Wherein I discuss: My mundane thoughts on the most popular genre of autumn. An absolutely awful acquisition. The eternal mixing up of re;makers and re;masters. The fifth Super Mario movie. CDPR Expansion. A game that thinks it should be more invasive than a game. One Last Scarlet and Violet splurge sesh. And the surprise Steam release of Chaos;Head Noah.
I Ain’t Never Scared
(Natalie Hates on Horror, Like a KILLAH FREAK)
It’s October, which is historically the time where people chat about how much they love horror as a genre. Where they highlight various forms of media that either show off the finer points of the genre, or have some otherwise interesting aspect. As such, I feel obligated to share my thoughts on the genre, but I sadly don’t really have any strong feelings about it.
A lot of people fall in love with horror as a teenager, but when I was a teenager, horror was in a bit of a downturn. In video games, you had executives saying that survival horror as a genre was over. Landmark series like Resident Evil and Silent Hill were drifting into a more action-oriented direction. And the influx of horror let’s plays in the early 2010s did not really appeal to me.
When horror was in a resurgence, it was propped up by titles like Amnesia, Slender, and Five Nights At Freddy’s. Games that, regardless of their quality, were tainted by the screams of adult man-children who were overreacting to scary things for engagement and profit.
This did not create an environment to endear me to horror, and even if it was, I was kind of predisposed to dislike it.
I mentioned this before, but when I was a little kid, my mother was weirdly comfortable showing me horror films. I saw snippets of Alien 3 when I was 3 or 4. I watched Halloween (1978) when I was 6. And I remember watching both of the American Ring or Ringu films on DVD. They scared the heck out of me back then… because why would you show a little kid stuff like that?
Horror scared me, then it disinterested me, and now… now I just find it hard to engage with. Unlike most other genres, horror necessitates a certain level of immersion to be effective. And I don’t really get ‘immersed’ in things. When I am interacting with a piece of media, I am constantly aware of my surroundings. Of the time, my location, and the fact that I am engaging with someone’s creation. This mindset is not conducive to feeling a sense of ‘horror’ and while I might be startled by an audio or visual element, that is not particularly hard to accomplish. I still get startled by the way my mother knocks on my door.
As such, when I engage with a work of horror, I more often view it as less of a work of ‘horror’ and more akin to a ‘thriller’ or a ‘suspense’ story. This was the case with Higurashi, Corpse Party, Outlast, and especially Saya no Uta. Saya no Uta is too cool to be horror!
And while I called Misao and Mad Father horror games, I do not really see them that way nowadays. Instead, I view them more as ‘showcases of cool concepts.’ …Maybe it’s because I mostly remember the death sequences.
Part of the reason I feel the need to ruminate on this concept is because I consider horror to be one of the few things that ‘everybody likes.’ Horror fans like to assert that horror is niche and not popular, that people dislike being scared, when… that always sounded wrong to me.
Among children, horror is seen as something used to mark one’s maturity and they have a tendency to develop an almost cult-like following among horror icons. It’s why Creepy Pasta is a thing. Some of the most iconic characters within the past 50-ish years are horror characters. Horror as a form of urban legend is pervasive across cultures throughout the world. Hell, just about every nation in the world has its own horror stories to tell.
Horror is something that, from my perspective, is widely prolific and deeply popular. So I don’t quite get why some people like to claim it is niche. Now, it might not be the most lucrative, but that is not quite a mark of something’s popularity and… Wait, the mere presence of Halloween means that horror is not niche. Because it is the biggest holiday that is not a nationally recognized holiday in North America.
In conclusion, Horror is not really my jam. There are definitely elements often associated with the genre that I enjoy. Such as monsters, gore, generally gross imagery, the works. I like body horror, especially when it involves a transformation. And I know I have some horror elements or light pastiches throughout my writing. As a whole though… horror is something I respect, but do not seek out.
