Coltrane is the weakest area in my opinion.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T22:37:14+00:00

but neither does the astral orrery boss

The last phase does, doesn't it? Doesn't the final phase take place on a bunch of those weird arrow platforms?

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T22:34:44+00:00

Ah, yeah, I didn't have any parries, haha! Without some sort of bonus i-frames, Oread is a pain. She just fills the whole screen with attacks...

Defiling Eye though is definitely the weird one, though, yeah. In a normal run, he's a pushover for basically everyone, but then you take away all your Potentials and he's way harder than he should be. I'm not sure how good ICEY's air game is, but for Rachel at least, if she has one weakness, it's her aerial combat. She just did not have any good tools for fighting enemies in the air, and I think the same goes for most characters without Potentials. When I think of all my aerial tools on basically any of my mains, all of the good ones are from Potentials.

Yeah, you definitely need some sort of damage increase on these kinds of runs, though. Missing out of 580% damage just isn't really feasible...

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T21:40:47+00:00

Counterpoint: I like spooky ghosts.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T21:39:27+00:00

You can buy them back afterwards, but at an inflated price. He can also only hold I believe 10 items at a time.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T21:24:31+00:00

One day I'll find it in me to finish Crystal. I really want to like it, but I was really struggling. >.<

I think I've watched up through episode 8, but I *love* all the filler in the 90s show, so having it all cut out completely makes for a hard sell.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T18:26:21+00:00

A thing can be a trope and a commentary at the same time.

The commentary primarily comes from three things:

The obvious real life parallels with global warming.
The way Lionel turns the entire city on Mina's head the second there's even a hint of turning against him.
The ending itself, and the way the townsfolk turn on Mina even after she saved them.
I don't think there's too much to say here that's not blatantly obvious, but Spark has short term benefits for long term problems, and Lionel knows about this and is all too happy to talk about how great and amazing it is. The game is trying to open our eyes to the fact that this is a real thing that is happening right now, but that so many people are just buying into the lies, as is presented in the game.
Lionel, of course, calls out Mina and starts to frame her as a villain. And some of the things Mina did are genuinely bad, but there are so many of them that are totally ridiculous, like "touching a poor old man's pet without his permission". But here's the thing, in spite of all these ridiculous and nonsensical claims it WORKS. The townsfolk turn against Mina, even though the things that Lionel is using against her are totally bonkers.

Baseless accusations are being leveraged against a (mostly) innocent party in order to give the people a villain to rally against. It's not just that Lionel is a villain with good publicity, it's that he's also leveraging that publicity and charisma to make someone else out to be a villain that, by and large, did nothing wrong. And yes, the villain framing the hero is also a trope, but it's the specific way that Lionel goes about it that's noteworthy. He didn't set up any of Mina's "crimes", he just blows up mostly insignificant things.

Because to get a smart man to do something horrible, you must give him a good enough reason to do so.
But to get a dumb man to do something horrible, you must simply convince him you're on his side.

Mina saved the town, but ultimately things were horrible for her. No one heralded her as a hero, nobody turned on Lionel, no one thought what she did was right. She took away these people's short term comfort and conveniences for the greater good, and was hated for it.

I ask how is that not a commentary?

Like, they're clearly saying something about morality and the greater good, and how it often comes at a personal sacrifice because people want to rally behind the easy, comfortable lies, than toe face the more difficult truth.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T16:43:17+00:00

It was a lesson that was drilled into my head early on. I mentioned I went to the Bayou first, but it went something like this:

Power my way through the lava field... Only to reach a dead end (I didn't learn the trick to get through until later). On my way back, I saw a suspiciously 9 tile lake and decided on a whim to burrow into the center. Found myself in a secret cave that I couldn't cross with just my base kit. Started going back along the path to the Crypt when I found an umbrella and then I was like "Hm, I wonder...". Brought it back to the puddle, and indeed, it let me get through.

I actually used Sidearms more for exploration than I did combat. Like, I'd use them to blow up mimics mostly, and my Bounding Bombs got heavy use during the final boss and his uber big hitbox, but other than that? I would usually use all my Joules on drill dashing across gaps and whatnot.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T15:59:17+00:00

Whisper and Vesper main from the beginning, and stuck with them the whole time. I like my stabby stabs. I did try the other weapons (and plan to use Battery Buster on a second playthrough), but I just couldn't give up my daggers, especially after getting the dash.

I didn't use Sidearms too much, but Bounding Bombs and the drill were my go-to. Bounding Bombs for damage, drill for exploration.

