Cult-kun -corrected LEADING Cult-kun- conveys. The job is pretty boring otherwise. And Arion being a guy with holy pointy stick was enough of an excuse to tell Manfroy to buzz off.😛 (Alas, even as the Dark God Incarnate, Julius had to strike a bargain with his leading vicar, and in exchange for wrapnapping Arion, gave Manfroy total control over what to do about Julia. Not the wisest of compromises.😝)

They retroactively slipped this into Return to Dream Land Deluxe.😄

Just a name methinks, no ultra-caffeinated chocolate crunch dunked in energy drink. Though I've had them at least once before, not bad.🍪😋 They also do delivery -but probably not airmail.😛

The link failed? -Cookie chain in the US. Invented for late-night sweet-tooth cravings at college.

For a fraction of a second, I misread "Erin" as "Finn".🤣 Thracia does establish that Free and ...Districtorial(?) Cities exist. -But I haven't a clue how the political structure would function. Free Imperial Cities in the HRE meant "only has the Holy Roman Emperor as a landlord, nobody in-between", and I don't think there's any indication that Leonster's monarch occupies a similar role in the District? Maybe? It's never clearly stated if King/Queen of Leonster does, at least in matters of defense against foreign aggression. Thracia was modeled after Spain, while Leonster, in the north, was modeled after Italy. That’s why Leonster appears more highly-civilised and polished in comparison. -Kaga's remarks again. ...Sooooo is the Manster District supposed to be akin to Medieval/Renaissance Italy politically then? -With way less internal conflict I would imagine.

-I asked, because if Ninty has been keeping their own cards very close for a while, it could mean 🎆🎇🎊 nonstop during the inevitable June/Summer Direct.

https://www.gematsu.com/2024/04/nintendo-indie-world-showcase-set-for-april-17 ...When was the last time Nintendo did a normal direct featuring their own output? -Just asking.

My error then, my misinterpretation.😅 Sorry for wasting your time. I wasn’t attempting to defend Arion for his decision that dooms the lives of hundreds or thousands of Thracians. -Yet, I admit I try not to be one to harshly criticize fictional characters …though Gen 2 Lewyn is something of an exception (save for the part where loathing pixels is unpleasant, unneeded, and undesirable, so I’d rather not dislike him even if he’s dislikable).😆 Completely unserious explanation for anything stupid any flier character does.: Spending a bunch of time high in the sky where the air is thinner leads to slight oxygen deprivation, the effects of which on the brain and cognitive functions are subtle yet significant. -This explanation doesn't work at all, because there is simply no way pegasi and wyverns fly at such altitudes that oxygen masks/pressured cabins are necessary to stay alive and functionally conscious.😝

Don't get fat.😃 Isn't that what you sometimes want with scary things though? Wouldn't playing in the sunny daytime possibly ruin the immersion?🤔

True. Harder DS adaptations have been made (The World Ends With You, Etrian Odyssey). But Konami not being all big on video games nowadays except Momotaro Dentetsu selling like crazy in Japan, maybe even these little things are making them drag their feet on a Castlevania DS Collection. ...And then for some reason chats with Shu afterwards. A portable reboot that never got the needed sequels?😛 If it weren't for Pinball and Link Battler, the GBC would've been devoid of SRW, surprising.

Forgot to comment on this before, but I do find it weird that this is where Victory and G Gundams got their debuts.😆 Seems like an obvious thing for Konami to do. Although they do have to put in a tiny bit of additional effort to adjust for the lack of two screens, touch controls, and NDS WiFi. Still easier than a Boktai tetralogy.