Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask (The Five Stages of Zelda-Game)

[LaZodiac]

Finished the last stream just in time for this one.

...A thought ocred to me though... Did you... Ever do the Spider-House? You were trying to figure out what else to do in the Zora area.

My intent was to do the Spider Houses as part of the final clean up of things. Was this the correct decision? Almost certainly not! But it's how things went oops.

[Lord Raziere]

Majora's Mask 27: Loop 8, Day 2-Loop 10 or 11, Day 2
I think we're at Loop 10 with your two streams of this, possibly Loop 11, but I'm leaning 10.

depending on how much side stuff left, we'll see how many loops more this'll take.

Ikana in general is an interesting choice for this game's like....final dungeon? penultimate dungeon? because its technically a counterpart to Hyrule itself, spurning and insulting the goddesses and goodwill towards each other for their own pride and glory. There isn't really anything there for Link to save or restore, just a dead kingdom lost to time, valuable only as a lesson to others. in contrast in something like Windwaker even when Ganon wished upon the Triforce, the Goddesses protected Hyrule and its people in a way and allowed them to continue on in some manner despite the divine wrath nature of it. One wonders how bad it got that nothing about Ikana truly remains alive.

Side Note: It is interesting to note that Windwaker's backstory is probably the least subtle the Goddesses get, in denying Ganon using the Triforce to become all powerful. Usually they're more subtle and work through champions like Link and Zelda but when that was no longer workable it feels like they just had to pull out their last resort and wipe the board clean.

and in another odd parallel to Windwaker, both it and Majora's Mask both explore what happens when a hero fails to appear against a threat or fails to win against them. Could it perhaps, be possible that Link understands the implications of the timeline he left being one where he is no longer in it, that he feels guilt in leaving an entire timeline defenseless? Could Link, as he grows older be tapping more into his reincarnations and thus have some inkling of the timelines where he dies against Ganon and thus feel guilt about the timelines he fails? because the journey of Majora's Mask doesn't really make sense given we're playing a supposedly victorious Link. Why would Link after all, feel any grief for winning against Ganon in not one, but two timelines, unless he has some knowledge that Ganondorf will return later even with his efforts? Why would three different kingdoms with heroes that failed to save the day and one where the kingdom is long dead, be thematically relevant to him otherwise? So it might be possible that Link knows the consequences of what he has done in Ocarina of Time and isn't entirely okay with it, but knows he can't really stop it. Or perhaps Zelda told him with her power of Wisdom-who knows?

Thus Windwaker and Majora's Mask can be seen as thematically connected, with Majora's Mask being OoT Link's journey of healing and asking the question of what happened to the timeline he left, not knowing if he truly saved them or not, with Windwaker being the answer to that question and the lighter tone being a reassurance that another hero will rise to take up his mantle.

[DataNinja]

Whoooof, that dungeon sure has some, uh, choices. Yeah, we'll just leave it at that. Yeesh. This is the kind of puzzle that I absolutely could not do with a time pressure.

[Rater202]

The thought occurs to me that, the way this game works in regards to timeline, that from Link's perspective, he's been awake for like a month straight.

[LaZodiac]

Majora's Mask 27: Loop 8, Day 2-Loop 10 or 11, Day 2
I think we're at Loop 10 with your two streams of this, possibly Loop 11, but I'm leaning 10.

depending on how much side stuff left, we'll see how many loops more this'll take.

