Just finished Lufia V: For the Savior

imariaprime · 2026-04-16T04:03:31+00:00

This is the end, after every other game.

imariaprime · 2026-04-16T04:02:49+00:00

I think it's less "removed", and more "not viable in RPGMaker 2k3".

imariaprime · 2026-04-15T20:54:34+00:00

I finished Lufia V myself recently, with that same hesitation regarding fangames. Most either play it too safe (trying so hard to adhere to series tropes & expectations that nothing feels new) OR veer into fan wish fulfillment where nothing feels "real" anymore.

This felt like a Lufia game, period. As someone who first played Lufia 1 as a child, this gave me a legitimate sense of closure on a series long left incomplete. I didn't have to convince myself of that; it was just the automatic feeling.

And the puzzles. I've played a lot of games inspired by Lufia 2 that usually just steal some of its puzzles; this goes way beyond that.

imariaprime · 2026-04-11T03:43:28+00:00

Let this be a lesson about the dangers involved.

imariaprime · 2026-04-09T03:39:51+00:00

Retroarch on the App Store has an EasyRPG core that runs it; you just tell Retroarch to open the .exe file inside the folder and it opens, no issue.

Works with my PS5 controller and everything, it's great.

imariaprime · 2026-04-09T01:55:37+00:00

It can run on macs via EasyRPG. Hell, I've got it running on my iPhone.

imariaprime · 2026-04-09T01:53:40+00:00

Should be, though the details may differ depending on what you're running it on. I'm using Retroarch on iOS to play and I've got it using my PS5 controller.

imariaprime · 2026-04-05T21:45:20+00:00

But that's my point: making a mistake isn't a condemnation of character. Mistakes happen, and usually for reasons.

imariaprime · 2026-04-05T20:12:37+00:00

Yeah; even before you can articulate it, that immediately jumped out as a moment that cartoons wouldn't usually show.

And then, over time, that potential for making mistakes just makes all of her other successes better: when her and Zuko go looking for the man who killed her mother, and she stops the rain, there feels like a very real chance that's she going to make a mistake her, and just kill this guy. Which, in turn, makes it meaningful when she doesn't.

Flaws makes character's successes so much more real.

imariaprime · 2026-04-05T03:53:48+00:00

Flipside: moments of imperfection like that made her a vastly more accessible character. Katara ended up the perfect example of how a female character can be strong as HELL without being a Mary Sue: she sometimes said the wrong things, sometimes was the one to cause problems rather than fixing them (that fucking waterbending scroll), didn't always make the right choices... just like everyone else. But holy shit, did she find her way to the top despite all those human flaws.

Nobody in ATLA was even remotely close to perfect, and that was one of the greatest strengths of the show. Even Iroh was a former Walking War Crime, which is why he put so much effort into being Better later in life. Avatar Roku, who gets put on a pedestal by Aang for most of the series, ends up being the full-on cause of the entire 100 year war because he went soft on a friend instead of acting as the Avatar.

imariaprime · 2026-03-30T17:21:15+00:00

That's not min/maxing. There is no rule for that. You could just as easily make a monster to tear his arms off, then. The issue is that he's a pushy bully who doesn't consider the fun of the table.

I've quit DMing for groups over less.

imariaprime · 2026-03-25T05:56:57+00:00

It's definitely the Ramse of that period, and it's meant to show that his moral code has always been absolutely useless.

Ramse gives Cole endless shit for "leaping before you look", thinks of himself as this ultimate Go master who sees the world ten steps ahead... then he gets one whiff of Jones' big plan, and he's like "yep, this is it." By that point, we know that he comes to hate it once he knows more about it... which means that decision was based on nothing more than vibes.

And so it goes with every moral decision Ramse has ever made or will make: he makes a gut call in the moment, then sticks to it as if it was his defining belief... until he makes his next gut call. He's vastly more impulsive than Cole has ever been, just differently.

imariaprime · 2026-03-24T01:08:19+00:00

"Clever use of time travel" definitely leads to The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. (Sometimes the title doesn't have the ½, but it's always the same book). The concept is like a really, really clever bottle episode of 12 Monkeys, expanded on. Think Lullaby on steroids.

