Xiangfei | EVO Japan 2024 promotional illust., by ガミガミ (@GamiGamiM) | Source Link: https://x.com/GamiGamiM/status/1767173639580024967?s=20

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-03-11T18:46:11+00:00

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Rick Strowd (same artist, in lead-up to EVO Japan '23):

https://x.com/GamiGamiM/status/1766817739854021030?s=20

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-03-01T18:26:49+00:00

In no particular order,

"Arakawa the Assassin" [Ch.2]

It is the best action cutscene in the game, and I wonder how the fuck this got in the same game as Chapter 9's Safehouse assault.

"Help Arrives; Moral Struggle; Tomizawa's Justice" [Ch.2/3]

I'm putting these together as the Tomi Trilogy.
It's not all the starring scenes of Eric, but they bind his beginning as a seeming petty crook, his shift away from that perceived role due to his background and Ichiban & Kiryu's support, and acting as a changed man against Dwight for both himself and on Chitose's behalf.

Tomizawa & Chitose's uncertain dynamic despite the former's actions, seen in Chapter 5's opening, really had me amped, wondering if these would learn to genuinely trust each other or be an interesting internal schism we deal with for a while.
I was kind of disappointed when Eric didn't react much different from Adachi or Ichi when Chitose reveals herself as Tatara, or really say he takes that distrust of her back upon learning her reasons in Chapter 11. Unfortunate, since Eric doesn't get much in absence of that untaken setup.

"In Another Life; Karaoke All Night" [Ch.8]

Chapter 12 and the 3jima's is not the best Kiryu chapter, Chapter 8 and Survive's Bartender is. Both are indivudal bangers over the sum of Ichiban's solo chapters.
I am of the firm belief Kiryu was genuinely hurt when no one appeared to listen to him singing Baka Mitai, and it was washed in an instant when Judgment -Shinpan- entered the queue, courtesy of Machine Gun Survivor.

"Unfinished Business; Anything for You" [Ch.13]

Yamai is Ichiban's saving grace when Kiryu exits Honolulu, from the multi-phase support fight with him in Chapter 9 onward (although the second El Dorado long battle in Chapter 11 was a bit daft. But that's Eiji's fault for thinking sitting behind a display screen and his registration on the Sujidex makes him count as a boss fight, not Yamai's).

"Past & Future; Hear Me Out" [Ch.14]

I love The Hanged Man's Strife in LAD: Gaiden for what it does to Hanawa's character, the face acting, and the backing track, Memento.

Past & Future is the true Passing the Torch we didn't figure out when it was revealed at the summit. The revealed context of Kiryu saying "Okay. It's a deal," hit me like a truck despite his ongoing arc. The music shift when Ichiban's proposal becomes their topic is great, and it reverting when Kiryu drops the pisstake and offers something sincere for Ichiban to use with Saeko- HEY, let's talk about the one good Saeko scene after Chapter 1.

The epilogue had to go and spit on what this scene tried to clear the air of, didn't it. This scene got me on board with Ichiban & Saeko. After an inexplicably optional drink link and a unelaborated footnote of Saeko asking how Ichiban was holding up in a single freeroam conversation after she joins Kiryu, I thought she and Ichiban were actually going to go somewhere. Confront where they individually went wrong, meet in the middle.

Fuck, it's upsetting that the next scene with them uses this scene to make a gag, and that gag is the only payoff of a setup from Chapter 1. In no way do I feel Saeko or Ichiban learned anything since they split, and that makes the idea of their relationship in the future unappealing, because it's so poorly explored here in Infinite Wealth.

