Note: this review may contain spoilers to the series, so do not read if you don’t want to be spoiled
The 90s were an impressive time of sitcoms that folks liked watching, from 3rd Rock to Seinfeld to Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. However, things changed when The Simpsons came around and changed sitcoms as we know it. Though a new show was brainstormed as far back as 1988 by the late Jim Henson. It wasn’t until the 1990s when Micheal Jacobs and Brian Henson with the Walt Disney Company. This show aired on April 26th, 1991, through October 19th, 1994, and has been a part of ya boy’s nostalgia when he was a kid. That show was called Dinosaurs.
Summary of the show
Dinosaurs take place in a fictional depiction of the supercontinent Pangea, portrayed as a 90s America but with dinosaurs instead of people. The focus of the show is on the Sinclair Family, a family of dinosaurs living in Pangea. You have Earl, the dimwitted but lovable dad, Fran the housewife and mother, Robbie the intellectual rebel, Charline the materialistic middle child, Ethyl the mother-in-law, and of course the baby called Baby. You also have several side characters like Earl’s friend Roy Hess, Monica Devertibrae, and Earl’s boss B.P. Richfield. Throughout each episode, it themes around one or more of the Sinclair family, most of the time focusing around Earl, in this bizarre world of Pangea. Sometimes focusing on a significant problem that got them into a mess either leaves them learning a lesson or introducing a new concept to dinosaur society, such as refunds or freedom of speech.
Dino-Mite!: What makes it great!
There are plenty of good examples that make the show good; one prominent example that I like is the practical effects of the suit puppets. You can thank the Jim Henson Creature Workshop‘s work for the impressive detail (they used the same technology once seen in the TMNT movies). You also have voice talents like Stuart Pankin (Who’s the Boss?, Arachnophobia), Jessica Walter (Archer), Sally Struthers (Tailspin), and Kevin Clash (Sesame Street). Each of them lends their talent to the series. Even the guest voices are impressive such as Micheal Dorn (Star Trek: TNG), Dan Castanella (The Simpsons), and even Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) as well as Tim Curry. It shows that the people they brought on to voice the various talking dinosaurs weren’t just a list of nobodies. The second thing that makes the series great is that each episode focuses on topical issues of the 90s. Sure, many sitcoms concentrate on this, it would focus around a story, and that’s it. Each episode in Dinosaurs had a theme that focused on topical issues. Examples like Drug Abuse (A New Leaf, Steroids to Heaven), Sexual Harassment (What “Sexual” Harris Meant), Freedom of Speech and Censorship (Baby Talk, Charlene’s Flat World), and even down to things like racism (Nuts to War, Green Card) where you have a bit of issue between “two-legged dinosaurs” and “four-legged dinosaurs.” The episodes also have a bit of a moral lesson at the end of the story, so you at least get a good part afterward (even the characters learn that lesson as well.) Finally, the series has many catchy sayings, like Baby’s “Not the Mama” quip (even the song that the baby sings in Little Boy Boo). The show also has moments where they take jabs at television (especially ABC at the time) or shows and tropes found in other shows. You can say that it was meta for an early 90s show.
Not the mama! What the show lacks
Though the show was impressive and had plenty of good things, there are some problems the show has. One such is that though that some of the suits and puppets are reused as other characters. It’s not uncommon to see one puppet being the school science teacher in one scene than in a different episode. It reminds you that though impressive, it does have to cut corners around some of it. Another is that though the episodes do become good, some of the first season’s earlier episodes didn’t have much of any significant story to set up the characters. Some episodes like Little Boy Boois just a Halloween episode. The obvious The Clip Show and The Clip Show IIare clips from previous episodes just repeated (another trope, but that’ll be another story). Lastly, the finale of the show was BLEAK! The final episode Changing Nature, in which the whole episode involves environmentalism, climate change and leads up to the climax with the extinction of all life on the earth. Not in a “ha-ha” comedic death thing but more of a grim version of them, inevitably knowing they’ll all die. It can be a bit of a major downer for such a comedic series. Lastly, suppose you’re expecting a 90s show about it being scientifically accurate. In that case, you’re going to be disappointed. However, some inaccuracies are used in the messages, such as Cavemen being a stand-in for indigenous people and animal rights in some episodes(The Discovery, Charlene and her Amazing Humans) so that’s not a total loss.
Finale
Though the series does show its age, Dinosaurs is a series that I’m sure the late Jim Henson himself would be proud of if he was still around. If you want to watch the series, it’s currently on Disney+ for the time being, so it would be best to take a look. Oh, and before I leave, here’s some behind-the-scenes describing more about the show and some funny stuff here.
Note: The following review may contain spoilers to the game
Happy Thursday everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin
Ya boy’s been a fan of the tokusatsu genre and grew up on Power Rangers. Heck, ya boy even had a weird idea of writing a story that’s a mix between Mega Man X and Power Rangers series. However, a game I just played allows me to have that wish I wanted to do, but in an exciting twist.. A Tactical RPG was released in 2015 for PC, 2017 for the Xbox, Playstation 4, mobile markets, and 2019 for the Switch. Created by a Brazillian company called Behold and distributed by Bandai-Namco, Chroma Squad is a game that brings an exciting twist to the franchise that it takes inspiration from.
Brief Summary of the story
In Chroma Squad, you play the story of five former stunt actors of a company who decided to strike out on their own to create their very own show. They find a prop called “Cerebro,” With that, the group opens up their studio. Writing stories and scripts and ensuring their performance gets well while dealing with strange things going on. What happens to the show will determine by your choices, but there are some multiple endings….
Gameplay
Chroma Squad’s game is a Tactical Role-Playing Game, which means all fighting is done in group combat. Though you only have five people: Leader, Techie, Assault, Support, and Scout. Leaders serve as tanks, Techies use offensive skills, Assaults are bruisers, Scouts use status conditions, and Supports are your healers. Their stats are affected by the actors you put into said roles (so in more formidable difficulties, it’s crucial to pair each person and know their parts). Attacks and skills aren’t the only things they can do, as you got teamwork. This move allows your characters to provide an extra boost in movement, teaming up to attack enemies and unleash your Ranger team’s finishing move.
Think that all you gotta do is kill enemies and the monster of the week? Think again! Throughout each map has missions called “Director’s Instructions.” They are objectives that boost your audience when done. Examples like “Kill all enemy minions before attacking the boss” or “Kill the boss with a finishing move.” Completing these objectives help in filling your audience meter on the top of the screen. Audiences are your bread and butter as they provide you money and fans for special perks.
Though your squad doesn’t do the fighting, some episodes will have you fighting the boss monster in a giant robot (what Power Ranger team wouldn’t have a mecha to fight). Unlike the tactical fights, the mecha fights behave like timing combat by aiming for the green/white spot on the target bar (think Undertale’s target system.) Each successful hit will build up a combo that increases damage but makes accuracy harder. Should you miss, the enemy can strike you back and do some damage. Luckily, you can time defensive guards to protect yourself.
After each episode is done, the audience you built up is converted into money and fans. Both are important: Money is used for upgrading your studios, paying upkeep for your actors, and purchasing equipment. Fans are used as a way to give your future episodes a boost (such as gaining more audiences, higher conversion rate, or more money.)
Wait, there’s more you can do. Don’t want to spend much money? You can craft props for your heroes and mecha from items dropped from enemies or purchased from boxes..
Lastly, Chroma Squad has introduced a thing called the “Episode Editor.” This feature allows you to create some exciting episodes (some can be found on the steam workshop).
Gattai!: What the game shines in
Chroma Squad does well with the aspect of the game. The Combat is simple enough to pick up and understand without much complications. The story is pretty funny. The customization on colors for your ranger suits can have you break new stuff not seen. Such as making the pink ranger the leader instead of Red. The Episode Editor is something needed as it can make you create some episodes or parodies if you want to see them. Lastly, the game uses many references for enemies or monsters that make things funny such as fighting a Reverse mermaid or Barney the Dinosaur himself. The multiple endings do encourage replayability.
