In the last post, I talked about how the news hit me and how I was processing it. My feelings on it were more a resigned relief than anger and frustration. It has been some time since then; now, normally, when I do start thinking about writing. Something that usually happens is that by the time I even post the article, everything I think has been rendered irrelevant because of new information or changes in the story, and when it comes time to hit the publish button, I have wasted time and energy on a story that is no longer even important. It is at this point that the story goes to the graveyard of my computer for files I have like this in the event something changes or I am just a pack rat.

Well, we’ve been now about two weeks, and the only thing that has seemed to have happened is that things are the same or starting to look more and more dire. Now, with Microsoft continuing with their great reset, if you thought we were in some dark ages of gaming. We may just sadly be at the beginning.

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How did we get here?

I am sure you are thinking, this title is stupid. But it isn’t; in fact, to truly understand how we got here, we have to go back a bit. We have to go back to the founding of what many consider to be one of the best platforms in gaming: Steam.

When Steam went public in 2003, it was in a quagmire with its publisher of physical games at the time, Sierra games was in a legal battle with Valve as they had the rights to sell their own game on Steam. The parent company of Sierra at the time was Vivendi Games, for those of you young-ins who are reading this. This was the forerunner to what you would know today as Activision Blizzard, a division of Microsoft. While we were, of course, on the side of Valve at the time, this was still an era where physical PC games were a thing. As time moved on and Steam got a foothold in the PC gaming community, and also the fact that games were often on sale or cheaper than they were buying a physical copy. Eventually, PC games in physical form faded away. Today, if you go to a Walmart, you might find some shovelware PC games, if you are lucky.

That little thing, though, we as gamers gave a quiet permission that many gaming publishers did not realize at the time but has brought us to this moment regardless. We gave permission in exchange for cheaper games or frequent sales, to no longer ask for a physical copy of games. The fact that the squabble with what is now owned by Microsoft over physical copies of a game...well...

Today, a digital storefront is here and on consoles, and yes, sales happen, but as many have found if they had videos bought from PSN, just cause you bought them does not mean they are yours forever. I want to take a moment and also say, I am not opposed to how Steam works; to me it makes sense that if a product is not going to have a disc, a box, and even marketing for in-store stuff, the price should be cut to reflect that.

I also feel Steam and even GoG are doing a lot of things right when it comes to that type of stuff. They are distributors no different than, say, Netflix or Amazon. While they can and make their own stuff, they provide a platform; if companies want to use it, they are welcome to do so. But that is the problem with digital: 90% of the time we are not buying rights. We are paying an insanely expensive renters fee that is non-refundable and at any point can be taken. It is in the fine print; it has been since the moment streaming started. It’s funny how now people are starting to understand what it truly means.

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It’s too quiet…

Surprisingly, Sony has been facing some backlash since this was announced. I was not surprised about people in the industry or others shouting, where I got surprised by was actually on YouTube. The night it happened, there was a new trailer for some stuff in Street Fighter 6. I decided, for reasons I don’t know, to check the comments. I was surprised to see that there were people leaving comments in the game about owning a physical copy and trolling. Looking on social media at any PlayStation-branded account checking the comments for what has felt like a few weeks now has been pretty much all the internet calling Sony out, and even phrases such as “Play has limits.” Which I have to admit is a great subversion of their slogan.

Usually at this point, a company would put out something, anything, to pretty much calm fears or some PR spin to tell people they were misunderstood. So far, all Sony has done is put out a video on their new fight stick. That has been the most we’ve heard from them since dropping that news. The belief I’ve been seeing and hearing is that if they just stay quiet, something else will come and take eyes off of them. Microsoft sure did try, but I don’t think it did Sony any favors; in fact, I’d argue it just poured gas on the fire. I’ve also been reading that many in the C-suite think that people will just roll over and accept the fact that this is happening. While many of you reading this are going to probably say no.

Let us remember something here: this is the same world that elected Donald Trump TWICE to the presidency!

So, while I hate to say it, I think they’ve got some road to run that theory out, and it be right, we’re still two years away, and a lot between now and then can change. But we have to face facts here, readers: as of 2028, 75% of new gaming will only be accessible on digital platforms. Nintendo is still releasing physical games, but that is not going to be a permanent thing if the path we’re on is holding.

The Clock has started; what can you do?

While I know I am sounding doom and gloom, I am all for people holding any company’s feet to the fire over something like this, but those who are hoping for another crash like what happened in the 80’s, respectfully fuck off. When you bitch about layoffs and crunch time but then have the gall to say we need to destroy people who are making a living off of something like this so you can keep one thing, you’re not a gamer, you’re a fucking asshole.

What you can do right now is decide: do you want to keep following the new games and get the next whatever is coming? If rumors are true, getting one will be like putting a down payment on a used car. While I bought some stupid shit in my life, I don’t know if I could convince my wife it would be okay to drop a grand on a console that will last less than a car we’d have in our garage. There is the retro option, which is where it looks like I’ll be heading, and you can do anything from getting a PC with emulators. To tracking down the old systems and games at second-hand stores and conventions and whatnot.

There is also a rather robust cottage industry that makes consoles that can run older games, and some high-end ones can even become an all-in-one home for your gaming library. There are plenty of options to be had, but the thing you need to know is you need to start sadly thinking about these things now, as when the time comes, if you choose retro and haven’t acted, it may be too late, or demand will cause a rise in prices even more than being a collectible.

With ownership comes great responsibility

“You are the custodian of those films for generations to come.”

-Christopher Nolan

Whatever path you eventually choose, if you have games, even if they are gonna be digital. You are, as the quote above says, going to be holding onto something for others to one day maybe see. It’s up to us as gamers and as a community to preserve these games, as it is clear that unless it can be remade, most companies don’t give a shit about history.

We are lucky enough to have many places doing it, such as here on Substack, and the Video Game History Foundation has also been doing work to preserve things for the history of the medium as well. If you have not checked out either yet, well, now is a pretty good time.

In two years we’ll be entering a world where the past will be tossed away because companies can’t own it totally and make it for rent only. If you are a PlayStation user, I suggest for the next two years, enjoy your gaming if there is a game you’ve been on the fence about getting, and it’s a physical copy. Might be worth it just for the fact you will own it; gaming is still something to enjoy, and we got some good games coming out in that time that could make this era go out with a bang.

When 2028 comes, it may be the ending of something great, but it could also be the start or continuation of something also. We have to decide if we want to be a part of that. Or go to our libraries and pass the time with the games we enjoy or did not finish yet. Whatever it is, at the end of the day, there is something no corporation can take away from you. The feeling of fun and joy that you have playing whatever it is that you are, because you are the one taking that joy, and that feeling is something that can never have a price put onto it. Its value is far greater than anyone will know.

-The Chaos Director

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Movies and TV: Mutant mayhem

Much of the week was spent watching or catching up on X-Men 97; the new season dropped on Wednesday with three new episodes. I thought all 3 were good; I enjoyed the fact that they leaned hard into X-Force with a complete intro and everything for the second episode.

I was also impressed with who they have decided to use this season, as it may imply a setup for who becomes a horseman (aside from Gambit, I am 99% sure that is happening barring some twist I don’t see coming that I’d welcome.) The little nod of the final horseman in episode one was something I did not expect but enjoyed a lot more than I would have guessed.

The animation was, as always, good, and the voice acting also knocked it out of the park. The slow trickle of New X-Men designs is starting, and we got one of the best not classic costums of Magneto yet:

I look forward to the next episode…

Comics: More New X-Men and Ultimate Endgame read.

I did manage to finally sit down and read Ultimate Endgame from start to finish; it’s something I enjoy doing with miniseries or good arcs that I’ve been reading. Also, since it usually comes out monthly, it’s nice to start at the beginning so you can maybe catch things that they will bring up in the last issue so you’re aware of it again.

So the ending was, surprisingly upbeat given everything the universe did and had going on. It felt almost too nicely wrapped up, even with a return that felt like “oh hey, I got better” off-screen.

This also had the companion book called Ultimate Finale that had closing bits by the various writers of the books; the Ultimates one ended upbeat but also showing the world was far from perfect. Also, not surprisingly, this universe goes on, and I will be back to reading at some point. Though I don’t know if it will be as good without Camp involved, as his book The Ultimates was topical to the point of insanity, and felt like it gave the universe its heartbeat and long-form setup needed for Endgame to happen. If the rumors are true, he’ll be exclusive with DC Comics; maybe someone like Joshua Williamson will jump in, though he is doing a fair amount of books of his own right now.

On Friday, I went out since I had a day off and went over to Half Price and managed to get three volumes of New X-Men by Grant Morrison. I wish I could have gotten the first book, but sometimes you gotta take what you can get.

Gaming: This week was hard, man

It’s felt kind of hard to consider the future of gaming at the moment, with the supposed looming end of physical gaming on the PlayStation. I have to admit it took some wind out of my sails to play this week. I managed to play some Star Fox last night during fireworks, but beyond that. Looking at my PS5 at the moment does not bring me joy.

I did manage to get a new game; it is going to be hard to find going forward, as will many a game as time moves on. As I told Ili, if there is a game you want that you’ve been uncertain about. You better get it now before it’s gone. So, with that in mind I got this…

I was going to get on the Switch, but as it was hard to find a copy and this was the only one available locally. It felt like a proper fuck you to Sony, and also supports a developer. So it is, in a way, a win/win situation.

The life report: It feels weird to have time off

So, I had a three-day weekend because work did not open on Friday, and also I did not have my usual Saturday routine. Normally, my mornings are practicing and learning martial arts, occasionally cardio. After that is usually run errands and do other things, and not doing stuff on Sundays.

To be honest, it’s an odd feeling sitting around here on a weekend. I did stuff around the house and got some articles done that I wanted to get done. I have one left to edit, but that’s because Grammarly was fucking up. I took time and have been organizing my office and other such things also. I don’t get time off often, and it is nice to do the clean-up as it feels like you’re cleaning up your life a bit also. It was still weird to not be running insane, but also nice.

On Deck: Some stuff is already done

As mentioned, I had some time to do some things, though not all of it was on the desk…

• First off, we now have a launch window for The Dominant Ones, along with an explanation of why it took so damn long

• We also have begun doing updates to the HoloNet there, such as the history of where our story takes place, the chain

• As mentioned, if you could take a moment and share the project, that helps more than donations would. So, check out the page and if you like it share please.

• Do not fret, though; I did some feelings on what happened this week with Sony over on the desk. I feel a bit of peace about it also; don’t worry, part two is coming soon, I hope by the end of the day, actually.

Well, that looks like a lot happened. Anyway, happy 4th of July if you celebrate, and I’ll be back next week with another blast.

-The Chaos Director

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There are plenty of thoughts and opinions on this, as we are all kind of processing what is coming (if it is coming). I will share those thoughts in the next post, but today I wanted to just take a step back and share something with everyone about this.

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That is simply, if it is heading where it looks like it is heading, I am actually okay with stepping away from current gaming…

As I said, when the news dropped, my brain processed a lot of things, but the one thing that sticks out to me on an emotional level was that I actually did not feel one way or another about it, just a feeling of “oh, so this is happening now.” That is not the feeling I was expecting to have when I heard this news. Am I annoyed at it? Of course, is it going to change things for me? Yeah, probably more than I realize, but the first impulse was more of a shrug than an actual emotion.

I have been spending the last few days processing the news and my thoughts on it, and it always came back to that feeling of indifference. I still get newer games, but more and more are remakes or remasters; is that because I’m stuck in the past and want to recapture something I missed? Maybe it is a little bit, and I am unaware of it going on in my subconscious. While games are coming out that I am looking forward to, they are this year and maybe one or two in the future that are “new,” and even then it is an expansion of something established or a direct sequel to something that maybe has been played out too much.

There does come a time in our lives when we reach something and realize the better days may be behind us in something. It can be anything from a job to a relationship and even a hobby. Realizing that and understanding how this is happening can really impact a person. Many people will fight and try to recapture something in the past to make them feel that way. Others may even try to press ideals or thoughts to a community to bend it to what they think it is or was and used to be. A lot of the chaos and discourse about many things stems from the fact that we as people, maybe even as individuals, do not like change. The one thing we have to understand and accept through all of this, however, is one thing: change, regardless of whether we like it or not, is going to happen. If there is one thing in life that is a constant, it is change.

Sometimes, however, we have to accept the fact that some things are not going to go the way we want, or that no matter how hard we fight, it will do nothing. Sometimes it is easier to understand that the simple action of change is happening. A lot of us as gamers, especially those who value ownership, are frustrated with this concept. Something we all have grown up with and even enjoyed is being changed with no real say from us, the people who have given support and loyalty. We are screaming about the end of things physical, but what we really feel and worry about is the thing we spent money on; we are most likely no longer going to own it if Sony and other companies have their way.

So, if what comes to pass is the end of physical discs, I will be done with current gaming; I will not move past the five and onto the six. Depending on what happens, I may not even move on to a third Switch. I know many are saying you can simply build a PC and side step, but we’re really not, as we are still going to be giving up the thing we are worrying about in this situation, which is ownership over what we have bought. Just because we go to another company or operating system or fancy case, the root problem remains.

When it comes to the future, I am not excited; to be honest, I have not been in a long, long time. Every so often we get a flash of something, but everything now is all so the same that even if I tried a new thing, it is a riff on something that did it before and probably better. As far as progression or evolution of the art of gaming, we have not really moved that way as a whole in nearly a decade and a half. Everything is based on something else; unique art is often derived from another art. So, if we’re going to live in a world where it’s the same thing we did years ago, or if we play online, it is a game that is literally the worst nightmare of the Oasis in Ready Player One. What the hell are we even doing here?

So with that in mind, my wife and I are already deciding what to do; we have a good library and are very lucky to be in an area with a very large and diverse community of shops that can get us books, music, and games in physical form and often at reasonable prices. So if we feel the need to add to our library, it will be easier for us, luckily. I have many a retro console, but I plan on looking around for something more all-in-one so I don’t have to have a bunch of systems sitting out that we have to plug and unplug into the TV.

Many people will talk about the social aspects of gaming, I was always more introverted. I grew up in a rural area and did not have a lot of friends growing up. While many people were hanging out on weekends doing things with their friends, I was often in my room playing through some game, exploring the world, finding things about it, and taking the story and gameplay in. This is not because I did not have friends to do this with; it was something I chose to do because, to me, games are my generation’s version of a book.

So when the modern gaming world moved onto multiplayer madness, I hung out still with Solid Snake, or Samus Aran, Mario, and Link. Not because I disliked multiplayer; it was more because I was enthralled in their worlds like I would have been in a book. When you get done with a book, you close it and set it on the shelf. For some, they collect dust; for others, they will come back by and revisit these games and worlds.

