Exactly what it says in the title. He may have used the word hentai. I think they may have been talking about Stamper or Oney or some other Newgrounds person or thing.
It was an older episode, not sure which series. It may possibly have been Super Metroid but I could be confusing it with the part where Dan looks up hentai of Zelda and Daisy tribbing.
In recent years, there's been a lot of talk about how indie-devvs put the tripple-A games to shame. While the tripple A-scene surely can be criticized for some practices, I still feel like there's some bullshit involved in the hype for the indie-scene.
First of, the comparisons are skewed from the get-go. The indie-games that most often get thrown around in the debates are games like Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, Cuphead and more. These are the best, most successful and highest rated games of the entire scene. They are the Half-Life 2, Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil 4 of the indie-market, but they get compared to the "everyday" titles of the AAA-scene.
Underneath them are an endless endless sea of garbage. For every Hollow Knight or Ori, there are 500 000 hentai-sex simulators, twin-stick shooters with broken mechanics and Castlevania-clones with bullshit bosses that rely on cheap difficulty. A lot of them completely lack common sense game-design, such as decent checkpoints or logical puzzles. A lot of them rely on a Dark Souls-inspired attempt at being challenging and abstract, but just end up being confusing and labyrinthian.
The scene is filled with generic trends like the same depression-analogies in every game, and the indie-scene have their own shady practices, like the Kickstarters that never materialize.
I recently replayed A link to the past (SNES) and 30 years later, not a single indie-game can hold a candle to it in terms of game-design and world-building. Even the best games are essentially copy-cats of more established AAA-franchises. Hollow Knight is Metroid, Stardew Valley is Animal Crossing, Dead Cells is Dark Souls in 2D and so on. Games like Super Mario World or Sonic the Hedgehog 2 completely blows Celeste out of the water, despite Celeste having 100 times the technology to work with and decades of experience in 2D Platform-design to rely on.
So why the hype then? I think people love the idea of lone entusiasts creating great games through sheer passion, without corporate greed getting in the way. They love this idea so much that they judge the games to kindly. If you look at SteamDB on many of the titles, they aren't nearly as popular in practice as one could think. For instance, IGN:s top-rated indie-game of all time, the number one, Return of Obra Dinn, has slightly above 100 players world-wide while writing this text. People enjoy talking about indie-games and even buying them, but when it comes to actually playing them - they end up playing something else, very often.
I'll end with saying that there are good indie-games, but not enough to justify the hype for the genre. It's an expanse of mostly copy-cats, bad ideas and some good ideas that sometimes materialize into someting worthwhile. Game-development is incredibly hard and most developers with real talent get concrete jobs within the industry, where they understand the thousands of small things that stack up to a professional production.
Tune in for a special 45 minute holiday presentation on the Legend Of Zelda Movie, along with upcoming Nintendo Switch games including the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet DLC: Indigo Disk, Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Final Update, Fantasy Life 2, Animal Crossing Rule 34, Drunk Dad Driving Round, 175 shovelware Hentai puzzle games, The legend Of Zelda Video Game, h&r blockworld buildapalooza, Metroid Primetime TV, Haptic Feedback Vibrator Male G Spot edition, Netflix 2.5 final mix, donkey Kong Stuff, and more!
What are you looking forward to? What do you wish miyamoto and his family would do? What do you want to see come out of Nintendo HQ? Are my kids in better custody with their mother or the state? Do you think the switch 2 will be announced? Let us know in the comments all your darkest thoughts and feelings about the direct!
Edit; wow, gold??? Thank you kind stranger! Edit 2; wow lots of awards and reddit money, you sir win the Internet for today! Edit 3; final update for now, another plane has crashed, this one in a field, and we are being relocated to a shelter without internet. Going dark.
I wanted to share a short story about our first experience of the mistlands so far.
So me and a buddy are playing valheim again, we play casually every sunday and recently we advanced into the plains and found the Yagluth spawn place.
Arriving at the plains area where yagluth spawns, we started noticing these purple mist like area's and said assumed(correctly) its the mistlands. Did a small drive-by with the boat but nothing interesting happened. Arrive on the island with yagluth but notice we are on the wrong side of the island and trying to steer the boat around the island.
I had the smart plan that it would be possible to steer the boat through the mistlands. Big mistake because we hit shore quite fast and it realy was blinding dark, backed up the boat in the clear. When i backed the boat i saw these pillars which i could stand on with what seemed like flowers (magecaps if im not mistaken). Stopped the boat to get the flower, my buddy was quickly navigating the map to set-up another route.
