"Okay, dad! I'm heading out to the woods for a bit!" Dewi threw his bag over his shoulders and tied up his boots. He wanted to spend every possible moment in Hallownest that he could. His dad called back, "Again? You've gone out every day for the past month⦠just be sure you have your walkie talkie so I can reach you." Dewi was already halfway through the door as he shouted back, "Don't worry, I got it!" and leapt out of the front door, heading back to the cave to meet up with Ghost, Hornet, and all is other insectoid friends.
After some time, Dewi reached the cave Hornet had first brought him to. He'd gotten better at navigating with each visit. Just as Dewi was grabbing the flashlight out of his backpack, he heard a rustle coming from behind. Whatever it was, it sounded much larger than the squirrels and small prey he was used to seeing. He quickly turned around, but didn't see anything. Dewi held the flashlight close in case he needed to bonk anything and run. Suddenly, from a bush popped up to⦠horn? Antlers? They didn't look like any animal Dewi had seen before. Quickly, the rest of the figure followed until out from the bush appeared⦠a small, cloaked child. They looked even younger than Dewi, and the wooden mask they wore looked exactly like his friend, Little Ghost.
"Uh⦠hi?" Dewi lowered his flashlight.
The figure nodded.
"Sorry, I was just⦠um⦠meeting some friends here. Do- do you know them? They go by Hornet and Little Ghost- er, just Ghost⦠I guess"
They nodded again, this time more enthusiastically. The figure pointed to itself.
"You do know them? That's why you're wearing that mask, right?"
They shook their head and again pointed at themselves.
"You⦠Ghost, is that actually you?"
The figure nodded and walked up to Dewi. Even though Dewi could now see eyes through the mask, their gaze remained empty as usual. He did, however, notice a small sword hanging by their side. "You, still have your sword I see⦠no, what did Hornet call it? A nail! Though⦠I guess sword would be more appropriate now." Ghost followed Dewi's gaze and slowly unsheathed the sword. It hesitated in almost every action, like every movement was a conscious effort.
The sword was real, no doubt about it, but it was a far cry from the glowing, pure white metal either of them were used to. The edge was noticeably sharp, but the blade itself was made from a dull, gray alloy. As Ghost put the sword back in its sheathe, Dewi couldn't help but keep asking questions, "What's happening? Did this happen to anyone else? Are they okay? Are you okay? What's going on?" Ghost waited for Dewi to catch his breath before simply shaking their head once. "Nothing, you don't even know or why this happened? W-what's the last thing you remember? Can you act it out?" The little one thought for a moment. It took a step back and started mimicking vague actions. Old habits die hard, it seems, for even with its new limbs and dexterity, Ghost couldn't manage much beyond stiffly waving its arms about.
"I'm sorry, I- I'm not getting anything from that. You can stop." Ghost came back and sat on a nearby rock. The two sat together in silence for a minute, both trying to process what they've found themselves in. After a while, Dewi took off his backpack and began rifling around in it, "Are you⦠hungry? Do you still need to eat? Did you need to eat before?" Just as he asked, the two heard a rumbling straight from the little one's stomach! Ghost nearly fell off its seat in shock before quickly readying a hand on its sword. Dewi just let out a small chuckle, "I guess that answers all three! Here! It's the best thing I could pack this early in the morning." He handed Ghost a small foil packet. It took the packet, and simply⦠held it.
"Oh, right. You're probably not used to wrapping, let me get that for you," Dewi grabbed the snack and tore the top open to reveal two pink frosted poptarts. He handed one to Ghost, who again gave nothing but an empty gaze. "Itβ¦ goes in here," Dewi pointed at his mouth a took a bite from his own poptart to demonstrate. Ghost followed suit, slipping the confection under its mask and pulling it back to reveal a small chunk taken from the corner. "Now chew it, like this," Dewi started chewing through his food, heavily exaggerating the motion. It took Ghost a moment to figure out the movements, but it eventually got a hang of the process. Dewi tried explaining the rest through a mouthful of frosting and jam filling, "now, you shwallowβ¦" He grabbed his water bottle to wash down the rest. He was about to offer it to Ghost before seeing it clearly struggle to figure out the mechanics of swallowing. Dewi couldn't help but giggle at his friend so clearly out of its element.
"Dewi? Ghost? Is that you, little ones?" The two whipped around towards the voice. Behind them stood a woman much taller than Dewi. Her perfect posture would have made her look quite elegant if it wasn't for the ragged cloak she was wearing. In her hands were a ring and a small harpoon, both attached by a long thread of twine, and she wore a mask just like Ghost, only ceramic instead of wood. Dewi recognized her voice immediately, and her mask was unmistakable. Whatever happened to Ghost, it had happened to her too.
"Hornet!" Dewi nearly leapt at her with a hug. She tried to stop him, but the kid's enthusiasm broke through her guard and toppled them both to the ground. "Dewi, please refrain from doing that again! I am not yet familiar with having only four limbs." She nearly had to pry Dewi off her. "Sorry! You don't know how long I've waited for that, now that we're the same size! Well⦠human sized, at least," he did his best to help Hornet as she slowly got up from the dirt.
"Dewi, what have you done. How have you made us both higher beings such as yourself?" Hornet straightened her mask and dusted off her cloak.
