Kura Reads, Kura Watches, Kura Plays

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #14 [Achilles Spear; God Mode off]

Well...none of that went like I hoped. I am somewhat out of practice, but, still, I didn't get ANY of the power-ups I wanted. 

Highlights:

Defeated Meg without losing a DD, though it was close

Met Sisyphus

Bought two Keys

Spent 150 Coins on an Ares power-up, only to not get the Doom Special like I needed [thanks, Ares] 

Got a Trial of the Gods; picked Dionysus, and got smitted [smitten? ew, no, ew] by Zeus 

Used up a DD getting to Lernie, then the second one in the process of defeating Lernie [still one of my fastest]

Almost made it to the Minotaur and Other Guy

Got to see a conversation between Thanatos and Meg

 

 

Well, the +Darkness is on the Rail again, so I guess I'll go with that again. It occurred to me that I don't really need to grind for gemstones, since fulfilling the power-up and weapon upgrade prophecies will give me more than enough gemstones for all the house commissions, so I'll start focusing on getting un-used power-ups and hammers. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #15 [Achilles Spear; God Mode off]

I was so annoyed at Ares, I decided to go for another Spear attempt, and see if my luck would reverse. It did...but, well...to quote Good Cop/Bad Cop from the Lego Movie: "Darn darn darn-y darn darn!" Still, closer than ever before, in this playthrough.

This isn't so much Highlights as it is almost every major event, but whatever.

Got Viscious Skewer right in the first room

Got Ares' Doom Special [it was even Epic!]

Caught all of one fish [did all my Doom-ing scare them away?] 

Encountered Sisyphus

Got Ares' Dire Misfortune [increases Doom damage the more times it's inflicted]

Defeated the Wretched Sneak [ha! I can teleport, too! ...Sort of]

Defeated Meg super fast [hi, Meg, bye, Meg]

Defeated the gorgon/skull crusher super fast

Got Hermes' Greatest Evasion [more dash, yes!]

Got Artemis' Pressure Points [more crit. chance!]

Encountered Eurydice

Bought Darkness and a Pom at the shop

Defeated Lernie super fast [hi, Lernie's heads, bye, Lernie's heads] 

Got Flurry Jab

Got Poseidon's Hydraulic Might

Defeated the Minotaur and the Other Guy, unfortunately lost one DD in the process [Zeus did his level best to smite me again, but thanks to Hermes, I managed to dodge most of it] 

Bought the Titan's Blood [boo-yah]

Found the sack in the second tunnel [hooray!]

Bought one last Pom [every single Pom I got, I added to the Ares Special, to the extent that it was at Lv. 9 and the base damage was 230 by the end]

Got Hades 2nd form down to almost 2/4th HP [if only I hadn't lost the DD, I might've managed it]

Commissioned the Deep Cleaning and Detailing for the Lounge

Gave a Nectar to Dusa and got her Keepsake 

 

 

The +Darkness is now on the Bow [groan], so I'll see how I do with that. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #16 [Bow; God Mode on]

Well, that went about as well as I'd expected.

Caught all of one fish, again

Got Aphrodite's Keepsake

Encountered Thanatos, gave him Nectar

Lost one DD to Alecto

Defeated by the gorgon [*sigh*]

Got Meg's Keepsake 

I needed only 3 more Darkness for the 3rd Death Defiance, and was really irritated when I noticed that.

 

 

Attempt #17 [Fists; God Mode off--I forgot to turn it on, oops]

Caught two fish

Got Chaos' Keepsake

Encountered Sisyphus 

Defeated Meg without losing a DD

Encountered Eurydice [I keep moving on without listening to her song, and I feel so bad about it]

Lost both DDs to the witches [that was...miserable]

Defeated by Lernie [so...close...ugh]

Commissioned Treasure Trove Lv. 3

Unlocked the next part of the Mirror, finally got the 3rd DD, and increased max HP +10

 

Next I'll be focusing on maxing HP, and maybe maxing Privleged Status, then hoarding Darkness for all of Fated Persuasion. The +Darkness is on the Spear, so heck yeah. For Keepsakes, I can't decide whether to go for a chance at buying the Titan's Blood/Diamond while still maybe getting the power-ups I want, with Hypnos, Ares, Zeus/Artemis, Skelly, or to go for power-ups and extra damage with Ares, Zeus/Artemis, Nyx, Skelly. Hmm...