So, while current gaming will move on and be controlled by corporations, I’ll be opening long-finished books and stories once more. I’ll spend my time enjoying them, not remembering old times; granted, there will be nostalgia fix being given, but it will probably be about events in my life or people I once knew. This is the key to a reminder of my past, not the defining moments of them.

I have plenty of things in my life to do as it is, so instead of waiting for a sale or checking what the price is that day. I’ll just boot up a book I read before and enjoy it, and move on to another, and I’m sure there are some I’ve left unfinished. It’s with that in mind that if the changes happen, I can live with this kind of life and still be able to enjoy a passion.

Now, as for what I think about the move and the future...I’ll get to that next post; don’t worry, this one will be more usual anger and cynicism

-The Chaos Director

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Physical: “Bro…what the fuck is this?”

The big adventure of the week has been what came in the mail. Normally, I will get figures as I go out and do stuff. But for some high-end or hard to get things, I will gladly give my money over to Big Bad Toy Store. I am not sponsored by them, that’s how good the service is!

Well, when you do this, you tend to get packages, as I did, and well, when it arrived, my wife pulled it into the house and sent me the picture of Rouge, who had a commentary of her own about the giant box of plastic:

Well, I got home and opened it up, my wife instantly rolled her eyes at what I got, and left me to my own devices. For those who are curious:

Yep, I got more plastic crack, and I opened up the box and was stunned by the size of the damn vehicle, but for more info on that, check out the review coming eventually. Beyond this, not much really worked. Some more on the X-Mansion, and also got Studio Series Skywarp, for now, two of the three seekers from the 86 Transformers movie.

Something odd we saw over at our local Target was that they are suddenly selling Displates, while they are forty dollars. Looking online, they are more expensive, and being as such, we are always team Samurai here. We got this for our house:

It has not been hung yet; we’re still figuring out where to put it, but we wanted to pounce, but as of today, they are still sitting there. So if you were ever curious, stop by your local place and check them out.

Gaming: Taking to the skies and still fighting

The gaming side of things was rather light this week. I did get the new Star Fox, but I am not going to talk too much about it as it is on the review block. But if you played 64, it is the same with modern updates.

Besides that, more Guilty Gear and not much else were kind of quiet this week.

Comics: Goodbye Ultimate Universe 2.0

The finale of the Ultimate Universe is done, and I’m still catching up on it as I wanted to re-read Endgame completely before I finish it off, just only got one issue read so far, and haven’t had time to sit and take in the rest yet. But I will eventually…

Movies and TV: 97 rewatch and Supergirl

Ili and I have been slowly making our way through X-Men 97 before the next season starts. This has been something of a problem as our Disney+ app has been glitching like hell till about this week. So now that it is actually working, we can sit down and enjoy the show. Every time I rewatch this show (I’m on my third), I always find something new to notice in the animation. Granted, this time it’s on our newer TV, but it’s always fun, and also, my wife, being an artist, will point out little things (or I will, since I am a fan).

Along with that, we took in Supergirl yesterday. I know there has been a lot of discourse around the movie. While I can sort of understand a few parts of it, like the pacing (honestly, it could have used a cut of about 20-30 minutes), the young girl being annoying to the point of actually making things harder, but not in a growing way, and even the main baddie being somehow less than paper-thin when it comes to development. All in all, it was a solid movie. But, as I was watching, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “What the hell was the problem people had again?”

Even after the movie, we talked about it, as we were walking, two guys who I think sat in front of us and heard my comments turned back looking at me, stunned at something I said. Now, what did I say? No fucking clue, I don’t remember, but enough for them to turn their heads. These were also two guys who, according to Ili, were talking during the movie like cinema snobs.

I would say, if you liked Superman, you should go check this out. Does it rewrite the superhero movie genre? Nope, but it was a fun time and also made Supergirl actually a character, and gave some insight into her origin and what she had before Earth. So, don’t let the influencers tell you it sucks; it’s a solid 7.5/8 for me. Which was what I expected in the first place. Also, I enjoy seeing Corensweat back as Clark; his deadpan gosh darn interpretation of the character is just fun.

On Deck: First Light review and a plug for “The Dominant Ones”

Coming up this week on the desk, I’ll have the review of First Light, and obviously coming down the pike is the review of the monstrosity I showed at the front. And down the road, also will be the Star Fox review.

Also, pay attention towards the end of the week, as we’ll have some information on Act Two of “The Dominant Ones.” If you want to read it, you can simply check this link out. It’s free to subscribe to, and more content will be announced towards the end of the week.

Until next week…

-The Chaos Director

If you like what you read and want to support me and MNR, check out our Ko-Fi. You can find the link to it here:

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Don’t forget to also check out my ongoing story “The Dominant Ones,” an original story published here on Substack:

The Dominant Ones

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I grew up in the latter half of the 80’s, but probably more in line these days with the 90s style and colors. I’m going to warn you, even if you saw the picture from the preview, your eyes are not ready, so if you need to lower the brightness of your screen, I suggest you do it now.

Okay, you alright there? I know it’s...a lot...I mean, for me, it’s sort of a pre-loaded filter or something, but I get it, that’s a lot of color in your face, and believe it or not, this is actually toned down from the figure released back then.

While not the most iconic of versions, today we’ll be looking at the recently released Ninja Force version of Zartan, and honestly, it grows on you over time to be something of its own.

• Bought: This is a Target exclusive in the United States s,o… so got it at…

• Paid: $25.49 with discounts

• TL:DR: A solid figure, but the visuals and looks will not be for everyone

  ---

Welcome to the land of neon

Zartan looks quite different from pretty much every other version we’ve seen in media to date. Instead of the hood/hair (it’s a debate, trust me) and 80’s advanced techno vibe armor. Here, he’s taken on a more punk or biker vibe. Considering he’s always running around with various motorcycle people, I think this is him just letting go and enjoying, maybe even blending in or making some unity with the group. Granted, the most striking thing is the orange mohawk and eye paint that is slightly Zartan-like. But from the neck down, it looks quite different, and honestly, maybe he was hanging around Wood Oak City fighting Blaze and company, or even Metro City. Look, he is a man of disguise, so perhaps he was in the area scouting talent for the Dreadknoks? Who’s to say, but yeah, he is decidedly 90s in look and in a way that is almost endearing.

What this figure does have with the benefit of time is detail, lots of subtle little changes that stand out. The arm guard he wears has some spikes on it, the throwing daggers can be stored on his left leg, and there is some slight butterfly to his torso, allowing him to have a good range of motion. He also lacks the punching action of the original, which is probably a blessing for all involved.

Though he is more biker than ninja, putting him with fellow Cobra ninjas Slice and Dice, he actually manages to work quite well with the color schemes and doesn’t stick out very much, and if he had a different jacket, he’d probably fit right in with the duo.

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He’s not a ninja, but he sure is trying to fake it...a bit.

Zartan comes with a decent amount of accessories. He has a scythe that looks to have brass knuckles on the handle, two throwing daggers, a bow and arrows that attach, and a drawn bow accessory. The drawn bow accessory is one of the things that many bows in this line has needed; it looks natural and organic and gives it more realism than has been done with the other bows. Such a simple accessory adds quite a bit to the things you can do when posing the figure or making action shots.

Something that I think adds to the whole biker versus ninja vibe he gives is the swords; other figures in the Ninja Force imprint have more Asian-style weapons, where these look like they were taken from a more medieval or even Scottish style of swords. This fits with the biker vibe more than a katana would in my mind, and also, I feel, would be something Zartan would not change if he had to deploy with the Ninja Force. The whole thing is who I am now, let’s make this work kind of vibe, which clashes but also meshes well with the rest of it.

If you’re open-minded, this is an actually cool figure, but also not for everyone.

Zartan excels in all the ways classified should do, but the deco and overall style of the figure will leave many with a bitter taste. It is not the ’80s-inspired sunlight is bad villain we all know, it’s a bit of a rougher, tougher punk aesthetic beast that, while not what we know, I feel fits the character well, given he is a master of disguise. The colors are all over the place, but work well when combined. Direct visuals are not recommended unless you want to go blind. But I have glasses, so I’m good.

Well fuck…

-The Chaos Director

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If you like what you read and want to support me and MNR, check out our Ko-Fi. You can find the link to it here:

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Gaming: Heaven or Hell…

So at the start of this week, I finished First Light. I’ll be posting a review of it soon, but I had a fun time with it. But, it does have some slight flaws against it.

As for the rest of the week, I took advantage of a sale on the PS Store and got some seasons of Guilty Gear Strive. So now I am on I think season 3 of content, I paid, I think what the current one is priced at for two, so it was worth it.

Guilty Gear is one of those series that I sadly forget about a lot, but when I boot it up remember how much I enjoy it. The completely bonkers storyline and anime as all hell character designs work so well together. Add it, this game is packed to the brim with references to music, and it’s a game I should be more passionate about, but forget it exists until I play it. Also, it’s impressive that despite everything, every character does have a unique look and playstyle that feels different and rarely copied.

Alongside that, I added to the switch collection with the Castlevania: Dominus collection. This one has the DS games as its focus, and I was surprised to see how well they translated to the big screen in my living room. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but these games were always good at what they did. I also found the Ecclisa game as something of a hybrid between the metroidvania style of its contemporaries and the stage-to-stage style of earlier games, kind of neat. I mentioned in the Shinobi review how I felt like this was a breath of fresh air. Turns out this was happening long before that game.

Comics: Playing catch-up

This week, my comic reading was more focused on catching up on stuff I had been letting slip to the wayside. I caught up with Transformers and Void Rivals. I also enjoyed the newest issue of Uncanny X-Men, if nothing else, for its B-movie-style alien invasion cover.

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Physical: Another section down, and nothing else for now…

On the physical front, we have another section of the X-Mansion done, so now it is 2/3rds done. Still impressive how much they can cram into it, and also, I solved my problem with the damaged front that I thought would drive me insane. I just put an angry Rogue walking away.

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Beyond that, I got word that my Iron Grenadier Destro came in, so hopefully by next week I’ll have that and an ArchAngel to mess around with.

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On Deck: Classified Zartan and First Light review write-up

Coming up this week on the desk, we will for sure have the new classified Zartan review up, and depending on the work week, I may be able to get the First Light review written up. So we have some stuff besides these posts coming.

Well, until next week

-The Chaos Director

If you like what you read and want to support me and MNR, check out our Ko-Fi, you can find the link to it here:

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Don’t forget to also check out my ongoing story “The Dominant Ones,” an original story published here on Substack:

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And, if you’re looking for me and MNR on various social places, check out this link tree and follow me on your platform of choice:

Links

And you can also reach me by email at Magicninjarobot00@gmail.com

Also, quick shoutout to for letting me steal this idea, also did her version last week named Ili’s Brainrot, so check out what she was up to if you are curious.

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TV: Honestly, not much…

I mean, I didn’t watch a lot this week. I usually had it on in the background. I think we tried rewatching X-Men 97, but due to the Disney+ app on Google TV currently being total ass, we did not get past the first episode.

Reading: Target: Armageddon

Comic book wise, I have been slowly making my way through the Transformers Till All Are One Compendium. It’s four volumes, and every volume is…big. While a lot of the early issues are very basic on premise and kind of sort of using ideas from the cartoon. Over in the UK, they had to add extra content because they were releasing issues weekly. As the original 86 movie was coming up in the UK, they created a story of time travel, surprisingly without a Time Lord.

Target:2006 is an odd way of introducing the 86 movie characters into the story. Unlike the movie, Ultra Magnus takes center stage and is presented as a badass who will grind Decepticons under his wheels while blasting Motorhead from his speakers. Galvatron also gets to have a more substantial presence than Unicron’s lackey in the movie, and also presents a major time paradox if Megs is killed or something during the events. This would be the start of the slow change to making the comics more distinct, though people in the United States would have no knowledge of it for a while still. The writing takes a step up, and personalities become more distinct and unique.

Over on the more modern comic front, we had two this week that came out: Avengers: Armageddon and the launch of the new title in the Energon Universe: M.A.S.K.

Armageddon has been slowly building since maybe late last year in the pages of Captain America and the Wolverine series dubbed Weapons of Armageddon, but the meat of the event has been over in Cap. If you thought Red Hulk being president in the New World Order movie was a bit far-fetched, how about instead leading a hostile takeover of a foreign country, making it America 2.0?

I am not sure how he got there, but writer Chip Zdarsky has somehow managed to be oddly topical for a story probably written months before the Iran invasion, even renaming the capital “Democracy City” in “New America” which should sound like something only a 4th grader would come up with, but then you look who’s in charge and I feel like there are blueprints for cities with that name in Iran we don’t see

The art also looks great, and the plot is explained in a way that is new, reader-friendly, and also if you’ve been reading the preludes does not feel like its crammer in there. This feels special and easily accessible. If you see it at your comic shop, don’t hesitate to get it.

As for M.A.S.K., it was good for what it is, though I feel it doesn’t move the needle just yet. First issues are always hard to do, as you have to do something like a pilot and also hook the readers in for the next issue. While it does this, it is doing it more from a feeling of pay off will come at some point. Though Miles being written a bit crazy is a fun touch, it also feels very Saturday morning cartoon in execution. This is the main problem I’ve had with Energon; at its worst, it feels like this, but when other books like G.I. Joe seem to take a more adult view of things, books like this come off flatter. Time will tell, but if it was not for the universe it was working in and knowing there will be some building of said universe, I’d not be keeping up on this.

Games: StarFox sample size

Over on the gaming side, I checked out the demo of the new StarFox game, and it feels like what I expected it to do. This is very much a remaster, as the included stage in the demo, if you’ve played 64 at all, will feel familiar in layout to the point you’ll hit the warp gates easily in the first playthrough. I will admit the world-building and cinematics do add a sense of world that the game lacked, the scenes in the Great Fox look like a place that is lived in, and the use of tech looks very natural for these characters. The gameplay proves that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it mentality works, and flying an Arwing still feels good. The training you have to go through adds some depth with the introduction of the team spread throughout, and also, Falco being the team troublemaker comes off very well and adds layers beyond “he’s the grumpy smart ass.”

Besides that, I have been messing around in Street Fighter 6. I opted to go through the AI training thing and see how I do. I still find Jamie and Luke annoying, but it’s always fun to grind them under my heel with Sagat.

Physical: The Lego X-mansion continues.

I got the X-Manson LEGO variant a while ago, and the build continues. I tend to do it when I just want to unwind or de-stress after a long day. The build is made of three smaller buildings, and well, I’m 2 and a 1/2 into it. Given its size, the build is rather intricate, more than I expected it to be. There are neat little things that add to the world of the building, such as the backside of the danger room being blown out, which will drive me nuts from an aesthetic point as it can be seen from the front…

I also messed around with the Classified variant of Ninja Force Zartan. Look for a review of that soon here at the desk.

