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.

Source

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.

Source

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. 

Source

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.   

A Look at Danganronpa V3's Gameplay

So, I haven’t quite finished V3 at the time of writing this (At time of posting I've finished). Undoubtedly, I say you should absolutely not be hesitating to pick this game up if you’re a fan of the series. Until I’m done, however, I still want to say something about it, so why don’t we dive right into non spoiler topics and discuss the raw, hard gameplay. Well, what gameplay there is.

No spoilers for V3 ahead. Mild spoiler for one thing in DGR 1.

Danganronpa’s never really truly been about the gameplay, even when you’re playing it. The entire point of the minigames was basically to create context and specific feelings in you while you play. Nonstop debates evoke a feeling of chaos, while things like hangman’s gambit and mind dive were meant to make you slow down and feel like you’re thinking deeply. Basically, when I’m looking at the minigames, I’m looking for how well it upholds that principle while also making sure the actual gameplay doesn’t bog it down.

The core of the game’s Nonstop debates have been touched up a bit, in all the right places. The text is a lot more inventive and moving, which is visually cool. “V” spots have been added, basically a “get a better score by hitting this specific spot” mechanic. Never disrupts the gameplay if you don’t wanna bother, so it’s a fine addition. And finally, you can now commit perjury and lie. While highly contextual, it’s a great way to flip the whole thing on its head and is a wonderful addition to the flow of trials. All around, it’s just as chaotic and crazy as ever.

Nonstop debates have also been adapted into mass panic debates. It’s the most simple concept: just run 3 nonstop debates at once and keep your eye on all 3!

Wait, that’s actually insane.

Regardless, these feel like the most chaotic Danganronpa has ever been, bolstered by how sometimes one person shouting can shut you out from the other 2. It’s good stuff.

Next, the sword cross arguments. They’ve been changed you you can slash in any direction rather than 1 of 4, and there’s more of an emphasis on hitting as many statements at once. Really makes it feel more precise and considered, fitting the whole idea of a duel much better. All in all, good good good.

At last, Argument Armament, which are essentially the B.T.A events from the last 2 games. My only complaint with these is that the timing is super, super strict, with no leeway for if you hit it even slightly before, but quite a bit if you hit it after. Overall, a nice way to cap off an argument, if a bit finicky and awkward if you’ve played rhythm games before.

So, the core of Danganronpa is as good as it’s ever been, so like 80% of it is very good. However, the rest of it is, well. Eh. At best they’re OK, at worst they’re just a slog. It feels like much of the time, new stuff was just being tried for the sake of being new, and the results are spotty at best.

Hangman’s Gambit is back, with a pretty much totally different feel to it. While, thank god, the nightmare of 2’s gambit is no longer with us, we instead get a weird version of it which is like 1, but you have to shine a light on the usually hidden letters. It’s a bit slow, not really intense like the first 2 versions, and overall is just kinda there. At least we don’t have the awkward translation nightmare of 1 where you had to guess the *exact* uncommon word (See: schizo).

Mind mine is just sorta… there as well? Every time I played it I went in with no strategy and just kinda clicked away until I got the answer. There’s not much thought you need to put into it. It’s not really *bad*, though, is all. It just kind of exists.

And at last, we get to Psyche Taxi. Hahaha, this minigame sucks. Imagine Mind Dive, but much less challenging, with many annoying delays, and that takes forever. Psyche taxi asks super basic questions that often you just established an answer to, but you need to play through a 4 minute minigame to even be able to answer them. It’s tedious, slow, so boring, and the worst part of V3. No question. Psyche Taxi is just awful...

...Oh yeah. There is one last thing I haven’t mentioned yet. Scrum debates. I’ve saved the best for last, and this is absolutely the best thing V3 brings to the table. It’s just…. wow these are so good. In a lot of ways, they take the same principles from nonstop debates, but instead the objective is now to use other’s statements as truth bullets, instead of evidence. It’s framed so beautifully and directly, and having to find the correct statements to pit against each other really makes it feel like a more focused, considered plan of attack. And they’ve got an amazing theme. Just… good. Very good.

So that’s Danganronpa V3 as a game. While you’re probably not playing Danganronpa for the gameplay, all in all it’s a mostly faithful way to move the series forward. I certainly enjoyed it for the most part.

Mass Destruction: the best battle theme

I really liked that analysis I did on Persona 3’s theme, so I figured it would be just as fun to jump into Persona 3’s well known battle theme, Mass Destruction! 