Side Note: It is interesting to note that Windwaker's backstory is probably the least subtle the Goddesses get, in denying Ganon using the Triforce to become all powerful. Usually they're more subtle and work through champions like Link and Zelda but when that was no longer workable it feels like they just had to pull out their last resort and wipe the board clean.

and in another odd parallel to Windwaker, both it and Majora's Mask both explore what happens when a hero fails to appear against a threat or fails to win against them. Could it perhaps, be possible that Link understands the implications of the timeline he left being one where he is no longer in it, that he feels guilt in leaving an entire timeline defenseless? Could Link, as he grows older be tapping more into his reincarnations and thus have some inkling of the timelines where he dies against Ganon and thus feel guilt about the timelines he fails? because the journey of Majora's Mask doesn't really make sense given we're playing a supposedly victorious Link. Why would Link after all, feel any grief for winning against Ganon in not one, but two timelines, unless he has some knowledge that Ganondorf will return later even with his efforts? Why would three different kingdoms with heroes that failed to save the day and one where the kingdom is long dead, be thematically relevant to him otherwise? So it might be possible that Link knows the consequences of what he has done in Ocarina of Time and isn't entirely okay with it, but knows he can't really stop it. Or perhaps Zelda told him with her power of Wisdom-who knows?

Thus Windwaker and Majora's Mask can be seen as thematically connected, with Majora's Mask being OoT Link's journey of healing and asking the question of what happened to the timeline he left, not knowing if he truly saved them or not, with Windwaker being the answer to that question and the lighter tone being a reassurance that another hero will rise to take up his mantle.

I actually compiled a list for today's stream and... realistically, while I don't know how many loops it'll take, I feel like we could beat Majora's Mask during today's stream!

You've mentioned the Goddesses a lot with regards to Ikana, and I know there's some Triforce imagery in the original (the little imp blocks that are licking it), but even with that... I think it's interesting to consider that literally no other region in Termina has Triforce imagery. It makes it feel less like Ikana was defiant of the Goddesses in some way, and more like they were the only ones that worshiped them, and they were perhaps not as kind as the actual real Goddesses in Hyrule proper.

Because the lack of Triforce and associated imagery in Termina makes sense; it's an alternate world, it wouldn't HAVE Goddess imagery. It's why I'm partly glad the 3DS version removed it. If this is meant to be an alternate world, realistically it wouldn't have the same gods (and near as we can tell they don't, because the four Giants really fit that role more here). I will admit removing the Triforce imagery does cut against the "this is an alternate world, but things feel familiar yet twisted" vibe Majora's Mask has going, so it's a trade off.

If you wanna know what Ikana did to pull the wrath of whatever beings they worship (be it Termina's equivilant of the Goddesses that goes pretty much unstated during the game, the Giants, or maybe something else) I think we have to go no further than the Giant Mask itself. We know masks impart power in this world, and many of them are made from the souls of creatures- and those made from souls impart transformations and the like. I look at the Giant Mask, held deep within the Stone Temple (and shoved into a monster centipede in the 3DS version) and I look at the platform you find it on (a sort of altar in the middle of a sandy temple area accessed through a magic portal) and what this tells me is "there was a fifth giant, and Ikana slaughtered it and made that mask for Power's sake, and the remaining four giants smote the country down.

That's just my take on things anyway.

Of course on the other hand, as you're hinting at with that last bit; Majora's Mask has always been a game that feels, unreal. Termina is a dying dream of a place, and all of the things we encounter are things reflecting on Link's journey through Ocarina of Time. Ikana as this twisted, corrupted Hyrule that's been destroyed and left in squalor is a fascinating look into Link's mentality. His worries about what could happen if he failed, his fears about the destroyed future he saw (and technically abandoned in order to live his proper life). It's interesting to think about!

Whoooof, that dungeon sure has some, uh, choices. Yeah, we'll just leave it at that. Yeesh. This is the kind of puzzle that I absolutely could not do with a time pressure.

YUP. Great Bay Temple gets a lot of flak for being the hardest and most convoluted dungeon in the game, but I personally find that to be a simple case of people remembering the Water Temple and letting it colour their opinions. Now in the Stone Tower's defense, I did clearly have the harder time of doing things IN that dungeon, since I took the longest time on that, buuut... I still think it is worth mentioning that I did feel the most stressed out during Stone Tower Temple.

The thought occurs to me that, the way this game works in regards to timeline, that from Link's perspective, he's been awake for like a month straight.

God, yeah. At least in Ocarina of Time you could like, imply sleep was happening. But Link is going full throttle here.