Well, that was the week that was, maybe next week another?

-The Chaos Director

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Before that, however, I want to take a moment and more or less leave this as a disclaimer:

The people who are doing this are doing jobs are they doing them right? Well, that is why I’m writing this, isn’t it? I don’t begrudge people a living here, and I think a lot of us would love to be in the positions they are in with the access and perks we think they get. At the end of the day, it is just that, a job. So I am not going to scrutinize them, as they are just the examples I use. I have no problem with people making a dollar and trying to scrape out a living doing something they are passionate about.

So, when I am going on and on in this article, it is an attack on the way it is done as a whole, not on the people themselves. I’m sure some of them are actually nice people and cool to hang with. So do not take this article as me taking shots or talking down about the people themselves. I want to make it totally clear that this is about the media system as a whole and not the people.

So, with this out of the way, let’s go ahead and talk…

Gaming media people are not journalists.

Now, my whole thesis kind of hinges on this, but hear me out here, in my mind, a journalist is someone who takes the time to do fact-based reporting and or research about something and reports on it. This could be anything from a person at a town hall to the guy who, for whatever reason, chases down accidents and files reports on their websites. Gaming media people are provided with the item they need to make a review on, they are often invited to events and given time to play something in an ideal environment, and maybe even speak to a developer or ask a question or two about the game.

Again, I know what you are thinking, “But Brandon, does that not fit the description of a journalist?” I’d even say to a degree yes, but much of what I mentioned is often open to the public, or they go with the assumption that it will be shown off and provide real-time and as close as you can get to it information. Investigative journalists will also often spend hours doing research into a topic to be able to have it go through extensive scrutiny and vetting before it is shared on a show or website, and provide links and or documents that were used in support of their findings.

A person in the media is often given access in the most ideal or efficient of ways; they are often recorded, and depending on what the host says, can be shown or have to use provided or approved edits before sharing with the world as a whole. For the record, I also throw people in music and movies in much the same area as gaming. It’s given to people who have approved and may be inclined to give a better impression of something that they want people to believe.

The best example I can give in recent memory is Cyberpunk 2077. While it has clearly risen to the standard that was expected when it was launched, it was often criticized and noted for how incomplete it felt. If the gaming media had said something about this, the pre-orders or whatever would have been canceled and money lost. So it was covered up, then complained about by the public and media as a fumble.

We have seen this play out in news media also, and often quickly pointed out by its own about the hypocrisy of it. They are fact-checked and confronted. The gaming media just shrugged and knew what was coming and planned it while also giving it passing reviews, while also somehow complaining about it all at once. When you look at it, this is actually a pretty sweet gig for all who are involved. At least until the corporate overlords have enough.

Layoffs, self-inflicted & should have been expected

The gaming media industry has been hit with A LOT of layoffs in the last few years, either due to downsizing or finding that AI can easily write what they want people to see and have no reason to pay a person to report on things. While I feel for the people who lost jobs, at the same time, the complacency and willingness to go along with the very grift should have been signs that things were going into sunset.

When you play the game and are a cog in the machine, making sure your reviews don’t piss off companies, and that scores hit Metacritic averages needed to get bonuses, you make yourself slowly redundant. The trusted names become solidified, and also, voices that speak against a game for reasons will not be noticed as much. We have all at one point had that gaming website, or if you were around at the time, a magazine that, when we were unsure of what to play or if it gonna be worth the money check the review before we bought it. Trust was built and established, and as time has moved on, many of those sites or magazines were bought up and shut down or merged with others.

I will note, back in the day, when it came to gaming media, you would get a magazine, and they would offer up their own unique spin on things. GamePro had a unique but at the same time childish presentation that felt very at home in the 90’s. Electronic Gaming Monthly, for me at least. Was the one who seemed more professional, cover stories were in depth, and reviews were held to a high standard, and rumors in the rumors section should not be treated as gospel, but were often on to something, you just did not know what exactly. Nintendo Power, well, you knew it was owned by Nintendo, but if you were mainly a Nintendo person, you often got in-depth guides on things or a unique community from them. There was also Tips and Tricks and GameFan, which were full of hints or more offbeat stuff, respectively.

Even when the net came online, you could find many a unique view. GameSpot, through its many owners, had that EGM kind of integrity (back in the day). IGN was that place you went to when you wanted gaming information...and other stuff. You still, to this day, have many independent groups that try to be a niche, but at the same time can be labeled as all the same.

Today, you type in any gaming site, and the unique story is usually from another website, or the game just announced is covered there as it is everywhere else, often looking all very samey and almost looks like it was written by the publisher. While directs have been great, this has also allowed them to begin to slowly remove the gaming media people, as they are no longer needed and don’t even get scoops. People on X of all places are usually reported by the media sites instead of being shared from them. Back in the day, sitting on that information was something like the level of insider trading, and your rival would beat you to it.

The Summer Game Fest 2026 stream should have been bigger news than it was for different reasons.

The genesis of my I’ve had enough of this has come from unsurprisingly, if you’ve followed this stack. Summer Game Fest, I happened to be home when the main event was on Friday night, and having nothing else to do and being lazy, I decided to watch it. My wife had it on in the background as she was drawing, which will become important in a moment.

The games presented overall were not bad, and for once, I did not feel like it was a waste of time. However, as the stream went on, things were going odd, audio was out of sync with the presenter, stuff got glitchy, I even saw ads being fired up, not from YouTube and not even announced on the stream, just happening. Confused, I switched over to another feed. Same shit, just now with YouTube variant ads thrown in. Meanwhile, Ili was watching it on another stream, and they even pointed out that this was not them. The lag was coming from the official sources.

I also noticed that these issues never happened during the big game developers’ videos, but indies? Hope that the money you spent to get a spot was worth it, because I don’t know how many people saw it. This shouldn’t surprise anyone; the whole trick of SGF was always to blitzkrieg the viewer. Hammer them with so many things that they forget the problems. But when I had to change it multiple times, other places pointed this out. We should be holding the group behind this accountable, but hey, look over here at the pretty new thing, ignore that stuttering of your game feed. Instead, we get rage-bait, easy-to-process crap about God of War now having a woman as a main character and how it may be bad or something. While they are doing PR damage control about that, which works in tandem with…

GriftTube, telling you what to think through sleight of hand.

Social media influences work hand in hand with this group, though I feel neither realizes it, or want to admit to it also. The old theory that there is no such thing as bad publicity is augmented to insane levels via the gifters. They scream about something banal and at the end of the day, not earth-shattering, but with clever editing and timed release, put out content that keeps your game in the masses’ minds, while also giving them rage clicks and fueling their channels, which are also powered by raid shadow legends, probably.

There are others, also, who are more or less lapdogs to the complaints who are in the gaming media but classified as influencers. I can remember one speaking out, not sure about Street Fighter 6, only to a few days later praise it as something amazing. Now, for once, he was actually kind of right, but I still think the people who pay him told him to shut up or he loses access to DLC or something. These are also the same people who will make videos about games and tell you how good they are in previews, and also go to private things to test a game before its release, a nice way of paying for a trip, but hey, plug our new game also and tell people how amazing it is. Here is some footage pre-edited, also to throw up there.

We should expect better, but we’re not going to get it.

As I was writing this, I was explaining to Ili about my grievances, and she asked me why I am even bothering with this post. It’s honestly a fair question I’ve been asking myself. I feel like when I post things like this, I am screaming into the void and never going to hear anything back, so why am I still doing this?

I do this because one of us kind of has to, even if it’s in a fruitless effort; someone needs to at least try to sound the alarm. I’m frustrated because of a lot of things I’m seeing are now and have been for a while, becoming very corporate safe and all the same looking shit just with varying shades of anime or gritty. I speak about this because it is my passion, I enjoy it, and I’m mad that it’s slowly being diluted down to a generic all the same paste instead of a nice prime rib. I’m speaking this out because I’m honestly hoping someone hears this, and maybe they speak out, and we find others.

In some ways, it is a continuation of what I started with the last post about Substack. I am hoping to find people who agree with me, and change is needed. I hope others slowly start to realize the sensory overload assault a few times a year, when you step back and look, is the same stuff we had last year. How it’s all paid for and given to us in a strategy to fool us into thinking it’s something that is not. If I keep punching this wall, I know my hand will break, and I’ll use my other hand, and then my feet, trying to break this thing down. If you see something you care about slowly collapsing, you do everything you can to fight for it and try to salvage it.

So, this is why I am screaming about this. Will it get noticed? I’m never sure, but I keep trying, and I hope anyone who reads this starts to realize what I see, and maybe, just maybe, we can try and change things before it becomes just another number in the data mine.

-The Chaos Director

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If you like what you read and want to support me and MNR, check out our Ko-Fi, you can find the link to it here:

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A year or so ago, I wrote a post on here focused on the gaming community and the question of whether we really need to have Substack approval. The too-long, didn’t read of that was no; we really don’t. At least I don’t think so anyway. I’ve been doing my thing, as have most of you, and I thought I’d take a look back. But before we get to that, I wanted to also touch on something I read recently from another Substack that gave me pause and also made me question some things about writers here. So with that in mind, we’re going to start there and work our way to the gaming community again. Trust me, this all links together, so just read so you get the context, okay?

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On the way to the commentary: Substack is more focused on being a social media site than a writing site.

I saw a post the other day from a person who is supposedly leaving this place. They decided to make an article about how they felt the site was too focused on the social media portion of the internet, and not on the actual writing. After a long-winded explanation of that, they announced they were moving to a new site that “focuses on writing more than 1,000 words.” Linking to it and announcing the plans to sunset their own account on here.

Now, my gripe with this is not the fact that they are doing this or even promoting it; that is your right to do, and also what you kind of should be doing to let readers who enjoy your content know. I’ll even ignore the fact that I looked into this site and could not find anything out about the page other than an about page, and no places announcing any information other than their own page. Usually, when you are a site that is up and coming, you’ll find other writers commenting on it, but no, it was just this person, it seemed.

Add to this, the fact that looking at the comments on the page they were saying using AI detectors pointed out the fact they may have been using AI kind of sent some red flags up in my head, but that is not what were here to talk about, the thing I want to focus on is simply this: what is your priority if you are considering this website social media?

Let’s not fool ourselves here; yes, Substack has, in ways, shifted focus more onto the social media side of things with its own in-house social media network, the wonderful “notes” program. I mean, some people post nice stuff and interesting things, others just regurgitate whatever is going on in social media. One thing I have noticed, however, is that there are no hashtags, which to me is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing cause I just write my stupid notes and send them out into the ether without needing to add 2 million hashtags to the note; therefore, less work for me. I like working less.

The curse of this is, we are all at the mercy of the algorithm of this network, you know, the same one that is giving you posts of how people are getting 24,000 subscribers in two weeks and questioning the life choices that led you to your pathetic *checks his own page* 19? The ones that make you stare at the ceiling at night as your family sleeps comfortably and make you wonder if anything you are doing is right, because that robot somehow has 24,000 and doesn’t do anything except 01100110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 01100101 01110000 00100000.

Yeah, those are the ones that’re what you’re roped in with, which can make it hard, but at the end of the day. You are here to write, and you will also share links with other social sites anyway. So, if you’re worried about this place being the new social media and it’s not focused on writing, why are you worried about social media when it’s not the entire focus of the site? (and yet also, somehow is)

I mean, look, if you haven’t noticed, I did not plug the joint cause to me it seems a little too “this is my hill I’m dying on, but subscribe here also” kind of thing. If you’re focused on writing, then perhaps you should just… You know, focus on writing and not give a shit about the social thing? There is, however, one benefit to the social media side of Substack: it allows people with like-minded interests to find one another, and now that brings us to our actual topic!

For what it’s worth, I did not come near the 1,000-word requirement of the other site; even typing this, I am only at 821. I mean, if I padded a bit, I’d easily make it, but we’re not here to pad that.

Substack and gaming: It’s a beautiful world we live in

Chances are, if you are reading this, you found the site by one of two ways: either at Reconnect or through the newly created yellow pages created by . If you are one of those people who have been here from the start or from another place I posted this link from, thank you, and I hope you’ve been enjoying the mess this site has become.

The one thing that most gaming sites have in common is those two pages. Substack, to my knowledge, does not have a gaming category to lump us all into, even though there is a way to select finding gaming posts in the What are you interested in part when you migrate to a new phone. Many, many, many people have voiced this problem on Substack notes, even tagging the people who can make that happen in posts. Now, I like a grassroots campaign, but there comes a point in a battle that you must accept that losses are going to occur. Sadly, I feel we are at that point where we have to give up on Substack, even giving recognition.

It’s a beautiful world we live in, for you, but not me.

Substack tends to get its best and biggest notice from one area in particular: politics. There are plenty of sites like The Bulwark and Chuck Todd, among others, who have stacks here, and that is the audience they bring in, mainly people who are interested in politics. That, sadly, is kind of society now; politics has evolved to fuse with pop culture. Thankfully, we don’t have people pulling grifts here and using clever edits of games or slowing things down to make a thing look bad for clicks. Still, we have to accept that this field of battle is over, whatever the case it is; gaming is not on their radar. Given that most of the people who would read our stuff are probably the “professional” journalists who work for companies that publish their stuff, and this is their little side project. I don’t expect that to change. People looking for newer takes or takes not already bought and given back to us at 70 dollars on a day a review embargo is finished are irrelevant. So, the it’s just us league!

Short side note: For the record, I don’t know if it’s obvious or not, but I don’t think of gaming journalists as really journalists if it isn’t obvious yet. Most go to paid events and usually tow a line they are told to say, and are in the same league as influencers in my mind. Are there exceptions to this thought? Yes, but not very many. Still, I am sure outside of their chosen career, they are probably decent people.

Just us league, ASSEMBLE!

I don’t want to be a guy who is painting all doom and gloom here, while we have to admit defeat in getting Substack to notice us front. We are far, far from beaten; in fact, I’d argue we’re actually doing really fucking well. Let’s give credit where credit is due here, first and foremost: as I mentioned, the two people making it possible for us to find places deserve a lot of credit, and they are still adding people to their lists! Honestly, if you know someone who is thinking about starting up here, encourage that get them into those places. The more we add, the more we grow.

The one thing I always find interesting here is that, even if it’s gaming-related, everyone here has a voice that is unique to them. Some standouts include , who takes a look at things from a mental health range; takes a slower, more nuanced take on gaming, and skews retro but will also throw in some surprises. Everyone here has a unique voice and presentation. Some of us even have a Frankenstein monster site that covers all kinds of crazy crap. Honestly, I have no idea who would want to do a page about video games, comic books, toy collecting, and blog about life all rolled into one…

To me, that is a strength of the community; there is something for everyone, and we all have a passion. Also, a lot of us are really, really good writers. Sure, some people like myself could be a little better about consistently publishing, but life happens.