Croma-crap: what the game lacks
Though the game is fun, there are some problems with the game that can be a bit of a pain. First is the battles themselves, particularly the Director’s Instructions, which can be a bit strict and annoying, and missing them means missing valuable money and fans. Crafting, as an inexpensive part of gearing up your guys can be a pain. When you do make items, they gain random status. This can be annoying as you can get what I call the “Wizard Greatsword” problem (a weapon with contrarian stats). That and Recycling old items (you can’t sell things to shops) is a hit or miss as you can find yourself getting nothing as there are some chances of getting items back.
Lastly, though the Episode Editor is a great feature, it lacks anything that makes it suitable. One such is it forces you to use assets in the game, which means some enemies are reused. That and it can be a pain for those not so familiar with the design.
Fun Fact
Before we continue, a fun fact about the game. Behold studios ended up attracting the wrong kind of attention from Saban Brand (The company that owns Power Rangers). It led to an agreement between the two where Saban Brand gets royalty in it. It’s why below the title of Chroma Squad has “inspired by Saban’s Power Rangers.” It’s also referenced in the first part of the story where the first studio director tries to get in a legal dispute with you.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of sentai, TRPGs, Studio management, and various other factors that make you enjoy this game? I would recommend this game for you, even if it’s minimalistic. Though who said about creating a sentai show was easy? Who knows..maybe you could be the next Saban?
Gacha games…you either love them, or you hate them. They expect you to pay a ton of things and a lot use some original IPs such as Geshin Impact, Raid: Shadow Legends, or AFK Arena. Others use established IPs Such as Fire Emblem, Pokemon, and such. One such is a game that pops up that I’ve discovered. That game is called Digimon ReArise, a Digimon themed Gacha game with its own charm to this type of gaming. The game was released on May 15th, 2018, in Japan, then launched in the west on October 7th, 2019. The game is celebrating its 1st anniversary) and made by Bandai-Namco. Does this game stand up pretty well, or is it another one of the many games in the sea of gacha games? Here’s my review of Digimon ReArise
Story+Gameplay
Digimon ReArise takes place in “Japan’s Far future,” where the internet has become paramount. You play as a random person who finds themselves with a Digimon in their smartphone. The Digimon, named Pursuimon, later aids you by digivolving into Hessimon when you are under attack by digital creatures called Spirals. After this information, your adventure throughout the game begins with you as a Tamer alongside Hessimon as you find new friends and solve the Spirals’ mystery and their connection to the digital world.
The gameplay of ReArise is pretty straightforward as your objective is to defeat the enemies in front of you with your Digimon. Usually, your Digimon has two attacks: A Main attack and a Sub Attack. Usually, the Digimon’s primary attack is tied to one of their signature moves (some have some unique abilities like boosting or status enhancement). Sub Attacks are offensive supports that either boost, debuff, heal your allies (and removing status conditions), or inflicting status conditions on enemies. If you think Hessimon is doing this all by himself? No worries, you can create a party of up to five other Digimon to aid you in these quests. You can acquire Digimon through two means: Finding digieggs and hatching them; or obtaining them from the gacha mechanic. Usually, your first new Digimon will help you throughout the game. Still, sooner or later, you’ll be fighting stronger Digimon, and to do that, you’d need to make your Digimon stronger.
By upgrading your Digimon’s level, feeding your Digimon, and awakening your Digimon’s strength, you can make them stronger and “Digivolve” them to the next level. Most Digimon, depending on the acquisition, start out in the Rookie Stage (Egg hatched Digimon are in their In Training 1 then have to be grown to their next stage.) The stages (In order) In Training I, In Training II, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. Most Digimon will go as far as Ultimate, and some do have a Mega form (and a smaller handful have access to their most potent form like Burst Mode or an alternate mode.)
Luckily, even if you hit a brick wall, the game implements ways of farming parts efficiently. Such examples are Dimensional Rifts (a place to gather ingredients such as Bits, workout chips, and food.), Clash Battles pit your team against powerful Digimon to gain Digicores for digivolution; and the Underworld, where you go into a gauntlet of how far you can go and earn rewards. Through my playthrough of the game, I’ve managed to acquire a few Digimon, some like VenomMyotismon and MegaKabuterimon, being my favorites. In contrast, others were good but not much of a favorite in my eyes. The final thing I like is the PvP system known as the Battle Park. Though you don’t fight a live player, you do fight other player’s teams. What makes it fun is that the PvP system has a story involving how you and Hessimon are progressing through the ranks of the Battle Park (also, the rewards there are pretty good
Digidestined: Great parts of the game
One such great thing I like about ReArise is the various things you can do in the game that ensures you don’t get bored with just the story mode. While you do the story and learn of the lore and the series (not knocking on it, but I do like some of them), you can do other side things to gather more resources. Which makes it feel like an RPG and not like some city thing of “click x to gain this resource.” Another thing I really like about the series is that you can have access to any Digimon! Not just the protagonist ones but antagonist ones too (VenomMyotismon, Beelzemon, Lucemon.) So you’re not limited to just the good guy Digimon. The other play modes are fun (though I haven’t unlocked the aspect of Underworld, so I can’t comment on that) Though the rest like Clash Raids, Dimensional rifts, and Battle Park do provide some variable fun that doesn’t feel tacked on for no reason whatsoever. The game also has exciting events and banners that let you get unique Digimon (such as one that is themed from the 2020 reboot of Digimon Adventures).
Digi-dud: What the game lacks
Though the game is fun and decent, the game does fall into the trappings of using gacha mechanics to get the Digimon you want. Which can be a pain in the butt to do and leads to plenty of trouble if you’re adamant about doing it (or a big spender.) It doesn’t help that some Digimon forms can only be acquired through this (a bit rare outside the shop.) Another problem with the game is that though I could play with at least several Digimon (good or bad), not all the Digimon are in there. Some Digimon like Submarimon isn’t in the game. I do like some of the missing Digimon in there, like Mummymon or some of the Legendary Warriors. Finally, I’m not fond of that only a handful of Digimon seems to have mega forms. A pity as some Digimon just goes as far as ultimate (if there’s a way of making those that only go up to ultimate unlock their mega form, I’d be happy.) This makes it pretty tough and rare.
Digi-tips
I forgot to mention that in the game, every Digimon has up to five personalities: Brave, Calm, Deft, Devoted, and Tenacious. Brave and Calm are more offensive based (brave=physical while calm=magical). Deft personalities focus on mixed styles with conditions designed to mess with the enemy, Devoted are more healers, and Tenacity is tankers intended to focus on defensive means. It’s essential (especially in raid battles) that you have forces to build up specific personalities to deal with specific enemies. Having healers can help keep your party alive while having some supporters provide protection/buffs/inflict status. Also, some Digimon has passive abilities that help out others of their type. Also, I mentioned items called Plugins. Those items are equipped for your Digimon. Some are very specific (such as some that are designed to boost specific Digimon.) Do not forget that you can also upgrade them as they can improve your Digimon.
Conclusion
Though Digimon ReArise behaves like any run of the mill gacha game out there, it’s one that at least is fun on its own and doesn’t fall for any trappings that some of the worse ones have. It’s also something good to play if you’re a fan of the Digimon franchise. It’s nice to build a Digimon dream team and have some fun. If you like this game, now is the best time as some significant events are going on, such as the Halloween event and some other events. You can even get some strong Digimon during these events ( I was able to snag a WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon during the 1st year anniversary celebration)
Review written by TheChoujinVirus Note: The following review contains spoilers to to the anime. If you don’t want to be spoiled, do not read the review.
Happy Thursday, everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin here.
Netflix has been a good day for new shows to take a peek. I recalled during the start of this pandemic I watched and reviewed Cells at Work!, the anime that was infotainment. However, I heard of two animes that perked my interest that got me watching: Beastars and BNA. Beastars is a fun anime, as seen as an adult version of Zootopia. Still, we got something that everyone’s been talking about and is pretty recent. Created by Studio Trigger and released on Netflix Japan on March 21st of 2020, then worldwide two months later, BNA: Brand New Animal is a pretty exciting anime that became a talk of the town. Does this series have a good point? Let’s find out with my review of BNA.