[Qwertystop]

He sleeps during the rewind.

[LaZodiac]

Special guest staring my friends Yza and Robin!

Zodi Plays: Majora's Mask [29] The Kafei Anju Incident

Video Length: 3:25:12

So, a couple things.

The spider houses are honestly really tightly made mini-dungeons. They're not all that difficult, but that's for the best, and honestly I quite like them. It's surprising to me there aren't more, honestly, cause "one per region" seems like a slam dunk of an idea, but limiting it to two probably makes more sense in the long run. Adjusting the Ocean House so that you DON'T get punished for taking too long is a rare example of the remake defanging the original, and honestly I find it to be perfectly acceptable because there really just isn't a point to it, to be frank.

Now, onto the main event. The Kafei and Anju questline spans the entirety of the game- if you are dedicated enough to see every optional scene that gives you ever single scrap of dialogue, you'll basically have an overflowing plate of schedules to keep. Limiting it to the basic required ones though... well, it's still pretty meaty! We need to talk to folk at the right time, post some letters, be present to sneak into some areas at the right time- sometimes having to avoid being seen as well. With all these points of contact, it's not that difficult to stumble or misstep and hit a failure state.

And unfortunately for me... as much as I DID make notes, I did not think to double check'em. Thankfully I've got some wonderful friends to help keep me on my feet!

[DataNinja]

Ah, the Cursed World stream. Featuring guest character Link.

...and, wow, they really, really want you to push the timer to the limit for some of these quests.

[Rater202]

I'm a little behind.

I just saw Raz's comments on Linked Universe and my thought process immediately went to a conversation I had on another forum about how exactly you'd do a Marvel version of Young Justice.

One of my suggestions was to have Molly Hayes as the "heart/comic relief" of the Team... But since it's a teenage version of Molly, basically everything from the comics has happened in some way, shape, or form in her backstory, she's ironically the most experienced member of the team despite being the most childish acting, and she keeps making references to things the Runaways did that would serve the duel purpose of both being easter eggs for comic readers and nonsequitur jokes for people watching at home.

She just says something she or "my other friends" have done in the past and then leaves it there without elaborating.

"...This is worse than that time I had to sacrifice one of my stuffed animals."
"What happened?"
"We were trying to figure out how to feed Gib without killing anyone."
"...Okay."

[LaZodiac]

Ah, the Cursed World stream. Featuring guest character Link.

...and, wow, they really, really want you to push the timer to the limit for some of these quests.

I have, due to this object lesson, adjusted that point reward so it'll be less frequent, no worries.

They really do! Though Anju and Kafei's quest is the strictest by far.

I'm a little behind.

I just saw Raz's comments on Linked Universe and my thought process immediately went to a conversation I had on another forum about how exactly you'd do a Marvel version of Young Justice.

One of my suggestions was to have Molly Hayes as the "heart/comic relief" of the Team... But since it's a teenage version of Molly, basically everything from the comics has happened in some way, shape, or form in her backstory, she's ironically the most experienced member of the team despite being the most childish acting, and she keeps making references to things the Runaways did that would serve the duel purpose of both being easter eggs for comic readers and nonsequitur jokes for people watching at home.

She just says something she or "my other friends" have done in the past and then leaves it there without elaborating.

"...This is worse than that time I had to sacrifice one of my stuffed animals."
"What happened?"
"We were trying to figure out how to feed Gib without killing anyone."
"...Okay."

Hah. I'm sure I'd get more comedy from this if I knew the characters.

[Rater202]

Hah. I'm sure I'd get more comedy from this if I knew the characters.

So Molly Hayes is the youngest founding member of The Runaways, a "team" of heroes that's basically just a bunch of kids who ran away from home when they realized that their parents were supervillains.