The thing that also makes us strong is sharing content with each other, commenting on articles, and sharing thoughts with one another, which grows the community we have been building as the years have gone on. Some will be bigger than others, and that’s good, but I always feel that if the community grows and gets stronger, it’ll help the others who are starting get a foundation, build their confidence, and also build their voice up over time.

Remember what I said earlier about the person leaving here cause its more social media than writing? (didn’t think I’d do the circle around, did you?) To me, that is the thing that gives our community some connectivity, we all see what one another are posting, some of us have even done collabs and other things. That’s all great, but I feel the next step to me, anyway, is maybe a communal place that is not in the messages or notes of Substack. Discord could be an idea, especially for gathering together and gaming and such (maybe even uniting the three houses of video, tabletop, and card gaming), but I just got a feeling that Discord is on the way out, but that’s just my take as a person who even now uses it seldomly. There are other chat clients that are Discord. But, I think for an odd way to get some legitimacy outside of Substack, there needs to be another theater opened up. Granted, this is working on my assumption that people WANT to move beyond Substack. Maybe I’m looking at the bigger picture more than I should here, but I feel something is growing here that can give an alternative to our current way of consuming gaming news media.

The New Traditionalists of gaming?

For years, we’ve seen how gaming media works. Something is announced, a game gets a preview, some people tell us how good it is, we get more media about it, then a review comes, and the game they said was great may suddenly suck or vice versa. There are other problems as well, but that is the one cycle that is persistent, companies own the people who tell us what we should like, and influencers are replacing them. Here, there are many voices but no way of getting recognition. Maybe it’s time we break the cycle and share what we feel or don’t agree with. It’s been nice to see so many people review games and share their thoughts, and find them to be often counter to the big gaming media companies and, in some ways, more authentic.

What is needed now is not so much recognition, but community forming. The notes program allowed us all to meet, but we’re just a series of sites that all check out one another. What if those people use the same passion and unite to make a new underground of gaming media? We can make new traditions and come up with new ways to do these. Maybe even make it so game companies have to do something besides poop out a game with a new number beside it every year or so.

That is what I think the next stage of this is; hopefully, we can all figure out what to do to make it work. I’m all in on helping out. I want to see this place and people grow, but I don’t want it to become the same old thing we had, replacing it. Magazines begat the internet, and the corporate mentality is really cementing in a lot of ways. I’d like to see that changed…but we’re gonna have to do it without Substack’s backing and make it work our way.

But that’s what an underground thing or new tradition starts, right?

-The Chaos Director

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If you like what you read and want to support me and MNR, check out our Ko-Fi. You can find the link to it here:

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Don’t forget to also check out my ongoing story “The Dominant Ones,” an original story published here on Substack:

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And, if you’re looking for me and MNR on various social platforms, check out this link tree and follow me on your platform of choice:

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,While I am taking out the trash, Ili’s quickly firing up YouTube and looking for the direct and we wait, and we got exactly what was promised. A new game in the Star Fox series...based on the Nintendo 64 Entry. By all accounts, I was sold on it, I guess so was Blue Sky as, the Furry community decided the rest of the night, to rank the fuckability of the newly shown cast of the game.

I was not surprised, though I much prefer the rapid-fire Jon Oliver ranking system of what he’d tap, as opposed to the in-depth and thirsty commentary that blew up on my feed that night. Look, combined with AEW comments and the fuckability of a fox, falcon and bunny. It was a very strange night on my feed that I tried my best to ignore. Also, before anyone asks, I am not into the furry stuff that just made it in cause it was trending. One of the reasons why; I try to avoid Blue Sky...

Back on track, the way this was announced, as well as the content of the announcement made, made waves. I’ve been waiting a few days to post this cause I kind of wanted the dust to settle a bit before I comment on it. For this post, we’re going to talk about if whether this is a remake, or a remaster. Why maybe we should not be complaining about the fact that they are using 64 as a base. Along with the if the supposed leak is actually real, and why this may be the norm for Nintendo going forward.

Is it a remake or a reboot​?

It’s funny how ages ago, I made this post about what I classify as a remaster and a remake. So using, this as a template. Let’s see where this game stands on the scale.

• Supposedly, the layouts will be the same or close to the same as the original game

• Graphics have obviously taken a major step up

• Cinematic and more world/plot building will be included in this

• Stage layout is pretty much identical to Star Fox 64.

• Multiplayer mode where you join team Edward (Star Fox) or team Jacob (Star Wolf)1

• a Co-Op mode where one person flies and the other person shoots, with this in mind, stay tuned for the eventual stream of Ili and me trying to fly one fighter together over on MNR Twitch.

That is quite a bit to unpack, but also it is not, when you start looking at the finer points. However, we also have to consider what we’re being shown, as it’s been implied that we may see more to do with the wormholes in this game than we did in 64. Also, there could be a few surprises about what is going on hidden in the game. But with the evidence I have seen so far, and what it is looking like. While we have an expanded story, we don’t have a major update in terms of the gameplay (as of yet), and it seems to be more keeping what isn’t broken and no need to fix it. I’d say we’re looking at a remaster, and not a full-blown remake here as far as things stand in May.

I think we can also consider this to be a reboot as well; it kind of feels like this is the way to give the franchise a jump start right now. Everyone thinks this is the best entry in the series, and you want to lead with your best foot forward. While I am kind of sick of remasters that just copy and paste, I’m willing to let this one pass just a bit for the reason that if this works out. We can get a game later that will expand on ideas laid maybe even in assault, or go to the concepts that were experimented with in Command and Star Fox 2. They have a lot of ways to go, but I feel most people like the on-rails shooter mechanics of this series more than the tactical side. So, if we have to stick to one lane, well may as well go with the one that best fits it.

Now, about the people bitching about this being another Remaster (or Redo).

Discourse online about the game has ranged from excited to mixed to snarky. Snarky means a bit of a snobbish response (the phrase I often see is “I’ll just play this on my 64” or emulator). To those who are going for the snark, cool you can play it on an older console or even an emulator. If you’re happy with this, hey, good on you. To be honest, though, I’ve had my fill of these people on the internet, and if I could just wall them off into their own area and never hear from them again. The better society may become.

But we have to deal with these types, so with that in mind, I posted a note earlier in the week about this. I pretty much said if you’re in a glass house. Don’t throw stones, because if I came and looked at your game library, and I see anything with the words “Call of Duty” or “Madden” or anything that is pretty much a newer version of X with a better coat of paint. You are part of the reason Nintendo is doing this. You’ve shown your willingness to put money down on it. If there was no cash on the table, they would not even attempt this. I will even throw games like Tekken and Soul Calibur into this because let’s face facts: most of those games have one or two new characters and everything else stays the same most of the time. So, when you talk about this is the third time they have done this (and honestly, it’s really on a technical level, the second as Zero had several new elements just using the premise of 64, and 3D is actually pretty much a remaster also, and not a remake). Besides, everyone complaining will buy it and just not say anything; a lot of people did it with the Switch 2, so I expect this trend to continue.

Welcome to Nintendo Time

The thing that I feel has actually been missed about this announcement was HOW it was done, 5:55 eastern standard time on a random Wednesday. They could have used this and several other games in a direct, and I feel that if they did this, the game would have probably been received better due to the shotgun spread of content that often fills a direct. It has been one of the spots to get a more in-depth thing, but by the time you get angry about it (if you did), you’d be assaulted with one of the twenty rogue-like indies that appear these days, and forget your anger cause indie is good!

I think once more Nintendo is going about changing the game; they have already started the direct trend years ago. Clearly, they have other games they may be announcing (more on that in a moment), and it is very clear they will just drop these whenever they feel like flexing, or even maybe taking time away from a rival. What if Sony held a direct and suddenly, Nintendo just announces a new Mario game about halfway into the thing? A lot of people will switch over to that, and all the momentum of the direct just got flushed down the drain. Nintendo actually kind of did this that day, in fact. There was going to be a direct of the game Stranger than Heaven, but it went on, but maybe if that Star Fox Direct did not happen. Would people have been talking about that instead?

It will be interesting to see how this part of it plays out. If Nintendo wants to get into the thick of it and play dirty, they could ruin a competitors showcase just by announcing a mega game at any point and take thunder from it. Is it likely? I’ll be honest with you, if this game sells, and this was a test to see how effective it is to market something like this. YES! They will be doing this more, remember these are companies, and once more, not people; they exist to make money, and if it proves effective. You can bet your ass we’ll have a much more intense and frequent directs on games instead of what we got now.

So, it is with that in mind, welcome ladies and gentlemen, to Nintendo Time, where games are made up, and the points don’t matter. You can be at work, at home, or even in your car or staring at a wall. You don’t know when, but suddenly a notification shows up, and you have five minutes until the next big Nintendo game is announced. The Doctor won’t be even able to predict this one…

Now about those leaks…

A few months ago, a leaker alleged that Nintendo had some stuff lined up, and included in that was a new Star Fox game, along with something else: a proposed Re-Something (cause we don’t know yet) of Ocarina of Time. When I read this, I shrugged it off and thought, “Oh, another rumor from someone on X.” I feel like many of those, even the ones who have history, are easy to ignore because it seems like the perfect X/Grift-tube thing to do: stir up hype and pie-in-the-sky dreams to get attention and likes.

I still think this is true for many of those, but so far they are on the board of being right, so that does beg the question about what else they said is true. They were right about a new Star Fox, and a lot is coming out this year that we still need more info on with regard to what other companies and developers are working on. But now, at any point in time, we could get an announcement sent to our phones telling us of the next leak being right. So, is this person gonna be on the board up two to nothing? Or is there something else coming up, because Nintendo Time clearly is any time now? And we could be doing the evolution of marketing.

I guess we’re just gonna have to wait and see…

-The Chaos Director.

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The Stats:

• Platform: PlayStation 5, same as it ever was

• Paid: Was acquired as part of the ultimate edition of the season pass, but can be obtained via the use of Fighting Coins.

• Played: I played with him in online matches as well as the arcade mode.

• TL:DR: Alex is an interesting take on the wrestler trope in fighting games, though his best moves are hidden behind a steep learning curve.

  ---

Before we move on, a quick word about C. Viper:

While she did not get her own spot in the Downloadable content format, I wanted to touch on her for a moment. I know some of the other seasons I missed characters, while I played them, there is one thing I should say: sometimes, I don’t do one cause I don’t find them interesting enough to keep playing long term. This is a style choice, and as such, while she may not be for me. She may be, in fact, a fighter you like.

There are things I liked about her style of play. I liked the fact that meter management was actually something you had to pay close attention to. Some of her moves to work normally require some use of the meter to execute, a fast double jump costs you meter, some of her moves actually work like doing a drive strike just in her own way, and are more risky cause it can be overpowered more easily than a normal drive attack.

She’s also speedy, but I don’t like the layout of her commands, and my instincts just do not click with her. However, she is much better than she was on her first appearance in Street Fighter 4. While not a character I revisit often, she is still an interesting one to study and understand.

Enough Zero Hour, how is he?

Alex, like his other appearances, has a style based on “Pro Wrestling,” Though I feel that term is more of a catch-all in this appearance due to past associations. He has moves that fall into that, and he had motion capture done by Kenny (BAGAWD) Omega. That is where I feel the aesthetic ends; in reality, I’d argue he is more in line with a grappling or submission style fighter. This becomes very apparent when you begin to understand how his chain commands work, moves flow into grabs and throws. Especially when in his power stance, which opens up paths for counterstrikes against offensive moving enemies. He can come from under and throw you to the ground, strike from above or from a punch and hip toss you back down, or can even jump at you and reward your aggression with a DDT. Add to this a flash chop to snap dragon or other moves, and Alex, when you understand what he can do, is a deadly weapon.

There are, however, limits to this. In his power stance, you expose yourself to projectile moves and can not absorb them as you would otherwise, requiring you to eat it or time a jump over right and pray you don’t walk into a follow-up. While he has strikes that are powerful, a well-trained user of projectiles will wind up being a nightmare for you to work your way through, still beatable, but it’s gonna be a closer fight than you’d probably have liked it to be.

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Getting the championship belt is gonna take time.

To play Alex is going to require a player to actually know how to control him, it’s actually kind of refreshing to see a character who seems more built for the “Classic” style controls to “Modern” I don’t play on modern but I feel while you’d get all the flash moves and can spam them, people are going to run circles around you when they realize they can just hold you back in zone tactics. Alex lives, dies, and thrives in close quarters, and he’s someone you have to learn how to use well. In fact, when I was playing other fighters using him. I discovered there were other moves to learn, which sent me back to the practice mode to find what they are and how to use them. Alex is not a “press button to hadoken” type of character, and he is not the murder machine that is Sagat. But with study and awareness in your hands, he could be one of the trickiest characters to master and use.

Another strong suit is that he’s very strong anti-air with moves that can catch a person mid-flight or mid-air move and slam them back down. It has a wide window to grasp, and as mentioned, his upward strike in his power stance can lead to a new chain, so people who speed around the screen via jumping should be very wary of him.

Finishing moves, flash and substance

Alex’s supers are varied and fun to use. He can take you down with a spear, but he also has other moves to make your life painful if you get caught in them. His second-level super is a nod to the Razor’s Edge, along with a hidden chain that, after a snap-dragon suplex, sets up for his own version of the One-Winged Angel. His level three and critical art are interesting in that they are a leg lock and a sleeper choke, respectively. I found it honestly fun to put others into the critical as it ends not with a big display, but instead a simple tap out. While many may not like this, I think it’s one of the more clever finishers in the game. It is also in line with his character; he can go flash when he has to, but at the heart of it, he uses a simple, effective style.

Hoisting the championship

I was surprised how much I enjoyed learning Alex, while I expected to enjoy him, I found his style and moves more in line with me than I realized, to me it was innovative, and once finding other chains actually made me want to learn more and hunger to master it. In online ranking, I made it after my new challenger status to Silver rank, knocking on gold. He easily fits into my main deck of characters to use. But with his technical gameplay and learning how he controls, he’s still being mastered. As I said with Sagat, in the right hands, Sagat is walking death. While he is not as powerful as he is, Alex strikes in much the same way. Where Sagat is just brute force, Alex is finesse; mastering him has been a rewarding experience, and if you like to get up into people’s grill, you’ll have a great time with him. Just remember that you need to be mindful of people who know how to control the space and learn how to use their moves to maximum effectiveness.

-The Chaos Director

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It is in some ways a review, but I think of it more as I think you should read and why I enjoy it, as opposed to a deep critical dive into something. Reviews to me are more of a start to finish kind of thing; comics are unique in that, in a lot of ways, even if a story ends, the overall plot and character continue under a new writer or maybe a new way of viewing the character, and is often launched shortly after one thing ends.