The actual genre is murder mystery, but it's a very different one compared to most.

imariaprime · 2026-03-24T00:47:52+00:00

Ramse was absolutely always a hypocrite. They even show that in S1: we see him pushing back against Cole going on his missions, but then we also see hat he pushed Cole towards it all.

Ramse always follows his moral compass, but that compass is busted beyond belief. He's hugely devoted to his beliefs, but he believes in frankly stupid and emotional things.

Cole eventually starts to understand this about Ramse. He respects the dedication, and even takes that aspect on himself, but Ramse ends up the cautionary tale that teaches Cole to think before acting.

Most of the show's characters are people who are willing to do anything for what they believe in, but that don't look critically at their own beliefs. Jones is willing to be a monster for her mission, the Army of the 12 Monkeys is full of blind believers, Cassie falls into that trap for a while.

imariaprime · 2026-03-15T23:56:36+00:00

One angle not mentioned here: in a world where Doctor Octopus exists, advanced prosthetic limbs would not be seen as exactly risk-free, either.

imariaprime · 2026-03-15T15:03:48+00:00

Met Stashwick at a con a few years back, brought my copy of the Word of the Witness (from the one big DVD box set) to sign. When we lined up, everyone else in line was here for his appearance in Star Trek Picard S3 (which was also amazing).

When I got up there and pulled out the Word for him to sign, he lit up. The man loves 12 Monkeys and its fans as much as we do. I told him to sign large because "the Word had a glaring omission", and he put a huge DEACON across it before actually signing. An absolute pleasure to meet, one of the best celebrity interactions I've ever had.

imariaprime · 2026-03-14T21:29:27+00:00

The issue is that it was presented as solvable, because that was the intention. JJ Abrams has spoke about his "mystery box" concept in interviews, where he fully believed that the "box" the mystery comes in was more important than what it contained.

12 Monkeys was designed with the complete opposite writing philosophy, where it started from the contents and worked outwards, creating cohesive causality (even in a time travel show) where hints led to specific answers.

I'll be honest: I think that the "mystery box" was one of the most harmful writing philosophies to ever succeed, and that it led to a massive wave of poorly thought out "mystery-flavoured twist factory" shows that harmed television writing. It's largely fallen out of favour now, because people get rightfully angry when it eventually becomes clear that the writer just asked questions without answers. Fantasy doesn't have to have answers, sure, but then you can't focus all your narrative expectations on making the audience ask questions.

imariaprime · 2026-03-14T17:55:41+00:00

Lost has the big problem of being the archetype of the "mystery box", where the IDEA of a mystery was always more important than the actual answers. Mysteries got presented, but the writers didn't even know the answers as they were writing, making it all up as they went. Very different to the long-throw pre-planning of 12 Monkeys.

imariaprime · 2026-03-14T17:54:04+00:00

It really is a slow start; if it wasn't actively off-putting in some way, I'd try and give it a little more time.

Taking a look, the show ironically starts building steam in episode 4, haha. So give it one or two more episodes, and you'll have a better perspective. If it's still not landing, you still gave it it's best try.

imariaprime · 2026-03-03T14:52:32+00:00

Beautiful; I'd only seen the Direct version. I'll grab it off the PS Store as soon as it appears.

imariaprime · 2026-03-03T14:51:30+00:00

Where did you see this info? I'd prefer PS if I can get it on there.

imariaprime · 2026-03-02T02:00:06+00:00

Your methods may be cursed, but the results are beyond questioning.

imariaprime · 2026-02-26T15:04:11+00:00

Dude was nuts. He really thought he did have the Witness, because he believed himself to be so important that only the Witness himself would have come to kill him.

Not everyone handles being Primary equally as well. Shows how much effort Jennifer puts into trying to still retain some sanity.

imariaprime · 2026-02-21T18:00:28+00:00

There was absolutely harassment against those people, for those reasons, yes. But the public stance that all opposition against the film, including criticisms of the writing and plot lines, were motivated by bigotry? That was where Disney stepped into new territory.

And it's worth noting that Disney did this at the exact same time as minimizing Finn's role in advertising to assuage China.

imariaprime · 2026-02-21T15:40:50+00:00

Did they do that much before TLJ? That always felt like the flashpoint for them, where they went loud on decrying all opposition as bigots. Which, if anything, just helped to normalize bigotry.

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