Queue a disturbing music, i shout what is happening to my buddy, we turn around and see a tentacle monster from nightmares (or straight from metroid), slowly approaching our boat from the mist, its called a Gjall.
Our first reaction was Shoot it with arrows, but it looks like didn't have any effect, my buddy (& myself) panics and jump toward me to fight the tentacle hentai monster off, it started spewing fire of all things. Death. Next Sunday we have a recovery mission i guess, hope the boat is still there.
Love it if a game can still surprise you so much, great introduction to mistlands what a panic, what a monster, we need to prepare a bit more.
Alright lads and ladettes, let's strap in for a massive manga title dump. What follows is a list of every manga I've read, am reading, and intend to read; as well as a brief rating and review of them. My rating scale goes from 1 to 7, which it seems everyone finds quite odd. Here's what they mean:
1: No desire to every pick this up again unless a very good argument is made 2: Bad 3: Bad side of neutral 4: Perfectly neutral 5: Good side of neutral 6: Good 7: Has a permanent place in my phone storage and my hard drive backup, will read repeatedly
Most of this list will be in alphabetical order, but I can't promise anything because sometimes I take the foreign name. For example, Astra Lost in Space is also known as Kanata no Astra, and Attack on Titan is Shingeki no Kyojin. I'll try to have common alternate names in my reviews. I do my best to realphabetize and keep series names together, but no promises.
If you see something in my to-read list that's bad, please let me know. Don't let me suffer.
I'm 25 years old and have been reading manga since 13 years old. If some of the reviews seem vague or not quite right, it's probably because it's one I've read a long time ago and don't remember the worst/best parts of it, and/or I'm looking at my past through gold tinted lenses.
HAVE READ TO COMPLETION, OR AM FULLY CAUGHT UP ON 1/2 Prince (6): If I'm remembering this series correctly, it took a while for it to grow on me but I kept trucking through and you know, it wasn't too bad. In fact, I really rather liked it.
12 Beast (4): Basically hentai, I like boobs. Unfortunately got cancelled so what little plot there was, is no longer.
A Returner's Magic Should Be Special (7): My god this is a fantastic series. It's well written, well drawn, and I can't wait for the next season to start. Whenever it runs, I look forward every single week. I would recommend this title to every manga enthusiast regardless of their preferred genres, because I think this deserves a chance in everyone's book.
A Silent Voice (7): Also called Koe no Katachi. Everyone must read. This is a beautiful and cute story about a bully and his victim, and how they grow apart then back together. Superlative character and story writing.
Akame ga Kill (6): I like the story, I like the characters, and I like how
not everyone gets a happy end.
Aki-Sora (4): Basically hentai with a story. Not my style, but not bad I guess. Neutral.
Akumetsu (6): Quite liked it. Good characters, good violence.
All Rounder Meguru (7): I'm very partial to a good martial arts story and this is no different. To some it might seem a bit bland and slow, which is why I can't recommend this to everyone despite the 7/7 rate but I thought it was very well done. Fantastic art, realistic martial arts (hell I even adopted Meguru's and Yudai's punching drill), and good story progression. Each character has a different personality and appearance. All in all, very good.
Assassination Classroom (7): Another one to add to the "everyone should read" list. It's very cute and I think everyone will like it.
Arachnid (6): Tying insect, spider, and bug behaviors and characteristics into an assassin is an interesting concept and this manga does it pretty well I think. It's been a long time since I've read it, but I remember coming off of it feeling positive all around except for
the apocalypse end which threw me off since it was unexpected.
Astra Lost in Space (7): Also called Kanata no Astra. Absolutely phenomenal, I think I'd also put this on my "everyone should read" list. It doesn't fall solidly into any one genre and so doesn't pigeonhole itself into any tropes or stereotypes. The whole time, I couldn't figure out where this manga was going; each chapter just made me want the next one.
Attack on Titan (6.9): Also called Shingeki no Kyojin. Gonna be honest, I did keep up with reading this as chapters came out but holy shit it was so slow that I got lost basically
as soon as our friendly troop found the ocean because I just couldn't remember what happened previously. I will definitely honor this series with a re-read but as far as my review goes, just take it that this is a good series. This would be a 7 but I had to make this slightly less than its side story.
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (7): This is an excellent side story to AoT. You learn about the development of the 3D-Maneuvering Gear and more about the Survey Corps. It's a fantastic story.
