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My laptop is gonna be at Apple for a while, and Brian is gonna have to bring it with him when he and Marie come over next month.

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Went with Brian to his workplace yesterday morning, and chatted with him about a bunch of stuff along the way, much of it about Day of the Beehive.

One thing Brian proposed, was creating parts of what would be Saitama Prefecture (the towns of Kuki, Satte, and Kasukabe, along possibly with the part of Tokyo Prefecture where Miyuki lives) for the camera to hover over a la Earthbound when the game begins. I suggested that that wait until we have everything arranged for that part of the game; he has told me before not to put the cart before the horse when I was looking for voice acting, and I could give him the same advice here.

(He also said offhand that the main characters' houses would have to stand out in some way from everyone else's in the game. I can understand why that's the case with Ness's and Pokey's houses, both much larger than the average house in the game and isolated from the main part of town (the latter also the case with Ninten's in Earthbound Zero), but I plan to aim for some sense of realism with DotB. For one thing, EB0 itself already sought realism by having buildings and towns blend in with the rest of the world, unlike the Dragon Warrior series (which its game engine is specifically based on), where those places occupy only one tile on the field map and explored separately therefrom when you reach them. (Rokuna's home might stand out, though, if she still lives in a giant dome like in Mon Colle Knights, which might make sense in context of the story.))

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For his time at work, he did agree to chat with me through Gmail. However, along the way to the train station, he did say that he can view things like YouTube videos during breaks, but not while actually working. While I did print up copies of those three entries back at home, I would rather he be free to view stuff that I've linked to (whether he actually does is another story), and I linked him instead to chapter 3 of Starbound. (Also linked him to Chelle's Tumblr after he saw me reading that in a separate room from where he works; I told him what it was, and he asked for the link.)

Come the middle of his shift, I started to feel sleepy, and he gave me directions back to the apartment. I happened to make the right choice going back; along the way, I noticed a laundromat to drop my used clothes off at, couldn't find any closer ones via Google Maps, and when I made my way there, the attendant told me to come back at seven to reclaim my stuff.

(All things considered, I probably will not be staying at Brian's work place from now on. At most, I'd probably come with him to chat during the way there, but will likely return to the apartment once we reach the place.)

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For dinner, Marie and her friend John (not Brian's roommate; she says he had met us when we came for Thanksgiving more than a year ago) decided to bring me over to Grassfed. I ordered a Blue Devil burger and a black-and-white milkshake (the latter which turns out to be chocolate and vanilla mixed, as opposed to side-by-side). The three of us talked about various stuff, including certain things we used to watch on Nickelodeon as kids. Wasn't too problematic for me; I actually did participate a little in that, including but not just by suggesting they check out Avatar: The Last Airbender.

(Marie has already cited difficulty keeping track of weird Japanese names as one of her issues with anime*, though, so not sure if she'll actually be able to watch that. While many names in that show aren't actually Japanese (ditto for in Puella Magi Madoka Magica), that's only a technical thing that I feel like specifying while it's at all relevant, but on the same token, she might be comfortable enough watching something like A Little Snow Fairy Sugar if names are her only particular issue with anime in general.)

(*Just another technical thing, but despite the art style and setting, ATLA tends not to be specified as an anime series (MyAnimeList even refuses to archive it), due to having been produced in America.)

Review for Freedom Planet

Well, I finally got around the other day to reading Jake's Sonic fic Stealing the Spotlight, and wasn't able to form any real opinion on it. Asked him if I could make it up in a review for Freedom Planet, assuming that he wanted me to practice writing more than just a sentence or two (if even that) for everything I read, but he specified what he wanted being me to help him figure out what works and what doesn't and coming up with ideas for events in subsequent chapters. For that, I could bring the fic up with Chelle whenever she's ready to critique stuff again, but I might have to show her a playthrough of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Gear and/or Master System, along with some already planned differences that Jake is aiming for, in order to show her where he wants to take the story, and even then, she might need him to come up with some themes (nothing overly sexual) before she brainstorms anything.

In any case, I'm not sure if Zerodius has been able to reach Steven DiDuro about my first entry regarding Freedom Planet, but if he does at any point, I'm sure DiDuro would be glad to read something like this.

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To start off, I understand that Milla has recently become available to play, although all of the game's actual updates are available only on Steam. I've contacted Strife almost a week ago regarding whether or not there's a way to apply updates from Steam to a copy of the game itself from GOG, but still have yet to hear back.

It's pretty ironic, actually, that I bought a copy of the game hoping to be able to get my hands on content under the assumption that each piece would be available only temporarily (based on my past experiences w/ Pokemon), and it turns out instead that I might just have to eventually wait and buy the game again once it's complete. (Jake told me before, if I recall correctly, that Steam is not something he was able to create an account for; might have to ask him about that.)

Originally, I was gonna wait until all five playable characters would be available for the game's Adventure mode. Jake suggested otherwise, though, because people have been known to complain about the sheer difficulty to such a point that it's been toned down more than once. With only Lilac and Carol at my disposal, I made a point of playing the game through, starting over with each game over, particularly to render that a moot point in the long run, and also so that I know where things like Tao tokens and collectible cards are or where to think of when I eventually check out a walkthrough for them.

