Battle Royale: The Last Generation Of An SNES-CD Saga
- Thread starter RySenkari
- Start date
I just have two questions: In the DLC, is the History of Trunks pack still in it and if so, can Gohan actually survive his final battle with 17 and 18?
Yes, it is, and no, he can't.
It is, but it hasn't made enough of a blip ITTL to be worth mentioning. It's just a sort of cult niche fighting game thing like it is IOTL with people adding characters and mods and the like.
SPOILER ALERT for anyone who's never actually seen Dragonball, by the way.
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I haven't seen it, but if the son of Goku couldn't survive Android 18, I can't see how Krillin got lucky with her in more ways than one.
October 2020 - Everybody Wins?
The Cleveland Indians' World Series win in Game 5 over the Los Angeles Dodgers comes 25 years after their previous win in 1995 over the Atlanta Braves. The Indians' win completes another dream season for the club, which went 101-61 during the regular season and enjoyed dominant wins in each of their three playoff series. However, Cleveland's win, which keeps the spotlight on their team and its mascot, raises new questions about whether it's truly appropriate to have the “Indians” as a team name in this day and age. Native American advocacy groups have long decried the team's mascot, the redfaced “Chief Wahoo” character, as a racist caricature, while some believe even the Indians name itself is an outdated slur that should be changed to reflect current sensibilities. The Indians' run to the American League pennant, and now the World Series championship, has brought Chief Wahoo into the spotlight, and there have been growing calls to retire the character. The controversy over Cleveland's mascot, and to a lesser extent, that of the Atlanta Braves, whose fans' famous “Tomahawk Chop” gesture has also been considered offensive by many Native Americans, has also been extended to other sports, particularly professional football, where the NFL's Washington Redskins continue to play in the NFC East. The team's early success this year, going 5-2 in their first seven games and currently leading the division, has put a stronger focus on their mascot as well, and there have been increasingly louder calls for that mascot to also be retired.
“It's time for teams like the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, and Washington Redskins to get with the times,” stated a recent editorial in the Washington Post, calling for the removal of all three mascots before the start of the next season in their leagues. “Native Americans have called for all three teams to change these offensive caricatures for years, and that call has only grown stronger as more and more people realize the pervasive effects of racism and bigotry in our society. It's shameful that these caricatures still exist, and it's time for these teams to find a new way forward with new mascots that reflect the true spirit of unity that sport has to bring us all together. As long as these racist mascots exist, these three teams will remain divisive, and instead of coming together to celebrate their success, fans will be torn between rooting on these teams and not wanting to support a bigoted symbol of oppression.”
There have been increasingly loud calls on television and radio for these mascots to be changed as well, especially in the leadup to Cleveland's World Series run. While Redskins owner Dan Snyder recently released a statement saying that he was committed to keeping the team's name for the foreseeable future, there are signs in Cleveland that the team may at least be considering changing its logo to remove the Chief Wahoo character from team imagery and apparel. Such changes could take effect as early as the 2021 season, though Cleveland also issued a statement saying that it would keep the Indians name indefinitely, and the Atlanta Braves organization has thus far not issued any statements on whether or not it will consider changing its team name or encouraging fans not to perform the controversial gesture at games.
-from an article on The Sporting News website, posted on October 26, 2020
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Kennedy Still Leads After Final Presidential Debate, Rubio Hoping For Strong Final Push
Last night's fourth and final presidential debate in Boston, Massachusetts saw a fiery Marco Rubio go on the offensive against his opponent in next month's presidential election, and his performance has generated some movement in the polls, according to the first “snap polls” taken immediately after the debate. Though debate watchers were largely split on who won, with Kennedy's more calm and reserved but also concise responses earning him high marks among members of his own party, and Rubio's emotional rhetoric playing to his base, the snap polls did indicate that Rubio may have closed the gap by a percentage point or two, and if so, that would put him within 2-4 points of President Kennedy with just two weeks remaining until the election itself. The debate focused largely on economics, a topic that has proven to be a strong one for the Republican nominee, who continued to challenge Kennedy on the subject of the deficit, as well as the recent rise in inflation, largely blaming both on the public health option and minimum wage bills the president signed into law during his term. However, Kennedy was able to respond quite ably to Rubio's challenge, citing how many people had been helped by the public health option over the past few years, and that consumer spending has increased during this time, stimulating the economy. The two also debated on the subject of national defense, with Rubio repeatedly discussing the growing threat from an increasingly fundamentalist Pakistan, and citing the rise in terrorist attacks on both Americans and American allies. Kennedy accused Rubio of being inexperienced on diplomacy and foreign policy, a remark which Rubio took visible offense to, responding with his record on Latin American relations and his experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The debate was definitely more heated than the previous three presidential debates, and moderator Shepard Smith had to step in numerous times to prevent the two from speaking out of turn. The escalating rhetoric reflects a growing unrest amongst both sides of the current political divide, and could be a major indicator of turnout, which is expected to be higher than in the 2016 election and could even exceed that of the 2012 election between Jon Huntsman Jr. and Hillary Clinton. Currently, the president leads Marco Rubio by an average of 4 points in the major presidential election polls, but the election could come down to a number of swing states such as Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona. Rubio has been polling well in the Southwest, including Nevada and Arizona, while Kennedy has been polling well in the Midwest and holds a one percent lead over Rubio in Ohio. The election could well come down to Ohio and North Carolina, especially if Rubio manages to do as well in the Southwest as polls are indicating. It's clear that both candidates are poised to make a major push for votes in the final days before the election, and the two men are both expected to make one final tour of nearly every swing state before polls open. Early voting has already started in most states, but early voting turnout has been somewhat muted compared to expectations, indicating that many voters may indeed still be undecided on which of the two candidates will receive their vote.
-from a Yahoo! News article, posted on October 21, 2020
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Game Spotlight: Fallout 4
"War... war never changes.
They say everything is bigger in Texas... The wide-open plains, the endless skies... natural beauty and rugged cowboys, rolling storm clouds... all shattered on that terrible day. More than a hundred bombs fell across Texas, destroying every city, spreading atomic fallout far and wide. Not a single square mile of this massive state was left untouched by the destruction. Now, the once vast landscape has been ravaged by radiation, which combines with the state's famous twisters to create enormous windstorms that blow radioactivity through the skies, sometimes as fast as 400 miles per hour. What parts of the state have been spared by the rad-tornadoes have been dug up and smashed by the hideous mutated beasts who now roam the land. Wild brahmin transformed into giant longhorns capable of scouring rock formations. Radscorpions so huge the ground shakes when they emerge... but worst of all are the bats, mutated into dragon-like scorchbeasts that patrol the skies, burning anything that gets too close in atomic flame.
And yet, there are survivors.
Rugged cowboys who herd brahmin from settlement to settlement, providing a crucial source of food for those brave or foolhardy enough to take up residence. Scavengers hoping to strike it rich, hunting for pre-war treasures, or even daring to dig for oil, which used to be plentiful here, though the barren grounds haven't yielded a drop in more than 250 years. And then there are the Texas Rangers, on the verge of their 500th year of continuous service, surviving even the nuclear holocaust to uphold their unique brand of justice here in the Lone Star State.
Six flags have flown over Texas during its long history, and now, after more than 200 years of lonely independence, the state may yet see the seventh flag to rise over its vast territory. From the West, the New California Republic, which has pushed through what was once Arizona and New Mexico, now stands poised at the border, ready to realize its dream of returning civilization back to the North American continent. From the northeast, the Enclave's long reach now extends down to Texas, and the beginning of another conflict between these two factions has already taken shape, with the crack of gunfire piercing the howling winds. And there's a new faction... led by the Liberator, who has already done what many believed impossible: he has unified all of Central and South America under his fold, having faced more than half a century of trials and tribulations in the process. Now, at the end of his long life, he seeks to reverse the losses of an ancient war, and to unify Texas with its neighbors to the south, to realize the ancient dream of Gran Colombia. But Texas has always had a fierce, independent spirit, and there are many who wish the state to remain independent... and to be recognized for the first time in nearly 500 years as its own nation, flying the Lone Star Flag.
And you? You have come to Texas as a migrant from the north, seeking to make your fortune. You've been lured to the state like so many others, by those who would embellish its riches and downplay its hazards. Though the giant scorpions, flying beasts, and fierce winds would scare off most people, you see only opportunity... and while you've heard from some that it's not worth the trouble, you're still ready to take a chance, like the millions who came to the state before the Great War, and the many thousands seeking their fortune here now. You may have an idea what you'll do when you reach your destination, but you have no idea what you're in for...