I also tend to share opinions on series after a story arc or two ends. This is because many comics I read are bundled into trades and have a beginning, middle, and end kind of vibe, and some arcs work better than others. So if I give an opinion, I try to do so after I feel enough is there that, should you take my recommendation, you can find it easily when it comes to your local bookstore. That said, if you can’t wait, more than likely your local comic book shop will have back issues and the newest available, or can acquire them for you in a short period of time. So if you can’t wait, get out and support your local shop. You can use this handy site to enter your zip code and find the shop nearest to you.

So, what exactly do you read or suggest to the mighty reader of small books?

Damn, whoever writes these intro titles is really aggressive...someone needs to check that guy for issues or something…

Anyway, I tend to stick to the more bread and butter kind of books. I read Marvel, DC, and a few indie things, but they tend to stay in the superhero or superhero-adjacent genre.

In this post, we’re gonna talk about a few things: Is the Energon Universe starting to stall out? How the Absolute Universe beyond Batman is actually looking quite good, maybe the X-Men are starting to step out of the shadows. Finally, going to wrap up with some thoughts on the first issues that could be your next fave read.

Energon Universe has been going strong, but there are signs that it’s beginning to stall out.

All the way back in 2023, the first issue of a series named Void Rivals came out that, while beginning its own story, also let loose, depending on your attention to coverage, a big secret: The Transformers were starting in a new continuity, and they were going to be joined by G.I Joe in the same universe. A few months later, Daniel Warren Johnson showed off his take on the giant robots and started a run that lasted up until this year and was a critically acclaimed story that, while self-contained, also laid seeds for other books. They also began a slow rollout of the G.I. Joe license with a more horror-fueled “Cobra Commander” and the man on the run spy thriller “Duke,” each one laying groundwork and more world-building, eventually leading to the official launch of the G. I. Joe book.

A lot has happened since then, and to my surprise, the sometimes off Void Rvials has begun to get some steam, intertwining with the Joe side of things and Transformers in interesting but logical on paper ways. The Joe book proper has been knocking it out of the park, mixing main line plot points with one-shot recruitment issues that work in a B-plot line story that is going to eventually meet with the main plot. Then we get to Transformers post Johnson, and...it just feels so out of step with the rest of the universe. While they advance the plot, they are also now introducing other threads and also seeming disjointed from reality with G.I. Joe, which seems like it’s trying to distance itself from the plot threads as the Joes slowly move towards meeting the Autobots in their own book.

If I were to recommend a book in this universe right now, it be G.I Joe as I feel that it is the more interesting book in terms of development and character, Transformers which has the plot device the universe is named for, while always kind of doing its own thing feels like we’re slipping back into the 80’s tropes and even some old Transformers comic tropes as well, and has begun to feel like an episode of the show with some “darker” edges instead of establishing its own voice.

While the collision of the two brands is going to be interesting, I fear the universe is going to soon resort to nostalgia tactics instead of adding new things to its take, and with the introduction of M.A.S.K., looking and looking like it’s not going to add anything new beyond the toys from the 80s. I may be dropping a few books and sticking to G.I Joe in time. I just hope I am wrong.

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The Absolute Universe: There are things going on besides Batman, and they are better!

DC Comics had begun the Absolute Universe in 2024. In the books, it was a storyline that Darkseid had taken an alternate universe and became that universe’s big bang, for lack of better detail, thus everything in this universe was coded with Darkseid; if there were heroes, they would have more of an uphill battle to actually make an impact because of this. While the critical darling of the universe is “Absolute Batman.” It is not the most amazing book; in fact, I’d argue the concept of heroes stripped of their regular tools and assets was largely ignored by Mr. Wayne. Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman have undergone more drastic and, honestly, more interesting changes. Superman is set up as typical alien out of water, but with a more blue-collar vibe to it, and his suit has a built in AI that mimics his classic cape, along with interesting twists on “Ra’s Al Ghul” (I am using quotations cause I am not convinced its him honestly.) and a much more erratic and mad scientist vibe of Braniac that leads to some quite intense plot points and eventual battle of Smallville.

Wonder Woman, meanwhile, has been raised in hell, sacrifices her arm to get Steve Trevor back to the living, rides a skeletal Pegasus into battle against an eldritch horror, and is also more magic-powered than your typical magical girl anime. As Ili said when I made her read the first issue: “This is the Disney princess from hell, and I want more. When does the next issue come out?”

That is just the opening salvos of this universe; they have since added Martian Manhunter (written by Deniz Camp of “The Ultimates”), Flash, and Green Lantern to the line. Green Lantern even upends much of the lore and powers of the rings. Also, keeping with the thread of evil will always win. The one-shot “Absolute Evil” ends with a big reveal and twist that cements this is not gonna be an easy time for the heroes of this world...if they even are heroes…

The absolute universe, at first, I was not really sold on, but as time has gone on, I’ve become a convert, especially with Superman and Wonder Woman, two characters I don’t even read from the main line, are on my must-read list every month. Everything seems measured, and also feels like there is a real creative freedom and a willingness to take chances in this new landscape. If you liked the OG Ultimate line of books, I would say give this universe a shot; it’s very accessible, and you can easily find out when new arcs begin because they tell you on the book itself, usually. I’m not sure how much mileage the universe has outside of three years, but if they can keep the quality up. It can be a major game-changer.

Oh, and that whole Darkseid thing and the corruption of a universe? That’ll come up in a future post where we talk about the events of K.O. cause that was an interesting tease at the end...

The X-Men may be stepping out of the shadows of mediocrity.

So, I’ll just be up front here before I get to how the X-Books have been lately, the one clear winner is Uncanny X-Men, if you are going to get one X-Men book from this new era make it this one, it is a contestant fun and engaging book every month and largely ignores a lot of the problems I’m about to go over.

The “From the shadows” era began with the ending of the Krakoa era, and if I am being honest, here. We need to grade this arc on a very generous curve. This is like following something huge like Empire Strikes Back, or Final Fantasy 7, not saying those that followed suck, but it’s pretty hard to reach that brass ring a second time. It was a small group of books that ran this, and while it was setting up things, the books were mostly engaging. I mainly read Uncanny and the “X-Men” book. Then, around the holidays, Marvel launched the “Age of Revelation,” an event that was like “Age of Apocalypse” light, just with a lot more mini-series to read if you cared.

The concept was interesting, but knowing it was a one-off event and also the sudden glut of books the universe did in three months stunt felt more like a burnout than an interesting alternate future. Leading to an ending that was a thing, and while one idea from that has made it through and may finally give the “X-Men” book some actual weight to deal with. The rest of the books have pretty much ignored that whole story. For the record, you should also.

That leads us to the “Shadows of Tomorrow” arc, which, again with the main book, gives some weight but also expands the books being released as well as some more interesting one-shots. The book I’ve enjoyed the most of the new ones is “Inglorious X-Force,” because of how nineties the basic idea is. Of the books that started, the always steady “Uncanny X-Men” is still killing it, and “X-Men” now has a villain, and hopefully actually do something besides make Magik and Juggernaut the demolition division of mutants, not that this is a bad thing; their dynamic is actually carrying the book right now.

While it looks like the mutants are finally starting to get some direction again, I’m still cautious on the story in general and hope that Marvel doesn’t fumble the ball as they did for years before Hickman kicked off the Krakoa story.

First Shots: Iron and Knights

Let’s wrap up with some books that are just starting, or are at the end of a first arc that has me impressed enough to give a recommendation.

Iron Man

Iron Man is naturally a popular character, recently relaunched with a new # 1 written by Joshua Williamson, the guy who has been the force behind the current modern G.I Joe comic. The concept is very simple: what if someone tried to recreate the events that pushed Tony Stark to become Iron Man? But then, this person was under the influence of a group or persons that had bad intentions instead of trying to save the world? The first issue gets the basic idea out and also gives a good dose of action and humor as well. The art by Camron Carnero is also stunning, and the action beats are well-defined and easy to follow along, and most importantly, look cool. It’s a good “pilot” comic as I’ve seen in a while, and I’ll be sticking around to see how this is going.

Batman:

Batman, while stuck in the limbo of “Hush 2” because Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb move at the speed of paint drying, had to launch the restart before it finished. Under the writing of Matt Fraction, who is best known for his run on Hawkeye (the one the live-action was based on), as well as runs on Invincible Iron Man, to name a few others. The setting is one that puts old Bruce on a back foot between Vandal Savage, now in charge of the Gotham Police, and Pamela Isely, being the Mayor of Gotham, oh, and Jim is once more a beat cop. Add to that love life and Damien being Damien, and it makes for an interesting personal life. The first arc ended, but all signs are pointing to the pedal on metal and showing no signs of stopping, and also the Joker being in an interesting position, and also remembering some things.

The overall thing I will say about this book is that it is just fun, not trying to be dark for the sake of dark or action for action. This might be one of my recent favorite lines in comic books as of late:

I’m looking forward to seeing where this book is going, and we might be seeing a seminal run starting.

Well, that will do it for this edition of off the rack. Anything you’ve read lately we should be checking out? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll see you all soon.

-The Chaos Director

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This was on the cuff and (very obviously) not rehearsed, also, just a stream of conciseness that is now on the internet forever to mock me.

If you want to see more of these, let me know in the comments. If you just found this and want to see what I write, don’t forget to subscribe also. I’ll see you all maybe in the next one…if I’m allowed to post again after this…

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We have had a lot of new people checking out here lately. If you have not checked it yet, you may want to check out this post, where I go into more detail about what the desk of chaos is about, since I am the one who posts on it the most.

For today’s post, we are going to cover what Magic Ninja Robot is, some of the history, where you can find like-minded projects, and a general sense of things. This is going to be posted under the “editorial” tab so it can be referenced in the future, along with some other things that have been posted about MNR and the guidelines I run the desk by as a whole.

So, without further padding, let’s get into this…

What is Magic Ninja Robot? Is it some form of Voltron-like combiner that smites evil and wins the day?

Well, I mean that sounds cool, but it’s nothing that impressive, sadly, and depending on who you ask, maybe we’re the monster of the week that needs to be smiting.

Magic Ninja Robot (or MNR) was started roughly in August 2022. It began life as my wife wanted to stream on Twitch, and wanting my input. What followed was trying to come up with the name for the channel, and enjoying things that should not go together. I said the three words. They all kind of clicked as we like all three. For those who prefer the deep dive:

• Magic: Ili is more into supernatural and horror, also a fan of magical girl anime and those types of things

• Ninja: I’ve been doing martial arts for years, and well, I do like ninja games if looking into the backlog of reviews.

• Robot: I mean, everyone digs robots…I’ve heard even chicks dig them.

So we had a silly name, and we have a talented artist. We began life as a simple twitch podcast. By simple, I mean Ili made PNG tubers, a background, and all kinds of crazy shit.

As time went on, we also added gaming into the mix, using said PNGs as avatars. We were joined by two others at the start, but as time went on, the channel was having a lot of behind-the-scenes issues I won’t go into here. Ili is still the head of the group, as it was her idea, and we decided to part ways with the other two we had in our group. So ever since, MNR has been a duo.

We have since slowly moved MNR from only doing streaming to more of a collective name for myself and Ili to work under projects together, as streaming was always meant to be a start, but we slowly moved into other ventures that we wanted to do. Today, we use the logo for our projects and anything MNR usually has Ili and me involved.

So what are these things you do together?

Well, at this point, it’s more or less anything with a creative drive. The desk, as mentioned, is an MNR project, and sort of the written version of MNR stuff. Ili has posted on here occasionally. However, she also has her own space on Substack that can be found here: .

Ili is actually a rather prolific artist in her own right, long before she met me. If you want to look at some of her stuff, you can do so at her mentioned Substack, or check out some of the characters over on Unvale.

Ili on Unvale

As mentioned, we also have a Twitch channel, we use to do a podcast there, and eventually I plan on doing some gaming streaming there also. Anyway, if you want to check out some of the stuff there or want to follow in the future. You can check this button and give us a follow. We also have a YouTube channel, but there is nothing really there that is not archive of other things. So yeah, we’re more likely gonna be on Twitch than there.

MNR on Twitch

As for on Substack, well, we actually have another one: We are working on an original story created by Ili and me. I do the words, she does the pictures. It’s called “The Dominant Ones,” and the next part is launching soon. So if you want to read the first act to catch up or re-read cause it has been a bit. Follow this link and subscribe today. It’s all free for everyone now, even the world-building stuff!

The Dominant Ones Substack

If, for some reason, these were not enough links, or you want to check out our various social media pages. You can find them here:

MNR's LinkTree

Is Ili available for commissions?

Indeed, she is. Just because she’s doing the art for 2 Substacks, a story, and a Twitch channel does not mean she won’t help you! You can message her on Substack or me to get hooked up. You can also send us an inquiry through Email at Magicninjarobot00@gmail.com

Her rates are reasonable, also, and she has done graphic design for a lot of people and places. But, I’d let her tell herself more about that. But if you need, say, a logo, a PNG done, or want a fan art done by her, just drop us a line, and we’ll see what we can do to set you up!

You seem like an interesting duo, and you seem to be able to stand upright for long periods of time without falling over. Is it possible you could collaborate with us?

I think we can do this, but as for availability, I only speak for myself right now. Sadly, we also need to make what some call the “human monies” to pay rent, power, and all that. Also, we got to feed the pets; the last time we didn’t end in a standoff that required police intervention…who knew cat eyes could turn a swat team?

So for me, it’s pretty simple, if you want to collab on something or want me involved in helping you with a project. Today, I am announcing that the Desk of Chaos will now have office hours. I have an office now, so I guess I need an hours sign also, right? Hours are on Eastern Standard Time in the United States, and are going to be on the following days:

Tuesday through Thursday: 5 pm to 8 pm

Saturday: Afternoons and evenings, by appointment

Sunday: Mornings and Afternoons, closed after 8 pm

Monday and Friday: Closed

These are the times I’d be able to collaborate with streams, maybe want me on a podcast or whatever. While I am rusty at it. I also did play-by-play of fighting games back in the day. So if you need a person to do so or just an announcer, I can do this also.

I am open to a lot of things, so if you’re thinking of me for something, just send me a message on Substack or by email, and we’ll talk and see if it works. I should also mention hours can change, but I’ll try my best to update here if they do in fact change.

General inquiries about Ili and me for collaboration should be made through the MNR email, so we can see them. If you want me, message me, and the same goes for Ili. But, if you want us both, I’d say send it there so we know it’s both of us you want.

Well, what if I just want to give you money just because I like what you’re doing?

