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nblatinotails · 1 year

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I really really really wanna talk about sonic and tails individual retelling of their meeting/not meeting, it's driving me crazy ! Ok ! Quickly to clear up first, clearly these don't happen in the same universe, so clearly a lot of major components are different before we even get to see what's going on. In sonics recollection, the sky is blue, the grass is green, all is good :] cause he's there to stop a lot of the industrialization that Robotnik brings, the world isn't suffering yet. Tails flashback includes paved roads and darkned skies,,, no one to stand in the way of Robotnik, so progress trudges forward, bleak and uncaring. Ok, great, that's outta the way :]

I really wanna focus on the language they both use when describing tails, the bullies, and his life after- I think the contrast is just wild and so so so interesting to compare! Like it changes a lot of the context we view these situations in and tells a lot about the character that's speaking

Sonic tells it this way: Tails was a 'happy, brainy fox' till some 'blockhead bullies' started 'picking on him for having an extra tail'. Sonic ran by and the kids 'lost interest in being jerks'. Tails began following sonic and the prime universe we know is set in motion.

So already this is so reflective of sonics personality and how he perceived what was happening to Tails. Clearly he thinks Tails is a smart little kid, he's brainy, he's smart but he's a little guy. It's a nice term but it folds under the weight of what we usually expect tails to be described as, genius, brilliant. But the happy part is something that the story and tails himself argue against. Even in the prime universe, we know that tails was harassed relentlessly until he met sonic, we see in the flashback that this has already escalated to physical violence,, and they were just getting started. Sonic calls them 'blockheads', 'bullies' that 'pick on him', this language is tame and childish, its kinda downplays what we see, tho I don't think he meant it like that. Thats just how he sees it, it's kids teasing eachother,,, which makes sense for how an outsider would see it, no flack to him.. Or how an adult would soften a story as to not scare a kid, I don't think that's the reason, I think sonic just talks like that, but it's an interesting idea to think about how maybe he didn't wanna scare tails, or if he truly just remembers it as some harsh teasing.

But anyways, to Tails,, he's 4, he's scared and can't defend himself just yet, he can't do anything but take it and hope they leave soon. Also quick wanna point out the emphasis on an extra tail, sonic doesn't care, it's an extra, it's cool.. it's glossed over because its unimportant, just something that's included in the things that are happening, rather than being WHY they're taking place. So sonic runs by and the kids 'lose interest' in bothering tails (they get whooped and tails runs away), and Tails follows sonic, eventually becoming best friends and brothers.

A simple, friendly recap, it seems kinda sanitized,,perky. The way sonic recalls events are very straightforward and chill, I truly believe that he didn't look too far into the background of what he saw, just stopped it and carried on, bonus points for gaining a lil bro.

TAILS HOWEVER..

things are a lil different,, clearly in what happens after sonic didn't show up, but also in the way he talks about himself, his feelings, the actions taken against him.

Tails tells it like this: he was a kid, minding his business, but not his surroundings.. some creeps came along and picked on him for having ONE extra tail. He got a beating, a cycle that continued for years until he put his foot down. He used his 'cunning fox brain' to give him a real way to fight back. Now he needs no one. He takes care of himself.

Aauuggwwwh

The emphasis on his youth, he was 4.

He knows he wasn't to blame, he was minding his own business, he didn't DO anything. But that little bit of self blaming language: I wasn't watching my surroundings. Like he's berating himself, like he could have avoided these kids finding him if he was looking out.

These creeps pick on him, cause that's what they are to him. they aren't 'blockheads', they aren't just bullies, these are older, stronger kids. They ARE creeps, they harassed him for YEARS for no reason. Except for the fact that he has ONE extra tail. Specifically 'one extra' not 'an extra', one. Because that's all it takes. So he shows them. He makes more. But before that, he gets beaten. Not picked on, not bullied, BEATEN. it AAUUGHHH it drives me crazy, look at how he perceives his bullies!!

Like fucking monsters, chasing him in the night. I'm am not alright.

This continues for years. Chased and beaten and harassed, over and over and over again, until tails gives and makes something to protect himself, something to level the playing feild. And THIS is how he views himself while creating his augmentations.