-the introduction to Fallout 4, narrated by Ron Perlman
Fallout 4 is a third-person action WRPG published by Electronic Arts, and developed by a new team comprised of various individuals from the former Black Isle Studios (which was disbanded a few years prior to 2020 ITTL) and others. It serves as a direct sequel to 2011's Fallout 3, which continued the conflict between the Enclave and the NCR over New York City, and also as a successor to Fallout: The Swamp. Fallout 4 takes place in Texas, mostly the northern half of Texas (The Gulf Coast areas aren't included), from Amarillo to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, but also extending downward to San Antonio via the use of vertibird travel. The game plays somewhat like a combination of OTL's New Vegas and a Red Dead Redemption II-styled action game, leaning more toward an action RPG than a turn-based title, and generally playing somewhat faster than OTL's New Vegas, but retaining a lot of New Vegas' systems and character growth (In other words, it's more stat-based than OTL's Fallout 4, which was more based around perks than on stat growth). It continues the trend of improved shooting mechanics from Fallout: The Swamp, and gets rid of a VATS-like system entirely, which means that fast-paced shooting/melee battles with enemies are the norm (however, with the improved shooting, it's easier to hit foes). The game also continues the series tradition of deep dialogue trees and complex characters that the player can build relationships with depending on their stats/responses to questions and dialogue. Being set in Texas, the game contains many, many allusions to various Texas locations and culture, including the Texas State Fairgrounds and its iconic Big Tex statue, the Alamo in San Antonio (which plays a major role in the game's final storyline battle), the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo (which now serves Brahmin steaks and gives prizes to players who can eat the whole 72 oz. steak via skill checks), Route 66 itself, the Texas Rangers (who are a major faction in the game), What-A-Burger (which survives in Fallout 4 as Why-A-Burger, and the player can even own individual restaurants), and other references too numerous to name. There WAS even planned to be an assassination mission where the player would've been able to shoot an NPC from the Texas School Book Depository, but the mission was hastily scrapped after the JFK Jr. assassination attempt, though Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository can still be explored and you can find a unique rifle there if you're willing to fight a horde of Glowing Ones for it (and if you take the Wild Wasteland perk, you can find another more powerful rifle on the grassy knoll). Fallout 4 has fourteen different companions you can recruit, including Chuck Norris himself (though he's Chuck Robbins here, voiced by Chuck Norris) if you complete the Texas Ranger questline and become a full-fledged member of the Texas Rangers. If you do, you get a unique and VERY powerful uniform and gun, but you're also held to a fairly strict set of rules (no killing innocent people, no sex or drugs or pretty much anything less than karmically Good actions), and if you violate those rules, you can be suspended or even expelled from the Rangers, at which point a horde of Rangers will descend upon your character and almost certainly kill them (and if they don't, Chuck Robbins will). Chuck Robbins himself is the game's most powerful companion, capable of taking out even legendary Deathclaws with a single roundhouse kick, so if you're willing to follow the rules, you can get the game's most busted companion and some of its best equipment, making completing the storyline fairly easy. Most other companions won't be so strict: you can recruit a Hank Hill expy who sells propane and who gives you a merchant perk, you can recruit a weathergirl who can predict radstorms and who's quite good with Energy Weapons, you can recruit a badass voiced by Danny Trejo who's one of the best Melee/Unarmed fighters in the game, you can recruit a beautiful femme fatale who will occasionally steal items for you, you can even recruit a pet radscorpion, the list of interesting companions goes on and on. The game features its own version of Highland from Beavis and Butthead called Lowland, where you can meet a pair of idiots who are Beavis and Butthead in all but name and who send you on a series of dumb quests to build them a working television. There are a total of six explorable Vaults in the game, along with a few Vault remnants that have been dug up/destroyed by the elements and various creatures. Despite the larger area overall than Fallout: The Swamp, Fallout 4 features superior graphics, particularly in landscapes and facial animations, which are some of the best to be found in any open world RPG of its generation. The game features an outstanding voice cast: in addition to the cameos from Chuck Norris and Danny Trejo, the game features voice acting from the likes of Stephanie Beatriz (as the weathergirl companion, whose name is Lyla), Jonathan Goldsmith (as the Liberator, using pretty much the same voice he used for OTL's Most Interesting Man In The World), Darius Rucker AKA Hootie (as the voice of Rich, a cowboy ghoul companion), and even Selena, who doesn't voice a companion, but instead voices a mysterious character known as the Lady in Black, who is a key figure in the main storyline and who serves to lure the player from place to place during the course of the game. The in-game radio stations feature mostly Western songs (similar to OTL's New Vegas, but without the lounge singing classics), with a few Texas classics thrown in, as well as some old-timey Latin music.
The game's main storyline begins with the player introduced to The Migrant, the protagonist, who the player can customize in terms of appearance and stats. You can be male, female, or non-binary, similar to The Boiling Isles, and the game uses the franchise's familiar S.P.E.C.I.A.L. mechanic to determine the player's main stats. You start out trapped in a work camp, indebted to your employer, but you have a variety of ways to escape the camp, including just walking out the front gate if you're good at dodging bullets. Once you escape, you're free to go pretty much anywhere in the game, with only the vertibird to San Antonio closed off, and a few other small facilities gated off by the story. You're tasked with finding the mysterious Lady in Black, who it's said guards the secret way to a vast trove of riches, but you'll soon be caught up in conflicts between the NCR, the Enclave, and Gran Colombia, who are warring over various parts of Texas. The Migrant will soon find themselves drawn to the Lonestars, a faction that wants to make Texas an independent nation, and also the Texas Rangers, who, while ostensibly supporting Texas remaining independent, have pledged to remain neutral in the war itself, and will uphold the law in Texas whoever gains control of the state. Though the Migrant does work with the Texas Rangers in at least one early storyline mission, it's up to them whether or not to continue along the Rangers' questline, which is quite long and complex (though it does have an excellent reward at the end for players willing to commit to being a Texas Ranger). Players will meet many of the game's companions, eight of the fourteen total, through the main questline, including Lyla, whose help the player will need to get past the rad-twisters blocking off access to some important areas, and Rich, an important member of the Lonestars, whose questline takes players on a whirlwind tour of sorts of the state. Players will no doubt be drawn to one of the four main factors, around whom the game's storyline and main endings revolve. The player also learns more about the Lady in Black, and that she's been trapped in Vault 45, where she went in search of a G.E.C.K. to bring water and life back to Texas. Her real name is Maria, and she comes from a long line of individuals who have been surviving in Texas ever since the end of the war, each one doing their part to bring people back to Texas. Maria learned of the Vault and its hidden G.E.C.K. when she was a young girl, and watched both her parents die trying to find it. She managed to find it, but activated the Vault's security system and become trapped, and now she seeks a way out for herself and the G.E.C.K., before her supplies run out entirely. The Migrant must track down Maria (either alone or with the help of a chosen faction) and find a way into the Vault. They manage to enter the Vault, but learn that the Lady in Black died several years before, and that they've been talking to a recording, in which the G.E.C.K. has been taken somewhere else: the Alamo, where it's been buried in a subterranean complex built to defend the facility during the Great War. The final battle sees the Migrant, their companions, and their chosen faction battling all three other factions at the Alamo, and after doing so, descending into the underground facility and finding the G.E.C.K., doing battle with a powerful security robot in order to claim it. Once the G.E.C.K. is found, the Migrant and their chosen faction use it to replenish San Antonio, to turn it into the seat of power for either the NCR's eastern outpost, the Enclave's southern outpost, Gran Colombia's northern outpost, or the new capital city of a free and independent Texas nation. The ending reveals the fates of many NPCs and factions met by the Migrant along the way, and concludes with that familiar quote: "War never changes."
Fallout 4 is released on October 5, 2020, for the Reality, Virtua, and Stadia, with a version coming to the Hyper Nintendo and Apple Quest in 2021. The game receives immediate positive reviews from critics, who love the massive world, complex characters, and the many, many fun cultural references, and it would score a 90 on Metacritic to become one of the best reviewed games in the series, while it would enjoy excellent sales to become one of the most successful games of that fall. Though fans had to wait six years after Fallout: The Swamp for a new game in the series, most players would consider the game to be well worth it, and it continues the great war between the NCR and the Enclave, setting up for a major showdown down the road in a future series game, which would be on the next generation of consoles. Fallout 4 would get plenty of DLC as well, including an exploration-themed game in which the player is able to explore a vast series of cave networks, and another DLC focused on the Gulf Coast, particularly Houston but also visiting Galveston and Corpus Christi, and tying in with the events of Fallout: The Swamp.
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Game Spotlight: The Covenant 6
The Covenant 6 is a third person shooter exclusively for Google Stadia, published by Google and developed by Bungie. The game is the follow-up to both The Covenant 5 and The Covenant Zero, continuing from the events of both games, with this game's Master Chief actually being Experiment 1, who was originally introduced in The Covenant: Spartan, and whose goal in this game is to break the original Master Chief out of his self-sacrificing time loop and return him to the main timeline to defend humanity from an invasion of Covenant soldiers from all different timelines and dimensions. Despite the crazy storyline shenanigans and the technically "new" Master Chief, this is the same old Covenant series with most of the familiar shooting and movement mechanics intact, essentially playing like a third-person version of OTL's Halo series. As a result, this game features some of the tightest shooting controls to be found in any shooter, giving players a great deal of freedom in how to approach battles and how to take out their enemies, with a variety of different weapons that range from conventional to outlandish, and featuring a somewhat small variety of enemies who mostly differ in their combat strategies and the locations where Master Chief fights them. The main new mechanic in The Covenant 6 is a time manipulation mechanic, which the game refers to as "Rifting". By rifting, Master Chief can reverse or accelerate the flow of time in certain situations, which can be used both in battle and outside of it. Though the mechanic is used for a number of puzzles and boss fights, it's used relatively sparingly, and players aren't required to master it to make progress in the game. Those who do master it can do some pretty incredible things in battle, but for most players, it'll be something fun to add more gameplay variety to a somewhat simple third person shooter. Rifting is Master Chief's way of accessing the timestream, which the Covenant have gained full access to, and which is how they're able to pull so many of their troops, ships, and vehicles through time. Through use of rifting, Master Chief and his allies are able to even the score against the Covenant's overwhelming forces, though as a consequence, the timeline gradually becomes more and more damaged throughout the game. The Covenant 6, as a major Stadia title with an enormous budget, features some of the best console graphics ever seen in a video game, and even rivals the graphical quality of many high-end PC titles (though, to be fair, The Covenant 6 is itself a high-end PC title, as Stadia is designed to function on high-end PCs and the game can display better on many high-end rigs). Gameplay and cutscenes are almost indistinguishable, making the feature in which players are able to interrupt certain cutscenes with Master Chief's time manipulation powers function seamlessly.
The Covenant 6 begins with Master Chief locked in a seemingly endless battle with wave after wave of Covenant soldiers. Between spectacular set pieces that open the main quest with a bang, this also gives the player a chance to learn many of the game mechanics in a trial-by-fire fashion, all except for rifting which is learned a bit later on. Just when it seems like Master Chief is facing overwhelming odds, he hears Cortana's voice, and she bails him out by launching sustained fire from Master Chief's ship, allowing him to escape to his ship. From there, Master Chief is whisked from flashpoint to flashpoint across the galaxy, battling against increasingly deadly waves of Covenant soldiers, while working to establish contact with the original Master Chief, who is in another timeline fighting an endless battle against the Covenant troops there. With the use of rifting, Master Chief is able to give humanity a foothold, and the missions are a mix of brand new quests in which Master Chief must explore new worlds and battle against new Covenant beasts, and also remixes of older missions, as parts from various timelines leak into this one, providing the player with somewhat of a "greatest hits" of missions from the previous 19 years of Covenant games, but blending them into a cohesive quest that feels brand new. As the player gradually learns, Cortana is the link between the Master Chief of this dimension with the original Master Chief, but is unable to convey any information between the two timelines, and seems greatly troubled by this, and also troubled as she notes the increasing space/time fluxes slowly tearing this dimension asunder. Rather than destroying the multiverse, as many of these types of rifts tend to do, this rift is being used by the Covenant to gain access to all dimensions at once, and Cortana is able to piece together that the original Master Chief has somehow sealed off his universe from the others, preventing the Covenant of that universe from linking up with the remaining Covenant troops, which, if they do so, would grant them power over the entire multiverse and they would be unstoppable. If Cortana relays any information between the two universes, she'll create this rift, and in order to prevent this from happening, and to free the original Master Chief, Master Chief/Experiment 1 must create an "anchor point" between which only the original Master Chief can cross. Doing so would seal off that universe entirely and would prevent the Covenant from being able to take over all universes, leaving them splintered between individual universes and easy prey for each universe's Master Chief. Experiment 1 discovers that the purpose of the Spartan Experiments that he was subjected to was to account for this scenario and to create a Master Chief capable of breaching between universes to fight the Covenant in every universe. Eventually, he's forced to take the fight to Earth, and it's realized that he must create the anchor point there, which will free Master Chief but at the same time bring all the Covenant troops in the multiverse to Earth, which would risk killing every living thing on the planet. However, in an incredibly inspiring scene which features callbacks to numerous games and characters in the series, Earth's Space Marines vow to defend the planet so that their inspiration, the original Master Chief, can be freed. The final battle of The Covenant 6 is an enormous battle for Earth against endless waves of Covenant troops across space and time, and ends with the sacrifice of Experiment 1 to save the life of Master Chief, who survives and wins the fight and is given the greatest honor of all... a chance to finally lay down his gun, as peace from the Covenant has finally been achieved. We see Master Chief start to remove his helmet, only to be contacted by Cortana, who has detected Covenant activity in a distant galaxy. He then turns and starts to leave, only for three of the Space Marines who fought alongside him to stop him and tell him that they can handle it, and that he truly does deserve a moment of peace. He tells them that everyone sacrificed so much for him, and one of them says that it's nothing compared to what he's sacrificed, and that they'll never be able to repay him. We see all of Earth united, with everyone thanking Master Chief for everything he's done, and he finally removes his helmet and we see his face at last, grizzled and covered in battle scars, but smiling and looking genuinely touched (not crying, but definitely looking grateful). He thanks them in return, then says that they're why he fights, then looks at the Space Marines and says they're why we all fight, before putting his helmet back on and leading this new team of young recruits back to the ship for another battle.