Man, I could really use friends like this guy…free money, why not?

We do a lot of this stuff cause we like to do it, but we also have to turn attentions towards things to make a living. We generally don’t ask for money, but we also are not gonna turn down any if it came our way. We used to have The Dominant Ones with multiple tiers, but that got to be a headache to manage, to be honest. So we have instead opted to see if you like what we are doing and can do so. We would ask you to consider donating via our Ko-Fi.

The money will go towards improving our work; any money we get gets funded right back into MNR as a general fund for right now.

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I hope that helps out with explaining a bit about what Magic Ninja Robot is in general is about, its history, and how you can help us if you can do so. The one thing everyone can do that is free is even easier: SHARE!

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That’s all we got for this. Thanks a lot for reading, and again, for any questions, you can send an email over to MagicNinjaRobot00@gmail.com We’ll be seeing you all around.

-The Chaos Director

Ghosts of Yotei is a game that, when it was announced, I thought was interesting, but I never made it a priority to get it. I figured I would get it at some point, but it just slipped past my radar. I enjoyed the first game, Ghosts of Tsushima, but did not finish it as it felt like it was a rinse-and-repeat kind of game loop. Those are normally not a big deal for me, but if I don’t have a reason and the game’s story is just not pushing me forward. I tend to move on from these types of games. So when I did get this game, I had to be honest: it looked good and even fun to me. But I just did not expect much from this one. Well, boy, was my face red as I got sucked into this game, cause what resulted was one of the best games I’ve played in the PS5 era, and also one of the games to best realize a lot of the features of the PlayStation 5 in general.

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The Stats:

• Played on: A basic PlayStation 5

• Paid: This was actually a gift given to me, so I spent nothing.

• Bought at: The world of dart boards (they like the color red)

• Played: Finished the game’s story and a whole lot of side quests.

• TL:DR: Yotei delivers on the classic revenge story trope through its good use of gameplay and immersive atmosphere that carries a simple story and delivers a very unique and engaging experience.

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The Revenge plot trope

Ghosts of Yotei follows the exploits of Atsu, who we learn in the opening scene is hungry for vengeance after her family was massacred by a group of people known as the yotei six, like some sort of samurai era legion of doom, they plan on taking over the Ezo region and make the leader Lord Saito a shogun of the people, using propaganda and promise of being made into samurai to fill recruitment...you know writing this, does sound very topical...and that worries me…

That is really all you need to know about the plot, the rest unfolds and look I won’t say it was a clever reinvention of the wheel here, you can see a lot of twists coming if you pay close enough attention, and it does add some layers to the plot with characters that are well written, the ending will leave a satisfying yet bitter feeling in you, which is a good thing, it does make you question just how far a person should push and also the consequences of choices those people who take this path take. While also showing you how maybe an outsider sees the person who just killed a bunch of people, all in the name of revenge for people who, at the end of the day, will not be remembered, and the selfish mentality vengeance can give a person.

What this game also excels at is the little stories told along the way; many side quests have a weight you rarely find in a game like this. The small ones, while small, do have a narrative ending like a short story. While some side quests that feel unfinished creep back up later in the story and add layers to a character, that can happen in a war situation. Every character feels like they have a purpose in the story, even down to the inventory and store NPCs. It all feels organic and purposeful beyond unlocking a new resource or weapon.

Bounties even feel like big events, which makes beating them all the more wonderful; it feels like something you’d see in a movie or show. Even some bounties go differently than you think, which adds to the unpredictability. Some even have a possible supernatural element to them. As for as world building narrative, no stone is unturned, even weapon skins you acquire have a story behind them, all in just a few sentences.

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Visual storytelling that works when it works, but it does get tiresome.

The visuals are a mixed bag in this game. Yes, it is true that a samurai or even stylized Japanese game in this day and age actually does have an odd standard to live by. Though what makes this game stand out is that the design is more of an old-school style samurai aesthetic than it is a modern anime take in a visual medium. This is very much a western developed game. The style does not hide that and also makes it stand out in a very crowded field of stylized manga and anime-influenced stuff we normally see from Japanese-based games, so in that way, it can be refreshing.

When you first arrive in various locations, they look amazing, and traversing the cold plains of the ridge does feel like you’re actually in a snowstorm with the wind blowing snow, and also, the higher you get, the colder the atmosphere becomes. After a while, the visuals begin to get repetitive. This, however, is countered by the character designs, armors, and other aesthetics you find in your journey, allowing you to craft looks and play styles as well. I had one build made exclusively for combat, but I was also able to make a build that allowed me to bring silent death and clean out a location from the shadows that was both challenging yet satisfying when I finished my quiet death march.

For those who want to add some extra style to the game, there are many filters that can be applied, from the Kurosawa black and white filter to even a stylized one based on the creator of “Cowboy Bebop”, Shinichiro Watanabe. While they are fun distractions and can even be set up in the photo mode to be used. I felt that constant use would slowly turn these into an annoyance, well, maybe not the black and white mode, but the others were just fun one-offs.

Immersion on the next level

Another neat little effect is that Atsu, at times, will be able to sit and take in picturesque scenes where she will sit down and paint. This allows the PS5 controller’s touchscreen to shine as you are using your finger to paint these vistas, adding to some immersion into the world, and also using tech that I’ve found many games tend not to use effectively, and also in new ways. When you upgrade your stuff, you are using the controller to hammer and feel the haptics as you hit the blade you forge.

Earning your belts

Unlike the first game, where you were pretty much stuck to various styles of the katana, Ghosts of Yotei allows you to use up to five different melee weapons. There is actually a very clever rock, paper, scissors, or weapon triangle kind of vibe that works a lot better than it should. Everyone has a counter weapon against it, though I felt a few of them were kind of phoned in, as katana vs katana doesn’t seem exactly like a counter. Though it is not rigid like other games that use a system, and you can easily use a weapon fitting a play style more, that will work, or rather than constantly switching up, you can mow through a few baddies before you have to change it up.

It also brings up story elements in the game. What is fun is the fact that you have to “learn” how to use the weapon in a way very similar to if you were actually training to use this in life. When learning to use the dual katana weapon, you spend the first part of it using the left side. The reason is that your dominant hand is fine, but to be effective, you have to strengthen your left as well. Which makes total sense, and the slow training once you do finish feels more satisfying than just learn by hitting a few buttons in a rush and being done. Aside from the bow, every new weapon has a story element that makes it feel like you are achieving growth instead of unlocking a new weapon. I wish more games actually took this route, as it does add to the already impressive immersion of the game.

If there is one downside, I would say the parry system does need some work; maybe I’ve been conditioned by other games. But, I felt my timing was either totally perfect or totally off at random, even before I saw the flash coming when one worked the next time I got my ass kicked, forcing me to restart entire battles.

As far as upgrades and other things, you have plenty to pick from; every weapon has a skill tree, and plenty of other ones to play with, also. The wolf stuff is tied to the story and finding wolf caves, but like all the others, when you reach the end feels satisfying. Though the wolf is very picky about when to help you, even when maxed out.

Honestly, you should play this…

This is a game that I felt at the end of the year got missed by a lot of people, which is a shame because my time in Ezo mowing down the yukaza of doom was a fun ride with good gameplay, and while the visuals could at times be meh, the style and detail kept pushing me forward. Adding to that, a well-written narrative and characters who don’t stick around more than needed, and a great way of introducing weapons. Made me keep coming back for more. I know a lot of people want to hold indie games and underdogs as heroes of the industry these days. However, Sucker Punch showed their skill and also a great awareness of the system they were working on and what to take advantage of as a result. This proves that while AAA games often feel like money grabs, some developers are here to craft engaging games and stories. So, support these guys so we can get better games like this instead of a lot of the slop we’re currently getting. Vote with your wallets, not with your comments.

-The Chaos Director

Another post done, thanks for checking out this review, if you liked what you read. Please hit that subscribe button, don’t forget to drop a like, as I’ll get more exposure. If you need to get in touch with me, send me a message at the button below. Or, send an email over to Magicninjarobot00@gmail.com

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Learn to be comfortable with yourself above everything else.

A lot of people will tell you that you need to learn to be comfortable with society and interacting. I would argue, in fact, you should go before going too much out in the world. Learn about what you want. You are at the end of whatever path you go down, and the one who has to deal with your actions, will some people be around? Probably, but most of them are not going to be focused on you, even if they say they are; most of the time, it’s going to be what benefits them. This is not a bad thing; it’s human nature and a survival instinct. But when you are by yourself in life, you have to entertain yourself, not others.

So, if you are a person who enjoys 80’s pop blasting at the max in your car, enjoy it even if others are complaining. If you like it, well, if they put you in charge of the music, that’s their fault, and if you were going to do it by yourself anyway. Why not just do it with people around? This is but an example, but you should live your own truth. People tend to go towards people who know who they are more than people who are following trends. So, just be you...speaking of that…

Let your freak flag fly…

So it’s a continuation but also something different. Remember those things you did when you were a kid, you had so much fun with that society, and friends told you it’s time to grow up? Well, you may find as you get older that those things are still just as fun as you remember it.

I played with Legos as a kid, and I sort of stopped as I got older, and now, I am back into them. I still play video games and all that stuff, too. While people still look down on collecting figures and watching cartoons, well, you might find some fun in going back to it (or in my case, you never really left, but it somehow did not bother me) Don’t close off things you did in your past, you may find as time moves on you’ll revisit these hobbies or items and find ether a renewed passion or another perspective on it now that you are older, it’s okay to go back to things as long as you understand you can’t get the past back. Take it in the moment and enjoy it, remember the good times, but also forge new memories or adventures with what is here now.

Sure, people will probably look at you and think it’s not a thing you should be doing, but this goes back to what I said at the start: you only have one person you have to please at the end of the day, and they look at you in a mirror. Of course, if you’re married or have kids, they are important also, but show them the best version of you, which is the one your comfy with being.

Pop culture is fun, but it is not everything in your life.

It’s very easy these days to be absorbed into a fandom or group, and if the group is healthy and helps you grow. Well, that is not a bad thing; the problem is when most of the groups focus on negative things. It’s alright to say things are bad, but I have found most people online who tell you how bad things are, well, they just are engaging in these thoughts for the exposure. You’d be amazed how many actually believe their own bullshit.

But if they do, that is in a lot of ways even worse, living and dying by a genre of movies, a comic book, a tv show, or anything is not good, you can have passion, but it must be balanced out with other things. Intense devotion leaves a person rigid and unable to accept different views because they are the only person who is right. Anyone who has to tell you their milestones of being a fan with phrases like “I’ve been here since…” or “You weren’t there when…” to “You don’t know anything, this is why…” is probably not a person you want to associate with. In fact, I’d advise those people to go out into the world and look around. When someone looks back and says, “it’s not as good as,” does not want to see growth; they want things kept in a pristine bubble or in a perfect little capsule forever in that moment. That sounds like Brainiac from Superman, doesn’t it? Don’t be Brainiac…

The only way to know for sure is to follow your own path

A lot of people in life are going to tell you there are things you must do, you must do x, or y, or z, and that is the path you will walk. I’m here to tell you right now, don’t...just don’t…

Experience is the best teacher you will have. For some people, those paths are great, but that does not mean they are good for everyone. You will grow, you will learn, and maybe that path you wanted to go down did not end well for you. So, you go back to the three paths I mentioned earlier, that’s all good if you want to eventually get on those paths.

But when you get there, you will have the experience you learned from doing it your own way. The most important thing you’ll learn is that maybe those things people tell you are not the way you should do things. If you want to get married, get married. If you don’t and just want to live with a person, do it. There is no “right” way to live, those things are what is expected, but if you are feeling it’s not right than maybe well...it isn’t right for you, and that is alright.

Final Thoughts

As I wrote this, I saw a pattern forming: the only person who knows what is right is that person, or in other words, you. Society may say X is bad, but maybe it isn’t. I can tell you that if it involves violence or hate against your fellow people, it probably is bad. But if people tell you to do something cause it’s “the correct way,” that is the perception they have. If you think it’s different, try it. The most important thing I can say I learned in my time on this planet is very simply, be myself and do things I want to do. If it works well, people will circle you, you will find people who will be like-minded with you, and maybe challenge your ideas and thoughts in a way to nurture growth instead of squashing it. But don’t follow what others tell you to follow if it does not feel right, cause most of us have a good sense of what is right and wrong. But it gets lost in all the pressure and overstimulation of our world. So learn early to listen to that voice. I will serve you well if you do.

-The Chaos Director

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Anyone who reads this stack knows I like fighting games. I admit this is mainly restricted to the 2D realm. However, I have noticed as of late some trends and thoughts that seem both like good thoughts and also some bad ones. Companies also seem to be taking some of these and doing great, or totally pooping the bed. So for today’s post, we’re gonna go the old route of Animanics and talk about good ideas and bad ideas that have developed over time from the fighting game world. Sadly, we don’t have money for Ben Stein to narrate this. So, use your imagination and think the dull, flat tones of the guy we wanted to win money from in the late 90s is doing this.

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GOOD IDEA: Embracing your past…

Depending on the series, the fighting game genre has had a lot of legacy series that have stood the test of time. From the defining game of the genre, Street Fighter, to the groundbreaking use of the third dimension with Virtua Fighter. To even the surprising in-depth and well-developed characters of Mortal Kombat.

With all that legacy behind you, it would be a shame to just throw it out all the time. But, you also don’t want to be riding that past, and not providing anything new. Street Fighter has surprisingly balanced this with the use of its older music and some costumes that are classic. They will, on occasion, swap out moves in different versions of games, like Ryu’s side kick, which was introduced in SF3, but had not come back in official games until SF6.

Fatal Fury and KOF also recognize this and have done similar to what Capcom did, swapping out moves, but also leaving easter eggs all over that reference the past and also add some personality to the world for eagle-eyed fans. The little bit of continuity while also moving forward is never a bad thing, and striking that balance so newer players come in, but also in a way thanking older players for sticking around.

Speaking of newer players, if you’ve read my reviews, you know where this is going. So, let’s just rip the band-aid off…

BAD IDEA: Modern Controls

I don’t think I’ve made it a secret how I feel about modern controls; they can go by other terms like “Smart Style” or whatever other bullshit they use, but let’s just call it what it really is: Automatic Mode.

If you’re thinking, “What the hell is he talking about?” Well, back in Marvel Vs Capcom 1, there was a selection that made use of terms Manual (or normal method of putting in commands) and Automatic. Automatic was the Modern control of its day, but I have to give credit where credit is due here. I used that back in the day, but it did something Modern controls did not: it made me actually learn how to play the game.

