This Week in Games

Back, By Popular Demand...

Welcome back, folks! We've got AX and Independence Day behind us; hopefully, the rest of the summer is smoother from here. Anime Expo looks like a ton of fun, but every year you hear about the horrible crowding in the intense Los Angeles heat, and like... man, I'm not about that. I am grateful that Kumoricon is in the fall and doesn't have that "crowding" issue.

We're plugging through some of the side-quests in Xenoblade 3 now that we're out of the more "urgent" parts of the story. Also, I didn't know this, but apparently, is Juniper supposed to be non-binary? I never even noticed, but that's nice. I wish there were more to go on with Juniper because their story seemed a bit rushed, but I appreciate the effort on Monolith's behalf. Also, can we talk about Juniper's resemblance to Girl_DM?? Because I've never seen anyone else point it out, and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

There's been a lot of buzz about how Final Fantasy XVI is heavily inspired by Game of Thrones, from its dark story involving morally-gray royals to its cussing. Also, Benedikta slept around a lot, as the game likes reminding us. But while Final Fantasy is usually thought of as an impenetrable monolith of "Japanese Game Design Sensibility™"—a term that deserves intense scrutiny on behalf of anyone who would use it unironically—it's worth pointing out how much Final Fantasy has based itself upon non-Japanese media before. I bring this up because Art-Eater put up a article pointing out similarities between Final Fantasy IV and the Terry Gilliam film, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

A number of the comparisons drawn, like Odin/King Baron resembling the image of Baron Munchausen on his horse, do seem a bit strained, but I think there are a lot of merits here; after all, it's pretty damning when one of the first towns visited is "Baron," which was The Adventures of Baron Munchausen's title in Japanese. Other similarities make a ton of sense in hindsight, like the artwork for the Lunar Whale resembling the Pisces constellation on the Laserdisk art. But the biggest one that sticks out for me is Rosa's resemblance to Uma Thurman; as Kurt quickly points out, both of Rosa's official profile pictures resemble Thurman's various hairstyles in the movie. I also like the connection between FFIV's Cid and Oliver Reed's portrayal of the gruff, bearded Vulcan.

This is worth examining a bit more because a ton of Final Fantasy is based on non-Japanese media. Famously, the original Final Fantasy was based on Dungeons & Dragons, with the original Four Fiends (Lich, Marilith, Kraken, and Tiamat) based on famed monsters from the bestiary. There are also a ton of old D&D spells reworked into Final Fantasy, like Blink, and the entire magical system borrowing from D&D's old spell-slots system. The recurring Final Fantasy name "Cid" is also a deep cut: it's a reference to the old Spanish epic El cantar del mio Cid, recounting the adventures of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, who was granted the title of al-sīd ("The Master") on behalf of the Arabic people—which was transliterated to "El Cid" back in Spain. This is why I hate when Final Fantasy tries to pass off "Cid" as, like, "Cidolfus" or whatever. There are other heavy Arabic themes in Final Fantasy, starting with Minwu in Final Fantasy II in his Arabic turban and veil. You can also point to then-Squaresoft going the extra mile to set up a studio in California so that the Iranian-American developer Nasir Gebelli could continue his work on the first three Final Fantasy games (and later, Secret of Mana).

Star Wars, of course, is always going to be a big one for Final Fantasy, from Golbeze's original Darth Vader-esque design to the recurring presence of two guys named "Biggs" and "Wedge." You could also point to Final Fantasy XII being the most-Star Wars-y game in the series; its highly political story hinging upon the stockpiling of Magicite echoes The Phantom Menace, with Princess Ashe driving the plot similar to the famed take-charge princesses Leia and Amidala.

A lot of people have brought up FF16 "devolving into Kingdom Hearts nonsense" towards the end of the game; I have no clue what that entails, but I'm suspicious of the allegations because people still have an intense degree of xenophobia towards Japanese games, in this day and age. It wasn't too long ago that Elden Ring was getting slammed with allegations of its interface being "too Japanese." I think it's important to remember that the folks making stuff in Japan aren't just huge weebs: they're huge nerds, and many like American media. Just look at Trigger adopting the famous thick-lined look of Western cartoons for Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (yes, yes, we know about Western cartoons feeding off of Japanese "chibi" designs). Look at Yasuhiro Imagawa and his love of Rocky Horror Picture Show or Butcha-U really, really wanting to visit Hooters in America. (I've heard accounts of Japanese guests at conventions sneaking off to nearby Targets to look for stuff like Ninja Turtles toys—an endeavor I support.) Even good old Daicon IV took the time to have an entire sequence with American superheroes like Spider-Man and Captain American between their Macross references and boob-jiggles. The world is much smaller than it used to be, so watch what you call "Japanese weirdness"—because it might have been inspired by a latter-day movie made by one of the old Monty Python gang.