The Covenant 6 is released on October 19, 2020, and receives strong critical praise, both for its single player campaign and its very good multiplayer, which has been beefed up significantly from The Covenant Zero, featuring a huge slate of new modes and battlefields from all across the series. Though the game is included free with the Stadia premium service, millions of people who don't have the premium service still pay full price for the right to stream or download the game, making it one of the best selling games of 2020 and one of the most successful games in the series to date. Though Google and Bungie have had their issues previously, with a split between them seeming inevitable during the mid 2010s, The Covenant 6 is the return to form for both the series and Google's relationship with Bungie, which has seen a number of people come and go during the development cycle of the game. Though this certainly isn't the conclusion for the series (The Covenant is too lucrative an IP for Google to allow it to end), The Covenant 6 is created as a culmination of sorts, almost a "soft reboot" that will allow Bungie to take the new games in almost any direction they please. It represents an enormous success for both companies in a string of successes since the release of the Stadia, and fully establishes Google as the market leader in the video game industry on the eve of the release of Nintendo and Apple's next generation offerings, ensuring that both companies would have a very tall mountain to climb to overcome Google's lead.
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Game Spotlight: Metroid: Samus Awakens
Metroid: Samus Awakens is an action/adventure/RPG title developed by Guerilla Games and published by Nintendo, with versions released for both the Nintendo Reality and the upcoming Hyper Nintendo. Developed by much of the same team that made OTL's Horizon: Zero Dawn, it plays like a 50/50 blend of that game and an OTL Metroid Prime game, though from a mostly third-person perspective (like Horizon) rather than a first person one. Though it serves as a "reboot" of sorts for the series, painting broad strokes across previous series games and lore, it's intended to be a prequel to every other game in the series, and serves as a young Samus' first job for the Galactic Federation, who have heard of her spectacular feats as a human warrior trained by the Chozo, and have asked her to investigate an outlying planet once populated by a small colony of humans who have since disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As Samus explores the planet, players will need to focus on two major tasks to make Samus stronger: the first task, familiar to those who have played the series before, is to discover various power ups and enhancements that will allow Samus to explore more of the planet and combat enemies more effectively. All of Samus' different beams, as well as her familiar movement upgrades and a few new ones, are found scattered around the planet, some in the hands of boss enemies, others left for Samus to find with familiar Chozo statues scattered around the planet. The other task that players will need to complete is to enhance Samus' strength and combat effectiveness with various enemy drops and discovered items, which can be crafted into Samus' weapons to strengthen them over the course of the game. This RPG-like method of building Samus' powers is new to the series, and makes combat with enemies more relevant, as players will use the various drops that enemies give in order to power Samus up beyond the usual upgrades. Similar to OTL's Horizon: Zero Dawn, players can target various parts on enemies and shoot them off to gain different kinds of drops, and can even pick up and wield certain weapons originally mounted on enemies, which may be more effective than Samus' repertoire. The game blends an open-world style of gameplay with the gated confines of a typical Metroidvania game across a fully 3-D landscape, with Guerilla working to blend the two styles seamlessly together, giving the player a sense of freedom but also a sense of urgency. In addition to the main missions that players will need to undertake, there are also "sub bounties" given by the Federation periodically, allowing players to, for example, complete research objectives, defeat certain enemies, or gather up materials. They'll be rewarded with Federation credits, which can be used to purchase different types of materials to enhance Samus' abilities further. Though Samus does spend much of the game fairly isolated, she will from time to time communicate with the Federation on her findings, or make log entries, and during these scenes, or the occasional dialogue with a sentient enemy, Samus is voiced by Ashly Burch, while the rest of the cast is rounded out mostly with unknowns. Ashly plays Samus with a very serious tone, and a slightly deeper voice than the one she used for OTL's Aloy. She doesn't attempt to replicate the performances of previous Samus actors Jennifer Hale or Anna Gunn, but adds her own spin to the character, giving Samus a sense of duty but also a slight element of laconic humor, as she finds herself torn between her connection with humanity and her devotion to the Chozo.
Samus' task in Samus Awakens is to explore the planet Vesera, home to a colony of humans numbering in the hundreds of thousands, sent by the Federation on an exploratory expedition to judge the planet's suitability for human life. Several years into their mission, which was going quite well, all contact is cut off, and the Federation sent a squadron to investigate, only for them to be wiped out, but not before confirming the existence of strange life forms known as Metroids. This prompts the Federation to send Samus Aran, and she's several weeks into her own mission with no findings to report. The game begins with Samus awakening and exploring a cave system, only to be attacked by a mutated Metroid and barely escaping. She was attacked outside of her Power Suit, and the game tasks the player with finding it, a short but harrowing task complete with more narrow escapes. Once Samus finds her suit, the player is able to kill one of the Metroids, and they emerge into a new part of the world, with a trail of clues leading them forward. The player must journey across the planet, through uncharted areas of various terrain, as well as the remains of the human civilization. There are five main areas to explore, along with several smaller areas, connected through various pathways and tunnels, allowing the player free reign for the most part, but of course restricting them until they find needed power-ups and items. The five main areas consist of a large cave/canyon area known as Roklari, a jungle/tree area known as Canopia, the humans' abandoned civilization and its surrounding environs, which combine a lake/river/water area with a technological/city-type area, called Krystalis, a gloomy, darkness shrouded area in the shade of a molten volcano, called Obsidia, and finally, a built-up laboratory/desert area called Grenzoa. As Samus explores, she must battle a variety of enemies, including the planet's native flora and fauna (the most common type of enemy), native flora/fauna that have been somehow biologically or mechanically enhanced, Space Pirates and their subordinate robots, and finally, and most rarely, mutated Metroids, which were experimented on by both the humans who inhabited Vesera and by the Space Pirates, though, as Samus learns, much of the experimentation was done by the humans here: this was a secret research colony, and the decimation of the planet's population was caused by both a Space Pirate invasion and as a result of the experimental Metroids going berserk and slaughtering humans and Space Pirates alike. Most of the humans were killed, though Samus learns that a few escaped, and fewer still remain on the planet, including a scientist and his wife and young daughter. The scientist, Dr. Daglian, was the one primarily responsible for mutating the Metroids, but even though he's a rather unscrupulous person, who had no qualms about using the Metroids' powers for personal gain, he deeply loves his wife and daughter, and wants them to escape the planet safely. The game's primary antagonist is Ridley, leader of the Space Pirates attacking the planet, and Samus battles him twice over the course of the game: once in his normal form, and once as a sort of cyborg Ridley enhanced with technology. Samus' first encounter with Dr. Daglian comes about 40 percent of the way into the game, early into her exploration of Krystalis, and she eventually ends up saving his wife and daughter from Ridley in their first battle. Samus comes to identify greatly with Daglian's daughter Ari, as she herself was orphaned as a child, and she's determined to keep it from happening to another little girl. Unfortunately, Daglian, though wanting to protect his family, also decides to kill Samus so she can't report back to the Federation on what he's been up to on the planet. Though Samus never fights Daglian directly, she does end up fighting a powerful Metroid that he creates. In the end, though, Daglian sacrifices his life for Samus so that she can help his wife and daughter evacuate. Samus gets Daglian's wife to safety, but is unable to save his daughter before Ridley takes her, as the Space Pirates hope to turn Ari into their own version of Samus with a warped version of the process the Chozo used on her. Samus eventually saves Ari by defeating Ridley's second form, though the game's final boss is one final Metroid mutation, the Awakened Metroid, which has a form of sentience that Samus had never seen in the species before. Samus defeats the Awakened Metroid and gets herself and Ari off the planet before it self-destructs. In the ending, Samus returns Ari to her mother, then reports her findings to the Federation, advising them that if they plan to experiment on Metroids any further, that she may not be around to help them next time. Samus is mostly rebuked by the Federation personnel, who want to banish her from the Federation's presence or even have her arrested, but one junior officer speaks up for her... a man named Adam Malkovich, who offers to work with her. However, she rebukes him in return, saying she doesn't need anyone speaking for her, and leaves the Federation HQ, unsure of her next course of action, though she realizes to her annoyance that the Federation will likely need her in the future, and keeps Adam's contact information handy just in case she's forced to work with them again.
Metroid: Samus Awakens is released on October 16, 2020, to overwhelmingly positive critical reviews, the best of the year thus far. Praise is heaped onto the game's combat and exploration, which blend the best elements of Metroidvania games and WRPGs to create something that feels unique to both of them, and serves as an appropriate beginning to Samus' story. Ashly Burch's voice work and Samus' characterization are also praised highly, establishing Samus as someone who loves humanity enough to work with the Federation, but who despises the rigid structure and corruption of the organization. She wants to help everyone, but in her own way, merging her fierce independence and strength with the profound love for all innocent life instilled in her by the Chozo who nurtured her and by her noble parents in the short time she knew them. It's seen as a technical marvel on the Reality, pushing the system to its absolute limits without any glitches or slowdown, while the later Hyper Nintendo version would come to be seen as a pioneering game on that console and an example of what the next generation of gaming is capable of. An instant Game of the Year front-runner, Samus Awakens would enjoy the best sales of any game in the series to date, and would set a very high bar for this new series of Metroid titles, which would continue to entertain gamers far beyond the scope of this timeline.