Attack on Titan: Lost Girls (6.9): Another excellent side story to AoT. This is basically a short story showing a day in Annie's and Mikasa's life. Not too much to it but it helps round out the characters that much more.
Attack on Titan: The Birth of Levi (7): Basically Levi's origin story. If you like AoT, you'll like this.
Battle Angel Alita (6-6.5),
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order (6.5),
Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicles (5.5-6): I list these three titles together because you really have to read the first two together, and Mars Chronicle is the prequel with a fairly strong tie-in to the main story. I really liked this series. I didn't get it when I first started but just powered through and found myself sucked in. Mars Chronicle seems slow to update so I'll have to reread when it finishes in a billion years.
Battle Royale (6.5-7): As far as I can tell, the novel that this manga is based off of is THE basis for the battle royale genre and its derivations that is so prevalent in modern shooter games. It's such a good story. Relationships, betrayals, an interesting direct villain and a great dystopian supervillain government.
Black Cat (6.5): Did you know the author of this is the same guy who authored Darling in the Franxx? I didn't either. Anyways, I really liked this series. The main characters were quite engaging and grew nicely. Back story was also good. Fights were good too.
Black Clover (5): By and large I like this title, but it’s a bit annoying how Asta kind of…deus ex machina’s his way out of everything which by itself I wouldn’t mind, but he just does so without much explanation as to what is GIVING him power. Also, he’s a fucking idiot and while charming at first, that relentless positivity gets a bit annoying after a while. However, the rest of the story as well and the rest of the characters are interesting. This is a title I will continue following until the end.
Black Joke (4.5-5): Far as I can tell, this is a cancelled title which is a shame because I wanted to see where this would have went. A violent story that I couldn't really tell where it was trying to go, but for the time it ran I was vested in the characters. Didn't feel like it had much of a plot though.
Blade of the Immortal (6.5): First and foremost, let me lavish praise for the art. Arguably you might find this plain and lacking, but the purely pencil art demonstrates the superlative skill of the artist. The set, background, and actors are drawn with such excellent detail and proportion. I keep this title solely so when I finally decide to try my hand (again) at poorly sketching things, this will be one of the inspirations for how to do pencil art right. As for the story, if I were to describe it, I'd call it a city bus: it's not really that fast, but it has a lot of momentum. Many times I thought I might hop off because it really wasn't going fast, but I could always tell it was going somewhere. I'm honestly not sure why I'm not giving this a 7 but a 6.5 feels more appropriate for some reason. However, I do think if you have a couple dozen hours to burn, just look through it for the art's sake.
Blade Play (4): Basically hentai as far as I can tell, and it's cancelled(?) so hell if I remember what goes on in it.
Bleach (5): I want to like this, I really do. But it lost me sometime after the
vaizaard arc. Plus I still don't get the ending or pretty much any of the Quincies.
Blooming Sequence (6): I honestly can't remember much from this but I did feel satisfied coming out of it. And I know it deserves a reasonably high rate.
Break Blade (5): It's an interesting concept and I like mecha combat, but somehow it feels slow? Maybe I just need it to advance a couple hundred chapters (which will take forever) and give it another shot, which I am willing to do. But it's gotta capture my attention next round or I'm dropping it. But that'll be a few years from now at the rate it's going.
The Breaker (6): This title is good in its own right, but it's best when seen as a setup for its sequel Breaker - New Waves.
The Breaker - New Waves (6.5): Oh lordy, why isn't the author writing the promised third title in this series? It's a very good martial arts story, and it has a healthy dose of politicking that the MC must navigate, as well as personal relationships. Good strong characters in the writing and martial sense.
Btooom! (6.5): Another strong battle royale story. Basically the same general review as the OG BR above. It's also nice that you can choose which volume you want to use as the end; I read both and frankly like both, but if you want my opinion the Dark end is better even if it might leave a gritter feel.
Confidental Assassination Trooper (CAT) (7): Unfortunately, this title has effectively been cancelled, and just when the story was really ramping up. I still put this in my 7-list though because the art quality (and what little story there was) is so good, even better than Blade of the Immortal as you have read above.
Change 123 (6.5-7): First, let me reiterate I like boobs. But even beyond that, I liked the art (yes actually I'm serious, don't look at me like that) and it was a cute little romance story. And martial arts is cool too.
Change Guy (6): Also called A Quantum Mistake. Martial arts gives a huge boost to the ratings, plus it's a pretty good story. Except the end is a bit...abrupt because
the company is enslaving wayward youth for use in uranium mining? Where the hell did that come from? Claymore (7): This story is unlike any I had read before or since. The character development, world building, art, and balancing is (if not top tier) way up there. I don't know if I'd recommend this to EVERYONE for any reason, but I do strongly suggest it.
