One of the most notable differences between Pokémon and Cassette Beasts is their mechanics to capture monsters. In Pokémon, you catch the creatures by using Poké Balls, but in Cassette Beasts, you do not actually catch the monsters, but you record the essence of the monsters into a cassette tape.
-A common criticism of the monster collect genre is the ethical question of essentially enslaving creatures by capturing and subjugating them into obeying you, as well as enganging in dog fighting by making the creatures fight each other, to the extent that even Pokémon tries to tackle it as the main theme of the story of Black and White, though whether the execution is effective or not is debatable. Cassette Beasts' method of recording monsters solves this moral dilemma of the genre from the get-go, because you are not actually catching the monsters in the traditional sense. In fact, Jay Baylis, artist and writer of Cassette Beasts had stated in a Shacknews interview that their idea of recording monsters is intended to avert the issue of basically enslaving creatures in the monster collecting genre.
+A common criticism of the monster collector genre is the ethical question of essentially enslaving creatures by capturing and subjugating them into obeying you, as well as enganging in dog fighting by making the creatures fight each other, to the extent that even Pokémon tries to tackle it as the main theme of the story of Black and White, though whether the execution is effective or not is debatable. Cassette Beasts' method of recording monsters solves this moral dilemma of the genre from the get-go, because you are not actually catching the monsters in the traditional sense. In fact, Jay Baylis, artist and writer of Cassette Beasts had stated in a Shacknews interview that their idea of recording monsters is intended to avert the issue of basically enslaving creatures in the monster collecting genre.
Gameplay-wise, a notable improvement Cassette Beasts has over Pokémon when it comes to monster capture mechanics is that in Cassette Beasts, when you are recording a monster, the percentage of success rate is displayed on screen. Furthermore, a monster that is in the process of being recorded cannot be knocked out, so you can deal more damage to the monster to improve your odds of successfully recording the monster. In Pokémon, you have to be extra careful about not knocking out the Pokémon you want to catch, and when you try to catch one, you can only hope that the RNG is in your favour.
The protagonists of Pokémon games become the new Champion of their region by defeating Gym Leaders or Trial Captains, then the Elite Four and the current standing Champion. In Cassette Beasts, the closest thing to an equivalent to Gym Leaders is the Ranger Captains, and one of the main quests involves defeating all the Captains across the map, but even then, you do not beat the Ranger Captains and become a Captain yourself for the glory of becoming the best monster battler, but to prove your ability to help the Rangers Guild to protect New Wirral and support the island's community.
Cassette Beasts has a more mature and adult story than Pokémon. As a franchise primarily targetted at children, the main human characters in Pokémon are children, so the stories of Pokémon games are mainly about children's fantasy adventures to be the best Pokémon Trainer. On the flip side, the main characters in Cassette Beasts, including your human companions, are adults, and the game is not afraid to discuss topics and issues relevant to adulthood, particularly through the stories of your companion characters. The story of Cassette Beasts is also unabashedly left-wing with anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist messages, which I frankly doubt will get explored with such authenticity in a corporate-owned mega franchise like Pokémon.
In addition, Cassette Beasts' story can get genuinely dark at times, most notably in the cosmic horror presented by the Archangels, the eldritch entities that you need to defeat in boss battles to gather clues about a way out of New Wirral and return home.
-Towards the end of the main quest, it is revealed that Archangels are egregores created from humanity's desires and ideas. Aleph, the main antagonist and final boss of the main story, is an Archangel that is an incarnation of conquest, and his goal is to leave New Wirral and cause chaos across reality.
-While Pokémon has its own fair share of sinister villains, the threat the main villain of Cassette Beasts poses is even greater in scope than any Pokémon villain, maybe except for Rainbow Rocket Giovanni from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, who shares the goal of ruling the multiverse.
-Moreover, even though the player character and their party are able to defeat the main villain in the end, the game makes it clear that since Archangels are not flesh and blood and born from human ideas, as long as humans are interested in conquest Aleph will return at some point. This reflects our world in that defeating a tyrant does not magically solve everything, especially when the system that enables tyrants' rise to power still exists.
-Towards the end of the main quest, it is revealed that Archangels are egregores created from humanity's desires and ideas. Aleph, the main antagonist and final boss of the main story, is an Archangel that is an incarnation of conquest, and his goal is to leave New Wirral and cause chaos across reality. While Pokémon has its own fair share of sinister villains, the threat the main villain of Cassette Beasts poses is even greater in scope than any Pokémon villain, maybe except for Rainbow Rocket Giovanni from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, who shares the goal of ruling the multiverse. Moreover, even though the player character and their party are able to defeat the main villain in the end, the game makes it clear that since Archangels are not flesh and blood and born from human ideas, as long as humans are interested in conquest Aleph will return at some point. This reflects our world in that defeating a tyrant does not magically solve everything, especially when the system that enables tyrants' rise to power still exists.Major Story Spoilers for Cassette Beasts
+
Pokémon is not known for explicitly canon LGBTQ+ representation. The franchise does not have a single confirmed canon same-gender couple. In the shipping side of the Pokémon fandom, particularly among LGBTQ+ fans, some same-gender pairings are popular, but it does not change the fact that there is no character in the Pokémon franchise who is officially confirmed to be attracted to the same-gender.