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Other Significant Titles For October 2020:
Duality Quest: Though given a title implying that it's a Quest game (and indeed, it was intended to be a major launch title, but work was completed slightly earlier than schedule), this latest title in the Duality series comes to the Apple Virtua as well. It's a top-down third person shooter that uses virtual reality and operates at an extremely fast pace, with players controlling a pair of twin space heroes through an arcade-style series of missions and boss battles. It's actually the first mainline game in the series in seven years, with the series continuing during that span in the form of shorter, bite-sized experiences that reflect the series' arcade-like nature, while the developers were unable to come up with an idea to match the Virtua's grand scale. This new game introduces some neat first person elements and some enormous boss fights, which add a bit of spice to the familiar formula and ultimately make this one of the more fun arcade-style shooters of the year. The Quest version introduces a few extra worlds and battles that take advantage of the enhanced VR, providing an early taste of what the new console is capable of. While a fun game that would average around an 8/10 with reviewers, its sales and impact pale in comparison to the three big releases of the month.
Panzer Dragoon Delta: This direct sequel to Panzer Dragoon Zeta would come exclusively to Apple G devices, and would see Zeta gain the ability to morph into a beautiful dragon/human hybrid known as Delta, who is ridden by Zeta protagonist Ormus to battle a terrifying new foe across a series of levels. Like Zeta, this game blends RPG and rail shooter mechanics, and introduces two new companions who each have their own dragons. The game takes everything that made the original Zeta great, and unlike Panzer Dragoon Phanta, it also features a really fun story. Reviews for the game are outstanding, and it does a pretty good job of putting G devices in people's homes, particularly Apple TV units, on which the game looks fantastic and on par with many eighth generation offerings.
Watch Dogs: Legion: Ubisoft's latest game in the series is the second major multiplatform release of the month, and competes directly with Fallout 4. Like OTL's game, it takes place in a London ruled by a far-right surveillance state, and allows players to recruit any NPC into their team of hackers and social disruptors. Though it does see slightly better reviews than OTL's game, due to being slightly less glitchy, it would lose the sales battle to Fallout, though only narrowly.
Matrimony: A psychological horror title from Capcom, this is an early 1900s period piece about a young bride and groom who discover that one of their wedding guests may be an evil spirit, and must undergo a series of terrifying ordeals and experiences as they work together to uncover the spirit's identity to save their loved ones and each other. It's a fairly short game, and the gameplay can be a bit boring at times, but it's genuinely scary and many of the characters are quite memorable. It gets mixed to positive critical reviews, and would become a niche classic.
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*Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Direct for October 26, 2020 would begin with the reveal of new details about gameplay mechanics and various new features, ultimately leading to the two character reveals. First would be Vaon, from Rare's Slaughtered Planet series ("VAON Has Landed!"), and Mr. Sakurai would give a brief description of his different attacks and gameplay stylings. He operates like a slightly heavier and slower Fox/Falco, using his gun and a variety of other weapons, giving him some ranged bulk that allows players to hang back and play defense before going in for the kill. A few minutes later, a new cutscene would begin, introducing the second Rare character of the Direct, and the final base character in the game: Conker, from Rare's Conker series ("CONKER Spins A Tail!"). After Sakurai gives us the deets about Conker, detailing his wacky repertoire in which he can throw acorns, spin his tail, and utilize some toonforce trickery, we see a few more features before Sakurai then segues into a description of one of the main features of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the single-player adventure mode. We then get a cutscene.*
*The cutscene begins much like the OTL World of Light cutscene from this trailer:
, with all the base characters standing together on a cliff, overlooking a vast ocean. Rather than facing down an armada of Master Hands, the enemy has instead deployed an armada of strange looking, angelic mecha, filling the heroes with foreboding. *
Shad: Everyone, we can do this if we work together!
Lady LeChique: *not so sure* That is a big army...
*At the center of the mecha is a floating winged figure almost identical in appearance to OTL's Galeem, with a slight mechanical finish.*
Marth: They outnumber us ten to one...
Lane: 10.27 to 1, if my calculations are correct...
Zelda: Don't be afraid! It's now or never!
Erick: Steel yourselves for battle, everyone!
*The armada begins to charge up. Everyone stands ready, when suddenly, Rebecca gets a call on her communicator from Dr. Remiel. The message is garbled, but it comes out something like: "Don't.... fight... go... hide...! Their....energy.... too....much...!"*
Rebecca: *to everyone* It's a trap!
*Then just like in OTL's trailer, the carnage begins, with beams of light going everywhere. Try as they might, one by one, the heroes are defeated and vaporized. Some, like Link, Mario, Captain Falcon, and the Starfox crew, are vaporized silently, but for other scenes, there's dialogue. After Rebecca watches in horror as Marcus, Shad, and Lane are vaporized, she's standing facing a beam. Raquel screams "Rebecca!" and pushes her out of the way, getting vaporized, and Rebecca screams "Raquel!" on the ground, just before she's vaporized as well. Jade, displaying her propensity to protect orphans, is seen shielding some of the young kids like Ness, Lucas, and the Ice Climbers before all of them are vaporized. Lilith shouts "Die, angel!" and flies defiantly at Galeem before being vaporized. After we see the Thrillseekers trying to get away but getting vaporized, Alex and Stacy are just standing there, Alex knows she can't escape and cradles Stacy protectively to her chest, with Stacy saying "Alex..." quietly before both of them get vaporized. Cindake and Blizzeria try to fight together, but are both vaporized. Toad gets vaporized trying to protect Peach, as does Mario a second later, and Peach cries out in guilty despair as she's vaporized. Calypso tries to use a barrier to protect everyone, but her barrier is shattered in an instant and she's vaporized with it. Sweet Tooth just laughs hysterically like the Joker as he gets vaporized, in a single moment of humor in what's mostly a terrifying and heartbreaking scene. The entire planet, the entire galaxy, the entire universe are vaporized by this mysterious light.*
*But, just like in OTL, one fighter escapes on his Warp Star... Kirby manages to evade all the beams, just barely, and crashes alone on a desolate plain, using the last of his Warp Star's energy. As Kirby falls, "Lifelight", its lyrics and melody unchanged from OTL, begins to play.*
Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
*Kirby wearily stands up, and looks upon the enormity of his task, as a massive landscape of hidden wonders lays sprawled out before him. Though somewhat similar to OTL, TTL's World of Light has a distinctly mechanical touch.*
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Search your soul and reawaken the undying light!
*We then see an endless field of clouds, but this time, with some mechanical spires barely poking out, surrounding a shielded Galeem.*
On that day when the sky fell away
Our world came to an end
*Mario is shown imprisoned, but this time, with several other characters, inside what look to be liquid-filled holding tanks, as cloaked figures wearing featureless masks analyze the imprisoned fighters, using their biological data to create lifeless replicants.*
In our eyes did a fading sun rise
In the dark, glimmering shadows
*A spirit is shown hovering over the replicant, giving it life as the scientists continue to take measurements and data.*
Silence grows in the spaces between
Stretching out beyond time
*Kirby is then shown exploring, and despite the slight mechanical flourishes, TTL's World of Light looks much like OTL's, taking place across a variety of environments, with many taken from various games featured in the Smash Bros. universes. We are introduced to the Spirit system, in which fighters from the game take on various characteristics meant to duplicate those of the character Spirits, with the first Mario enemy taking on characteristics of a basic sword-wielding foe from the Tales Of The Seven Seas universe, carrying a sword into battle.*
Rising up, as a chorus of souls finds a voice
Flicking through the void
*We then see all the base characters as replicants, their eyes glowing bright red. We also get a brief glimpse of a shadowed figure inspecting someone inside the tubes, the person in the tube is later confirmed by close fan observation to be Rebecca.*
These little sparks cling onto life
Everyone caught in the struggle
*We get more scenes of Kirby participating in various fights and navigating the world, and we can see different worlds based on properties such as Ballistic Limit and F-Zero: FIRESTORM.*
And then the storms of change, they fan the flames
Scattering ashes to the wind!
Every soul contains a whisper of light
Gleaming faintly as it dwindles from sight
No escape, no greater fate to be made
In the end, the chains of time will not break
*We see more worlds, including a Mystic-themed world, and some more Spirits, including a Kameo spirit and Spirits based on Emma and Rachel from Thrillseekers.*
Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Search your soul and re-awaken the undying light!
*A few more worlds and fights are shown, culminating in what looks to be a boss battle against something out of Selene, before the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate logo appears and the words "World Of Light" are shown beneath it.*
*Finally, we see an exhausted looking Kirby, surrounded by replicants, scared out of his mind as he looks in all directions. As he's about to be defeated, we see punches and hear some gunshots, and as all the replicants lay on the ground, we see a pair of boots, and a cruel smirk as someone approaches. Kirby looks up, blinking.*
Sadira Blackheart: Don't say I never did anything for you.
*"SADIRA BLACKHEART Steps On... (for half a second, it hangs on these words, then we see the rest)... to The Battlefield!"*
*We then see Mr. Sakurai with a shocked expression on his face, before he starts laughing and announces Sadira Blackheart as the first DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She'll be released in January 2021, but anyone who pre-orders the game, or buys it before December 31st, will get her and her stage and music for free. She'll also be a part of Fighters Pack #1, which will consist of five fighters, and anyone who gets Sadira for free will get a discount on this Fighters Pack to buy the remaining four. Sakurai says that he'll be detailing Sadira's moves in more detail in December, before thanking everyone for watching the Direct, which concludes the presentation.*
“It's time for teams like the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, and Washington Redskins to get with the times,” stated a recent editorial in the Washington Post, calling for the removal of all three mascots before the start of the next season in their leagues. “Native Americans have called for all three teams to change these offensive caricatures for years, and that call has only grown stronger as more and more people realize the pervasive effects of racism and bigotry in our society. It's shameful that these caricatures still exist, and it's time for these teams to find a new way forward with new mascots that reflect the true spirit of unity that sport has to bring us all together. As long as these racist mascots exist, these three teams will remain divisive, and instead of coming together to celebrate their success, fans will be torn between rooting on these teams and not wanting to support a bigoted symbol of oppression.”
There have been increasingly loud calls on television and radio for these mascots to be changed as well, especially in the leadup to Cleveland's World Series run. While Redskins owner Dan Snyder recently released a statement saying that he was committed to keeping the team's name for the foreseeable future, there are signs in Cleveland that the team may at least be considering changing its logo to remove the Chief Wahoo character from team imagery and apparel. Such changes could take effect as early as the 2021 season, though Cleveland also issued a statement saying that it would keep the Indians name indefinitely, and the Atlanta Braves organization has thus far not issued any statements on whether or not it will consider changing its team name or encouraging fans not to perform the controversial gesture at games.