BabyBabyBabyBabyBabyBabyBabyBabyBabyBaby

...Ok, but in all seriousness, this is a great way to start the battle. It’s like they took the typical *whoosh* sound effect you have in classic RPG’s (and this game too) when transitioning to battle and integrated it right into the music. It’s a jarring shift right before it lands into the groove of the song, and settles perfectly into the gameplay.

We then get a quick instrumental piece before going into the song, with the usual spoken lyrics that often comes with the rap genres. What I really wanna talk about here is the drum beat, real quick. It stays mostly constant throughout the song, and established here is a really quirky and unique beat on the kick drum. Beatbeat. Snare. Beat beatbeat snare. If I’m confusing you, just listen for the beat in the song, you’ll catch it really quick. This is not a typical way to use the drums at all, and really serves as a distinct and memorable way to lay the groundwork for a song full of quick sounds and sudden stops.

Most of the next part of the song is rapping, and the lyrics are more meant to serve a beat than convey a specific message. I’m gonna highlight specific lyrics and parts of the song that are interesting musically or thematically, rather than combing through the entire thing. 

Spoilers in the next paragraph only

One of the more interesting lyrics is “the enemy you're fighting covers all society” (0:22), which quite straightforwardly references the all encompassing terror and threat that Nyx is. Also probably a call forward to The Answer in FES, where it’s revealed that all of society unconsciously wishes for death in some way. It’s a lyric that’s super easy to miss and won’t make sense until you know the full story, but I like it quite a bit.

Soon after, there are 2 quick interjections in the lyrics from a backup singer (0:22):

The enemy you're fighting covers all society

(Damn right)

Mom's not here, gotta fight

(All night)

Really they’re just there to prevent the song from devolving into an endless stream of words and make it more interesting, but damn if it’s not really cool and fun regardless.

Much of the rest of the rapping bit is just some cool sounding words and a nice flow. You’ve got another interjection (0:33):

Freaked out now, and dead on arrival

(What?)

Some lyrics make nice reference to more themes in the game, like “right here, Shadow 10 o'clock direction”, evoking the common clock thematics this game employs. There’s not much more to say about this segment regardless, besides that it’s just a dang good time to listen to in general.

So, the transition to the next part is pretty cool too. The final lyrics Lotus Juice provides for the song are (0:47):

You're the only one, one world, one love

But the battle goes on, Shadows of Mass Destruction

Repetitive use of the word “one” forms  nice flow in your head already, backed up by how this line has no pauses in it, makes it slide through nicely. Finally, there’s a noticeable pause before “destruction”, giving weight to the explosion of sound that’s about to come right after.

With a crash, the song moves into the next part with a very emphasized “Oh yeah!”. The aim of this song, after all, is to provide the player with some great backing music for battles, and energetic jumps like this make is engaging and groovy.

This part of the song is really meant to be high energy, more than anything else. “Da da dada, da da dada” aren’t like, actual words at all, but there’s a lot of energy put into it, as they clearly wanted this part of the song to be that more than any lyrical mastery. The occasional “baby baby” breaks it up and makes sure this part of the song isn’t monotonous either.

And as one final note, the backing music takes a turn for more energy here too. Trumpets are added to the song for the phrases right after the transition. It moves into some twang-y synths afterwards to keep the energy sustained and not boring. And finally, if you listen, you’ll notice the snare drum is louder in this part compared to the earlier rapping part.

And that’s Mass Destruction! An excellent battle theme that feels like it was built to be a battle theme in every aspect. No getting bogged down in thematics, no trying to overcomplicate things, just a few shoutouts to the story thrown in and a killer beat make this a battle theme that you’ll never truly get tired of. Oh yeah, indeed.

Fighting games need more options

I’ve always been a huge fan of the concept of fighting games. I don’t follow the scene religiously, but I love loading up a VOD of Street Fighter or Skullgirls and watching the madness unfold. The neutral game, the knowledge of how difficult the inputs can be, it’s all so engaging and fun.

There’s just… a giant brick wall in the face of many people who’re interested in seeing how this works. I don’t wanna mince words, 95% of the fighting games on the market don’t care about new players. Which, I mean, that’s fine. Starcraft, DOTA 2, etc., a bunch of popular games aren’t friendly towards new players and that’s very OK! The problem with fighting games is the abject lack of any games below that very high level of play. These games will likely be at the top of their field in complexity and popularity because, but we shouldn’t be limiting ourselves to the most complex ideas only.

