Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This month, the world lost one of the great ones... thanks for all the battles! We'll be waging them across media until the end of time!
Catch some stray energy blasts elsewhere:
twitter.com/yuugijoou
discord.gg/bKT9pRW
---
The death of legendary manga (and beyond) artist Akira Toriyama been affecting me more deeply than I thought.
His influence can be felt in so many unexpectedly rippling proliferations and influences throughout the worldwide tapestry of fiction itself that I don't think it's possible to track down and identify the generations of creations that would trickle down into an infinite cascade of material that can never be stopped.
He belongs to the very fabric of the universe now. The art of creation has been forever changed and enriched for his touch, and the fact that we will never again feel it directly makes for a cold realization.
---
It's terrible, too... because this was a wellspring of inspiration I wanted to celebrate deeply, in this Year of the Dragon... Ball. Year of the Dragon Quest. (Year of the... Blue... Dragon? ;p)
Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking forward to it... but the celebration will have to be more than a little bittersweet as a result.
It's also a stern reminder that my "I'll get RIGHT on that! ...tomorrow" attitude since before the more conventional Gregorian calendar new year, let alone the lunar one... you really need to savor the time we have together... strike while passions run hot... grab the dragon by the horns!
I'll have to work extra hard to conquer my hyperbolic time demons and get to work making, playing, and celebrating.
---
So far, we've got some fun new VTuber costume redeemables while I'm throwing myself at just a tiny little toeprint of his mark left on the gaming landscape, and I'm not stopping anytime soon!
More to come all year long (and beyond!) over at:
twitch.tv/yuugijoou
This month, the world lost one of the great ones... thanks for all the battles! We'll be waging them across media until the end of time!
Catch some stray energy blasts elsewhere:
twitter.com/yuugijoou
discord.gg/bKT9pRW
---
The death of legendary manga (and beyond) artist Akira Toriyama been affecting me more deeply than I thought.
His influence can be felt in so many unexpectedly rippling proliferations and influences throughout the worldwide tapestry of fiction itself that I don't think it's possible to track down and identify the generations of creations that would trickle down into an infinite cascade of material that can never be stopped.
He belongs to the very fabric of the universe now. The art of creation has been forever changed and enriched for his touch, and the fact that we will never again feel it directly makes for a cold realization.
---
It's terrible, too... because this was a wellspring of inspiration I wanted to celebrate deeply, in this Year of the Dragon... Ball. Year of the Dragon Quest. (Year of the... Blue... Dragon? ;p)
Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking forward to it... but the celebration will have to be more than a little bittersweet as a result.
It's also a stern reminder that my "I'll get RIGHT on that! ...tomorrow" attitude since before the more conventional Gregorian calendar new year, let alone the lunar one... you really need to savor the time we have together... strike while passions run hot... grab the dragon by the horns!
I'll have to work extra hard to conquer my hyperbolic time demons and get to work making, playing, and celebrating.
---
So far, we've got some fun new VTuber costume redeemables while I'm throwing myself at just a tiny little toeprint of his mark left on the gaming landscape, and I'm not stopping anytime soon!
More to come all year long (and beyond!) over at:
twitch.tv/yuugijoou
![[Gameplay Only] Splatoon Raiders 1. Lets Get Salty](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lDjoiJOW13Q/mqdefault.jpg "[Gameplay Only] Splatoon Raiders 1. Lets Get Salty
Y-yknow... the spirahlite and whatnot... r-right?!
If you NEED the saucy puppet show chatter, theres that version as well:
https://youtube.com/live/rxsznc4IZO0
(can you live with the gameplay resolution being lower to accommodate, though?!)
Originally ALSO streamed at:
https://twitch.tv/yuugijoou/
Stay up to date on what nonsense Im doing:
https://twitter.com/yuugijoou
https://discord.gg/bKT9pRW
...or, yknow, just harass me if Im doing something you dont like, whatever.")