-from an article on The Sporting News website, posted on October 26, 2020
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Kennedy Still Leads After Final Presidential Debate, Rubio Hoping For Strong Final Push
Last night's fourth and final presidential debate in Boston, Massachusetts saw a fiery Marco Rubio go on the offensive against his opponent in next month's presidential election, and his performance has generated some movement in the polls, according to the first “snap polls” taken immediately after the debate. Though debate watchers were largely split on who won, with Kennedy's more calm and reserved but also concise responses earning him high marks among members of his own party, and Rubio's emotional rhetoric playing to his base, the snap polls did indicate that Rubio may have closed the gap by a percentage point or two, and if so, that would put him within 2-4 points of President Kennedy with just two weeks remaining until the election itself. The debate focused largely on economics, a topic that has proven to be a strong one for the Republican nominee, who continued to challenge Kennedy on the subject of the deficit, as well as the recent rise in inflation, largely blaming both on the public health option and minimum wage bills the president signed into law during his term. However, Kennedy was able to respond quite ably to Rubio's challenge, citing how many people had been helped by the public health option over the past few years, and that consumer spending has increased during this time, stimulating the economy. The two also debated on the subject of national defense, with Rubio repeatedly discussing the growing threat from an increasingly fundamentalist Pakistan, and citing the rise in terrorist attacks on both Americans and American allies. Kennedy accused Rubio of being inexperienced on diplomacy and foreign policy, a remark which Rubio took visible offense to, responding with his record on Latin American relations and his experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The debate was definitely more heated than the previous three presidential debates, and moderator Shepard Smith had to step in numerous times to prevent the two from speaking out of turn. The escalating rhetoric reflects a growing unrest amongst both sides of the current political divide, and could be a major indicator of turnout, which is expected to be higher than in the 2016 election and could even exceed that of the 2012 election between Jon Huntsman Jr. and Hillary Clinton. Currently, the president leads Marco Rubio by an average of 4 points in the major presidential election polls, but the election could come down to a number of swing states such as Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona. Rubio has been polling well in the Southwest, including Nevada and Arizona, while Kennedy has been polling well in the Midwest and holds a one percent lead over Rubio in Ohio. The election could well come down to Ohio and North Carolina, especially if Rubio manages to do as well in the Southwest as polls are indicating. It's clear that both candidates are poised to make a major push for votes in the final days before the election, and the two men are both expected to make one final tour of nearly every swing state before polls open. Early voting has already started in most states, but early voting turnout has been somewhat muted compared to expectations, indicating that many voters may indeed still be undecided on which of the two candidates will receive their vote.
-from a Yahoo! News article, posted on October 21, 2020
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Game Spotlight: Fallout 4
"War... war never changes.
They say everything is bigger in Texas... The wide-open plains, the endless skies... natural beauty and rugged cowboys, rolling storm clouds... all shattered on that terrible day. More than a hundred bombs fell across Texas, destroying every city, spreading atomic fallout far and wide. Not a single square mile of this massive state was left untouched by the destruction. Now, the once vast landscape has been ravaged by radiation, which combines with the state's famous twisters to create enormous windstorms that blow radioactivity through the skies, sometimes as fast as 400 miles per hour. What parts of the state have been spared by the rad-tornadoes have been dug up and smashed by the hideous mutated beasts who now roam the land. Wild brahmin transformed into giant longhorns capable of scouring rock formations. Radscorpions so huge the ground shakes when they emerge... but worst of all are the bats, mutated into dragon-like scorchbeasts that patrol the skies, burning anything that gets too close in atomic flame.
And yet, there are survivors.
Rugged cowboys who herd brahmin from settlement to settlement, providing a crucial source of food for those brave or foolhardy enough to take up residence. Scavengers hoping to strike it rich, hunting for pre-war treasures, or even daring to dig for oil, which used to be plentiful here, though the barren grounds haven't yielded a drop in more than 250 years. And then there are the Texas Rangers, on the verge of their 500th year of continuous service, surviving even the nuclear holocaust to uphold their unique brand of justice here in the Lone Star State.
Six flags have flown over Texas during its long history, and now, after more than 200 years of lonely independence, the state may yet see the seventh flag to rise over its vast territory. From the West, the New California Republic, which has pushed through what was once Arizona and New Mexico, now stands poised at the border, ready to realize its dream of returning civilization back to the North American continent. From the northeast, the Enclave's long reach now extends down to Texas, and the beginning of another conflict between these two factions has already taken shape, with the crack of gunfire piercing the howling winds. And there's a new faction... led by the Liberator, who has already done what many believed impossible: he has unified all of Central and South America under his fold, having faced more than half a century of trials and tribulations in the process. Now, at the end of his long life, he seeks to reverse the losses of an ancient war, and to unify Texas with its neighbors to the south, to realize the ancient dream of Gran Colombia. But Texas has always had a fierce, independent spirit, and there are many who wish the state to remain independent... and to be recognized for the first time in nearly 500 years as its own nation, flying the Lone Star Flag.
And you? You have come to Texas as a migrant from the north, seeking to make your fortune. You've been lured to the state like so many others, by those who would embellish its riches and downplay its hazards. Though the giant scorpions, flying beasts, and fierce winds would scare off most people, you see only opportunity... and while you've heard from some that it's not worth the trouble, you're still ready to take a chance, like the millions who came to the state before the Great War, and the many thousands seeking their fortune here now. You may have an idea what you'll do when you reach your destination, but you have no idea what you're in for...
-the introduction to Fallout 4, narrated by Ron Perlman
Fallout 4 is a third-person action WRPG published by Electronic Arts, and developed by a new team comprised of various individuals from the former Black Isle Studios (which was disbanded a few years prior to 2020 ITTL) and others. It serves as a direct sequel to 2011's Fallout 3, which continued the conflict between the Enclave and the NCR over New York City, and also as a successor to Fallout: The Swamp. Fallout 4 takes place in Texas, mostly the northern half of Texas (The Gulf Coast areas aren't included), from Amarillo to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, but also extending downward to San Antonio via the use of vertibird travel. The game plays somewhat like a combination of OTL's New Vegas and a Red Dead Redemption II-styled action game, leaning more toward an action RPG than a turn-based title, and generally playing somewhat faster than OTL's New Vegas, but retaining a lot of New Vegas' systems and character growth (In other words, it's more stat-based than OTL's Fallout 4, which was more based around perks than on stat growth). It continues the trend of improved shooting mechanics from Fallout: The Swamp, and gets rid of a VATS-like system entirely, which means that fast-paced shooting/melee battles with enemies are the norm (however, with the improved shooting, it's easier to hit foes). The game also continues the series tradition of deep dialogue trees and complex characters that the player can build relationships with depending on their stats/responses to questions and dialogue. Being set in Texas, the game contains many, many allusions to various Texas locations and culture, including the Texas State Fairgrounds and its iconic Big Tex statue, the Alamo in San Antonio (which plays a major role in the game's final storyline battle), the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo (which now serves Brahmin steaks and gives prizes to players who can eat the whole 72 oz. steak via skill checks), Route 66 itself, the Texas Rangers (who are a major faction in the game), What-A-Burger (which survives in Fallout 4 as Why-A-Burger, and the player can even own individual restaurants), and other references too numerous to name. There WAS even planned to be an assassination mission where the player would've been able to shoot an NPC from the Texas School Book Depository, but the mission was hastily scrapped after the JFK Jr. assassination attempt, though Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository can still be explored and you can find a unique rifle there if you're willing to fight a horde of Glowing Ones for it (and if you take the Wild Wasteland perk, you can find another more powerful rifle on the grassy knoll). Fallout 4 has fourteen different companions you can recruit, including Chuck Norris himself (though he's Chuck Robbins here, voiced by Chuck Norris) if you complete the Texas Ranger questline and become a full-fledged member of the Texas Rangers. If you do, you get a unique and VERY powerful uniform and gun, but you're also held to a fairly strict set of rules (no killing innocent people, no sex or drugs or pretty much anything less than karmically Good actions), and if you violate those rules, you can be suspended or even expelled from the Rangers, at which point a horde of Rangers will descend upon your character and almost certainly kill them (and if they don't, Chuck Robbins will). Chuck Robbins himself is the game's most powerful companion, capable of taking out even legendary Deathclaws with a single roundhouse kick, so if you're willing to follow the rules, you can get the game's most busted companion and some of its best equipment, making completing the storyline fairly easy. Most other companions won't be so strict: you can recruit a Hank Hill expy who sells propane and who gives you a merchant perk, you can recruit a weathergirl who can predict radstorms and who's quite good with Energy Weapons, you can recruit a badass voiced by Danny Trejo who's one of the best Melee/Unarmed fighters in the game, you can recruit a beautiful femme fatale who will occasionally steal items for you, you can even recruit a pet radscorpion, the list of interesting companions goes on and on. The game features its own version of Highland from Beavis and Butthead called Lowland, where you can meet a pair of idiots who are Beavis and Butthead in all but name and who send you on a series of dumb quests to build them a working television. There are a total of six explorable Vaults in the game, along with a few Vault remnants that have been dug up/destroyed by the elements and various creatures. Despite the larger area overall than Fallout: The Swamp, Fallout 4 features superior graphics, particularly in landscapes and facial animations, which are some of the best to be found in any open world RPG of its generation. The game features an outstanding voice cast: in addition to the cameos from Chuck Norris and Danny Trejo, the game features voice acting from the likes of Stephanie Beatriz (as the weathergirl companion, whose name is Lyla), Jonathan Goldsmith (as the Liberator, using pretty much the same voice he used for OTL's Most Interesting Man In The World), Darius Rucker AKA Hootie (as the voice of Rich, a cowboy ghoul companion), and even Selena, who doesn't voice a companion, but instead voices a mysterious character known as the Lady in Black, who is a key figure in the main storyline and who serves to lure the player from place to place during the course of the game. The in-game radio stations feature mostly Western songs (similar to OTL's New Vegas, but without the lounge singing classics), with a few Texas classics thrown in, as well as some old-timey Latin music.
