Blueflower's Gaming Blog and Reviews

[Dudeman]

(HOO-JA!)

my reaction

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Awesome job summing up your feelings on the series. Glad you enjoyed it. And you're welcome.

[TheInsidiousSpurt]

Shovel Knight is one of my favorite games of all time. My favorite Knight is probably specter knight. And I haven't played any of the Investigation games yet but Ive heard great things about both, especially the second one. I also want to play the Zero Series very badly even though I only played the Megaman classic series 1-5. Who is your favorite knight in shovel knight?

[blueflower999]

I like Tinker Knight the most, easily. His fight made me laugh harder than I do during most games.

Yes, Investigations 2 is vastly superior to Investigations 1. It's also my favorite Ace Attorney games and one of my favorite games of all time. Probably in my Top 4.

The Mega Man Zero series is very much worth your time. I recommend either ordering or looking for the Mega Man Zero Collection (it's not hard to find at GameStops). Mega Man 1-5 are all fantastic but the Zero series is the most bang for your buck.

[Yugi]

Mega Man 1-4 are all fantastic but the Zero series is the most bang for your buck.

fixed

[blueflower999]

Admittedly Mega Man 5 is a bit of an acquired taste, but it's still better than 1 in my opinion and I still manage to have fun with it.

[Dudeman]

it's still better than 1

everything's better than 1

[blueflower999]

Except for X7 and II. 

[TheInsidiousSpurt]

Tinker Knight's boss was hysterical. I love the game so much. Are you prepared for Layton 7 after playing Azran Legacy?

[blueflower999]

If it comes out and has anything to do with the previous games, but if it doesn't I probably won't.

[TheInsidiousSpurt]

Yea it looks really different. Theres a freaking zombie LOL. Did u hear about the new Project Cross Zone? Chrom and Lucina are in it so it should be fun

[TheInsidiousSpurt]

You should review Hatoful Boyfriend

[Dudeman]

Obviously ZX and/or ZXA is next on the docket.
Actually, no, I'm expecting a review of Plague of Shadows first.

[blueflower999]

None of the above, actually!

[blueflower999]

I'm in a Pikmin mood. Let's do a Pikmin list.

Top 10 Pikmin Series Bosses:

This includes bosses from Pikmin 1-3 only, nothing from Nintendo Land or anything else. As much as I love the Emperor Pinchipede, it will not appear on this list. All images in this Top 10 were taken from www.pikminwiki.com.

#10, Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2

Beady Long Legs


I love Arachnorbs, I really do. The Beady Long Legs is the first, most fought, and most iconic of the Arachnorb family of enemies. Arachnorbs are interesting because they're all bosses, they're all huge spiders, and most of them have crushy feet to squash Pikmin that happen to be underneath them when they walk around. All Arachnorbs are weak on the large ball dangling between their legs (hence "arachnid" + "orb").

Beady over here first appeared as a boss in The Forest Navel in Pikmin 1, and it was honestly a really difficult fight. It had a lot of HP, Yellow Pikmin were needed to reach its high orb, and it stomped about very quickly. It did, however, have a pretty kicking theme song.

In Pikmin 2 it got cheesed a little, but the developers got sneaky and occasionally place them in locations where you least expect it, only to have a giant freaking spider drop from the sky with a SMASH with little to no warning. The Beady Long Legs was the result of numerous heart attacks that I had playing through Pikmin 2 for the first time. I've even given numerous friends of mine heart attacks by asking them to play a Challenge Mode level with a Beady Long Legs in it.

While it unfortunately did not appear in 3 (and was replaced by the much less iconic Shaggy Long Legs), Beady Long Legs is is still a pretty classic example of how to make a memorable Pikmin boss.

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#9, Pikmin 1, Pikmin 2, and Pikmin 3

Burrowing Snagret


If there's one Pikmin series boss that's more iconic than Beady Long Legs, it's the Burrowing Snagret. The Burrowing Snagret is the most common member of the Snavian ("snake" + "avian") family, the most fought boss in the series, and the only boss to appear in all three Pikmin games!