![[Super Game Boy, No Border] Donkey Kong #4. Nature Walk](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lmMPOu6SrHU/mqdefault.jpg "[Super Game Boy, No Border] Donkey Kong #4. Nature Walk
Going on an ape hunt! Gonna find a big one!
twitter.com/yuugijoou
discord.gg/bKT9pRW
Also, whats the deal with playing a Super Game Boy game WITHOUT the parts that ostensibly make it Super and not just Game Boy?
To see this in all its bordered glory:
https://youtu.be/VtVWbN7bs9Y
I promise Ill be DONE talking about the Super Game Boy enhancements specific to this game and this hardware configuration soon enough... but I played it this way SO much that I flat out did not even KNOW for the longest time that the vocalized cries for HELP! at the start of nearly every stage were one such feature.
I mean, in hindsight, yeah, no, that makes sense... it definitely doesnt fit within the tech specs of a Game Boy game. But part of the magic and whimsy of having discovered the bizarre treasure that was the Super Game Boy and its capacity to confer bespoke diffentials from the original capabilities of a games base content... is the part that I hadnt even discovered just how well it was doing its job without my knowing it!
Listen. Kids are stupid. And observation skills and critical thinking come later. Sorry, kids. Youll grow out of it! Into... it? Something! You got this!
At least the lush, but INSANE (and not programmatically scalable with tech of the time) colorization was really eye-catching, so I didnt miss that. Until I was trying to figure out why a Game Boy Color apparently COULDNT manage to figure out how to do the same thing.
A wizard did it. At R&D2. Yep.
In this pre-World demo, we get introduced to... switches!
No! Wait! I swear! Its good! Its not oh, thats totally obvious!
Umm... ... ... Donkey Kong uses switches of a totally unnecessarily different design than the ones Mario uses?
(Its actually quite rare that Mario can even REACH a switch that DK might be using, and not just because theres some big palooka in the way, but this is more of an observation of the visual language of Donkey Kong 1994 than anything actually useful.)
In case it was unclear up to now, theres... like... a LOT of extra lives to be had in this game. Bonus stages. Time bonuses! Every four stages, the combined remaining timer values for stage clears all get added together, and you get a 1up for every 100 counts left over! Even the excess extras after that is an extra life!
Collecting all of Paulines dropped accessories (hats and handbags are one thing, but how many parasols does she ACTUALLY need?!) also gets you a free play of either a slot machine or a wheel of extra lives. Sure, its usually one life per visit, and Im REALLY bad at slot machines, but it all adds up! Mario is basically immortal! ... ... ...he better be, with how easy it is to utterly destroy his flimsy body.
Forest, 2-1
You may also quickly notice... this game has an absolutely absurd variety of enemies. Sure, most of them end up funcitonally identical in many ways and are just a snazzy coat of paint, like... two sprites at most each time. Its a small detail, but also simultaneously an abundant one, serving to make the overall flavor of an otherwise gentle curve of simple gameplay very gradually ramping up can always feel fresh.
Forest, 2-2
See? You didnt know all there was to know about switches from just that one little demo segment! They dont just control platforms in a slightly different fashion from those ladder and bridge pickups! They can control the movement of elevator platforms! They can even have more than two states!
Forest, 2-3
Two helpful notes here that dont really get shown off... you can actually safely crouch under the plants projectiles, but only when youre not holding something in your hands.
The other thing is that because the ladder pickup is so close to where Mario starts and the path to the door only shutters off once gameplay begins... you can actually block that shutter with the temporary ladder occupying that space, even after the ladder disappears.
These kinds of quirks in object interactions are critical to later stages in the game, but its more of a quirky footnote in this one.
Forest, 2-4
In a DK stage thats NOT the capstone of the whole themed world, youll tend to just need to reach Donkey Kong to scare him into running away, much like the three stages leading up to 100m in the original arcade progression.
In this case, its a recreation of the original stage layout for Donkey Kong Jr.!
... ... ...so... a reverse-reversal!")
![[Gameplay Only] Star Fox Command The OTHER One with Panther](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mYU-1GjOYIc/mqdefault.jpg "[Gameplay Only] Star Fox Command The OTHER One with Panther
Important distinction, yes.
Disappointingly... I only got two and a half endings. Somehow. I didnt remember that you can take alternate routes to end up at the same place.