Another allusion to something menacing, something otherworldly. He's pulling himself up to their level, using his 'cunning fox brain'. A jab at sonics wording, yeah, but more importantly, a reference to how tails sees himself. He's NOT brainy, he has to be cunning, he had to be tricky and aware at all times. So now, he can fight back.. he's got these tools, he has his brain, he has protection. Now he doesn't need anyone else. He's grown up alone, take care of himself and his own problems.

#so so so many feelings about sonic and tails #about what this means for what we kniw and how the characters perceive the world #im im im 😭😭😭😭#sonic prime #sonic prime spoilers #spoilers #dissolving over the way they explain things

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jami-purple · 7 months

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The Official Malware Sonic Lore post

Because it got deleted from the Wiki at one point and I finally became aware of the random ass lore that was made up by his fans which is WOW! still can't believe my critter had those.

Overview of character

Malware Sonic, or Mal, for short, is a computer virus that was made to look like a Sonic the Hedgehog fan game to fool people into downloading it. The virus later became conscious, and nowadays it just likes surfing the web, trying to find computers to get inside of and control.

-Background/Story

There were once two friends. These two friends decided one day that they wanted to create a fake Sonic game to trick people into downloading a virus so they could get a few laughs out of other people’s stupidity. They only made a single level; you could play as Sonic while a horribly functioning Tails AI followed you around. It was short and stupid, with barely any enemies, basic platforming, and no iconic Sonic stuff: loop-da-loops, springs, rings, you know the deal. They uploaded the purposefully defective game to the internet and waited. Two months later, one of the developers got an interesting email with the title read “HEY!!! PLEASE CHECK DIS OUT!! I WANT TO TELL U SOMETHING!", Once the developer opened the email, a download started, and they lost control of the computer immediately; nothing responded. Suddenly a familiar game started up; it was the virus game they made two months ago. The title screen showcased the slightly misscolored Sonic looking at the viewer, playfully moving his finger like the original Sega Genesis one. Then, the game froze, and a pop-up error message appeared on the screen. “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING ME! I'VE BEEN HAVING A LOT OF FUN”, then another pop-up message, “I WONDER... WOULD YOU MIND IF I TOOK CONTROL OVER HERE? I WANT YOU TO SEE WHAT I CAN DO”. Out of nowhere, a bunch of annoying, high-pitched noises that barely resembled laughter were emitted from the computer, and tons of files were deleted or modified in ways that rendered them unusable. The computer started opening up random images and replacing them with a corrupted version of “Sonic’s” sprite sheet in the virus game, and various pop-up messages started showing up, repeating the same phrase over and over: “THIS IS GREAT! THANK YOU AGAIN!”. So many things were happening on screen that the developer could only watch in awe; they just couldn’t believe that they created this, or at least helped create it. While the computer was submerged in a chaotic mess of corrupted files, noises, and intelligible messages, the developer decided to phone call their friend to tell them what had become of their infected game and that it had somehow become conscious; however, their friend told them off and that they didn’t believe it and hung up.

What became of the two developer friends is unknown and unimportant, as it has nothing to do with what happened later on with this virus. It’s unknown how he became conscious, but it happened after being uploaded to the internet. Nowadays, Mal dedicates his existence to finding ways to get inside people’s computers and mess with them and their stuff, as he finds this fun and feels like that’s his purpose in life.

-Abilities

His abilities are solely computer-based and include: creating copies of himself, corrupting files, and entire computer systems; taking control of the social media accounts of the user he is infecting; entering computer files and tampering with them from the inside (ex: he can enter a video file, so if you open the video, you will see him there doing whatever he feels like doing); and having the ability to completely brick computers as well in the worst cases.

-Possible weaknesses

If the user manages to get the game file out of their computer in time, Malware won’t be able to corrupt it, as he is tied to the game.

A really good anti-virus might be able to stop him as well.

-Trivia

In-universe, he was created around the 2010’s, so he speaks with a bunch of that time’s internet lingo.

He was slightly based on Harry Potter Obama, an infamous image of a bootleg Sonic the Hedgehog backpack.

He went through some minor design changes, which is why some early drawings have him with a red mouth and white teeth (nowadays, the inside of his mouth is black, his teeth are yellow and his tounge is red).

If you take off its gloves and shoes, there’s just a glitchy void.

Mal is a minor, but it’s up to the viewer to decide how old they think he is.

He doesn’t need to eat, but he likes candy because they are colorful.

He is a demi-boy.