Although I do wag my finger at some of the writing chicanery over at Type-Moon, we here at This Week in Games-central still have some affection for their brand of wild and crazy urban fantasy. Between Fate/Stay Night and its endless re-imaginings of mythological and historical figures of yore (chief among them, Arthur Pendragon being Altria Pendragon and Nero Claudius Caesar being absolutely perfect, 10/10, true Roman bread for true Romans) and... well, actually, the lion's share of Type-Moon's claim to fame in the US has been Fate, as of late, and who can blame them when Fate/Grand Order is one of the biggest mobile games worldwide? People line up for miles at the announcement of Aoi Yuuki as the boozy oni, only this time, she's got a funny hat (it's me and my This Week in Anime colleague Steve, we're People). Lunar Legend Tsukihime was their original claim to fame, but it was passed over in the US. The early-2000s Lunar Legend Tsukihime adaptation got localized back in the day, but fans aren't too keen on it (sit down, "there was no Tsukihime anime isn't funny anymore). Melty Blood, the fighting game spin-off, is far more beloved and a cornerstone of the fighting game community in the US, but it mostly exists in isolation from the visual novel that spawned it. And we even got Witch on the Holy Night, the kinetic novel prequel to Tsukihime released in the US (I reviewed the Nintendo Switch port last Winter).

Well, everything's turning up for Lunar Legend Tsukihime—the visual novel is finally coming to the US!

I say this a lot, but the Tsukihime remake was a long time coming—so much so that people have been joking about poor Satsuki's beleaguered route since 2008 (for reference, the original Lunar Legend Tsukihime was released in Japan in 2000). The remake wouldn't be released until 2021—and this past weekend at Anime Expo, Type-Moon and Aniplex announced that the Tsukihime remake would release in the US under the title Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-.

Tsukihime was our first look at Type-Moon's typical writing style: an admittedly-boring young man named Shiki discovers he has been cursed with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which lets him impose death upon objects by tracing their ley-lines with a pocket knife. Things are complicated when Shiki, uh... follows a woman home and cuts her up into 17 parts. But she turns out to be a vampire named Arcueid Brunestud, and she strong-arms Shiki into helping her track down a vampire she was hunting. Chairs, weird creepy deer, beleaguered explanations about how magic works, and plot twists about the nature of Shiki's family ensue.

So, what does the remake entail? Besides a cleaned-up script and localization (especially compared to that super-dated fan translation), fans can look forward to redone character art of the cast. On the one hand, those old character sprites are seriously dated—Takashi Takeuchi's art has come a long way from those stiff portraits from 2000. On the other hand, some character designs have been modernized a bit. It's mostly for the better—I say "mostly" because I prefer Arcueid's old look, what with her long skirt and 2000s-era hair vents. The new design, what with the short skirt and stockings (and no hair vents), makes her look loads younger... but admittedly, it has grown on me—especially after seeing cosplayers like Akagi Kuro bring it to life. I'm heavily considering investing in the new Arceuid Figma once it comes out. But the update that has Tsukihime fans most excited about is adding a new route focusing on Shiki's classmate, Satsuki.

This one... has a bit of a tale to it. See, Lunar Legend Tsukihime has five routes: the "Inner Routes" cover Arcueid's route and Ciel's route—the latter being an incognito gun-toting agent of The Church™ who is wild about curry. The "Outer Routes" cover Shiki's home life: his sister Akiha and their maids Hisui and Kohaku, who have a very wild backstory that includes a ton of uncomfortable sexual assault. However, one of the characters who got glanced over in the story was Satsuki—one of Shiki's classmates. The plan was for her to have her own route—which would have been vital because Satsuki is turned into a vampire off-screen, and most of the routes where she has any inkling of importance see her die tragically. She's supposed to survive, courtesy of the Melty Blood series, but those take into account Type-Moon's original plans for Satsuki's route, which never came to pass... before now. In the meantime, Sacchin was the subject of a ton of jokes, forever laughed at because she was the extra who never got her time in the spotlight. This alone would be plenty of reason for longtime fans to jump into the VN. For me, I got two things that drag me in. First off is the art; if the level of quality is anywhere near the Witch on the Holy Night remake, the VN will be a stunner. For another, the return of Tsukihime means it'll be the official return of... la criatura

Shout-out to my readers showing some excitement in anticipation of my running gags; you guys made my Monday when I saw that comment! Anyway: I've talked about Neco-Arc tons in previous columns. Appearing alongside Ciel-sensei in the bad ends to chastise you for your bad mistakes, Neco-Arc has come into her own... mostly because she is a lethal joke character in Melty Blood. She's sure to get a redesign for the new VN as well (likely more in line with her current Melty Blood look), but I'm excited to see my favorite pilk-loving gremlin again. And hey, they might even reissue her Nendoroid!

For now, we don't have a release date on the Tsukihime remake past a vague "2024" window for the US. Fans can look forward to it on the PS4 and Nintendo Switch. We'll keep you posted, as we are very excited about Arcueid's return.

I've had words about Persona 3: Reloaded because of Hashino's issues with women, but let it be known I've got no issues with the folks who're stuck saying what he puts into their mouths. Reloaded raised a few eyebrows when it was announced that an all-new voice would be cast for S.E.E.S. and Strega. With much of the vocal talent having grown up loving the original Persona 3, I'm excited to see them voice this batch of old friends. And it looks like we won't have to wait too long—some of the vocal talents gave us previews of their work at the Anime Expo this past week! The cast was allowed to voice some of their respective characters' most iconic lines, and man, did they eat up.

