TPrower

Greetings, everybody! Been a while since I gave an update, and I figured it was about time I did so, lol.

About a month ago, I managed to get myself a Switch 2, bundled with Mario Kart World! I was able to transfer my Switch's save data over to it, and I've been having a great time with it so far. The only downside I've been facing with MKW so far is that it's kind of a luck-of-the-draw to unlock the majority of the minion/baddie characters, depending on when the Kamek item is used, so I still have several I have yet to unlock. Otherwise, it's been some of the most fun I've had with a Mario Kart game, between the character selection and costumes, the Free Roam, the tracks, and the fantastic and nostalgia-inducing soundtrack! =)

But just recently, I also got a copy of Donkey Kong Bananza, and while I don't know whereabouts in the story I am, since it seems like a pretty huge game, I have been having an absolute blast with it! The fact that nearly every bit of terrain is destructible and can be pummeled through, which can open up handy shortcuts to collectibles, makes it very easy to get sidetracked in a good way. I also love the fast-travel mechanic in this game, allowing you to teleport not just within the same level, but to other levels as well, in case you want to backtrack and get something you missed. The bonus challenges and even some of the boss fights have given me a fair bit of trouble, so at least it's not TOO easy of a game, lol. As a final note, the dynamic between DK and Pauline is absolutely adorable, and reminds me of Wreck-it Ralph and Vanellope. =)

On a different note, I've been pondering something. During some free time, I decided on a whim to rerecord a few 'pause moments' I had from some of my MLP fan commentaries, the ones I rewatched and commented on after the fact, partly for the fun of it, partly to rerecord with better audio clarity. I'm contemplating uploading them sometime in the near future, though with how short they are, I wonder if I should upload them as standard videos or as YouTube Shorts, the latter of which I've never done before, or even as a small compilation, short as it would be. Any tips or advice, like if they would need subtitles or the like, are always appreciated. =)

That's all that's been up with me lately, and I hope all of you have been doing well. =)

Skip the Carousel

1 2

4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 14

TPrower

Well, I think it's safe to say that Nintendo gave us one heck of a show with the Switch 2 Direct. There's only a handful of games out of what they showed that I'm really interested in getting, but the tech specs and capabilities they showed off, plus said games that have been shown to be part of its library, and the fact that it'll have an online Gamecube library, have me very much intrigued. I know folks lost some of the hype when they learned what the prices will be like, and I admit it's a bit staggering at first, but I suppose it's reflective of how impressive and advanced the Switch 2 is and what it's capable of. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but I'm pretty hyped that it's releasing not too long from now.
For those curious, the games that got my interest were:
Mario Kart World
The Star-Crossed World expansion to Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Pokémon Legends Z-A (was already excited about that one, lol)
Kirby Air Riders
and Donkey Kong Bananza

8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 11

TPrower

Now that I've played through both Shadow Generations and seen the third Sonic movie, I can say with certainty that 2024 was a great year for the Ultimate Life Form and fans of his.

Shadow Generations was an awesome gaming experience, with well-designed levels, challenging boss fights, tons of lore, and a tense story with a very emotional ending. The only gripes I can find with it are the lengths you have to go to acquire some of the Collection Keys and the difficult controls of the Doom Morph power. Otherwise, it felt like a worthy and satisfying follow-up to the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog game, while giving fans plenty to ponder in terms of what's now canon.

As for the third Sonic movie, it's definitely the best of the three so far (I say so far since they've already announced that a 4th movie is in the works). As an alternate take on the Sonic Adventure 2 story, it works really well in keeping the same dark and tragic feel of the original, and Keanu Reeves was a perfect fit to voice Shadow himself. I also love the close brotherly bond between Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, the scenes with Maria and Shadow becoming friends were adorable (before the tragic moment, of course), and Jim Carrey shined once more as not just Eggman, but Gerald Robotnik too. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what comes next after seeing the mid/post-credits scenes (no spoilers, obviously).

Skip the Carousel

1 2

11 months ago | [YT] | 30

TPrower

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everybody!