The Snagret pops out of the ground, snatches up a few Pikmin in its beak, eats them, and then burrows again. Its weak spot is its head, which isn't too difficult to hit with a few well-placed shots. While it popping up is not nearly as surprising as the CRASH the Beady Long Legs makes, the Burrowing Snagret still sometimes appears when you wouldn't expect a boss to appear, and sometimes there are two or even three in close proximity to each other. In The Forest of Hope in Pikmin 1, they're especially annoying as three of them protect a vital ship part.

Thankfully the Burrowing Snagret isn't too difficult, especially if you know how to work the fight. Much like Beady, the Snagret was difficult in the first game but got progressively easier as the franchise progressed. Overall though, it's a cool design for a boss, it's iconic, and I like the noises it makes. Solid.

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#8, Pikmin 2

Raging Long Legs


Here's another Arachnorb that will give you a heart attack if you don't know it's there! The Raging Long Legs is fought twice in Pikmin 2 as one of the last bosses in the game, and holy cow this thing can be tricky if you have the wrong squad of Pikmin. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but its feet are massive compared to the Beady Long Legs and they can easily squash half of your squad if you're not careful. A small team of Reds and/or Purples are recommended to take this thing out, and even then it takes a long time. The Raging Long Legs has an absurd amount of health too, so even with the right team it'll take a long time to beat.

Beating it in Pikmin 2's story mode will yield the "Remembered Old Buddy" treasure, which is ROB's head: one of the many classic homages to the real world in Pikmin 2.

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#7, Pikmin 3

Sandbelching Meerslug


Yes, that's actually its name. Glorious, isn't it?

The Sandbelching Meerslug is another freaking enormous boss battle, and while not ridiculously difficult, it's quite a fun fight. The Meerslug is the boss of the Tropical Wilds in Pikmin 3, and as its name might suggest, it's fought in a sandy area. The Meerslug will burrow in the ground, create essentially a sink hole, and quickly suck anything around it down towards its awaiting jaws, kinda like that one scene in the beginning of the 6th Star Wars movie. Occasionally it will also pop above ground and spit rocks at your squad. If the player rushes Pikmin on fast enough, the Meerslug will CATAPULT itself out of the ground to show how truly enormous it is. It's hilarious how high up in the air this thing goes!

From then on the cycle repeats, with the sinkholes becoming deeper and wider, eventually encompassing almost the entire arena. If you're really good you can make the creature eat a Bomb Rock, which will immediately make it pop out of the ground, I believe. When it dies, the corpse it leaves behind is one of the largest in the series, and it spits out the largest fruit in the game: the Crimson Banquet, which breaks into numerous pieces upon hitting the ground.

Some might recognize this boss from seeing it in the commercials for Pikmin 3 that played before its launch, but I most remember it as my second favorite boss from the third game.

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#6, Pikmin 1

Armored Cannon Beetle


The Armored Cannon Beetle is my favorite boss from the first Pikmin game, mostly because it's not cheap, it's not annoying, it's rather fun to fight, and I really like how it looks! The Armored Cannon Beetle's Larval stage is seen in Pikmin 2 and 3, (and it's FAR more annoying), but the adult stage is only fought in the first game for some reason. Odd.

Anyway, the Armored Cannon Beetle fires off boulders in a straight line that insta-kill any Pikmin squashed below them. It can steamroll your army if you're not careful, but the Larval forms are far more annoying in this regard. The Beetle is completely armored (as its name suggests), and thus is entirely impervious to Pikmin attacks. How to do you kill it then? When it inhales to spit out a boulder, if you throw a Pikmin at its blowhole (located above its eyes and mouth), it'll get clogged up, and will need to open up its back to ventilate itself. This is the best time to strike. I also really like how it looks with its back opened up:



A good Pikmin player can defeat it in two or three of these cycles. This boss is fought twice in the game, and despite not having a theme, it gives the player two vital ship parts for not very much hassle.

