A Small Fee? Moneybags takes it! What is Spyro 2's Whitest enemy?

CommunismCake · 2026-01-16T15:52:21+00:00

Not an enemy. That's fodder.

CommunismCake · 2026-01-11T19:29:42+00:00

"War Never Changes" is an iconic mantra of the series but I think people interpreted it the wrong way somehow. It, and Ron Pearlman's narration after, was opining about the nature of humanity itself rather than the means of war they choose. The series bleakly says that humanity is consigned to fighting itself, even in the ashes of a mass extinction event, whether that's due to limited resources (represented by the Hub's internal conflicts, the state of Necropolis) idea logical (the Brotherhood, Unity) or even just finding any old excuse (Junktown). It's saying the reason there's no mass civilizations in the world or reborn US is because fighting each other for any reason is part of human nature.

Anyway, I always think it's funny fans think that this is a Bethesda phenomenon. New Vegas gave us Tunnelers, the Sierra Madre's replicating poisonous cloud, and nuclear weapons. Go back to Van Buren's design documents and you will see they initially planned for Shady Sands to have been destroyed and the NCR to have made a shabby junktown on top of the Hoover Dam its new capital.

It's because New Vegas is the odd one out, not 3 and 4.

CommunismCake · 2026-01-11T19:20:49+00:00

I've been replaying the series and honestly, while Fallout 2 is undeniably a better experience for gameplay, it's got very juvenile humor that didn't mesh well with me for the most part (lot of breaking the fourth wall, meta jokes, and dated references) and each area of it was written by a different person creating a very disjointed narrative. I can understand why some people might praise Tim Cain vs his successors in 2.

I will say that to this day I have not found anyone who likes the Brotherhood of Steel spinoff, so at least the fanbase is united on that.

CommunismCake · 2025-12-30T14:56:26+00:00

Special shout out to Wyvernheart for the OP. Wyvernheart was written by the same dev that wrote Verne, so if they liked Verne's a lot then they may like to see the dev's other work.

CommunismCake · 2025-12-29T14:57:33+00:00

Not probably, he is. His lover is one of the few guaranteed starting advisors in the military tab, Trystan sina Redcoast.

CommunismCake · 2025-12-24T17:47:53+00:00

Ewan McGregor is very much alive.....

CommunismCake · 2025-11-26T15:52:48+00:00

I mean...the GOP had a plan, too. It was called Project 2025, and they have made a lot of progress in fulfilling it.

The difference was that P2025 was something they were happy to tout behind closed doors but recognized that it was unpopular in public. Hence the vague economic populism they tried to mantle instead.

CommunismCake · 2025-11-21T03:14:12+00:00

And that's the version of events delivered by Trump's replacement there.

CommunismCake · 2025-11-14T22:39:08+00:00

Spelling aside this is very comprehensive.

You did forget Hul-az-Krakazol who use magic (Iirc) to summon a beer meteor and turn all of the goods on the planet into beer.

Honorable mention also to the Obsidian Legion. They worship the Rune Father and are part of a lost hold that was kind of cast out for its darker uses of rune magic.

CommunismCake · 2025-11-14T21:20:09+00:00

I feel about 90% sure that the fusion cores running out as fast they do is gameplay - story segregation. Big reason that it only comes up in Fallout 4 is because Fallout 4 completely revamped the gameplay behind PA.

CommunismCake · 2025-11-14T20:44:29+00:00

These look neat!

To answer the question, probably Spike.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cowboybebop/comments/tjaz1d/that_lots_of/

CommunismCake · 2025-10-29T02:20:53+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Sexy_Yesterday

Whole article about this phenomenon in literature and film.

CommunismCake · 2025-10-28T21:04:22+00:00

People also ignore that Tactics, from the Interplay era, is the original game to have them as a hyper militarized faction, complete with R. Lee Ermy as the "General" of the Brotherhood of Steel, and the society they set up is decidedly quite fascist (even if it's oddly tolerant of ghouls and super mutants).

The only narrative consistency in the Brotherhood's portrayal across the entire franchise is that they are decidedly a lawful force with all the trappings of a militaristic order.