Story
BNA takes place in a world where humans live alongside a group of humanoid animals called beastmen. Such hostilities between the two eventually led to the founding of a sanctuary city for the beastmen called Anima-City. Our main focus and protagonist, Michiru Kagemori, flees to Anima-City after she transforms into a tanuki beastmen. Once she makes it to Anima-City, she meets Shirou Ogami, a wolf beastkin and private investigator that works directly for the mayor of Anima-City, Barnaby Rose. She reveals that she was human and not beastkin, which confused Shirou and Mayor Rose as they wonder how a human can become a beastkin. Our tanuki girl has the unique power to alter parts of her body, Such as longer arms, using her tail as a protective cushion, and turning her arms into birdwings for flight. All while she sees the problems and plight going on in Anima-City. They are showing her that the Garden of Eden is not as glorious as its put due to hatred. Things start to change by the sixth episode when we are introduced to Michiru’s friend, Nazuna Hiwatashi. She was a close friend and schoolmate of Michiru, who transformed into a beastkin as well (a fox beastkin). Now under the name Déesse Louve, a guru of the Church of the Silver Wolf. Michiru is glad about seeing her old friend after all these years but is shocked to see her manipulating the beastmen (and Michiru herself.) While this is going on, a medical company is known as Sylvasta Pharmaceutics. Their president, Alan Sylvasta, shows interest in the two girls for their unique traits of transforming their bodies.
During one incident where Michiru and Shirou stop a rampaging beastkin, Shirou is revealed to be the real silver wolf, leading Baraby Rose to explain the story to Michiru. She reveals that Shirou’s real name is Ginrou and that he was the survivor of the mass genocide of 1,000 years ago in the village of Nirvasyl. His powers were given to him when he absorbed the blood of 2,000 wolfkin corpses slaughtered. Also, while attempting to rescue her friend Nazuna but learning she wasn’t in danger, Michiru learns directly from Alan that the condition that affected the two girls resulted from them getting beastkin blood during their recovery from an accident years ago. He also reveals more about the incident leading to Shirou’s village and what happened. It wasn’t wonton slaughter, but the result of beastmen in-fighting and slaughtering each other brought on when beastkin of different species are pushed together into one area. This disorder is called Nirvasyl Syndrome. What’s worse is that Alan is covertly using the research data from Michiru and Nazuna to create a solution to the Beastkin problem. However, it’s revealed by Shirou that his plan involves turning beastmen into humans through genetic alterations and that Alan is using the Church of the White Wolf and Nazuna. Michiru learns that Nazuna will reveal that she is human. She reassures Michiru that it’ll help calm the beastmen; however, it’s learned that it will end up enraging the beastmen further. Michiru was able to convince Nazuna (though a subtle concert that would claim to “Help the beastkin”) not reveal the truth about her. This works (but is thwarted when another beastkin ousts her).
The whole town goes into a frenzied spree, and even Shirou succumbs to the syndrome. Though when he bites into Michiru, he suddenly is calmed down. They discover that Michiru and Nazuna, being human turned Beastkin, have an antibody in their blood that can cure Nirvasyl Syndrome. Shirou, now cured, heads out to stop the rampaging beastkin. At the same time, Michiru and Nazuna try to stop Alan’s plan of using his machines to use the anti-beastmen formula. During the fight, Alan is revealed to be a beastman (a pureblood one) and declares that he was purging the “halfbreed beastmen.” To make things worse, he’s got the same regenerative powers that Shirou has as well. Two immortal beastmen fight while Michiru and her friends fight to stop and save the beastkin from extermination. Michiru finds where Alan and Shirou are fighting, and during the fight, Alan starts to show symptoms of Nirvasyl Syndrome. Shirou mocks him for saying that purebloods were immune to the disease. Though in a twist, instead of killing Alan, Shirou lets Alan bite him. Shirou explains that because he bit Michiru, he’s produced antibodies that allowed him to cure Nirvasyl Syndrome. Alan feels confused at why Shirou spared him after all he did to him and his kin. Before the fight, Michiru discovered that Shirou’s howl could calm down the beastkin and, with Shirou’s help, calmed the rampaging beastkin and thus prevented the beastmen extermination.
In the aftermath, the city was now remending. Rampaging beastmen are being treated of Nirvasyl Syndrome, the Church of the Silver Wolf is dismantled, Alain has gone into hiding after resigning the CEO position of Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals. Best of all, Michiru and Nazuna have returned their friendship and now enjoying their new lives in Anma-City, all friendships mended and everything fixed.
Howling Good: What made the anime great
BNA has some wonderful art style for its animation, which reminds me of FLCL or Gurren Lagan. This is no surprise as Trigger made Gurren Lagaan and Kill la Kill, which makes it a pretty good series and stylish. Another that makes the series great is the characters themselves. The supporting cast and the stars are likable in their ways. The protagonist Michiru is a likable character and isn’t falling into any open clichés that plague anime in general. Not only that, but her relation to Shirou is less romance and more of a mentor idea (something that again, doesn’t feel cliché’d) and keeps the focus on the world without plaguing the many problems some go through. The episodes are entertaining as they do have a mix of action and suspense that does their best to explain the world of BNA. Finally, the music, oh how that soundtrack is great! Going To and Night Running are songs one would say, “yup, that’s BNA.” The music does fit the setting of the whole series and doesn’t feel out of place.
Raging Beasts: What the series lacks.
Though the series is good and does its best to tell a story, some of the plotlines and story do feel a bit off. The first part, up until Episode 6, felt like random stories loosely collected. This makes the story feel lost until the arrival of the Church of the Silver Wolf. The sad part is the entire season only consists of 12 episodes, which makes the series pretty short and finishes up with already one villain. Sure, the story mentions crime within the Beastkin world (such as the Family). Still, it feels that it is pushed aside or the “anti-beastmen coalitions” mentioned in the story. Sadly, they’re all ignored and pushed aside. However, knowing the season, the whole thing maybe glanced in a future season if it is done. Lastly, though there are characters that are the main focus, such as Michiru or Shirou, there are some characters that feel a bit glanced or not much action. Some characters are only given one episode, and that’s it with maybe a few cameos sprinkled in. One character I’ve seen more was Marie the Mink (NOT A Weasel) and how she’s got more screen appearance than let’s say the don of the Family (a Beluga Whale Beastmen). Heck, I would also like to see more of the side characters and know more about them. For starters, we get a lot of backstory about Barbary Rose and how she and Shirou once traveled the world together, but we don’t know any of the backstories of Gem and Melissa Horner, the married couples who helped Michiru and Shirou with a home of their own? We don’t get to know their backstory? It can become a bit frustrating, but otherwise, it has its charm.
Conclusion
Though the series has its pratfalls; it has its great moments in the series. The story and world building the series has to offer something that makes it stand on its own. Studio Trigger knows how to make more anime. For those interested, BNA: Brand New Animal is on Netflix, so I suggest you take a look and see how you like this anime.
Note: I had to play the game via an emulator. I don’t endorse piracy, so support the creators and buy the original game. The game also contains spoilers to the game.
I recalled a while ago. As I did a review of the Monster Rancher anime, I discussed how with Pokemon, you had other monster collecting games. I also forgot about a game that themed about battling robots. For those wondering what I’m talking about, I’m talking about Medabots (or Medarots for those in Japan)
Medabots was a franchise that started on November 17th, 1997 (a year after the release of the Pokemon Franchise) and developed by Natsume (Creators of the Harvest Moon series). Sadly most of the games in the series were never released (save for games like Medabots AX, Medabots Infinity) and source material like the anime. However, there was one game that was released in the US. The game was titled Medabots (known in Japan as Medarots 2 CORE. Reason for this is the game is a GBA remake of the Japanese exclusive for the Game Boy Color Medarots 2 made in 1999). Also, the Medabot games do share the same path as Pokemon: Both have separate versions (Kabuto/Metabee and Kuwagata/Rokusho). For the sake of this review, I’ll be playing the Metabee version. So with that..in the great words of Mr. Referee
MEDABOTS! ROBATTLE!
Story+Gameplay
In Medabots, you play as the main protagonist (Ikki is the default name, yup the same one from the anime for those who don’t know) as you’re visiting the Medabot Corporation for another tour. The player character is hinted to be obsessed with Medabots and dreams of a day of owning one. One day, his mother tells him to go down to the Convenience store to pick up some dinner. He is suddenly and forcefully sold a Medabot by the store clerk (due to his bumbling of buying this medabot.) You get a Medabot (and a scolding from your mom due to this jerk of a store clerk). Though your dad helps you out as he gives you a medal given to him by the mysterious Phantom Renegade. With that, Ikki and his Medabot (Metabee/Rokusho) begin their journey as they battle other medafighters, rogue medabots, and of course, defeating the dreaded Rubberobo gang and their leader Dr. Meda-Evil.