Specifically, their parents were The Pride, an alliance of two aliens, two mutants, two time travelers, two mad scientists, and two regular as gangsters who were recruited into the service of a trio of Elder Gods of unclear Origin referred to as The Gibborim. The name comes from Bible Hebrew but it's later established that their names were Gib Bo and Rim so that may be a coincidence. The kids witness their parents performing a ritual sacrifice and... Yeah.

Eventually, the kids manage to foil the final part of the ritual wherein the soul of the victim if offered to the Gibborm to be consumed and without that tithe the Gibborim can't remain on Earth anymore and spent the next few years in Limbo before fading away entirely.

Runaways volume 5, however, introduces the seed of the Gibborim, offspring of the trio who each take the name of one of their parents.

Of them, the new Gib... has moral qualms with consuming human souls. Like, in general, but especially after being made to guard the Runaways for a week after they gave the kids the ultimatum of "be to us what your parents were to our parents or we'll eat your souls and find someone else to do it" because observing them for a week made him realize that humans were people.

So after his siblings are sent forward in time 999 years in order to get rid of them, Gib with nothing better to do just hangs out with the Ruanways but he's slowly starving to death the entire time because he needs to consume souls but he doesn't want to and out of moral obligation the kids are just trying to figure out how to keep him alive.

One of the attempts was Molly to sacrifice a stuffed animal. Like... Literally. She cut its head off with an athame.

[LaZodiac]

A major stream for masks, and other such things.

Zodi Plays: Majora's Mask [30] Beavers

Video Length: 3:11:00

So the bulk of this episode is running around doing more or less the last bit of serious collectathon stuff Majora's Mask has in store for us. Completing all of the Deku Scrub and Darling&Honey minigames, finding any incidental chest based heart pieces, getting the Don Gero quest completed, and getting our final mask!... and then, my wonderful and good friend Yza reminded me that I didn't... actually, clear the Beaver Race. I thought I did, and I coulda swore we discussed in this very thread that yes I had finished it. But we also said I didn't need to finish the minigames above and as it turned out I had to.

Well. We did it. We did beavers. There's a clip of it, if you want to focus on the specific disrespect that has been thrust upon me by these people.

But yeah. Join us all next time, for when we finish up the last little bit of collecting (two side quests and a single event of sorts) and then, finally, put Majora's Mask to rest.

[Rater202]

So guess who has two thumbs and is three streams behind because he monofocused on finishing something that ended up taking too long to finish?

Sometime in the next few days I'm gonna have to knock a day out and binge them all.

[DataNinja]

Oh, hey, Finale.

I mean, there's at least one person who hasn't played Majora's Mask watching, Yza. Literally the only things I knew about Majora's Mask before this playthrough were A) the time loop, and B) tiny fragments from the Smash Bros series. So I have had zero idea of what's been coming. (Same with Twilight Princess, and... heck, a good deal of the Switch Games, since I was burnt out of open world games before the first one happened).

Well, huh. I wasn't expecting side dungeons before the boss, there. I figured it'd just be a time-limited boss or something.

...okay, yeah, if there's anything that this game does well (and, clearly, it does a lot of things well), it's impeccable aesthetic, and just nailing that atmosphere.

Maybe someday Battle Network will rise again, and we'll eventually get to Star Force. I didn't hear that series on your list.

[LaZodiac]

So guess who has two thumbs and is three streams behind because he monofocused on finishing something that ended up taking too long to finish?

Sometime in the next few days I'm gonna have to knock a day out and binge them all.

No problem, hope you enjoy!

Well, huh. I wasn't expecting side dungeons before the boss, there. I figured it'd just be a time-limited boss or something.

...okay, yeah, if there's anything that this game does well (and, clearly, it does a lot of things well), it's impeccable aesthetic, and just nailing that atmosphere.

Maybe someday Battle Network will rise again, and we'll eventually get to Star Force. I didn't hear that series on your list.

Majora's Mask sliding in one last little surprise is quite fun.

God, yes. The aesthetic and atmosphere is SO good. Hitting the moon for the first time, everything that happens there, it really hits hard.