Clockwork Planet (5.5-6): Another interesting concept that I haven't seen before. I suppose the story is a bit linear and simplistic if you boil it down, but I liked it as you can see from the rating.
Darling in the Franxx (5.5?): It's not a 5 because of the mecha combat, but even that...seems to take a backseat to the wider story. I do recall just breezing through this title for some reason, which I don't normally do, and I have no idea why. I'll probably have to give this a reread to give a better and more honest review.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (6): You will also find I tend to like isekai and other-world stories. This is no exception. I do feel the beginning had a much stronger story potential than what we currently see because at this point we're just looking at a potential harem, whereas earlier on it was more male caretaker with female wards. The harem-y characters (just Arisa tbh) are a bit annoying (although admittedly more realistic than most isekai characters seeing she references the original world often enough). However, I'm willing to see where this goes.
Death Note (5.5): So I feel like I'm going to be a minority here, but I didn't really like Death Note. I don't dislike it as can be evidenced by my review, but...I just didn't like Light and somehow that spoiled this series for me. He's just too cunning and evil. Which of course I will admit he and the whole series is well written and I do recommend this, but I didn't like him. I would reread this though, if that's a factor in a potential reader's mind.
Deathtopia (4): It's only 66 chapters. Started off strong with a good premise, then turned...harem-y? But in such a way that it didn't feel terribly helpful if that makes any sense. Also the end sucked if I'm remembering it correct. Probably wouldn't reread.
Dungeon Seeker (7): Short and sweet revenge story. MC doesn't do any bullshit feel-goody quests or lose their path. They're singlemindedly focused by hate and spite, and I really admire that.
Fairy Tail (6.5): I liked it. I know it has a lot of PoWeR oF fRiEnDsHiP and whatever but I liked the overall story. Each arc felt good.
Fairy Tail: Zero (6.75): I can't give it a 7 but I need to give it a smidge more than the OG story because...I'm not sure why. It just felt a bit more to the point and sweeter.
Fairy Tail: Hundred Year Quest (6.5): Same rate and reason as the OG story.
Fire Emblem: Hasha no Tsurugi (7): I love the two Elibe titles (FE6, FE7) in the Fire Emblem franchise. There's a few tidbits in FE6 that pay homage to this manga in fact. But even if you don't play FE6, I found the story and characters very likable. Plus the art's cool, especially of the generic General enemy that appears in some castle. I have a boner for heavy armor infantry.
Front Mission: Dog Life and Dog Style (7): Oh my god I love wanzers. I'm doing my PhD in mechanical engineering because I want to make these marvelous machines, it's quite literally my dream to bring these machines to the world. This manga is made up of several unrelated chapters with the MC being really the only common element. I don't think I read this for the story as much as for the art though, gonna be honest.
NOTE: If anyone can find me an english translation of the
Front Mission novels, I will pay a surprising amount of money for them, or a translation service to do so.
Fukushuu o Koinegau Saikyou Yuusha wa, Yami no Chikara de Senmetsu Musou Suru (6.5): Also called The Hero Who Seeks Revenge Shall Exterminate with Darkness. Yeah it's a really fucking annoying long title. Basically the same review as Dungeon Seeker above, but just longer and more gory. So far, it's pretty much just violence but it has a lot of potential once the revenge targets really dwindle.
Fullmetal Alchemist (7): Perfect story, fantastic characters, excellent art (See "Silver Spoon" as well). This is on the "everyone must read" list.
Gamaran (6): I've seen several stories similar to this one, but Gamaran is a good one (not to say others aren't good as well).
Gantz (6): I liked the story and art, although apparently some have found it shallow? The only real weird part was the end because
aliens? That's a shot from left field.
Gantz: G (5.75): Gonna be honest I can't remember much from this except that it was similar to Gantz. Hence the slightly lower review.
Gate - Jietai Kare no Chi nite, Kaku Tatakeri (6.5): Also called Gate - Where the JSDF Fought. This is a new and interesting take on the isekai theme. Much more realistic and political, and so far I like the lazy-ass but talented MC.
Girls of the Wild's (7): It first started off as a martial arts story and then turned more into a romance story. Speaking objectively, it felt like the author didn't know which way to go with this, but as a reader I really liked this title. And the art is superlative. This is another one I have in my "study for drawing" pile.