I am not against the concept of teaching new people controls; I actually think it is necessary to evolve the genre. What I have an issue with is the way it has been implemented. Instead of teaching you, it makes you hit buttons instead of inputting the motions. Making it “easier” and more “accessible,” But the issue is, it does not teach you. In fact, it has become grounds for an all-out spamming of moves, this is saying something when you can just hadoken a lot in SF and it’s one of the most basic commands in all of fighting games.

So the concept is not where my issue lays, it is with its execution, another thing they should do is cap the modern control players, keep them in the lower ranks, cause if I have to listen to some person complain about frame data all the fucking time, it’s clearly important part of the game so why should people be able to use easy street stuff? If you dropped me into a CoD game, and there is some secret trick to be better than everyone does is there a simple control for that? No, I am most likely expected to get good, as the kids say, or just become a jobber for the match everyone can get easy points off of.

So, when people complain that fighting games are too hard to learn, I just simply say, “get good.” We all had to back in the day. Why should you get special treatment?

GOOD IDEA: Embrace the Pro Wrestling Aesthetic

When Street Fighter and other series started, it was in the 90’s when ninjas and other such things were still cool (and they still are just different now.) So when plots revolved around tournaments and the fate of the world, and old martial arts movie tropes. It worked well, but moving forward, fighting games have embraced another way to tell stories that has slowly evolved in the background: the big fight feel.

Tekken has honestly accelerated in this; they have stages with crowds and explosions and big epic screens for all to see, and a ring. Other games have slowly added these types of arenas to their stage list. Does any of this sound familiar to you, reader? It should, cause every week you can turn on a channel and find it, it’s called Pro Wrestling.

Tekken, to me, seems at its best when it throws away its edge lord level story (look, it dragged on enough as it is, and it is needlessly grim dark) in favor of the let’s settle this in the ring vibe of Tekken Tag sub series. Street Fighter and SNK Games have slowly added more pro wrestlers to their games that range from the original tank of Zangief to the speed machines of Cook and Mexican luchador of El Fuerte. Often having the steady eddies of Clark in KOF and Alex or Hugo in Street Fighter. Tekken has made luchadores almost main characters in King and Armor King, respectively. Even having Murder Grandpa Minoru Suzuki doing Mocap for them in Tekken 3. Virtual Fighter has had Wolf as one of its mains since its inception as well.

With the new arena of online play, I actually like this as it makes the game more fun and maybe a bit more self-aware instead of just running with a B-Movie level plot as the backbone of the fighting. This is also not to say that it is bad, but I think the fact that the bigger series are willing to embrace and even take some of the quirks of this style of entertainment is a nice change in tone that I’m not against going forward with.

BAD IDEA: Guest Characters

This one is kind of complicated, we’re gonna focus on the bad first more because I feel there are some legit good ways of doing it. But there are some bad ways it’s been doing it, also. Two of the offenders are Tekken and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Tekken, because while it started interesting with crossovers of Geese and Akuma from Fatal Fury and Street Fighter, respectively. It took a nosedive once they started including characters outside the genre. Did we really need Negan and Great Value Cloud from Final Fantasy XV? Also, why is Clive from XVI in 8? I was baffled by those choices cause it’s not like there is a character who actually uses martial arts in one of the biggest games in your series! Tifa gets looked over but would transition quite well into Tekken 8, but nope, let’s go with Great Value Cloud and Totally not ripped off Mutant from X-Men Clive.

As for City of the Wolves, well, the Dj dude who I don’t remember who he is (or care to look up), is, I admit, in a goofy way, kind of an “alright, let’s just roll with this,” kind of vibe. I feel we could have just used Duck King, but sure, whatever, I guess. But why is Rolando even in this game? AND WHY IS HE USING MICHAEL JORDAN’S BALLS FROM HIS 16-BIT GAME? Cause that was my second thought, my first one was why is this guy even here to begin with? I’ll level with you all, I thought this was the same guy who was in The Simpsons years ago, and he was just not when I watched. No, I only learned who he actually is as I had to type “bald Brazilian soccer player Simpsons” into Google to bring up the clip and realize it’s a whole other person. So, that’s my cross to bear, and it also shows how effective putting that person in was for most fans.

However, if we are going to talk about bad use of guest characters, both these games bow before the just sheer awful execution of Mortal Kombat. It stated innocent enough, let’s put in Freddy Krueger? I mean, I thought it was kind of odd, but hey, we got some returns and also a new interesting character, so sure. We get to MK X, and now we have Jason, the Predator, and...a Xenomorph...well, at least we’re finding a type here.

But going into MK 1 (or 11 for those of you devoted to keeping continuity) They seem to swing for the fences of guests. Suddenly, it went from looking like adding filler to a carefully researched marketing program designed to follow a trending tab on social media. I don’t think we needed Peacemaker Cena and Homelander in these games. Homelander barely passes the adult violence test, and both again really feel like WB went to Ed Boon and said, “You can make the game, but these guys must be in there.”

GOOD IDEA: Guest Characters

To end this positively, I also have to say some of the better executions come from both games I just ripped into and surprisingly (cause Capcom has a tendency to Capcom.) Street Fighter, when they have a character from another fighting game. It seems more organic, and when it comes to the Capcom and SNK side, it actually does feel a bit like a shared world. Also, when Tekken did Geese and Akuma, they also felt like they’d just been hanging out in the back for years watching things. But I also feel like they are just very much teasing a third edition of Capcom Vs SNK 3 that will never happen. Simply because I can see the companies going, this DLC was the spiritual continuation, or some bullshit like that.

Guest Characters can provide an incentive to keep playing the game, or could make people groan and walk away, also. If these games focused more on their past roster or introducing new characters that maybe they are not sure about, but would like to see if it works. It goes back to what I said about using the past earlier; in bursts, it can be effective. But you also don’t want to make it your entire purpose. So it is a tricky tightrope to walk.

Wrapping it all up

These are just some things I’ve noticed over the last few years; there are many other things I could include in this list. However, I felt I should keep it this set of things, maybe down the road I’ll do a volume two of this subject. I wanted to show the positives and the negatives of things at the moment, there are some good things like evolution via the pro-wrestling aesthetic, to the negative of if guest downloadable content is decided in a boardroom. But also we can improve on somethings like making fighting games easier to learn without it feeling like “push button for quick time” controls.

However, I will ask you, the reader: what are some things you think are working well in fighting games right now? Also, what could be better, or should be dropped like a bad habit altogether? Leave a comment below, and if there is another edition of this, I’ll be sure to include your thoughts and give credit where it’s due. Until then, thanks for reading

-The Chaos Director

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If you want to reach out to myself or Ili, you can drop us an email at Magicninjarobot00@gmail.com

There is another game in the series that is as much, maybe depending on your age and introduction to it, even more beloved than this game. That game is the original Metroid Prime. It is a very good game, one of the best in the series, though I feel it does not quite reach the heights that Super did. It brought Metroid into the modern day of 3D and even managed to keep the spirit and other things of its 2D forebearers. Also, as well managing to spawn its own little sub-series of the prime games. Today, we’ll be looking at the latest of these games: Metroid Prime 4 Beyond. How is this outing compared to the last ones, and what about that really annoying guy everyone seemed to hate? Well, let’s get into it, shall we?

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The Stats:

• Bought: Got it on the internet via Target

• Paid: 63 dollars

• Add-ons: I also got the Sylux and Vi-OlA Amibo (more info down below)

• Played: Finished the game on normal

• Platform: Switch 2 (Part of the Switch 2 control group­)

• TL:DR: A solid game, that if you played during the Gamecube and WII years will feel right at home. Which is also part of its problem.

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Switching over

I played this game on the Switch 2. I also bought the version for the game, which, if you are unsure, is for the Switch 2. The title screen will remind you IN VERY BIG LETTERS! I am happy to report that it does, in fact, have the game entirely on the physical cart. All I had to do was a quickie day one patch, and I was off and running. As far as load times, seeing videos online shows just how much of a difference load times are on a Switch one and a Switch 2. The graphics also look great, and the HDR is rather impressive. The worlds look impressive when you first encounter them, and everything just clicks. I noticed no real issues when playing with the game, except for one minor gripe that just might be mine. But I’ll cover that when I get to the Amiiibo section of the review.

So what the hell is going on here exactly, and why is everything powered by psycho energy?

While I won’t go too much into details, I will say the game is probably as disconnected from a Metroid game as you can get for a Prime game. While the opening is typical crazy and introduction, you also get to see the elusive Sylux being flanked by Metroids. Who, by the way, now don’t suck energy they possess things and corrupt them? Also, for some reason, a bounty hunter is leading Space Pirates, which is one of the most confounding things about this game.

It gets even more disconnected once you get sent to the world of Viewros, where I guess they read about concepts of psycho power by M. Bison, and liked the idea so much they based everything on psychic powers. While some of the things, such as the control beam and psychic visor, open up some interesting ideas of what can be done with the game and genre. The sad thing is, the control beam, after some minor mini-boss battles and aside from one part of another boss battle, is forgotten in favor of other items from previous games, just now with “psychic” in front of them. Part of the fun of Metroid, to me, was always finding those new items and seeing what you could do with them. But here, it’s a grapple beam...powered by psychic energy. Honestly, I’d have been more interested in seeing Samus learn the Psycho Crusher instead, which would be a change from the screw attack anyway.

There really is not much else to cover plot wise its like following a checklist of past games, but without anything interesting and also very bland if I am being honest. Which is a shame, as if we’re going to compare it to the OG Prime, offered a world of interesting ideas from spectral to augmented Metroid nightmares. It almost feels like this game was playing it too safe for its own good when it comes to the story and equipment.

The song sadly, remains the same…

I think the biggest issue I had with Prime 4 was not the game itself but its format. The open world part, where you ride the light-cycle like Vi-Ola, is fun for a bit, and actually very well integrated into the Volt Forge level. But beyond that, it just is dull, and you spend most of the time on it going from one location to another, almost like you were riding a horse…

This is where I started to realize that the world of Viewros was starting to remind me of another game: The Legend of Zelda. In those games, there is an overworld that connects everything, and you usually go from location to location, beating temples. In this game, you do the same, just instead of it being temples. It’s Science-Fiction archetypes instead. Metroid was always considered a forerunner to open-world style games, which, while it often had an overworld. Felt like an organic and natural transition to the location you’re going to. You can see it in the OG games, transitions from Brianstar to Norfair, to the other prime games, which also had larger worlds with organic transitions into smaller sections, to even Dread and its climb to the top of the world adventure.

That is one knock I have to give the game, it’s just not very interesting after the first view. Volt Forge was the only world that made me drop my jaw with its H.R Geiger inspired visuals. But the rest fall into basic tropes like the frozen-in-time ice stage that eventually thaws out. To the mine that you slowly descend into, all beings towards the end of the game blend into the same stuff. Even most objects are summed up by simply “get to the bottom of the area,” and cue boss fight, rinse and repeat.

The boss fights are fun, and usually almost make up for all the time you wasted getting there, aside from the final boss fight that turns more into a Fire Emblem heal-athon. They don’t overstay their welcome and also give the game just enough oomph to keep you going. Another problem from Prime’s past also appears: the endgame collectathon, though if you go through the brown world simulator and run into enough green things. It is not as annoying, but man, the reward is a letdown.

And now a word about Miles and the friends we make along the way

So, for many people, when seeing the previews, one thing that, for whatever reason, seemed to annoy the people who get to preview games was Miles. A guy in glasses techie who never shuts up...supposedly. While you go through the game, you do encounter other characters that, even as I was playing could not remember the names of. Miles was the least offensive of these characters. In fact, super Sargent hard ass was more annoying than anyone cause you had to wait for him in moments when you could just go by yourself.

That’s the problem with the game going back to the story, for the ending to work, you have to feel invested in them. When I got to the end, and the ending happened, I felt more like shrugging than actually feeling anything. The characters really added nothing to the game beyond just existing for plot reasons. Metroid Prime 3 handled this aspect better because of what you had to do in the game; in this game, the ending happens, and you just think, “Oh well.”

One other thing that Miles was accused of was never shutting up, even when he wasn’t around, and that was actually correct. But the thing is, all he does is what every other prime game has done. If you are lost or not sure of the objective, you would get a text from the game more or less telling you, “hey dumb ass, go this way!” It was kind of subtle and somewhat annoying when you just wanted to go explore and see what shit you could do with the new toys you just got. The difference between that and Miles is simple: it’s just an audio version of it. Also, you can turn it off if it bugs you that much. So for me, it was more white noise than an annoyance. I’d say, at best, it’s a commentary on just how lost gamers are in a game like this if they don’t have an annoying sound guiding them.

The Amiibo factor

As with many Nintendo games, they released a few figures related to the game that you can put on your device and get bonus perks from the game. This one, however, might be the first time people could have something of a reason to complain. At the top of the list with complaints was if you did not get the Samus one for this game. You were locked out of hearing music on the VI-Ola as you drove along. If you got the figure with the bike, putting it on would activate an odometer that, when you reached certain milestones, would unlock skins for the bike. These two were not that annoying to me, more what you’d have done if you wanted digital content. It was also not mandatory to beat the game, and it does not affect the game in any way other than vanity things.

The Sylux Amiibo, though, does have some things. If you don’t want to 100% the game, you could buy this one, and once you finish, you’d see the cut scene you’d get if you did finish the game to 100%. But, it is not something you won’t get if you don’t get it, and can be gained for free by finishing the game completely, so it’s like the whole pay-to-unlock DLC bit, just you get a figure as well out of it.

While it could be annoying and frustrating, it does not affect gameplay other than some audio and visual perks, which are not required to beat the game. I did get the Sylux and Vi-Ola ones cause I just thought they looked cool, and they do sit on my bookshelf along with the other ones I got.

Final Thoughts

I don’t know how my writing of this review will be seen; I can see this looking very negative, and it is in some aspects. But I enjoyed my time with this game so much that I don’t feel cheated or let down; I just don’t want to do the stuff the original Metroid Prime did so much better in a barren, more Zelda-like setting than Metroid. This is a good game, but not an amazing one, which is what I expected, as I felt after Prime 3 the Prime series would become played out. A lot of the ideas and thoughts of Prime 3, especially, have evolved here, just not enough to feel new or interesting. I feel that after years in development hell, Nintendo just wanted to get this thing done and move on to other projects. Given the meh vibes this game gave me, I can see why. If you like Metroid Prime, you will not have your time wasted, especially if you just want more of the same. But if you want to see this series evolve or move forward, all it does is let the days go by.

-The Chaos Director

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Who are you? Where are you going?

To answer the second part first, I’m not going anywhere; if anything, I hope to be here more.