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #18 [Achilles Spear, God Mode off]

Again, this isn't so much highlights as almost everything that happened. I ended up going Ares, Artemis, Cerberus, Skelly for Keepsakes. 

Caught 3 fish [yay!]

Got Ares' Doom Special right away

Got Poseidon's Hydraulic Might

Encountered Sisyphus

Got Dionysus' Strong Drink

Got Viscious Skewer [yessss]

Beat Alecto super fast [hi, Alecto, bye, Alecto]

Got Hermes' Hyper Sprint

Encountered Eurydice [this time I waited a bit before proceeding]

Beat Lernie without losing a DD 

Got Triple Jab

Bought an Ares' power-up at the shop, then it morphed into Ares and Poseidon's Duo power-up, so I went with it 

Got a Trial of the Gods with Artemis and Ares, picked Artemis; got Support Fire and Battle Rage

Got Ares' Curse of Vengeance

Lost a DD only a couple rooms before the third boss[es]

Met Patroclus, restored DD [still waiting on that conversation with Achilles so I can start giving him Nectar!]

Lost the DD, again, to the Minotaur and Other Guy fight, but still won

Got Hermes' Greatest Evasion

Found the sack in the third tunnel

Bought the Titan's Blood in the shop

Almost got Hades to his second form [*sigh*]

Maxed HP, and added +10 to Privleged Status 

 

So, it looks like the power-up and weapon upgrade prophecy rewards won't be nearly enough for all the Gemstones needed, so I'm just going to pick my favourites and make a list of them. Also, I'm going to start stock-piling Darkness for Fated Persuasion. 

Also, I had 7 Titan's Blood, so I unlocked the Chaos Shield and levelled up it and the Achilles Spear to Lv. 2, leaving 2 Titan's Blood left currently [I decided I'm going to level them up at the same time, so I need four more for Lv. 3]

 

The +Darkness is on the Shield, so that's a fortuitous crazy random happenstance. I'll go for Athena to try to get dash reflect, then Zeus for the chain lightning Special. For Elysium...maybe Eurydice, since I'll be so focused on defense.

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #19 [Chaos Shield, God Mode off]

Well, that was kind of a disaster.

Basically, I didn't get any of the power-ups I wanted, except Ares' Doom Special when I bought it in a shop in Elysium, and by then it was way too late to add Poms to it, had rather a hard time with Lernie, and then lost to the archers and butterfly balls in Elysium. Oh, and I only caught one fish. Again.

But, on the plus side, Thanatos showed up, and I gave him a Nectar, and also gave a Nectar to Charon because I was feeling generous.

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #20 [Sword; God Mode on]

Grrrrrrrergh....

Highlights:

Gave Nectar to Chaos, and got the speed reduce in exchange for making Darkness and coins worth way more [I still have many power-ups of theirs to get]

Encountered Sisyphus

Gave Nectar to Charon [because I was feeling extra generous, I guess]

Lost two DDs to Tisiphone [*groan*]

Made it through the Barge of Death [I really like the song that plays during this section; it's one of my favourites]

Defeated Lernie without losing another DD

Caught all of one fish, again

Encountered Thanatos, lost the contest [at least I got some this time], gave him a Nectar

Made it all the way to the Minotaur and Other Guy, with only Skelly's DD left, and miraculously managed to not only defeat the Minotaur, but come within 3-4 hits of winning the full fight [fudging Theseus and his fudging Aphrodite summon]

 

So, to update on quest progression, I've still got a long way to go for the other weapon upgrades besides the Shield [of which I'm only missing three]; I'm one power-up away from completing Hermes and Dionysus, respectively, but still got anywhere from four to six, or thereabouts, for the rest. Thanks to Chaos, I got loads of Darkness, and I'm already 1/10 of the way to maxing Fated Persuasion. 

My new objective is to defeat Hades on or before attempt #30. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Watches: Miraculous Ladybug [Season 2]

Spoiler

 

 

Episode 36: Robustus 

Opening Thoughts: This was...actually a really good episode.