Goblin Slayer (7),
Goblin Slayer: Side Story - Year One (7),
Goblin Slayer: Brand New Day (7),
Goblin Slayer Gaiden 2: Tsubanari no Daikatana (7): I have all these together because they rate the same for the same reason. I really like this series. Even though none of the characters have names, I still somehow feel part of their world which I suppose is the purpose of DnD (what this series is based on). Characters are likable, none are infallible, and they're just doing their best.
Golosseum (4): This title doesn't have much going for it, far as I can tell. It's too fast paced, almost as if it was a mental exercise for the author's other works (which I do quite like). I really just don't get this story. The art though is good as usual from this dude.
Great Teacher Onizuka (4): I know some people really like this title and I can see why, but it just didn't do it for me. Not sure what didn't click. Maybe I just read it at the wrong time, if you think I should re-read it then drop a supporting argument.
Green Worldz (5): I guess I liked it. The
time travel and meeting future self was something I definitely didn't see coming so that was nice.
Gunka no Baltzar (6-6.5): The beginning was excellent, and seeing Baltzar's genius exploits continues to please. Currently we're in a bit of a political kerfuffle and on top of the slow updates, I'm going to have to reread to actually understand but it's definitely a strong positive title for me.
Hajime no Ippo (7): Literally translated as The First Step. An excellent boxing manga. The author takes real boxing concepts and stylistically uses them in the story. Each character has a unique role and they always make some sort of reappearance; Morikawa doesn't write a character just to toss them. I look forward to each chapter.
Hajimete no Gal (5.5-6): Also called My First Girlfriend is a Gal. The beginning started off as your average high school chick-nerd cliche and continues to be a cliche with every incident the MC gets blueballed. But I'm still rating it high because I just like the character interactions and how the story's progressing (started in high school, currently in college). I wonder how far the author will go before wrapping it up since they've played the same cookie-cutter trope over and over though.
Hellsing (5.5): It's been a long time since I've read this and consequently forgotten most of it, but I remember being slightly positive on it. Probably might reread if enough encouragement is given.
Hero? I Quit A Long Time Ago (3-3.5): It's pretty much One Punch Man except more annoying especially with the harem that keeps getting built. Literally every female is an airhead or a bitch or both. MC is a generic overpowered god and I don't think they've had more than a chapter or two barely referencing how he got so powerful. I have no idea where the story is going and not in a good way, but I'm still reading it because I'm caught up and can't bring myself to drop it.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan (7): Another title by Arakawa, which you can put on the Must Read list. I realize this is the third telling of a story, but it is really good (in fairness I haven't read any of the previous tellings). The characters are as usual for this author very strong and well written.
Hiraheishi Wa Kako O Yumemiru (5-5.5): Also called The Soldier Sees a Dream About the Past. Beginning was good, taking a long time to update, going to need to go back and reread to remember what's going on so far but I do feel positively about it.
History's Strongest Disciple (6.5): Way too big boobs, but a lot of them. Nice. Beyond that, the story is pretty good until the end where it really punches into absurdity (moreso than what's normal).
Holyland (7): Excellent martial arts, great character development, fantastic story progression. I can't recommend this to everyone, but if you like martial arts stories then you'll almost certainly like this. It does take a few chapters to start liking IIRC because the MC starts off as a wimp.
Horizon (6): A fictionalized account of a young Genghis Khan. Good art, good story. No idea how accurate it is but it's good.
Isekai Kenkokuki (6): Another good isekai. I like how the MC uses previous life knowledge to operate in their new world. I suppose it's not so in depth with a bunch of parallel stories occuring simultaneously but there's enough going on to keep me engaged. Slow updates.
Isekai Tensei Soudouki (6): Another good isekai, also suffers from slow updates. Basically same review is above Isekai Kenkokuki.
Jimi na Kensei wa Sore Demo Saikyou desu (6.5): Also called The Simple-Looking Sword Saint is Nevertheless the Strongest. Now this isekai is one I'd rate a bit higher than most. There's a lot of powerful characters, and a lot of likeable ones. Something about this story hits a bit better than many other isekais.
Jitsu wa Watashi wa (6-6.5): Also called My Monster Secret. The beginning was pretty cool, then it cooled off really bad a bit after
when we meet the MC's granddaughter because it felt very formulaic in how characters were introduced and just dragged on and on in a harem-y way. It took me three attempts, restarting each time, to actually finish reading this but when I worked over that hump it really was a good read.