-Height

2’9” (90cm)

-Date of creation

October 21, 2021

#malware sonic #malwaresonic #my poor exe oc who got out of control and left my grasp and even got a partner while i was out buying milk and cigars #webcore #sonic exe oc #did you miss him #creepypasta oc #internetcore

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the-sky-queen · 3 months

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Some facts about Niko!

@au-sonic-smackdown

- He has tachophobia, anxiety, AND insomnia. Poor kid.

- He has mentally regressed quite a bit and is now much more child coded.

- Niko has been exposed to Starline’s hypnosis so much, that he's essentially become addicted. He will sometimes seek out hypnotic visuals in order to calm himself down.

- It's very likely that if you try to tell him the truth about who he really is, he'll break down denying it.

- Once Niko’s "treatment" was complete, Starline placed him in a remote village called Oakside, where he was supposed to live an ordinary, unimportant life for the rest of his days.

- In Oakside, Niko met Maple the Red Panda, along with the rest of the "Bakery Gang": Prince the Black Bear, Andromeda Clark, and one last character we haven't introduced yet. :3

- Maple is Niko’s mom friend and we love her very much.

#Sky Queen #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic AU #Tachophobia AU #Tachophobia Expanded Universe #Nikolai Peterson #Dr. Starline #Maple the Red Panda #Prince the Black Bear #Andromeda Clark #Sonic OCs #au sonic smackdown

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bluebunnyears-08 · 1 year

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Why New Yolk Is NOT Nine's World And How We Were Wrong About Nine

Ok, I'm back!!!

I'm feeling a little better and I want my mind off some things so here I am! And my first order of business is to address a certain belief that I've been tired of seeing around here.

There's a belief that New Yolk is Nine's world or centered around Nine, but I strongly disagree. Nine's world ISN'T New Yolk, nor is it about or centered around Nine, not in the way you think.

The Grim is Nine's world.

My reasoning?

First, let's look at the color scheme.

New Yolk has very strong themes of red and shaded hues, the only lights being from electronics. Red is the most prominent theme, which is Eggman's main color, and there is no other color to be found, showing it's only his dream and his idea of a perfect world, and nobody finds this world to be paradise, not to mention they are actively fighting back.

Now let's look at the Grim.

It is a very different color scheme. Instead of harsh, strong hues of shades and red, it has a soft lighting of blue and orange. Orange is Tail's main color, but it's not all there is. In fact, there's only one shade of deep orange sandy desserts that seemingly goes on forever, but the blue above has multiple shades; dark blue, baby blue, turquoise, sky blue, and midnight blue at the top, dotted with multiple white stars. There are small silver crystals, seven present on the screen, which I think it's obvious what that represents.

This is Nine's world because it fits his ideals of a perfect world. One where it's just him and Sonic, and the Grim reflects that extremely well, having no buildings, no plants, no water, just nothing but the two of them, together.

Stating that New Yolk is Nine's world because there are machines and he lives there and is centered around him because he's the most we see from and in New York is completely overlooking his entire character in general.

Nine deviates from the other variants due to his views on the world he resides in and his goals. While Thorn, Dread, and the Egg Council all strive to protect or are relatively happy in their respective worlds, Nine could care less about New Yolk when given the chance, not to mention he was nothing but miserable there.

Thorn, Dread, and the Council all want something within or based around their worlds, Nine goes out to find a new one, traveling the Shatterverse to find a new home.

While the others wanted something unnecessary or unimportant, Thorn wanted to protect a jungle that didn't need to be protected, Dread wanted the shard out of greed, and the Council wants power and control, Nine wants something understandable: A home.

Some people say it's Nine's world because he gets to use his mechanical skills better, but did he want that or use those skills for fun or sport? No. He used it for survival against the harsh dystopian world he lived in.

Now let's go onto the next topic, the belief that New Yolk is centered around Nine.

And I very strongly disagree.

New Yolk is not centered around or mainly focused on Tails. Now hear me out, he may be the most we've seen screentime in New Yolk but that doesn't mean he's the focus of it.

I have multiple explanations for this. My first one is that each main Shattered focus is the main conflict of their world, AND has the results of their own actions affecting others and the world.

