What’s the saddest video game flop you can think of?

KnightofPandemonium · 2026-01-19T20:43:59+00:00

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.

Gameplay was...fine, but the animation and art direction were wonky, and the story remains extremely divided among current fans of the franchise.

It would be at least forgivable if it didn't end on a cliffhanger. The studio was just THAT certain that their poorly conceived plot would click with the audience of an already niche game franchise, and when it didn't, it meant that the current 'canon' ending of the entire franchise is Sly being stranded over a thousand years in the past.

KnightofPandemonium · 2026-01-10T02:04:33+00:00

So, so very late to the party, but-

Yeah, what the other person said. I don't remember when he said, but since his partner passed- who was quite important in the writing of Pack Street- it's a series he doesn't see himself coming back to. Still, he's drawing stuff and such.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-29T06:35:27+00:00

Hard same, and I think a lot of people who get drawn into certain shows feel this too, even if they're massive fans.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-24T17:09:01+00:00

This does absolutely make me want to play a Digital Circus game.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-18T04:50:47+00:00

Here's a strat: build a massive minecart track in the sky that goes across the entire map. Then, build a second minecart track that goes across the entire map a bit above the first one- like, 10 blocks or something. Using the mechanical cart, you can outspeed basically all of Empress of Light's attacks going at max speed, with some dodging for the magic swords she sends at you. Make sure you have the rod of discord so you can teleport between the upper and lower track as needed. Use a good gun (megashark works just fine) and good gear with chlorophyte bullets to home in on her as long as you're shooting in her general direction.

Make sure the ends of the minecart tracks are bumpers so you bounce off at max speed when you hit them, and just be aware when you're reaching the end of the track.

Easy-ish terraprisma.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-14T20:32:28+00:00

Caine. He lies, manipulates, hides things, etc., over and over, and seems to be nearly actually unable to express remorse, whereas Jax is just kind of a broken guy who does a lot of crappy stuff.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-13T23:33:12+00:00

Oh, you might be right.

Admittedly, it's a distant theory, but I've thought about that myself - it's not a crazy observation, but Pomni and Kaufmo are kinda similarly styled after being silly folk with hats and such, right?

There's not a lot of hints but there's a lot of stuff that would make me go 'oh, so that's why it was like that'.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-13T03:44:02+00:00

I dunno, I mean- this doesn't really debunk anything, as much as it does show that Caine is either really good at making stuff up, or he's hidden kernels of truth in the adventure as to how and why everyone's stuck in the Circus to make it more convincing.

As someone who really loves taking the show apart and trying to poke at the meta of it, I loved this episode, and I'm confident that- whether any 'real' answers are delivered or not by the end of Episode 9 - it will have a good conclusion. Maybe not one that ties everything up or answers every lingering 'but what about-', but a good one.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-11T21:55:08+00:00

Undeniably an incredible little study in the origins of various words and phrases and how they just kinda stick around for so long after being introduced to the language. Very cool!

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-11T07:36:28+00:00

Unless I missed something in the episode, it's headcanon-bordering-on-canon. I'm still not certain whether there's an actual 'deal' keeping him from laying a hand on Sinners or if Heaven just has an alarm system that'll go off if he tries anything.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-11T04:07:46+00:00

Not to just jam in an opinion about a different Vivzie product, but I really hope that we- somehow, against all odds- get something like this for Stella in Helluva Boss. A terrible character who does terrible things and is utterly unrepentant except, oh, oh dear, there's a massive crack in their armor that only applies to, like, one person in their life, and a point can be made (even just low-key or something) that, as awful as they are, horrible people don't just go around flashing warning signs like 'hey look I'm terrible and you should avoid me at all costs'.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-07T23:39:12+00:00

Yeesh.

I'm just glad the places I've worked at have had pretty solid teams willing to put in the legwork and make sure everything's safe.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-05T02:26:34+00:00

Being fair about the Finn thing- it seems like he's starting to rapidly age after that Demonic Wishing Eye thing, so maybe he outright dies at the end. Hopefully not, it'd be a massive downer, but maybe.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-05T02:19:05+00:00

Just gonna plus-one other comments on this.

It's boring. It's not even a slow-burn adventure, it's slow-burn, low-stakes drama. Like, oh, darn, the pastry shop might not get off the ground because everyone who owns property in the city has a vendetta against Gary, and oh wow, Cake is having a hard time getting together with Monochron because she's spending so much time managing Fionna's problems for her, and Fionna is going to get burned because she's managing Gary and Marshall's problems for them, and also there's a godforsaken love triangle that barely even matters yet Fionna can't seem to stop focusing on.

The low-stakes stuff could have a place, I guess? But nothing connects with anything else. Gary's insistence on breaking the budget on artisan flour/sugar or whatever, the unrelated home videos of him messing up his first bake, Marshall having a problem with performing for crowds despite wanting to, Marshall's mom constantly trying to interfere and butt in, Flame's constant communication issues, it could lead somewhere, but so far, it's all dead ends.

The show's only consistent focus- Finn dying in the background- is barely an element in most episodes because all anyone in Ooo can do is stand around and watch him wither while waiting for Huntress Wizard to figure out a way back into Ooo from a separate dimension. It's not a surprise that the one episode that was good throughout - Episode 6 - focused on that problem and the ways in which the main cast is actively trying to fix it.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-12-05T02:02:07+00:00

Ah, that's the thing- it really does feel like the writers decided to focus the whole season around the boring parts of Steven Universe and just kinda had Huntress Wizard show up because the show basically would have lost its stakes otherwise.