ARMS is a fantastic example of a game with all the cool parts of fighting games, while also simplifying it a ton so that anyone can start to work on improving themselves right away. You have very few inputs: punch left/right, dodge, jump, block, rush. That’s it, along with all those moves being one button press. Despite all that, the game manages to have an engaging, super complex rock paper scissors type flow, and concepts like the neutral game and zoning are still in full force here.

Which isn’t to say I’m claiming ARMS is just as deep. No, it’s just not as deep as your conventional 2D fighter. Those fighters get their depth by that huge skill wall you’ve gotta climb, and I wouldn’t want to change them for the world. ARMS, however, represents something this genre needs more of: steps in between. We need more games that are less complex and do dumb things down, so more people are able to play them and realize the potential behind fighting games without having to climb a brick wall first. The fighting games with the highest complexity are stunning displays of skill, dedication, and spectacle. I’d really like for more people to be able to climb that cliff.

Burn My Dread is a brilliant theme

So if you couldn’t tell, I really like Persona 3. A lot. And while there is so much I still want to say, so badly, I wanna pull back, and start at the very beginning. Specifically, the first thing you’ll hear upon booting the game up. Burn My Dread is a brilliant opening theme, and I want to go through the entire thing. Song here so you can listen along:

The song opens with the the twang of some guitar chords, with the shake of a hi hat in the background. This is a super effective way to open it, as it gives off an ominous vibe while also setting up a nice tempo and beat for the entire song to follow. Adding in a drum kick halfway through this segment (0:10) is a nice way to slowly ramp things up without it being sudden or jarring.

As the lyrics start up, we get pauses after the first two phrases in music and vocals. This is a nice way to keep the song varied by taking away, not adding, as it’s a noticeable shift when the pauses stop afterwards. It’s also another example of nice, smooth build up, as it feels like the song is being “filled in” more so than stuff is just being added. It’s also notable that the abrupt pausing is still present in the vocals, so you get a nice ebb and flow while not breaking the pacing of the entire song.

Partway in (0:38) we get a shaker sound effect in the background, replacing the hi hat from before with something more distinct and that blends together more. We also get some synths in the background filling out the song once again, lending it some more variety and more importantly, the last bit of musical buildup. The vocals and what’s being said are left to raise it up before the climax of the song. That’s one of the best parts of this entire thing, how well it flows. When something musical is added it flows in very naturally and is never jarring and it knows that lyrics can build something up just as well.

The snare drum beats several times, and the song is name dropped right after as all that buildup is released at once (0:58). The drums aren’t a soft backing beat anymore, and instead are being played as loud and piercingly as possible. Crash cymbals (the loudest cymbals you can use) are now in full use alongside this. The vocals are practically being shouted now, and the lyrics have shifted to a more desperate tone and subject matter, compared to the more descriptive words from before.

The song then takes it down a notch for the final verse, while still keeping that intense feeling in the lyrics and instruments. Rather than have the song slow down at all for the ending, it eventually just suddenly cuts to one guitar chord, and lets that fade out, leaving a very strong final impression of the lyrical and musical intensity on you.

One final note: the lyrics are very evocative, and don’t even try to be subtle at all, which I like. It lets the song be super impactful and meaningful to everyone on even their first listen to it. In the first part, they’re quite literal, describing what happens in the game and the setting. See “dreamless dorm”, “windless night”, “nightly dance of bleeding swords”, etc. It lends it a ghostly and otherworldly feel, especially with how cut apart they are, and once you know how literal it really is, that feeling is only intensified. Finally, the last part of the song wails about the general themes of the game. This is one of those “it gets meaningful once you’ve played the game” things, but it’s carried so confidently that even before that you get chills just listening to it. They know what they wanted to do and executed on it with no reservations.

Burn My Dread is undoubtedly one of the greatest themes I have ever heard. It weaves it’s music perfectly. The vocals are on point in tone, context, and timing. And most importantly, it will stick in your head for how unique and confident it is. Shoji Meguro, man.

Ranking the Sonic games

This article stems from intense boredom and also i needed a day to do something easy don’t judge me

I will be doing all the mainline games, skipping Secret Rings and Black Knight because I’ve never played those. Not much more to it. It’s time to go fast:

14. Sonic 2006

Easy hanging fruit, but honestly this was such a complete and utter mess from top to bottom it’s hard not to rank it at the very bottom. You all know about how incredibly glitchy it is, but beyond even that, nothing about it works. The story is nonsensical and all over the place, the game design pretty much doesn’t exist, and it controls just so, so badly. It’s certainly earned its infamy.

