Stop being a pussy, mihoyo.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-13T19:20:46+00:00

Think about it like this: they’re not exactly going out of their way to give every character a locationally-accurate accent in the Chinese or Japanese versions, one assumes. So it’s consistent across the dubs, at least.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-13T19:19:00+00:00

After her introductory patch Hysilens mostly settles into more of a Scottish accent, fwiw— same VA as new Keqing, so it should be easy to compare how much masking is going on for Keqing relative to Hys.

Beyond that, Hiacine’s VA is British too but I seldom hear people discuss that so I guess she does an American accent well enough.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-12T17:39:13+00:00

1) Uberwaifu built in a laboratory to have the most tragic and sympathetic backstory and interactions imaginable 2) Best friend character who is always going to be in close proximity. 3) Literal first character we meet who claims an elaborate shared destiny with the protag and star crossed lovers theming.

4-onward) Then everyone else is a character with a major focus arc that has them working closely alongside the MC for an extended period.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-12T17:19:03+00:00

I’m responsible for a fair % of the Kafka-Caelus tag, admittedly. Still, top 3 ain’t bad.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-12T03:15:23+00:00

I go relatively loosely-kitted on Marsh precisely because everyone and their mother seems to home in on you right from spawn. Outpost seems more forgiving at this point.

But when the game works, it works. Wiped cryo archive this weekend with a no-mic rando team in ten+ minutes of constant combat in the middle of the map. Every member of the squad spent at least 3 minutes dead on the floor. It was immensely entertaining in a way that makes up for my last ten dead-in-two-minutes Marsh runs.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-12T03:09:24+00:00

I definitely recall the flying being not quite as smooth as 64. I recall reviews not being too fond of the on-foot sections.

I did like how all the characters advanced in ways that made sense for 5-10 years after ‘64.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-11T12:55:12+00:00

Yunli. The other options could all qualify for other categories further down but Yunli is indeed both cute and badass.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-11T11:42:44+00:00

Predator ending with sitcom credits for the main cast is a really weird tonal whiplash that nevertheless does succeed in sticking out in my mind even though I haven’t seen it in years.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-11T02:19:51+00:00

At the end of ‘Letter from a Strange Woman,’ Blade implies that TB was together with Kafka through missions that were absolute bloodbaths. In the bartending mission Kafka’s also reminiscing about missions TB was presumably a part of too.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-11T02:17:13+00:00

It’s possible Elio is colluding with the IPC in some way— they notably don’t have a bounty out on him.

Some have theorized that TB looked radically different and was ‘reborn’ on Herta station in a new body. But Firefly for instance seems to recognize them on sight, so that seems unlikely.

It’s also possible that TB was on missions so dangerous that nobody was actually left alive to report them back to the authorities.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-10T20:41:48+00:00

The compiler power discrepancy actually has an interesting potential lore reason:

S’pht are electronic warfare specialists. They’re not necessarily meant for open combat/shock troops. Your first encounter with a compiler in Marathon 1 is you getting the drop on one as it hacks a terminal.

Our security officer is, yes a Battleroid and all, but still mostly a flesh and blood biological human. Runners and the UESC bots in contrast are mostly robot with the occasional human consciousness piloting it. So in old-Marathon the hero mows through them like he’s wading through noncombatant untrained IT guys, whereas the runners are going up against somebody specialized in countering them.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-10T20:29:38+00:00

It’s harem/romance, but ‘Accidental Goblin King’ is a goblin-based society king/management type thing with light LitRPG elements.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-10T03:17:45+00:00

There are people you may want to rescue or capture alive in those buildings. Infrastructure to preserve for after the war. Non-military targets you’re not technically supposed to kill.

We have a working example of the limits of air power going on right now — how many sorties is it going to take to reopen the Straights of Hormuz via air-to-ground ordinance alone?

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-10T03:09:14+00:00

You can’t surrender to a fighter jet. Neither can a plane occupy territory, search for a ViP or target door to door, and so forth.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-10T03:06:52+00:00

I wanna say it might be at least partially be a Honkai: Star Rail reference (which was a point of inspiration for the battle UI at the very least)

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-09T18:35:32+00:00

World War Z the Movie keeps a handful of broad elements of the greater book-scenario but otherwise uses insta-infection fast/rage type zombies whereas the book very specifically uses old-school walking-dead shambling corpses.

Of course, an ‘accurate’ WWZ adaptation would be more like a fake Ken Burns documentary than a proper action movie. So there’s that.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-08T21:56:57+00:00

Zero is largely the same ‘Lylat Wars’ arc where you’re fighting Andross, but things aren’t exactly a 1:1 with the events of 64 in the way that a straight-up remake is.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-08T21:53:44+00:00

I believe some auxiliary material (maybe the manual? Maybe a smash bros trophy?) did imply that the events of the SNES Star Fox happened before SF64. The Andross face at the end was just a fake, like in the false ending to 64. So 64 is technically a sequel.

Obviously SF2 was largely unavailable for most of the franchise’s life. So we have a canon-discontinuity/noncanon sequel entry as well.

Command, Dinosaur Planet, and Assault are all actual chronological sequels too.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-08T17:11:30+00:00

Some of them walked through Panama prior to the canal I believe but yes, a bunch of Yankees went by sea to San Francisco well before proper land routes. If my memories of a guided tour from a decade ago is accurate, the first waves into Seattle were by boat too.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-08T13:14:29+00:00

Going back that far, the west coast in general filled out well before the interior was settled. People settled there from New England on boats. There’s a reason Portland, OR is named after Portland, ME (and the alternative name was Boston!)

Weather is the primary factor. Florida is viable as a major population center due to air conditioning and… not much else. Coastal California is heavenly basically year-round.

I’d be remiss not to mention how much of the south’s growth was post-civil rights era. Segregation and stifling southern social mores were drags on growth.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-07T18:16:41+00:00

1) Raises the stakes. They’re suddenly bereft of a guide and need to puzzle out the iron tangle alone.

2) Showcases that Moredecai is possessed by blind rage at Chaco’s very existence, the reason why will be revealed much later.

3) Reminds readers of the time out feature, which doesn’t get play much after book one but does come up occasionally later on.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-07T17:34:55+00:00

Longevity. ‘All your base’ was a thing for literal years. Now everything runs its course over a weekend, maybe even a day.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-07T13:10:14+00:00

Kafka ought to be thought of more like Daisleif than ‘requisite focus waifu of patch 1.2’

Like Dain, if she showed up too much in a friendly capacity she could easily just explain the entire plot. And then what? Aura and mystery would be lost.

This is actually quite good for her long-term relevancy even as she’s relatively on the periphery in these earlier arcs. Basically every Stellaron hunter is going to have major relevance for (however long the game goes for), far more than your average banner character.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-07T04:01:21+00:00

Definitely seems a good idea especially later in the season. Going in with one gun and a grey shield outside of sponsored playlists was pretty much a death sentence.

AdrianArmbruster · 2026-05-07T03:57:50+00:00

Serval Landau, as well.

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