Though I could explain the story further, we need to get to the core aspect of what the gameplay is—some games like Pokemon, where you take turns and attack. Medabots has an exciting aspect of your companion and combat. First off, unlike Pokemon, where you capture the critter, in Medabots, you build your companion with three components: Tinpet, Medaparts, and Medal. The Tinpet serves as your medabot’s skeleton (and determines your Medabot’s Sex). Medaparts give your Medabot the skills needed to either fight, inflict status conditions, and sometimes heal yourself and your partner medabots. The Medal is your Medabot’s brain, which provides better compatibility with certain medaparts. One example is the Kabuto medal of Metabee specializes in shooting, so using medaparts that use bullets and missiles with the Kabuto medal is much better. Otherwise, some medaparts would have a low success rate (e.g., Using a Monkey medal but using shooting medaparts). For the rules of combat, it’s pretty simple: The first Medabot to defeat the other (or the leading medabot) wins. Though unlike Pokemon, where you win money, the loser must submit one medapart to the winner. This is how you make your medabot stronger. This can also affect you, as you have to give up one medapart to the winner. If you don’t have enough medaparts to make at least one medabot, then it’s game over for you.
Now, the first thing you’re going to ask is, “but what about the battles? How do you fight?” Battles are a bit interesting as battles aren’t really turn-based but more like a game of dodgeball. At your Medabot’s starting area, you make them choose what to do, such as attacking which part, charging up the medaforce bar, using support moves, or just letting the fight go into auto. The Medabots will run toward the middle of the arena to attack the other one. Their speed is determined by the robot’s leg medaparts and weapon charge (how fast your medabot gets to the center). Once at the center, the medabot will either hit the target directly (if it’s a ranged attack) or if its melee will target the closet enemy (some attacks like Destroy parts will hit only medabots with their back turned). When the attack is launched, it’ll hit a specific part of the opposing medabot. Now, when the medabot is hit, it strikes a part of the Medabot, which depletes the Armor (the Medapart’s HP). When it hit 0, the part ceases function by exploding and exposing the tinpet underneath. That part cannot be used unless revived via healing medaparts. When the limbs are destroyed, the medabot’s offense is limited. If the legs are destroyed, then the Medabot’s speed and terrain advantage. However, if the head medapart is destroyed, the entire medabot is defeated (regardless of the other medaparts). So you should be trying to go for the head whenever you get the chance.
The Winner is Metabee! What makes the game shine?
The core thing I loved is the design and the concept of the medabots themselves. Each one has a specialty and theme. Like for example, Churlybear is a teddy bear themed Medabot that uses gravity for its weapon or Floro, which is a flower Medabot that shoots lasers quickly. Also, you can mix and match parts to make your own robot with the parts acquired. You want your Brass to have Mermaid legs? Go for it! You want your Totalizer to have tank treads? Why not?! Want to basically make your Medabot a mix of various parts? Sure, go right ahead! Another factor is that Medabots incorporates themes from the anime of the same name, such as the names and some of the medabots (Though not all of them make it in the GBA game.) Lastly, the combat of the game is a change of pace that doesn’t feel like it copies pokemon. Having a form of strategy by building your medabot with the parts acquired while trying to aim at specific parts while hoping the enemy doesn’t nail yours. So you could go with building a bot that looks badass or a bot that can fight and win more battles
Function Ceased! What it lacks?
One annoying factor I found as I played was that the medaparts, though good, have a bit of an annoyance once you get a female tinpet. Remember, as I said, the Tinpet determines the sex of your medabot. This becomes important as male medaparts are incompatible with female tinpets (and vice versa). Some medaparts don’t come off as masculine or feminine and have more of a unisex appeal (e.g., some multileg medaparts or vehicle legs). This creates frustration as you have to find female medaparts when that inevitable acquisition of your first female tinpet. The next basis I find annoying is the story between two versions and the differences. From what I found with this GameFAQ walkthrough (I had to use it to see variations as I had to use the review via Medabee) and found out the game is identical with only mild changes with what your starter Medabot, what medabots you fight and what medals you find. Other than that, the game suffers the problem Pokemon has (not much of any difference in the story save for the creatures found.) A pity as it would be nice to see a different story or protagonist rather than simply Ikki and his choice of Metabee/Rokusho fighting Koji’s Sumilidon/Warbandit. However, I feel that it’s just a nitpick over the basis.
Medabot Conclusion
Now, despite its flaws and such, the game does have some fun (I’m still playing it from time to time and wanting to see more of the story) I do find the battle fun and refreshing. For those wondering how you can buy the game? From what I found the Wii U has it on the Virtual Console, and the game is being re-released as part of the Medarots Classics Plus collection for the Switch (in Japan), but otherwise if you’re a fan of the anime or wanting something vastly different to try out, I would suggest you play the game and find out about it. It’s a fun game, and something you might enjoy if you want to play with robots (Unless you’re Elon Musk.)
Note: This review contains spoilers to the game, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, do not read the review.I have some chat connections with the creator of the game, T.F. Wright. However, the review is done out of my own honest opinion. In no way am I being influenced by the creator.
Happy Thursday everyone, It’s ya boy Choujin. When one thinks of the genre of Urban Fantasy, they automatically assume the typical groups: Twilight, Harry Potter, and the such. Some may think of things like Life is Strange if needed when it comes to the genre. Now your boy isn’t fond of the whole aspect of the genre (mostly thanks to Twilight), but I’m not afraid of trying it if it’s okay. Hence today’s review of a game that came out a week ago on the Steam store. The game’s called Wicked Willow, written and made by T.F. Wright (the same creator who made The Pirate’s Fate. I’ve also did a review of the game here if you’re curious of my review. Though unlike the last game, there are no furries in this story. So how is this visual novel? Well, let’s get started on my review of Wicked Willow.
Story Summary
In Wicked Willow, you play Willow, a 20-year-old college student and aspiring writer in a 1993 American city. One day, after chasing a strange black cat, she is attacked by a mass murder named The Axeman. She kills the guy by accident through her newly discovered powers. The cat she was chasing reveals he can talk and is named Shadow. He explains to Willow that she has a magical gift and that his job is to bring her to Tanya, the woman seeking out Willow. The old witch serves as Willow’s mentor throughout this whole crazy journey. And boy is it one crazy journey, from a bank robbery to loggers, to outright dealing with being Jumanji’d into a tabletop game and outright coping with the end of the world. Willow doesn’t go through this odd and bizarre adventure on her own as she runs into some colorful characters. Besides her mentor Tanya, the Serbian witch who knows a lot about our protagonist, you have the talking cat Willow, Willow’s closest friend Avery. You also have antagonists like Lydia, the very religious southern girl who looks like the poster child for the 700 Club and Xarsi, the succubus who seems to have a one-tracked mind. Now the game, for any visual novel, usually has paths and choices that affect what happens next in the story. Though beware, as Tanya explained that the use of magic has consequences, you could stop robbers by turning their bullets to flowers, saving someone but causing somebody else to suffer. Do you want to help the suffering person recover? Sure, you can save their life, but how much is to spare the life of a person? Maybe you shouldn’t use magic at all and try and solve it without magic? Whatever choice you make has a consequence for Willow, her friends, or even everyone around them. However, if they call you wicked due to the choices you make? Then so be it…
Wicked Wonders: What the game shines in
There’s plenty of positive choices in Wicked Willow, but I’ll try and name some preferences. One is the characters. Though the protagonist isn’t a tabula rasa like Mila from The Pirate’s Fate, Willow has her personality that makes her organic. In most games where you choose the outcome, it usually shapes the protagonist’s personality and world. Willow’s perspective and base personality don’t change to where she wants to punch someone, but she tries to fix mistakes. It’s not only limited to her; the supporting cast of the entire group is pretty great as well as each does have their quirks and strengths that make them stand out. It’s also done well by a great voice acting cast that brings the characters to life. Usually, it’s pretty rare to see voice acting in visual novels, but it’s pretty stellar. My personal favorite voice is the VA for Shadow the cat. I find it awesome how an older voice coming from a small cat can make a character interesting. I also like how every character you meet has a backstory that you can empathize with. (Some of them are pretty tragic.) For example, the villainous Xarsi is revealed to be once a nun who was devout but became a succubus out of desperation out of a frail old age. Another that was shocking was Lydia, who is a survivor of conversion therapy and that she was a closet lesbian. (It’s also revealed her Anti-Magic powers surfaced during these horrendous conditions.) In short, the villains in this story feels morally challenging (as it should be.) What I like also is the style and research. T.F. Wright did some homework on some of the stuff, as the story takes place not just during 1993 but also during a landmark moment known as Baehr vs. Miike, in which Hawaii legalized same-sex marriage. You see hints about Hawaii throughout the story (Blue Hawaiian, the flowers used to thwart the robbers.) It’s an exciting and subtle nod to this moment and something that fits the motif and several factors. Finally, what I like about this is how they portray the romances, regardless of whom you choose to romance. They feel organic and not hasty corny, especially for same-sex romance options. Usually, my experience with stories involving same-sex romances kind of feels cringy (like bad anime level of cringe.) However, I do like how T.F. Wright’s writes these romances. The Final praise I like is the checkpoint system. In most V.N.s, you have to save at major choices then come back to it. Wicked Willow fixes this by creating a checkpoint system that lets you go back and check a new path; thus, you don’t need to create multiple save states during choices. Pretty good if I do say so myself.