I Hate Fandom More Than Fandom
(Fandom Acquires A Disgusting Amount of Gaming Media Sites)
Starting off, we have a doozy, as this is one of the point-blank worst acquisitions in recent memory. Because it involves Fandom. Fandom is responsible for doing irreparable damage to the passionate labor of innumerous fan communities. Their monopolization of fan wikis, uniform formatting, aggressive advertisements, and corporatization of fan projects is just… disgusting to me.
I remember a day when fan sites were unique, rich with personality, and these places full of fun trivia to find and explore. But then Fandom came along, ripped apart these sites, filled them with ads, and transformed them from Wikipedias into… synergized content delivery platforms.
As such, you can imagine my dismay upon hearing that they made an utterly massive acquisition. Fandom is now the owner of GameSpot, Metacritic, TV Guide, Fanatical, Screen Junkies, GameFAQs, Giant Bomb, Cord Cutters News, and Comic Vine.
Meaning they own one of the longest-running gaming news sites. The biggest review aggregate site in gaming. A discount PC game storefront that I have used 5 times in the past 5 years. A site that was home to decades of gaming discussion and written walkthroughs that people spent hundreds of an untold number of hours writing and compiling. And one of the most beloved sites by the gaming community at large (at least before a lot of the biggest personalities left).
Now, I think it was wrong that these sites were previously owned by a single company, Red Ventures, before this acquisition. But if there is one company I do not trust with maintaining anything, it is Fandom. I don’t even want to think about how much they have benefitted from volunteer labor. How many old wikis were slaughtered in an attempt to make things ‘uniform.’ Or what they will do to GameFAQs or Metacritic to make things more ‘profitable.’
You might think I am being harsh with this reaction, but this was not a fire sale. Fandom bought these companies for $55 million for a reason, and just thinking of the type of synergy they will try to pull… Makes me a little ill. Because they will carry your cookies across sites, try to shovel you to similar properties based on metadata, and sell things to you, and direct you to their news sites. All to keep you in the ecosystem they transformed into a tool for profiting off of passion.
…And they said that Web3 would be all about decentralization…
The Re;Master Cycle Has No Horizon
(Sony is planning on remastering 2017’s Horizon I: Zero Dawn)
Next up, we have a leaked internal document from Sony that revealed… nothing special to be honest. It was just a screenshot of an Excel document that someone posted on 4chan. One that revealed several upcoming projects from the publisher, and looks pretty shoddy in my opinion. However, the big takeaway from this image was that 2017’s Horizon I: Zero Dawn is being remastered for PS5. A notion that strikes me as perplexing, considering Horizon was one of the premiere titles for the PS4 Pro, and it still looks mighty nice to this day.
However, the main takeaway from this story was how people read this leaked image, one that refers to the game as “Horizon PS5 Remaster” and concluded that this game is actually a remake. Why did this happen? Well, for two reasons. One, the idea of remaking a 5-year-old game is seen as absurd— because it is— and two, games media, both PR and sites, are terrible at distinguishing between a remake and a remaster.
I have probably talked about this before, but screw it, let’s re-do my argument!
Remaster: A title built off of the original on a technical level. They do not involve recreating the entire game, as they rely on the original assets and code. This includes basically every game to contain the word ‘remaster’ in its title in some way, shape, or form.
Remake: A title based off of the original and rebuilt on a technical level. They involve creating the entire game anew with new assets and code. However, the execution can run a spectrum. Some remakes, such as the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, aim to be near-exact recreations of the original. While others, such as… every Resident Evil remake, follows the same outline of the original, but aims to be something objectively different by reimagining fundamental aspects of the game.
I will not lie and say there is not a spectrum or weird edge cases. However, the… synonymization (to turn two or more terms into synonyms) of these terms is irksome. Words mean things, and I hate how people get the meaning wrong!