Lucky Charm Mode: Gains 2 for Marakov being one of the cutest robots I've ever seen, and, even better, actually having emotions! [I can count on one hand the amount of robots/androids who have emotions, I want far more!] Also gains 1 for all the classmates being so supportive of Max [except Chole, but she's Chloe, so...] whilst the teacher and principal are being ridiculously condescending when they should be giving Max a grant for further robotic research, and, um...anyway. Gains 1 more for more lore tidbits, plus Hawk Moth accidentally revealing, partially what he wants the Miraculous for. 

Cataclysm Mode: Gains 2 for Robostus being a Transformer made of construction machines, as well as for one of the most intense fights yet, and Robostus being, you know, smart. Gains 2 more for Hawk Moth being attacked by his own security systems, and Robostus coming seconds away from winning. 

Closing Tally: 8! 😁 Wow! [I did almost take a point off for what I was ranting about above, but, oh well.] 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

Attempt #21 [Achilles Spear; God Mode off]

Once again, I didn't get any of the power-ups I actually wanted, aside from two of Hermes that were very useful. 

Caught two fish

Got Ares' Attack Special

Encountered Sisyphus

Got Viscious Skewer

Defeated Meg super fast

Encountered Thanatos, but lost the contest and didn't get to give him a Nectar

Got through the Barge fairly easily, and got a new Athena power-up

Got a new upgrade, Massive Spin

Got Dionysus and Ares' Duo

Lost two DD to the Minotaur and Other Guy

Lost the third and Skelly's against the Dire Satyr Cultist

Bought the Titan's Blood

Got three new Zeus power-ups in total, plus the Zeus and Ares Duo

Didn't even get Hades' first form to 2/4th HP

Commissioned the Rose Vases, Ambrosia Cake, Achilles Scroll, Fancy Bed for Cerberus, Lounge Rug, and Bedroom Rug

 

I'm getting closer and closer to completing Zeus, Ares, Athena, Hermes, and Dionysus' power-up prophecies, though Artemis, Demeter, and especially Aphrodite still have awhile to go.

I've also decided that I'm going to start picking Chaos gates as much as possible, to complete their prophecies, and get lots of Keys for the Mirror all at once.

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Extra Stuff:

 

Random little details I've noticed lately in Hades:

 

When using Demeter's power-ups, Zagreus' feet will start to freeze and leave little ashy footprints

 

When buying the Price of Midas Well item, a little pool of blood will appear on the floor afterwards, since by buying it, you get coins in exchange for actual HP

 

Each Keepsake has a tiny sound effect that plays when you equip them [for instance, Thanatos' is his bell sound, Sisyphus is a chain sound, Eurydice is a nut cracking, Artemis is an arrow hitting, and so forth]

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

 

Also, I've been thinking it over for several days, and I've decided I'm going to get the Friends of Mineral Town Switch remake. I was initially turned away from it after reading all these reviews calling it a 'bland', 'boring', 'dull', 'soulless' game, plus seemingly everyone and their dog and their dog's dog despising the artstyle, when to me it's by far one of the cutest art styles I've ever seen and I love it. But I've been thinking and looking at videos of people who actually like it, and come to the conclusion that most of the reviews are stymied by nostalgia, and that...people just don't like cute games, for some reason, and find it personally insulting somehow? *confused Kura*

Anyway, since I've never played the original, I think that coming into it completely new [well, as new as you can get when you do have experience playing RF3, RF4, Trio of Towns, and Stardew Valley] would be a benefit.

Speaking of, one thing that I almost always end up feeling with both Trio of Towns and Stardew Valley is that the amount of things to do VS how long it takes to get places just makes me feel way too rushed, It's all, I'm playing this to relax, not feel rushed! [RF4, proving its excellent game design, has the Teleport spell and warp points all over the map that make going places ridiculously easy, and therefore the pacing is astronomically better; consequently, in games that don't have this, I really notice it, and it's annoying. But enough singing praises of RF4 already.]

I'm going to try my best to defeat Hades before or by Attempt #30, but if I don't, I'll take a break either way. After obsessing over Hades for two and a half months now, I think playing a super relaxing game would be really fun. 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #22 [Fists, God Mode on]

Wow! This ended up being a super great attempt on the progression in getting items and power-ups end of things! Hooray! [I've decided that I'm going to save actually facing Hades for Spear and Shield attempts, as it's way less stressful and I can focus on getting extra chances for new power-ups. Plus I won't have to worry about not turning off God Mode.]