Magical Flops: What the game lacks.
Though Wicked Willow had plenty of perks that made the series great, there were some issues that kinda made me feel a bit like they were lacking. First, I’d have to say is that though the backstories for each character are great, they are locked behind the romance paths. I wouldn’t mind learning of Avery’s secret during the Lydia path (it would explain how he figured out about Lydia’s secret.) Also, some characters on some paths are outright ignored, leaving some moments wondering what happened to said character while on this path. Another that makes me feel a bit griped is the endings. One is that there are a bit fewer endings than the usual, but that can be viewed as a compromised with the voice acting, but what kinda makes me feel a bit odd is how that there isn’t any negative ending (save for the world ending and having to reset the timeline) and that the conclusions you seem to go through, somehow doesn’t feel grim. (not total grim dark like how The Pirate’s Fate and their endings are.) Though some might view the Groundhog’s Day time-loop, Willow goes through as a repetitive bad ending (though some of them do give hints on what to do next or clues for a golden ending.) That kind of hurts replayability once you figure out the endings and secrets that are in the game. This gets to my last moment that though the basis of the game is excellent, it feels a bit short and not many secrets or mysteries to answer.
Hawaiian Conclusion
Despite the shortcomings of Wicked Willow, I find the series very nice and detailed. As I stated before, I wasn’t a fan of the Urban Fantasy genre, but I found Wicked Willow to be an excellent take at the genre. The cast of characters, the voice acting and the quality of life make the game entertaining. It’s also great to see T.F. making more of these V.N.s and that his game got some excellent praises on Steam. Hopefully, he makes more games or V.N.s in the future.
World of Warcraft, the MMORPG that still going over twenty years since its release in 2004. It has it’s good strong moments and survived some cataclysmic issues. During BlizzCon 2019, they announced the latest expansion known as Shadowlands. So far, talks about this expansion has gotten people interested (and has gotten your boy back into WoW thanks to a friend.) So as I’m playing catch-up and getting myself geared, I’ve noticed there’s some content and things one can enjoy when not doing their weekly embassy missions or taking the fight to N’Zoth every week. So, here’s my Top 5 things to do in WoW before Shadowlands goes live.
#5. Try new class/race
World of Warcraft can let you create various races and class combos. From Orc Warriors to Pandaren Monks, you got a choice of what to make. However, some people, like myself, have one race or class preference. With the introduction of Allied races, perhaps its a time to try a new race or class? Sure it’s fun running around as the Orc Warrior or Pandaren Monk, but maybe try something different like perhaps a different race as a monk or just a whole new class? Like a Draenei Mage or even a Gnome Priest. You might find those classes just as enjoyable as the classes you prefer and you might and even sometimes find the new class you’ve rolled to be better than your last one. Heck, I’ve tried a few classes (though haven’t completed some of them yet) but I can attest that Hunter and Monk are pretty fun.
#4. Do older content
now i’m sure you’re puzzled at why I’m suggesting people to go to older content rather than the current content of Battle for Azeroth. Especially when the gear that drops in stuff like Burning Crusade is vastly inferior to the Visions of N’Zoth? What if I told you that some of that old loot can be useful cosmetically? What if I told you that some of the bosses have a chance of dropping a cute pet or better: a rare mount to show off? Best of all, most of the content doesn’t require needing a huge group and some can be done by yourself. So if you’re bored of smashing Queen Ashara in the face with your Epic axe or smashing arena greenhorns. Maybe go back to places like Outlands and grind reputation for that sweet Netherdrake you never got, going back to Icecrown and hope to claim that elusive undead horse, Invincible (or Ashes of Al’ar if you’re really devoted for it). Heck, get your Demon Hunter to Outlands and get those sweet Warglaives of Azzinoth. Go and make your character look badass. There’s plenty of unseen content for one to sate the itch until Shadowlands goes live.
#3. Sink your teeth into content you haven’t tried
Some people have either stuck to their favorite things. Some are Dungeon runners or raiders while others may be pet battlers or Arena kings. One thing that could be good is trying something that you might not have done. You can try to play some Battlegrounds or Arenas if you want some fun. Perhaps try some chances at pet battling, a Pokemon-like battle system where you use pets to fight (remember those little pets I told you one could get from older raids?) If you’re a pvp fighter, check what dungeon running and raiding can be. There’s untouched content to explore. Oh and if you’re doing PvP, do be careful about getting your teeth kicked in by tougher PvPers (that’ll be another time). But anyway, it’s good to see something new.
#2. Stock Up for Shadowlands
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering “stock up what?”
In World of Warcraft, you got things called professions (these are useful for crafting items like food, potions or engineering trinkets.) You may be busy power leveling items for Shadowlands that you may not have access to any of the better things until you get access to it. However, older things can work. For example, I’m an engineer. What I did before the expansion of Cataclysm was craft myself some Saronite Repair Bots (robots that served as mobile repair merchants) as well as preparing a mobile mailbox and cooked some stat increasing food as I would continue my trip through Cataclysm’s new zones. This can be helpful as you’ll need the probable resources to get through challenges. Oh and don’t just hoard up on just items, do make some gold too. Try and make some money before Shadowlands goes live, after all some items will cost gold and it would be expensive to maintain your equipment and probably training for some professions. Try to set a reasonable goal like 50k to 100k or even more if you want. But do remember to keep some sizable items in your inventory so when you’re questing in the Shadowlands, you won’t need to worry about not being prepared.
1. Try a Roleplaying Server
Playing World of Warcraft is a fun ordeal as you enjoy it, but what if I told you that you could take it to the next level? Enter the Roleplaying servers. What are they? Imagine the same thing as the usual servers in the game, but rather you can create a backstory for your created character. Not only that but you have some roleplaying events that can be fun (World PvP Fights for “territories”. Parties, even other stuff). It can be fun creating some characters (So long as you don’t go overboard with your character). But if you want your boy’s opinion, Roleplay servers can be fun though. However, a bit of some advice, if you are on a server called Moon Guard, stay the hell out of Goldshire..
With that, those are my top 5 things you can do while waiting for Shadowlands to come out. Though these are my ways to bide my time for this suspenseful wait. Otherwise, you’re free to do what you want to do if you play WoW. Oh and if you’re curious, I do hang out on WoW, if you want to know what servers I play on, don’t hesitate to ask.
With that, hope you guys enjoy the rest of your day and stay safe.