I think what really just pooped into this well of discourse was the release of The Last of Us: Part 1. A game that, by virtue of recycling animations, models, geometry, voice acting, and technology of the original, is a remaster. Yet it was first reported as a remake, and repeatedly referred to as such. That is like calling the 4K remaster of the 1986 theatrical Super Mario anime a ‘remake’. Because it looks different than it did in 1986!
Illuminated and Predictable
(After 10,000 Years, The Super Mario Bros. Movie Has Been Revealed)
…I swear that segue was unintentional. I just naturally thought of that comparison the day before the Illumination Super Mario theatrical film was formally revealed. This is something that Nintendorks have been dreading for at least two years at this point and it is about what I would have expected, I suppose.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an isekai adventure story that follows Mario and Luigi as they are warped into the Mushroom Kingdom, where they must, inevitably, defeat Bowser in some dynamic conclusion. Or in other words, basically what the first two Mario movies were about.
…Wait, no. The first and fourth ones were about that, but the two Nintendo-owned Super Hornio Brothers porno parodies could be considered the second and third films.
Beyond the superficial elements, I have to say that I am a bit surprised by the visual look of this film, being a lot more detailed and ‘deliberately lit’ than what I associate Illumination with. It is clearly veering into the idea that this is a cinematic motion picture and aims for a look different from the games with its texturing and general world design. It is different, but nothing is dramatically off-model. Which is surprising, as I expected something that looked comparable to Mario + Rabbids.
Anyway, it is a thing, it is coming out on April 7th (which is an odd release spot, as it is before summer but after spring break), and looks like it could be quite alright.
That being said, I cannot say I really care about this film. While I like Mario a fair bit and two of my top twenty games are Mario games, I do not have the same reverence for the series as others do. And while the ‘movie element’ is enticing to some… I have not watched a mainstream American film since… I watched the 2014 Hercules and The Legend of Hercules as part of my Mythology class in 2014.
Movies simply do not interest me, and if I am going to watch something, I would probably enjoy a video essay more. Because that is what I grew up on. Proto-video-essays and reviews about things I have never heard of. If I watch a movie… I feel like I need to write a review of it or something.
Corporations Come and Go, But Creations are Forever
(Disco Elysium Leads Leave ZA/UM)
As time goes on, I believe it will become easier for me to disengage with gaming, as there are so many ‘essential’ games that I have never touched or given more than a glance. And one of those titles is Disco Elysium. A highly lauded and narratively rich CRPG with an emphasis on dialogue and character skill customization. Basically, a dream game for a certain subset of players.
Why have I never looked into it? Because I do not like its art style, and its protagonist is a burnout cop with a fuck-ugly face. I am under the impression that I could not truly shift the protagonist into the type of character I would enjoy— someone righteously indignant— Plus, I cannot say I particularly care about a role-playing game when I cannot play a role I enjoy. Besides, why play a role in someone else’s story when I can make up my own darn story?
Anyway, excuses for not being culturally relevant aside, it was recently revealed that many key developers from Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM have left the studio. Now, the details are murky as far as I can tell, but the core takeaway is that there was some sort of ‘disagreement’ between lead developers and the managers/investors of ZA/UM. This led some developers to leave, as they thought the studio was no longer living up to its original ethos, leaving behind 50-60 people still developing the Disco Elysium sequel.
I am bringing this up less for speculative purposes and more for historical purposes. Because I have a feeling this will lead to something… noteworthy when the current projects by ZA/UM come out. That, and this is a stern reminder that studios, no matter their size, no matter their pedigree, are these fickle collections of people. While the name of a company might remain the same for years upon years, people always come and go.
The CD SuperStar Projekt!
(CD Projekt Red Outlines Plans for Many Future Projects)
Moving from one cultural landmark to the other, I was positively vindictive toward the way the publishing side of CD Projekt handled the release of Cyberpunk 2077. The game, quite simply, was not in a particularly good place, and was not designed around the limitations of the PS4 and Xbox One. Over the past year and a half, patches have steadily been rolled out for the title, and reception on the title became far more muted than the burning rage that persisted throughout the end of 2020.