The game's main storyline begins with the player introduced to The Migrant, the protagonist, who the player can customize in terms of appearance and stats. You can be male, female, or non-binary, similar to The Boiling Isles, and the game uses the franchise's familiar S.P.E.C.I.A.L. mechanic to determine the player's main stats. You start out trapped in a work camp, indebted to your employer, but you have a variety of ways to escape the camp, including just walking out the front gate if you're good at dodging bullets. Once you escape, you're free to go pretty much anywhere in the game, with only the vertibird to San Antonio closed off, and a few other small facilities gated off by the story. You're tasked with finding the mysterious Lady in Black, who it's said guards the secret way to a vast trove of riches, but you'll soon be caught up in conflicts between the NCR, the Enclave, and Gran Colombia, who are warring over various parts of Texas. The Migrant will soon find themselves drawn to the Lonestars, a faction that wants to make Texas an independent nation, and also the Texas Rangers, who, while ostensibly supporting Texas remaining independent, have pledged to remain neutral in the war itself, and will uphold the law in Texas whoever gains control of the state. Though the Migrant does work with the Texas Rangers in at least one early storyline mission, it's up to them whether or not to continue along the Rangers' questline, which is quite long and complex (though it does have an excellent reward at the end for players willing to commit to being a Texas Ranger). Players will meet many of the game's companions, eight of the fourteen total, through the main questline, including Lyla, whose help the player will need to get past the rad-twisters blocking off access to some important areas, and Rich, an important member of the Lonestars, whose questline takes players on a whirlwind tour of sorts of the state. Players will no doubt be drawn to one of the four main factors, around whom the game's storyline and main endings revolve. The player also learns more about the Lady in Black, and that she's been trapped in Vault 45, where she went in search of a G.E.C.K. to bring water and life back to Texas. Her real name is Maria, and she comes from a long line of individuals who have been surviving in Texas ever since the end of the war, each one doing their part to bring people back to Texas. Maria learned of the Vault and its hidden G.E.C.K. when she was a young girl, and watched both her parents die trying to find it. She managed to find it, but activated the Vault's security system and become trapped, and now she seeks a way out for herself and the G.E.C.K., before her supplies run out entirely. The Migrant must track down Maria (either alone or with the help of a chosen faction) and find a way into the Vault. They manage to enter the Vault, but learn that the Lady in Black died several years before, and that they've been talking to a recording, in which the G.E.C.K. has been taken somewhere else: the Alamo, where it's been buried in a subterranean complex built to defend the facility during the Great War. The final battle sees the Migrant, their companions, and their chosen faction battling all three other factions at the Alamo, and after doing so, descending into the underground facility and finding the G.E.C.K., doing battle with a powerful security robot in order to claim it. Once the G.E.C.K. is found, the Migrant and their chosen faction use it to replenish San Antonio, to turn it into the seat of power for either the NCR's eastern outpost, the Enclave's southern outpost, Gran Colombia's northern outpost, or the new capital city of a free and independent Texas nation. The ending reveals the fates of many NPCs and factions met by the Migrant along the way, and concludes with that familiar quote: "War never changes."
Fallout 4 is released on October 5, 2020, for the Reality, Virtua, and Stadia, with a version coming to the Hyper Nintendo and Apple Quest in 2021. The game receives immediate positive reviews from critics, who love the massive world, complex characters, and the many, many fun cultural references, and it would score a 90 on Metacritic to become one of the best reviewed games in the series, while it would enjoy excellent sales to become one of the most successful games of that fall. Though fans had to wait six years after Fallout: The Swamp for a new game in the series, most players would consider the game to be well worth it, and it continues the great war between the NCR and the Enclave, setting up for a major showdown down the road in a future series game, which would be on the next generation of consoles. Fallout 4 would get plenty of DLC as well, including an exploration-themed game in which the player is able to explore a vast series of cave networks, and another DLC focused on the Gulf Coast, particularly Houston but also visiting Galveston and Corpus Christi, and tying in with the events of Fallout: The Swamp.
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Game Spotlight: The Covenant 6
The Covenant 6 is a third person shooter exclusively for Google Stadia, published by Google and developed by Bungie. The game is the follow-up to both The Covenant 5 and The Covenant Zero, continuing from the events of both games, with this game's Master Chief actually being Experiment 1, who was originally introduced in The Covenant: Spartan, and whose goal in this game is to break the original Master Chief out of his self-sacrificing time loop and return him to the main timeline to defend humanity from an invasion of Covenant soldiers from all different timelines and dimensions. Despite the crazy storyline shenanigans and the technically "new" Master Chief, this is the same old Covenant series with most of the familiar shooting and movement mechanics intact, essentially playing like a third-person version of OTL's Halo series. As a result, this game features some of the tightest shooting controls to be found in any shooter, giving players a great deal of freedom in how to approach battles and how to take out their enemies, with a variety of different weapons that range from conventional to outlandish, and featuring a somewhat small variety of enemies who mostly differ in their combat strategies and the locations where Master Chief fights them. The main new mechanic in The Covenant 6 is a time manipulation mechanic, which the game refers to as "Rifting". By rifting, Master Chief can reverse or accelerate the flow of time in certain situations, which can be used both in battle and outside of it. Though the mechanic is used for a number of puzzles and boss fights, it's used relatively sparingly, and players aren't required to master it to make progress in the game. Those who do master it can do some pretty incredible things in battle, but for most players, it'll be something fun to add more gameplay variety to a somewhat simple third person shooter. Rifting is Master Chief's way of accessing the timestream, which the Covenant have gained full access to, and which is how they're able to pull so many of their troops, ships, and vehicles through time. Through use of rifting, Master Chief and his allies are able to even the score against the Covenant's overwhelming forces, though as a consequence, the timeline gradually becomes more and more damaged throughout the game. The Covenant 6, as a major Stadia title with an enormous budget, features some of the best console graphics ever seen in a video game, and even rivals the graphical quality of many high-end PC titles (though, to be fair, The Covenant 6 is itself a high-end PC title, as Stadia is designed to function on high-end PCs and the game can display better on many high-end rigs). Gameplay and cutscenes are almost indistinguishable, making the feature in which players are able to interrupt certain cutscenes with Master Chief's time manipulation powers function seamlessly.
The Covenant 6 begins with Master Chief locked in a seemingly endless battle with wave after wave of Covenant soldiers. Between spectacular set pieces that open the main quest with a bang, this also gives the player a chance to learn many of the game mechanics in a trial-by-fire fashion, all except for rifting which is learned a bit later on. Just when it seems like Master Chief is facing overwhelming odds, he hears Cortana's voice, and she bails him out by launching sustained fire from Master Chief's ship, allowing him to escape to his ship. From there, Master Chief is whisked from flashpoint to flashpoint across the galaxy, battling against increasingly deadly waves of Covenant soldiers, while working to establish contact with the original Master Chief, who is in another timeline fighting an endless battle against the Covenant troops there. With the use of rifting, Master Chief is able to give humanity a foothold, and the missions are a mix of brand new quests in which Master Chief must explore new worlds and battle against new Covenant beasts, and also remixes of older missions, as parts from various timelines leak into this one, providing the player with somewhat of a "greatest hits" of missions from the previous 19 years of Covenant games, but blending them into a cohesive quest that feels brand new. As the player gradually learns, Cortana is the link between the Master Chief of this dimension with the original Master Chief, but is unable to convey any information between the two timelines, and seems greatly troubled by this, and also troubled as she notes the increasing space/time fluxes slowly tearing this dimension asunder. Rather than destroying the multiverse, as many of these types of rifts tend to do, this rift is being used by the Covenant to gain access to all dimensions at once, and Cortana is able to piece together that the original Master Chief has somehow sealed off his universe from the others, preventing the Covenant of that universe from linking up with the remaining Covenant troops, which, if they do so, would grant them power over the entire multiverse and they would be unstoppable. If Cortana relays any information between the two universes, she'll create this rift, and in order to prevent this from happening, and to free the original Master Chief, Master Chief/Experiment 1 must create an "anchor point" between which only the original Master Chief can cross. Doing so would seal off that universe entirely and would prevent the Covenant from being able to take over all universes, leaving them splintered between individual universes and easy prey for each universe's Master Chief. Experiment 1 discovers that the purpose of the Spartan Experiments that he was subjected to was to account for this scenario and to create a Master Chief capable of breaching between universes to fight the Covenant in every universe. Eventually, he's forced to take the fight to Earth, and it's realized that he must create the anchor point there, which will free Master Chief but at the same time bring all the Covenant troops in the multiverse to Earth, which would risk killing every living thing on the planet. However, in an incredibly inspiring scene which features callbacks to numerous games and characters in the series, Earth's Space Marines vow to defend the planet so that their inspiration, the original Master Chief, can be freed. The final battle of The Covenant 6 is an enormous battle for Earth against endless waves of Covenant troops across space and time, and ends with the sacrifice of Experiment 1 to save the life of Master Chief, who survives and wins the fight and is given the greatest honor of all... a chance to finally lay down his gun, as peace from the Covenant has finally been achieved. We see Master Chief start to remove his helmet, only to be contacted by Cortana, who has detected Covenant activity in a distant galaxy. He then turns and starts to leave, only for three of the Space Marines who fought alongside him to stop him and tell him that they can handle it, and that he truly does deserve a moment of peace. He tells them that everyone sacrificed so much for him, and one of them says that it's nothing compared to what he's sacrificed, and that they'll never be able to repay him. We see all of Earth united, with everyone thanking Master Chief for everything he's done, and he finally removes his helmet and we see his face at last, grizzled and covered in battle scars, but smiling and looking genuinely touched (not crying, but definitely looking grateful). He thanks them in return, then says that they're why he fights, then looks at the Space Marines and says they're why we all fight, before putting his helmet back on and leading this new team of young recruits back to the ship for another battle.
The Covenant 6 is released on October 19, 2020, and receives strong critical praise, both for its single player campaign and its very good multiplayer, which has been beefed up significantly from The Covenant Zero, featuring a huge slate of new modes and battlefields from all across the series. Though the game is included free with the Stadia premium service, millions of people who don't have the premium service still pay full price for the right to stream or download the game, making it one of the best selling games of 2020 and one of the most successful games in the series to date. Though Google and Bungie have had their issues previously, with a split between them seeming inevitable during the mid 2010s, The Covenant 6 is the return to form for both the series and Google's relationship with Bungie, which has seen a number of people come and go during the development cycle of the game. Though this certainly isn't the conclusion for the series (The Covenant is too lucrative an IP for Google to allow it to end), The Covenant 6 is created as a culmination of sorts, almost a "soft reboot" that will allow Bungie to take the new games in almost any direction they please. It represents an enormous success for both companies in a string of successes since the release of the Stadia, and fully establishes Google as the market leader in the video game industry on the eve of the release of Nintendo and Apple's next generation offerings, ensuring that both companies would have a very tall mountain to climb to overcome Google's lead.