Kaifuku Jutsushi No Yarinaoshi (6): A revenge story. Currently not as good as Dungeon Seeker but it has a lot of potential. Time will tell how it does, but slow updates.
Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru and its sequel
Karate Shoukoushi Monogatari (7): Also called The Little Lord (or Prince) of Karate. Superb martial arts, fantastic story, and by Baba Yasushi who has excellent art. Any martial arts enthusiast should read this. The main title and its sequel are listed together because their reviews are the same.
Kengan Ashua (6): Another excellent martial arts manga but with very little ground in reality. It's a pretty straightforward story of superhumans battling each other in a gladiator tournament for their sponsors. The twist at the end was kind of surprising but not terribly impactful: it didn't add much to nor did it take away from the story.
Kenja no Mago (6.5): Also called Magi's Grandson. Another isekai. The beginning and middle were excellent. The MC is superpowered by dint of his intelligence and knowledge from the past life which is something all isekais should aspire to. This demon arc we're on, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Maybe it's the long release times but I feel like it's dragging on.
Kiseijuu (6.5): Also called Parasyte. A pretty unique story. Officially it's described as horror but once you really get into it, I don't think it is. At least, not nearly as much as a horrifying horror story can be. The story and characters develop very well.
Lily Love (5.5): It was ok. Nice little romance story.
Love Hina (5.5): Again, nice little romance story. As far as romance tropes and cliches go, I find myself liking the ones where MC and interest are somewhat antagonistic in the beginning and then grow closer as it goes. The overall story makes sense but there's this...
alien or super-tech stuff? that doesn't quite make sense somewhere a bit past the middle but whatever.
Made in Abyss (6): The beginning and middle were fantastic, especially as the world was being built. But now that our characters have descended to the Abyss, I fear this story won't ever end because there's always something more to do. Last I checked, we got out of some battle with the denizens or whatever because of reasons. Can't make heads or tails of it because updates are slow. But I really hope we hit some critical plot or world-building points soon, it feels like a very ripe time to drop something huge and I hope the author doesn't miss this chance.
Mahou Tsukai No Yome (6.5): Also called The Ancient Magus' Bride or The Magician's Bride. It's a surprisingly slow story, but one that keeps you in. The characters and their relationships are well written and we seem to be at the point where we're about to get another nice dose of character development. However, since it is a slower story, the update rate doesn't help keep interest. But it is one of those stories I'll keep restarting once it progresses far enough to catch up again.
Manuke na FPS Player ga Isekai e Ochita Baai (5.5): Also called When a Stupid FPS Player Falls to Another World. This isekai is a bit different than many of the others because the MC takes part of his world with him when he falls into the new world. This OP tech allows him to rapidly progress in the new world and is again, something I greatly appreciate. We seem to be in a hiatus? Or with very little updates? But it seems to not be officially or unofficially cancelled?
Metroid (4.5-5): Maybe I'm rating this a bit low because I have no exposure to the Metroid universe, but I couldn't really wrap my head around the lore of this story. I think you really have to know at least a little about Samus to get the most out of this.
Mujang (6.5): A good fantasy martial arts manga, not much grounding in real techniques. The only real flaw is that the MC seems to just get more powerful as it goes but for the sake of the story it's fine. Also I like this sort of art.
Nanatsu no Taizai (6.5): Also called Seven Deadly Sins. A very good and unique story. Characters have a good backgrounds and their relationships are quite nice.
Naruto (7): My first manga ever, holds a special place in me heart. In my opinion, this is one of the top 10 most recognized titles and for just the sake of it, it should be given a shot by everyone.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (7): The movie does its best but this manga surpasses it by many orders of mangnitude. The worldbuilding is top notch, introducing enough information to make sense while keeping enough hidden to keep the necessary mystery about before the apocalypse. Character development and national interference is excellently done. This is a title everyone should read.
The New Gate (6.75): A very good isekai, better than (almost?) every other one I've read. The characters are strong, and the story is developing nicely.
Nidome no Jinsei wo Isekai de (6.5): Another good isekai. It's fun how the MC is already extremely powerful in his own right but (one of the?) god(s) keeps hopping down to meet him. This isekai is one of the more well developed ones along with the other 6.5s and should be higher on the to-read list if you like isekais.
Nozoki Ana (5): Also called A Peep Hole. Ima be honest, while the story is continuous enough to be engaging, the MC is spineless and the woman is annoying and that just takes a lot of enjoyment away. Like, she really annoys me, and I'm not sure why.