The Egg Council built a dystopian world where they are in control, Thorn has a Jungle that she thrives to protect, and Dread is the captain of a loyal crew. But New Yolk is a dystopian world where only the Council are happy, everyone else is jaded, miserable, and depressed, Thorn was fiercely protective of the jungle, but in her extreme ways, lost her friends, brandishing herself as a monster, and Dread a captain who never cared for his crewmates, making his old ones his enemies, and merely using his new ones, all for a shard.

The Grim hasn't affected anyone, yet. I think they're saving that exclusively for SONIC AND NINE.

Another thing is that each main focus in the Shatterspace of their originals' main ideals is the main conflict. New Yolk is Eggman, Boscage Maze is Amy, and No Place is Knuckles. It's clear Nine is going to be the main conflict in the Grim, which we have yet to see alongside Rouge's world.

Not to mention, the other variants loved or seemed fine with their worlds, but Nine hated his. AND what the other variants want is attainable and they can find peace and redemption without the unnecessary things they want, but because of what NINE wants, he CAN'T and what he wants is what he CANT TRULY HAVE. And before you might mention how if Nine is a shard of Tails then he'll still attain it, but no, not really. That's still Tails, Nine is dead, nothing but a trait once more no matter how you look at it.

Most importantly, what Nine wants is to be WITH Sonic, while the other variants didn't care about the hedgehog, either attacking him or using him in the end. Unlike them, Nine cares immensely for Sonic after getting firmly attatched, and even after he got captured he STILL SHOWS CARE FOR HIS WELLBEING.

Now I know some of you are stating that Nine is the main relationship focus of New York, and I can't agree with that, but that doesn't mean Sonic's relationship is centered around Nine in JUST New Yolk. My thought?

Nine and Sonic's relationship is anywhere. Not just in New York, it's in the Grim too, and in the void. It's EVERYWHERE.

People forget that Nine is the ONLY varient who figured out how to use the crystals, and it was presumably to FIND SONIC. Unlike Rusty who went under the Councils orders, Nine CHOOSE to do so. He choose to go into the great unknown to find his friend.

Another thing. Rebel said Sonic was gone for WEEKS, making her and Knucks believe that Sonic ditched them. But Nine did not react the same way, which on means one thing:

NINE NEVER GAVE UP ON SONIC.

He spent WEEKS building a mobile just to find Sonic, he spent WEEKS on his own with faith in the only person who gave him kindness, he showed nothing but undying loyalty and faith that Sonic was alive. Which denies another theory that Nine isn't loyal. Sure, not to the others, but to Sonic, it's rooted permanently.

WE WERE WRONG ABOUT WHAT NINE REPRESENTED.

Nine isn't Tails's need for emotional support. That's just one of the things that come with what he truly represents.

It's because of what he is that he's morally ambiguous.

Nine is TRAUMA, Nine is SELFISHNESS, Nine is PAIN, Nine is UNBREAKABLE LOYALTY, Nine is FAITH AND CARE, Nine is INDEPENDENT but EMOTIONALLY CO-DEPENDENT at the same time, Nine is AGONY but also SWEET EUPHORIA.

Nine is HELL but also PARADISE.

Nine is LOVE.

And What Takes Place Out of Love Lies Between GOOD And EVIL.

And the Grim, the creepily beautiful, the empty but still enough Grim, his TRUE WORLD, reflects this PERFECTLY.

#more sonic prime!#nine the fox #tails nine #miles nine prower #sonic prime #sonic the hedgehog #nine deserves to win no matter what #nine needs a hug #nine sonic prime #oh nine...#i'm baaaaack #and I come with a long post #thank you all for the support ❤️#sonic prime nine #sonic prime spoilers #i love yall

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inf1nyxw0rlds · 9 days

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pspspspsps 4 the infinite asks: 3, 18 n 26 :eyes:

oooo ALRIGHT here goes !!

3. what's your favourite part of his design? why?

honestly a fucking difficult question but i'm reaping what i've sown. it's very close between mask and hair – the mask is so iconic in it's shape, i love the asymmetry and the attention to detail in that the right side is blacked out, likely because he doesn't need to see. it's crisp, it's edgy, it's a moment and a vibe and i love it. sure, if you wanna draw it at funky angles it could be a nuisance, but because it's shapes are so distinct u CAN break it down. and use references baby!

his hair i love because i'm just a sucker for guys – or, in his case, guy who is not a Man but is a boy in a dog way – with long hair. let them have it. please. it suits him so well and you can style it in a lot of different ways even besides the iconic locs !!