Skip the Carousel

1 2

11 months ago | [YT] | 31

TPrower

Greetings, everybody. Just wanted to give a quick update and a bit of self-advertisement here.
For those who follow me on Twitter/X, with everything that's been going on lately, I'm working to be more active on Bluesky. I haven't gotten rid of my Twitter/X account, but I'm not going to be posting from it or be active from it as much as I used to. If you're interested in following me on Bluesky, here's a link to my handle, and I hope to see you there. =)
https://bsky.app/profile/aceblazewing.bsky.social

1 year ago | [YT] | 17

TPrower

Well, folks, with yesterday's episode, unless there's some unexpected change of plans, Tell Your Tale has officially ended. Even if the ending of this one wasn't intended to be such originally, this still felt like a wholesome, lighthearted way to close off the series on a happy note. As Sunny herself said, 'it was fun while it lasted'.

Sunny, Izzy, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, Sparky, Misty, thanks for all the fun. It's sad that we didn't get to follow you on your adventures for as long as you deserved, but I'm happy for the time we got to share with you. Here's hoping we'll see you all again someday.

1 year ago | [YT] | 19

TPrower

Greetings, everybody. There's no easy way to bring this up, I'm afraid. News has been floating around lately, and some say it's outright confirmation, while others say it's rumors, so it's hard to know what to believe.

What I've been hearing is that Generation 5 of MLP will cease putting out new content by the end of next month, and that there'll be a general rebranding/restructuring of pony content.

If it really is true, then that's devastating news for fans of G5. Whatever missteps it went through, largely due to Hasbro mishandling several aspects of it like how much the show was allowed to call back to Friendship is Magic (which is kind of a big deal since G5 is a sequel to it), and whatever folks might have felt about Tell Your Tale and Make Your Mark following how well-received the movie was, this generation still possesses a lovable and wholesome charm with well-written characters, just like Friendship is Magic. It'll be terrible to see it end before the show they wanted to tell can be finished. This generation has so much potential and so much to give, and it's heartbreaking to think of it going to waste.

That said, it also dispirits me to know that this has brought about a resurgence of G4 'fans' renewing and increasing the intensity of their G5 bashing, treating this as a 'good riddance' and 'we told you so' to its defenders. I don't know the full context of these encounters, since I tend to stay out of fandom discussions altogether, but I did hear about an unforgivable recent incident where Bahia Watson, Misty's VA, received a poor reception at Czequestria, and that just makes my blood boil.

Regardless of whatever steps or missteps this generation took, it baffles and infuriates me that anyone would think it's even remotely appropriate to direct that vitriol not only at fans of G5, but at the cast and crew, too. It's clear that the people behind Generation 5 have been giving it their all and pouring their love into it, and they don't deserve to be treated so shamefully. If 'fans' like that really are trying to claim that G4 is superior to G5 (which shouldn't even need to be something to debate in the first place), then they certainly didn't take stock of any of the meaningful lessons and morals the show taught about treating others and respecting interests that aren't your own.

But I'm not here to rant and rave about toxic fans. Whether it is just a rumor, or whether Generation 5 really is going to be cut short, it's not going to change how much I enjoyed and appreciated what it gave us. Just as people today are still creating their own fan art, stories, and content with Friendship is Magic, the adventures of Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, Misty, and Sparky don't have to end just because the shows and comics stop. The memories of the shows we loved and still love, what they mean to us, will never fade away as long as we keep them alive in our hearts.

We may not know what the future will hold, but as Calypso taught Bluey Heeler in 'The Sign', all we can do is wait and see what will happen.

Thanks for reading, everybody.

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 27

TPrower

To give a further update on what I've been up to lately, I've been playing through the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection that released recently for the Switch.

Now, I love the Ace Attorney series, for its clever writing, great characters, and gripping and intense stories, but the only Ace Attorney games I'd actually played in recent years were the two games that made up the Great Ace Attorney duology, which I was eager to play once they announced they'd be localized for the first time. I did stumble a fair bit when it comes to knowing what evidence to present when, whether it was because I was thinking two steps ahead or hadn't caught up to what the characters themselves were alluding to yet, but it was still a fun experience. It was taxing on my throat to voice the characters along as I was playing, but I just can't help myself when it comes to visual novels, lol

The Investigations games are an interesting case, though. I'd seen several playthroughs of both games, and the second one was only translated into English initially via a fan translation. The names the characters were given had been taken as canon by fans for years after, so having the game localized and translated from scratch, avoiding the fan translation purposefully, was sure to ruffle more than a few feathers with the new, now official names. I've gradually been getting used to them myself, and can even see the cleverness in the puns or references they contain, though there's a bit of nostalgic familiarity with the fan translation that'll be hard to let go of.