Since I had lots of Nectar stocked up, I decided to be super generous today. 

Highlights:

Gave Nectar to Cerberus and Achilles

Commissioned Treat Jar [I'd assumed that you couldn't have the Treat Jar and Ambrosia Cake at the same time, but they have separate spots on the kitchen counter, so yay!]

Caught two fish

Got a new Chaos power-up [a very useful one, too, that increases the amount of Coins you get], but forgot to give them a Nectar [oops] 

Got a Trial with Zeus and Dionysus, picked Dionysus, and got a new Zeus power-up [Storm Lightning]

Encountered Sisyphus, gave him a Nectar

Defeated Alecto without losing a DD

Encountered Thanatos, lost the contest

Lost a DD to the gorgon mini-boss [jerks]

Encountered Eurydice, gave her a Nectar

Lost second DD to Lernie, but got the next Diamond

Equipped Skelly's Keepsake, then lost the last two DDs while struggling through Elysium [if only nearly every enemy didn't have armour, or the weapon dudes didn't regenerate...]

Was saved from certain loss by Patroclus, who restored all my DDs, and since I'd happened to check his entry in the Codex earlier, I could finally give him a Nectar and got his Keepsake [double hooray!]

Made it to the Minotaur and Other Guy fight, and while it took 3 DDs to defeat them, I won eventually, and claimed the third Ambrosia

Bought the Titan's Blood and a new Dionysus power-up in the shop

Got Poseidon's Sunken Treasure, and thanks to Chaos and the +Darkness, got loads of Darkness, plus a few Gemstones

Almost almost almost beat the Dire...um...prism laser beam thing [I don't even know what it's called], but had too few HP and a Satyr Cultist after me [so close!]

Gave Nectar to Thanatos and Dusa

Traded 50 Gemstones for 5 Keys, and unlocked the last part of the Mirror, and had 1,800 odd Darkness, so not quite enough for two Fated Persuasions, but got one to start off, and then used 500 to max out Privleged Status

Equipped Patroclus' Keepsake for all of two seconds to complete the Keepsake prophecy, and gained two Ambrosia 

Used three Titan's Blood to increase the Achilles Spear to Lv. 3

 

The +Darkness is on the Spear again, so I'm going to give that another go. Hopefully I'll get two more Titan's Blood in-between now and the next Shield attempt for getting the Chaos Shield to Lv. 3. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Basically, two attempts where everything went terribly wrong for all the wrong reasons. [Also, I've decided that from now on I'm only going to mention power-ups if I got new ones or if it's something that I use a lot/helped a lot in my attempts.]

 

 

Attempt #23 [Achilles Spear, God Mode off]

Commissioned Azure Drapery and Chthonic Trim 

Caught two fish

Got Ares' Doom Special

Encountered Sisyphus, gave him a Nectar

Defeated Meg super fast

Found a fishing spot in a Chaos Gate and got a Perfect Catch!

Got a new Chaos power-up and gave them a Nectar

Beat the gorgon mini-boss

Met Thanatos, won the contest

Lost a DD to Lernie thanks to Chaos' curse needing one more encounter to turn into a blessing

Got the Chaos 'lose HP when you Attack in exchange for Darkness/Gemstones being worth more' power-up

Defeated by butterfly ball mini-boss since I couldn't attack to stop the damage from the butterflies

Gave Nectar to Cerberus

Commissioned Pillar-Top Candles, West Hall Seating, and Cerberus' Toy Ball; completed the 30 Commissions prophecy and got 4 Diamonds 

Commissioned the Contractor's New Desk, Darker Thirst [makes Darkness/Gemstones worth more], and Fated Keys [restores Fated Persuasion dice upon collecting Keys] 

 

 

Attempt #24 [Rail; God Mode on]

Caught two fish

Got Dionysus Cast, Special, and Dash

Got a new upgrade

Got Artemis' Aid

Got a new Aphrodite power-up

Got a Trial with Aphrodite and Dionysus, picked the former for safety; got a new Aphrodite power-up

Bought a new Zeus power-up [only one left!]

Got Hermes' Hyper Sprint and Greater Evasion

Lost a DD to Meg

Got the first Legendary power-up, Dionysus' Black Out

Encountered Eurydice, gave her a Nectar

Got another new Aphrodite power-up

Lost a DD to Lernie

Got yet another new Aphrodite power-up [she's everywhere, apparently, but, then, I've been ignoring her in favour of pretty much everyone else, so...]