13. Shadow the Hedgehog

I mean, just, c’mon. This whole game reeks of “what are the kiddies in the west into” by some marketing exec. It’s hilariously edgy and takes itself so seriously you’ll probably spend the entire story laughing at it. But the real reason it’s here is the plodding, loose, and incredibly boring gameplay. MMO “kill x number of monster quests” in a Sonic game? No thanks. Add in needing to replay stages for a choose your own adventure type story, and this is a game you should just look up the cutscenes for.

12. Sonic Adventure

Horribly unpolished gameplay with nothing getting the attention it needs. Awful voice acting. Control so loose I swear Sonic’s about to fly out of the T.V. This game is just baaaaaad.

11. Sonic Lost World

This one is just… eh. It’s just so aggressively mediocre. There’s no sense of momentum, you’re either going “fast” or “slow” with nothing in between. The game uses so many gimmicks it’s a rarity to just have an ordinary level for once. The story is very childish and devoid of any backstory or context. It’s just… a 5/10 from start to finish, and I was snoozing by the end of the first world.

10. Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic’s 1st game, the one that started it all, is just… it’s ok. Some of the best stages are Green Hill, Spring Yard, and Starlight, deep and layered levels that are a ton of fun. But zones like Marble and Labyrinth are just so awful they make the game not worth going through, in all honesty. The highs are high, but the lows almost wreck the game. You’ll get it right next time, Sonic.

9. Sonic Adventure 2

This game is great when it plays to its strengths, as in a high energy speed based platformer. Thing is, it often doesn’t do that. Subpar shooting segments and hunting segments bog the entire experience down, alongside a story that just falls flat on it’s face. This one’s fun if you can get it for like under $5, but you’re being ripped off otherwise.

8. Sonic Heroes

Heroes gets this high almost purely because it focuses on one gameplay style for one, thank god. But really, Heroes starts out strong, and when you learn to speedily dispatch enemies and blaze through levels, it can be quite a good time! Sloppy controls and much too long level design bog it down in the end, however. Plus you need to play through it 4 times. Bleh. So close.

7. Sonic Unleashed

Unleashed is confident. Sure, it’s a bit of a reflex based roller coaster with not as much subtey and depth, but it wears than on it’s sleeve. The entire half of the game about going fast is so much fun, and I wish more games would just be open and fully embrace the zany arcadey fun they want to offer. But, again. The werehog. Why.

6. Sonic Generations

Generations is 2 halves: a slightly worse version of Sonic’s 2D escapades, and a slightly less energetic and fun version of Unleashed’s gameplay. Combine those together and you get a pretty fun game in the end, but a bit passionless. It was a relief to see Sonic in a good game, but if you look at it, it’s just that. Only good.

5. Sonic Colours

In the vein of the previous 2 games, Colours is boost based and a pretty good time! It’s got more personality than colours, and the entire game is one gameplay style, so it’s better than Unleashed and Generations. It’s still good! Above average good. But just good.

4. Sonic CD

Ah, now we get to the really good stuff. Sonic CD’s levels are very layered, and the majority of levels are on the quality of the really good ones from Sonic 1. 4 different possible level layouts, with secrets abound to discover. An actual gameplay incentive to keep momentum and an amazing ost top off this quality game. Really good stuff.

3. Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania is a tightly done game. It doesn’t have a real story or much originality. But it’s content to pay tribute to and improve on past levels, and it does that well. Mania feels built up from the ground for speedrunning, and when you get good at it, you can do some crazy stuff. It doesn’t always do it perfectly, but for the most part, it does it very very well. A supreme example of a nostalgia trip.

2. Sonic 2

Sonic 2 is a brilliant game. It’s got level design that facilitates momentum and rewards it, albeit a bit abstractly. It gave us the spindash, a brilliant piece of game design all around. We get iconic levels and a bopping soundtrack. And most of all, we get tails, otherwise known as easy mode, and what a great way to make future 2D games have a nice variable difficulty. All in all, fantastic game.

1. Sonic 3 and Knuckles

I mean, you saw this coming, most likely. Sonic 3 does everything Sonic 2 does, but with slightly tighter levels, and 2 more characters. There’s an actual story with good pacing and nice continuity. The setpieces understand how spectacle should be handled. And it’s got an absolutely legendary soundtrack that’s great to listen to and serves a fantastic atmospheric purpose. All in all, I can’t think of many platformers better than this game.