Lightning is a bad mario kart item

This is probably going to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever written, in all honesty. But I have actually been playing a ton of Mario Kart over the last few weeks, and have very strong feelings on this: lighting is a bad item, in Mario Kart 8 specifically.

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So, for those of you unaware (seriously how have you not played Mario Kart by now), lightning is an item you’ll only ever get when you’re way behind. It strikes everyone else on the track instantly, spinning them out and shrinking them, heavily reducing their top speed. The higher your placing, the longer you’ll be shrunk for. And finally, you’ll lose all your items when struck. So now that we’re all on the same page: lightning sucksssssssss.

The problem with lightning is that every aspect of it plays into the bad randomness of Mario Kart, and never takes advantage of all the good the series often does with RNG. At more serious levels of play in Mario Kart (yes, they exist) it basically becomes an RNG management game, with you having to weigh your options up between using items, when to use them, where item boxes will hit and what you might get, all that good jazz. It’s about knowing what’s coming and what is likely to be coming. Lighting just chucks that all out the window completely and utterly.

Problem one: it's instant why is it instant

Every single item in Mario Kart besides this one item will typically have some sort of warning coming your way. Shells have a travel time, bananas can be avoided, etc. The second lightning is used, it hits, no warning whatsoever. This just sucks. I know, I know, everyone gets hit by it (i’ll get to that, trust me), but it really screws with the whole flow of the game to just have one item you have no way of knowing is coming.

Problem two: you lose all your items this is not good

Again, one of the main issues with this item is that it plays by its own rules: you drop all items you’re holding when you get hit by it. This totally messes with about the top 5 or so, who usually exist in this state of being very vulnerable to the person behind them, and it’s generally much easier to gain offense than defense in this game. The problem is again, point 1: it’s instant, and you have absolutely zero way to predict when it’s coming (there’s no way you’re tracking when the guy in 11th is going to hit an item box). It’s RNG you can’t maintain an eye on that’s a huge blow to your place in the race, and it’s not very fun to deal with.

Problem three: it interacts badly with defenses against it

This is a bit of a mix with point one, but essentially this issue is that again, it’s instant. The only two defenses you have against lightning are a bullet bill or a star, as you’re totally invincible while using them. This could make for interesting counterplay in the lower ranks, maybe holding on to these valuable items… except, again, you have no way of telling when lightning is coming or who has it. This essentially makes who dodges lightning 100% random, and sometimes you’ll get a massive boost off of the item just because you happened to use a defense at the right time, not because you smartly took a risk and weighed your options.

This also kinda negates the saving grace of lightning, which is what everyone gets hit by it. Well, sometimes people just won’t get hit by it I guess. It’s just so nonsensical to me that in a game where putting up your best defenses is the entire point, an item that you can’t see coming can totally take that all away, and maybe it sometimes won’t.

At the end of the day, though I am exaggerating a bit, lightning feels very out of place in Mario Kart. It’s a series based off crazy items and RNG, yes, but it’s always been very controllable and skill influenced RNG. The better you play, the better the RNG will fall for you. Even the hated blue shell gives you several seconds of warning before it hits. Lightning falls totally and completely outside of that zone. It’s RNG you can’t see, it’s RNG you can’t influence, and it’s RNG that will randomly just not hit. Lightning is bad RNG, and bad for Mario Kart.

Danganronpa V3 and Gender

Ok, so today I want to talk about something a little more… cultural? Dunno exactly what it fall under, but today I want to talk about Danganronpa V3 and gender.

Spoilers for Danganronpa 1, 2, and V3 follow.

No like I’m spoiling a ton seriously get out if you’re not done all 3.

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Danganronpa as a series has historically been, if not brilliant, at least ok with gender roles in plot. Girls in media have a bad habit of being passive, or revolving around another person, or maybe being taken out of the story/killed off to further a guy’s character development. It’s not exactly a good precedent to always follow, y’know?
 