Not as rewarding, suffice to say, as if all five characters already were available. If anything, though, this would be comparable to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for the Sega Genesis. Between that game's release and any initial news of Sonic & Knuckles, it would've been only natural to assume that that was the game already at its completion. If I had known otherwise, I would've made a point of bringing home both games' manuals from a childhood friend's house of mine, instead of just that for the former game.

Once Torque and Spade both become available, though, that's when I'll make a point of doing everything there is to do in that game, with all five, and even beating Brevon without any game overs. (And no, I'm not gonna wait for some fabled day that my own fangame goes through, especially considering what happened to Project S, the unofficial attempt at a second chance for Sonic X-treme.)

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By far, the most I have to say about this game is the music. Let me tell you, if I was still interested in writing Monster Collection Chronicles, I would surely imagine situations (mostly battle-oriented) to which a lot of this game's songs could complement. I find myself with that urge regarding Starbound whenever I listen to something I like, but not only would some songs work poorly in an RPG (exploration interrupted constantly by battles, as opposed to non-stop action in which you move fast and kick ass!), but the kind of action that it's meant to go with would work better if the mains in that story had their hair free enough to stream behind them instead of bunched up atop their heads.

(Speaking of which, Jake has told me that, according to Zerodius, there actually is an RPG in the works, though this is not to be confused with the already announced Freedom Planet 2. Also, while something like Sky Battalion could only work in something action-oriented, if you were to take Earthbound, upgrade its entire soundtrack with an MSU-1 chip, and swap stuff in from other games, something like Battle Glacier part 1 might work pretty well in Winters during its invasion, and part 1 of Thermal Base would work easily inside the aliens' base beneath the stonehenge. Even in this game, what plays in a monologue by the Royal Magister during the prologue is the same song you hear in the hyper-fast-paced second-to-last level.)

(Out of curiosity, I did try watching some footage and listening to some songs from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, just to see if any of its music was similar to "normal" Sonic games. Barely viewed much of either, and the only song I heard the whole way (which plays in a (not snowbound) city) was a pancake-flat and monotonous rendition of the Diamond Dust theme from Sonic 3D Blast. That's right: For a Nintendo DS game, its music isn't even on par with the Genesis, let alone the Game Boy Advance or Super NES. Listen to it, and you should already have an idea of what certain PC-FX games like Makeruna! Makendou Z and Ruruli Ra Rura sound like despite running on disks.)

Another great thing about FP's soundtrack, is that most songs don't follow any sort of formula. Anyone familiar with the Mega Man classic series will notice that most songs in those games are arranged as three sections, each with two versions of the same set of notes, and each loop tends to last about a minute and 20 seconds. Here, the only songs I've noticed to fall under that pattern are the unused Rage Ravine/Cedar Point and the aforementioned third round of Final Dreadnaught. Everything else in this game varies in pattern and loop-length.

I will admit that I'm not entirely fond of how the music gets remixed between the first and second halves of each level. Will also admit the same about Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and while I do get it here as part of this game's homage to Sonic the Hedgehog among other franchises, I pretty much would prefer being able to listen to the song I was introduced to as long as I'm at the respective stage, rather than never hearing it again once I reach the midway point.

Then we have the more than few boss themes in this game. While I do understand the use of different boss themes from the regular one based on circumstances, the one that plays at the ends of Aqua Tunnel (from what I gather) and Trap Hideout just seem random. The same song plays when you fight Syntax for the second of two times inside Thermal Base, but it would've been all the more menacing and dramatic if it was used just there. Really, the other two fights could have been accompanied just as easily by the one you first hear at the end of Dragon Valley (or Relic Maze, if you're playing as Milla), although the fact that you get to hear that one once again while fighting Syntax again at the end of Final Dreadnaught part 1 after not hearing it for three main levels since Jade Creek does work greatly.

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Other things I liked include the special stages, where you knock a die down to roll around and give you a random prize. Said prizes, though, are restricted to shields and 1ups. I feel that these could have had more variety, including orbs, crystals, and petals. I know the bonus rounds in Yoshi's Island yield only cards or 1ups depending on the game, but the former of those have all sorts of effects when you actually decide to use them, including adding seconds to your timer, restocking your eggs, or attacking everything on the screen. Still, this does make for some good replay value.

Also like how the last few levels feature enemies that you've fought mostly in only one prior level each, kinda like Dr. Wily's fortresses throughout the Mega Man series.

Not too fond of how the developers have been cutting parts of different cutscenes with each update. I get the concept of story integrity, but even if whatever's cut isn't strictly necessary for the story, it still is unique, and that's exactly why I made a point of playing this game after being informed about that.

And finally, there's the final boss, Lord Arktivus Brevon. Even though I did say earlier that I'd prefer the music to remain the same from beginning to end in a given level, those are just for levels. I'm all for implementing two or three different songs for a given game's final battle, and the second one that plays here kicks ass! Brevon himself can sure give you a hard time, though, being unpredictable and all over the place as he is, but I don't actually consider that a bad thing.

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Despite what some people think, this game was not templated from the 16-bit Sega Genesis, but from the 32-bit Saturn and Playstation. Really, that music is way too rich for the Genesis to handle, and I've seen one person on a forum somewhere also rule the Sega CD out. My hopes for a 32-bit aesthetic for Day of the Beehive is exactly why I tried this game out, and this game in turn (along with Mother 4, based on Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance) gives me all the more reason to pursue such a project of my own.