This past month however, after the release of the Edgerunners update for Cyberpunk 2077, and Studio Trigger anime series, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the game experienced a turnaround. People went back to the game, spruced up from hundreds of little improvements, and have been offering positive impressions across social media. The game was, seemingly, redeemed, and CD Projekt had people’s good graces once more.
As such, is it really any surprise they took this as an opportunity to announce their future plans for the next… decade? Not really.
This covered a lot of announcements, so let me divide things up into two chunks. Starting first with the project announcements and/or re-announcements:
- CDPR is working on a new The Witcher trilogy. The first game, Project Polaris, is currently in pre-production at CDPR and the entire trilogy is to be released within a span of six years. Which is laudable, considering the typical dev cycle of AAA gaming is creeping up to 4 years at this point.
- Various The Witcher spin-offs are in production, including one by Molasses By The Flood and a studio of former CDPR staff who I guess wanted to still work on the series, but under their own terms.
- An expansion to Cyberpunk 2077, dubbed Phantom Liberty, is currently nearing its final phase of production.
- A Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, Project Orion, will be developed by the newly formed CD Projekt Red America.
- And a new IP dubbed Project Hadar, is in the conceptual phase. Given CDPR’s track record, I expect this to take a decade of development. Like how Cyberpunk started preproduction back in 2012 before releasing in 2020.
To facilitate these imposing goals, CDPR intend on doing several things.
- Forming a partnership with Epic to use Unreal for future projects— which you are going to hear a lot this upcoming generation. Even Halo is switching to Unreal.
- Opening up studios in Boston and Vancouver. Which are not the hubs I would expect, but it makes sense considering how large the North American game developer pool is. I would comment on how this means they are going international, but CDPR, like most major game developers, made ample use of outsourcing for Cyberpunk. It’s why the credits were 40 minutes long.
- Introducing multiplayer to their games, which also makes sense. Multiplayer games attract a different audience and keep players engaged for longer than single-player affairs.
- Expanding their IP with mobile games and future live action adaptations. Something every company with hot IPs is being nudged into doing by investors.
All in all, I think the glow up CDPR has undergone over the past decade has been immensely impressive, and I appreciate their attempts at expanding. As the games industry consolidates, we need companies like CDPR to become a new era of AAA developers, and among most AAA developers, they tend to avoid the piddly bullcrap. No season passes, no added monetization, and the games are made with little in the way of crunch. Well, at least from internal developers.
Or in other words, acquisitions are bad, and expansions are good. Because expansions lead to more games and more jobs.
Do you Guys Not Have Phones?
(Activision Blizzard’s Phone Saga – Part II)
Okay, that’s enough corporate shilling, let’s move onto something on the opposite of the spectrum and poop on Activision Blizzard.
This past week, Overwatch died as Activision Blizzard killed off the servers in order to force the playerbase to switch to Overwatch 2. A move that basically made the original physical release utterly worthless and a move that is destroying at least some part of gaming history in the process. But at least it has been sufficiently archived with tens of thousands of hours of gameplay recordings, so… I guess that’s not too bad.
Regardless, as one might expect, the release of Overwatch 2 has been a complete mess. Firstly, because of the dirge that afflicts seemingly all major multiplatform multiplayer games with millions of members— server issues. I am always surprised by how (seemingly) little companies stress test servers prior to launch, as they should know that millions will want to play the game ASAP.
The second matter is one centering around the requirements of Overwatch 2. As a free-to-play game, it naturally requires players to generate an account. However, as an added ‘security measure’ it also requires users to submit a phone number. A phone number that cannot be associated with a prepaid phone plan, landline, or a VOIP. This is a… bad requirement for… anything to have.