Other World Warrior (7): Also called Dimensional Mercenary. Each arc has an excellent story. The bridging background story is a bit lacking but it seems they're going to start building on that in this upcoming season.
Peacemaker (7): I'm so sad the scanlators stopped this. It was getting to be so good. An excellent western-style gunfighting story.
Promised Orchid (5.5-6): The art was fantastic, the characters pretty good, and same with the story. The story felt a bit too incomplete for me to give this a better score though.
Raqia (1.5): I only read this to completion because the author has good art. I didn't get this story whatsoever. Didn't click with me.
Rave (6.75): Also known as Rave Master. A whacky story by the author of Fairy Tail. Actually I think I rather like this one more than FT because it feels...better. Sorry I can't quantify it any better.
Regarding That We Decided to Live in the Countryside With The Female Knight Who Came to Us (7): Also called Orenchi ni Kita Onna Kishi to Inakagurashi Surukotoninatta Ken. I love this story. It's cute and wholesome, and I'm invested in each of the characters.
Retired Heroes (6.5): Sadly, this is a title on indefinite hiatus apparently due to the publisher going under during our happy little pandemic. If I had a fortune to share, this author is one who I'd sponsor so they can continue the story.
Ride-On King (4): This is really just silly. It doesn't draw me in, but it's not bad enough to repulse me.
The Rising of the Shield Hero (7): Also called Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari. This is an excellent isekai with a fairly unique premise. Furthermore, the magnitude of conflict the MC gets into as part of their new role is not something I often see. If you like isekai, this should probably go to the top of your list.
The Sacred Blacksmith (7): I thought this was very good. Been a long time since I've read this but I do remember the entire story made me want to continue reading to the end. There were no dead points in my reading.
Schaferhund (5): Surprisingly, although this isn't licensed in English, scanlators haven't finished this. As far as the 20 chapters I've read, I thought it was ok. I'd like to finish it just to get a better review.
Sen no Sukiru O Motsu Otoko (6): Also called A Man with a Thousand Skills. Another interesting take on isekai where a dude gets summoned to another world and uses this back and forth travel to make himself and his new life wealthy. It's really quite decent.
Shaman King (6-6.5): A unique story with likable characters. I quite recommend it.
Shinigami to Gin no Kishi (7): Also called The Grim Reaper and an Argent Cavalier. I really liked the story and the character relationships. I strongly suggest you read this, but it's been too long since I last reread so I can't put it on my Everyone list yet.
Silver Spoon (7): Also called Gin no Saji. By the same author as Fullmetal Alchemist, you know this will have an excellent story, fantastic characters, and all done in Arakawa's unique art style.
Solo Leveling (7): Another one that Everyone Must Read. This series ended just a few weeks ago and it was so good. If I could change just one thing, it'd be developing the MC's relationships more towards the end especially with
Cha Hae-In. I'm going to have to look for the translated novel because it's so good.
Star Martial God Technique (6): So this started off really well and held strong through the middle, but we're in a weird place right now because I can't really figure where things are going. The MC isn't really powering up or getting anywhere in fact, but that's how it goes when you have seven pages per chapter and two of them are title pages. At least releases are reasonably fast.
Sun Ken Rock (6): Fantastic art, especially with how faces are drawn. A very strong story and good characters as well.
Tales of Demons and Gods (6.5): Same author and same review as Star Martial God Technique. An unfortunate aspect of the scanlating of this title is that it seems the same chapter is released two or three times, so it bloats memory very quickly.
Tamen de Gushi (7): Everyone must read. Very likable characters. There's not a terrible amount of story since each chapter (or short series of chapters) is just a slice of the characters' lives and there's not a lot directly connecting them. But it's very good. Seems updates have slowed though.
Teppuu (5.5-6): Good martial arts. Some don't like the MC which I get, but I think the dislikable characteristics helps makes the MC well written.
Three Days of Happiness (7): A very short but touching story. Enough so that I think Everyone Should Read; it's not long so it's not a huge loss if you don't like it.
Tomo-Chan is a Girl! (7): Another title in a similar format to Tamen de Gushi, but there's a much more cohesive story and the characters get developed very well. Everyone Should Read.
Triage X (4): Since I was reading it for the boobs, I couldn't make much of the story. The characters don't really develop. There is an overarching story but each arc doesn't really feel like it ties in.
Trinity Wonder (7): Fantastic art and a reasonably strong story with great characters.
Tsuyokute New Sage (6.5): So far, the story has made good on the premise of the story. I hope this trend continues. A bit slow on updates though.