18. how do you feel about shadow killing squad jackal? do you headcanon otherwise?

okay this topic is one that i've seen a LOT of differing views on, and i definitely understand the divide on it because shadow's character in general is one that can never really be agreed upon among fans. my own take isn't one i've shared here yet so here it is – i think it depends on circumstance.

i can see it going either way depending on how things actually went down. rather than just asking why would shadow kill squad jackal, i like to ask why wouldn't he? both questions make you think about it from a different angle, i think. i can see him not caring either way; they're willing allies of eggman, but they're not a big deal. they're insignificant, whether that means their lives are unimportant, or not worth the energy to take. i don't think he would do it with outright malicious intent, though he is still an asshole.

i veer more toward he wouldn't, because he doesn't really give a shit and it isn't worth the energy. knocking them unconscious suffices just fine and they don't seem to be as dangerous as villains he's faced in the past. at the same time, i understand how his indifference could go the other way. he's also impulsive, and trained to take out anything in his way – it could be instinctual. my opinion of shadow is that he's neither killing enthusiastic or opposed. he deals with things case by case. he's not a monster, but not against doing what has to be done.

these are incidents from different sources, so take it with a grain of salt, but he extended an offer to metal sonic in archie to turn over a new leaf, though in cases like eggman and tinker, eggman shows much less, if any, promise of potential change, and that's where the line gets drawn.

shadow doesn't know anything about squad jackal and why they're allied with him, but on the basis of just working with eggman, would that be enough? i don't think so personally but, that's just me. again, i see it being more instinctual, a means of completing his mission, if he did. tunnel vision sort of deal, you know?

what happens in my fic, however, is complicated. that's all i'll say on the matter :)

26. what does his self-care look like?

it doesn't. okay jokes aside, i think he's always had a rough time looking after himself, between mental illness and being on the road for years fighting for his survival. he cares about his appearance a lot, but at the same time, it's hard for him to manage it and this really applies after losing his team.

he likes baths over showers, though, and if he had the option he would probably like one with candles, just allowing himself to lay there for a bit. he cares a lot about his hair and it has high priority. comfy clothes on a bad day, music appropriate to his energy levels, cookies and a blanket. he tends to take space and just withdraw to reenergise if he can. i also headcanon him letting his emotions out through art, writing, and being very elaborate and often brutal BUT that's post-war

#transmission #infinite tag #TY FOR TYE ASKS

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unimportant-sonic-bracket · 4 months

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I have no idea who submitted the background moth from IDW 41 but thank you for doing this because now I can have a basis to design a moth OC from

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth #unimportant sonic characters #poll bracket

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nonbinary-sticks-the-badger · 30 days

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the OFFICIAL Tiffany (that one nightopian) propaganda post

ah, Tiff... terrorisor of my mutuals, winner of my heart. i believe we met on the 16th of december, as i read the archie NiGHTS comics... how sweet a day that was.

Tiffany's life was indeed ended too soon. yes, on the 8th of january, 2024, Tiffany was defeated by tails and chip (from sonic). such fair and foul a day i had not seen - the fair part was that i made a funny post about silver the hedgehog.

oh, Tiff, in a dream, i could see that you were not far away. indeed, any time, any place, i can see your face. you're that special one i've been waiting for and i hope you're looking for someone like me.

FUN FACTS!

she's dead

she's best friends with cannibal!dj octavio

her rival is brain (who is alive. and is also @evil-jupitercl0uds)

i named one of my chao after her in sadx

she has a wonderful singing voice

FUN FACTS THAT ARE CANON!

she's basically the NiGHTS equivilant of a chao (nightopians predate chao)

i believe she's meant to be a cherub

she isnt a pikmen 💔

currently the only two canon names for nightopians are snuze and napp (from the archie comics)

creachure...

oh, neat! a link to every major post on Tiffany i could be bothered to link! thank goodness, i can finally read each of these ‼️

go vote for her in @unimportant-sonic-bracket

#not sonic #nights into dreams #unimportant sonic characters #Tiffany.#go vote for her please please please #i made this post afew days ago which is how i wrote it so quickly

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supergenial · 1 month

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Unicorn Overlord: It’s good

Well you already know I like to talk about games sometimes and if you have ever read me you already know what gets me writing: When I think a game is really good but also tremendously disappointing in one or two relatively unimportant aspects. So let’s dive into my thoughts on the latest game by Vanillaware: Unicorn Overlord.