The purpose for this requirement is to combat cheaters and disruptive players, but this strikes me as a deeply ignorant and classist decision. Prepaid phone plans are nothing new and are incredibly common across the United States. They are an economical plan for those who do not make phone calls very often, and if I was not brought onto a family plan for $20 a month, I would still be using a prepaid plan.
Side note, but my parents have had a mobile phone plan since 1988, as my father used to deliver newspapers under Neumann’s Delivery Service. But he quit his job in 2007 because print was dying.
What’s more, a phone requirement strikes me as rather… dated. While older people— from your GG-ers to your Losties to your Boom-Booms to your GeXers, view phones as a necessary part of life, that perspective is shifting with the new generation. Gen Z has been raised on digital communications. On instant messengers instead of regular texting. On voice calls instead of telephone calls. And on video calls instead of in-person meetings. With all of these new services, it raises questions about the necessity of a phone number or phone plan.
As tablets have shown, smartphones are not phones as much as they are portable computers. The phone part is merely an application and, eventually, it might be time to discontinue the application in favor of something digital and overall cheaper. …Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking, as telecom companies are notoriously bad when it comes to embracing change. Because they have other things to spend their money on. Like lobbying.
…What was I even talking about again? Right, Overwatch.
I think it is a bit funny how Blizzard Entertainment is so stringent about people having phones. They received so much backlash from the Diablo Immortal reveal and meme-ified the phrase “Do you guys not have phones?” But here they are, requiring people to have phones to play a PC and console game.
Now, they have since removed this requirement, allowing players of Overwatch to play Overwatch 2 without entering a phone number. …But that still misses the point that this is a needlessly discriminatory practice that should not be in place. I would rather have the floodgates open to cheaters than have people rejected from playing the game because they lack an acceptable phone number.
However, I suppose this is not the only nasty thing Activision Blizzard has done this past week. In fact, it is damn near minor next to the whole ‘withholding raises from union campaigners’ during a time of rampant post-pandemic inflation. Stay classy.
The Pre-Leak Scars & Violence Hype ‘Em Up!
(Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Got a 14 Minute Pre-Launch Overview)
Ever since more finite details about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were revealed a few months back, I’ve been worried that the game would start looking ‘bad’ or ‘regressive’ as more information is unveiled. It is a bizarre relationship to have with a game series. Hoping that each new entry doesn’t ‘ruin everything.’ However, wanting to steel my mind for the inevitable Pokémon Violet review, let’s go over the latest news dump.
First off, we received our first good look at what a battle sequence and transition look like. PLA was darn near revelatory with its battle transitions and battles that took place in the overworld, and only took a single shouting sequence before the battle began. In SV, it is not super clear if the player has the same level of control of the camera, or if the protagonist can move around during battle, but it would be strange for them to drop such a feature.
Not unlike Alpha Pokémon, wild Terra Pokémon are given unique visual identities in the overworld. Except instead of making them bigger and reddening their eyes, the game instead transplants a garish yellow glow over them. Which strikes me as far more… patronizing. It is so obtuse and overt here, that it practically taunts the player into engaging with them, given how these are all special Pokémon.
Auto Battles were also shown in more detail and… they appear to be one-hit-to-win affairs. Instances where your Pokémon bumps into another, defeats them, and maybe takes a hit themself, but that is about it. Auto Battling appears to be so efficient that I have to wonder if players will even bother battling wild Pokémon without the expressed goal of capturing them. It is a curious situation that mirrors the ‘catch without battling’ approach of PLA. Except here, it is ‘battle without battling.’
It is also here that I have 100% accepted that the ability to throw Pokéballs at wild Pokémon outside of battle is simply not present in this game. Which is honestly one of the best innovations in the entire series, and something I am sure I will sorely miss.
TMs, or technical machines, are one element where the series has inarguably regressed over the years. They took a once unlimited resource that was useful for team building and turned them into a series of disposable items. All with the express goal of… basically wasting player’s time if I am being fully honest. With Sword and Shield, this was probably the worst change those games introduced. With PLA, they had a move tutor system where you pay Pokédollars to teach a Pokémon a move. This was still not great, but a marked improvement. …So, naturally SV decided to make things worse.
