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« on: August 19, 2018, 07:49:47 AM »
so, I finally ACTUALLY started listening to this. it's put me off listening to RFN for 3 weeks because I didn't want to listen and do something irrational.
In these weeks, I picked up Rivals of Aether, an indie platform fighter with lovely, deep mechanics that make me smile as muscle memory of performing Wavedashes and Reverse Aerial Rush wash over me. it also features playable Ori and soon Shovel Knight, although I personally main Elliana, who is a snake piloting a steampunk mecha that probably is most similar to... Robin if Robin also had Jigglypuff's air speed and King Dedede's hitbox. I'm bad at it, but I'm taking my L's and trying to git gud.
Then I listened to this show, and Jon's affront to Masahiro Sakurai.
Let me be perfectly clear on a few things, first of all. My fandom of Kirby started at a young age. I loved the imaginative shounen mosnter of the week formula, the wonderful abstract nature the art direction takes but in a aesthetically pleasing manner. I have a life-time fan of Jun Ishikawa's music in the many genres he has worked into his works for Kirby games. I love the game feel, the wonderful pattern based boss battles, the challenge that's hidden in nooks of the game here otherwise I can have a chill time playing a game. it is comfort food. Kirby is a series I go to in times when I am grieving, when I need a ray of light in what is otherwise a soul-crushing and pointless life I am living. yeah, maybe there's a few edgelord kirby OCs otu there, but anyone I've met who likes Kirby generally tends to be a pretty swell and upstanding individual.
I think he just reminds you of how bald you are, Lindemann.
Arguing Smash Bros. with you is a pointless endeavor. you are allowed to play Smash Bros. like a 5 year older or like you're a creature from the Q Continuum or some ****. I respect that you two may be the best in the world at shooting gust bellows at each other with low gravity and the damage ratio cranked up. You do you, boo. I imagine even in the sickest permutations of the rules, you could give someone like ZeRo or ESAM a week of preparation and they'd JV5 you or whatever the coin smash equivalent of that would even look like.
The point is even if the game is unbalanced, they like watching and participating in something that may look like chaos on the screen, but is 100% under control as each other are layers deep into each other's mind trying to play mental chess at 60 frames per second. Platform Fighters aren't stiff and inaccessable like traditional 2D fighters. they don't give me horrible carpeltunnel like trying to mash out DPs in street fighter does. You do things and they generally tend to happen as fast as your thumbs can move to make them happen, and watching two people who have mastered this and their decision making is quite frankly enthralling.
Fire Emblem fandom is something I have my ear to the rail with. a lot of hardcore FE fans will snub the likes of Sacred Stones, Gaiden, or anything released after Radiant Dawn for de-emphasizing strategy. these are the sort of folks who swear by Geneaology of the Holy War, Thracia 776, and the like. I think THOSE are the people in David's e-mail he so bemoaned.
I actually do not understand why people are obsessed with Star Fox. I really don't thionk it's score attack elements are super enthralling and when you get that granular with the games, they rapidly devolve into playing something akin to a rail shooter, to which time crisis is a better series. Also, of all the franchises listed outside of sonic, there is an OBNOXIOUS volume of Starfox rule 34. It usually involves stuff from Starfox Adventures. Krystal, Renamon, and Rouge the Bat are like... the posterchildren for that sort of deviancy, if you wanna talk Daisy Deviants.
F-Zero is charming in it's american comic book inspired character design. I find Mr. EAD no more offensive than The Blob from X-men and Captain Falcon no more offensive than Captain America. I think people miss Futuristic racers in general from triple A devs.
I've talked a bit about Sonic on Twitter but like... you can't even really 'define' a sonic fandom, because there's about 10 different ways you can attack that angle. are you talking about the folks from the likes of the SonicRetro forums who make it a point to reverse engineer everything Sega puts out there and argue constantly over level design and physics? is it the folks who could give a rat's ass about sonic as a video game franchise and are lifetime and avid comic readers? is it the folks that got in with Sonic X? is it the folks who played Sonic 1, 2, 3&K and then stopped, declaring all other sonic media crap and begging for Jalil White to voice him again? is it the folks who really like the adventure games and beyond and don't get what the hype is around the classic games? is it just blatant furries? because I can point out individuals who fit each of these unique strain of sonic fan that I interact with on a regular basis.
Metroid is... honestly, I'm surprised you guys don't rake Metroid over the coals, because you know what is an even MORE self-indulgent community than Smashers? SPEED RUNNING! you know what's a centerpiece to Speedrunning and is considered sacred? SUPER METROID!!! you wanna talk about people that impose on you, how about the people who rag on ENDLESSLY over weather to save or kill the animals?!? i think if it weren't for the sheer metric fuckton of money they raise for cancer research every year, these are people who would get SO MUCH **** for regularly telling you that the way you play games is sub-optimal.
for the record, I think metroid speedrunning is pretty dope. I kinda like tricks like Mock Ball, Alcatraz escape, and Ocean Fly.
Earthbound fans are obnoxious to nintendo.
and I now realize I've spent longer wording this post than I have listening to the podcast. I think for my health I'm gonna stop and just move on to the next episode, because WHOOPS I think I actually have created a body of work here I will regret. Seriously, though. if Rivals of Aether definitive edition gets announced for switch, I want Jon on that review.