I want to make a minor digression in that I don't think the new talent should be compared to the old to see how good they are; they're their own actors and actresses, and I think that they need to be given credit on their own terms. With that said: Holy crap, Allegra Clark as Mitsuru is so good! She nails the same energy Tara Platt did back in the day, giving Mitsuru her elegant-yet-disciplined tone. Clark herself is no stranger to strong female roles, having stolen everyone's hearts as Dorothea back in Fire Emblem: Three Houses or Beidou in Genshin Impact (and people that like Beidou... really like Beidou). You can hear the rest of the cast trying out for their roles here on YouTube; they're all quite stellar.

The same Persona 3 panel also gave us some other tidbits of information on Reloaded. First off: you can't Break a Social Link anymore. This was a very disliked mechanic back in the day; if you didn't spend enough time with certain Social Links (read: the romantic ones), the Link would "break," and you'd lose all bonuses associated with that Link/Arcana until you made up with the person in question. The Link can still be Reversed, but the threshold for that is much higher, so people working on setting up a golden schedule have a lot more leeway this time. There is also the possibility that Persona 3: Reloaded will feature new battle mechanics like combo attacks, owing to how some clips at AX featured dramatic zoom-ins on characters during other characters' turns.

Atlus is having fun with this; they've promised us new teasers for the game scheduled for every full moon for the next few months. Considering full moons were big events in Persona 3 (they were when boss shadows spawned), this is a cute reference. For the Star Gazers among us who need the late Jack Horkheimer to tell them when stuff is going on in the night sky, that means the next teasers are scheduled for August 1st, August 31st, September 29th, October 28th, November 27th, and December 27th of this year. (Also, neat, August is going to have a Blue Moon!) If they really wanted to be cool, they'd release Persona 3 Reloaded on a Full Moon, but so far, we only have an "early 2024" release date. (That's not a "no"...)

I don't know why it took until this past Monday for The Pokémon Company to release an official Pokémon community forum—I figured one already existed. With Pokémon being the biggest multimedia franchise worldwide, including one of the biggest video game franchises and one of the "big three" in collectible card games, I figured there probably already is someplace where people gather to talk shop. But not so! The Pokémon community was split up between GameFaqs forums, disparate Twitter pages, Smogon, and whatever else I can't think up off the top of my head. An official forum is nevertheless a great idea, especially if you can synergize it with some marketing—no better way to announce special events, after all.

Of course, people had to have a normal one.

"Who thought this was a good idea"? I dunno, someone who hoped people would have a degree of decency (yeah, yeah, save the "LOL FIRST MISTAKE" comments). This reminds me a lot of when Nintendo introduced Swapnote and Flipnote on the Nintendo 3DS: a fun app where you could draw messages and send them to other users, wherein they would see them drawn on their screens. It was an entertaining tool, and Nintendo used it to great effect during the Year of Luigi—and a lot of folks went nuts drawing dicks and sending them to anyone within earshot, then Pikachu Faced™ when Nintendo shut the app down because holy crap, kids are using this thing. Nintendo wanted to avoid any possible liability from a kid getting a sketched phallus from some edgelord. I'm mostly sighing because, much like with My Little Pony, this is another case of a kids' space getting flooded by folks who really can't control themselves and have to make things weird, almost as if to dare people around them to say something. The upside is the forums squared up and went on a banning spree—most of the dumb spam was taken behind the shed. As it should.

The downside is the banhammers also erased a few topics that touched on queer themes, like some posts talking about people head-canoning Penny as trans or claiming "Every character in Pokémon is LGBTQ." Many forums avoid certain topics because they tend to cause a ton of discussion that is way too much effort to moderate; having to moderate any discussion involving queer topics on a Pokémon board would likely be a full-time job. But also: it's harmless fun, and I have to wonder if mods would also ban topics where people talk about shipping Ash and Misty instead of Erika and Misty. What's going to happen if (and when) the Pokémon universe sees its first canonical LGBTQ character? Sure, a Pokémon community forum probably isn't the best place to navigate your identity... but also, Sylveon exists, and people have Thoughts™ about Skyla and Elesa, or that one Beauty who claims she used to be a Black Belt. There's no putting that genie back into the bottle.

Hopefully, things can settle down, and we can have a community that's safe for Pokémon fans of all ages—including, y'know, the kids, who are ostensibly the biggest demographic in the series (despite the claims from the people who use the other side of their mouth to bellyache about how much better Pokémon was when they were kids). Also, here's hoping the forums can be more respectful of inclusivity because uh... it's a bad look to be that heavy-handed. Just so long as I don't have to see that stupid Vaporeon copypasta again.

That'll do it for this week. Summer is still dropping like a big, stifling comforter. Keep hydrated, keep the ice cream handy, and I hope for the love of God that you live somewhere with central air conditioning. I'm fine, you can't hurt me with Summer weather, but I know a lot of folks can't handle temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Don't worry, we'll survive this summer—and the wildfires. There can't be too many this year, right? Be good to each other, I'll see you in seven.