My name is Brandon. I use the little handle/nickname Chaos Director for a couple of reasons. First of all, when I started going to the Magic Ninja Robot channel on Twitch, I was pretty much making sure the trains ran on time, and everything was going alright. After that, it was also the same on an old podcast I used to do, where I was just trying to keep the chaos in check and direct it more functionally. Secondly, it sounds cool and a fun fact when I was in a story, I saw a name thing you put on desks that said “Chaos Coordinator,” which also works, but I felt I worked hard enough, so I promoted myself to a director (or maybe a dictator, that is debatable).

All of that said, however, I generally just go by Brandon and use the director thing as a secondary thing or screen name on games, in other parts of the net I am also known as an ambassador of madness and in Mexico I wrestled under the name El Gringo...okay that last part is kind of made up, I didn’t wrestle down there. I also work on another page on the stack called “The Dominant Ones” with the artist and my wife, , who also has her own Stack as well. You can find links to those stacks here:

The Dominate Ones

Ili's Stack

I have been writing off and on for a long time, though to what degree of success, that is a very good question. I mean, everyone has posted blogs and other things, as long as the internet existed, I always found it fun to write, as I can paint pictures with words, it sure helps with the story above, though it is nice, I have an actual artist on there who is talented as well. But my resume is pretty small outside of a Zine I did in college, and some started but never got anywhere beyond a few chapter things with some other creators I’ve known in my life.

Okay, yesh I didn’t need your life story, so what is this desk thing then?

Wow, okay, rude much, I mean you asked after all…

The Desk of Chaos began as a written companion to the Twitch and is now a sort of creative engine that is Magic Ninja Robot. At the time we had a podcast, I wanted to share thoughts on things I may not have been able to get out on the podcast. The reason it is called a desk is, well, it’s nice to paint an image when you see it, isn’t it? Also, usually my desk is a cluttered mess of things, so I just kind of went with it.

Is it still a companion to MNR? Yes, as my wife and I do still stream on occasion, and I kind of like having Magic Ninja Robot more as a creative force than anything. But as I mentioned, Ili has her own stack, mine covers things I enjoy. Another reason it is chaotic is that while it is “mainly” gaming-focused, I like to explore other interests. I collect action figures, and I review them to an extent. I also am an avid comic book reader, and will post my thoughts on those occasionally via the “Off the Rack” section of the site. If I feel the urge to just tee off and go on tangents about things, those fall into the “Ramble” section; those are more commentary-focused posts that can range from gaming to that annoying neighbor I don’t like. Finally, we have the “Zen Dairies of Chaos” section, which is for longer-form posts about things in my past or thoughts in my life in the moment.

I also do reviews, you can find those in the “Review” section, naturally, those cover games, and well, whatever at this point. Reviews do follow some form to them; there is a criteria and a process done, you can find more about that information here. That said, if you are looking for up-to-date and timely reviews, I suggest checking out some other stacks. I tend to work on a it’s done when it’s done mentality, more info about this can be found in the link already shared.

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Oh, right, you said other Stacks?

So you are reading this, well, I mentioned other projects of mine. But I’d be remiss if I did not mention a few others I know about.

First of all, most likely where you found me, I am proudly a part of the Reconnect group, and you can just check out that feed as well as other stuff for other writers who probably post more timely than I do, and also it is a great way to find different and independent voices for gaming on the Stack. (Yes, I am dying on this hill now.)

Someone else on here who covers independent games is , someone I met on Twitch, and she is probably more in tune with indie gaming than I ever will be. You can find her reviews and other things on her Crimson Console Stack, just be aware that if you say the word “Tekken” she might attack you, just a heads up.

Oh, and if you’re into the history of gaming, stop over and check out here on the Stack. They are preserving the past of gaming history via magazines and other neat finds that they share often. Preserving game history is important. So do check them out and support them if you can.

So you’re a gamer, huh? I want your resume and all details about who you are as a gamer, and other information I have no right to ask you about.

...I think the person asking these questions has issues, guys…

But fine, you want some cred for gaming, I guess that is fair. I’ve been gaming since I can remember. I was going to arcades as a young child, and around five or so, got a Nintendo Entertainment System. So yeah, I’ve been doing this for a bit, I have had (and have) many consoles throughout my life. Some of my favorite genres are fighting games, Metroidvanias, action games, and RPGs, though I try to keep an open mind on games in general, those are where I tend to wind up landing. If you must know, some of my favorite games are:

• Super Metroid: This game is in my mind 2D perfection, everything about this game still hits to this day and has stood the test of time better than many games that came in its wake.

• Breath of the Wild: I played and liked a lot of Zelda games, but few games since Ocarina of Time took my breath away like this one. It’s a game that gives you the basics and turns you loose in a world that is built to explore.

• Uncharted 2: There are not many games I can say I beat in two days, while that doesn’t sound like a big deal, the game kept me hooked from start to finish, and I still went back for more.

• Street Fighter 3: I like Street Fighter 2, but in my mind, 3 was the best in the series (though 6 is giving it a good run). I just like everything from the art style to the combat to the music. It’s just a damn good game, honestly.

• Spider-Man (PS4): I’m not a completion type of guy, but I damn near did this one. As a comic nerd, it was one of the most absorbing games I ever played, and the combat was awesome and also allowed me to just swing around New York endlessly for no reason other than cause it was just fun.

So there is a small resume, that is off the top of my head, though, I’m sure I missed some games and will remember them after posting this.

Well, I think that about sums up this Stack. If you are new here, I hope I’ve enticed you enough to stick around. If you have been here before, I hope it paints a better picture of me and what I plan on doing here. The only thing I will say is that anything can be posted here, but I hope that nothing else. I got your attention, and you’ll see what comes up next here.

-Brandon (The Chaos Director)

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Ohio, the frozen tundra

When we last left our heroes (or villains, depending on how you view Ili and me), they were staying with a sibling and also readjusting to a new place that also looked familiar at the same time. I think one thing the two of us are still shocked by is how much the area has grown in five years, as compared to where we were living in that time frame. Not sure if it was because we were in a big city or just the fact that there was more space to develop. Whatever the case, it still kind of takes me back to the stuff that blew up here.

Though the more things change, thankfully, the more they have also stayed the same. One of the things we did before moving a lot was go to the movies. We’d often just plan a day around a movie, go out for a bit, get dinner, take the movie in, and go from there. Having moved a little closer to the city, we plan more with the movie and mind and stuff as an afterthought, but it is also nice to be able to go and take in an IMAX screening close by again. I enjoyed the SDX, but if I am going to a movie, I want the experience.

Well, the first movie we saw when we came back was Sonic 3, and not in IMAX, but hey, I was broke at the time, and we just wanted to go and enjoy a movie, and it was good, just man, a lot of commercials before the trailers. Also, with the growth came other things. When we went to the theater, we knocked around the nearby area and found, to my surprise, a Lego store. My wallet soon screamed in agony, realizing how close the temptation was.

Another thing, that as hard as it is going to hear, if you live in said climate, is the cold. I don’t miss snow on the roads, don’t get me wrong, there, but something about the cold was a nice feeling and still kind of is. Having lived in the perpetual Groundhog Day of sun and heat with occasional rain, it’s nice to actually have seasons again; it’s also a lot less draining on the mind. Too much of a good thing is really a bad thing, I learned. So yes, I will endure the cold and snow if it means I get some variety and appreciate the sun a bit more.

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Brandon got sick, and it was miserable.

I am not one who often gets sick, but when I do, it tends to hit me like a semi-truck with a load of explosives for good measure. Such was the case in late January; I felt fine in the morning, but as the day went on, I got worse and worse. Something Ili knew was bad was going to dinner, and me not being able to finish my food. I went back to the house and instantly alerted my sister to avoid me and locked myself in the room for the rest of the day, and slept and generally felt like shit. I think I set a record for how many fevers I broke in those forty-eight hours that was the worst. I remember being woken up by Rouge licking me, confused for a bit until I realized the fever had broken.

I was going to take Ili to work the next day, but it was quickly shut down, and my niece took her instead. According to her, we had a conversation about it that I don’t remember much less recall a vague exchange, I was saying something about going to church, she was wise to do what she did.

Whatever it was that I had, it drained me almost totally of anything; I could barely move or function. I had a job then (more on that in a bit) and called off, even my boss when I went back said I sounded like shit, and at that point it felt like everyone was watching me like a hawk and even telling me not to work too hard, but they still let me drive heavy machinery for that day I should point out…

As I recovered, it took me a lot longer than normal to recover. I am one of those a few days and back up and running in a few days. This one was one of the few times that it took me a while to get back to normal. I was trying to start things, but had to delay them for a few months its how bad I was. I don’t think I even really felt myself till the end of February, so a while ago I got preemptive and got my shots. Let’s see how that works out for me. But it must have been a combination of adjusting to the climate and getting sick, but 0 out of 10 stars. Would not recommend to anyone at all to do that.

Back in the saddle, and not too shabby either

One of the things I was planning on doing was getting back into Martial Arts once more. Once I got back, I went to my old stomping grounds and was greeted warmly. Still, the whole exchange of services for money was a thing, and on top of that, I think something we were all wondering: just how much did I actually remember or be able to do?

After my little sickness, I decided it was time to rip off the band-aid and jump in. One way to find out if you can still do it is to simply, well, do it. Asked where I wanted to start, I said at the bottom, and let’s see what I remembered, turns out I remembered A LOT more than I thought I did. The best way I can explain it is like something is in your head, and it’s just out of reach until something clicks and suddenly it’s like you downloaded the entire information set you’re missing, as if it was in cloud storage.

Since then, I’ve been re-learning and learning new things, it has been fun and also cathartic for me, I know Ili is happy cause when I had nothing to do and excess energy, I was virtually bouncing off the walls. It is also a great way to decompress after a week and just learn something new, and hit things, it’s always fun to hit things…

From one job to a break, then another

One of the more important things I had to establish pretty quickly was employment. I was throwing my application to any place that would stick to, and after a bout a week or two, I got a hit, there was just one little catch to it all: the place was closing. When I found this out, I was kind of skittish; they were offering a plan that paid you out in installments as part of the regular pay. But the fact that I would have to in about three months or maybe less have to find a new job was not appealing to me.

When I spoke to Ili about this, I was not really planning on going through with it. When I mentioned the part of the extra pay, she pretty much asked me how stupid I was, and I should take the damn job. Prospects were not lining up, and she made a pretty good point. So, I decided to just commit to it. The job itself was pretty easy, and since it was closing, people slowly began to give less of a shit. I was even out most of the time before noon. I did not have many bills at the time, and most of the money from said bonus was going right into savings.

Later on, it dawned on me that maybe this was probably the way for me to ease back into life here, job not too stressful, and able to just do my thing, was a good way to transition out of life in the Lone Star State and back to here. I was one of the last hires and just went through the motions. I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for the closing, I’d have been climbing the rungs, at first it was nice, but reality set in quickly when I was bombarded with reminders that the closing was imminent.

About a week or so before I was dismissed, they held a job fair. I once more threw my resume at anything that stuck and got an interview at a place. I went in dressed nicely, took a walk around, went to the HR office, and more or less got told, due to walking and standing upright, that I was hirable and offered a job.

I took it, so my total time of unemployment between these two jobs was about thirty minutes. There, however, was one little rub to the whole taking the job: I would not start till a month later, and would I be okay with this? I mean, a month off from work and I had some money to float on, who wouldn’t take that option?

How to lose your mind and drive everyone insane

So, a month off, it was fun...for the first two weeks…

It was after this that I found myself getting bored, this lead me to suddenly clean my sister’s entire backyard up, do work around the house, and generally drive everyone nuts in the process. A stationary Chaos Director is a very annoying Director, I learned. My wife was even starting to look at me with this look of “how many more days of this?” even though she was saving money on trips to work cause I was able to pick her up. Eventually, all good things (and nuisances) must come to an end, and I felt like everyone was probably happy I was not sitting around anymore.

A place for our stuff

So, jobs, hobbies, and other things were rebuilt, but one thing was missing: a place to call our own. Mind you, my sister was great to hang with, but all things must come to an end eventually, including our staying in her place. Ever intrepid, Ili was on the hunt for a place, given the fact that we came from a one-bedroom place. We had a few demands as we found places more affordable here. Those things were:

• Accepting both cats and dogs

• had a garage

• more than one room

• willing to tolerate us

We actually quickly found a place, it was just getting a hold of them to set up a tour and other things. As we waited, we kept looking, finding to our surprise that having both dogs and cats was going to be a problem. This surprised me, as in Houston, that did not seem to be an issue, but here, for some reason, it was. Well, at the end of the day, everything worked out, and we got all we wanted in a nice little townhouse.

Thus began moving and getting stuff in place. I spent the 4^th of July relocating all of our stuff in a marathon run of trips back and forth to my nephew’s place to set up shipping and receiving in my very patient sister’s garage. As usual, I organized and planned this move out like some sort of odd tactical master. The last few times we had moved had been at best haphazard, fed up and feeling a little control freaky, I decided to take charge and plan it like our move out of Ohio to Texas. I had everything set up in phases and plans, and all to be done within one weekend. I am happy to report that, by and large, I had succeeded in this gambit.

The area we moved to is surprisingly nice and mellow; it was kind of odd to have windows open and hear baseball games across the street, or in general, kids just playing outside. A far cry from what happened in Texas, where being outside resulted in spontaneous combustion as well as other things. While it is not the isolated little fortress we used to live in, there is a sort of sense of peace that has come over us that feels nice. A home should feel like a sanctuary from the world when it gets too intense. For now, at least, it feels like we have that.

Life can be good...but it can be better!

This brings us up to the present, we’re in the middle of the Christmas blitz, to which Ili decided this year to just go all in with. Any past money limits we had have been blown up, and we are getting what we want. My job has been stable, to the point it feels like I actually matter, and also the insane time off and other little things have helped in that matter. If I have been quiet, I think it has simply been because I needed a rest after what felt like five years of non-stop bombardment and fighting tooth and nail to survive. I know there are people still dealing with that; not everyone can get into the positions we got into. But it can be done; if anything, we are proof of just that.

We are still moving forward, and I am working on plans for the new year. We’ve sort of adopted the phrase I used as a title as a mantra. We’re good, but we can always do better and improve. Some things you will stumble at and maybe even fail at. But if you are not trying, you are not improving. We still have a ways to go and plans we want to do, and also flex creatively. I am enjoying the place I am currently in, but it will not last. So I am taking the moment to recharge and gain some solid footing for the next fight, whatever it is, maybe it’ll be minor. Maybe it’ll be big, maybe it will be simple if we are lucky. Whatever the case, mentally I feel more here than I have for a bit. It wasn’t easy, but if life was what would be the fun in all the chaos?

With that said, if you’re reading this, I hope your year was good, and I hope there are good things now and in the future for you. If not, don’t stop trying to improve, if this post is anything, I hope it is a positive confirmation that even dark things will pass. Until next year, everyone…

-The Chaos Director

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