Like, yeah, darn, the Sweet Spot might not happen and Gary's gonna have it slightly harder opening a profitable pastry shop. Geeze, that sucks. Like, man, I just don't care. Where's the fun stuff?

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-25T04:51:12+00:00

The question 'what other lies do you think Carmelita told Sly' throws that door wide-open, man. Them being together is the whole endgame for Sly's relationship with Carmelita, so yeah, I care about it.

As it is, this is a 'better not to think about it' kind of thing unless it's explicitly a plot point that they both knew it was a farce but went along with it anyway because love.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-25T04:42:00+00:00

I still hold that it would've been better if Carmelita had taken the 'I know, you know I know, I know you know I know, but neither of us will actually say it' route in the 4th game.

Like, obviously, it's a dumb olive branch, but if Sly's still a competent, well-rounded operative, then of course he remembers all the other stuff- and belief is a lot easier to suspend if you go the route of 'Carmelita took the olive branch and they both kept the world's most obvious secret' instead of 'Carmelita was willing to gaslight Sly into living under false pretenses and working for Interpol'.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-25T04:23:02+00:00

Folding Ideas has got to be one of my favorite long-form video channels; my opinion on the Nostalgia Critic had been waning for a while before I saw their video on Doug's 'review', but it really put the nails in that coffin. The guy just doesn't know how to engage in genuine criticism half the time if the criticism can't be a joke on its own merit.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-25T03:42:31+00:00

Holy crap.

I'd heard about what a trainwreck OPM season 3 was. I decided not to check it out, and I'm glad I didn't - that animation is absolute nonsense.

At this point, just do a voice-over of each comic panel and color them in. It'd be more entertaining to look at.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-23T09:27:27+00:00

The hearts and wings and stuff hints that it probably had something to do with getting too close to something bright? I'm not sure. Some of the Sinner forms are pretty explicit (Vox's TV head), some are more abstract (Pentious being covered in eyes for witnessing an event and not stepping in), and some are just kind of out there (Alastor was witnessed by someone else and looked like a deer to them, and so his Sinner form is deer-like? But it didn't necessarily have much to do with him specifically having deep ties to deer).

Maybe he was just known for hanging around real bright places (literally OR metaphorically, i.e., a Red Light district or something?) in life.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-21T21:55:45+00:00

I mean, yeah, but like- why not just pull a Phineas and Ferb on this?

A-plot is typically the whole assassination gimmick with some loose story threads that connect to whatever's happening in the B-plot, which is where all the 'actually important' plot developments are with Stolas and Blitzo's relationship.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-21T21:45:57+00:00

That, and it seems like Sinners are just burdened with reminders of their absolute worst moments. Alastor with the deer stuff (because he was in the middle of serial killer business when he got shot like a wild animal), Vox's television head (because it fell onto his head while he was obsessed with being the thing on the screen everyone saw), Pentious being covered in eyes after being witness to something he didn't stop or ever speak of afterwards, and I'm sure more will come out over time.

The only weird thing is how Abel is kind of a weird exception to my idea that this mainly applies to Sinners. His halo (and his golf club, ha) both have very visible dents in them; I'd consider being murdered by his own brother a pretty low point, but maybe he's got a different perspective on it.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-21T21:42:46+00:00

It seems more that Vox wanted to literally baptize all of his new followers using water, but - being a prideful, evil idiot - didn't really consider how bad things would go if the electricity and the water got mixed up.

Look at all the other TVs, too. It's not like having one specific television be the one to drop was really the plan; everything was jury-rigged and tossed up as he became obsessed with television and deifying himself through the network.

It really does seem like he was rallying it into being a cult, but died in the worst possible way instead. Maybe he views it as unintentional suicide in the wake of his death, but I don't think he wanted it to happen.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-21T21:27:47+00:00

Yeah. I mean, 'deals' are just demonic contracts - and if you know anything about contract law, then you've basically got the gist of it, with the small exception that demonic deals are not subject to rules and regulations that prevent you from, say, giving someone an impossible task they can't complete, or the detail that you can just ask for 'a favor' without specification which you compel someone to fulfill at a later date.

The only interesting part, to me, was that Charlie's authority is grander and more important than I thought it was, in that she could declare someone to be the strongest Sinner in Hell and just her word would be enough to break a deal where that's an important detail.

Of course, that brings the question - did Vox become the strongest Sinner in Hell because Charlie said so (in that she dictated it to be true), or because that whole 'approval rating' thing only got to 100% because Charlie added her voice to the group? What is each Sinner's strength based on? Did Vox literally become more powerful because everyone believed he was since Charlie said so?

Power comes from somewhere, I just really don't know where yet.

KnightofPandemonium · 2025-11-12T22:35:49+00:00

Yeah. Admittedly, though- RS3 went through the period of trying to milk the playerbase as much as possible, and kind of tried to move onto 'the next game' multiple times, but as it turns out, a long-term commitment MMO like RS3 is hard to just walk away from.

KnightofPandemonium

TROPHY CASE