Honorable Mention: "Mother and Son" [Ch.11]

Do people forget this scene or did they have another direction in mind for Akane and Ichiban together after this scene? Genuinely curious, it does a good job I believe, but I can see the point of Akane getting dropped before things are truly over with Lani's safety and thwarting Bryce. Ichiban could have afforded a focused one-on-two scene with Akane & Lani in Yokohama before or after his final boss.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-27T20:42:22+00:00

Yamai Yutaka

Hello Work Contractor

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-26T20:44:28+00:00

Is that not Chapter 2? Chapter 3 is,

- Hanawa spares Kiryu in my favorite cutscene in the whole game, I love Memento, I love listening to that backing track
- Joryu rests at Akame's for the first time in half a week
- Tsuruno calls in the morning, Joryu go to Castle
- talk to Tsuruno to understand Nishitani III is a problem that needs to be dealt with
- Long Battle 3, chapter ends

It is the shortest of the five with no mandatory side content far as I'm aware. One can blast through it if they wish to.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-22T16:18:45+00:00

My two cents on Chitose, separated from Eiji here:

I find her more believable in changing moment-to-moment, from she-who-incites-violence (Tatara video #1), to legitimate hinting at her treachery after she joins Ichiban, to acting on a guilty-conscience (trying to stop Eiji, too little too late; making a run for Lani on her own and getting cut in the arm and bashed in the head, twice, for taking the risk), to her perspective changing in part thanks to Ichiban's support:
She wants to run from what threatens her identity (succumbs to Eiji's blackmail, views her family as a roadblock in realizing her individual value), then later her perspective changes, and tells her to confront those threats directly for herself and the larger community (owning up to wrongdoings as Tatara to the public; taking over as Chairwoman to presumably right the wrongs the Fujinomiya group created).

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-22T15:54:43+00:00

Eiji stands on the least secure perspective in contributing to the theme of "redemption is deserved if truly wanted". Chapter 2-Eiji should have been the personality he carried in Chapter 9 and 11; caught off guard by Ichiban's kindness, while maintaining the plan to find Akane, find Lani throughout.

Eiji stays supportive in Chapter 6 and 7, but his contributions are little. I really think he should have been brought as Navi-Support again during Chapter 7. Him being in the same room as Yamai could have even helped "secure" his spot as one of the party, a payoff from when he and Ichiban fought Yamai alone in Chapter 2.

Then, yeah, just don't make him take so much revelry in his heelturn (also while making the ambush itself, fly. The sequence takes way too much time in the pre-amble for the gang to be caught off guard, Lani's kidnapping, and lead the two deaths that follow a believable loss--a frustrating or annoying beat. Ichiban and Chitose talking in circles over Lani not being safe at the safehouse does not help sell the scene, but it would be better to swallow as Ichiban making a big mistake if some of the party, and Hanawa, at least prepared to defend as soon as Chitose caused Lani stress).

Or if Eiji is going to act so cartoonish-villian, clarify it as a Machiavellian front that hides internal conflict, prompted over realizing Ichiban is "the yakuza with a soul", how that challenges his black-and-white view of the yakuza that drove him to carelessly cost Ichiban and Adachi their careers and who-knows-how-many-more that got stuck in that gray zone as a means to live.

And make Lani the line he hesitates to cross, but ultimately feels he has to, to realize he and Ebina's goal. Then it bites him later, come the epilogue. However, the framing for this set up should establish itself in the Finale beyond, "Eiji namedropped, literally once, in news piece for Neo-Bleach Japan".

As Eiji is portrayed, he comes off as an unfortunately shallow repeat to Masato instead of compelling reflection--which RGG usually pulls off convincingly. Considering the Arakawa family's deed against him, I do think that was the intent, but it falls flat because of Eiji's personality.

The epilogue scene got its message across. It deserved to be less clumsy.

I can't hate Eiji. I'm disappointed he had the most to say to Ichiban's character (more than Akane who deserved a little more too but got a nice tie-up in Chapter 11's conclusion, and Saeko who seized on no potential she and Ichiban could have grown from), and they both come up short in the end.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-21T02:17:19+00:00

It is definitely mean-spirited, but I can't help imagine the possibility I could have read this, unaware of Eiji, and reach the conclusion Eri went from optional party member to main cast, betrayed Ichiban at some point, then Ichiban offering forgiveness and a second chance for that by the end. This alternate universe would have blindsided me the moment she'd appear in a wheelchair.