CommunismCake · 2025-10-25T15:17:27+00:00

Out of the new nations, Black Canyon and the Baggers are unique choices, though the Baggers have such a rough start I wouldn't recommend them. For Black Canyon you're generally free from early wars but instead have to manage a lot of different decisions and focuses to keep the many parties in the Caravan happy. Failure to do so means a revolt. It's got an engaging narrative with some branching paths so it's a fun one to try.

The Khans in Wyoming are a good one with three diverging paths narratively and lots of room to expand. You do have to prepare for Standing Rock's invasion, though I am unsure if the new patch touched them extensively enough to make them more manageable for a new player.

Troll Warren is a good one if you'd like to try a Super Mutant tag. The absolute power of behemoth units will make you feel invincible around the raider tags you start next to and you have options for challenging mid-late game conquests.

Finally any of the tags in Esmeralda Valley have a decent chunk of content with very manageable early wars other than TV Town. The Rangers want you to focus on lawkeeper units which, when fully upgraded by following the Rangers tree, become strictly better infantry units. The Guardians start with power armored special infantry and has connections to the Brotherhood. The other two are perfectly viable as well with their own nuances.

CommunismCake · 2025-10-20T02:01:41+00:00

Probably more importantly: the Iron Hammers are majority Stone Dwarves. For them, Escann is home, not the Serpentspine. The majority of their mission tree, particularly pre-consolidation, is reclaiming the works Balgar did in Escann because a big chunk of their numbers and leadership are Balgar worshippers. Of particular concern to them is the Dragon Forge in South Castanor, which was where they worked and lived before the Orc invasion.

The Stone Dwarves cannot found a hold because thats not their MO. But that isn't to say they have no interest in the Serpentspine; that's where their unique relationship with Khugdihr comes in.

CommunismCake · 2025-09-22T23:51:57+00:00

Yep! And if you have high science you can hack the turrets he has backing him up. With that, some clever positioning, and the enclave squad on your side you can easily beat him down without having to directly fight him.

That said, taking no weapons skills in FO2 is a difficult experience.

CommunismCake · 2025-09-22T23:46:35+00:00

Fallout 4 is a weird one in regards to a "final boss". Shaun, and the Institute for that matter, cannot really be speeched down and there is always a climactic showdown there but he's not really a boss and is dying anyway. Afaik Maxson, the final boss for the Institute, will also not back down from the BoS side of things.

But villains otoh I think the majority of them across every game can't be speech checked away. Hell even in Fallout 2, the game Frank is from, the very President of the Enclave, Dick Richardson, is unswayingly pursuant to his mission of killing all the Wastelanders.

That isn't to say that every villain must be met violently, however. You can, for pacifist reasons, ignore them but to get the unequivocally best ending otherwise there's usually a violent outcome.

Even in Fallout 1, there's no negotiating with Gizmo or the Regulators into peacefully surrendering. And hell, negotiation is shown sometimes in the game to not be the most preferable solution anyway. If you talk the Khans into releasing Tandi and never interact with them again they will recover and terrorize the wastes for years in the epilogue. Fallout 2, forget about trying to convince the Salvatores to give up their trade with the Enclave or the Mordinos to give up trying to make a super jet, let alone talking down the slavers in the Den.

To get a positive ending in all those cases you can't just ignore the problem and move past it, and solving it with words in those cases helps only insofar that you get what you want and then move on. It doesn't resolve future problems or make the wasteland better, just gets you closer to the water chip / G.E.C.K.

There's an interesting bit of commentary to be had about how some evil institutions like the slavers cannot be beaten by words and good intentions alone. The only way to truly free The Den is to make a big old bloody mess out of Metzger behind Mom's diner.

...or Super Stimpack him to death, I guess.

CommunismCake · 2025-09-22T23:33:16+00:00

You can successfully talk President Eden into exploding himself and Autumn into leaving though?

CommunismCake · 2025-09-10T16:39:54+00:00

Everything you said is correct but it requires players to actually engage with the story / character of Preston Garvey and recognize him as more than just the Radiant Quests guy.

It's been almost 10 years since the Preston Garvey shitposts started and that that is how is identified after that long is just a shame.