Danganronpa usually gets around this, surprisingly. When the girls of the cast are killed, it’s usually not just like exclusively for the sake of another person, like Ibuki or Celeste. In cases where it does influence another strongly (See: Sayaka to Makoto or Peko to Fuyuhiko) it’s important to note that the characters have a ton of agency, like Sayaka trying to use Makoto as a scapegoat to escape. As well, all the characters are, well, their own characters, never really tied to one person unless that’s important backstory. One final note is that Danganronpa is rather “everyone’s fair game” too; it does this to the guys as well and the entire point of the story is that people are gonna die eventually. You’d be a fool to cry foul simply on the basis of someone dying in a killing game.

This isn’t to say Danganronpa is totally 100% great with gender roles, far from it. There’s plenty of issues (especially with the female cast) in their character designs and the scenarios they’re put into. But by and large, in the actual plot, Danganronpa is actually pretty good about gender!

...And then we get to V3. More specifically, the first case of Danganronpa V3, and the bait and switch we got with Kaede Akamatsu. Now, don’t get me wrong, for the most part I think V3 upholds the fine plot roles of previous games. Characters like Miu, Himiko, and Maki are written well in the plot and while I certainly have issues with their characters like I always have, most of the female cast works well in the plot… except for Kaede. 

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See, the issue with Kaede is that she’s the only character in the game who doesn’t quite feel like a full character - more specifically, she feels like a character made completely and 100% in reference to and for Shuichi at the end of it all. For pretty much the entire end chapter 1 I was thinking: “Holy shit, are they actually doing this”, which was then followed by “I’m… not sure I like this.”

I’d honestly love to live in a world where V3’s twist as is is great as I’d like it to be, because for all intents and purposes, I should love this twist unconditionally. It plays into the central theme of lies, it’s a fantastic way to show nobody is truly safe from death, and, y’know, holy heck a game in 2017 pulled a Metal Gear Solid 2. But there’s a really nasty edge to this, because quite frankly, killing off a female protagonist for a male one to take her place plays into some really uncomfortable tropes.
 

While not a highly researched source or anything, T.V Tropes has a fine page on the subject. Kaede is a textbook case of a sacrificial lamb: a character that only exists to die. If you look a bit closer at her it’s painfully obvious. She’s the one trying to keep the group together, in particular she helps soon-to-be-protagonist Shuichi quite a bit, and she’s overall probably the most pleasant and friendly person there is. So of course she’d get axed off.

This is a twofold issue: there is a very well documented history of women being killed off for the sake of a guy’s character advancement, and also a history of female characters revolving around those men.

To those points: yeah, pretty much. Kaede does nothing for the story except to die. I think they brought her up like less than ten times after chapter 1. Her entire purpose and character is built around being nice for the group (so it’s sad when she dies) and to help Shuichi. That is it. Kaede doesn’t feel like a full character, which is honestly shocking. Even the earliest deaths in the other games gave them specific motivations, and made them feel like real people, independant of the role they’ll need to play. Kaede feels totally hand crafted to fit the group dynamic, and also feels like her purpose in story is Shuichi.

(Note: I am well aware that may have been the point, considering the revelations at the end. However, I’m not to concerned with that, in all honesty. The fact was that a character was written this way in and out of universe.)

Stories cannot exist in a vacuum. I would love for this twist to be amazing, because in all but characters, it absolutely is. The problem is that, no, V3 does not exist in a vacuum, and you’re a fool if you think it can be that way. In playing this occurrence, this trope of the girl who only exists to die, 100% straight, the game plays into cultural norms that aren’t very comfortable. Maybe, in a couple hundred years, if we somehow get past all this, maybe we can then look at V3 without this baggage. 

But not now. Almost certainly unintentionally, it’s still a harsh reminder of these issues. If there even is another game, I hope they put more thought into these roles.

Blooming Villain: A Top Tier Boss Theme

I am a complete and utter drum nerd. I love drums. I listen to the drum track of songs far, FAR too much. And because of that, I was kinda flipping out when I heard Persona 5’s boss theme, Blooming Villain, which is a heavily drum based track. There’s plenty of other cool parts to this song, but the drums are what carry it through and make the song so heavy and so gosh dang good. 