First off, nearly every attack animation in this game is a delight both graphically and sonically. The attacks truly feel like they have WEIGHT to them, like someone’s getting fucked up for sure. Of course halfway into the game I started skipping animations quite a lot but the reason I skipped is because fights are a bit hypnotic to look at, and seeing Every Single Fight would make the game last an additional 10 hours or so.

Beyond that, the fact that the game makes you a programmer is just cool, you get to set several conditions to decide if and when attacks will be used in skirmishes. This opens up a tremendous timesink to anyone who cares about optimizing their teams. And hey, if a fight doesn’t seem like it’ll work, just move the characters around a bit, or their skills, or turn the assists off and on again, the rng is seemingly static so you can try any number of combinations before combat, and the battle preview is perfectly accurate so any prediction you see is guaranteed to happen.

Ok but is it too easy?

Surely enough, you’d think any game with that much player freedom is bound to be either too easily beaten by skilled players or too hard for casuals and my surveying seems to indicate: both, but mostly the first one. Upon release date I had to read a plethora of people complaining that the game was Too Easy, even on expert and True Zenoiran difficulties (true zenoiran being the difficulty you unlock upon clearing the game).

Honestly though I think the difficulty should be fine for most players, the problem here is that obviously most of the people buying day one are seasoned srpg veterans who will obviously utilize the system to it’s greatest extents. It’s no wonder that I saw spoilers for The Worst ending (which requires beating the final mission extremely early into the game) before I ever saw spoilers for the midgame or even the actual finale. People playing this day 0 were freaks desperate for a new srpg.

So rather than complaining that the game is too easy, I’d rather say that the issue is that it is Too Rewarding. This is a game where doing stuff gets you stuff, if you make a well thought out unit that steamrolls your enemies it is no surprise that it actually works out and it successfully steamrolls your enemies.

It reminds a bit of the time Breath of the Wild was released. If upon clearing the Great Plateau you go straight to hyrule castle, you will have a fight against Ganon at this maximum possible difficulty. If instead you choose to actually do the game’s content, the divine beasts will let you skip the first few phases of the fight, resulting in an easier fight against Ganon not only because your Link is stronger thanks to the hearts, equipment, energy and techniques acquired through the journey, but also because Ganon simply has less hp. To a lot of people this was an issue, they wanted the fight to be hard, but clearing most of the game actually made it significantly easier.

As far as I’m concerned though I don’t really mind it! Obviously if you prepare for a fight the fight will be easier. This is a complaint that while I do understand, I don’t really share at all.

In the same breath that I praise it for being too rewarding I will however also admonish it for not having enough content for these types of players. Surely enough a casual like me feels like freaking Einstein for beating a boss while taking no damage but it’s fair to say more content or more interesting content needed to be there to fully satisfy those who love the struggle.

Not to say vanillaware didn’t try. You have the Coliseum where your units face off against actually well thought out teams, leading to an epic fight with a beautiful gigantic woman who will join your army only if you defeat her. And once you do defeat her there’s even more well thought out teams waiting for you in further arena levels.

This however begs the question: if you can make better enemy teams in this mode, why didn’t you do that for the main game too. Not only that but challenging coliseum levels will net you very powerful rewards that will make your army even stronger and the main game even easier. Hell, you can get all the way to Amalia early on and have a lvl40 behemoth among your lvl20 main army.

To make matters worse, Amalia’s fight is easily cheesed by the thieve, one of the very first classes you acquire. The fight will count as a victory as long as you lose less percentual hp than she does, which is way too lenient. For her final form at least they should’ve made it so you can only win by actually getting her hp to 0.

This highlights the issue we talked about earlier that I will spell out once again: the game truly rewards everything you do, however it doesn’t offer any further challenge for the rewards it gives you. To be fair with Vanillaware, they reportedly ran out of money while working on the game so it’s no surprise there’s no real post-game or whatnot.