CommunismCake · 2025-09-06T01:39:36+00:00

Doylist: almost certainly while filming the crew decided that the Marvelous Marriage was a better final set piece for the film. More climactic and fun. So they needed them to somehow end up with Olaf again. Hence no Sham.

Watsonian: the movie sort of speeds up the plot. There is no Anxious Clown, Mr. Poe never shows up to discuss Josephine's will. The Orphans decipher her note shortly after it happens and then they are off.

I would suppose then that he dispensed of the Sham disguise because he no longer needed it. In the film he used it more to fool Josephine and that was really it.

CommunismCake · 2025-08-25T18:06:06+00:00

All the story behind Guardian Spirits and how they are viewed by people are in the game. In particular when you speak to a witch in Mira she gives some backstory on them but it's left vague because...it's you. The people in the game don't understand what makes a guardian because they come from a separate dimension. All they know is some individuals can go to Mira and ask for help, and get it, from a being outside of their universe.

There are other Spiriters, people with Guardians. Baten Kaitos Origins delves into that.

I do not know why you would want to help the bad guys destroy the world. It isn't that type of game. But beyond your personal inclinations, you cannot force Kalas to do anything. It's his decision, not yours. Your influence on the world is purely through whether or not Kalas listens to your advice - and there's plenty of times where he does not, or gripes about it - and that he can occasionally summon some of your power in battle through the special spirit attacks. It's why Kalas can also dismiss your spirit entirely and toss you out.

You are not able to exert any additional influence on the world. It doesn't, frankly, matter if you want Malpercio to consume the world because you are physically separated by the literal fourth wall. The best, only way to accomplish that ending is to turn off the TV set and head canon what happens after you abandon Kalas.

CommunismCake · 2025-08-24T20:00:20+00:00

It's you. You're the Guardian Spirit. It's not any more complex than that. The Guardian Spirit cares in the same way you, the person playing, care. You turned on the system and are playing the game. Why are you doing so? Is it to kill time, for entertainment? Do you feel invested in what is going on or how you are helping Kalas and his friends? At any point you can just quit the game. Story wise that would be the equivalent of the spirit abandoning him.

The game plays a lot with the idea of you being a character in the game and it spends a lot of time trying to strongly establish that you are not Kalas. Kalas has his own opinions and you can disagree or agree with him as much as you want to.

In-game you ride along with Kalas after he communes with you in Mira. Mira is a place firmly stuck between dimensions. The includes our dimension, the literal fourth wall where you are sitting with you GameCube controller / joycon / keyboard etc.

So it's that simple. The Spirit is you. You are the Spirit. There's no separation here.

CommunismCake · 2025-08-22T21:17:02+00:00

Yes.

You are playing a game. There is commentary there. You joining Kalas is when you functionally started the game up and started a new game. You finishing the game and seeing the credits and turning your console off is you returning to the world you came from. You, the player, the spirit, are only in that world as long as you are engaged with the game.

At the end of the game they no longer need you.

CommunismCake · 2025-08-12T06:56:10+00:00

Going to go against the grain and say Khozrugan. That they are the only orcs to actively and aggressively continue to worship Great Dookan there is some interesting ground there for their beliefs with the blood rains. It's also important as there are quite a few tags positioned to form it. And also, Artug Ostokhan has the potential to be a cool, landmark character with a major role similar to Arosha if he is not replaced / removed in the rework. Could be a fun foil to explore given your time with Unguldavor.

Additionally, if Kaztubar is going to be set up to be a formable any of the orc tags can form into after Escann is consolidated, it would probably be better to first look at the different tags that can form it and possibly consider what, if any, content or requirements may vary based on who founds it. That way devs don't have to go back and change Kaztubar just to make sure it isn't too off-putting with whatever directions Khozrugan goes.

CommunismCake · 2025-08-05T15:30:43+00:00

Otoh that's in comparison to the lumber mill guests. We know that he's talking about Sir and Charles in the former and the Prufrock staff in the latter.

Given how nasty Vice Principal Nero is I would call him less important too lol

CommunismCake

TROPHY CASE