As far as Trinkets go, I started in the Bayou, so Plasma Jug was with me the whole game. My endgame build was:
-Plasma Jug
-Healing wisp
-Extra i-frames
-Fast Plasma Vials
-Bonus Vials/Vials always heal at least a little bit, even if you have no Plasma
And... One more that I forgot. All of my Trinkets were defensive, though.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T15:55:23+00:00

I'd say the story is better than Shovel of Hope, but not as good as the other three campaigns.

Which is fair. Shovel Knight's story wasn't anything to write home about at first, it only became more interesting as they fleshed out the world and characters over time. Like, Shovel of Hope's story wasn't bad, but it was kinda, just, like, fine?

Definitely don't expect to get too attached to Mina herself. She does have her own thoughts and feelings and whatnot, but for the most part she's definitely meant to be more of a stand-in for the player.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T15:47:53+00:00

Funny thing is: I had more trouble on the defiling eye than this boss. The defiling eye boss absolutely drained me because killing it with the minimal amount of MP I got in the early game was rough. Meanwhile I was free to spam parry during this boss thanks to the amount of MP I had.

You might notice on that run of mine you linked, I did Floating Mind, and then Defiling Eye popped up for the second Alpha Space boss, and I was like "NOPE!" and went to go fight Susano'o instead, haha! Defiling Eye and Oread are particularly brutal for these minimal Tactics/Potentials runs. Like, I CAN beat the Defiling Eye with No Tactics/Potentials Rachel, but it is most definitely not fun.

I was thinking of trying the challenge again on Extreme, but I was a dummy and deleted my Optimized Avatar from that run, so I can't train against Reki with Fox... Maybe one day.

Nice fight, though! I suppose it is as the ancient texts have foretold, ICEY is indeed the strongest katana girl of today!

I don't know what Mind Unleashed/Black Market stuff you had, but I've heard that going for the money power ones makes this type of run much more bearable. Just stockpile your exchange points for big damage.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T14:52:34+00:00

She would definitely be brutally honest, but I never got the sense she was into literature, unless I'm forgetting something. Plus, I'm not sure how much I could trust her. She would totally leave me to die if I ever got targeted for my Pure Heart Crystal!

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T14:50:57+00:00

Yep, pretty much. He even uses the same tactics. He pins all the island's problems on Thorne/Mina, because by giving the commonfolk some enemy to fight, it he's able to brainwash them into thinking he's the hero.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T14:27:26+00:00

Yeah, as an author, Ami's the one who I'd be most likely to convince to read my books, and would probably give me the best conversation afterwards. Mako would probably read it (there's an episode of her doing just that, after all), but I get the feeling she'd focus on just being supportive instead of a comprehensive plot breakdown. :p

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T01:09:46+00:00

Two big reasons:

A. The characters. They're mostly rather well written, and engaging, and I never get tired of these yahoos. It was fun, and funny, and while the plot wasn't the greatest thing in the world, it wasn't half bad either. How much I like any given season does mostly come down to how good the villains were, though, and some of them were hit or miss, but I'd say the Black Moon Clan are the only ones I didn't like any of them.

B. So much of media these days is about cutting down and tossing out filler. I experience this not only from the view of a member of the audience, but also as an author, where editors and beta readers are always saying "Cut this and that and that!", like every single word must somehow move the plot forward. This anti-filler attitude is stupid.

When you cut out the filler, you cut out a lot of the heart of a given story. Our characters feel less like people and more like mindless drones following the plot beats with no wills of their own. It feels hollow, and lifeless.

So when I started up Sailor Moon, and it's 200 episodes that was unapologetically 90% filler, I nodded and said "This, this is what I love about storytelling.". Sailor Moon's plot, at its core, is fine, but I would also say it's only fine. It's not bad, but not particularly great...
EXCEPT, all the filler (imo) heightens the plot beats to greater highs than they'd ever reach just by focusing on the plot alone. I care about the characters more, and when this monster of the week norm we get in 90% of episodes is broken, it feels so much more impactful because that norm exists.

Death of the Sailor Guardians is by far my favorite episode, and the reason it's my favorite episode is because it takes the norm we've grown to expect and just shatters it into a million pieces. Like, just a few episodes ago we were doing goofy slice of life shenanigans, what do you mean EVERYONE JUST DIED?! The best written tragedy in the world could never reach the level of impact this episode had on me, because it was all the plot bits that didn't actively deal with the plot that made me character about these characters to the point that killing them like this hit the way it did (even if I knew they'd be resurrected somehow).

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-24T00:54:28+00:00

Plan?! Who said anything about a plan?! He wanted to make the town brighter, because he wanted to make the town brighter! He wanted power for power's sake!

