Cloud Strife In Smash!? WHAAAAAAAT!?

It's been quite a while since I blogged about Super Smash Bros. So I will do a brief recap to catch up on the stuff that I missed out on before heading towards the elephant in this metaphorical room.



In case you don't know what Smash Bros is, it's a Party/Fighting game where some of Nintendo's most beloved characters (and some third party characters such as Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog) fight each other in a free for all battle to the death.

But it's not that simple, the only way to score a kill in Smash is to knock the other players off the stage. If you fall off the screen you die. It's kind of like sumo now that I think about it.

A few months back the creator of the Smash Bros games, Masahiro Sakurai, set up the Smash Ballot. Basically for a few months you could vote for a video game character to be added to the game via DLC. Not one, not two, but three characters were added to the game via DLC Even before the Ballot opened. Now the ballot is closed, and people have voted for some really weird characters like Shrek, Goku (From Dragon Ball), and Freddy Fazbear (from the instant classic horror game series, Five Nights at Freddy's).

Anyway they added three characters via DLC (four counting Mewtwo who came out LONG before the Ballot opened).



On the Left we have Roy, the main protagonist of the sixth Fire Emblem game (which was Japan exclusive). Roy is not only a skilled swordsman, he also is a brilliant tactician (EXAMPLE: He tricked a mole in his team into blowing his own cover. Also, he won a large-scale war). The only problem with Roy is he only speaks Japanese (because his game was Japan exclusive for years).

On the Right we have Ryu. the main hero of the Street Fighter franchise. Basically, he loves fighting. A lot. He does not care about money either as seen in the ending of Street Fighter II, where instead of attending the award ceremony and claiming the prize money, he just leaves to find a new challenge for him to overcome.



The third character added is Lucas from Earthbound. Has anyone heard of Earthbound? If not, then you are not alone. The last Earthbound game came out back in the 90's and everyone who has played it enjoyed so much that they keep begging Nintendo to make a new Earthbound game.

Basically Lucas is a young boy who possesses psychic abilities (most of which have "PK" in the name). His mother was killed trying to protect him from one of the many enemies of the Earthbound universe. He is also a twin, his brother being Claus (who, spoiler alert!, was turned into a Chimera. A Chimera is monster based off the titular Greek myth. The Chimera was said to have the head and body of a lion, the tail of a snake, and the legs of a goat. For whatever reason, Greece always mish-mashed random animals to make their mythological creatures. As a scientist I can confirm that that Chimeras do not exist unless created through genetic modification. Heck! Even Dragons are more biologically plausible than Chimeras.)

Also they added a Miiverse stage. In case you do not own a Wii U or 3DS, Miiverse is literally Nintendo + Facebook.



They even added a little bonus where you see the Miiverse posts (but only the ones about the characters fighting in the match at that precise moment) in the background.

Now we get to the thing I am most excited about...


CLOUD STRIFE IS IN SMASH!!!!

In case you never heard of Cloud Strife, he is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy 7. To give you an idea how hold that game is, Final Fantasy 15 is coming out soon. Cloud is also one of the most popular characters in the Final Fantasy series. He even made a cameo as a boss in Kingdom Hearts!

Cloud is a mercenary and a ex-member of SOLDIER, which was a military program to surgically augment (and enhance) a soldier's fighting skills with these things called Jenova Cells.

At the beginning of the game, Cloud is hired by (and later becomes a permanent member of) AVALANCHE, a resistance/vigilante group that has pretty much declared war on the Shinra Electric Power Company, a super corrupt mega corporation that funded the SOLDIER program.

Now Cloud is a cool and kind of strange choice. He only appeared on a Nintendo system once (twice if you count the Final Fantasy Rhythm spin off game). So of course there will be haters saying "Omahgawd why on urth wood you add Cloud to Smash hes not even a reel Nintendo character! Angry Face >:(".

But I am on the "Who cares where he comes from! Cloud's awesome!" boat. Even though I never actually played a Final Fantasy game. But let's face it. Cloud has the biggest sword of all time which is reason enough to add him in Smash!!!!! LOL!!!

But in all seriousness, Cloud is quite cool.


He even has the outfit he wore in the Final
Fantasy film as a alternate costume!

Cloud has a ton of abilities in Smash.


This move is called Cross-Slash. Cloud shoots a wave
shaped LAZOR out of his sword


Cloud can also fill up a Limit Gauge, though
how you do it is unknown. Much like in the original
Final Fantasy game, Maxing out the Limit Gauge 
will super charge your next attack, but only one!


I'm Going to be honest. I have no idea what this
move is called. But it looks cool, and I want to 
put it on a T-shirt!!


It's only fitting that Cloud's strongest attack, the
almighty Omnislash, is his finishing move.