Visual novels can be frustrating in this way sometimes. ;3
Visual novel turn-based strategy all range mode simulator!
... ... ...but not always a properly Star Fox feeling game.
I can see why a lot of people dont prefer it. But it has some really neat ideas, and I vastly prefer the multiple player characters and semi-real-time map interactions over the chicken walker transformation, if pressed to choose. (Sorry, Platinum!)
FAIR WARNING... the video capture broke at almost the end of the stream. Like, during the credits. Just scant minutes from completion. Credits that already showed last time. After an ending I already earned. (really making a strong case for watching here, huh?)
Ultimately just a footnote, but seemed only right to acknowledge anyway.
If you absolutely NEED a virtual busybody -yammering over the melodrama and middling flight capabilities, boy are you covered:
https://youtube.com/live/NASUZSg9jco
Originally ALSO streamed at:
https://twitch.tv/yuugijoou/
Stay up to date on what nonsense Im doing:
https://twitter.com/yuugijoou
https://discord.gg/bKT9pRW
...or, yknow, just harass me if Im doing something you dont like, whatever.")
![[VTuber] Mina the Hollower 3. Loot and Plunder](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mq_rdp-A4zM/mqdefault.jpg "[VTuber] Mina the Hollower 3. Loot and Plunder
Youll pay for this, Captain Planet!
If the busybody puppet theater is too much, you can always ask her to go away::
https://youtu.be/PaeyLaR1yCs
(and in MASSIVE 10x gameplay resolution! ;3)
Originally ALSO streamed at:
https://twitch.tv/yuugijoou/
Stay up to date on what nonsense Im doing:
https://twitter.com/yuugijoou
https://discord.gg/bKT9pRW
...or, yknow, just harass me if Im doing something you dont like, whatever.")
![[VTuber] Mina the Hollower 1. A Link to the Gothic](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nAPTHxZEmmg/mqdefault.jpg "[VTuber] Mina the Hollower 1. A Link to the Gothic
The sequel to Hollow Knight is actually Hollow-er Knight?
If the not-mouse-girls getting in the way and you want her gone, try here:
https://youtu.be/kZ1EgyHbeok
ALSO, because streaming in 1440p might be a bit excessive... but capturing and uploading it isnt, you can see it in glorious TEN TIMES native resolution if you ditch the bunny. ;3
Originally ALSO streamed at:
https://twitch.tv/yuugijoou/
Stay up to date on what nonsense Im doing:
https://twitter.com/yuugijoou
https://discord.gg/bKT9pRW
...or, yknow, just harass me if Im doing something you dont like, whatever.")
![[VTuber] Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition 9. Tomb Raiding Party](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oK_rC92AOOc/mqdefault.jpg "[VTuber] Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition 9. Tomb Raiding Party
Or is it like... a reverse raid? An un-raiding party? Actually, I dont think this is anyones idea of a good time...
If you need LESS chatter, theres that version as well:
https://youtu.be/9T cza9TvQ
Originally ALSO streamed at:
https://twitch.tv/yuugijoou/
Stay up to date on what nonsense Im doing:
https://twitter.com/yuugijoou
https://discord.gg/bKT9pRW
...or, yknow, just harass me if Im doing something you dont like, whatever.")
![[VTuber] Sea of Thieves #00x. Quality Assurance](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oiUgCs8Pa7M/mqdefault.jpg "[VTuber] Sea of Thieves #00x. Quality Assurance
As often I doth protest too much, I feel like... at least in THIS case, the version polluted with uncanny puppetrcraft is the... ... ... less unbearable alternative. If I may grudgingly be forced to admit so myself (under extreme duress), at any rate.
If youre like me and want none of that and crave unadulterated game-only content, by all means may you suffer with dignity:
https://youtu.be/xZ-DRAaABaA
Now, bring me that draw distance and field of vision:
twitter.com/yuugijoou
discord.gg/bKT9pRW
This ones just a little bonus addition.