In SV, TMs are now craftable items, where the player uses a points-based currency and various doodads found by battling wild Pokémon and exploring the world. Meaning it will take more work and resource management to get things that, from 2010 to 2018, the games just gave to you. Thanks for wasting my time, Game Freak. Cripes, and this is even worse than Sword and Shield, because this applies to all TMs, not just Technical Records.
Character customization was also highlighted, but despite featuring seemingly more hairstyles, the outfits appear to be more limited than ever. In-universe, the protagonist is a student, so it makes sense that they would need to wear their uniform— their dress shirt and tie— while adventuring. While this does not bother me, as I have a bizarre decade-long love of putting cute girls in suits— and this game has suits— I have to question this decision. Modern Pokémon games are built around the idea of letting players express themselves with their avatar, so limiting clothing options like this is… questionable.
As the leaks suggested, the Pokémon Camps of SWSH have been replaced with Pokémon Picnics. Events where the player lets out their party of Pokémon and boosts their affections by playing with them, giving them a wash, and making sandwiches that give the player certain buffs. Such as improving capture rates or stats while in a raid. However, the most interesting change here is how Picnics double as Daycare, and the player can find eggs based on the Pokémon in their party. This, combined with the leaked egg incubator feature, could make Pokémon breeding less nightmarish. Which is good for diehard breeders, but I have lost too many days of my life to give a crap about Pokémon eugenics ever again.
Lastly, raid battles were shown off once more, and they look to reprise the horrifically long capture animations from SWSH. While no raw footage was shown, there was a 20+ second snippet showing the capture process. After the 30 second cutscenes of SWSH, I am hesitant to believe this is an exaggeration, let alone skippable. So… good job. You technically are wasting less of a player’s time, but this still is unacceptable for a game that will sell roughly 20 million units.
All in all, Scarlet and Violet look like they will be frustrating to play, as I will be constantly pestered about what they could be if the developers had different priorities. In fact… screw it. My Pokémon Violet review is delayed until January 2023. Because I have other priorities in November, and I would rather play it while recovering from bottom surgery. It wouldn’t be the first Pokémon game that I played post-surgery, but I hope it will be the last. …Because I don’t want to get another surgery.
Valve Decided To Stop Being A Poopy;Head
(Valve Approved Chaos;Head Noah For Release on Steam)
Back in August, it was unofficially announced that the first entry in the heralded Science Adventure visual novel series, Chaos;Head, would not come to Steam. Last week, publisher Spike Chunsoft announced that it would not release the title on Steam after Valve rejected its content. Then, literally 18 hours before the game’s October 7th release date, Spike Chunsoft announced that the game would be released on Steam as originally intended.
Okay. Cool… What? WHAT?!
I can only assume that this was the result of an ongoing discussion between Valve and Spike Chunsoft, and at the eleventh hour, the game was cleared for release on Steam. Why did this happen? Spike Chunsoft gives credits to the fans, saying that their support and commitment urged Valve to rescind this decision.
As for Valve, they also issued a statement, saying that they re-examined the title and decided to reverse course. Furthermore, they also claim to have made changes to their content review policies to prevent decisions like this from happening again.
Do I think this will lead to more Japanese games with big sexual content releasing on Steam? Honestly, I really hope so. Publishers like JAST and MangaGamer really do value Steam as a platform, and I will always remember something the original translator of Rance X -Showdown- said after they cut ties with MangaGamer.
“Most releases on the [MangaGamer] store sell well under a thousand copies, and it’s extremely rare that something goes over 2000. The Alicesoft games generally sold 1500-ish on the MG store, though Sengoku [Rance] is close to 2000 last I heard. Evenicle has sold closer to 15000 total thanks to being on Steam, although Steam takes some of that profit, and most games don’t do that well on Steam either.”