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Game Spotlight: Metroid: Samus Awakens
Metroid: Samus Awakens is an action/adventure/RPG title developed by Guerilla Games and published by Nintendo, with versions released for both the Nintendo Reality and the upcoming Hyper Nintendo. Developed by much of the same team that made OTL's Horizon: Zero Dawn, it plays like a 50/50 blend of that game and an OTL Metroid Prime game, though from a mostly third-person perspective (like Horizon) rather than a first person one. Though it serves as a "reboot" of sorts for the series, painting broad strokes across previous series games and lore, it's intended to be a prequel to every other game in the series, and serves as a young Samus' first job for the Galactic Federation, who have heard of her spectacular feats as a human warrior trained by the Chozo, and have asked her to investigate an outlying planet once populated by a small colony of humans who have since disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As Samus explores the planet, players will need to focus on two major tasks to make Samus stronger: the first task, familiar to those who have played the series before, is to discover various power ups and enhancements that will allow Samus to explore more of the planet and combat enemies more effectively. All of Samus' different beams, as well as her familiar movement upgrades and a few new ones, are found scattered around the planet, some in the hands of boss enemies, others left for Samus to find with familiar Chozo statues scattered around the planet. The other task that players will need to complete is to enhance Samus' strength and combat effectiveness with various enemy drops and discovered items, which can be crafted into Samus' weapons to strengthen them over the course of the game. This RPG-like method of building Samus' powers is new to the series, and makes combat with enemies more relevant, as players will use the various drops that enemies give in order to power Samus up beyond the usual upgrades. Similar to OTL's Horizon: Zero Dawn, players can target various parts on enemies and shoot them off to gain different kinds of drops, and can even pick up and wield certain weapons originally mounted on enemies, which may be more effective than Samus' repertoire. The game blends an open-world style of gameplay with the gated confines of a typical Metroidvania game across a fully 3-D landscape, with Guerilla working to blend the two styles seamlessly together, giving the player a sense of freedom but also a sense of urgency. In addition to the main missions that players will need to undertake, there are also "sub bounties" given by the Federation periodically, allowing players to, for example, complete research objectives, defeat certain enemies, or gather up materials. They'll be rewarded with Federation credits, which can be used to purchase different types of materials to enhance Samus' abilities further. Though Samus does spend much of the game fairly isolated, she will from time to time communicate with the Federation on her findings, or make log entries, and during these scenes, or the occasional dialogue with a sentient enemy, Samus is voiced by Ashly Burch, while the rest of the cast is rounded out mostly with unknowns. Ashly plays Samus with a very serious tone, and a slightly deeper voice than the one she used for OTL's Aloy. She doesn't attempt to replicate the performances of previous Samus actors Jennifer Hale or Anna Gunn, but adds her own spin to the character, giving Samus a sense of duty but also a slight element of laconic humor, as she finds herself torn between her connection with humanity and her devotion to the Chozo.
Samus' task in Samus Awakens is to explore the planet Vesera, home to a colony of humans numbering in the hundreds of thousands, sent by the Federation on an exploratory expedition to judge the planet's suitability for human life. Several years into their mission, which was going quite well, all contact is cut off, and the Federation sent a squadron to investigate, only for them to be wiped out, but not before confirming the existence of strange life forms known as Metroids. This prompts the Federation to send Samus Aran, and she's several weeks into her own mission with no findings to report. The game begins with Samus awakening and exploring a cave system, only to be attacked by a mutated Metroid and barely escaping. She was attacked outside of her Power Suit, and the game tasks the player with finding it, a short but harrowing task complete with more narrow escapes. Once Samus finds her suit, the player is able to kill one of the Metroids, and they emerge into a new part of the world, with a trail of clues leading them forward. The player must journey across the planet, through uncharted areas of various terrain, as well as the remains of the human civilization. There are five main areas to explore, along with several smaller areas, connected through various pathways and tunnels, allowing the player free reign for the most part, but of course restricting them until they find needed power-ups and items. The five main areas consist of a large cave/canyon area known as Roklari, a jungle/tree area known as Canopia, the humans' abandoned civilization and its surrounding environs, which combine a lake/river/water area with a technological/city-type area, called Krystalis, a gloomy, darkness shrouded area in the shade of a molten volcano, called Obsidia, and finally, a built-up laboratory/desert area called Grenzoa. As Samus explores, she must battle a variety of enemies, including the planet's native flora and fauna (the most common type of enemy), native flora/fauna that have been somehow biologically or mechanically enhanced, Space Pirates and their subordinate robots, and finally, and most rarely, mutated Metroids, which were experimented on by both the humans who inhabited Vesera and by the Space Pirates, though, as Samus learns, much of the experimentation was done by the humans here: this was a secret research colony, and the decimation of the planet's population was caused by both a Space Pirate invasion and as a result of the experimental Metroids going berserk and slaughtering humans and Space Pirates alike. Most of the humans were killed, though Samus learns that a few escaped, and fewer still remain on the planet, including a scientist and his wife and young daughter. The scientist, Dr. Daglian, was the one primarily responsible for mutating the Metroids, but even though he's a rather unscrupulous person, who had no qualms about using the Metroids' powers for personal gain, he deeply loves his wife and daughter, and wants them to escape the planet safely. The game's primary antagonist is Ridley, leader of the Space Pirates attacking the planet, and Samus battles him twice over the course of the game: once in his normal form, and once as a sort of cyborg Ridley enhanced with technology. Samus' first encounter with Dr. Daglian comes about 40 percent of the way into the game, early into her exploration of Krystalis, and she eventually ends up saving his wife and daughter from Ridley in their first battle. Samus comes to identify greatly with Daglian's daughter Ari, as she herself was orphaned as a child, and she's determined to keep it from happening to another little girl. Unfortunately, Daglian, though wanting to protect his family, also decides to kill Samus so she can't report back to the Federation on what he's been up to on the planet. Though Samus never fights Daglian directly, she does end up fighting a powerful Metroid that he creates. In the end, though, Daglian sacrifices his life for Samus so that she can help his wife and daughter evacuate. Samus gets Daglian's wife to safety, but is unable to save his daughter before Ridley takes her, as the Space Pirates hope to turn Ari into their own version of Samus with a warped version of the process the Chozo used on her. Samus eventually saves Ari by defeating Ridley's second form, though the game's final boss is one final Metroid mutation, the Awakened Metroid, which has a form of sentience that Samus had never seen in the species before. Samus defeats the Awakened Metroid and gets herself and Ari off the planet before it self-destructs. In the ending, Samus returns Ari to her mother, then reports her findings to the Federation, advising them that if they plan to experiment on Metroids any further, that she may not be around to help them next time. Samus is mostly rebuked by the Federation personnel, who want to banish her from the Federation's presence or even have her arrested, but one junior officer speaks up for her... a man named Adam Malkovich, who offers to work with her. However, she rebukes him in return, saying she doesn't need anyone speaking for her, and leaves the Federation HQ, unsure of her next course of action, though she realizes to her annoyance that the Federation will likely need her in the future, and keeps Adam's contact information handy just in case she's forced to work with them again.
Metroid: Samus Awakens is released on October 16, 2020, to overwhelmingly positive critical reviews, the best of the year thus far. Praise is heaped onto the game's combat and exploration, which blend the best elements of Metroidvania games and WRPGs to create something that feels unique to both of them, and serves as an appropriate beginning to Samus' story. Ashly Burch's voice work and Samus' characterization are also praised highly, establishing Samus as someone who loves humanity enough to work with the Federation, but who despises the rigid structure and corruption of the organization. She wants to help everyone, but in her own way, merging her fierce independence and strength with the profound love for all innocent life instilled in her by the Chozo who nurtured her and by her noble parents in the short time she knew them. It's seen as a technical marvel on the Reality, pushing the system to its absolute limits without any glitches or slowdown, while the later Hyper Nintendo version would come to be seen as a pioneering game on that console and an example of what the next generation of gaming is capable of. An instant Game of the Year front-runner, Samus Awakens would enjoy the best sales of any game in the series to date, and would set a very high bar for this new series of Metroid titles, which would continue to entertain gamers far beyond the scope of this timeline.
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Other Significant Titles For October 2020:
Duality Quest: Though given a title implying that it's a Quest game (and indeed, it was intended to be a major launch title, but work was completed slightly earlier than schedule), this latest title in the Duality series comes to the Apple Virtua as well. It's a top-down third person shooter that uses virtual reality and operates at an extremely fast pace, with players controlling a pair of twin space heroes through an arcade-style series of missions and boss battles. It's actually the first mainline game in the series in seven years, with the series continuing during that span in the form of shorter, bite-sized experiences that reflect the series' arcade-like nature, while the developers were unable to come up with an idea to match the Virtua's grand scale. This new game introduces some neat first person elements and some enormous boss fights, which add a bit of spice to the familiar formula and ultimately make this one of the more fun arcade-style shooters of the year. The Quest version introduces a few extra worlds and battles that take advantage of the enhanced VR, providing an early taste of what the new console is capable of. While a fun game that would average around an 8/10 with reviewers, its sales and impact pale in comparison to the three big releases of the month.
Panzer Dragoon Delta: This direct sequel to Panzer Dragoon Zeta would come exclusively to Apple G devices, and would see Zeta gain the ability to morph into a beautiful dragon/human hybrid known as Delta, who is ridden by Zeta protagonist Ormus to battle a terrifying new foe across a series of levels. Like Zeta, this game blends RPG and rail shooter mechanics, and introduces two new companions who each have their own dragons. The game takes everything that made the original Zeta great, and unlike Panzer Dragoon Phanta, it also features a really fun story. Reviews for the game are outstanding, and it does a pretty good job of putting G devices in people's homes, particularly Apple TV units, on which the game looks fantastic and on par with many eighth generation offerings.
Watch Dogs: Legion: Ubisoft's latest game in the series is the second major multiplatform release of the month, and competes directly with Fallout 4. Like OTL's game, it takes place in a London ruled by a far-right surveillance state, and allows players to recruit any NPC into their team of hackers and social disruptors. Though it does see slightly better reviews than OTL's game, due to being slightly less glitchy, it would lose the sales battle to Fallout, though only narrowly.
Matrimony: A psychological horror title from Capcom, this is an early 1900s period piece about a young bride and groom who discover that one of their wedding guests may be an evil spirit, and must undergo a series of terrifying ordeals and experiences as they work together to uncover the spirit's identity to save their loved ones and each other. It's a fairly short game, and the gameplay can be a bit boring at times, but it's genuinely scary and many of the characters are quite memorable. It gets mixed to positive critical reviews, and would become a niche classic.
