Pacific Rim Presents 3 Cancelations of and 1 Countdown to the Apocalypse
Or the weird Lunar New Year vibe I got from Christmas stories in 4 Japanese video games.
2024 marks the fifth year since I picked up video game criticism as a hobby, things feel different between now and then. It all started at my first year in grad school and the beginning of this pandemic fiasco. Now I officially dropped out of grad school yet very few even wants to acknowledge Covid-19. And I am doing a themed bundle of things I reviewed. A critic’s view is rooted in where they come from. So, as a Chinese (born and raised) Baptist (Been to Sunday School since the age of 4, still go to church every Sunday night.), I am in a rather unique position to cook up the bullshit you are about to read here. Swearing not withdrawn.
“Today we face the monsters that are at our door and bring the fight to them! Today we are canceling the apocalypse!” Oh, that Idris Elba! Motherfucker sure can sell any line as epic poem, even some cheesy promotional speech in an over-produced cartoon. (Why did they think they can make a sequel with Mr. Elba’s character killed off is beyond me.) Because my 33 years old mind is spilt into 2 when hearing the lines again during a re-watch of Pacific Rim. One part of course dismissed it as “some cheesy promotional speech in an over-produced cartoon”, the other went to thinking about the origin myth regarding Lunar New Year, which is all about bringing the fight to some monster at humanity’s collective door and apocalypse cancelation.
Legend has it, a monster called Year would have us homo sapiens on its dinner menu yearly. When that time comes, every 360 days according to the Lunar Calendar, our ancestors would prepare a feast to distract the creature (Also reduce its appetite for us furless apes I would assume) and light fire crackers to draw it off. Then the whole thing starts anew the next year. Of course, folk tales such as this have various ways to be told, but the gest of which is similar to Jewish Pass-over’s origin as told by Exodus of the Biblical fame.
The Japanese people, while getting rid of their post winter solstice with consumerism dipped Christmas as appetizer and Solar New Year as the main party nowadays, once celebrated the Lunar New Year. Yours truly would assume that they told some apocalyptic tales about the festival, or why else would the following 4 end of the world scenario took place on Christmas in the following 4 titles. Other than their art style can be put under the umbrella term “anime” and the way their cut scenes “cheapening out” in the so-called visual novel fashion, the mechanics of those are on 3 different levels: cowardly in the middle, baldly shallow and allegedly deep. Well, in the order of your truly playing them, the list starts with the middle one.
First Cancelation of the Apocalypse
Have a nice song and dance on the twenty-fourth, roped into the endgame on the twenty-fifth: Sakura Wars (2020)
The last time credits roll was been: December, 25th, 2019
A personal summary with no connect to the festivals:
Released in Japan early December, 2019, this Sakura Wars soft reboot could have cashed in on people’s appreciation of visual novel and turn-based tactic hybrid brought on by Fire Emblem Three Houses. But alas they decided to “boarder their horizon” by making the combat into something even too simple by Musou standard. Now more than 5 years later, there is still no news on the sequel. Oh well, at least being released in English speaking region the same day as Gears Tactics made a nice tale about how the 2 series seemingly switched genre, heh?
The so far only installment in SEGA’s softly rebooted Sakura Wars series was quite eager to get its fan pleasing greatest hits out. While the first generation of Tokyo Opera Troupe did not get their Christmas jam titled Bell of Mircle (“Ring for our Lord Jesus born in a manger of Bethlehem” as the song goes) out until 1998’s Sakura Wars 2, the “creatively” titled in Japanese New Sakura Wars would let its new troupe members reenacting that Christmas classic (No mention to Christmas’ religious origin that is.) on December, 24th in an alternative 1940.
Or might as well, because the 25th in the game is action-packed day screams “rushed”. The potential love interest, who fits the tall, dark and handsome archetype, has both a Heel turn and then a Face turn between breakfast and lunch. Probably just to calm those who choose to date her in this dating sim. Then after lunch, the player would be entitled to say “We are in the endgame, honey” to the one girl they scored in the game and all the national stereotypes came out and play. Time would skip to January, 1st, 1941 after the final boss fight, then it’s a grand farewell tour for the player and credits roll over New Year celebration. Kicking many cans down the road for that still not announced sequel. Guess Altus and “Like A Dragon” studio still get ahead of everyone else over at SEGA.
The Only Countdown to the Apocalypse
Mental breakdown for even the brightest and toughest among us: Muv-luv
The last time credits roll was been: June, 2023
A personal summary with no connect to the festivals:
On the cover of Muv-luv for Giantbomb user listing, one of the slogans says “orthodox high-school comedy”. Thus, many sees this visual novel’s alternative timeline of a forever war as an inversion of that marketing. Not really, kids still do silly and funny things when a forever war goes on. In many ways, one would think those military cadets were just playing what the developers played before the digital age at their youth.
On the community highlight my humble user review of Muv-luv was mentioned, moderator Zombiepie was very nice to include a screenshot of the game. It may look like a goofy Christmas celebration yet it’s nothing but. It’s a mad scientist having a complete mental breakdown and the only countdown to instead of cancelation of an extinction level event.
In the “dark timeline” of Muv-luv, Japan remains its militarized imperial self after they lost the Second World War. Hence, no consumerism dipped Christmas for that lot. Yet, with the arrival of Takeru Shiragane, someone who did live in the consumerism dipped Japan in our timeline, people decided to listen to him and blow off their post winter solstice blue with this “Ku-ri-su-ma-su” of their old enemies’. All seemed well until they were told that their unit would be disbanded, the get-to-know-your-alien-enemies operation Alternative Four canceled and the nuke-the-alien-bastards-from-orbit-as-the-only-way-to-be-sure operation Alternative Five activated.