Note: this was made to be released on Thursday but due to delays it’s posted today
Happy Thursday, everyone, it’s ya boy, Choujin. Quarantine’s still happening, but ya boy’s doing well. One thing I’ve been doing is rewatching movies and tv shows, and some things I’ve seen that got me rekindling of remembering monsters from old movies. Also, May was supposed to be the release of Godzilla vs. Kong, but due to the epidemic, we can’t see it until later on. So instead of reviewing media, I’ve decided to top 7 monsters from monsters. Before we go with the rules, we got some rules for this list.1. Any species are allowed, but they can’t be human (so no Jason, Meyers, or Borg. However, if the monster was a transformed human, that’s an exception) 2. No genre is taboo (so anything fantasy or sci-fi can count) 3. Robots can count and applied to the same rules applied too (but, also the robot can’t be piloted) 4. One monster per franchise. 5. To make things fair, No monsters from Godzilla films or Kong films (it would be way too easily) 5. This is my list, so if you feel a monster I put in isn’t on the list, don’t get miffed. With that, let’s make our little list.
#7: Eborsisk (Willow)
Starting off this list is the monstrous twin-headed monstrosity known as the Eborsisk from 1988’s Willow. A creature transformed from a troll due to Willow’s lack of magical knowledge, this creature was born from its body and thus was something impressive. Done by Tippet’s Go Motion, the creature looked pretty organic for early special effects. Sadly the creature’s short debut in one moment in the movie sadly doesn’t make it memorable. However, it had one of THE most awesome deaths in which one of its head explodes. However, there are more monsters on the list…
#6: William Burkin (Resident Evil 2)
I’m sure a lot of you are wondering why I’m recommending Burkin? Well, it’s due to what happens throughout the game of Resident Evil 2. For those curious, Burkin infected himself with the G-Virus, a bioweapon created for Umbrella, in an attempt to prevent himself from dying. His creation now turning him into an infected monstrosity that slowly loses its humanity. Looking like a hulking monstrosity until eventually, he transforms into something resembling a fanged maw with various teeth and claws. Burkin’s form puts the horror in Resident Evil 2 and makes him a nightmarish creature that I admire the design for.
#5: Ramiel (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Not all monsters are beasts, some monsters can have some abstract bodies. In Neon Genesis Evangelion, we have Ramiel, one of the aforementioned kaiju known as “Angels.” Some angels take on the form of alien monstrosities or humanoids, but Ramiel’s one exception. When we are greeted by this Angel, it’s a literal floating blue diamond. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a giant diamond that shoots lasers. Sure it’s not impressive, but if you count the Rebuild series, Ramiel’s body can change shapes depending on its situation. It also makes the not so living thing actually feel like it’s a living thing regardless.
#4: Rahab (The Ocean Hunters)
Sea Monsters are a thing I like, and Sega’s 1998 arcade rail-shooter The Ocean Hunter is no exception to that. The final boss of the game, Rahab, is the source of all giant sea monsters that plague the world. He starts out as a strange giant frog-like creature called Dagon, then becoming bipedal as he becomes Poseidon. After dealing enough damage, he becomes the daemonic destructive creature Dagon. The design of this ferocious creature’s face gives a monstrous visage resembling a cyclopean skull and a body resembling a weedy sea dragon. His backstory makes him unique as he’s a monster born from the blackness of chaos and wanting vengeance of humans for destroying his home. It goes to show you that some monsters do have a reason to destroy than wanton annihilation. Heck, it can make them pretty human sometimes.
#3: Deathwing (Warcraft)
Now we’re getting to some personal favorites of mine. Out of most of the monsters in Warcraft, none are as impressive as Deathwing. Sure he was a hero unit in Warcraft 2, it was World of Warcraft: Cataclysm that led to him being the main focus. Once a noble Black Dragon named Neltharion the Earth-Warder, he became twisted by ancient eldritch horrors known as the Old Gods and driven mad to where he poses a grand threat to the world as he plans to unleash the Hour of Twilight. He starts out as a giant dragon only being held together with metal plates, and over time, he becomes a twisted pile of molten tentacles and flesh. Just as twisted as his monstrosities. Like Rahab, Deathwing does have a backstory that makes this monster a great villain. However, this is a list, not backstory lore.
#2: Cloverfield (Cloverfield)
When it comes to American Kaijus, besides King Kong, you have J.J. Abram’s Cloverfield monster. When the movie was in trailers, people never got a chance to see what this beast could be. Suddenly, when 2008 rolled out, we then got our view of the monster, and I gotta say, it’s an interesting beast. One, the creature’s sheer size makes it capable of knocking off the Statue of Liberty’s head. And if you think you can hide from the creature, this things got dog-sized mites that fall off the monster and can attack you. Oh, and did I mention that this beast is a baby monster? That’s right, this thing’s only a baby. Who knows how big this thing’s mom would be. Clover’s got potential for being a great American Kaiju.
#1:The Thing (The Thing)
All the monster listed had something unique that I liked, and some of them either had cunning, monstrosities, or just great designs or concepts. Now, what makes The Thing from the John Carpenter (and prequel) movie the top on the list is its nature: It’s basically a biological mimic. When the movie starts, it mimics a dog the group rescues from two Swedish researchers and reveals its monstrous form. Throughout the movie, the creature slowly picks off each person and later replaces them. Revealing itself when exposed and becoming twisted parts. What a terrifying monster: it can be anyone or anything, then ambush you. It’s an impressive feat that makes this creature my favorite monster of all time.
Thanks for reading my list and comment on what your favorite monsters from media are if you want.
Note: This review may contain spoilers to the game. If you do not want to be spoiled and want to be surprised, don’t read.
Heya, it’s ya boy, Choujin here.
I recalled my last media review, we talked about the Animal Crossing movie that I wanted to do a review of the newest animal Crossing game. For those who might not have been paying attention, the Nintendo Switch had one game released on March 20th. It’s a hugely anticipated game that people were waiting for a very long time. So enough with the banter and long-winded chat, and let’s get started with the review of Animal Crossing New Horizon.
Summary of the Series and Gameplay
Animal Crossing, in general, is basically a soft life simulator game where you move into a village of animals where you explore, collect furniture, do jobs, catching bugs and fish, digging up treasure, make friends with your virtual animal neighbors (or with other players or friends) as well as participate in holiday events. Though animal crossing is known for not its story, things changed in New Leaf, where you become the mayor of your town and can build items called Public Works Projects.
In Animal Crossing New Horizon (like all animal crossing games), you play as a villager. However, in this game, you are part of Nook Inc’s Deserted Island Package. You and two other villagers (in my playthrough I started out with Reneigh the horse and Poncho the Bear) are greeted by Tom Nook. You are then given the first task in setting up your tent (and helping out your first two people with their shelter) as then you’re tasked with gathering items and food to celebrate your first day on the island. You get to name your island at this moment, too (for me, I called my island Astera), and you’re on your way of island life.
Though throughout your game, as the first player (known as the Island Representative by Tom Nook), you are tasked to improve the island. Such tasks include having stores opened (both The Nooklings and Abel Sisters), getting the Museum, encouraging villagers to move into your town and planting plots for their houses, and finally building up your town’s rating in order to attract K.K. Slider to your town for a performance.
Though throughout your everyday life, the game encourages you with a cool feature called DIY (Do It Yourself), which at the beginning of the game lets you build furniture and, in some parts of the story, things like your first bridge and plots for new neighbors. Of course, it’s also used to craft yourself tools like shovels, bug nets, fishing rods, and slingshots. Best of all, the DIY system requires you to gather resources. Some resources are made from stuff like twigs, rocks, iron ore, wood, and even odd things like Easter eggs and peach petals.
Oh, and if you need more resources, your town’s airport, known as Dodo Airlines, will take you to other islands to gather resources. All it costs you is Nook Miles, a currency you get through doing daily activities like catching fish or talking to neighbors. Sometimes, you may get random events besides holidays. Some days you may get visited by C.J. the Beaver or Flick the Chameleon (both buy fish and bugs at higher prices as well as hosting tournaments), Saharah the camel who sells wallpaper and carpets for your house, and others like Kicks the Skunk or Label who sell you rare clothing. Animal Crossing doesn’t have any limitations save for what your mind can do and how far you can do with your island.
Island Paradise: What makes New Horizons great to me?