Battle Network is absolutely too big for my stated purpose of "something to do while waiting for Qwerty to arrive". Don't worry, Battle Network WILL return next year, 100%. Alongside other, games (an ominous number 4 looms in the background).

Anyway- MAJORA!

------

Zodi Plays: Majora's Mask [31] Majora's Wrath

Video Length: 2:41:15

And so, after finishing up some small side quests (one of which is 3DS exclusive) to get the last two Heart Pieces and bottles, we face down the finale of the game itself!

The Moon is... honestly, beautiful. Yza and I discuss this a LOT in the actual stream, about the unsettling roller coaster the game pulls you along with the Mask doffing Skull Kid like a rag doll, the mysterious and symbolic inner beauty of the Moon and how it conceals Majora's inner darkness. The strange, warped challenge rooms you enter when playing hide and seek with those remains wearing kids, and the fact you need to sacrifice all the masks you've gained to get them... it's a lot. Adding to that, the sheer... everything, about the Fierce Deity mask, the flow of the Majora's Mask boss fight, it all culminates in what- as DataNinja says about- is impeccable in its aesthetic and so, so very atmospheric. Majora's Mask is well loved for a lot of things, and I do genuinely believe a large portion of it is memories of this finale and how it is a truly perfect capstone to the game.

Thank you all for watching, friends. I hope you enjoyed this, and enjoy whatever's next. I said this in the video as well, but I'll repeat it here; I'm sorry this took so long, and to all of you who stuck by me through this, I genuinely thank you from the bottom of my heart. The past couple months have been a pretty rough capstone on a kinda rough year, so your support really does help.

Next time... something else, with a free and unweighted soul. See you there!

[DataNinja]

Battle Network is absolutely too big for my stated purpose of "something to do while waiting for Qwerty to arrive". Don't worry, Battle Network WILL return next year, 100%. Alongside other, games (an ominous number 4 looms in the background).

That's fair enough! Look, I just get very excited about Star Force.

[Rater202]

(an ominous number 4 looms in the background).

Remember to keep an eye on the backgrounds.

[LaZodiac]

That's fair enough! Look, I just get very excited about Star Force.

As much as I love Battle Network I do think I like Star Force more, so completely understandable.

(incidentally in the Battle Network 1 streams, I secretly was using Operate Shooting Star's fan translation, so you COULD get some Star Force adjacent love there)

Remember to keep an eye on the backgrounds.

I'm sure it'll be fine, I'd need to remember how to record of PS4 to get menaced by this. It'll be fiiiine.

[DataNinja]

(incidentally in the Battle Network 1 streams, I secretly was using Operate Shooting Star's fan translation, so you COULD get some Star Force adjacent love there)

Yeah, I remember that happening (and I was very excited to see it). Like I said to you after first catching that vod, "your trick, your ploy, your ruse was much appreciated."

[Rater202]

I'm sure it'll be fine, I'd need to remember how to record of PS4 to get menaced by this. It'll be fiiiine.

That wasn't a warning.

Spoiler

Show

Assuming we're talking Sly 4, during the main missions in each time period, if you pay close attention you can see Clockwerk somewhere in the background.

He's gone, however, if you go back after finishing up there.

[LaZodiac]

That wasn't a warning.

Spoiler

Show

Assuming we're talking Sly 4, during the main missions in each time period, if you pay close attention you can see Clockwerk somewhere in the background.

He's gone, however, if you go back after finishing up there.

Aah, yes. Don't worry, I know

[Rater202]

So I was actually going to add the "add this to the wiki" bit of Trivia regarding Ghost-Reei to the TvTropes listing but the site's in Read Only Mode right now so I can't

[Rater202]

Still catching up. I'm almost there, but I feel the need to share.

My favorite part of Hogather is not the really awsome existentialist message of hope that comes a the end... It's the segment in the middle, when they find a little girl dying in the snow after trying and failing to seel matches and fearing to go home to her abusive father, much like in a certain Hans Christian Anderson story hat... actually took place on Nw Years, not Christmas, but that's splititng hairs.