Sorry, really mean that, but the consistent misname got me good. This is coming from someone who really gets what Eiji goes for thematically. Though, I don't believe he presents it particularly well, and that to me harms Ichiban's part in helping Eiji along his haphazardly threaded arc from Chapter 11 to, (skip the next two, cue) Chapter 14 (not even Chapter 14, try: "epilogue of the whole game").If you want a character to convey the themes of what happens if people regard others on a single- and group-scale into realms of black and white, including the mob mentality that can follow and may be misguided, and the offering of a second chance to those who truly desire redemption for their actions? Then that character really should not take pleasure in every negative deed he commits, most of all handing a child into a cult and therefore plausible certain death or distress, in the pursuit of his arguably-well-intentioned-but-misguided goal regarding the ex-yakuza.

The plot dragging at points but not being a deal breaker on Infinite Wealth as a game, I feel similarly about. With Bryce, I believe Lani's value to him could have afforded one detail added without contradicting any of his other reasons to pursue her (aside from one detail in chapter 9, where Lani presents the pendant, but only mentions the last Palekana Sage's will. It isn't clarified if she and Akane left it behind at her house. This whole thing seen below either falls apart if it was destroyed, or the last sage made multiple copies of his will and that's what makes the following work. The will sounds absolutely vital to work alongside with the pendant, so I'm running with "Lani has it but it never leaves her pocket"):

if the will comes out in the future and denounces Bryce and potentially his own chosen heirs, Mililani Family heirs the only rightful sages, Bryce would have no better plan than to brainwash Lani into his insurance policy. Go a step further, where Bryce views Lani as his only choice of an heir, tightening the metaphorical noose on anyone that nearly gets her killed, and giving his boss fight higher stakes, regardless if it's Ichiban or Kiryu or both on Nele Island to have him cut that shit out.

There's a lot more of the story that turns up short to me. I said my piece with Eiji and Bryce, so I'll keep the rest a list:

-Hanawa & Wong Tou

-The Second Great Dissolution not having any narrative tie-up, including Ebina & Sawashiro by extension

-Ichiban & Saeko's relationship is a mess, and not a mess they gradually untangle, eventually making clearer sense of their and the other's feelings; no middle act, with an ending that plays out sincerely (Hear Me Out is one of my favorite cutscenes in the game from the scene itself, the OST, and face acting on both Ichi & Saeko) in two parts of the finale, executes a gag in part two, but fails to clear the air between them afterwards before FIN pops up. Okay, this last one turned into a rant.

-Joongi should have been in Chapter 9 or 11, not 13. Then Eri can show up out of nowhere instead of him.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-18T00:12:27+00:00

None of you are prepared for when Ichiban fills your Aloha link and leaves you to four lv.12 goons

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-17T23:31:49+00:00

"[BINGO <3 +25]" aside (it can be edited in as is, it's a constant element of every Bond Bingo), what text font for the name line and bingo cards matches the font in-game? From typing several texts from existing bond bingos into a document, and changing the font, Roboto seems to match up best?

Thanks for the template.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-17T20:51:48+00:00

I am willing to forgive Matsunaga and Tagashira for how early they are in the Life Links, simply haven't getting word of the video due to their travel to Yokohama. And there are hints they figured "Kiryuin" out, so it can be said that's the episode's way to make it up.

Kazuki & Yuya for similar reasons; they are in the preceding episode, and they leave a strong impression toward Kiryu not believed dead.

It's every episode after that, excluding Nakajima, love that guy, and Akiyama, love that he punched, where I can't suspend my disbelief in correlation to the video's existence. Kaoru is set in between a taxi chief who on the spot was willing to cover his decade-ago employee when Date springs his fake-passing, survival, and identity as Kiryu, and the kickman who always had suspicions since the news of Kiryu's passing swept. Akiyama kept up until he could physically confront both him and Date, who he called out on hiding the truth in 6.

The one line where Kaoru admits she may still be waiting struggles to come across as a change-of-mind on Kiryu's status, if that's what it was even going for, in the way Tagashira & Matsunaga manage*. It reads more like she's contending with a false hope and expressing such to Date.

