The Other Side of the Fourth Wall

What follows is a retelling of Persona 3, an RPG  tale of troubled youths who struggle against their weaknesses and eventually do battle with death itself, as told by AI dungeon. The bold paragraph below is the prompt, while the AI came up with the following text. Numbers in parentheses are footnotes, which will be referenced at the end.   You are Kotone Shiomi, an orphaned second-year in high school. You transferred to Gekkoukan High School, situated on Tatsumi Port Island, and are on your way to stay in a dormitory in Iwatodai. You enter the dorm after midnight and see a girl named Mitsuru Kirijo in the lobby. She is also in the same class as you. "Hey," she says when she sees you entering her room. "I was wondering if we could talk."(1) "Um...sure?" you reply nervously. "Well, I'm not sure what to say..." she admits. "What do you want to talk about?" you ask. "Oh, um...nothing much really. Just that I don't have many fr

 One of the more controversial aspects of My Hero Academia is Enji "Endeavor" Todoroki's redemption arc, with the controversy boiling down to the question of whether you can forgive a man who abused his wife and children if he is making an honest attempt to change. Having looked at Zuko and Rudeus's redemption arcs as examples of a success and a failure ,  This time, it's Endeavor's turn. Once again, I will point out the three major steps in a redemption arc. The starting point. The character should be a flawed individual, perhaps even a villain, but should have at least some redeeming qualities. The journey. The character should struggle to change for the better despite being held back by their own flaws. The destination. The character should end up as a better person, even if not everything they did has been forgiven and they still must work to overcome their weaknesses. What follows will be a summary of Endeavor's redemption arc, and a look at how desp

Spoilers for The Last of Us and its sequel follow The Last of Us Part II was controversial for many reasons, and the timing of its release didn't help. With the world in the midst of a global pandemic, some people did not find the idea of playing a game about a zombie apocalypse caused by a disease to be all that entertaining, especially when the second game manages the improbable task of being even darker than the first. Over a year after the second game's release, and with no end in sight to the pandemic, I will talk about why The Last of Us Part II is a harsh but relevant story for the COVID-19 pandemic, due to making no bones about how calamities like the Cordyceps outbreak do not bring out the best in people. The First Game: Setting The Scene Before we begin, let's look at the original game, which helped establish the post-Cordyceps United States of America and showed how bleak the situation had become. While escaping the initial outbreak with his daughter Sarah, our p

 Like other strategy-RPGs, the Fire Emblem series expects you to use good strategy to triumph in the face of overwhelming odds, especially when you're outnumbered. Your numerical disadvantage can be exacerbated when the game decides to give your opponent even more troops to use against you, often at the worst possible time. The way reinforcements work can turn an ordinarily fine mechanic that ups the challenge into one that makes the game needlessly frustrating. One problem is that while the player is advised that reinforcements can come from forts or stairs, there is generally little indication as to when the reinforcements will come. Sometimes the reinforcements will come at specific turns, while other times, the reinforcements will come when a unit passes a certain point on the map. Finding out the causes for reinforcements is often only possible through trial and error, with errors often resulting in the losses of certain units or failing the mission. Another problem is when th

It's been longer than usual since my last post, but here's another entry, this time an analysis about a part of a game. EarthBound is one of the best RPGs on the Super NES, particularly considering how unconventional it is compared to others in the genre, but it suffers from a difficult early game. Part of the reason is that while Ness is a versatile party member, with strong physical attacks, high HP, and offensive and healing PSI powers, he can't do everything by himself. His max PP is low enough that he can only use multi-target PSI powers a few times before he needs to recover, and at this point in the game, Magic Butteflies(randomly appearing butteflies that, when caught, restore PP to all party members) are the only way to restore one's PP apart from resting at the inn. Ness can carry healing items, but since he must also carry his equipment and key items (Sound Stone, ATM Card and Pencil Eraser, among others), and should leave at least one space for new items, th

 Now for the second half of the case- the second investigation and trial days. Previously On... Phoenix takes the case of Ellen Wyatt, who is set to marry Sorin Sprocket, heir to Sprocket Aviation. Ellen is accused of killing Dumas Gloomsbury, the family's head servant, on their wedding day. Ellen claims that when Gloomsbury was about to kill her, she traveled back in time to just before the wedding reception, then discovered his dead body after the wedding reception ended. This "time travel" turns out to be an elaborate ruse on the part of the Sprockets to cover up the murder by staging two receptions. Investigation Day 2 Phoenix and Maya meet with Larry in the Wright Anything Agency, and they recap what they know so far. Trucy then forces Athena into another practice session. Phoenix visits Ellen at the Detention Center, and Ellen asks him about what's going on. Phoenix says they'll need to find the mystery person who attacked Gloomsbury, especially since Ellen

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice spoilers follow  This installment of Ace Attorney Case Files will focus on Turnabout Time Traveler, the DLC case for Spirit of Justice. This case is unusual in that it's largely a throwback to the Phoenix Wright trilogy. Not only is Phoenix the defense, but Edgeworth is the prosecutor, Maya is his assistant and Larry is a witness. While Ema is still the detective, she debuted in Rise from the Ashes. Obviously, this is appealing to older fans, but is it good for the case? Read on and find out. Investigation Day 1 The case, like other 3DS Ace Attorney cases, begins with an animated movie. It shows someone in a butler outfit threatening someone with a wedding dress on the railing at the edge of somewhere high in the sky, saying he'll throw her "time machine" overboard with her. The bride then begs to go back to "that blissful moment," and after a flashback of various scenes, wakes up, with a maid telling her that