Albert, Death's manservant, explains the narrative of children like this dying tragically and going to heaven as being an important part of the narrative because it gets them to where they are beyond suffering while everyone else gets a message of how they're pretty well off and it could be worse, making them appreciate what they have anymore.

Death says to hell with that and pulls out the girl's hourglass and starts adding more sand.

"You can't do that."
"THE HOGFATHER CAN. THE HOGFATHER'S JOB IS TO GIVE PRESENTS. WHAT BETTER PRESENT IS THERE THAN A FUTURE?"

Death then carries the girl off and hands her over to some patrolling watchman, informing them that she comes from a bad home and needs a warm meal and a place to stay and that he might be coming back later to check on her.

[LaZodiac]

Still catching up. I'm almost there, but I feel the need to share.

My favorite part of Hogather is not the really awsome existentialist message of hope that comes a the end... It's the segment in the middle, when they find a little girl dying in the snow after trying and failing to seel matches and fearing to go home to her abusive father, much like in a certain Hans Christian Anderson story hat... actually took place on Nw Years, not Christmas, but that's splititng hairs.

Albert, Death's manservant, explains the narrative of children like this dying tragically and going to heaven as being an important part of the narrative because it gets them to where they are beyond suffering while everyone else gets a message of how they're pretty well off and it could be worse, making them appreciate what they have anymore.

Death says to hell with that and pulls out the girl's hourglass and starts adding more sand.

"You can't do that."
"THE HOGFATHER CAN. THE HOGFATHER'S JOB IS TO GIVE PRESENTS. WHAT BETTER PRESENT IS THERE THAN A FUTURE?"

Death then carries the girl off and hands her over to some patrolling watchman, informing them that she comes from a bad home and needs a warm meal and a place to stay and that he might be coming back later to check on her.

God I do love that scene. Death does not really like his job all the time, and this is the perfect moment for him to finally bite back against effectively himself. It's fantastic.

======

Anyway, hey. It's time for the next stream... which is, fundamentally, also the next playthrough. I'll be adjusting the name of the thread (if I figure out how) to attend to that. So, lets see...

Zodi Streams: EVOLAND

Video Length: 3:02:12

Evoland! The initial version of which was created as a 48 hour Ludumdare challenge. It's... interesting, to be sure. While the game says it is a "short story of adventure video games history", it is unfortunately somewhat... limited, in that scope. The playing around with graphical styles, the music, and some of the ways you unlock the mechanical aspects of the game do feel good, but it's execution leaves a lot of room to be desired. As Qwerty so helpfully put it, it kinda gestures vaguely towards something resembling referential humour, and while some of the jokes do work, others are pretty clear misses.

I think the combination of Zelda-like and Final Fantasy-like gameplay segments is interesting however, encompassing both "styles" of the so-called Adventure Video Game (a term that is really hard to define, and why the person who sold this game to me phrased it as an RPG history game). The addition of the uh, third style of Adventure game for one relatively simple area is a really fun surprise though. Story wise it IS a short story, so kudos on that- though I can't say I'm super thrilled with how it goes down, and how said going-down interacts with one of the early book based jokes in particular.

All in all; I'd say Evoland is an interesting experiment, but clearly suffers from being a somewhat advanced version of a 48 hour game dev game. I am curious what else this team could do though, since the ambition is there.

And on that note; join us next time for Evoland 2. Surprise we're doing both!

[Rater202]

I'm almost done with Majora and I have to make an observation regarding the Fierce Deity Mask.

I feel it's important to make note of the fact that it looks like Link.

When Link dons a transmigration mask, he becomes a Link version of the rae of whoever the Mask embodies the soul of but the msk itself resembles that person.

Another thing to make note of is that one of its powers is a signature ability of Master Sword, the "sword beams."

So the Fierce Deity/Oni being a counterpart of Link... Makes sense.