As for my own playing of the games, I've completed the entirety of the first Investigations game (including the tedious slog that is the final half of Case 5), and have completed Case 1 and the first half of Case 2 in the second game.

1 year ago | [YT] | 7

TPrower

Holy crapbaskets, people. The trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 finally dropped...
Besides finally getting to hear Keanu Reeves as Shadow, there's definitely some noticeable things that have changed so that it's not just a beat-for-beat recreation of Sonic Adventure 2's plot, and I'm very eager to see where it takes us.

1 year ago | [YT] | 17

TPrower

Greetings, everybody! TPrower once again.

It's pretty embarrassing to be updating this late into the year, and not even have a new video to show for it, but that's kind of why I've been quiet lately. I've wanted to do a recap video like I usually do, for Chapters 5 and 6 of Make Your Mark, but I keep feeling held back by different factors.

One is that I don't have as many opportunities to record longer videos as I used to (I know I've said so before, but it's the truth) since the rest of my family has been working from home most days since the pandemic. Another is that, with two chapters' worth of episodes to talk about, not only do I feel vocal burnout from speaking for so long, but the process of sifting through each episode to snag screencaps, so that you're not all just staring at my video background, feels tedious. The longer I sit on this, too, means there'll be new relevant developments in Tell Your Tale I wouldn't want to miss mentioning, either, which would mean needing to rerecord what I already had.

So, yeah, even after all this time, I don't have a new video to show for it. I want to record one, maybe even just highlights about the last two chapters and character arcs, but I felt guilty about not having anything at all this late into the year. You all deserve better than that, and I can only apologize for leaving you all hanging for so long, and not having an update like this earlier.

I do have some brighter news, though, so I'm not just beating myself up.

1. This past June, I participated in this year's Newbie Artist Training Grounds on Equestria Daily, and if you guys don't mind my amateurish drawings of ponies, I have a whole gallery of new art featuring my OCs for you to check out. https://www.deviantart.com/aceblazewing/gallery/92430554/newbie-artist-training-grounds-xiv

2. I finally have a new chapter of my ongoing 2nd-person-perspective wholesome feel-good story, Affection Therapy, up on FIMFiction, if you want to check that out as well. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/357981/affection-therapy

3. This past year, I've gotten into, and am fully caught up on, Bluey, for just how wholesome, cute, and well-written a show it is. If you haven’t watched it yet and are curious about it, I highly recommend it, as it’s not so much a ‘kids’ show as it’s more a ‘family’ show, written so that anybody can enjoy. And for the record, I'm officially part of the camp of 'Bingo is a precious puppy and must be protected'. =)

4. I’ve also played through the long-hoped-for, long-anticipated remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and despite knowing the story almost by heart, there was still so much to rediscover and re-experience, especially with the updated graphics, reorchestrated music, new character animations and expressions, and quality-of-life changes to enhance the overall experience. Whether it’s your first time playing The Thousand-Year Door or you feel a nostalgic pull towards it, it’s very much worth checking out, and with this, the Super Mario RPG remake that came out earlier, and the upcoming Mario and Luigi Brothership game, it looks like we’re seeing a positive turn in Mario RPG material as of late.

5. I've still been watching and enjoying Tell Your Tale, even if it's not everybody's cup of tea. 5 minutes doesn't allow for as complex storytelling as Make Your Mark gave us, but I've still been enjoying seeing what we get. The 20 minute special about Izzy curing her Blockwockys was certainly a fun change from the usual formula, and it's been interesting seeing the story opportunities the BoardTrot has to offer. I haven't been keeping up with the IDW comics as of late, but I still hear good things about them.

I know that ran on for a bit longer than necessary, but after being quiet for so long, I felt it was necessary. Thanks again for bearing with me, everybody, and I'm sorry again that I don't have something better to show for my long absence. I'll do my best to keep more up-to-date, even if I'm not sure how to do regularly yet.

Well, until next time, see ya!

1 year ago | [YT] | 12