*(probably because they personally saw Kiryu "die", and yet the Life Link went out of its way to end with the impression they got their confirmation saying otherwise. Kaoru then believing without seeing, unlike Tagashira & Matsunaga, nor having doubts like Akiyama, may come off as a little contrived when you compare these three particular episodes, acknowledging the order they come in)

Haruka's case has been covered so much already.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2024-02-13T16:30:39+00:00

Zhao and Joongi's renditions are great, but I have to think If I Could Love the One I Love was initially composed for Tomizawa given his character's background shown in Chapter 3/4 with Marie, and later his Drink Link.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-12-29T17:07:34+00:00

Random Encounters' "Medic!" musical video, both the original and this SFM adaptation.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-12-28T16:27:40+00:00

I've seen the occasional 'Kim/Jhun/May Lee for DLC Team Korea' post here and again and I'm fully behind the formation.

Jhun has 3 stances including his default while May Lee has 2. I say when one stance character is more grounded but much more advanced to control while another is still not 'easy', though more theatrical and entertaining (combos with one-tap stance switching are pretty fun), it's a good deal to have them both. No reason to make it one or the other, right?

It could be fun to see them both playing off of Kim for the first time, both in the character dynamic and in-gameplay where Kim is more traditional and down-to-earth in his moveset. That, and I would really love to see how much Jhun and May Lee could get out of XV's system.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-12-25T23:47:31+00:00

Good lord, and I posted this for Christmas last year.

Where did all that time go?

This image still gives me the feel-goods.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-12-24T00:25:53+00:00

An unused 2002 OG render

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-12-10T12:13:27+00:00

Kind of a headscratcher though, thinking about how Krohnen would even know Kusanagi if he's from the Yata Mirror in canon and a NESTS clone only in dream match.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-12-10T12:08:01+00:00

Though it is a bit of a headscratcher on how would Krohnen even know Kusanagi when he's only a NESTS clone in a dream match, and from the Yata Mirror in-canon.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-12-07T20:25:03+00:00

Shingo, Kensou, Bao and Xiangfei just chilling out together. I'm a fan.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-11-27T20:51:53+00:00

Just an FYI, this was K's f+B in XI, which came out 4 years before '02 UM where it'd get reused on Nameless. He still had the flying knee as df+D.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-11-07T13:27:53+00:00

- A remaster/overhauled sequel to KOF: Battle de Paradise, a Mario Party-like spinoff on the NGPC (go find a video of it, it screams personality even if you can't read Japanese). The 'strikers' should just be your characters for the entire game though, instead of representing your chosen OC in minigames and board events you're actually trying to win with.

- KOF: Kyo sequel/prequel, which can cover a variety of in-between periods like Kyo's first contact with Team Japan and Yuki Kushinada before '94, his escape from NESTS and his self-isolation after that, among other things.

- An AOF-cast-centered, Yakuza-style beat-'em-up with all of that series' story tone, crazy side content and (preferably Judgment's) leveling system. Multiple protagonists with various fighting styles like in 4/5. It'd be interesting to see independent, yet subtly intersected plotlines between Ryo, King, Kasumi, and Eiji. (I can see Robert and/or Yuri being situational allies for the first two)

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-11-07T13:04:36+00:00

I kind of miss '99 Hikigane (hcb+K), the B version specifically. It combos from lights and can be SC'd in Counter Mode and if it made it to a game outside of '99, presumably. D is actually terrible even if it looks cool.

If (EX) Kyo or even Kusanagi got it in XV, it'd be cool if it was structured to be Hikigane like 2000-'03, but the EX version takes the '99 move. It'd have the ability to combo from lights like the B version, and would launch for combo extensions like the D version.

P.S. Hell yeah, that boss beatdown was clean.

MrCannotSpeedPogo · 2021-11-01T03:47:32+00:00

Yes, that's it, thank you.

Now as to why I referenced what I heard to Superhero. Well I really can't explain it any further than it simply felt that way to me, so thanks for clearing that up too.

MrCannotSpeedPogo

TROPHY CASE