But, and this is an important but... Termina seems to be a mirror world of Hyrule. All of the major characters with counterparts are equal and opposites in some way. The same basic character, but reimagined.

From the minor aspects like Malon's counterpart being split into two people who each embody a different aspect of her personality to the major like the Geruda still being thieves, but pirates instead of desert bandits and also purely antagonistic rather than having noble traits and becoming allies.

Link is an immortal hero, he's constantly reborn so as to be available when there's need of him or to accompany his princess, the counterpart of an immortal hero being a warrior god? Maks sens...

Except Oni are typically closer to Demons than to Gods and when they're considered gods they're rather violent ones.

So, if the hero of Hyrule is a classical adventuring hero who is beloved by the goddess of light... The Hero of Termina is a destructive Anti-Hero with powers of Darkness.

[LaZodiac]

Link is an immortal hero, he's constantly reborn so as to be available when there's need of him or to accompany his princess, the counterpart of an immortal hero being a warrior god? Maks sens...

Except Oni are typically closer to Demons than to Gods and when they're considered gods they're rather violent ones.

So, if the hero of Hyrule is a classical adventuring hero who is beloved by the goddess of light... The Hero of Termina is a destructive Anti-Hero with powers of Darkness.

I... think we talk about that near the end of the fight, yeah. I've always kinda considered Kafei the Link equivalent, but given as you stated multiple aspects of a person are clearly split upon multiple axis, that could still hold true with the Oni being a twisted aspect of Link's heroism. It even kinda touches on the Hylia stuff- Hylia was Zelda's godhood, this mask is what remains of the Link equivalent's godhood in Termina.

======

Okay, lets dive into Evoland TWOOOOO!

Zodi Streams: Evoland 2 [1] A Marked Improvement

Video Length: 3:07:04

Ooops this game's a real game and not just an adaptation of a 48 hour ludum dare game that attempted to be "about" the history of action and RPG games. This time, we've got like... a story, that matters, and characters who exist beyond just being allusions to other characters, and bespoke mechanics that make the gameplay honestly kinda fun! It's very very Seiken Densetsu/Mana Series in presentation and style, but I think that's good because that series deserves more games that are like... actually worth playing. The little shifts of genre at time also serve to elevate the game, much like my favorite part of Evoland 1, so I like it.

Character wise, we're clearly playing as some sort of time traveler type named Kuro Kat by a spunky martial artist known as Fina Gonna. We get embroiled in the plot of some Demons, being sent back in time and just kinda futzing about, until we're eventually arrested, put into a gladiator arena, and meet our third party member; Manus] Guyus! With his help (and a little shady dealings and job based minigames) we escape the city of Genova (I wonder if this city is built on a meteor impact site...) and make our way to the Demon Encampment to find a way back home.

All in all, a really good showing compared to Evoland the first.

[Rater202]

I think I remember playing an online Demo for Evoland back in the dark ages.

[LaZodiac]

Evoland 2! Delayed posting due to various outside forces beyond my control!

Zodi Streams: Evoland 2 [2] This Reminds Me Of A Puzzle (Negative)

Video Length: 3:14:14

In this episode, we continue our journey through the Haunted Woods, reach the Demon Encampment... and in the aftermath of the Sorcerers following us, get launched into the far flung future. Uh oh! This also leads us to our first dungeon, which has an incredible oblique and untutorialized mechanic that delays us for far, FAR longer than it had any right to. Luckily this is the only time this will happen this stream.

*looks at the puzzles in the Future Library* Uh oh.

[Lord Raziere]

Yeah that.....was not a good mechanic. not telegraphed at all. I think I would've been just as stumped playing it at that point. the person making Evoland relies a lot on visual and intuitive design to teach you how its mechanics works without trying to tutorialize anything, and a simple indication like an "A" button appearing over the armor could've let you know what your supposed to do here without telling you what the armor does or what your supposed to do with it. they clearly like the art of game design to some degree given how many games they pastiche in this, and how they try to not bog things down as much as possible with how simple they keep it, because game design is all about making everything as smooth as possible an experience so something like this doesn't happen, but they dropped the ball in that specific instance and relied a little too much on player curiosity to try everything rather than give an indication of what to do.

as for the library puzzles.....yeah the worst was the castle patrol one, that basically devolved into brute forcing the lock by trying every combination.