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#5, Pikmin 2

Empress Bulblax


Okay, now we're getting into the really freaking cool bosses. The Empress Bulblax is the first boss fought in Pikmin 2, and is fought four times throughout the entirety of the game. She's also the only boss that progressively improves: the first time she just rolls around, the second time she produces Bulborb Larva (which are really dangerous), and the third time she produces Bulborb Larva AND causes rocks to fall from the ceiling. Her health and regenerative abilities also improve from her fight fight.

So, why do I like the Empress so much? Lots of reasons. When I first encountered her, she was by far the biggest creature I had seen in the series to date (I hadn't finished Pikmin 1 at that point), and it startled me. The epic boss music, the tense atmosphere, I didn't have very many Pikmin with me (and she almost finished off what I had left due to me having no idea what I was doing). I remember asking myself "okay, this thing is obviously the boss. I don't have a lot of Pikmin. Do I wake it up? Or do I not? Ugh what the heck, let's do it." Famous last words. I can take her out easily without losing a Pikmin today, but the first time she was a nightmare.

I love the Empress Bulblax. She just looks really amusing to me too, making her by far my favorite member of the Grub-Dog family.

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#4, Pikmin 2 MAJOR SPOILERS

Titan Dweevil


If you haven't finished Pikmin 2, I suggest turning back now. This final boss is an adventure that you don't want spoiled for you.

The Titan Dweevil is the final boss of the last cave in Pikmin 2, and is only fought there. There are so many things to say about this boss, but I'll try to be brief.

Firstly, the music that plays when you fight the Titan Dweevil is absolutely stellar. It changes up constantly throughout the fight, and changes each time you proceed to the next stage of the fight. Each weapon it attacks with has a different short theme was well. I'll post a compilation of the entire fight's score below.

Anyway, the Titan Dweevil is a genius idea. Just like the Emperor Bulblax in Pikmin 1 represents a powered up version of an enemy that you've been fighting the entire game, the Titan Dweevil is a mega powered up Dweevil. Dweevils are enemies in Pikmin 2 only that pick up treasures and corpses in caves, and in order to recover the, you must knock them off the Dweevils. There are five types of Dweevils, and four of them were combined to make the Titan. The Titan Dweevil can attack with fire (Fiery Dweevil), water (Caustic Dweevil), electricity (Anode Dweevil), and poison (Munge Dweevil). It does so by picking up treasures (which all Dweevils do) and firing them at the player. The Monster Pump launches water globs anywhere on the floor that the Titan Dweevil desires. The Flare Cannon and the Comedy Bomb cover the floor in fire and poison respectively, and the Shock Therapist creates lines of instant-death electricity along the floor.

To beat the Titan, one must knock off all four of these weapons, which each require lots and lots of Pikmin to be thrown onto to knock them off. Once weapons start smoking, they start malfunctioning and behaving in more erratic and unpredictable manners, usually speeding up attacks and making them harder to react to.

What's funny, however, is when all weapons are knocked off, the Titan Dweevil becomes absolutely harmless! It can't kill Pikmin anymore! Killing it at the end of the battle is soooo satisfying, and it's easily the best final boss fight in the series. It's the only one to me that doesn't feel cheap, but still remains legitimately tense.

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#3, Pikmin 3

Armored Mawdad


I love the Armored Mawdad, I really do. Pikmin 3 had a lot of really hit-or-miss boss ideas with me, but the first boss in the game is by far my favorite, and it's the Armored Mawdad. It just looks really pretty and really menacing at the same time.

The Armored Mawdad was the first boss revealed for the game as well, specifically in the demo level presented at E3 2013, so I'm sure many of you have seen it before. While not particularly difficult, the Mawdad is not easy for the game's first boss fight (and is certainly a lot harder than a few of the later ones). The Mawdad is completely impervious until Rock Pikmin are used to smash its crystal armor (one of the few times in the game where I enjoy using Rock Pikmin). It's really fun to see the Mawdad's reaction to having another plate off its back broken off. It's also fun to throw the Rock Pikmin at its head, or at its mandibles to break them.