Got another new upgrade

Bought the Dionysus + Artemis Duo

Defeated the Minotaur as a mini-boss

Encountered Thanatos, lost the contest

Encountered Patroclus, gave him a Nectar

Used up all DD to defeat the MInotaur and Other Guy [wow, that was intense]

...But it turned out all for nothing, because I only had 300 odd Coins by then, and couldn't get any more for the Diamond

Defeated by Satyr Cultists 

Gave Nectar to Dusa

 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #25 [Sword; God Mode on]

Today was a bit of an experimental attempt. I used some spare Darkness to add points to Fiery Presence, and Stubborn Defiance, in an attempt [ha] to get the Chaos power-up that the former as a prerequisite, and to get the 'Touch of Styx' item needed for the Well item prophecy. 

Highlights: [which are once again, mostly everything that happened]

Caught two fish

Got a new Athena power-up, Phalanx Shot

Got Addled Assault from Chaos [mission accomplished]

Encountered Sisyphus

Got Zeus' chain lightning power-up

Bought new upgrade, Piercing Wave [possibly the best or second best Sword upgrade, especially with Zeus' chain lightning]

Barely beat Meg

Encountered Eurydice

Barely beat the gorgon mini-boss

Got new Aphrodite power-up, Wave of Despair

Bought new Athena, Blinding Flash, and fulfilled Athena's prophecy [hooray!!!]

Defeated Lernie without too much trouble

Got Chaos' Pauper's Lunge power-up [never getting that again]

Got a new upgrade, Cursed Slash [reduces HP to only 60, but makes it so each hit restores health, making me basically invincible with God Mode on, and still very safe with it off]

Got a Trial with Zeus and Athena, picked Zeus; got dash reflect from Athena [yesss]

Encountered Thanatos, almost won the contest [the score was 14 for me, and 15 for him]

Defeated the Minotaur and Other Guy, and claimed the victory Ambrosia! 

Got a new Duo, Parting Shot

Bought the Diamond

Turned God Mode off and promptly lost to Hades

Gave Nectar to Thanatos [now his hearts are maxed until I win the contest six times...*sigh*]

Traded ten Gemstones for a spare Key, used it to return all the Darkness, then put it back to everything maxed except God's Legacy, God's Pride, and Fated Persuasion 

Claimed the 150 Gemstone reward from Athena's prophecy 

Commissioned Kitchen Oven 

 

Well, I didn't get the Touch of Styx, and the +Darkness is on the Shield, so I'll go with that, and then the next three attempts will probably be all Spear. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #26 [Chaos Shield, God Mode off]

I didn't get a single Special power-up until near the end of Elysium. Come on! Zeus, Ares, Dionysus! *shakes fist* 

Highlights:

Caught all of one fish 

Got dash reflect [yessss]

Got Empowering Flight

Bought Hermes' Greatest Reflex in the shop

Defeated Alecto pretty easily [half the fun was baiting her to somersault over the spike traps]

Got Hermes' Greater Evasion

Encountered Eurydice

Almost lost a DD to the gorgon mini-boss [even with the shield, I was still having trouble, ugh]

Bought a Dionysus power-up at the shop, hoping for Special, but had to settle for Attack instead

Got a new Chaos power-up

Encountered Patroclus right at the beginning of Elysium, and gave him a Nectar

Lost a DD to the shield dudes [it's like the game was taunting me]

Lost two DD to the Minotaur and Other Guy fight [Poseidon's wave typhoon things are worse than Artemis' green circles of doom], but managed to win

Bought the Titan's Blood at the shop

Defeated the dire pink crystal laser beam thing

Intentionally lost to the UFO bomb things [still don't know what half the enemies are called] 

Upon reentering the House, Orpheus was singing Good Riddance! I don't think I've actually heard it in game before, it was so lovely and ethereal 

Traded 40 Gemstones for 4 Keys to get 15 Keys for the limited offer Titan's Blood

Added 2,000 Darkness to get the second Fated Persuasion, then added +1 each to Olympic Favour and Gods' Pride

 

I'm actually kind of regretting putting 3 Titan's Blood into the Chaos Shield already, as it occurred to me that I could've had the Achilles Spear to Lv. 4 by now. Oh, well. I'll just keep gathering them bit by bit. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Plays: Hades

Spoiler

 

 

Attempt #27 [Achilles Spear, God Mode off]

 

🐟 + 8 

⚔️ 🍊 + Lv. 6

🛡️

🍷 +4

🎲

💀🏆

⏱️ ✂️

⏱️ 🐍

⏱️🐮

💰

⚔️🛡️

💥💥☠️☠️☠️😲😲🙀

 

 

 

 

 

I did it. 