[LaZodiac]

We interrupt this adventure in Evolandia (I think, I don't think Evoland 2 has mentioned the name of the human continent...) to bring you a special event: with the arrival of one beautiful and talented Qwerty, it is time to indulge in RPG Ridiculously with... Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica!

Zodi Streams: Ar Tonelico 2 [1] Ar Twonelicoh No!

Video Length: 3:00:02

Centuries ago (a few years back) Qwerty showed me the delightfully silly Gust produced rpg Ar Tonelico. Much like the Atelier games, it had a goofy and fun localization, an interesting mechanical gameplay loop, a story of many ludicrous twists and turns, and a crafting system that gave us reams upon reams of dialogue as each of our three female leads could have conversations where they name the item we just made in their own unique, characterful way. It was a game we often played while hanging out, me doing the voices when the actors were busy, occasionally switching off who was actually playing, and generally having a good time. But then, as all games do, it ended- and the thought of playing the sequel came up.

The sequel, it is written, is a beast of a game. With a rougher localization than the first game, a localization that cut half the voice acting and ruined some of the song pacing and in one case actually created a nearly unavoidable crash/lock if a mid-game boss does a specific move. It is, by all accounts that I have heard, not great. But Ar Tonelico is one of Those series. It's a weird PS2 era RPG with strange and unique character designs and world building and mechanical complexity- **** it even has a conlang attached to it! Multiple, even! So it's garnered a cult following, and cults do what they do when their idol has been besmirched: they re-localize the entire thing, fixing the programming errors that were introduced, and so on. They, smartly, didn't do english voice acting on their own accord, instead just leaving all the Japanese voice acting in, but still.

And Qwerty, bless her incredibly smart brain and heart, had an idea. Lets play both of these, at the same time. For the internet, since she wants to share it with all of you. So, we decided to do that the next time she visited. This is the next time she visited, and so we have done it. The results are... good, it seems! We had a lovely time, save for her glasses exploded. It is however revealing some things. Namely, that the quality of the official release's translation is not so bad as I have been told by various sources, and the Fanpatch has dipped into some of ye olde classic fan-translation tendencies. This isn't to say it is bad, just, interesting. The point of this is to compare and contrast these things, and that's being done in spades.

... I suppose I should write about what happened in the game now huh. We are Croix, a holy knight of the Not Church because we succeeded from the church state to form our own, obviously theocratic state with blackjack and brass bands and what have you. We wield the mighty gunlance in the name of forming the Green Land, Metafalica, our historical and mythological paradise that has real actual soil and grass instead of being an artificial construct we live on due to the ancient song magic that nuked the surface world. Except of course... those ideals that Croix so likes are simply ideals, and his job is primarily beating up Reyveteils (magical girl cyborg idols) who are suffering from a plague that makes them sing out of control. This is bad because sound, and songs in general, are what this universe has in place of atoms, and Reyveteils can split atoms and create matter by singing- meaning that a IPD infection causes them to basically spit fireballs everywhere.

This is also bad because Croix, understandably, feels really ****ty about having to beat up plague victims for containment. Luckily for him, things are about to get worse! As he and his terribly dressed 11 year old sister who isn't related by blood are called in to an outbreak at the resort our Maiden- the ruler of our country- is staying at. We do find infected folk, but we also find the Sacred Knights, soldiers of the bad people we succeeded from, who are clearly behind this. Leglius (yes that's his name) gives us Croche, the Maiden in question, and tells us to run off, lay low, and meet up with him later... and so our story begins. and our stream ends, because there's a lot of opening character stuff to get through first. And so it goes!

Hope you all enjoyed this. We had a great time, as said, so we hope you did too!