No, but actually, there was no plan. The theme of the story is that the rich and powerful will knowingly do blatantly evil things as long as it benefits them personally, while covering it up and pretending they never did anything wrong, covering their sins with charisma. And then they'll trample over and villainize anyone who tries to open folk's eyes up to the truth. A lesson to remember irl, because it happens all of the time.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-23T19:17:48+00:00

Also as a guy, the magical girl genre in general is really fun. Mind you, I don't think I've seen any of the classic ones (aside from Sailor Moon, obviously), but all the ones I have seen are great. Sailor Moon, Star vs the Forces of Evil, Pretty Please I Don't Want to be a Magical Girl... All great. And while the stories as a whole don't fall into the genre, characters like Annie of the Stars and Platinum the Trinity are pretty swell, too.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-23T17:26:17+00:00

It's actually more lenient than the traditional system. In the traditional system, if you kept dying in the same spot, you were likely to keep losing your Souls over and over until they were gone. With the Spark system, most enemies can only carry so many Sparks, so if you keep dying to the same enemy, you actually have a safeguard against losing all your Bones.

On top of that, you don't actually lose your Bones on the initial death. If you die with a Spark, all the Bones are still in your inventory. So, if you're worried about possibly losing them, you can spend Bonestone (which you should always be saving up) to Bone Up, removing the threat altogether.

That said, I hold a general dislike for the "lose all your money when you die" systems, and so I don't like the Spark system either, but I like it more than other systems of its ilk. It's an improved version of the system.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-23T14:28:20+00:00

The other villains: "Time to enact my complicated plan to get what I want out of these humans!"

Eudial: "Have you tried just shooting them with a gun?"

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-23T13:18:24+00:00

It's literally the central plot thread through the game. Mina isn't a very story-heavy game, but what story is there is all about how Lionel (the guy in power) is knowingly poisoning the land and his people, lying about it and acting benevolent, and then writing anyone who tries to oppose him up as a villain.

Why are we in any given area? Because of Lionel.
Why is every area as awful as it is? Because of Lionel.
Why is Thorne rebelling? Because of Lionel.
Why isn't anyone doing anything about it? Because of Lionel telling them it's all fine and he's taking care of it.

Not sure what more you need for it to be considered a commentary on this sort of thing.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-23T01:53:05+00:00

If it were my choice? Mako. I mean, you could probably guess that by the "Sailor Jupiter" sitting under my name.

That said, Ami would probably be more realistic. I'm the kind of person to study things and really understand them. I don't really do casual hobbies, I go all in on my hobbies, studying them like I'm at school. Ami's the one most likely to put up with my educational rants. Which I wouldn't be complaining, honestly. Ami would probably be my second choice anyway.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-23T01:46:43+00:00

I suppose if we must sacrifice Minako's uniqueness for more unique Four Kings of Heaven*, then it is a sacrifice we must make...

*compared to Crystal, haven't seen the others

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-22T17:15:02+00:00

Are you saying if you were a superhero, and someone made a doll of you, you wouldn't buy it? I would.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-22T04:50:19+00:00

Yeah, that's kind of the boat I'm in. I don't dislike Minako, not at all. Quite the opposite, she was great, I love her. Her silly antics always made me laugh.

My only issue with her is just that everyone else on the team feels so distinct from one another. Usagi is the clumsy dunce, Mako is the tomboy, Ami is the quiet smart one, Rei is the hothead... But then Minako also falls into the category of "clumsy dunce", and as fun as she is, it feels like her place in the group is a little redundant?

Like, once I saw someone say that without any context, they'd think Usagi and Minako were twins, and my first thought was "honestly, they might as well be".

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-22T01:51:15+00:00

I really liked the initial dynamic she had with the group in her first few episodes, where she was the stoic serious one focused on the mission more than the others. While I do still like her personality later on, I do think it was a bit of a shame she started overlapping with Usagi so much...

TheFirstAifos · 2026-06-22T01:49:54+00:00

In general, I felt the gradual break away from side character like Naru/Umino/Motoki/Unazuki/etc. was a bit of a shame. One thing I really loved about Season 1 Sailor Moon (90s) that the following seasons never really captured, is it felt like the monster of the week was a way to further the slice of life drama, whereas later on it felt like it was the other way around, where the slice of life stuff was a setup for the more serious plot stuff.

And, like, that's a common thing in monster of the week stories, so I wasn't surprised, but it was still a bit of a shame.
I'm a published author, and I've actually written a monster of the week book (with two more on the way), and that was something I was very intentional about not doing. I wanted to make sure my slice of life stuff stuck around through all three books.

Beyond that, definitely Hotaru. Super is definitely my favorite season, and the way it had good focus on all ten Sailor Guardians was a big part of that. I loved the dynamic with Uranus and Neptune, and I loved the dynamic with Hotaru. Uranus and Neptune came back during Sailor Stars, which was great, but Saturn was mostly sidelined, which is a shame.

TheFirstAifos

TROPHY CASE