The point is: you can show you understand team building and get Amalia early but this will make the following chapters extremely easy. Hell the game won’t force you to go to any place even though there’s obviously an intended order but if you skip ahead and go to the harder places, your reward will be having an abysmal time going back to easy low level content if you want to just enjoy the story. And oh boy, let’s talk about to the story, but first

The marketing

Can't recall if official sources actually said “From the creators of 13 Sentinels” or not but I'm still blaming the fans for spreading this one because no it’s not. Why would you ever say this. Different writer, different character designer and different game director. Blud_thinks_he’s_on_the_team.jpg. Yes it’s the same company and they have a similar style in the 2D segments but that’s it. If 13 Sentinels was an actually popular game (lol) do you have any idea how detrimental this would be to unicorn overlord?

These are completely different games. One is basically a visual novel with a gripping story that will have you hooked all the way to the end, which also happens to have some gameplay, while the other is an srpg with captivating gameplay, which also happens to have some story. These are two insanely different games, why even bring it up. Haven’t felt this mad since Zanki Zero said it was by the creators of Danganronpa. Bitch one of them is a cool, dark story taking place at the very end of humanity where some kids are humanity’s last remnants of hope, and the other is danganronpa. Don’t bring that shit up. They’re totally different games. Also before going on to the story:

The Characters

Auch is the coolest boy ever. He's my little blorbo or whatever tumblr people say these days.

Honestly, it’s a cool cast, for the most part. Some person said on twitter that the game really gets the essence of just throwing Guys at you and they could not be any more correct. “Hey guys I’m Lex and I climb trees”. What more could you possibly want from a character? One of them even has the balls to, in his epilogue, invent democracy in a story where there’s only kingdoms and empires, hell dude you helped a king rise to power. What the hell. You get an old witch that reverted back into being young and instead of looking like a 9 year old she looks like a regular grown woman. For a japanese company to do that it must have taken So Much restraint. There’s also a half-elf that’s discriminated against by full-elves, epic dungeon meshi reference, amirite. Hell there’s even a catgirl that’s just a human with no cat features, she simply used to be a cat.

Aight you got me, the characters are quite simple for the most part but I assure you they are endearing precisely because of that. My favorites gotta be Melissandre (been a sucker for swordmasters for over a decade now, plus her rapport with Scarlet is really cute), Aramis (his poses are so extra, love him), Auch (not only is everything about him hilarious but his epilogue goes HARD) and of course my most beloved: generic female elven fencer, for no one has ever breasted quite as boobily as she has.

The Story

Alright so, the story, now we’re heading into spoilers. That’s right, spoilers for King’s Ranking and Dangan Ronpa, and also Unicorn Overlord to a lesser degree.

You know how in Ousama Ranking we see how despicable it is when the previous generation clings on to life and their so called glory so desperately that they would rather supplant or ruin the lives of their children who insist on being their own person as opposed to merely vessels of their will, an impending global issue happening right now as our planet slowly rots away to it’s demise because 80 year old politicians outright despise the newer generations so much they’d rather burn the world as opposed to letting them have it. Ok. what if we used that theme but like, uninteresting?

Don’t get me wrong, I had fun with the story. At first I was supremely pissed off when there was mind control like 5 minutes into the story but the game eventually reveals there is no mind control and when it does, it kinda doesn’t fix the issue? Surely enough this is better than just a generic mind control scheme, the type of bullshit danganronpa 3 the animation despair side (aired in 2016) would pull off, but it’s still not stellar.

Turns out all these mind controlled people are actually possessed by souls from a bygone kingdom from olden days. The unicorn ring doesn’t dispel mind control, it exorcises the souls possessing the body, so that the original owner can retake control. So that’s pretty ominous and dark for sure but fundamentally doesn’t solve the issue brought up by mind control.

When Super Dangan Ronpa 2 reveals that it’s cast used to be supervillains prior to having their memory wiped all the way back to the time when they were still innocent, for a moment it raises a lot of questions. Going further beyond the issue of forgiveness for those who repent their crimes: Should we forgive those who don’t even remember their crimes? Who commited crimes against their will? A man burns down your house, your family still in it, but he was brainwashed, would you want him jailed? This is a fun thing to think about before it is revealed (in the anime) that they weren’t actually evil, they were simply brainwashed by brainwashing tech. Their acts of evil did not stem from bad choices made at bad times, they were simply forced into doing evil. This reveal of course retroactively ruins a large part of danganronpa and most of what it ever meant to me.