On the flip side, Cassette Beasts has canon LGBTQ+ characters. For characters who are attracted to the samge gender, the most notable ones are the human companions, who can be romanced by the player character regardless of gender, meaning they are canonically bisexual. Furthermore, the game also has a pair of NPCs who are revealed in-game to be a gay married couple.
-To be specific, this pair of NPCs in question are Leader Ianthe and Ranger Wilma, members of the Ranger Guild. After you defeat all 12 Ranger Captains, and you challenge Ianthe to a battle, Ianthe will reveal that she will fight alongside her wife, who is none other than Ranger Wilma, the woman in charge of the Ranger Guild store. Yes, Cassette Beasts has a canon married lesbian couple.
-To be specific, this pair of NPCs in question are Leader Ianthe and Ranger Wilma, members of the Ranger Guild. After you defeat all 12 Ranger Captains, and you challenge Ianthe to a battle, Ianthe will reveal that she will fight alongside her wife, who is none other than Ranger Wilma, the woman in charge of the Ranger Guild store. Yes, Cassette Beasts has a canon married lesbian couple.Minor Quest Spoilers for Cassette Beasts
+
As for transgender and non-binary representation, Pokémon has a few ambiguously canon ones, namely Beauty Nova, a minor female NPC Trainer from X and Y who is heavily implied to be a trans woman, and Blanche from Pokémon GO, who is not referred to by gendered pronouns in the English version of the game and official social media accounts. Some other human characters are also commonly interpreted or headcanonned as trans by LGBTQ+ fans, but none of them are officially confirmed to be trans or non-binary.
In Cassette Beasts, not only that the player can chose to go by they/them pronouns via the character creator, but there is also a Ranger Captain named Skip who is canonically non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.
diff --git a/eleventy.config.md.js b/eleventy.config.md.js index 2a065814..bc15bc07 100644 --- a/eleventy.config.md.js +++ b/eleventy.config.md.js @@ -79,6 +79,18 @@ module.exports = function (eleventyConfig) { .use(require("markdown-it-bracketed-spans")) .use(require("markdown-it-deflist")); + // Paired shorcode: Spoiler accordion + eleventyConfig.addPairedShortcode('spoiler', (content, hint) => { + const hintMarkUp = markdownLibrary.renderInline(hint); + const contentMarkuo = markdownLibrary.render(content); + return ` +++ `; + }); + /* This is the part that tells 11ty to swap to our custom config */ eleventyConfig.setLibrary("md", markdownLibrary); } diff --git a/src/shrines/cassettebeasts/articles/cassette-beasts-more-than-a-pokemon-clone.md b/src/shrines/cassettebeasts/articles/cassette-beasts-more-than-a-pokemon-clone.md index ca152db0..0a40151d 100644 --- a/src/shrines/cassettebeasts/articles/cassette-beasts-more-than-a-pokemon-clone.md +++ b/src/shrines/cassettebeasts/articles/cassette-beasts-more-than-a-pokemon-clone.md @@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ updated: 2023-10-22 desc: Despite some fundamental similarities, calling Cassette Beasts as just a Pokémon clone is doing the former a massive disserverce, and here are the many reasons why. tags: cassette beasts articles categories: ["cassette beasts"] +templateEngineOverride: njk, md toc: true --- @@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ However, despite remaining one of the best-selling video game series in the worl One of the most notable differences between {% cite "Pokémon" %} and {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} is their mechanics to capture monsters. In {% cite "Pokémon" %}, you catch the creatures by using Poké Balls, but in {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %}, you do not actually catch the monsters, but you record the essence of the monsters into a cassette tape. -A common criticism of the monster collect genre is the ethical question of essentially enslaving creatures by capturing and subjugating them into obeying you, as well as enganging in dog fighting by making the creatures fight each other, to the extent that even {% cite "Pokémon" %} tries to tackle it as the main theme of the story of {% cite "Black" %} and {% cite "White" %}, though whether the execution is effective or not is debatable. {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %}' method of recording monsters solves this moral dilemma of the genre from the get-go, because you are not actually catching the monsters in the traditional sense. In fact, Jay Baylis, artist and writer of {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} had stated in [a Shacknews interview](https://youtu.be/P0L-5LLT9uw?feature=shared&t=106) that their idea of recording monsters is intended to avert the issue of basically enslaving creatures in the monster collecting genre. +A common criticism of the monster collector genre is the ethical question of essentially enslaving creatures by capturing and subjugating them into obeying you, as well as enganging in dog fighting by making the creatures fight each other, to the extent that even {% cite "Pokémon" %} tries to tackle it as the main theme of the story of {% cite "Black" %} and {% cite "White" %}, though whether the execution is effective or not is debatable. {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %}' method of recording monsters solves this moral dilemma of the genre from the get-go, because you are not actually catching the monsters in the traditional sense. In fact, Jay Baylis, artist and writer of {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} had stated in [a Shacknews interview](https://youtu.be/P0L-5LLT9uw?feature=shared&t=106) that their idea of recording monsters is intended to avert the issue of basically enslaving creatures in the monster collecting genre. Gameplay-wise, a notable improvement {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} has over {% cite "Pokémon" %} when it comes to monster capture mechanics is that in {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %}, when you are recording a monster, the percentage of success rate is displayed on screen. Furthermore, a monster that is in the process of being recorded cannot be knocked out, so you can deal more damage to the monster to improve your odds of successfully recording the monster. In {% cite "Pokémon" %}, you have to be extra careful about not knocking out the Pokémon you want to catch, and when you try to catch one, you can only hope that the RNG is in your favour. @@ -90,14 +91,13 @@ The protagonists of {% cite "Pokémon" %} games become the new Champion of their In addition, {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %}' story can get genuinely dark at times, most notably in the cosmic horror presented by the Archangels, the eldritch entities that you need to defeat in boss battles to gather clues about a way out of New Wirral and return home. -${hintMarkUp}
+${contentMarkuo}+-+{% spoiler 'Major Story Spoilers for Cassette Beasts' %} +Towards the end of the main quest, it is revealed that Archangels are [egregores](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egregore) created from humanity's desires and ideas. Aleph, the main antagonist and final boss of the main story, is an Archangel that is an incarnation of conquest, and his goal is to leave New Wirral and cause chaos across reality. + +While {% cite "Pokémon" %} has its own fair share of sinister villains, the threat the main villain of {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} poses is even greater in scope than any {% cite "Pokémon" %} villain, maybe except for Rainbow Rocket Giovanni from {% cite "Ultra Sun" %} and {% cite "Ultra Moon" %}, who shares the goal of ruling the multiverse. + +Moreover, even though the player character and their party are able to defeat the main villain in the end, the game makes it clear that since Archangels are not flesh and blood and born from human ideas, as long as humans are interested in conquest Aleph will return at some point. This reflects our world in that defeating a tyrant does not magically solve everything, especially when the system that enables tyrants' rise to power still exists. +{% endspoiler %} ## Features {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} Has But {% cite "Pokémon" %} Lacks @@ -155,12 +155,9 @@ If the existence of the option to romance your human companion is not enough, in On the flip side, {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} has canon LGBTQ+ characters. For characters who are attracted to the samge gender, the most notable ones are the human companions, who can be romanced by the player character regardless of gender, meaning they are canonically bisexual. Furthermore, the game also has a pair of NPCs who are revealed in-game to be a gay married couple. -Major Story Spoilers for {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %}
---Towards the end of the main quest, it is revealed that Archangels are egregores created from humanity's desires and ideas. Aleph, the main antagonist and final boss of the main story, is an Archangel that is an incarnation of conquest, and his goal is to leave New Wirral and cause chaos across reality.
-While {% cite "Pokémon" %} has its own fair share of sinister villains, the threat the main villain of {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} poses is even greater in scope than any {% cite "Pokémon" %} villain, maybe except for Rainbow Rocket Giovanni from {% cite "Ultra Sun" %} and {% cite "Ultra Moon" %}, who shares the goal of ruling the multiverse.
-Moreover, even though the player character and their party are able to defeat the main villain in the end, the game makes it clear that since Archangels are not flesh and blood and born from human ideas, as long as humans are interested in conquest Aleph will return at some point. This reflects our world in that defeating a tyrant does not magically solve everything, especially when the system that enables tyrants' rise to power still exists.
--+{% spoiler 'Minor Quest Spoilers for Cassette Beasts' %} +To be specific, this pair of NPCs in question are Leader Ianthe and Ranger Wilma, members of the Ranger Guild. After you defeat all 12 Ranger Captains, and you challenge Ianthe to a battle, Ianthe will reveal that she will fight alongside her wife, who is none other than Ranger Wilma, the woman in charge of the Ranger Guild store. Yes, {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} has a canon married lesbian couple. +{% endspoiler %} As for transgender and non-binary representation, {% cite "Pokémon" %} has a few ambiguously canon ones, namely [Beauty Nova](https://lgbtqgamearchive.com/2016/05/25/beauty-nova-in-pokemon-xy/), a minor female NPC Trainer from {% cite "X" %} and {% cite "Y" %} who is heavily implied to be a trans woman, and [Blanche](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Blanche) from {% cite "Pokémon GO" %}, who is not referred to by gendered pronouns in the English version of the game and official social media accounts. Some other human characters are also commonly interpreted or headcanonned as trans by LGBTQ+ fans, but none of them are officially confirmed to be trans or non-binary.Minor Quest Spoilers for {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %}
---To be specific, this pair of NPCs in question are Leader Ianthe and Ranger Wilma, members of the Ranger Guild. After you defeat all 12 Ranger Captains, and you challenge Ianthe to a battle, Ianthe will reveal that she will fight alongside her wife, who is none other than Ranger Wilma, the woman in charge of the Ranger Guild store. Yes, {% cite "Cassette Beasts" %} has a canon married lesbian couple.
-