 

 

Smiley face shenanigans aside, here's everything that happened.

 

Caught 8 fish thanks to getting Poseidon's Huge Catch legendary power-up right away

Gave a Nectar to Ares [trying to trigger the 'slay 10,000 enemies' quest], got his Doom Special [Epic level, no less], and levelled it up to Lv. 6 by the end

Bought a Pom in the shop

Got Attack reflect from Athena

Got Dionysus' Strong Drink [full health at every fountain, plus 4 extra damage boosts, heck yeah!]

Spent 3 dice [I mean, die] on Chaos, and got Roiling Flourish [increases the amount of enemies for 3 encounters, then +73 Special damage]

Encountered Thanatos, won the contest 32 to 12

Beat Tisiphone in approximately 15-20 seconds

Beat the gorgon mini-boss easily

Got Hermes' Hyper Sprint

Beat Lernie super fast

Got Hermes' Greatest Reflex

Got Extending Jab

Got a Trial with Poseidon and Ares; picked Poseidon, got Ocean's Bounty and a new Ares, Blood Frenzy [increases damage after losing DDs]

Defeated the Minotaur, but lost a DD mere seconds away from winning because I was low on HP

Got Triple Jab

Lost a DD to the Minotaur and Other Guy, but won, and it might've been my fastest time yet

Found the sack in the second tunnel, but was short 50 coins

Picked a Centaur Heart tunnel; bought Kiss of Styx to restore one DD, then sold Ocean's Bounty and Huge Catch at the red fountain while there

Bought the Titan's Blood, Ares--Athena Duo, Merciful End [deflect attacks cause Doom]--complete with sibling bickering, very funny, and a Pom

 

DEFEATED HADES WITH ALL DDS GONE AND AT 4 HP. YE GODS THAT WAS CLOSE! 

 

Oh, and upon journeying to the surface, I finally realized that I can take in-game pictures of things with the Switch camera [only took two years, sheesh], and took a picture of Zagreus standing on the cliff, overlooking the setting sun

 

This stuff happened, too: 

Gave a Nectar to Dusa

Completed the 'escape the underworld for the first time' quest, and 'catch 25 fish' quest, and got 1,000 Darkness and 250 Gemstones 

Added Titan's Blood to level up the Achilles Spear to Lv. 4

 

 

This is the third most audacious thing I've ever done in a video game, that's for sure. [The first is clearing the ultra hard bonus dungeon in the 3DS version of Rune Factory 4 by using an accessory that kept regular monsters away, just leaving the bosses, and the second is defeating brutally hard bonus boss Theodore on Normal difficulty in Persona 3 PSP edition.]

As for new plans, well, I'm going to at long last be taking a break from Hades for the rest of the month, and buying/playing the Friends of Mineral Town remake on Sunday, so there'll be a complete 180 in terms of tone, but I'm sure I'll have lots of fun. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Watches: Miraculous Ladybug [Season 2]

Spoiler

 

 

Episode 37: Dark Owl

Opening Thoughts: A Batman parody episode? Count me in!

Lucky Charm Mode: Gains 2 for giving Mr. Damocles a surprising amount of depth through his silly attempts to be a superhero. Gains 2 more for a lot of funny moments that had me laughing out loud [including the belt buckling incident that I'm pretty sure is an Incredibles reference], and some nice Ladybug + Chat Noir bonding moments as well. Also, Tikki and Plagg sharing a macaroon is one of the cutest things ever.

Cataclysm Mode: Gains 3 for a fun costume complete with Batman-parody gadgets that actually work, good motivation, being genre-savvy, and a ridiculously convoluted plan that almost worked, plus getting so close to unmasking Ladybug that he would've succeeded if it hadn't been for pesky cartoon physics. Also gains 1 for Ladybug and Chat Noir working as a team pretty much flawlessly despite the difficult situation. 