The Armored Mawdad will charge your squad often and trap Pikmin between its mandibles to slowly consume them. If you use Rocks to break the mandibles at the beginning of the fight, it becomes fairly harmless, but doing so without losing Pikmin can be tricky. After becoming exposed enough, it's just a long game of throwing Reds onto it, dodging its charges, and repeating. It's not a hard fight, but usually I find that my Pikmin get scattered around the arena a bit. It's still a really fun time though, and I look forward to it with each playthrough.

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#2, Pikmin 2

Giant Breadbug

(The official image I found was of really low resolution, so I'll post these in-game shots here instead)

Time for my blatant Pikmin 2 favoritism to rear its head (as if it wasn't obvious already)!

The Giant Breadbug is so high on this list mainly because it's just SO CUTE. I've always loved Breadbugs because they're so dang cute, but before I can talk about how awesome the Giant Breadbug is, I need to explain how Breadbugs work in general.

Much like how the Titan Dweevil is a giant Dweevil, the Emperor Bulblax is a giant Bulborb, and the Ranging Bloyster is a giant Toady Bloyster, the Giant Breadbug is a giant... Breadbug. Regular Breadbugs (which I usually call Vanilla Breadbugs to distinguish them from others in the family) will walk around the floor, grab treasures or enemy corpses, and pull them back to its burrow. It will only hurt Pikmin in the rare instance that a Pikmin is grabbed onto the treasure and is pulled into the Breadbug's hole. For the most part, they're a minor nuisance, but their cuteness makes up for it. They're defeated by having a ton of Pikmin (preferably Purples, because of how strong they are) pull the Breadbug back to the ship or Onion tug-of-war style, and this will cause the Breadbug to hit his head when the object is absorbed (and make a hilarious "bup-WAH" noise).

The Giant Breadbug essentially operates the same way, only it's significantly stronger and requires more Pikmin to pull it. It's defeated fairly quickly, but it has really funky music that plays during its fight, and the floor its on is full of smaller Breadbugs and other enemies, as well some food-based treasure. Ultimately the Giant Breadbug is probably the easiest boss in the game, but it's just so dang cute that I can't help but love it.

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#1, Pikmin 2

Man-at-Legs


Anyone who was around in the summer of 2011 might remember the Man-at-Legs as my first avatar on this forum. It's no secret, I love the thing. It's without a doubt my favorite boss in the Pikmin series to date, even though it sadly only appears in Pikmin 2.

First of all, let's take care of the concept. The Man-at-Legs is an Arachnorb with a MACHINE GUN. That is AWESOME. It's incredibly deadly and will massacre you if you don't have a wall to hide behind.

Secondly, its name. It's a pun on "man at arms," a professional soldier in Medieval Europe. It's genius. It's also the only Arachnorb that doesn't crush Pikmin with its feet (because it doesn't HAVE to).

I don't think I need to say any more honestly. In a game that revolves around nature and where most enemies will just eat or squash Pikmin, having a boss with a laser-guided, self-aiming, automatic machine gun is such a ridiculously awesome idea and I haven't quite gotten over it. In order to successfully fight this thing, you need to stay behind some of the metal fixtures on the level. If you accidentally leave a Pikmin out near the Man-at-Legs, it will target it and destroy it nearly instantly, then commence firing at you. It's like covering from actual machine gun fire in a war game.

The boss is fought three times in Pikmin 2, and sadly hasn't appeared since. (Pikmin 3 gave all the previous 2 games' bosses with the exception of the Burrowing Snagret a giant middle finger). Still, it's my favorite Pikmin series boss to this day and remains a ridiculously tense challenge every time I fight it.

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[blueflower999]

It's been a good bit. Because I took a lengthy break from the forums and also had a long period where I didn't play non-League of Legends games, there really hasn't been much for me to put here. However, the time has come. We're going to talk about a game that none of you (barring Maelstrom, who introduced me to it and let me borrow it) have heard of. But first, a little disclaimer.