Until Death Do Us Part (5.5-6): The beginning and middle were very good but then the end was just a mess of combat and I got lost. All in all though, I'd recommend this if you have the time.
Uwakoi (4): Basically hentai. Spineless MC, psychotic secondary character. Not my cup of tea.
Velvet Kiss (5): I think this was also basically hentai but I can't remember. I do remember it being a lot better than Uwakoi and Aki-Sora and Nozoki Ana though.
Volcanic Age (7): Also called Mount Hua Reincarnation. I like the story, I like how the MC is going through his reincarnation, and I somehow I really like Little Ghost. Unfortunately updates seem to have stalled.
Wallman (5.5-6): This was a side story to Sun Ken Rock and I thought it was ok.
Wind Sword (5.5): Story's and interpersonal relationships are dragging a bit and updates have stalled.
Yukikaze White Wind: The Legend of Meiji Era Martial Arts (6.5): This is a similar story to Gamaran except more gritty.
Zetman (2.5-3): I got the beginning and middle, but I just didn't get anything past that. I couldn't understand how Zet got his powers or why he was so important. The plot's a mess.
I hate feeling powerless. I hate this doubt nagging at me. I hate not being able to do anything about it. I hate... Well, a lot of things now.
Something set me off today, though. A Youtube video. It was of a provocative sort; a metroid-vania style game with a little twist. I was made painfully aware of that twist about three minutes in when the heroine was assaulted and violated by a gang of thugs. It was a shock to my system, but I figured there must have been some justification for such a graphic scenes inclusion. I was wrong. What I was watching was neutered footage of a hentai game. That wasn't what really got to me though.
It was the comments. They were joking about it. As if this sort of thing doesn't destroy personhood. I hated it. I made my own little comment about how I hated it and explained why. The uploader crucified me, called me a hypocrite, made fun of me, dismissed me, dehumanized me. I know why it hurt so much. I think anyone reading this does.
I hate how okay it is. This isn't the sort of thing that should be okay. I hate that there's nothing I can do about it but cry to myself and write another angry reddit post. I want vengeance. I want knifes and bullets and fire, but that's not what I'm going to get. I wish there was something I could do about this. I want there to be something I can do, but there's nothing.
there's nothing
I had initially overlooked this Metroid-style platformer because it's so damn tawdry: scantily clad women, gratuitous anime boobs, etc.
Turns out Shantae and the Pirate's Curse stands up on its own merits.
The level design is tight and thoughtful. For example, the waterfall dragons are shown out of reach before you can encounter them. Nifty way to telegraph obstacles and enemies.
The game itself is challenging but not punitive. If you fall offscreen or hit spikes, the game quickly lets you try again with a nominal penalty to health.
I loved the little player conveniences it has. You can buy items that teleport you back to your ship (to minimize backtracking). The overworld screen tells you how many key treasures (e.g. heart pieces or "squids") are in each level, so you know where to search if you're missing a heart piece. Also, lots of well-placed save points!
Most importantly, moving around the levels and killing enemies is so much fun. Especially once you pick up the mid- and end-game powerups. Blazing through a level killing dozens of rushing enemies is really satisfying.
Each level has gimmicks that change up the gameplay in parts. The gimmicks are memorable, they keep the game fresh, and importantly they don't overstay their welcome. Keeps the gameplay lively and on a fast clip.
I was pleasantly surprised by how catchy the music was, especially after you leave the main island.
Graphics is pretty good for the 3ds. The levels look great. The character design -- especially for the female characters -- isn't to my taste. Sure, many games feature scantily clad heroines, but in this game it's especially awkward with quite a few plot contrivances meant merely to trigger outfit changes, and considering most of the female side characters also had basically softcore hentai depictions (note: only the women were dressed provocatively, with one very conspicuous male exception in the endgame). Admittedly, this might just be a matter of taste. This game is clearly pitched to a specific audience that is very much not me.
There were also some off-color, fatphobic jokes in the midgame that don't hold up in 2020 and that weren't even funny at all. I winced.
The story on its surface is about what you'd expect for this sort of game. It's a little twee, a little silly, but it does earn its heartfelt moments. Never quite descends into cliche.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this game. I was playing it about the same time as Luigi's Mansion 2; Shantae was much more fun, had a much more enjoyable and brisk pace, and kept things fresh far longer than Luigi's Mansion 2--a game I otherwise also liked.
The gameplay, level design, and music in particular really shine.