New Horizon brings several different things to the table than previous expansions. One such unique feature is the whole early part of the game. While the first Animal Crossing games had you move into a village and New Leaf lets you become the mayor of your town. New Horizon has a plot where you have Tom Nook setting up a deserted island into a thriving Island town or city. The satisfaction of watching your town start from just tents to houses and seeing it develop gives you a sense of pride.
Another thing I like is the DIY system. The ability to craft your own furniture does shopping for furniture a bit easier. Why waste money when you can make your own bed? Acquiring the recipes are also pretty fun too, as you can find them from your neighbors, the Nookling store, bottles that wash up, and even from balloons. Each is pretty unique and cute to boot. This makes decorating your house pretty fun.
Finally, what makes the game good is from what is described as they incorporated the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. This means that summer happens during Christmas if you register your island as being Southern Hemisphere. Something that I never thought would be implemented in Animal Crossing. One factor is that they also incorporate the Welcome Amiibo feature from New Leaf. Later in the game, once you have built the campsite, you can recruit villagers through the use of old AC Amiibo cards. This can make getting favorite villagers much, much easier. Though as the game has some feats I like, there are some parts I felt are lacking.
Island Issues: what the game needs improvement.
One glaring issue I find annoying is tool durability. As I mentioned before, the DIY system lets you build tools, and sadly the tools break over time. Flimsy items break the quickest while the iron (and unfortunately gold) break the slowest. This can become a pain in the butt if you’re trying to use them and suddenly having them shatter after a few uses. You either have to make multiple items in case one break (which means that it takes up space). Another issue I felt was the story takes a pretty slow pace. As much as I know, Animal Crossing is more of a journey than a destination, it can become a bit of a slog when the game takes its fat time. I felt annoyed when Blathers arrived, and I had to wait the next day just to get the Museum, and one factor was when I had 3 neighbors move in, I had to wait 3 full days just for all three of them to move in (they moved in one at a time) so it felt inconvenienced for my goal to play the waiting game.
Especially when you learn that it takes one month (without changing your switch’s internal clock) for the Nookling shop to open. One issue I may have is the neighbors. Sure, they greatly improved on the neighbors’ design and have them do some interesting things like having them sing and having sheep villagers finally wear shirts instead of scarves, but the problem is their personalities. Though each character is an individual, they still have the same default personality categories (e.g., snooty, grumpy, lazy, etc.), which means that some villagers (example Ketchup and Flora) will share the same mannerisms and words despite being different. It can be frustrating to notice that, and it doesn’t help that some of the Amiibo Villagers aren’t in the game (these were exclusive villagers that came from non-AC amiibos such as Epona from Zelda amiibos and Felyne from the Monster Hunter Stories Amiibos.) It feels a bit annoying I can’t have those characters as I had good memories of them from New Leaf.
Lastly, though, the game’s big feat is the multiplayer, as you can have up to eight players. The problem is that whenever someone arrives or leaves, everything is paused, and you have to go through a bit of a cutscene. Not a problem if you got one or two people visiting, but when you got more..it can be SOOOO annoying when hosting things as simple as Turnip trading or just get-togethers. I’m sure you’re going to ask me, “But Choujin, what about the One Island per switch thing.” I didn’t put that on the list as I don’t need another island, and one island is enough for me to enjoy. However, I do feel for those who share the same game and the same house with family but are fearful of being locked out.
Should you go across the New Horizon?
In short, the game is a pretty fun game to play and something you can pick up for a few hours a day to check up on your villagers and build your island to the ground up with only your imagination. Would I suggest New Horizon for anyone? If you’re an Animal Crossing fan, yes! If this is your first foray into the Animal Crossing franchise, I’d go for it too and start off. It’s a perfect game for anybody who is following shelter in place orders and beyond that. What makes it also enjoyable is that there’s going to be future DLC and events that’ll make the game last longer for those who bought it on release day.
Note: this review may contain spoilers to the movie. Also, though I do link a fandub of the movie, I do strongly suggest ya support the franchise through buying their games. Pirates may be free, but creators and devs need that cash.
Happy Thursday, everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin here. A few weeks ago, ya boy here got his copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and has been playing it for a pretty long while (especially with the Stay at Home order). However, we’re not going to be talking about the game..yet. That’ll be for another time, for now, I got a question for you. Did you know that Animal Crossing had a movie released in 2006? Betcha you didn’t see that coming? Yes, it’s true the franchise had its first movie, made by Nintendo, OLM Inc, VAP, and distributed by Toho on December 6th, 2006. Animal Crossing the Movie (or by its movie title Dobutsu No Mori) is something not many people expected. So how is the movie? Well, let’s dive into this movie together. Lucky for us, I’ve watched a fandub version made by SillhouettedProductions, who put his heart and soul into this.
Our movie starts out inside of a Taxicab driven by Kappin’ as we’re introduced to our protagonist named Ai. She’s moving to the town of Animal Village and is all excited to live on her own. At Town Hall, she is introduced to Pelly and Mayor Tortmire (who is so worried about his upcoming election), Pelly informs Ai to meet Tom Nook, the shopkeep (and her landlord). Upon arriving at Nook’s Cranny, Tom Nook already puts her to work as “The quickest way to getting used to your life in Animal Village is working.”. Nook’s advice pays off as she meets Rosie, a blue cat, and Alfonzo, a sandy brown alligator who follows a ninja. She also meets Whitney, a snowy white wolf who seems calm but with a sharp tongue. She then stops by the Abel Sisters, and this is where we meet Ai’s BFF, Margie. She’s got a dream of wanting to be a fashion designer. Ai finishes her job and heads home, only to run into the ninja boy again. This time, he introduces himself as Yu, the neighboring boy from the other village who visits Animal Village to play with Alfonzo. Throughout the few days, she helps Tom Nook and starts to shape her house out nicely.
Though one day, she’s about to do a delivery for Apollo, an eagle villager. Yu comes out of nowhere and knocks her into the blue rose garden. This suddenly brings the attention of Mr. Resetti, the “Enforcer of Justice,” who enforces the rules in Animal Village. He takes it easy on Ai as they deduced that she didn’t do it on purpose. Ai wants to apologize to him, so Resetti points her to a place called the Roost. Ai heads there, only to get lost in the Animal Village Museum. Her screams attract the attention of the owl Blathers and his sister Celeste, who calm her down. Blathers starts blabbing about the fossils, to which Ai explains she was here to look for the Roost, to which Celeste points to her the way. Though she spots an empty Diplodocus display. Blathers explains that he hopes to one day find and display the fossil (all while blathering about the Diplodocus). Ai enters the Roost and accidentally mistakes Cesar(a Gorilla) and Cyrano (anteater) for Apollo. It was until the real Apollo (an eagle) walks into the Roost and calmly laments at someone destroying his rose garden. Ai delivers her package and admits that she was the one who did it. Apollo simply leaves, leaving Ai worried if Apollo hates her now.
While delivering supplies, she meets Margie again (who helps her) while the two discuss, Margie, makes a comment about she dreams of wanting people to wear her original inspired clothing designs, comparing it to her “cherry pie.” One night, after writing a letter to her mother, Ai spots a note in a bottle on the beach. Ai opens and reads the note, telling her that “Above the Pine forest, On the Eve of the Winter Festival, a miracle will occur.” Ai is so puzzled about it until she sees a strange object streaking across the sky.
We’re given a time skip to the Summer, everyone is enjoying their fun under the sun as Ai, Margie and Rosie watch Whitney walking down the beach. Rosie mentions that Whitney and Apollo were rumored to be dating a long time ago. Margie chastises her for spreading rumors while mentioning that Mabel would help find a store that would sell one of her best designs, though she feels she’s not that good. Ai reassures Margie that she needs to keep at it, and sooner or later, she’ll be enjoying her Cherry Pie in no time. A few minutes later, we see Yu and Alfonzo digging holes in the hunt for fossils. Leaving tons of holes and angering Mr. Resetti in the process. The two managed to evade Mr. Resetti’s tongue lashing. Ai finds another letter on the beach telling her to plant pine trees marked on a map. The next day, everyone is having a nice day as Pelly tells Ai and the girls that the town’s preparing for the fireworks festival and that K.K. Slider will be arriving. The trio spots Yu and Alfonzo digging for fossils, and they successfully fond an ammonite fossil. Rosie replied that she found a ton of those fossils in a cave. Yu, so eager to find the fossils, drags the girls along the journey (to the three’s annoyance). While their makeshift pirate ship nearly got battered, they found the cave and the ammonite fossils inside.