Warning: The following game is extremely adult. While it appears to be unrated, the game would absolutely receive an Ao rating for adults only. My review will be SFW, but do not play this game if you're below 18. Seriously. Don't. You will regret it.

More specifically, to quote the lovely disclaimer the game greets you with before the title screen:

All characters depicted in this game are at least 18 years old. All persons, organizations, place names, etc. appearing in this work are entirely fictitious, and any resemblance to existing entities is purely coincidental.

You must be over 18 years of age to play this game. This game contains disturbing images and scenes of explicit violence and gore. Please do not attempt to copy, recreate, or mimic any of the criminal behavior described or shown.

With that out of the way, let's talk about a visual novel.

Wonderful Everyday/Subarashiki Hibi:

Wonderful Everyday (or Suba Hibi, as I will refer to it as) is a very lengthy and detailed visual novel game by KeroQ that's available on Steam for an admittedly hefty price of 30$. The visual novel genre is something that I have some experience with from games like Ace Attorney and Zero Escape (which have plenty of reviews in this thread from years back), but this game is a different beast entirely. It's considered to be one of the greatest visual novels of all time and is ranked very highly on the Visual Novel Database, above every game in the Ace Attorney and Zero Escape series.

I was intrigued to play Suba Hibi after Maelstrom told me it was the most disturbing game he'd ever played. I had played Doki Doki Literature Club (maybe I'll get around to talking about that game some day) the year before, and thought I was ready for something a little spicier. Boy, did this game deliver. Suba Hibi goes both higher and lower than DDLC: The disturbing parts are far more disturbing, the satisfying storytelling is far more satisfying, and overall the game has a much better sense of narrative. However, seeing as how DDLC is the closest game that I've played to Suba Hibi, I'll probably make a lot of comparisons between the two. Without any further ado, let's get into some specifics.

Gameplay: 0/10 Without a doubt, Suba Hibi is the worst "game" in terms of gameplay that I've played. Like, there's literally nothing here folks. Yes, there are choices. Sure, there are multiple paths that you can go down, kind of. But even that's pretty basic here. This isn't, say, Virtue's Last Reward where there are, like, a million different paths that you can choose to go down and you get to make choices pretty frequently that affect the ending. It also certainly isn't Ace Attorney where you walk around on your own and present evidence. This game is solely reading text and very occasionally making a plot decision. And by occasionally, I mean very occasionally. Even for visual novel standards, there really aren't a whole lot of decisions in this game that matter a whole lot, which is kind of a bummer. The game has a narrative that it wants to tell and it very rarely deviates from that. This isn't to say that there aren't any important choices or alternate paths, because there are and some are quite good. But you'll often find yourself playing for hours and hours at a time without any input from the player besides advancing the text. All in all, there are four choices in the game that have significant impact on where the story goes. For a game that can easily take over 50 hours to play through, that's an average of more than 10 hours passing without a consequential choice. Ouch. This goes without saying, but if you don't like reading, stay away from Suba Hibi. If you do like reading and enjoy other visual novels, though, stick with me.
 
Addictiveness: 8/10 Suba Hibi has a fairly engrossing plot. It likely won't rob you of sleep in the same way that games in the Zero Escape series can, but it's still pretty engaging, especially after a point. Admittedly the first 10 hours or so are pretty slow, but once the game gets rolling, it really gets rolling. A lot of questions hang in the air throughout almost the entire game, and there are some major plot twists to be experienced, as per the usual with VN's. Admittedly, there are a handful of scenes that are kind of a slog to read through. However, the majority aren't too terrible, and for every sloggy scene there are easily three very entertaining scenes.

And with that out of the way, it's time to talk about something important before I get to the story.