Closing Tally: 8! *gasp* Another 8! That's great! [I'd thought of removing a point for Akuma Albert being an actual person's head [the co-director of the episode, apparently] and being super freaking creepy because of that, but luckily he's not on-screen for very long. 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Watches: Miraculous Ladybug [Season 2]

Spoiler

 

I did watch Episode 38 last week, but then I didn't post my review! Woops. 

 

 

Episode 38: The Sapotis

Opening Thoughts: I have no idea what a Sapotis is supposed to look like, but they look more like tiny Onis to me. 

Lucky Charm Mode: Gains 2 right off the bat for Alya getting the fox Miraculous, which provides her with a way better disguise than the other three we've seen so far, but loses 1 for Alya not noticing the blatantly obvious, as well as giving up the Miraculous at the end because status quo. But, gains 1 for some nice Marinette + Alya bonding moments.

Cataclysm Mode: Loses 1 for Hawk Moth being a complete hypocrite. [As a side note, you'd think he'd learn not to try akuma-izing kids.] But, gains 3 for the Sapotis being surprisingly cute, and the montage of them trashing Paris being quite funny, and coming very close to overwhelming Ladybug and Chat Noir by sheer force of numbers. 

Closing Tally: 4! 😄 Not a bad episode, just kind of uneven.

 

 

 

Episode 39: Captain HardRock

Opening Thoughts: I'm really tired of anti-authoritarian characters being portrayed as reckless and harmful strawpeople. Unfortunately, when people use the 'freedom of speech' argument, it's usually being used as an excuse to harm other people or promote dangerous behaviour. Also, 160 decibels would be ten times louder than the loudest jet engine ever, so exactly how everyone doesn't have severely damaged ears... [this has been random rants with Kura!] 

Lucky Charm Mode: Gains 1 for introducing new characters, but loses 3 for Luka being an obvious 'romantic false lead' for Marinette [as if the shipping wars weren't bad enough], and for Anarka [which I just noticed is a pun on 'anarchy', and she's also a literal music pirate] not receiving any consequences for any of her actions and Roger inexplicably letting her off the hook [oh, for...what is this show doing to my puns?] 

Cataclysm Mode: Gains 3 for a ridiculous but also kind of awesome guitar speaker system pirate ship fusion, a neat costume, and fun pirate fights, but also loses 1 for everyone inexplicably surviving the ship hitting the ramp, hitting the ground at high speed, and then falling on its side. The real miracle must be animation physics. 

Closing Tally: 5!  😄 Yep, again, another okay episode. 

 

 

 

 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Edit: Apparently my math skills have wandered into an alternate dimension again, because I somehow miscounted the ranking tally. It's 4, not 5, so I'll fix that. 

[KuraTheChibiSleepingBeauty]

Kura Watches: Miraculous Ladybug [Season 2]

Spoiler

 

Episode 40: Frightingale

Opening Thoughts: *sigh* When this show really hits the mark, it's very entertaining. When it doesn't, it's extremely frustrating to watch. 

Lucky Charm Mode: Loses 3 for everyone being SPECTACULARLY un-smart because status quo, as well as the painfully cringe-y auditions and everything to do with Chloe being Chloe. Also, Marinette being obsessed with Nightingale despite never mentioning her before. Gains 1 for everyone getting to sing the theme song at the end. 

Cataclysm Mode: Gains 1 for Frightingale looking like a cross between Harley Quinn and an anime pop idol, as well as Ladybug's solution, but loses 3 for the stupid rhyming. Gods, that was irritating, and I don't even speak French well! 

Closing Tally: 3. ☹️

 

 

 

Episode 41: Troublemaker 

Opening Thoughts: But, things are looking up [and down? no, that doesn't work] in this episode. 

Lucky Charm Mode: Gains 3 for giving Penny some nice depth, Jagged Stone being funny, and various bakery shenanigans, but unfortunately loses 1 for Adrien inexplicably being completely fine with Marinette's "stalker shrine" at the very end, because it's not! At all! 

Cataclysm Mode: Gains 4 for Troublemaker having an inventive costume and really neat powers [a goth rockstar poltergeist!], her very, very close almost-victory [twice!], as well as Ladybug's clever plan to defeat her. 

Closing Tally: 7! 😁  So close!