Being as this is the bleeding edge of... six-year-old games-as-a-service slightly-less-than-massively-multiplayer-always-online design paradigms... crossed with just a pinch of western game dev decisions and/or problems which will now be YOUR problems, dear player... PLUS a heaping spoonful of the PC master race meme dolloped on top... ... ... well, things were going to get complicated no matter what, its just a matter of how much it just works we were going to reasonably expect.
Just kidding, this is a Rareware game. A *Microsoft* era Rareware game. Seeing all the exposed wires and confusing little bits and bobs poking out from under the hood is a FEATURE and it shows just how COOL a piece of genuine software engineering youre interfacing with. Thats all! (Plus obligatory Britishisms and odd spelling choices. They actually FIT the setting for a change, though!)
Mark my words. This is neither the first nor the last time Ill be tweaking these things. In just the time since this was captured and I put off describing any of what went on in it... Ive had to fix at least three major technical, visual, and control concerns... and several more of those are lurking in store that I just... didnt want to deal with. And well see what THAT costs me in terms of professionalism and presentation!
...not counting the issues that Im definitely just making harder on myself for no other apparent reason than... because I can.
Its always FUN to learn where the out-of-the-box settings and input norms of TWO distinctly different eras and ecosystems are just jammed together in one place and see which one gives way first!
Since Im probably going to refrain from complaining in any level of detail or capacity later on, lets just catch a few of them, not all of which are in any way the games fault!
Did you know this game is one of the few Ive run across thus far (baby steps!) that DEFAULTS to an unbound framerate? Dont you usually need to opt into that, with the stern warning that youll possibly generate some extra instabilities as a result? (Fun fact: the warning is still here, but the opting in has already been done FOR you!)
The keyboard and mouse setup is super sprawlingly comfy with a bunch of eras-old conventions of where certain types of actions are located, and no pesky need to inform players, just assuming they know how those things work. Its a game with guns and melee attacks in it! Theyll be fine! Multiple interact keys? Theyll figure them out! Context clues!
Shockingly, the controller layout is super cozy and almost... entirely comfortable? The game even has radial menus! Yknow, the things analog sticks make sense for, but keys and scraping-and-clicking input devices might struggle a bit with?
Heck, I only learned you CAN aim and sprint because of the conventions they absorb for these functions in this mode... but of COURSE it happens that I learned the ropes by the OTHER input method. (I was too lazy to plug in a controller meant to be used more monogamously with its own intended subcomputing television attachment device.)
Inverted aim! Makes sense one way for a mouse. A different way for a joystick! ... ... ...unless decades of conventional unwisdom have trained you to think the opposite! ...from decades of conventional wisdom PRIOR instead training people to believe otherwise! Huzzah!
And what if I want to put on a saucy poppet wench show oer starboard side? That surely wont complicate matters one bit! (The high seas SURELY cant be any more graphically rigorous than free-roaming the fightin streets of Metro City, riiiight?)
And I (wisely?) havent even chosen to dig into what might be in store if I decide to retrofit traditional two-thumbed controls with gyro aiming! I swear! Its not weird! (No, YOURE weird!)
The game defaults to a 720p viewport for windowed mode, but full native resolution if you put it on the big screen. You can also only change the latter in menu form... you freely drag the former! Dynamism!
And Im PRETTY sure the recommended settings of BOTH Mythical for one set of options and CURSED for an entirely other indicates to me that... ... ... this ancient unlost software has no idea what Moores Law has been up to in the meantime, and can only vaguely guess at certain bits and throw up its arms in disgusted resignation at the others.")
![[VTuber] Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition 6. Welcome to the Jungle](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/olepvnLRXMM/mqdefault.jpg "[VTuber] Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition 6. Welcome to the Jungle
Weve got fun and games. (And legendary heropon!)
If you need LESS chatter, theres that version as well:
https://youtu.be/-xNS6snsJEc
(the gameplay resolution will be higher at least?!)
Originally ALSO streamed at:
https://twitch.tv/yuugijoou/
Stay up to date on what nonsense Im doing:
https://twitter.com/yuugijoou
https://discord.gg/bKT9pRW
...or, yknow, just harass me if Im doing something you dont like, whatever.")