We begin with 4 heavy thuds on the drum, going immediately into hi-hat hits at the same pace. This pattern is what makes up the first 25 seconds or so of the song, and it sets the stage for what is really a song driven by the drums. Every time the drums beat, they overtake the melody in the background, which is actually fairly unusual for a standard beat. The cymbals clicking away keep the beat constantly going, and to make sure when the drums do hit it’s a lot more impactful.

The other half of this opening segment is the deep, almost ghastly wail going on. While it provides some nice instrumentation, i guess, the real value in this comes from the tone it sets. It comes across as dark and deeply menacing, while also building things up, like you’re gearing up to fight some evil force. Very appropriate for a boss theme.

Ok, so for the song proper, the drums get kind of complex but also super interesting so we’re gonna have to break it down a little bit. To start, you can tell that the hi hat is now being slammed down upon on every quarter note (starts at 0:25). After 2 loops, the main quarter note beat then swaps from a hi hat to the ride cymbal (at 0:38), making the beat ring rather than crash. The ride cymbal is moreso used for continuing beats, so it’s smart to switch to this halfway through the verse to give the song more of a steady feel and lay back on the intensity for a bit. Another thing you’ll notice is that the snare drum is hitting all over the place, but typically in between the main 4 “beats”, adding some chaos to the song.

The next 20 or so seconds (starting at 0:50) are purely a bass riff with hi hat hits going at the same time. The most interesting bit here is the snare hits: again, they’re off the main 4 beats, but when you combine that with how normally understated this segment is, it catches you off guard and makes a much bigger impact than the offbeat hits earlier. Besides that, this lull in the song really adds weight to the next bit. Most of the song is running at high intensity, so in order to make the “climax” of sorts in the song sound more impactful, they added a very low key segment before it to build it up by being quiet, ironically enough.

When transitioning to the final part, a quick pause with 2 guitar chords kicks it off, which is fitting for the only part of the song where the drums take a backseat (being in the background with your standard rock beat). I don’t honestly have much to say on this part, just that it’s an excellent release of tension and really explodes into the grand feel these boss fights give.

And that’s Blooming Villain, surprisingly only a minute and a half long before it loops. The rest of the song has some minor differences, but overall I’ve covered the meat of the song here. It’s rather impressive how a 90 second loop can sustain up to 20 minute encounters, but that’s the beauty of variance and pacing a song properly. Truly one of Persona 5’s best tracks.

The ending of Danganronpa V3

Danganronpa V3 is one of the few stories in years that has left me absolutely dumbfounded. When the credits rolled, I was left staring and just awestruck by the audacity and sheer insanity that had just unfolded. But in a good way, y’know?

Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers

So, to recap in case you were unclear on anything: this game is revealed to take place in a universe that is not the same as the original games. Rather, Danganronpa as a franchise also exists in this world, and became incredibly popular, with fans all over the world. Thus, the series kept going and going on and on, as audiences couldn’t get enough of the killing games. People would volunteer to take part in the game, with their memories changed to make them into ultimate students for the show. This is exactly what happened for this game, the 53rd season so far. Rejecting being told that they’re not real, the survivors reject choosing hope or despair (which would keep people engaged and the show going) and destroy the entire false world they’re in, ending the show and choosing to face the outside world.

Whew

So this was… quite a revelation, to be sure. If you told me this is how it would all shake out before going in, I would have said you were crazy, but I guess Kazutaka Kodaka is crazier than I gave him credit for. In fact, many people think this game was him going way too far, saying that the series should end, that he hates the players, blames everyone, and tried to burn it all to the ground.

And I’m sorry, but if that’s what you got from the game, you’re wrong.

But, to back up, let’s examine this argument in a little more depth. Essentially, this argument takes the view that Kodaka (as the requisite figurehead writer) wrote this ending as a sort of “screw you” to the fans, as it casts the mastermind (of sorts) as all the people who keep demanding more Danganronpa in-universe. It then follows that the end of the game is him trying to put an end to the franchise, with it being metaphorically and literally destroyed. Nothing matters, we’re all awful for enjoying it, the end…

But wait. That’s not really what it’s about.