"I didn't do anything! I don't know how to turn bugs into humans!" Dewi was getting increasingly exhausted with Hornet's insistence on Dewi's status as a "higher being". He sat back down on his tree stump, defeated. "To be honest, I kinda hoped I'd get to be a bug and explore Hallownest with you guys. That place sounds so coolβ¦"
"I wouldn't wish such things, Dewi. Even after you and Little Ghost triumphed over the Radiance, Hallownest is still a dangerous place. With your luck, you would wind up alone, or worse, stuck with Lemm." Dewi perked up at the name, "Who's Lemm?" Even in the current situation, he couldn't stop asking about Hallownest. "Just a crotchety old hermit. Lives in the City of Tears, hoarding and obsessing over his relics. I do not believe he would take kindly to your presence, Dewi. Apologies, I did not mean that as an insult."
"Uhβ¦ none taken? Oh! You're probably hungry! Ghost is it okay if Iβ¦" he plucked the poptart out of Ghost's hands. It hadn't taken more than that first bite, anyway. "Here!"
"What is this?" Hornet eyed the pastry with suspicion.
"It's food!" Dewi continued to offer it with a smile, "it might be a little sweet, but I really like them!" Hornet grabbed the popart cautiously before breaking off a piece and slipping it under her mask, being sure to keep her face hidden from Dewi. She chewed for only a few seconds before spitting on the ground.
"PLEH! This is the food of higher beings!? Is this even natural?!" She was kind enough to give it back to Dewi instead of the ants.
"Well⦠my dad says they have all kinds of preservatives. He doesn't like me eating too many. Calls them 'an affront to the natural order' but I think they're really tasty!" He breaks a piece off for himself before giving it back to Ghost who continues to hold it absentmindedly. "Here, have some water," he offers the bottle to Hornet.
She grabs the bottle, "This is simply water? Not another disgusting concoction of higher beings?"
"Well you don't have to be mean about it⦠but yeah, it's just water." He takes the bottle when Hornet's finished and sets it back in his back. He offers Hornet a seat at their new, impromptu meeting spot, to which Hornet silently obliges.
"Dewi, we need to know what is happening, and we are unfamiliar with your world. We do not know if this has happened to anyone else, or who. Are you willing to guide us?"
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I'm afraid Nintendo might have cooked with this one. They took what worked, like gliding and double items. Scrapped what didn't: frickin kart customization (and gonna be real, anti-grav was a nothing burger mechanic). And then they just took everything in a new direction and I love it
To get the negatives out of the way,
The intermission tracks. I can see why you might not like them. I don't have a problem with them, but they'd be better in smaller doses, I think Nintendo is pushing them a bit hard with the online, forcing intermissions on most selections. Ideally I feel like it should be maybe a 30/70 intermissions to 3-laps and right now it's sitting at more of a 80/20
The roster. First of all the character select screen is hot ass, and most choices they made were weird and dumb, like why are costumes unlocked like that and why does baby Rosalina get like 4 outfits while DK only gets 1 extra costume and it's from the worst line. And as funny as cow and bone fish are, there should be more actual characters. Like let's get E Gadd in here for once or Fawful they should really add Fawful that would be really cool
Roster isn't the biggest issue personally tho since it's mostly cosmetic
Now the good shit
OH MY GOD PARKOUR IS SO GOOD OH MY GOD HOW HAVE WE GONE ALL THESE YEARS WITHOUT IT OH MY GOD
Somehow they made a Mariokart that was more casual friendly with stuff like 24 players and intermissions and also so much more fun for the dedicated players with shit like wall riding and rail grinding. I'm not the kind of guy to practice taking shortcuts in a Mariokart game and I've already spent multiple nights with a YouTube tutorial up on my phone practicing some of the sickest cuts I've ever seen.
I like the new jet skis a lot more than underwater driving. Underwater in 7&8 were just normal driving with slightly different physics. Water in World has its own physics that completely changes how you drive. Explosions and hazards and weather and location can all create waves you can trick on, it basically changes the track as you're driving it, and the ability to trick as you rebound out of the water lets you chain tricks together and its awesome
I like free roam. Don't have a whole lot to say on it since Nintendo didn't put a whole lot of meaningful content in it (seriously why were costumes tied to doordash bags and not the free roam, are they stupid?) but whenever I enter free roam I always spend a lot more time than I expected. I usually find myself just driving laps around whatever area I'm in. I always say the sign of a good game is one that's fun to just run around aimlessly in and no one's better at that than Nintendo. It's also great for practicing tracks and I love the rewind ability they added to singleplayer modes. Makes practicing so easy. Like I said, I would normally do that kind of thing in other games.
I also like the intermission tracks. I think they give a nice dash of variety. Playing the same handful of 3-laps can get a little boring for longer sessions, especially with the game's smaller selection compared to the massive pool in 8dx
Nearly hit post before realizing I didn't even mention knockout tour. Love it! It's a great use of the open world design and all the intermission tracks. Just wish you could make your own, it can't be a technical limitation, they already have paths leading too and from every track, just let me select four different tracks to connect them. Is that so hard?
I don't think every Mariokart fan will love it. You might prefer the more grounded racing of 8dx, but the great thing is that game is still playable on switch 2. I'd rather Nintendo go in a new experimental direction than just make the same Mariokart on the same console. It's got issues, mostly with the distribution of intermission tracks in online
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A random assortment of sketches I haven't touched in months.
Dewi and his dad as bugs.
Dewi and Lemm because I said so.
Me talking with my comic to basically say bye. Urg still need to get on that. Y'all I think i'm cooked there. I am always struggling ngl
This Cookie Run Kingdom concept is totally original and is NOT a rip-off of DAiHK. 100% original guys. Like not even inspired. Also why cant cookie run have MORE witch lore. Like come on it's right there- DO SOMETHING WITH IT. (I don't play Cookie Run rn, but its so addictive)