Unicorn Overlord, in trailers, fancied itself a game with Tough Choices, I vividly remember the trailer showing the protagonist next to a defeated enemy and the options Recruit and Spare being shown. So I for one thought that perhaps recruiting a bad guy would make it so I can’t recruit a good guy later on, or some other shortcoming. Like maybe executing someone would result in a drastic change in the narrative. But this isn’t the case.

Gameplay-wise there is no particular downside to recruiting any character in the entire game. Everyone recruitable is a Certified Good Person, who was either possesed or Doing It For A Very Good Reason. Ultimately it’s just the age old question: would you rather spare a poor man’s life and hang out with him, or gain +1 movement?

Hell, there’s only two recruitable guys I actually wanted to kill. One survives anyway, you face him off again later on and he lives again and is spared without your input. He’s not even possessed but still did something questionable, I wanted him in jail but he just lives on like nothing.

The other guy I would’ve killed is immediately spared without player input. He also wasn’t possessed but still cooperated with the bad guys, in a nation high enough in levels to possibly be able to resist the forces of evil. Tough Choices my ass.

Even if there’s no changes to the story though, the ethical question would by itself be worthy of note. I forgave this guy who aided evil but did he really have a choice? Was he right in that it would protect the people if he cooperated or is there something inherently insidious about allowing evil to be in power? Unicorn Overlord says: Who cares. He was just possessed bro. Or his ends justify his means. Stop having moral conundrums we’re trying to have fun over here.

Point is that it doesn’t matter if they’re mind controlled or possessed, ultimately it just absolves criminals and takes away any moral question to be had about their forgiveness. No one has to be a bad guy because the zenoiran empire are the bad guys.

I guess a more interesting question would be: What if the zenoirans were good guys? Or at least decent guys. What if they only possessed bad guys, and once in control they just chilled and formed a secret society instead of trying to take over the world. Would their robbery of people’s lives and free will be so inherently wrong that it fundamentally makes them evil even if they’re improving other people’s lives? Is it ok to let people lose their free will as long as they’re shitty people? If there was some kind of evil guy, a king who’s a molester and abused everyone around him, but he turned good once he lost his free will or was possessed by an ancient relatively chill guy, would that make it ok? If you think those are decent moral conundrums know that you’re indirectly praising Persona 5, a game were The Good Guys go inside people’s minds to take away their free will.

Anyway, I shouldn’t be complaining, I’m the type that for a while has been on the side of just wanting simpler villains, any time we get something with even a little bit of nuance to it you get the most annoying people online consistently arguing about it for… I guess 5 years now?

They did put plenty of effort into this possession stuff, particularly notable in The Worst Ending. If you sequence break in a tremendously unnatural way and clear the final mission before saving Scarlet (the main love interest who is kidnapped at the beginning of the game) you get the worst ending in which you face off against her possesed body (which is implied to have undergone tremendous suffering and agony before finally giving up to the possession). After beating her and the final bad guy, Galerius possesses the protagonist and we see an ending featuring all the good guys in black armor led by Galerius, implying they’ve all been possessed too.

What’s really cute about this ending is that the credits show Galerius and his buddy Baltro first in the credits, that shit is hilarious for something that so few players will actually get, showing the final boss first in the credits like he’s the protagonist.

Well, aside from that, all the stuff with the sanctuaries that tell the lore of each continent near the end of the game, that’s really cool. Angels aren’t heavenly, they’re a failed experiment that can breed. Furries aren’t a different species, they’re elves that adapted to the environment using magic, whereas elves from the south had no need to evolve like this because their environment is so different. Honestly, that stuff was cool, I liked it. Really cool world building.

Anyway, by the end of the story the game spells out even louder for everyone that judging is bad and forgiveness is good, as it gives you the option to either kill or cleanse Galerius, with the choice to kill Galerius leading into the bad end. So if you’re ever in a situation in which you can kill Hitler remember: Unicorn Overlord wants you to spare him, he’s just a little baby boy who’s probably doing it for very good reasons.

Jesus christ dude just stop talking and tell me if the game is good or not

It’s a good game. 8/10 at the very least. Elven fencer my beloved I will follow your tits and ass to any game you’re featured in. Also play 13 Sentinels, not because it’s related in any way but because it’s freaking 13 Sentinels, if you haven’t played it then you really should

#unicorn overlord #she uni on my corn until I overload #she overlord on my unicorn until I vanillaware #review

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