@chamurai: Aww turnips, I somehow missed that. I wonder if the whole name kerfuffle is why it wasn't announced on the English language stream? Seems weird to exclude it otherwise.
@borgmaster: Coincidentally enough, prior to this week I could've split the list 50/50 and said that I would've been happy to continue playing the top half after the 64 minutes were over. Let's say #15 and above are those I'd go back to, either via Switch Online or otherwise. (As for the "basically playable" region, I'd put that at #16-23.)
Borgmaster: TVTropes has a page on the concept so it's been around a while. I'm going to have to try Lisa one of these days; I've heard many good things.
ArbitraryWater: There's a couple of N64 anime tie-ins (real curious about that Evangelion game) but you're right, I think most of the devs working on those fled to the Sony and Sega consoles because their CD format meant it was easier to toss in grainy FMV taken from the shows/OVAs. You don't even need good gameplay if you have a bunch of grimy thirty-second clips to draw in the fans.
@armoredmachine: The downside to these rundowns is that the featured anime (and the games, for that matter) isn't exactly super accessible any more. Even so, the license owners of GS Mikami did upload the entire series on YouTube at some point (and then took it off again, which makes me wonder if they have plans for a re-release).
@manburger: Don't worry about not having a more elaborate response, I appreciate the support. It feels like half the stuff I write about is strange enough to be uncommentable.
@arbitrarywater: Total Kronie here, for sure. Here's hoping the ghost of Cortana can leave her be.
@mindbullet: Yeah, the standard price of VS isn't really breaking the bank. The reason I was happy to give the format a free trial run, as it were, was that I was extremely skeptical I could run a VS-type game with my current hardware given how taxing having all those sprites on-screen can be for even a moderately-powerful system. For what it's worth, HoloCure is optimized surprisingly well: when there's a lot on screen, it just slows down rather than skip or freeze up or crash. If anything, it's probably made the game a lot easier than it's meant to be.
I am wondering if putting in all this gratis work is worth it to Kay Yu, who as an animation freelancer must already have a dozen other projects and commissions on the docket that are actually paying the bills, but given how much the Hololive members themselves are into it that has to be pretty gratifying for a fan.
@tordah: I could see that. It's only a couple hours long, so maybe it didn't have much time to settle in. With some adventure games like this, if I have any distinct memories of particular areas it's because I visited them so many times trying to figure out what to do next.
@nodima: Ahh, good catch re: Beethovens, and the rolling thereof. I'm sure you're right but that's quite the reference for a 1999 monster truck game to make. The in-game soundtrack certainly didn't indicate a familiarity with classic rock.
Also, the Double/Triple Axels refer to figure-skating, which I also had to check now that I've become paranoid about the game's references going over my head. Am I... am I not cultured enough to appreciate Monster Truck Madness 64?
@arbitrarywater: Hybrid Heaven's definitely one of my pre-selects, albeit pretty far down the list. Wrestledent Evil, as I've taken to calling it. (Quest 64 is even further down that same list. I happen to own a copy, so desperate was I for N64 RPGs at the time.)
@tartyron: For sure, the late-game component requirements are getting crazy. I'm butting up against the time limits just because it takes so long to create the necessary amount of carbon steel for everything. I've since added another industrial furnace to my set-up (making three that can produce c-steel) and that's helped a little. Fortunately, if you find a good cache of iron ore you can get several hundred units from one trip to the ruins and not have to worry about raw materials for a while, but I'm looking for more ways to expedite things. Maybe make a few generators too because I keep forgetting to refuel everything.
I appreciate that I have options, at least, and all this downtime is making it easier to catch up with socializing and any commissions/side-quests that don't require the assembly platform. That the game can be this compelling and still have so many areas to improve makes me excited for Sandrock's potential.
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