Let’s take this one step at a time. First, is the point of this a screw you to the fans, and does Kodaka really hate us all? No. The point of the game is the dangers of being consumed by media like this. People get really, really into the killing game in this universe, and they lose sight of everything but the killing, the blood, the raw engagement. People simply demand more Danganronpa for the sake of it, not because they get something deep out of it. Everyone’s just focusing on “who will die first”, “who’s going to survive”, “who’s my waifu”. The point is that this is all shallow, the point is that this is all vain by itself, and to make that point, he warped the killing game into a gross and off putting concept. Genuine fan passion is not being shamed, in fact, the loss of that passion is what is being shamed.

Fan passion is in fact something the game shows as a good thing. It shows us a kid who is genuinely inspired and has his life enriched by this show, even. One of the central points of the final trial is ultimately that, while fiction is a lie, it has the ability to heavily impact us and change our lives. That doesn’t seem like something you’d write in a story hating fans, does it? The character asset that they matter, despite the fact that they’re all lies. It’s told that, no, you’re not dumb for caring, and yes, your opinions and feelings and how the games affect you matter.

The people who care, the people who make all the fanart, the people who dissect the stories, they are not shown as the villain. The people who just obsess over hope or despair winning, those who focus on the blood, and the people that care more about the game continuing than the story, those are the villains. During the final “battle” of sorts, you never fight the cosplayers, you never fight the fanfic writers, you never fight the forum creators. You fight the people demanding more. Those people who think they deserve more. Those people who just want you to pick a side so they can have more.

Obviously, we’re all at least a little like that. Hell, I’d like Danganronpa to keep going. However, the point of the game isn’t to point at everyone and say “you’re bad”. It’s a critique of killing game obsession, and the dangers of giving the fans exactly what they want. It’s telling that when the game is talking about the fake Junko reveal, it basically says “What? She’s the most popular villain in the series. Isn’t this what the fans would want?”. Only, that would make for a much worse story. The killing game in this universe became exactly what people wanted; and eventually it became a true reality show, because that’s what people wanted. More. That more twisted it into something vile. And that part of everyone that just wants more is the true enemy of Danganronpa V3.

Danganronpa's Scrum Debates and Musical Feel

Scrums debates in V3 are absolutely awesome. Though I wish they were used more, thematically they make perfect sense, visually they’re a spectacle, storywise they have some nice debating, and music wise, ohhhhhh baby. It’s amazing.

This article is spoiler free. I promise.

As an avid consumer of game music, what I love about it is that it breaks absolutely all the rules that other music follows. Conventional music has to have a structure to it, with verses and choruses and the like (this is good for music by itself, by the by. Not trashing it). Soundtracks to things like movies have to sync up with the movie itself and usually don’t stand on their own as much. Game soundtracks don’t get to sync up to anything, as the player has control, and they have to serve the tone more than anything, as the typical musical progression would make it feel choppy as you play. Essentially, they’ve gotta be background music that sets the tone consistently, and that will still sound good on repeat. Tough order, for sure, but songs like the V3 Scrum theme make it all worth it.

The song starts with a sound pitched down and stretched out, alongside a crash cymbal slowly fading out alongside it, to give us a nice musical kickstart to the song. The next bit is all about building up the debate, with every part of the song working to get more intense as it goes. Listen to the synths in the background for this earlier part first. For the first 30 seconds or so, they slowly start to get more high pitched and distorted while not actually speeding up. This maintains a consistent flow while also at the same time making the song feel like it’s speeding up, building to a pitch, getting more intense. Helping this is the drums, which start off at a slow, steady beat, and then suddenly shift to be twice as fast, boosting this feeling.

To transition into the song proper, we first have the drums double in speed again, twice, until they’re a blur, preparing to make the quick drop into the song more notable. For context, this song’s intro is meant to fit into a cutscene going into the debate proper, and that little pause right before the song really gets going plays the moment before you gain control. It’s just a nice little touch that makes it flow from non interactivity to interactivity well.