As a rom-com, Muv-luv does not shy away from the bitter kind of drama typical at the genre’s “third act”. But this Christmas blues is the harbinger for its sequel’s bucket load of tragedies. One may argue that the 2003 visual novel does it all the more sadder since the bitterness felt here eventually mounted to nothing, while in its 2006 sequel most of the deceased sell their lives dearly to delay the apocalypse for at least 2 decade.
Second Cancelation of the Apocalypse
Take back homeland by Christmas, save the world on New Year: Muv-luv Alternative
The last time credits roll was been: May, 2023
A personal summary with no connect to the festivals:
“The best visual novel ever made”, huh? Well, I would not go that far. In fact, I don’t think anyone on this green earth has the mental capacity to read “enough” VN and maintain their sanity to make such statement convincingly. But I did read enough science fiction novels to say that the script of Muv-luv Alternative is good enough to tango with the best of its genre. It has robust world building and compelling internal struggle yet never loses it plot.
Ah, yes Alternative is a very different beast from Muv-luv. For one, this 2006 sequel does not have routes, “player choices” do not matter in the slightest, all in service of telling a great story. In this even darker time line (With Takeru witnessing a mentor killed in front of him in a very graphic fashion.), things finally light up on December, 25th, 2001. Takeru and his “harem” finally get to the “mechs versus monsters” action, joining the suicide squad (Whose members would only sell their lives the most dearly.) after some really, really long briefings. It’s the release after so much build-up.
Well, the apocalypse here is not exactly canceled on Christmas. Guess this game gets in line of the Lunar New Year origin myth, January, 1st, 2002 is where this dark time line finally sees some lights. All suicide squad members sell their lives dearly to kill the brain of alien hive mind and a mad scientist estimates that it would buy humanity a couple of decade. Apocalypse is canceled not delayed in this timeline since strangely all the Muv-luv continuation so far takes place in the “Earth nuked from orbit“ timeline…
Third Cancelation of the Apocalypse
A Gnostic Christmas Tale: Persona 5
The last time credits roll was been: December, 16th, 2023
A personal summary with no connect to the festivals:
I have a feeling that 2024 would be the year when I go down the rabbit hole of the second Persona trilogy. 3, 4 and 5, that is. If Persona 3 Reload runs well enough on the Deck, I would play that. If not (Which should not be likely, since the bloody thing needs to run on the 11 years old PS4.), the demake they dubbed Portable on Switch will suffice. I am still debating with myself about going back to the save I abandoned for 8 years on Vita or starting fresh on Switch regarding Persona 4 Golden. After those 2, I just might become unhinged enough to start NG+ on Persona 5 Royal, hanging out with those 2 Anakin Skywalker looking motherfuckers just to see that fabled third semester. Well, all this is a long-winded and roundabout way to explain why while I reviewed Royal on Switch (It’s not like ther vanilla one can be played there), it’s the ending of that 2016/2017 title I am writing about here.
Contrast to popular conception, orthodoxy came after heresy in the history of Christianity instead of the other way around. The learned people called church fathers developed the right kind of theology to combat existing believes different from theirs. One of such early heresies is the Gnostics. Compared to many hair slipping disagreements of antiquity, this lot is relatively easier to define: they are polytheist, who believe in more than one god. So, no chance early Christian monotheists would not remove them from the gene pool and tarnish their name for the rest of history: Which part of “one true god” didn’t that lot get? Jesus Christ is not a new addition to their bloody pantheon!
Okay, enough with history lesson. There can be no denying that Gnostics’ polytheism is very compatible with Persona series’ rouge galley of deities as those games’ final bosses. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts started with Persona 5 killed 2 of those divine assholes under my command: first some gear head in the March of Tactica; then someone who chose December, 24th of all days to hit their reset button for “the world of men”. No, the word “men” here is not gendered. Just as party support member Futaba Sakura texted me the name of her asshat of an uncle and confirmed that he can be hunted in Mementos on the 23rd, I got roped into the endgame without knowing it.
Well, I should have. For one thing I have a copy of the official strategy guide in Japanese and it told me that December 24th is the day to get to the bottom of Mementos. For another, the camera pulls back in the similar fashion of Tokyo Mirage Sessions’ final dungeon entrance, which should have been a dead giveaway. Unlike the green pasture and blue sky of TMS though, Persona 5’s bottom of Mementos is a prison of red and black. The human rogues player’s party defeated, except the dead one and the one got away, are kept there. The final boss appears as a chalice there and a very baffling thing happened.
This chalice will self-heal, which is not the first. Shadow Kamoshita, boss of the first dungeon did so and player simply select one party member to sabotage his self-healing mechanism. Not here though, defeat is mandate and party members are thrown to prison. Here I think the age of this game’s creative leads is shown, because they still think Ultraman is the coolest thing in the world. The player character escapes first and talk to his posses, who would get out and suit up in the fashion of Ultraman appears in those shows, sound effect and all.
“Diving deep to the surface” in the song Herald of Darkness would fit the home stretch of Persona 5 well. Phantom Thieves get out of Mementos to the ground and a doomsday device is one. They have to fight through corridor of angels, the aforementioned chalice (With command for one to sabotage its self-healing now) and a deity who think they should take the empty seat of creator. But it’s Christmas Eve according to the modern calendar, so player character manages to have his Persona powered up to the level of divinity, take the gun from final boss and one-shot that bastard before they can reach the reset button. Apocalypse canceled here.
And if you follow my list making and review list, first thank you. And you might think I made this list just because I reviewed Persona 5 after I put up my old game list of 2023, guilty as charged.