This game is pornographic, hence the presumed Ao rating. We're not talking like occasional nipples either. This game has everything you can imagine, including not one, not two, but twenty-four hentai/sex scenes (by the game's own count, the actual number can be debated but it's somewhere from 20-26 or so). The scenes range from mildly erotic (the entire game is full of still images, so it's not like full motion video or anything) to beyond horrifying. Do they detract from the game? Maybe. Some are a little repetitive and most can be easily skipped through. If you find porn morally repulsive, this game probably wouldn't sit well with you. Don't play this game for the porn, though. It has so much more to offer outside of erotic scenes.

Story: 9/10 This is a spoiler free review, so feel free to read even if you intend to play the game. To put it simply, Suba Hibi's story revolves around the same period of about two weeks told from a handful of different perspectives. The game is divided into seven sections with titles taken from Lewis Carroll works, especially Through the Looking Glass. These chapters are:

1. Down the Rabbit Hole I
2. Down the Rabbit Hole II
3. It's My Own Invention
4. Looking-Glass Insects
5. Jabberwocky I
6. Which Dreamed It
7. Jabberwocky II

In order the parts can be summarized as:

1. Very... anime-ish.
2. Suspenseful
3. Beyond horrifying
4. Depressing
5. Revealing
6. Pure
7. Closure

The game's story is incredibly well-written and explores lots of deep, philosophical themes. A lot of it actually goes over my head, but you can tell that tremendous thought went into the game's script, not just the scenario itself. It doesn't get a perfect 10/10 from me because there are a few plot threads that I don't feel wrap up as conclusively as I'd like, and there are a few aforementioned sloggy parts to the game. However, overall, the writing shines through and makes for a very entertaining read.
 
Music: 8/10 Suba Hibi has a pretty phenomenal soundtrack. Not every piece is worth writing home about, but the game has a surprisingly diverse quantity of songs. Some are incredibly creepy and disturbing for the more horror scenes, whereas others are gorgeous or relaxing pieces for the more upbeat and happy scenes. Impressively, only a few songs grew old on me after playing the game for fifty hours. This is pretty impressive, especially after games like Doki Doki playing the same three songs over and over again throughout the entire playthrough. Below I've listed a few of my favorites. Reading comments on these videos is highly ill-advised.

One of the prettier pieces

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A gorgeous piano piece

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This piece rivals Trepidation from Zero Escape for how terrifying it is

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The gorgeous piano version of the game's opening theme

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Character Design: 11/10 I just gave a score higher than ten for the first time because this game deserve it in this category. The characters in Subarashiki Hibi are unbelievably well written. Virtually none of the main cast are flat archetypes. Everyone is multi-layered, has a deep and complex personality, and feels like a real person. It's truly incredible how unforgettable the entire main cast of this game is. Everyone has development. Everyone goes through hell and back in this game and develops because of it. Even some of the minor characters are really likable and memorable as well. For the first time ever in a video game, I have a hard time picking who my favorite character is. In fact, I currently have a four-way tie for my favorite. Every other element of this visual novel has some flaws to it, but the characters and the writing are absolute perfection.

Humor: 7/10 While not explicitly a comedy game and certainly not as quirky as something like Ace Attorney, Suba Hibi did get a lot of laughs out of me. The game is full of pop culture references, awkward comedic scenes, and overall does have some funny writing. The story knows when to joke around and knows when to be serious. Most of the time, the game is pretty serious, but when it jokes around, it has a fun time.

Difficulty: 0/10 No gameplay, so no difficulty.

Other Memorable Features: The game has a pretty extensive collection of computer graphic art, or CGs, that are all viewable from the title screen once they become unlocked in game. This game boasts some absolutely gorgeous artwork that's definitely worth viewing after you've completed the main story. Additionally, all of the *ahem* lewd-er scenes can be rewatched from the title as well if you're, uh, into that sort of thing.

Overall: 9.7/10 Subarashiki Hibi is a masterful visual novel that has some notable flaws but excels at storytelling, writing, and especially character development. If you're over 18 and have time for a long one, jump right down this rabbit hole.