OK, so the rest of the song’s melody is mostly just synths and the like. Good stuff, no doubt, with ebb and flow and pitch variance and all that. However, I want to focus in on the drums now. The drum beat is more interesting than you might think at first.

Listen in on the bass drum first (the heavy thuds if you don’t know what I mean). You’ll notice that they will always and absolutely stay constant in the song, no matter what’s going on (besides a quick drum fill once or twice). This is a common sign that you’re listening to a disco beat, which is actually exactly what beat this song is using. This serves to keep the rhythm flowing and constant while letting the song around it do whatever it wants in pitch and style.

Next, listen to the hi hats (the quick taps in the background). It’s really hard to discern if you’re not a drummer, honestly, but there’s a tap tssh tap tshh going on in there, which is a signifier of the hi hat being hit while it repeatedly opens and closes. Video example if you’re confused. This is the 2nd big indicator of a disco type beat.

This beat serves to keep an ebb and flow going constantly, with little variance. It’s intended for dance floors and clubs typically, but here it’s smartly used to add to the flow and back and forth of a debate, and more importantly, to keep the energy up. These types of songs and beats were designed to keep a sustained level of energy up throughout the song, never letting it wane until the song is over. It’s a smart and cool move to apply that to a game, ensuring that the scrum debates stick out in your head as always being intense and memorable.

This entire song is just designed super tightly to evoke a specific feel. Rather than just being cool music, the composers tried to make cool music that slots into how you should be feeling for this moment. I’m always a fan of choosing your genres carefully, and Danganronpa V3’s scrum debate theme nails it completely.

Danganronpa V3's Pink Lies

Danganronpa V3 spoilers below. I’m seriously spoiling like, everything. You’ve been warned.

Colour theming is fun, isn’t it? Pick a colour, any colour, and find clever ways to integrate it into a story, and boom. You’ve got some good theming and meaning behind the basic designs of anything you desire. Danganronpa V3 is absolutely no different. Pink is the colour of lies, deadly lies, in this game, and I wanna look into the clever ways this colour is used. Lies are slathered, no, bathed pink in this murder mystery.

You might be wondering, first and foremost; why pink? Out of all the colours that could be chosen? Pink isn’t really a real colour. Well I mean obviously we see pink, but there’s no such thing as a “pink” wavelength or anything of the sort, our brain just interprets a mix of other wavelengths as pink. Pink doesn’t technically exist, making it the perfect colour to theme lies off of. So with an appropriate colour choice, let’s dive right into the lies.

One of the primary ways lying is incorporated into the game is in the very gameplay. Lying is an option in your nonstop debates now, and whenever you change your truth bullet to a lie bullet, the bullet becomes pink. This is obviously the most direct representation of lies in the game, but we can go deeper.

So, flashback to the opening of the game for a sec. It’s pretty obvious as a glance that all the characters have silhouettes during the character cards. The key point here is that all their eyes are pink. Obviously, keeping with the colour theming, it implies some sort of deceit with the characters, and well, that’s a major plot point. All the characters are lies, fabrications for a long running reality series. The pink eyes are there to point out that none of this is actually real, and these characters are completely made up, in and out of universe.

You wanna get crazy? All the marketing material for the game showed Kaede as the game’s protagonist. As anyone who’s completed chapter 1 knows, that was all a bold faced lie, as Kaede is revealed to be the culprit and axed off soon after. If you’d been paying attention to the colour theming thus far, however, this reveal would have been seen a mile away, because Kaede’s main colour scheme is pink. Her status as the protagonist is a lie, and thus she is dressed accordingly. Her UI is even pink.

Basically, colour theming is hella cool, people. It shows a lot of thought and care going into the aesthetics. Rather than just looking cool, they use the visuals of the game to supplement the very themes and ideals. At the end of the day, the point of V3 is that fiction isn’t real, but it still matters. Shuichi, Maki, Himiko, they all make the decision that while they are technically “fake” characters, what they went through, and who they are now, is very real. It’s in the same way that while pink isn’t “real”, we still appreciate the colour for what it is. And I think that’s a very cool thing to do.