If Steam actually does loosen their policies and allow the sorts of games that folks like MangaGamer translate, then that could dramatically change the future of these companies. While Aru_Naru was speaking casually here, they did cite an example of a game selling TEN TIMES more when releasing on Steam than it did when releasing exclusively on MangaGamer. Even with the 30% cut Valve takes, that is still seven times more money in the bank for… what? Doing some submission work and piecing together store assets? Which probably only takes two days, tops, if you know what you are doing.
Or in other words, Valve, I hope you learned your lesson and start letting high class eroge on your storefront. Because translators need to eat.
…I just remembered that I bought $130 worth of MangaGamer and JAST titles earlier this year and I have not even installed them. I really am just the worst type of game-liker…
End and Updates:
Taxes Nightmare Cleavering and Possible Delays
This past week has not been good for me, as I have wound up working over 50 hours due to tax deadlines that my boss and I were not prepared for. However, we are only juggling a few messes, most of which are crypto bros who don’t want to file or pay their taxes. For the record, even if you’re broke, you should file your taxes. Late filing fees are a pain in the rear and should be avoided whenever possible. Also, pay your state taxes first. The Feds are generally reasonable and won’t harass you too much, but your state will make your life hell.
Now, I am sadly not aware of what my schedule will be like during the second half of October and the entirety of November. Ideally, my Q4 2022 schedule will look something like this:
- 10/26/22 – Mice Tea – Review
- 11/02/22 – Student Transfer Scenario – Review
- 11/09/22 – Student Transfer Scenario – Review
- 11/11/22 – The Malice of Abigale Quinlan 2022 Revision & Start of Publishing on TBD second platform
- 11/18/22 – TSF Series #015: JK no Sarariman
- 11/23/22 – Student Transfer Scenario – Review
- 12/01/22 – Natalie Rambles About Dragalia Lost: THE FINAL
- 12/07/22 – Student Transfer Scenario – Review
12/14/22 –Pokemon Violet– Review- 12/21/22 – TSF Series #005-2: Ghost Milky in… Genocide the G.O.D.S.
- 12/28/22 – Natalie Rambles About 2022
- 01/04/22 – Pokemon Violet – Review
However, those plans were before I decided to invest what will wind up being HUNDREDS OF HOURS into my Dragalia Lost archive project, and before I realized how far behind my boss was on 2021 taxes.
I would LOVE to do all these things, as this is the type of schedule I want to have for Nigma Box. But between work, archival efforts, and my surgery on December 19th, I do not think this is possible.
Dragalia Lost Archive Project status:
- Adventurer Stories: 1,480/1,480 – Archived mirrors of Hunter’s Lodge story videos. Want native recordings of Yukata Cleo, Kimono Notte, Sharpshooter Sarisse, Summer Mitsuhide, Yukata Lathna, Vania, and Saiga from community members.
- Castle Stories: 52/52 – Completed by the communal archive team. Some videos were replaced for consistency purposes.
- Dragon Stories: 266/266 – Completed by the communal archive team. Some videos were replaced for consistency purposes.
- Event Stories: 503/505 – Archived mirrors of Hunter’s Lodge event stories. Missing Mega Man Chaos Protocol prologue and EX Story for Post-Mortem Panic.
- Main Campaign Story Recordings: 265/265 – Completed by the communal archive team.
- Main Campaign Quest Recordings: 152/250 – Teams curated. Need to record.
- Kaleidoscape Recordings: 20/64 – Need to assign 1 to 2 hour chunks of time to record gameplay.
- Event Compendium Recordings: 0/28 – Teams curated. Need to record.
- Regular Quest Recordings: 213/259 – Teams curated. Need to record.
- Additional Recordings for representation of all Adventurers: TBD
Horror game screenshots are from Misao, Mad Father, and Saya no Uta.