Yu and Alfonzo cheered at their bounty until Ai notices that the cave also has the fossilized remnants of a Diplodocus. Yu suddenly sees this and tries to get to the fossil, only for the group to escape a near cave in. Ai and Rosie hold a now distraught Yu from running back into the cave for the fossils with Margie telling Yu to listen to them. After that adventure, the town is now prepped for the Fireworks Festival. Rosie is nervous that K.K. Slider hasn’t shown up yet while Ai notices Margie drawing a new design inspired by their fossil fun. K.K. Slider shows up, and as he asks the crowd for a request, Margie asks for him to play K.K. Bossa (a song from the A.C. game). While he sings, Ai has memories of what Margie told her. Once K.K. Finishes singing, everyone enjoys the festivities. Yu and Alfonso buy a “very rare” (though revealed not) Golden Slingshot from the shyster Crazy Redd. Ai, talking with Rosie and Margie, states she wants her own cherry pie (oh and Tortimire has a firework off his face while feeling reassured that his election is secured).After the festival, Ai writes to her mom and explains that she felt a bit jealous that Margie has a dream she can chase. She finishes writing her note as she reads the four letters she got, all related to the winter festival and miracle. She goes back to writing her letter, telling her mom that she doesn’t know what her cherry pie will be, but she can smell it in the oven.
. We’re given another time skip, this time in the cold autumn. Ai is seen running, as we’re given a brief flashback. Rosie asked Ai why she wasn’t at Margie’s going away party, to which Ai had no clue she was leaving. Rosie explained that Margie moved away in order to pursue her dream of being a fashion designer. A distraught Ai cannot find Margie anywhere and is left distraught. Meanwhile, Yu and Alfonzo plan a pitfall prank on the town, trapping Cyrano and Cesar. However, their traps fail on Champ, the athletic monkey. Ai falls into one of these traps but is so saddened that she doesn’t seem to respond or anything. She heads to the Roost Café as it starts to rain, asking Brewster for a cup of coffee. Whitney notices Ai, then the song K.K. Bossa plays on the speakers. Ai gets a memory of her best friend as she starts to cry when Brewster asks if Margie is listening to this song. Whitney angrily argues that Ai shouldn’t cry that her friend moved and that a proper lady should be happy that her friend moved on. Ai states she wasn’t upset about her dream but was upset that Margie didn’t tell her she was moving. Whitney laughed and explains to our protagonist, telling them that she needed to believe in herself and that Margie and Ai’s friendship was already set and not shattered. Ai leaves the Roost with Whitney’s advice, all while Whitney talks to Brewster about how the bond between women are strong as they can be separated but their friendship will last, but a bond between a man and a woman is different as even when it’s a short time, it won’t be mended so easily.
Ai, feeling better, returns home and notices a famished walrus named Wendell. She invites him to his house so he can eat some food. Wendell discussed that when he gets hungry, he gets depressed, and thus when he’s depressed, he gets hungry. Ai then gets a letter from Pete, the pelican mailman, and is ecstatic that it’s from Margie. Wendell left while she got the letter, so Ai reads the letter. Margie wrote that she is sorry that she never told Ai as she didn’t want her to be upset. She leaves Ai a picture of herself with a note telling her its time to eat her Cherry Pie. Rosie arrives to check up on Ai, and she reads Margie’s letter all while a meteor shower is happening. Ai feels better and happy that Margie is happy with her dream, and that she’s got confidence. Our next time skip puts Animal Village in the powdery white winter. Everyone’s getting ready for the Winter Festival and preparing for the contest as Ai heads to the museum to study with Celeste. Resetti is puzzled over all these pine trees that showed up, while everyone is doing their best. Yu and Alfonso now hopping about in bunny outfits. Ai, while on her way to the museum, wonders if the miracle will happen as the winter festival lights turn on. Once at the museum, Celeste and Ai discuss the possibility of UFOs and which Ai wondered if the notes she found were a prank. Celeste reassures Ai that the thought of UFOs is becoming popular, which makes her excited.
Ai looks through a telescope and notices a UFO plummeting down and into Animal Village. Everyone in the village heads toward the crash site, all scared to get close to the UFO. Ai suggests they help it, while Yu and Alfonzo warn she might get zapped or chipped. The UFO opens up, and we are greeted by Gulliver, the pilot of the UFO. He explains that he needs his five spaceship parts in order to get back home. Everyone heads out to find the missing parts as Champ states he saw apart. Yu states he saw another part as well, so Ai follows behind him as their chase takes them back to the cave that caved in. Just as it was futile to moving the large boulder, the group is reunited with Margie, who is visiting the town on holiday. The rest enter the cave as they find the UFO part resting on top of the Diplodocus skeleton. Yu climbs the fossil (easier as winter hardened the rock) and is able to get the spaceship part though falls and is rescued by his friends (Rosie humorously leaves Alfonzo holding the bag as Yu falls on him). Yu is alright, though is disguise is knocked off as he compliments her for catching the spaceship part.
They return back to Gulliver with their part, and it’s revealed that Champ found the same one as well. It’s then revealed the part Ai found is an actual alien. Gulliver wondered if the object he bumped into was this creature. Ai helps the little guy get back to which the alien is healed and thanks Ai. Ai thanks Yu for his help as the UFOs ldepart, Whitney wonders if the aliens have their own village. The UFOs thank Ai by creating a constellation for her, everyone is at awe. Afterward, Ai meets Apollo, and he explains that he wasn’t mad over it while glad that the miracle happened. Ai wins the competition for her constellation, and Tortimer wins the election by voting for himself. Gulliver leaves and thanks to the villagers, all while wondering why he left. As Gulliver left, he lamented his plan in creating a large landing pad was for bust as it attracted real aliens.
Ai writes to her mom about how she feels she’s an honorary member of Animal Village… During the Credits, we get to see what happens after the Winter Festival. Tom Nook opens up his new shop Nook N’ Go, Blathers with the help of Mr. Resetti is able to secure the Diplodocus skeleton and now displays it in the town museum, Rosie is ecstatic over a new outfit as Ai and Apollo now are good friends. Whitney finds a bouquet of blue roses and Margie is inspired from what happened at the Winter Festival and Ai is happy, wondering what life will bring her. With that, our movie is officially over
What made the movie shine
The anime has a pretty cute slice of life basis, a good change of pace if you want an anime that’s got some heartwarming stuff that isn’t something made by Disney (not knocking on them). The main characters that are shown have some personality that gives them something unique than their video game counterparts. For example, Margie’s character mentions her dream of being a fashion designer or how Tortimire obsesses over his mayoral election. For an animated movie, it went out of their way for their characters. Another thing that’s likable is the music, which is actually redone for the movie, especially with K.K. Bossa (which actually has lyrics for something that in-game is just musical furniture for your virtual house). Lastly, this is just a nod to the fandubbers, but they did a pretty good job with the work and doing their best to capture the personality of the characters from the game. Also, the series is based on Wild World, the D.S. Animal Crossing game. Most game-based things would try and be more original, but making a nod of a game that was released not too long ago
What the movie pitfalls in
Though the movie itself is awesome, it does have some issues. One such is the main focus on just a few characters, Ai, Yu, Alfonso, Rosie, and Margie. There was something interesting about characters like Whitney, Cyrano, Cesar, and Apollo. They didn’t get much screentime, heck Hopper, the penguin in the movie who existed as a gag for fishing, seemed to have more screentime than most of the cast. Some are just passing by or just a one-time view that’s a “blink, and you’ll miss it” for characters like Dr. Shrunk or even Katie. Lastly, the fandub may have been a great attempt, but there are moments the audio buzzes, and some parts may not feel as professional, but it’s good.
Conclusion
In short, the anime (including the fandub) is a nice adaptation of the Animal Crossing series. It’s a shame the series was never released to the U.S., nor was any plans of a sequel being made in the future. If you’re a fan of Animal Crossing, I would suggest you watch this movie either from the Veoh links here or somewhere easier. Other than that, I enjoy this movie.
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