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*Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Direct for October 26, 2020 would begin with the reveal of new details about gameplay mechanics and various new features, ultimately leading to the two character reveals. First would be Vaon, from Rare's Slaughtered Planet series ("VAON Has Landed!"), and Mr. Sakurai would give a brief description of his different attacks and gameplay stylings. He operates like a slightly heavier and slower Fox/Falco, using his gun and a variety of other weapons, giving him some ranged bulk that allows players to hang back and play defense before going in for the kill. A few minutes later, a new cutscene would begin, introducing the second Rare character of the Direct, and the final base character in the game: Conker, from Rare's Conker series ("CONKER Spins A Tail!"). After Sakurai gives us the deets about Conker, detailing his wacky repertoire in which he can throw acorns, spin his tail, and utilize some toonforce trickery, we see a few more features before Sakurai then segues into a description of one of the main features of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the single-player adventure mode. We then get a cutscene.*
*The cutscene begins much like the OTL World of Light cutscene from this trailer:
Shad: Everyone, we can do this if we work together!
Lady LeChique: *not so sure* That is a big army...
*At the center of the mecha is a floating winged figure almost identical in appearance to OTL's Galeem, with a slight mechanical finish.*
Marth: They outnumber us ten to one...
Lane: 10.27 to 1, if my calculations are correct...
Zelda: Don't be afraid! It's now or never!
Erick: Steel yourselves for battle, everyone!
*The armada begins to charge up. Everyone stands ready, when suddenly, Rebecca gets a call on her communicator from Dr. Remiel. The message is garbled, but it comes out something like: "Don't.... fight... go... hide...! Their....energy.... too....much...!"*
Rebecca: *to everyone* It's a trap!
*Then just like in OTL's trailer, the carnage begins, with beams of light going everywhere. Try as they might, one by one, the heroes are defeated and vaporized. Some, like Link, Mario, Captain Falcon, and the Starfox crew, are vaporized silently, but for other scenes, there's dialogue. After Rebecca watches in horror as Marcus, Shad, and Lane are vaporized, she's standing facing a beam. Raquel screams "Rebecca!" and pushes her out of the way, getting vaporized, and Rebecca screams "Raquel!" on the ground, just before she's vaporized as well. Jade, displaying her propensity to protect orphans, is seen shielding some of the young kids like Ness, Lucas, and the Ice Climbers before all of them are vaporized. Lilith shouts "Die, angel!" and flies defiantly at Galeem before being vaporized. After we see the Thrillseekers trying to get away but getting vaporized, Alex and Stacy are just standing there, Alex knows she can't escape and cradles Stacy protectively to her chest, with Stacy saying "Alex..." quietly before both of them get vaporized. Cindake and Blizzeria try to fight together, but are both vaporized. Toad gets vaporized trying to protect Peach, as does Mario a second later, and Peach cries out in guilty despair as she's vaporized. Calypso tries to use a barrier to protect everyone, but her barrier is shattered in an instant and she's vaporized with it. Sweet Tooth just laughs hysterically like the Joker as he gets vaporized, in a single moment of humor in what's mostly a terrifying and heartbreaking scene. The entire planet, the entire galaxy, the entire universe are vaporized by this mysterious light.*
*But, just like in OTL, one fighter escapes on his Warp Star... Kirby manages to evade all the beams, just barely, and crashes alone on a desolate plain, using the last of his Warp Star's energy. As Kirby falls, "Lifelight", its lyrics and melody unchanged from OTL, begins to play.*
Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
*Kirby wearily stands up, and looks upon the enormity of his task, as a massive landscape of hidden wonders lays sprawled out before him. Though somewhat similar to OTL, TTL's World of Light has a distinctly mechanical touch.*
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Search your soul and reawaken the undying light!
*We then see an endless field of clouds, but this time, with some mechanical spires barely poking out, surrounding a shielded Galeem.*
On that day when the sky fell away
Our world came to an end
*Mario is shown imprisoned, but this time, with several other characters, inside what look to be liquid-filled holding tanks, as cloaked figures wearing featureless masks analyze the imprisoned fighters, using their biological data to create lifeless replicants.*
In our eyes did a fading sun rise
In the dark, glimmering shadows
*A spirit is shown hovering over the replicant, giving it life as the scientists continue to take measurements and data.*
Silence grows in the spaces between
Stretching out beyond time
*Kirby is then shown exploring, and despite the slight mechanical flourishes, TTL's World of Light looks much like OTL's, taking place across a variety of environments, with many taken from various games featured in the Smash Bros. universes. We are introduced to the Spirit system, in which fighters from the game take on various characteristics meant to duplicate those of the character Spirits, with the first Mario enemy taking on characteristics of a basic sword-wielding foe from the Tales Of The Seven Seas universe, carrying a sword into battle.*
Rising up, as a chorus of souls finds a voice
Flicking through the void
*We then see all the base characters as replicants, their eyes glowing bright red. We also get a brief glimpse of a shadowed figure inspecting someone inside the tubes, the person in the tube is later confirmed by close fan observation to be Rebecca.*
These little sparks cling onto life
Everyone caught in the struggle
*We get more scenes of Kirby participating in various fights and navigating the world, and we can see different worlds based on properties such as Ballistic Limit and F-Zero: FIRESTORM.*
And then the storms of change, they fan the flames
Scattering ashes to the wind!
Every soul contains a whisper of light
Gleaming faintly as it dwindles from sight
No escape, no greater fate to be made
In the end, the chains of time will not break
*We see more worlds, including a Mystic-themed world, and some more Spirits, including a Kameo spirit and Spirits based on Emma and Rachel from Thrillseekers.*
Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Search your soul and re-awaken the undying light!
*A few more worlds and fights are shown, culminating in what looks to be a boss battle against something out of Selene, before the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate logo appears and the words "World Of Light" are shown beneath it.*
*Finally, we see an exhausted looking Kirby, surrounded by replicants, scared out of his mind as he looks in all directions. As he's about to be defeated, we see punches and hear some gunshots, and as all the replicants lay on the ground, we see a pair of boots, and a cruel smirk as someone approaches. Kirby looks up, blinking.*
Sadira Blackheart: Don't say I never did anything for you.
*"SADIRA BLACKHEART Steps On... (for half a second, it hangs on these words, then we see the rest)... to The Battlefield!"*
*We then see Mr. Sakurai with a shocked expression on his face, before he starts laughing and announces Sadira Blackheart as the first DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She'll be released in January 2021, but anyone who pre-orders the game, or buys it before December 31st, will get her and her stage and music for free. She'll also be a part of Fighters Pack #1, which will consist of five fighters, and anyone who gets Sadira for free will get a discount on this Fighters Pack to buy the remaining four. Sakurai says that he'll be detailing Sadira's moves in more detail in December, before thanking everyone for watching the Direct, which concludes the presentation.*
Rest in peace for those baseball mascots, even though their demises are highly justified.
My money's on a second Kennedy Jr. term, especially after his near-death experience.
Who would have thought that EA would distribute a great game? Not me!
With an ending like that, I don't really blame Google for trying to bring The Covenant into a new era. All I'm saying is that it would have to be really good to even try and measure up to us actually seeing Master Chief's face for the first time.
Ashly Burch? Well, are there any other characters she's played ITTL?
I think my favorite minor game this month is Duality Quest, particularly because of how quick the development was to justify a Virtua release as well for the game.
Finally, we come to the last Smash Ultimate Direct for its base game in this timeline. First off, the last two base game characters being from RareWare, with one of them being Conker, is a great Halloween treat for those who watched it then and there. Next, the different roster meshing with the similar premise makes for some gruesome interactions before the universe was wiped out, like when the Thrillseekers had to comfort themselves and each other among the carnage. Then, the mechanical attributes of TTL's Galeem are a lot of fun in the worst of ways. I'm in awe at the thing. After that, the reveal of a new Fighters Pack, something that previously happened with the last game's roster, and the first character being Sadira Blackheart, was just too good not to end on IMHO.
My money's on a second Kennedy Jr. term, especially after his near-death experience.
Who would have thought that EA would distribute a great game? Not me!
With an ending like that, I don't really blame Google for trying to bring The Covenant into a new era. All I'm saying is that it would have to be really good to even try and measure up to us actually seeing Master Chief's face for the first time.
Ashly Burch? Well, are there any other characters she's played ITTL?
I think my favorite minor game this month is Duality Quest, particularly because of how quick the development was to justify a Virtua release as well for the game.
Finally, we come to the last Smash Ultimate Direct for its base game in this timeline. First off, the last two base game characters being from RareWare, with one of them being Conker, is a great Halloween treat for those who watched it then and there. Next, the different roster meshing with the similar premise makes for some gruesome interactions before the universe was wiped out, like when the Thrillseekers had to comfort themselves and each other among the carnage. Then, the mechanical attributes of TTL's Galeem are a lot of fun in the worst of ways. I'm in awe at the thing. After that, the reveal of a new Fighters Pack, something that previously happened with the last game's roster, and the first character being Sadira Blackheart, was just too good not to end on IMHO.
Three have been mentioned in the timeline itself, though she's played several more that haven't been mentioned:
Syrene (Thrillseekers)
Nadine Thomas (Assassin's Creed Confederation)
Kelsey (Jessica Saves Her Mom (And Maybe The World!))
She also plays Molly in The Ghost And Molly McGee, both ITTL and IOTL (she's also done numerous other cartoon voices).
Thanks!
On the other hand, now I'm imagining Molly McGee dressed as Samus Aran. Yeah...
The mention of Chuck Norris after the whole mascot drama is oddly appropriate, since he is in fact half-Native American; when I found that out, it kind of blew my mind, since he doesn't look like it at all and, most importantly, his political opinions aren't exactly the kind of political opinions you'd ever hear in a reservation. That said, it looks like he ascended to meme status in this TL too. 
If Chuck Norris is really half-Native American, and if he really is as memeable and as reserved about politics as he is IOTL, then I'm surprised he hasn't used the opportunity for more people to be kind to the Natives.The mention of Chuck Norris after the whole mascot drama is oddly appropriate, since he is in fact half-Native American; when I found that out, it kind of blew my mind, since he doesn't look like it at all and, most importantly, his political opinions aren't exactly the kind of political opinions you'd ever hear in a reservation. That said, it looks like he ascended to meme status in this TL too.
Chuck Norris is a pretty outspoken conservative IOTL, especially on social issues. ITTL, I think he's more of a libertarian, economics-focused conservative, a bit more liberal on social issues due to some late-90s, early-2000s butterflies that led to him befriending a few LGBT actors and rethinking his views on the subject to an extent, he also befriends Jon Huntsman before his rise to the presidency, and that also pulls him a bit closer to the center on social issues. He's still a devout Christian, and privately still somewhat socially conservative, but not as outspoken about it ITTL. He's still a Republican ITTL and would definitely be backing Rubio in 2020.