So there you go! Cloud is in Smash Bros! Whether you like it or not! Of course, nobody knows if Cloud was the winner of the Ballot or not and that is incredibly unlikely, as like I said, people vote for the weirdest characters.

Also, There is now a costume for Miis that make them look like Chocobos. Chocobos are cute little birds. Well they are not little as they can grow to be taller than a man.

But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little update on Smash Bros.

SURPRISE!!! Minecraft Story Mode Episode 2: Assembly Required Review!!

Yesterday was my THREE HUNDREDTH blog post and it was on Minecraft Story Mode Episode 1: The Order of the Stone. WARNING: A LOT OF THE STORY WON'T MAKE SENSE UNLESS YOU READ MY REVIEW OF EPISODE 1.



This post is a review of Episode 2: Assembly Required (which, by the way, is one of the many Minecraft puns in the series).

And just like Episode 1 there will inevitably be spoilers on the story so if you want to know my thoughts on the episode and go in blind/fresh just scroll to the bottom of the post.


Jesse is a MLG Pro. 360 NO SCOPES!!!

The first thing you will notice is that pretty much the entire first half of the episode is different based on the final choice you make at the end of episode 1 (choosing whether to seek out Magnus the Griefer, or Ellegaard the Inventor).



For example, choose Ellegaard and Jesse will come with Olivia to a island paradise called Redstonia (pictured directly above) where the residents spend their time making Redstone Contraptions. If Ellegaard likes your machine most, she will make you her apprentice. Redstonia is the calmer of the two locations, but most of the comedy is here as well (Cow-a-pult, anyone?).



If comedy and Redstone aren't your cup of tea, then choosing Magnus will send Jesse and Axel to Boom-Town (stylized as "B00mT0wn"). Which looks like pretty much every survival factions server ever! Boom-Town is filled with Griefers that, according to the narrator, have poor impulse control and deadly hobbies.



While there are funny moments in Boom-Town (a random Griefer says after Jesse makes a speech: "I have no idea what that means but I like it! And want to put it on a T shirt!"), the primary focus is on the action. Plus the only way convince Magnus to come is by challenging him for the crown (the King of Boom Town can't leave Boom Town unless a new King takes over).

Also both places have a catchy theme music as well, which is a plus. Even though personally I like Boom-Town's music better, as it is obviously inspired by the Old West.


Finish Him! Brutality!!!!

After you finish recruiting either Magnus or Ellegaard (based on the choice), you meet back up with either Gabriel the Warrior (who still has the most epic voice in gaming ever), or Petra (I forgot to mention her in the first episode. Basically she's a mercenary who was hired by Ivor, the villain of the game, to collect the items needed to make the Wither Storm) at the Temple of the Order of the Stone. Try saying that five times fast.

Once the gang (not mobster gang, team gang) reunites, it is revealed that either Axel or Olivia went ahead and recruited whoever you did not choose to seek out at the end of episode 1. At least they were nice enough to have them do a recap of what happened on their side of the story, though at the end of the day it makes you feel like you missed out on a lot of stuff. But that's part of the replay value. That and the fact this game lets you choose what Jesse says and does during cutscenes.



Anyway, now the two different stories link up/merge. Using the Amulet, Jesse and friends find the location of the most powerful member of the entire Order of the Stone: Soren, the Builder of Worlds. The reasons he is so powerful is 1: He has access to Creative Mode. 2: He somehow integrated Endermen into his home security system. And finally, he has a Super TNT Block 100x more explosive than a regular block of TNT. Also the name of the bomb is the best profanity pun ever (It's literally called the F-bomb. The "F" stands for Formidable).

The episode ends with a beautifully well-done boss fight against Ivor (pictured below).



You remember how Episode 1 was only 2 hours long? Episode 2, sadly, is shorter (I beat it in 1 hour 15 minutes. And I was taking my time, and talking to as many NPC's as possible).



So the question remains. Is Episode 2 better than Episode 1? Yes.

It was much more action packed (especially if you visit Boom Town!), the music was infinitely better (to the point of being catchy), and the ability to become a MLG Pro (360 NO SCOPES!!!) thanks to the quick tutorial on how to use a bow at the beginning is also nice. In terms of the Graphics, it's still Minecraft-y and amount of work that went into Boom Town and Redstonia is impressive. They LOOK like what they are supposed to be (a town ravaged by Griefers on a daily basis, and a island paradise covered in wacky inventions respectively). The ending was more of a cliffhanger, which is either a good thing if you like overarching stories in games,

Of course the fact that it is almost half as long is a massive problem, but the first episode was short to begin with. But with that said I would give Episode 2 an 8/10 (A step up from Episode 1, which got a 7/10. The reason this episode gets a higher score is because of having a better soundtrack and more action/comedy and whatnot).